Chapter 38 What are you babbling about, you poor bastard?

In Riftwind Valley, a large crowd gathered in front of Shen Zhaozhao's stall.

"Fellow Daoist Shen! I have three here!"

"Senior Sister Chen! Take mine! I'll take two!"

"Make way! Make way! I was here first!"

The cultivators, whose cultivation levels were generally at the first or second stage of Foundation Establishment and who had come in simply to make up the numbers or to face reality, surrounded Chen Zhaozhao's stall, scrambling to take out the spirit cores that were uncomfortable in their arms and that they were afraid of having them snatched away.

The pile of spirit cores at her feet grew wildly upwards as if inflated.

Little Yellow's golden figure transformed into a diligent golden lightning bolt. Every time it returned, it would accurately drop a pile of fresh spoils onto the pile of spirit cores with a "clatter." Then, its eyes would be fixed on Shen Zhaozhao until she waved her hand gracefully, indicating "If you can handle this, then go catch more." Only then would it "whoosh" contentedly and continue its work.

In just half a day, the mountain of spirit cores in front of Shen Zhaozhao had grown to a considerable size, roughly counting more than 300.

Pei Lang and his fellow disciples from the Crimson Cloud Sect had long forgotten about the "dignity of the Crimson Cloud Sect." They squatted by the campfire, skewering chickens until their fingers were almost cramping, all to satisfy Xiao Huang's bottomless stomach.

After seeing off the last wave of cultivators who were like hot potatoes, the pile of spirit cores in front of Shen Zhaozhao had swelled up to look like a small golden mountain.

She weighed the 10 high-grade spirit stones that Pei Lang had prepaid, then readily counted out 100 spirit cores and pushed them in front of Pei Lang with a "whoosh".

Pei Lang had just received the pile of glittering spirit cores when he subconsciously looked up at the huge light screen at the entrance of the valley—he saw that the line representing his name had jumped to an extremely eye-catching "100," and his ranking had instantly soared from the bottom of the valley to second place.

"hiss!"

Pei Lang gasped sharply, and an unprecedented, simple, and extremely comfortable warm current instantly flowed through his body!

So this is the joy of throwing money around?!

Pei Lang's beautiful fox-like eyes suddenly flashed with an amazing light, as if he had opened the door to a new world. He stood up abruptly, ripped off the flashy storage bag from his waist, and threw it into Shen Zhaozhao's arms without even looking at it!

"Take it!"

Pei Lang leaned against a nearby rock like a boss, crossed his legs, and raised his chin so high it seemed to pierce the sky: "I'll take all the rest!"

His posture and tone were exactly like those of a nouveau riche who had just acquired immense wealth and was ready to shower the world with money.

Just as Shen Zhaozhao grasped the heavy storage bag, before she could even feel the thickness of the spirit stones inside, a voice as cold as an icy spring suddenly interrupted: "Buy it all?"

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried a sharp, sword-like edge.

The newcomer had a cold and stern face and a tall and straight figure. He was none other than Chu Xiao, the outstanding member of the Yunmiao Sword Sect in this competition and a nemesis of Pei Lang since childhood, who wished he could kill him at any opportunity.

Chu Xiao's cold eyes swept over Pei Lang, who was sitting with his legs crossed and a "I'm rich" look on his face. The corner of his mouth turned down very slightly, and he let out an undisguised sneer: "Isn't your tone a bit too arrogant?"

Immediately, he turned his gaze to Shen Zhaozhao, his tone softening somewhat, carrying the reserve of a top sect disciple: "Fellow Daoist Shen, I would like to buy some spirit cores. You can name your price."

"puff--"

Pei Lang laughed as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. He pointed at Chu Xiao, laughing so hard that tears were almost coming out of his eyes: "Chu Xiao, did you damage your brain from practicing swordsmanship last night?"

"Want to buy a spirit core? Ask me if I agree!"

He shook his head smugly, winked at Shen Zhaozhao, and said with a smug confidence that said, "Shen Zhaozhao, you tell him, what's our relationship? Who does he think he is? You'd sell him out? No way!"

