Yuan Zhiyun was still somewhat unconvinced, but she didn't say anything more. She simply took the Heart-Questioning Stone out of her storage bag and handed it to her father.
Yuan Bi also knew that this daughter of his had a stubborn temper, so he didn't continue to scold her. He sighed softly, took the Heart-Questioning Stone, and left.
Meanwhile, in Yuanling City, after those who had been rescued by Lin Xiao like Yuan Zhiyun woke up and returned to the city, the news about the ice caves in the Icefield Mystic Realm that allowed entry but no exit spread rapidly throughout the city.
Because the Icefield Mystic Realm had been around for over a hundred years, this matter generated an extremely high level of interest in Yuanling City as soon as it came out.
Many people whose relatives and friends had entered the Icefield Mystic Realm years ago and never returned were guessing whether their loved ones had perished after being trapped in those ice caves.
Some people even made inquiries everywhere, hoping to find news about their relatives and friends from those who were lucky enough to escape this time.
In just a few days, the news that the Icefield Mystic Realm had trapped and killed many cultivators over the past century caused an uproar in Yuanling City.
Even many Golden Core cultivators would gossip and listen in on the rumors.
But all of this had nothing to do with Lin Xiao.
As soon as the agreed five-day delivery period with the Many Treasures Pavilion arrived, he went there bright and early.
At this time, the Many Treasures Pavilion had just opened its doors.
Shopkeeper Zhong, still wearing his amiable expression, stood behind the counter flipping through an account book.
Seeing Lin Xiao, he smiled faintly at him.
"Good morning, young Daoist friend. Your Heart-Questioning Stone has arrived."
Lin Xiao smiled and replied,
"Good morning, Shopkeeper Zhong."
Shopkeeper Zhong nodded at him and turned to instruct the shop assistant,
"Changsheng, go to the newly unloaded goods in the back and find the Heart-Questioning Stone."
"Right away! Please wait a moment, dear customer." The shop assistant named Changsheng answered Shopkeeper Zhong, then said a word to Lin Xiao before running into the back room of the shop.
Lin Xiao stepped into the shop, planning to browse casually while waiting for his Heart-Questioning Stone.
Unexpectedly, Shopkeeper Zhong suddenly spoke up,
"Young Daoist friend, our Many Treasures Pavilion doesn't just sell things; we also buy them."
Hearing his words out of the blue, Lin Xiao didn't react for a moment.
What did Shopkeeper Zhong mean by this?
His mind raced, and he seemed to understand, but unsure, he tentatively asked,
"If it's some relatively basic cultivation supplies, I wonder if the Many Treasures Pavilion would accept them?"
Seeing that he immediately understood his meaning, Shopkeeper Zhong nodded with a satisfied smile and said,
"As long as the goods are of high quality, we will take them. Rest assured, young Daoist friend Lin, the price will be absolutely fair."
Hearing this, Lin Xiao felt a surge of joy in his heart. Sure enough, Shopkeeper Zhong meant that their Many Treasures Pavilion would buy the things he brought in!
Although he didn't know why, Shopkeeper Zhong gave him a good impression. Coupled with the excellent reputation of the Many Treasures Pavilion in Yuanling City, Lin Xiao didn't think he would intentionally scam a young man like himself.
However, he didn't agree right away. He just put on a happy expression and said,
"Thank you for your care, Shopkeeper Zhong. I will go back and explain it to my elders, and I will give you an answer tomorrow."
"Of course."
Just as the two finished talking, Changsheng walked out holding a storage bag.
"Shopkeeper, the Heart-Questioning Stone is here!"
Shopkeeper Zhong took the storage bag and handed the Heart-Questioning Stone to Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao then paid the remaining balance of one thousand and fifty spirit stones.
The transaction was complete.
Satisfied, Lin Xiao took the Heart-Questioning Stone, bid farewell to the two of them, and left the Many Treasures Pavilion.
Watching Lin Xiao leave, the shop assistant Changsheng asked Shopkeeper Zhong,
"Shopkeeper, why are you trying to rope in such a young little cultivator?"
Shopkeeper Zhong smiled and didn't answer him directly, but instead asked him a question in return,
"What do you think this young Daoist friend wants the Heart-Questioning Stone for?"
Changsheng replied,
"The Heart-Questioning Stone is naturally used to test one's character."
Shopkeeper Zhong nodded,
"Indeed. I have been a shopkeeper in Yuanling City for so many years, watching the people come and go in this city every day. However, this young man looks very unfamiliar to me, so I figured he must not be from our Yuanling City."
Hearing this, Changsheng looked thoughtful.
Shopkeeper Zhong looked at the flow of people coming and going outside the shop and continued,
"A young man who doesn't seem to have the slightest bit of cultivation, yet easily spends over a thousand spirit stones to buy a Heart-Questioning Stone..."
"Changsheng, it seems a new faction is about to emerge near our Yuanling City..."
Meanwhile, on Lin Xiao's side, he had already been going back and forth discussing this matter via voice transmission with Liao Pantu.
"Senior, what do you think?"
Liao Pantu, who had been nestled in the Soul-Nourishing Jade Pendant and heard the conversation between the two clearly just now, knew that Lin Xiao didn't give a response on the spot just so he could discuss it with him.
So he said,
"The backer behind this Many Treasures Pavilion is not that strong. The fact that they can establish a firm foothold in Yuanling City is entirely based on their quality and reputation.
You don't need to worry about being deceived. After all, you don't have anything worth them risking five hundred years of reputation to scam you out of."
Hearing this, Lin Xiao wasn't displeased in the slightest; instead, he nodded in strong agreement.
"That's exactly why I didn't refuse outright."
"I feel that our sect can't just sit back and eat away our fortune just because we have a mine. We have to have other sources of spirit stones, right? So I think our sect making our own pills and talismans to sell to the Many Treasures Pavilion is a pretty good idea."
"Furthermore, this Many Treasures Pavilion is an old establishment in Yuanling City. Being on good terms with them will definitely be very beneficial to our sect. Plus, their merchant caravans travel far and wide, so their sources of information must be extremely rich, which is also something our sect lacks."
Listening to him babble on with such high enthusiasm, Liao Pantu rolled his eyes inside the Soul-Nourishing Jade Pendant, though Lin Xiao couldn't see it.
"If you've already thought it all through, why are you asking me?"
Lin Xiao said as he walked back to the inn,
"An elder in the house is like a treasure, as they say. I was afraid there might be something inappropriate, so I wanted to hear your opinion."
After a good while, Liao Pantu sent him another voice transmission,
"Although I don't know why this little shopkeeper is willing to do business with you, no matter how you look at it, it's not a bad thing.
However, I reckon they probably figured out that you are going to establish a sect, oh, wait, they probably think the people behind you are going to establish a sect or something like that."
Hearing this, Lin Xiao said,
"So Shopkeeper Zhong thinks that my side is a new faction about to establish a sect, and is just routinely trying to build a good relationship."
After thinking about it, he added,
"Or maybe he just thinks highly of me."
Liao Pantu couldn't stand this narcissistic look of his and repeatedly urged him,
"Alright, alright, hurry up and deal with these matters so we can return to the sect early. My disciple is still waiting for me to go back and teach him alchemy."
Thus, the next day, Lin Xiao went to the Many Treasures Pavilion and gave Shopkeeper Zhong his affirmative answer.
The two had a rather detailed conversation regarding the various matters of their future transactions, and finally reached a pleasant agreement.
Afterwards, Shopkeeper Zhong gave him a token.
This would serve as the transaction credential for when Lin Xiao's side sent goods over in the future.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
