21: He brought shame upon himself.

The middle-aged attendant turned to Yao Delong, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

To completely ignore the pressure and killing intent of a Golden Core Cultivator, this withered old man’s Heart-Nature was truly rare.

He didn't waste any more words, directly retrieving a Pill Furnace from the depths of the counter. It was entirely black, antique in style, with three legs and two ears, and its body was inscribed with complex and profound flame runes.

As the lid slightly lifted, a pure and scorching aura rushed out!

“The earth fire spirit nurturing furnace, a High-Grade Spiritual Artifact Pill Furnace. It contains a wisp of Earth Fire Essence, which can assist in fire control and Pill condensation, increasing the Pill formation rate, and is especially effective for fire-attribute Medicinal Pills.

Price: forty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.”

Yao Delong’s eyes lit up. A fine item! This furnace was countless times better than his broken black furnace!

“Can an old thing like you afford it?” Wu Feng’s tone was filled with malicious pleasure.

After forcibly suppressing his anger, he saw that Yao Delong dared to inquire about a High-Grade Spiritual Artifact Pill Furnace.

He immediately found a new outlet for his frustration and a point for humiliation.

“Forty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones! Do you even know how much that is?”

He scanned the surroundings, his voice suddenly rising with provocative mockery.

“Let this Senior Brother help you calculate! One Mid-Grade Spirit Stone is equivalent to one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

Forty stones, that’s four thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!”

“A regular Outer Sect Disciple’s monthly stipend is only twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones! An Inner Sect Disciple gets fifty! A Core Disciple gets a hundred!

A Personal Disciple barely gets 3 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!” With every sentence Wu Feng spoke, the laughter of the surrounding Disciples grew louder.

Countless looks of disdain and schadenfreude pierced Yao Delong like needle points.

“Four thousand stones! Without eating or drinking, an Outer Sect Disciple would have to save up for two hundred months!

An Inner Sect Disciple would still need to save for eight months! Even if you were a Personal Disciple—oh, right!”

Wu Feng pretended to realize something, dramatically smacking his forehead.

“You’re just a useless Great Master Senior Brother of Luoxia Peak, not even a Core Disciple!

I’m afraid you can’t even collect the full twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones monthly stipend, can you?”

“Hahaha!”

“Did you hear that? Four thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!”

“That old thing probably couldn't gather even a fraction of that even if he sold his coffin savings!”

“This is hilarious! Hurry up and scram, stop making a fool of yourself here!”

“Exactly! Why don’t you take a look in the mirror? A High-Grade Spiritual Artifact Pill Furnace? Buying a simple stove is more like it!”

Laughter, mockery, and disdain drowned Yao Delong like a tide.

Wu Feng stood with his arms crossed, his face filled with retaliatory satisfaction. He wanted to watch this old thing become utterly miserable and a complete laughingstock in front of everyone!

Lin Qingxue’s face was pale, filled with anger and anxiety, and the hand gripping her ice soul sword trembled slightly.

Forty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones! How could Great Master Senior Brother possibly produce that?

She subconsciously reached for her Storage Pouch, but as her fingertips touched the cold fabric, her heart sank.

She knew her own situation best.

As a Sword Cultivator, Cultivating the 'Ice Soul Sword Art' was inherently costly.

Whether it was purchasing cold-attribute Medicinal Pills and Spiritual materials to aid in Cultivation,

or maintaining and nourishing her Flying Sword, the 'Ice Soul,' it required a massive amount of Spirit Stone support.

She had poured almost all the Spirit Stones she acquired into her Cultivation, seeking to increase her strength as quickly as possible.

Aside from some spare Low-Grade Spirit Stones and necessary Medicinal Pills and Talismans, her Storage Pouch held virtually no savings.

Let alone forty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, she absolutely couldn't scrape together even ten right now!

She desperately wanted to pull her Senior Brother away from this troublesome place immediately.