However, before Pei Lang could finish speaking, Shen Zhaozhao already had a smile on her face, which was quite professional: "150 low-grade spirit stones for one spirit core, cash on delivery, how many do you want?"

Pei Lang's smug smile froze instantly: "Shen Zhaozhao!!!"

A piercing roar, loud enough to pierce through Riftwind Valley, suddenly exploded out.

Pei Lang looked exactly like a heartless wife abandoned by her unfaithful lover, her voice trembling with tears: "How could you do this to me?! What happened to our camaraderie of fighting side by side?! Did it all go to waste?! You actually sold him out for a few spirit stones?!"

"What do you mean by 'a little bit of spirit stones'?"

Shen Zhaozhao glared at Pei Lang, her words utterly defiant: "I can earn an extra 100 per item by selling them to him, and you won't let me? How could you treat me like this? What happened to our camaraderie as comrades-in-arms?! Did it all go to waste?!"

Pei Lang: "???"

Ah, no, ah? ? ?

Chu Xiao scoffed at Pei Lang, who was still clueless, and then took out three high-grade spirit stones brimming with spiritual energy from his storage bag. He tossed them precisely into Chen Zhaozhao's arms and said succinctly, "Ten stones."

Shen Zhaozhao replied decisively: "Okay!"

After Chu Xiao obtained the spirit core, the jade pendant at his waist flashed, and the number after "Chu Xiao" on the screen jumped up, instantly propelling his ranking from sixth to fifth.

Seeing Chu Xiao's utterly provocative demeanor, Pei Lang narrowed his fox-like eyes and scanned him up and down several times. Then, as if struck by a sudden realization, he exclaimed "Oh—"

The last syllable of that sounded incredibly drawn out, and it was clearly meant to be punched.

"Ah, I see."

Pei Lang glanced sideways at Chu Xiao, his eyes filled with a sense of superiority as if he had "seen through the truth": "So, after all that fuss, you only bought ten yuan?"

"So that's why Shen Zhaozhao agreed to sell you out. I guess she saw through your empty purse that wouldn't yield many spirit stones, posing no threat to me whatsoever."

"Thinking about it, it makes sense. Even if you could buy as many sword cultivators as you wanted, could you afford it?"

"Poor bastard."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiao's handsome, cold face instantly turned frosty. All his airs of a sword immortal and his aloof self-control vanished in an instant after Pei Lang uttered those two words.

"You good-for-nothing who can only draw scribbles, do you even deserve to comment on my Cloud Misty Sword Sect?" Chu Xiao's voice sounded like it was squeezed out from between his teeth, with a harsh metallic clang.

Pei Lang put his hands on his hips and raised his chin even higher: "What are you babbling about, you poor bastard?"

"???"

Chu Xiao was so angry that his hand gripping the sword trembled. "What are you showing off just because you have a few worthless spirit stones?!"

Pei Lang: "Poor bastard."

Chu Xiao: "You—without the talisman, you're just a good-for-nothing wastrel who can't even utter a peep!"

Pei Lang: "You're a poor bastard."

Chu Xiao: "..."

Chu Xiao felt a tightness in his chest and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

All the carefully prepared, sharp words that could prove one's strength is superior to the opponent's and belittle the opponent's ancestral privilege seem so pale and powerless in the face of these two simple and crude words.

"Oh."

Suddenly, Chu Xiao chuckled, his cool gaze falling lightly on Pei Lang.

Just as Pei Lang could accurately pinpoint Chu Xiao's weaknesses, Chu Xiao, who had been fighting with Pei Lang since childhood, also knew exactly what he should say to disgust him the most.

Pei Lang.

Chu Xiao curled his lips into a smile: "I don't like you anymore."

...

…………

………………

Pei Lang: "???"

The other cultivators from various sects, who had just arrived at Shen Zhaozhao's stall and were preparing to buy spirit cores, were as follows: "???"

Shen Zhaozhao: "Yo~~"