66: Chapter 66 My Wife's Fee is Very High

Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao was left speechless by Jiang Feng's words.

He stared at the small Qi Refining Stage 6 Cultivator before him, an indescribable sense of awkwardness swirling in his heart.

What had just been said was equivalent to pointing at Patriarch Qin Hai's nose and threatening him in front of all the guests.

Yet Patriarch Qin Hai, a dignified Late-stage Foundation Establishment figure who had long been famous in Huoyang Commandery, had actually swallowed that insult.

What exactly was the background of this Jiang Feng, and the Qixia Alchemy Pavilion behind him?

The slight dignity Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao felt as the Commandery Lord quietly dissipated.

When he looked at Jiang Feng again, that disdain for a Qi Refining Cultivator had turned into an unfathomable wariness.

He waved his hand, signaling the attendants to withdraw, and his voice became somewhat dry as a result.

"Very well, let us begin."

Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao cleared his throat, attempting to steer the strange atmosphere in the meeting hall back on track.

"Everyone, you must all be aware of the situation at Black Mountain."

"The Beast Tide is approaching; it is the great calamity that strikes Huoyang Commandery every thirty years. Yet, within this calamity, there is also an Opportunity. The Black Mountain Secret Realm will open accordingly."

His gaze swept over the three heads of the Families present.

"According to custom, to suppress the Beast Tide and enter the Secret Realm safely, we must gather five Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage or higher to set up the 'Five Elements Suppressing Demon Formation' in the heart of Black Mountain."

"I, as the Commandery Lord, shall naturally take the lead and count as one."

"Patriarch Qin Hai, Clan Leader Zhou, Clan Leader Zhu, that makes three of you."

Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao spoke to this point, then shifted the topic, and the focus of the entire meeting hall shifted instantly.

"Now that the Old Ancestor He Changqing is dead, this fifth spot has become vacant."

As his voice fell, everyone's gaze landed squarely on Jiang Feng.

The two old foxes, Clan Leader Zhou and Clan Leader Zhu, kept their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, looking like wooden statues who would say, "We don't know anything, we dare not say anything."

In Patriarch Qin Hai's half-closed eyes, a cold glint flashed, and a cold smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

The He Family was destroyed by your Qixia Alchemy Pavilion; it is only right that you clean up this mess.

The sisters Huangfu Yunni and Huangfu Yunshang also stared unblinkingly at Jiang Feng, wanting to see how he would respond.

Especially Huangfu Yunni; she still remembered that scoundrel's words from that day, "Compensate me, Jiang Feng, and help my Jiang Family spread its branches and leaves," and she was currently holding back a breath of anger.

Facing this invisible pressure, Jiang Feng acted as if nothing were wrong, picked up his teacup, and took a slow sip.

He certainly knew what these people were thinking.

Go, or not go?

This was not a multiple-choice question at all.

The thousand-year Spiritual Plants and rare spiritual flora in the Secret Realm were an Opportunity for others, but for him, Jiang Feng, they were necessities.

Yao Shifei had long told him that if the children in Su Wan and Yu Niang's wombs could have their tendons washed and marrow cleansed with potions concocted from various rare Spirit Medicines after birth, and have a solid Foundation laid, their future path to immortality would be twice as effective with half the effort.

This concerned the talent of the next generation of his Jiang Family, and more directly, how much cultivation feedback he, the Old Ancestor, could obtain.

With the Multi-Child Multi-Fortune System, the stronger the offspring, the stronger he would become.

For the sake of the babies, he had to wade through this muddy water.

Furthermore, Yao Shifei was willing to volunteer as the fifth candidate to help set up the Formation.

But...

Jiang Feng set down his teacup with a crisp "clack," firmly locking everyone's attention.

He looked around, a warm smile on his face, but the words he spoke carried an unnegotiable dominance.

"Very well."

"My Qixia Alchemy Pavilion can provide one Foundation Establishment Mid-stage Cultivator to assist the Commandery Lord in setting up the Formation."

Hearing this, Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao and the two Family heads, Clan Leader Zhou and Clan Leader Zhu, all breathed a sigh of relief.

Huangfu Yunni even snorted softly, thinking to herself that he was at least sensible.

