Ever since the battle between the Righteous and Corrupt paths, Elder Sun had been incredibly depressed. He had failed to kill Long Chen, and Tu Fang had even managed to pick up some clues.

Once everyone had returned to the monastery, all the elders had received a huge number of merit points as rewards. However, he had obtained less than half of what the others had.

These so-called merit points were essentially what the disciples’ points were, but for Elders.

Using those merit points, Elders could exchange for whatever cultivation resources they needed from the monastery. If the monastery didn’t have it, then they could go to the supermonastery to exchange for it. The supermonastery was a level higher than the monastery, and it contained all kinds of treasures. Of course, the prerequisite was that you had enough merit points.

Merit points were essential for Elders. Their main source of merit points was from their monthly rations.

But participating in a huge battle would naturally earn you many more. During most of the battles between the Righteous and Corrupt paths, these Elders would obtain around a year’s worth of resources.

However, during the battle this time, the Elders had not just been bystanders but had personally taken action, undergoing life and death battles.

And so the rewards for this battle were much more plentiful, equivalent to around ten years of working in the monastery.

The other Elders had gone crazy with joy. Only Elder Sun’s reward had been cut in half.

But he also didn’t dare argue. That was because when Elder Tu Fang had given him his rewards, he had said, “The rewards are given out in accordance to how much effort you put in. You understand.”

Hearing him say ‘you understand’, Elder Sun’s complaints died in his stomach.

Elder Sun had gloomily returned to his immortal cave. The next day, a piece of news came that infuriated him even more. An Elder, who had fought remarkably during that battle, was replacing him as the Elder in charge of the Xuantian pavilion.

That news made him almost explode in fury. The monthly rations for Elders were split in accordance to their position. He had been in charge of the Xiantian pavilion for decades. He hadn’t expected Tu Fang to be so vicious and take away that position.

He was now essentially a sinecure Elder. A sinecure Elder had no position and would get the lowest amount of rations.

Even amongst the other Elders of the monastery, he had been a high-ranking figure. The other Elders would all have to be courteous when speaking to him.

But now because of just an ‘accident’, he had been suspended from his position. Without those resources, he would have to live sparingly and his cultivation would stall.

Due to that, Elder Sun had thickened his face and quietly gone to find Tu Fang to ask why he had done this.

And Tu Fang’s reply had almost made him explode:

“You understand.”

Elder Sun had directly returned to his immortal cave and destroyed all of his decorations and ornaments in his fury. He swore that if Tu Fang dared say those words to him again, he would throttle him.

During these days, Elder Sun had been unable to eat well, had been unable to sleep properly, and hadn’t had the heart to cultivate. He felt he might go crazy from his fury.

He knew Tu Fang was doing this because of his hidden trick. Tu Fang had failed to charge him for the matter of letting that Corrupt Elder attack Long Chen because of his perfect cover-up. This was just Tu Fang’s petty revenge after not being able to take him in.

On this day, Elder Sun had finally not been able to bear it any longer and had once more smashed apart the decorations of his immortal cave that had only just been replaced, making him feel much better.

“Reporting to Elder, Long Chen has come to see you.”

Just as Elder Sun’s mood had recovered a bit, Long Chen came in. Seeing the mess of his immortal cave, he clapped.

“Elder Sun really is amazing. You actually exercise so early in the morning!”

“Long Chen, you better stop boasting around me. Speak, what do you want? If you only came here to laugh at me, then get lost!” Elder Sun gloomily glared at Long Chen.

Long Chen was currently smiling like he had been blessed by the heavens. That caused Elder Sun’s fury to immediately reignite.

“Having lived for so long, you should try to stop getting so angry. Don’t the books say that people who can resist negativity have the strongest willpower? Looking at how negative you are, I’d say you need to work on that,” sighed Long Chen.

“Are you looking to die?!” raged Elder Sun. Long Chen’s insult of being a ‘negative person’ was directed to those male cultivators who trained in Yin techniques, becoming neither Yin or Yang, ending up neither male nor female.

“Looking for crap[1]? Correct, otherwise why would I be here? I came here precisely to look for a piece of crap like you!”

“Long Chen, don’t make me kill you!” Elder Sun’s eyes were completely red, and his aura completely erupted out. He was on the verge of going out of control.

“First of all, you aren’t able to kill me. Even if I don’t have Chu Yao’s support, you aren’t able to kill me instantly. Attacking me would just be a waste of energy. And furthermore, if you do attack, you’ll regret it for a lifetime. That’s because you’ll lose any chance of obtaining that thing you long for even in your dreams.”

Long Chen picked up a chair that only had a single leg broken. Leaning it against the wall, he sat on it comfortably, crossing his legs, looking at Elder Sun nonchalantly.

