As soon as those words were spoken, a commotion broke out both inside and outside the hall.
Fang Nu had not only admitted defeat, but had also characterized all their actions as reckless.
That was tantamount to admitting that everything the Sun-Moon Cult had done today, from beginning to end, had been the result of poor judgment and impulsiveness.
It had nothing whatsoever to do with the rules or bottom line of the Tianshi Prefecture.
Gu Chengyin was not surprised. Admitting defeat was one thing, but getting away unscathed was impossible.
They had caused trouble for so long, challenging the authority of the Tianshi Prefecture in front of so many people, and now they wanted to simply pat themselves down and walk away.
Where in the world could anyone find such a good deal?
Gu Chengyin let out a soft sigh, wearing an expression of deliberately affected regret. There was a meaningful hint in his words, along with an undertone that sent a chill down Fang Nu’s spine.
“Vice Cult Master Fang is able to understand the Tianshi Prefecture’s difficulties. Naturally, that is a good thing.”
“But as the saying goes, an inch of time is worth an inch of gold, and an inch of gold cannot buy back an inch of time.”
Gu Chengyin paused, his gaze lingering on Fang Nu’s face for a moment as the smile at the corners of his lips deepened.
“The Taihe War is imminent, and His Highness already has very little time left.”
“Answering the Sun-Moon Cult’s questions has delayed him considerably as well.”
“Vice Cult Master Fang, shouldn’t we settle this account?”
The corner of Fang Nu’s eye twitched.
The meaning behind those words was perfectly clear.
Either bleed money, or bleed himself.
The Core Formation elders of the Tianshi Prefecture were still surrounding them. Golden arcs of lightning continued to crackle around Lin Qingyan, while Gu Xiaoli’s demonic power still ran rampant.
None of them had withdrawn, because Gu Chengyin had not told them to.
Thus, even a complete fool would know which choice to make. Paying up might be painful, but it was still better than losing one’s life.
The problem was that Fang Nu had no idea how much blood Gu Chengyin wanted him to spill before that voracious appetite would be satisfied.
After hesitating for a moment, he asked stiffly, “What does Junior Preceptor Gu have in mind?”
Gu Chengyin spread his hands and replied unhurriedly, “Vice Cult Master Fang, didn’t I just say it? An inch of time is worth an inch of gold.”
Fang Nu froze.
An inch of gold was easy enough to calculate. Gold had a fixed price. There were established exchange rates for how much silver one tael of gold was worth, and how much copper could be exchanged for silver.
Any ordinary accountant could work it out clearly.
But how was one supposed to calculate an inch of time?
Time was not gold. It had no fixed price or established market value. Who had ever heard of measuring time by the inch?
Fang Nu’s brows drew tighter and tighter as his mind raced, trying to find even the slightest trace of a joke in Gu Chengyin’s expression or tone.
But he found nothing.
Gu Chengyin merely watched him in silence, as though waiting for him to work it out himself.
Then a thought suddenly flashed through Fang Nu’s mind.
Could Gu Chengyin be planning to convert an inch into a breath?
If so, that would mean one breath of time was worth an inch of gold.
From the moment the Sun-Moon Cult had raised its objection until now, roughly an hour had passed—or seven thousand two hundred breaths.
If one breath equaled one inch of gold, that meant seven thousand two hundred cubic inches of gold.
Which was equivalent to... one hundred thousand taels of gold?!
Because they had delayed Luo Zhao for an hour, the Sun-Moon Cult had to compensate her with one hundred thousand taels of gold?!
...
When Fang Nu left the hall with two Sun-Moon Cult elders, his expression was so grim that he looked as though his mother had just died.
The surrounding sect representatives tacitly stepped aside, making way for them.
Their gazes toward Fang Nu were a mixture of sympathy, schadenfreude, lingering fear, and deep apprehension toward Gu Chengyin.
No one spoke. No one stepped forward to offer consolation. They simply watched in silence as the three men departed in humiliation and disappeared at the far end of the plaza.
From behind, they looked like three drowned rats stripped of every last hair.
At the same time, it meant that this disturbance had temporarily come to an end.
Following the formula that an inch of time was worth an inch of gold, the Sun-Moon Cult had paid an exorbitant price.
The exact amount of the compensation was not made public.
But judging by the utterly hopeless expression Fang Nu wore when he walked out of the hall, it was certainly a figure painful enough to reach the marrow.
Officially, the compensation was meant to make up for the loss caused by delaying His Highness’s time. In reality, the Sun-Moon Cult was paying for its life.
They were exchanging real gold and silver for the Tianshi Prefecture’s promise not to restart the Jiazi Demon-Sweeping campaign because of this incident.
Both sides understood this perfectly, but neither of them would say it aloud.
After all, there was still plenty to do, and countless arrangements to make.
The Taihe War was imminent. The work had only just begun, and several more groups of sect representatives were still waiting to be received.
As the Crown Heir overseeing the proceedings, Luo Zhao still had to maintain overall control, while Lin Qingyan, the Tianshi Prefecture’s Jingzhe, also had to continue presiding over the situation.
The tense, hostile atmosphere in the main hall had largely dissipated. The Core Formation elders returned to their respective posts.
The female officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs began briskly cleaning up the scene, and everything quickly returned to normal.
Gu Chengyin glanced around the hall. Judging that there was nothing more for him to do, he gestured to Luo Zhao.
“Your Highness, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving first.”
He had just started to turn away when a hand caught hold of the hem of his robe.
Gu Chengyin followed that hand upward and met Luo Zhao’s hesitant eyes.
Luo Zhao said nothing. She simply clutched his robe and refused to let go.
Her gaze swept over the female officials still busy in the hall, as well as the several Core Formation elders speaking in low voices.
Gu Chengyin followed her line of sight and looked around at everyone present. He immediately understood.
Luo Zhao had something she wanted to tell him, but with so many people around, it was inconvenient for her to speak.
After all, she was the Crown Heir. The Crown Heir had her own dignity and propriety to maintain.
Gu Chengyin thought for a moment, then gestured toward a small room at the side and behind them that was meant for resting.
This was a lounge attached to the main hall, intended for brief rests and private meetings.
It was discreetly located and well soundproofed. Once the door was closed, it became a world unto itself.
Luo Zhao nodded enthusiastically almost the instant Gu Chengyin made the gesture.
She released his robe and rose from the principal seat. Gu Chengyin followed behind her.
Seeing this, Gu Xiaoli instinctively tried to follow.
But before she could take more than a single step, a hand accurately seized the collar at the back of her neck.
Lin Qingyan grabbed Gu Xiaoli by the collar and dragged her back into place. His tone held the knowing air of someone who had been through this before, along with a deliberate hint of teasing reprimand.
“Stay out of grown-ups’ business, child.”
Gu Xiaoli’s little face instantly stiffened. She spun around and began wrestling with Lin Qingyan.
Meanwhile, Gu Chengyin had already entered the lounge.
The instant the door closed behind him, a soft, warm body rushed straight into his arms.
Two slender arms slipped around his waist and locked tightly together at the small of his back.
She hugged him with tremendous force, as though she wanted to merge her entire body into his.
Then Gu Chengyin heard Luo Zhao’s voice coming from against his chest, muffled and soft.
Every syllable sounded as though it had been soaked in honey, so sweet it was practically dripping.
“Master~ Good Doggy wants you~”
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