But Jiang Feng's next sentence caused the atmosphere in the hall to tighten abruptly.

"However, I have one condition."

Jiang Feng leaned forward slightly, interlaced his fingers on the table, and spoke word by word.

"This time, upon entering the Secret Realm, everything my Qixia Alchemy Pavilion obtains will belong entirely to us."

"Not a single Spiritual Plant, not a single cent, will be turned over."

Once these words were spoken, everyone present was shocked!

The Great Yan Dynasty had been established for hundreds of years; all under heaven belonged to the Dynasty. Any Cultivation Family that obtained gains within the Dynasty's territory must pay a fifty percent tax to Great Yan.

This was an ironclad rule!

Evading taxes privately was an under-the-table operation.

But for someone like Jiang Feng to openly declare "I will not pay taxes" in the Commandery Lords Mansion's meeting hall, in front of the Commandery Lord and the three Family heads, was simply insane!

This was an open provocation against the laws of the entire Great Yan Dynasty; one had to know that behind the Great Yan Dynasty stood a behemoth like the Qingyun Sect!

"You are presumptuous!"

Huangfu Yunni could no longer hold back; she slammed the table and stood up, her cheeks flushed, her chest heaving rapidly.

"Jiang Feng! Who do you think you are! How dare you show contempt for the Dynasty's laws!"

If not for Huangfu Yunshang holding her arm tightly, she would have already drawn her sword and rushed forward.

Clan Leader Zhou and Clan Leader Zhu unconsciously shrank back, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.

On Patriarch Qin Hai's face, there was undisguised schadenfreude.

He wished Jiang Feng would be even more arrogant, preferably starting a fight directly with the Commandery Lords Mansion.

"Second Master Jiang!"

Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

His voice was very flat, as flat as an ice-covered lake, but underneath, dark currents surged.

"Do you know what you are saying?"

A terrifying pressure erupted from within him, and heavy True Qi instantly filled the entire meeting hall like a mountain flood!

The teacups on the table buzzed, and the two Family heads, Clan Leader Zhou and Clan Leader Zhu, who were at the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage, turned pale under this pressure, their breathing becoming difficult.

Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao's eyes locked onto Jiang Feng, already filled with killing intent.

"I, the Commandery Lord, can treat this as you being new here and not understanding the rules. Now, retract what you just said, and I, the Commandery Lord, can let the past be the past."

Facing this pressure that could crush a Qi Refining Cultivator into meat paste, Jiang Feng sat as steady as a mountain, not even the corner of his clothes moving.

He even had the leisure to reach out a hand and pick up his teacup again.

Just at this moment, Yao Shifei, who had been standing quietly behind him, moved.

She just lifted her hand gently.

A stream of True Qi carrying the rich, fresh scent of plants and trees quietly surged from her body, gently spreading forward.

This True Qi was not violent, but carried a majestic vitality like all things reviving.

It spread silently and touched Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao's overbearingly dominant True Qi gently.

There was no earth-shattering collision.

Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao's True Qi, which was capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, was quietly smoothed out and dissolved by this plant-based True Qi, as if it had never appeared.

The pressure that had made Clan Leader Zhou and Clan Leader Zhu tremble with fear vanished in an instant.

Even Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao himself, upon smelling that unique fresh scent of plants and trees, felt the killing intent surging in his heart inexplicably subside a bit.

His body stiffened, and he stared fixedly at Yao Shifei.

What... what kind of technique was this?

His True Qi was dominant and fierce, but the opponent's True Qi was like a needle hidden in silk, overcoming hardness with softness; in terms of purity and control, it had completely crushed him!

This woman was definitely not just a simple Foundation Establishment Mid-stage Cultivator!

The meeting hall became silent enough to hear a pin drop once again.

The schadenfreude on Patriarch Qin Hai's face also froze; he looked at Yao Shifei with suspicion and uncertainty, his eyes filled with gravity.

Jiang Feng took in everyone's reactions, and only then did he slowly set down his teacup.

He raised his head, meeting Commandery Lord Huangfu Hao's shocked gaze, his smile remaining the same.

"Commandery Lord, have you considered it?"

"My wife's service fee is very expensive."