Elder Sun knew Long Chen really was a monster. Even if he didn’t have Chu Yao’s help, there was no way he would be able to kill him within just two or three moves.

And if he did try, his full strength would immediately break this immortal cave apart and attract other experts. He also knew that killing Long Chen was an impossibility.

Those words he had said were just because he was infuriated. However, hearing the last thing Long Chen said, he frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I want to make a trade with you.” Long Chen lightly brushed off some dust on his sleeve that had come from when he had picked up the chair.

“What trade?”

“What are you still putting up an act for? What do I have that you constantly want? Don’t try and fake it.” Long Chen coldly snorted disdainfully.

“Nonsense, what are you saying?!” raged Elder Sun. It was true that he wanted something from Long Chen, but he couldn’t admit that.

“It’s not that I want to look down on you, but I really do look down on you.”

Long Chen disdainfully shook his head. An old stone appeared in his hand. There were some strange diagrams on it that released an ancient aura.

Elder Sun’s pupils shrank the moment he saw that stone. He could tell that this stone was black zirconium. It was incredibly hard, and blades were unable to harm it.

Black zirconium was an extremely rare forging material. But its most amazing point was that it was used to pass down powerful cultivation techniques and Battle Skills.

Experts would carve their powerful techniques onto black zirconium. That black zirconium would manage to preserve a portion of that expert’s will and intent. That allowed later generations to comprehend it easier.

Furthermore, Long Chen’s black zirconium also contained that will and intent. Although it was a bit faint, someone as powerful as Elder Sun was capable of sensing it easily.

“Originally, I had wanted to make a trade with you. Unfortunately, you really are too shameless and refuse to admit to anything. Then just forget about it. You can continue acting like a hypocrite,” sneered Long Chen, standing up to leave.

“Wait a minute!” Elder Sun hastily called out.

Long Chen turned back to glance at him. “Why do you want me to wait? You want to kill me to silence me? Then let me say it again, it’s not that I want to look down on you, but I really do look down on you.”

Elder Sun immediately reddened. Long Chen’s words really were too insulting, but for this treasure, he could only endure.

“What do you want in trade?”

Elder Sun was extremely astute. He had investigated Long Chen’s origin. According to Long Chen’s status, there was no way he could recognize black zirconium. And so the chance of it being fake was not very high.

Furthermore, black zirconium was incomparably hard. To carve diagrams on it required at least a Xiantian cultivation base. Long Chen wouldn’t be able to fake it even if he wanted to.

The third point that proved it was true was the aura coming from that black zirconium. It was the exact same aura as the one from Long Chen’s divine ring.

Those three points all made Elder Sun believe that this really was Long Chen’s divine ring technique.

He didn’t know what Long Chen’s goal was, but Elder Sun really had been greedy for Long Chen’s cultivation technique for a long time. If there was a chance of him obtaining it, he definitely couldn’t let it slip by him.

“A trade has to be done amicably. Business must be done without anger. Otherwise, neither party will get rich. Your previous words have really ruined my mood. I don’t think I want to trade with you.” Long Chen turned to leave.

Elder Sun hastily moved in front of him. This was an extremely rare opportunity. He couldn’t let it slip by, or he would regret it for a lifetime.

“Long Chen, all things can be discussed. Why don’t you calm down first?” Elder Sun’s face really was as thick as tree bark. He actually smiled amicably.

“You want me to calm down? Alright, then first you have to admit that your previous words were just a fart.”

“... Fine, I admit that everything I said before was just a fart.” After hesitating for a moment, Elder Sun saw that Long Chen was about to leave and hastily called out.

“Ah, as expected of an eight-temper Elder. This fart really was strong. Admirable, really admirable!” Long Chen laughed.

Elder Sun’s expression was rather ugly, and killing intent was surging behind his eyes. Long Chen was nakedly insulting him.

However, in order to obtain that divine cultivation technique, he had to temporarily restrain himself. But inside, he was plotting how to quietly kill Long Chen as soon as he managed to obtain his cultivation technique.

Seeing that fake calmness and that unconcealable hate in his eyes, Long Chen sneered inside. You old fogey, you want my life? I’ll properly play with you until you’re dead.

Looking at Long Chen’s cold smile, for some reason, Elder Sun began to get a bad feeling.

“Tell me what you want. But remember, a trade has to be fair. Don’t bother trying to ask for too much.” Elder Sun wasn’t a fool. He couldn’t let Long Chen ask for too much, so he first spoke out to give himself an opportunity to haggle.

Long Chen handed over a sheet of paper. “Gather up everything on this page.”

Taking that page and giving it a look over, Elder Sun’s expression changed. “Absolutely not!”

[1] Crap and death can sound similar (shi vs xi).