This is fighting Fire with Fire

When in a predicament, one must have the courage to find solutions.

Li Yang and Liu Qing were now looking for ways everywhere, and even went to ask a little elder with whom they had a good relationship.

"We really can't take out 5,000 spirit stones. The law elder behind requires another 5,000 spirit stones. Elder, do you have any solutions or connections to postpone this?"

Li Yang asked softly. Her temperament had indeed been polished to become much more low-key.

The little elder with whom they had a good relationship shook his head. "The law elder has spoken, so the nature is a bit different. I can't help much."

"How many spirit stones do you currently have? Let's pool our resources to reach 5,000 spirit stones to give to the law elder."

This little elder was quite righteous, willing to chip in with Li Yang and the others.

"A little over 2,000, less than 3,000," Li Yang said with a wry smile.

Liu Qing sat quietly with her head down on the side.

"Then there's no way. The difference is too big. Even if we all chip in, it wouldn't be enough," the little elder shook his head helplessly.

Li Yang clenched her fists and still couldn't help asking, "Is there really no other way?"

"Yes," the little elder nodded. "The strong speak, the weak shut up. This is the principle of the world, and you should understand it too."

"But...is there really no other way?" Liu Qing's eyes lowered, and her tone already carried a hint of despair.

In front of the law elder, it seemed they really could not make any waves.

"You have over 2,000 spirit stones on you, right?" the little elder suddenly asked.

"Yes," Li Yang nodded, frowning, wondering why the little elder was asking.

The little elder replied, "I do have a way that requires only 2,000 spirit stones."

"What way?" Liu Qing's eyes lit up and she hurriedly asked.

The little elder coughed into his hand twice, crossed his arms, and slowly explained, "In the preparatory disciple area, there has always been an empty cave dwelling that you know about, right?"

"We know," Liu Qing nodded. "The little elders don't allow us to choose that cave dwelling."

"But now it's different," the little elder shook his head. "The owner of the cave has returned, and according to seniority, he should also be a preparatory disciple."

"Are you very familiar with him?" Liu Qing asked doubtfully.

"Not familiar," the little elder still shook his head. "From his status, I'm far from qualified to be acquainted with him."

Hearing this, Li Yang and Liu Qing's frowns deepened. There was such a figure among the preparatory disciples?!

The little elder covered his mouth and coughed twice more before continuing after a pause.

"I dare not tell you what he did or his name. Just take these 2,000 spirit stones and ask him for help directly."

"As for whether he is willing to help or not, I can't say for sure, but he readily accepts gifts, so you should be able to succeed."

At this point, the little elder's tone became serious as he solemnly said, "No matter the outcome, do not reveal that I told you this."

His tone was indeed full of fear.

This made Liu Qing and Li Yang even more puzzled. Liu Qing couldn't help but ask again,

"By going to this person, can we really find a solution?"

"How to describe it..." The little elder scratched his head, hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said,

"It should be considered fighting poison with poison."

Pan Dadao's promotion officially began, although there wasn't much promotion. He just called up a couple supreme seeds and casually said a few words.

Then these two supreme seeds passed the message on to others.

But Pan Dadao's reputation was used as a guarantor.

When the other preparatory disciples heard about it, they felt somewhat surprised. They didn't expect there to be such a fierce character around them.

And he was someone who had just returned after sitting in sword prison for 500 years!

What's more, he didn't ask for many spirit stones. He just told the preparatory disciples to give what they could, whether more or less.

But still no preparatory disciple dared to go. First, they had already paid the spirit stones to the formal disciples, so there was no pressure in the short term.

Second, who knew what the temperament was like of this fierce character collecting spirit stones? What if they gave too little and got beaten? It wouldn't be worth it.

So for the time being, these preparatory disciples were watching and had not gone to find Chen Xia.

As for Chen Xia, he was quite laid back, slumped in his cave dwelling, studying intimately familiar mystical arts.

He was in no hurry either. He could afford to wait. As long as the first preparatory disciple to give spirit stones appeared, more would naturally follow.

Chen Xia was prepared to wait. He just didn't expect the first person to come so quickly, and it would be the great emperor seedling Li Yang.

The two of them stood at the door, knocked on the cave door, then quietly stood there.

Not long after, the cave door slowly opened.

Chen Xia was leaning lazily at the door, looking weak and listless.

"It really is you!" Liu Qing's eyes widened in surprise.

On the way here, she had vaguely guessed it might be Chen Xia. After all, last time Chen Xia had "politely" sent her away with a power she could not resist.

She had also been surprised that there was such a powerful existence among the preparatory disciples.

Chen Xia didn't want to chat idly. Leaning against the wall with one shoulder, he asked,

"Paying?"

"We can pay," Liu Qing nodded. Then she asked again, "But can you really help us resolve the troubles?"

"That's easy to say," Chen Xia's body leaning against the wall straightened up a bit, with a bit more seriousness, and he chuckled,

"Not only can I resolve troubles, I can also resolve the people causing troubles."

This statement was particularly overbearing.

Liu Qing's heart was excited. She clenched her fists tightly. "We have 2,000 spirit stones here. Let's give you 1,000 first. If you can resolve it, we'll give you the remaining 1,000 spirit stones."

"No," Chen Xia shook his head and continued plainly, "I want all 2,000 spirit stones now."

"But...what if you can't resolve it?" Liu Qing's tone was a little urgent.

Chen Xia's expression was plain as he casually said,

"If I can't resolve it, I'll return the 2,000 spirit stones to you fair and square."

Liu Qing frowned, still somewhat distrustful, and continued asking, "But if you take the spirit stones and don't keep your word, wouldn't we suffer a total loss?!"

Chen Xia's face was half in the shadow of the room, his expression unreadable. Only his calm voice could be heard, with a hint of laughter.

"Since you've come, you have no choice."