Looking at the pile of rare and precious materials on the ground, each exuding spiritual energy and capable of causing a small sensation if taken out, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

Shen Zhaozhao seemed oblivious to the jaws of her senior brothers and sisters dropping in disbelief. She precisely picked out a shimmering jade slip from the pile of treasures and casually shoved it into the hands of Xiao Jingrui, who was still sitting on the ground clutching his broken alchemy furnace.

"Second Senior Brother."

Shen Zhaozhao spoke as casually as if she were handing over a head of cabbage, “The recipe for the Seven Aperture Exquisite Pill. I heard that this thing can forcefully break through bottlenecks. Perfect, take it and study it. We’re sure to succeed in our first batch!”

Xiao Jingrui: "..."

Wan Qianqiu: "..."

The Seven Orifices Exquisite Elixir?!

Isn't that the legendary ancient elixir, whose formula has long been lost and which can help cultivators achieve enlightenment and break through realms?!

Just like that... you casually shoved it over there?!

Xiao Jingrui's hand trembled violently, almost causing him to drop the cracked alchemy furnace he was holding onto the ground again.

He gripped the jade slip, warm to the touch yet weighing over a thousand pounds, his voice trembling: "Junior Sister...you...you must tell your senior brother the truth..."

Wan Qianqiu darted forward and grabbed Shen Zhaozhao's other arm tightly. The beautiful woman's face was full of panic: "Zhaozhao, did you go to Liuyunchuan to rob?! Which sect's treasure trove did you steal?!"

He was heartbroken, but his eyes gleamed with a strange light that seemed to say, "Tell me who it is, I want to go too!" He exclaimed, "You're only at the first level of the Golden Core stage! How dare you pull off such a huge heist?!"

"Where is morality?! Where is humanity?! Where is that fat sheep... no, where is the victim?! Tell your senior brother, and your senior brother will come to help you... uh, to help you calm the victim down!"

Xiao Jingrui nodded vigorously, his face filled with the eagerness to "take me with you," and added in a serious tone, "What is the cultivation level of the enemy's guards? Is their remaining strength sufficient? How many are in the Nascent Soul stage? Is there a powerful expert in the Deity Transformation stage overseeing things?"

"Junior sister, please explain in detail, and your senior brothers will help you consider it. Make sure to do it next time... uh, no, I mean make sure to assess the risks clearly!"

Shen Zhaozhao looked at the two senior brothers in front of her, who instantly switched from "shock" to "eager to try and pull off a heist," and her temples twitched twice.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead, speechless. "...Senior brothers, what are you talking about? Do you think I'm the kind of person who's ruthless, vicious, and robs people on the street?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingrui and Wan Qianqiu exchanged a glance, then turned their heads together to look at Shen Zhaozhao with extremely sincere, even slightly worried, eyes.

Wan Qianqiu spoke earnestly and earnestly: "Junior sister, as the saying goes, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.' 'Know yourself' comes first. Your understanding of yourself may have some... um... biases."

Xiao Jingrui nodded solemnly in agreement: "Yes, Junior Sister, recognizing one's own limitations is the foundation of cultivation. You... you really don't need to belittle yourself in this regard..."

Shen Zhaozhao: "..."

Are you two being sarcastic or sarcastic towards her?!

"I really didn't steal it," she said, pressing her temples, trying to explain, "It was Xie Linyuan, he—"

However, before Shen Zhaozhao could finish speaking, Qin Zhenzhen, who had been staring at the pile of refining materials, suddenly raised her head, her eyes suddenly shining brightly.

"Junior sister, I get it! Did you sell that damn lunatic Xie Linyuan in Yuntai Immortal Market?! And get a good price for it?! That's why you're so extravagant!"

Qin Zhenzhen's voice trembled slightly with excitement, her joy overflowing. The more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. Her eyes swept intently over the treasure on the ground: "I knew it! Although that lunatic is not mentally sound, his face and figure are absolutely top-notch!"

"There must be some rich woman or tycoon with special fetishes willing to pay a high price! Tell your senior sister quickly, how much did you sell? Who was the buyer? How long did it take? Can we have a long-term collaboration in the future?!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhaozhao was stunned.

Murong Xiao, standing beside him, was also stunned. His face turned deathly pale, and he was internally screaming, "What the hell?! This can be a long-term partnership?!"

However, unlike the bewildered two, the senior brothers who had been suffering from Xie Linyuan's mental torment seemed to be instantly awakened by Qin Zhenzhen's wildly imaginative yet inexplicably reasonable guess.

The three of them turned around abruptly, their six eyes fixed on Shen Zhaozhao with a desperate, longing gaze, burning with an intense expectation: "Please say it's true! Please! Say it's true!"

Murong Xiao looked at his master's reputation in the lower realm and covered his face in despair: "..."

Your Majesty?!

Your Majesty, what heinous crime have you committed in the mortal realm?!

Why do all your disciples seem to be so eager for your early ascension to heaven?!

Shen Zhaozhao looked utterly hopeless. She felt that she simply couldn't communicate with these senior brothers and sisters whose thought processes were so abnormal.

She took a deep breath, forcefully interrupting their increasingly outrageous fantasy: "...He wasn't sold. Xie Linyuan himself bought almost all the items at the auction in Yuntai Immortal City."

"He took all these photos."

These words caused silence to fall over the hall once again.

A moment later, Xiao Jingrui's voice rang out faintly, carrying a sense of despair: "Buy...buy the whole thing? The entire auction? That would cost...how many spirit stones?"

Shen Zhaozhao remained expressionless: "Three hundred thousand high-grade."

"Three or three hundred thousand...?!"

Xiao Jingrui murmured and repeated, "Ah...how familiar these numbers are..."

"So...so my inner demons...were real..."

His vision went black, his body swayed, and he almost fell over.

A debt of 300,000 high-grade spirit stones!

Even if you dismantle and sell it, you still can't pay it back!

When Shen Zhaozhao saw that her second senior brother's face was pale and he looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown, she quickly stepped forward to support him and hurriedly added, "Second senior brother, don't faint. This debt wasn't settled by the sect; Xie Linyuan settled it himself."

"He seems to own a top-grade mineral vein called Nine Nether Mystic Crystal, which is incredibly rich. We don't need to repay him at all."

"..."

Upon hearing the words "we don't need to repay you," Xiao Jingrui's breath returned to normal, and his vision cleared up.

But just two seconds later, he seemed to suddenly realize something. Instead of improving, his face turned bright red, and an indescribable anger surged to the top of his head!

"Wait, junior sister, wait a minute?!"

"What do you mean by him...?"

"There's a mine?!"

"ah?!"

Xiao Jingrui suddenly stood up straight, his voice cracking with extreme shock and frustration: "So that damn lunatic is rich?!"

"What was the point of him exploiting us every day to refine pills, poisons, and weapons for him in exchange for those pittances of spirit stones?!"

Holy crap!

Is he kidding me?!

Gaa!