As soon as the words registered in his mind, he was relatively certain that he wasn’t in trouble. Whenever members of the Senior generation spoke like that, it was like they were brandishing a club, only to hand out rewards afterward.
Having realized this, Bai Xiaochun immediately knew what to do next. Gasping, he plastered an expression onto his face that was a mix of bitterness, defiance, and anger. At the same time, he tried to look like he felt deep respect for the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, and hoped to rise within its ranks, but simultaneously, missed the River-Defying Sect. As these expressions all played out on his face, it created the perfect complicated look that a hostage should have.
As he stood there silently, he clasped hands and bowed deeply, as though he had thousands of words he wished to speak, and yet didn’t. Instead, he was simply waiting to see what would happen to him.
Although he didn’t say anything, his expression spoke volumes.
Bai Xiaochun had mastered this tactic of responding to accusations with righteous indignation back in the Blood Stream Sect, and had always found it to be particularly effective.
As for the cold-faced young woman, when she saw the expression on Bai Xiaochun’s face, her jaw dropped.
The voice which had just spoken out from the mountain maintained silence for a moment before continuing, “Fine, we’ll let the matter drop. After all, you’re a hostage from the River-Defying Sect, which is an important sect connected to the Sky Quarter. Give me the formula for the Fantasy Pill. It has some blemishes, but at the same time, could come in useful.”
Bai Xiaochun hesitated, causing a protracted moment of silence. Then, the ancient voice once again spoke from within the seven-colored light shining out of the temple. “I won’t force you to give it to me for free. I’ll pay you 1,000,000 merit points, and immediately promote you to a yellow-robed disciple. Henceforth, you will no longer reside in Sky City!”
When the young female cultivator heard this, her eyes went wide, and she looked up at the temple in shock.
Bai Xiaochun was feeling very pleased with himself, but didn’t let that show on his face. Actually, he was feeling a bit of disdain at the moment. After all, he had plenty of merit points, and if he’d wanted to be promoted to the rainbow district, he could have done it long ago. He often spent tens of thousands of merit points on a single meal, not to mention all of the puppet maid servants he had to wait upon him.
Plus, he had lots of subordinates to take care of. In the end, his monthly expenses probably exceeded 1,000,000 merit points.
“Only a complete moron would come here,” he thought. “Life is great back in Sky City! I’m super powerful, my cultivation goes really quickly, and nobody causes me any problems!” Bai Xiaochun had already decided that he didn’t want to be promoted to the rainbow district, and this trip had proved it. Everyone had cold expressions here, and it didn’t look like a fun place at all.
Upon hearing the peak lord’s offer, Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, clasped hands and bowed deeply, his expression more somber than ever.
Sounding profoundly righteous, he spoke out in a loud voice, “Peak Lord, of course disciple is willing to give you the pill formula. As for the merit points, I don’t want them. I have no desire to become a yellow-robed disciple in that fashion. That’s simply not my style. Bai Xiaochun will become a yellow-robed disciple with the merit points he earns with his own two hands!”
The cold-looking young female cultivator looked at Bai Xiaochun again. Moments ago, her Master the peak lord’s offer had been completely astonishing to her. In all her years as his apprentice, this was her first time hearing him be so generous. But then, her shock only continued to grow as Bai Xiaochun refused the offer!
She couldn’t help but gasp. Never before had she seen anyone turn down such an opportunity; 1,000,000 merit points was a huge sum to any cultivator. It was the type of savings most people spent an entire sixty-year-cycle building up.
As for the peak lord, were it not for the fact that he had already heard about Bai Xiaochun’s antics in Sky City, he would also have been shocked. After all, throughout all his years serving as the peak lord, he had never seen any disciple turn down the opportunity to become a yellow-robed disciple.
Up in the temple, he was sitting there with an odd expression on his face, looking off to the side, where stood the vague image of a white-robed young woman. Melancholy and other mixed emotions could be seen on her face as she looked at Bai Xiaochun.
She seemed to exist somewhere between illusory and corporeal, and was difficult to see clearly. However, from the way the air around her distorted and filled with rifts, it was possible to determine that she either had a shocking cultivation base, or possessed some unimaginably powerful precious treasure!
When the young woman didn’t react to Bai Xiaochun’s statement, the Sky Quarter peak lord’s frustration rose. The truth was that he didn’t need the medicine formula at all, nor did he want it. However, someone who he didn’t dare to provoke had tasked him with watching out for Bai Xiaochun, and therefore, he had been looking for an opportunity to give him a large sum of merit points.
But without a good excuse, how could he stoop to helping a mere Core Formation cultivator? After all, he was the Sky Quarter peak lord, and although he wasn’t a deva, he was half a step into that realm, and a hostage definitely wasn’t someone he should care about.
And yet, here Bai Xiaochun had gone and rejected his offer.
The peak lord was starting to feel very frustrated. After all, the person he didn’t dare to provoke, the one who had made the demands of him to begin with, was standing right next to him. It was none other than that young woman in the white robe!
“Cut the crap!” he said. “Considering my status, you think I’m just going to take things from you? Tell me what you want, and as long as it’s in my power, I’ll meet your demands!”
Bai Xiaochun wasn’t the only one to gape in response to the words. The cold-faced female cultivator gasped; as of this day, her view of her Master had changed. Clearly, he wasn’t trying to trade with Bai Xiaochun, he was simply handing things over to him….
“What powerful backer does this Bai Xiaochun have!?” she thought, looking at him with wide eyes, her heart pounding.
Shocked, Bai Xiaochun looked up toward the dazzling temple at the peak of the mountain, and suddenly felt a bit nervous. Something about the whole situation seemed odd, as if this peak lord wouldn’t let him go without giving him something. In fact, it seemed like refusing the offer would enrage the man.
Even as he hesitated, the peak lord once again demanded that he hurry up and accept the offer.
Bai Xiaochun grit his teeth. Eyes sparkling, he looked up at the temple and said, “Peak Lord, disciple is extremely grateful for your kind intentions. If you truly wish to give me something, Senior, well… down in Sky City you have to rent everything. I really can never feel at home. After coming here all alone, sir, I really wish I could have my own piece of land, something that belongs just to me. What do you think?
“When I find the right location, I’ll build myself a little mansion right on top of it….” With that, he looked up toward the mountain peak, anticipation written on his face.
Although he had been a bit hesitant to make the request, it was to his surprise that he saw a seven-colored beam of light immediately fly out from the temple and come to a stop right in front of him in the form of a little seven-colored flag.