Chapter 49: Reward in Hand, A Night Talk Among Three

Gu Fan smiled upon hearing those words.

Whatever else could be said about Zhou Rong, at the very least he knew how to handle people.

He didn’t show an arrogant attitude just because the mission was a success.

In fact, at the banquet, he had even worried that the two of them might be neglected and had personally come over to toast them.

That one phrase—“between us”—immediately shortened the distance between the three, proving he was a master of manipulating hearts.

“Your Highness must be joking. It’s not like the two of us sacrificed ourselves. After all, we’re getting spirit stones out of it.”

“Haha, true, very true.”

As he spoke, Zhou Rong turned his hand and handed over two storage pouches to them.

Gu Fan glanced inside and was slightly surprised.

Inside the storage pouch lay eight thousand spirit stones!

“You two fulfilled the task as promised. Five thousand spirit stones are deserved. Another one thousand comes from the share that would’ve gone to those other useless guest cultivators. The remaining two thousand are my personal apology—after all, this matter ended up involving Daoist Yuqing and caused you both harm. Please don’t refuse.”

Gu Fan laughed heartily.

“Your Highness is too courteous. Then we’ll respectfully accept!”

At this point, Lin Yi tossed another four thousand spirit stones to Gu Fan.

“You killed Lian Huo alone. You should get a bigger share.”

“You’re really giving this to me?”

“Of course. I don’t lack spirit stones, but you’ve always seemed kind of broke.”

“……”

Zhou Rong burst out laughing at the sight and raised his cup to offer a smooth transition.

“Come, come, your little brother has officially become the crown prince today. I’m truly exhilarated. Tonight, we must make up for the regret at the Hero Gathering Pavilion back then—we shall not leave until drunk!”

Immediately, cups clinked and laughter echoed—what a lively night.

That night, outside the Second Prince’s palace residence.

As soon as Gu Fan and Lin Yi stepped into the courtyard, they saw Zhu Yang sitting at a stone table off to the side, sipping tea.

The two exchanged a glance, and Lin Yi took a step forward, performing a disciple’s salute.

“Disciple greets Master!”

“Disciple greets Elder!”

Zhu Yang looked up and smiled at the two of them.

“Come, sit down and let’s talk.”

Once they were seated, Zhu Yang poured each of them a cup of tea.

“This mission was tough, I hear? Word is you were being hunted down the moment you stepped off the Immortal Boat?”

Lin Yi nodded, visibly irritated.

“Yes, Master. Our sect seriously needs to be reorganized. There are people leaking the whereabouts of our own disciples to the Righteous Path!”

Zhu Yang merely smiled as he sipped his tea, saying nothing.

“What’s worse is that Brother Gu and I had already guessed someone might leak our whereabouts, so we left the Immortal Boat halfway.”

“Even then, someone still came to kill us that very night!”

Zhu Yang’s brows twitched slightly, and then he looked toward Gu Fan.

Seeing that, Gu Fan quickly nodded.

“It’s true.”

After a moment of silence, Zhu Yang spoke again.

“Do you have any idea who might be responsible?”

“Yes!”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Though I tend to speak bluntly and easily offend people, the only ones I’ve truly offended are Liu Qingyao and her master, Elder Zhao Ting!”

Zhu Yang smiled, then said with subtle implication:

“In that case, whether it’s really her or not, it might as well be her. When you return to the sect, take care of it yourself. As for her master, you don’t need to worry about that threat.”

Gu Fan’s eyes lit up.

Ever since his cultivation had soared, the one thing he regretted was not killing Liu Qingyao.

Back then in the sect, killing two people in succession wasn’t feasible, so he had only killed Qin Shaokong and left immediately.

Thinking back now, he still felt a tinge of regret.

Zhu Yang then looked at his disciple Lin Yi, his expression softening slightly.

“Not bad. In just over ten days, you’ve advanced by a whole layer in cultivation, and you’re speaking much more properly now.”

Lin Yi scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.