However, right at the peak of the clamor, under Wu Feng’s triumphant gaze, and with countless eyes focused on the impending spectacle,

Yao Delong’s withered face remained completely unmoved, as if everything around him belonged to a different world.

He didn’t even glance at Wu Feng, nor did he acknowledge the harsh mockery.

He was simply seen rubbing his hand, which resembled a dried branch, against the dusty, inconspicuous old Storage Ring.

Everyone’s laughter seemed to be choked by an invisible hand!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Under the gazes of countless people, which had suddenly solidified and were filled with disbelief—

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

A crisp, pleasant sound of colliding Spirit Stones rang out!

Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, each shimmering with an attractive luster and suffused with Spiritual Qi, poured out from the Storage Ring like flowing water,

landing precisely, one after another, onto the red sandalwood counter in front of the middle-aged attendant.

One! Two! Three!... Ten! Twenty! Thirty!... Forty!

Not a single one more, not a single one less—exactly forty pieces!

The gentle spiritual light reflected on Wu Feng’s face, which instantly stiffened, twisted, and finally turned livid.

It also reflected in the eyes of every Disciple around, whose laughter had turned to shock, their mouths wide enough to fit an egg!

Dead silence!

Absolute dead silence!

Inside the Treasure Hall, a pin drop could be heard! Only the Spiritual Qi fluctuations emanating from the forty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones silently washed over everyone’s nerves!

Lin Qingxue’s beautiful eyes were wide, her cherry lips slightly parted. She looked as if she had been subjected to a body-fixing spell,

staring in disbelief at the small mountain of Spirit Stones on the counter,

then looking at her Great Master Senior Brother beside her, who was weak in aura yet as calm as a steady rock!

The muscles on Wu Feng’s face twitched violently. His eyes were fixed on the pile of Spirit Stones, his eyeballs practically popping out!

Rage, shock, shame, and a sharp, painful sensation of being publicly slapped intertwined,

making his whole body tremble slightly.

Four thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones! Forty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones! How could this old waste... possibly produce that?!

The middle-aged attendant, who had been watching coldly before, now had a fierce gleam bursting from his eyes!

He carefully scanned the Spirit Stones piled on the counter. Every piece contained pure spiritual power; there was no problem whatsoever.

“The quantity and quality are both correct.” The middle-aged attendant’s voice broke the silence.

He raised his hand and swept the forty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones into his sleeve,

then pushed the “earth fire spirit nurturing furnace,” which emitted a scorching aura, toward Yao Delong.

Yao Delong was expressionless. His withered hand gently stroked the black furnace body,

feeling the warm texture and the majestic Fire Origin Power contained within.

He didn’t even glance at the petrified Wu Feng or the stunned Disciples, directly taking the Pill Furnace into his Storage Ring.

“Junior Sister, let’s go.”

He said flatly, as if he had just bought a common fire poker.

Lin Qingxue awoke from her daze, forcefully suppressing the towering waves in her heart, and quickly supported Yao Delong.

This time, she felt that her Great Master Senior Brother’s withered arm seemed to contain an indescribable power.

It wasn’t until their figures vanished at the doorway that the Treasure Hall erupted with a ‘boom’!

“I... I didn’t see wrong, did I? Fo-forty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones?!”

“That old thing... Yao Delong?! Where did he get them?!”

“Martial Brother Wu’s face... Hiss...”

“Junior Sister Lin... what is the background of that old man?”

The whispers were like boiling water, full of shock and confusion. No one dared to mock him loudly anymore.

As for Wu Feng, he remained rigidly in place, his face turning from livid to liver-colored, finally settling into a frightening pallor.

He stared at the direction Yao Delong had disappeared, his eyes burning with unprecedented malice and killing intent, his teeth grinding audibly.

“Yao! Delong!”

These three words were practically squeezed from between his teeth, carrying bone-deep hatred.

The humiliation of today was extraordinary. If this person was not eliminated, a stain that could never be erased would forever remain for Wu Feng in the Sect, in the Treasure Hall,

and even in his own heart!

But before making a move, he had to figure out what this old waste was hiding!