11: Resource exchange turmoil, deacons take notice

The Outer Sect’s Hall of Deacons.

It was always like a pot of boiling water here, with noisy chatter and steaming heat.

Lin Gou threw himself into this pot of boiling water and instantly disappeared.

He deliberately reined in his aura, disguising his cultivation as Peak Qi Refining Stage 3, looking like a miserable wretch with one foot about to step into Stage 4, but stuck firmly at the threshold.

He silently lined up in front of an exchange window.

Behind the window, Deacon Li Hu was propping up his chin with his hand, his gaze wandering, looking as if his Soul had Emerged.

His cultivation at Qi Refining Stage 8 was his confidence to lord it over the Outer Sect.

But this confidence also made him completely uninterested in these Disciples with mediocre Aptitude and bleak futures.

“Deacon Li.”

Lin Gou cupped his hands, his posture as humble as a roadside weed.

Li Hu didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids.

A lazy monosyllable rumbled from his throat.

“Hm.”

The expected indifference made a strange sense of calm rise in Lin Gou’s heart.

Not being noticed was the best camouflage.

He said no more, slowly pulling out ten beads from his worn Storage Pouch.

Not too light, not too heavy, they were placed on the counter just right.

He deeply understood the essence of the Dao of Gou: keeping one’s wealth hidden was truth, but to get things done, one couldn’t be as poor as a ghost.

This one-third of his harvest was enough to make the other party spring from his chair, but not enough to alert the true wolves.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The ten pitch-black beads landed on the old wooden counter, making a dull sound like drumbeats, striking everyone’s heart.

A pure, teeth-grindingly potent Yin Qi, like thick ink dropped into water, exploded outwards.

The previously noisy Hall of Deacons seemed to have its mute button pressed, falling into a momentary dead silence.

The drowsy Li Hu’s nose twitched violently.

That chilling, bone-piercing aura made all the hairs on his body stand on end, jolting him back from his trance.

His gaze instinctively swept over.

The next second, his pupils suddenly constricted to a pinprick!

He froze in place as if struck by lightning, staring intently at the ten utterly dark beads, shimmering with an ominous glow.

“This… this is… High Grade Yin Qi Bead?!”

Li Hu’s voice suddenly rose, sharp and cracking.

His perpetually poker face shattered like porcelain hit by a heavy hammer, instantly collapsing, leaving only an unshakeable mixture of shock and greed.

He abruptly looked up, his snobbish eyes for the first time focusing so clearly on Lin Gou’s unremarkable face, clearly displaying three big words: IMPOSSIBLE!

High Grade Yin Qi Bead!

This stuff was a specialty only found in the core area of Blackwind Valley!

An ordinary Disciple finding even a Low Grade one would be enough to brag about until the end of the year!

This Qi Refining Stage 3 good-for-nothing, taking out ten at once?!

Was his father the Sect Master?!

“Yes, Deacon Li.”

Lin Gou seemed completely oblivious to the surrounding strangeness, forcing out a perfectly guileless smile, as innocent as a simple-minded rich kid who knew nothing of the world.

“This Disciple was… lucky in Blackwind Valley, purely lucky.”

Li Hu’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently, making a “gulp” sound as he swallowed.

Lucky?

You call this lucky?

What about the thousands of other Disciples who died in there? Did they not check the almanac before going out?

A tumultuous wave instantly surged in Li Hu’s heart, but he was a shrewd man after all; the shock on his face transformed into a deliberate, almost fawning, fervent smile within 0.1 seconds.

He gave Lin Gou a deep look, his tone so soft it could drip water, so polite it made the eavesdropping Disciples nearby get goosebumps.

“So it’s Junior Brother Lin! Oh, quickly, come, sit inside, standing is so tiring!”

“Junior Brother, these ten Peerless Grade… ah, no, High Grade Yin Qi Beads, do you plan to exchange them for contribution points, or Spirit Stones and Medicinal Pills? I, your Senior Brother, will give you the highest price!”

“This Disciple wishes to exchange for some Medicinal Pills to prepare for a Breakthrough to Qi Refining Middle Stage, and then some Spirit Stones,” Lin Gou continued to play the honest man.

“No problem! Absolutely no problem!”

Li Hu’s attitude was as enthusiastic as if he were a different person; he swiftly took out a jade tray, his movements as gentle as caressing a lover’s face, carefully inspecting each Yin Qi Bead.

After confirming they were genuine, the smile on his face bloomed like a chrysanthemum.

“Junior Brother Lin, we hit it off at first sight! According to the rules, one High Grade Yin Qi Bead exchanges for eighty contribution points, or seventy Low-Grade Spirit Stones. I, your Senior Brother, will make the decision to give you one hundred contribution points per bead! Or ninety Spirit Stones! What do you think?!”

Lin Gou chuckled inwardly; this speed of changing faces, it would be a waste if he didn’t go into opera.

This was precisely the effect he wanted.

“Then many thanks for Deacon Li’s kind favor.”

Ultimately, five Yin Qi Beads were exchanged for five hundred contribution points, and the other five were exchanged for a full four hundred fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Suddenly rich overnight.

Li Hu even “enthusiastically” recommended the “Three-Pattern Qi Gathering Pill” specifically for Breakthroughs and the excellent life-saving “Rapid Rejuvenation Pill,” personally escorting him to the main entrance of the Hall of Deacons, waving goodbye with a posture as if seeing off his own father.

As soon as Lin Gou disappeared around the corner.

A familiar Deacon furtively sidled over, his face alight with gossip.

“Old Li, have you gone mad? What’s that kid’s background, for you to serve him like that?”

Li Hu reined in his smile, chuckled, and lowered his voice even softer than a mosquito’s.

“That kid is a Dragon! He took out ten High Grade Yin Qi Beads at once, without even batting an eye!”

“What?!” The Deacon beside him gasped, “Qi Refining Stage 3… ten High Grade… he couldn’t have ransacked Blackwind Valley, could he?!”

“Whether I believe it or not doesn’t matter.”

Li Hu tapped the counter meaningfully.

“What matters is that he took them out. Such a person is either a true Dragon who had Heaven-Defying luck, or a massive Dragon with powerful backing. Either way, they are not someone us mudskippers can afford to offend.”

“From now on, keep your eyes peeled.”

...Meanwhile, Lin Gou had already returned to his dilapidated, drafty shack.

He closed the door, locked it, and set up a warning Formation Plate stripped from a dead man’s body.

He let out a long breath, the guileless smile on his face instantly vanishing, replaced by a cold, playful glint.

He took out the newly acquired “Three-Pattern Qi Gathering Pill,” and without even looking, popped one into his mouth like a candy bean.

He was already at Qi Refining Stage 7 Perfection; pretending to break through to Qi Refining Stage 4 now was easier than drinking water.

Boom!

A faint wave of Qi spread out from him, stirring up the dust on the ground.

Qi Refining Stage 4, achieved.

Lin Gou did not stop, swallowing another one.

Qi Refining Stage 5, also achieved.

Only when he had precisely “advanced” his cultivation to Qi Refining Stage 5 Middle Stage, feeling that this “rate of progress” was sufficiently astounding yet still within the understandable scope of a “Peerless Genius,” did he stop with satisfaction.

“Qi Refining Stage 5. Now, this should make certain people develop a little ‘interest’ in me, right?”

Lin Gou’s lips curved into a cold arc as he put away the remaining Medicinal Pills and Spirit Stones.

He flipped his hand, taking out the “Corpse Refinement Insights” that had dropped from the Centennial Corpse Fiend, his eyes sparkling with eager excitement.

“The Blackwind Valley death experience package was truly value for money, five stars!”

“Next…”

“Within the Sect, there should also be many good places where I can ‘die young,’ right?”

His gaze seemed to pierce through the walls, heading towards the most bustling and most prone to “accidental deaths” training grounds within the Sect.

“For example, the upcoming Sect Tournament?”

“Hmm, I need to plan carefully. Being accidentally killed by an Inner Sect Prodigy should come with generous rewards, right?”