“It’s all thanks to Brother Gu’s good teaching…”

“You both did well on this mission. I just asked Zhou Rong about it—he’s very pleased with the outcome of this Autumn Wild Hunt.”

At that moment, Gu Fan furrowed his brows slightly.

The Autumn Wild Hunt?

“Feeling a bit confused? Actually, Zhou Rong isn’t bad at all when it comes to handling matters. You two don’t seriously think the mission was just to hand him the scroll, do you?”

The two of them froze for a moment, then turned to Zhu Yang with questioning eyes.

“The real mission was to help Zhou Rong accomplish something. Back in the day, I had a connection with Zhou Rong’s mother. So when he sought my help, I sent the two of you to fulfill his request. I just didn’t expect that you would meet and strike a deal even before the scroll was opened—completing the transaction for five thousand spirit stones.”

At this moment, Gu Fan suddenly recalled the pained expression Zhou Rong had shown when opening the scroll.

It must have been hard for him to imagine that the expensive hired thugs he brought in were already his own guest cultivators.

But this, too, proved Zhou Rong’s boldness.

Once the deal was made, he never brought it up again!

Zhu Yang didn’t waste more words and went straight to the point with the two of them:

“As long as Zhou Rong is satisfied, I will not go back on my word. First, Gu Fan—within the sect from now on, Zhao Ting’s tricks will no longer target you! Secondly, the opportunity to contend for an Upper Realm spot…”

At these words, Gu Fan’s interest was piqued.

Among all the rewards from this mission, the most tempting one was undoubtedly the chance to compete for a spot in the Upper Realm!

He had to seize it!

On the other side, Lin Yi was also looking at his master with anticipation.

After all, his cultivation method required him to constantly challenge powerful foes—only through pressure and killing could he improve rapidly.

And a competition for Upper Realm quotas was bound to attract all kinds of proud geniuses—how could he miss out?

Of course, he also wanted to enter the Upper Realm.

Seeing the two of them staring at him with burning eyes, Zhu Yang chuckled.

“I have two spots in my hand, and naturally, I’ll give them to you two. But let me say this upfront—the competition for the Upper Realm quotas is the ultimate goal of every young cultivator in this world. It’s not uncommon to see even mid-stage Primordial Yang Realm cultivators participating!”

“Mid-stage Primordial Yang?!” Gu Fan asked, puzzled.

“But the senior brother of Shangqing Sect is only at half-step Primordial Yang. Are there even stronger sects out there?”

“Hehe, there’s always someone stronger out there,” Zhu Yang chuckled while stroking his white beard.

“Indeed, among righteous sects it’s Shangqing Sect, and among the demonic, it’s the Heavenly Evil Sect that reign supreme. But the world still hides reclusive noble families and ancient holy lands that rarely show themselves. Though their overall power might not match the top sects, their internal foundations are deep, and their clans nurture many monstrous geniuses.”

“Thanks to that deep-rooted heritage, those disciples are no weaker than the top talents from our sects.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi grinned—what he loved most was challenging the strong, and killing them to pave his own path!

As for Gu Fan, the mention of “deep-rooted heritage” sparked his interest too. That meant they’d have lots of treasures! Slaughter them all and loot their belongings—he’d be filthy rich!

Don’t be fooled by the pile of spirit stones he had just earned in the Great Qian Dynasty; behind him was a bottomless pit!

The Annihilation Evil Lotus was consuming spirit stones at an alarming rate!

This batch wouldn’t last long!

But what would he do when they ran out?

Just sit there and wait to die?

Stop cultivating the Evil Lotus? Give up the divine powers granted by the lotus seeds?

And what about that feedback effect of continuous cultivation twenty-four hours a day? Once he’d experienced that, there was no going back.

So, spirit stones? He’d never have too many. He had to keep earning more!

Thinking this, Gu Fan grinned too.

“Thank you, Elder!”

“Thank you, Master!”

As for those so-called genius disciples?

Heh… sorry, not sorry.

They probably had no idea that two starving wolves were about to be unleashed into their flock of sheep!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep