Chapter 5 is playable, that's great!

The registration desk was set up at the Outer Sect Disciple Deacon's Office. Zhou Biao, the Outer Sect Deacon in charge of registration, tapped his fingers on the Ledger with a rhythmic "da-da" sound. He didn't even bother to look up at Lin Yue; instead, his gaze was like a hook, scanning the three women behind Lin Yue—each with a distinct style but all in a pitiable state—his eyes flashing with undisguised greed.

"Slap!" Lin Yue took a step forward, blocking Zhou Biao's view, and threw three wooden plaques onto the table. "I'm here to register," he said.

The other man's brazen behavior made Lin Yue very unhappy—these were his wives, and he would not allow others to desecrate them. He wasn't polite either, throwing the three wooden plaques directly in front of him.

"A Qi Refining Level 3 trash dares to act tough in front of me?" Zhou Biao hadn't expected Lin Yue to be so rude. He said angrily, "If you can't afford the Spirit Stones in a moment, let's see what you do then. Are you paying the full amount at once, or signing a 'Wife Provision Agreement' to pay for your wives in monthly installments?"

"I'll sign the 'Wife Provision Agreement.' A twenty percent down payment, calculated with equal principal and interest." Lin Yue did not hesitate and directly signed three "Wife Provision Agreements."

"The down payment is 30 Spirit Stones per person, so that's 90 Spirit Stones for the three of them." Zhou Biao gave a sinister grin and said to Lin Yue, "Do you have that many Spirit Stones? Hmph, even if you're short by just one, you won't be able to take away a single one of these three women you've chosen!"

"Here are ninety Spirit Stones!" Lin Yue didn't say much. He directly took out a Storage Pouch and poured out ninety Spirit Stones, piling them in front of Zhou Biao.

Zhou Biao counted them and pushed the Spirit Stones to the side, but his face wore a sinister smile. "The down payment is enough. However, according to the Sect's rules, for every additional wife you marry, you must pay an extra Multiple Marriage Fee. For the first one, it's thirty Spirit Stones; for the second, it doubles to sixty Spirit Stones. Since you've married two extra, you need to pay a Multiple Marriage Fee of ninety Spirit Stones."

"What?" Lin Yue's fists clenched involuntarily. "Why wasn't this mentioned before?"

"You didn't ask before marrying them, so what does that have to do with me?" Zhou Biao leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms with a tone of certain malice. "If you can't produce these ninety Spirit Stones—even if you're short by one—the Sect will take these three women back!"

Seeing Lin Yue frozen in place, a look of successful plotting appeared on Zhou Biao's face. He had calculated early on that Lin Yue was poor and that ninety Spirit Stones for the down payment would be his limit. These ninety extra Spirit Stones were the final straw intended to crush Lin Yue.

"Hahaha, this old geezer must be dumbfounded now, right? This is truly losing both his wives and his soldiers!"

"This is called instant karma! A pauper trying to marry three wives at once? Forget about someone like him; even we wouldn't dare to marry so many!"

...

The surrounding Disciples all jeered and mocked him, every single one of them eager to see Lin Yue make a fool of himself.

"No Spirit Stones, right!?" Zhou Biao grabbed the wooden plaques and said to Lin Yue, "Without the Spirit Stones, these three women will be taken back by the Sect."

According to the Sect's custom, all reclaimed women were temporarily managed by deacons like them. When that time came, wouldn't these three women be at his mercy to toy with and humiliate?

"Wait." Just then, Lin Yue took out another Storage Pouch and poured out a small pile of Spirit Stones. Each stone was lustrous and full, piling up on the table like a small hill.

The surrounding laughter vanished instantly, and everyone's face was filled with astonishment! No one could believe that this old man, who could barely afford to use the Spirit Rain Spell, could actually produce so many Spirit Stones.

Zhou Biao counted them three times in a row, only to find that there were exactly ninety. His face turned blue and white, as if he had been slapped hard twice. He unwillingly drew a crooked checkmark in the Ledger, the tip of his brush nearly piercing the paper. "Consider yourself... consider yourself lucky. Now take them and get lost!"

"Wait a moment." Lin Yue didn't move. His gaze fell on the Profound Iron Chains on Luo Ningshuang's ankles. "Unlock her chains."

Zhou Biao seemed to have finally found an outlet for his anger. He slammed the table and stood up, pointing at Lin Yue's nose and roaring, "This is a Baicao Valley remnant! According to Sect rules, captives from hostile Sects must wear shackles and Restrictions. No one is allowed to unlock them for her!"

Just then, he noticed Luo Ningshuang slowly raising her head to look at him. There was no warmth in her ink-colored pupils, only an indelible killing intent, like two ice picks piercing straight into Zhou Biao.

Zhou Biao subconsciously took a step back, a chill rushing from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. This gaze was more terrifying than any Yao Beast he had ever seen!

But soon, he forced himself to roar, "What are you looking at? A remnant of a fallen Sect dares to glare at me? Believe it or not, I'll throw you into the Dungeon right now and make sure you never come out for the rest of your life!"

"Let's go." Lin Yue had no interest in entangling with the likes of Zhou Biao. He turned and left with the three women.

No one noticed that as Luo Ningshuang passed by Zhou Biao's side, her fingertips moved slightly, and a faint, almost imperceptible pale green aura drifted through the air toward Zhou Biao's body.

...

Under the gaze of the crowd, Lin Yue led the three women away from the noisy Marriage Office and toward his own residence.

His residence was located in the most desolate corner of the Qingyun Sect's outer gate, almost near the edge of the Mountain Protection Array, where the Spiritual Qi was so thin it was almost non-existent.

In this area, incidents of Rogue Cultivators sneaking in and killing Disciples occurred frequently.

Just as Lin Yue was about to reach his residence with his three wives, two figures blocked the middle of the road with ill intent. They were Zhang Ba and Wang Laoliu.

The two of them looked at Lin Yue and his three wives, their eyes filled with lewdness and provocation.

Seeing the two ill-intentioned men, A He instinctively hid behind Lin Yue, her small hands tightly clutching his faded Daoist Robe, her whole body trembling.

Su Qingyuan's beautiful face was covered in frost, her Phoenix eyes full of disgust and disdain. As a princess, when had she ever suffered such an insult?

On the contrary, Luo Ningshuang's reaction was the calmest. She just looked at Lin Yue meaningfully, as if to see how he would respond.

"Oh, isn't this Junior Brother Lin? Tsk tsk, you old geezer actually married three at once. With your frail body, can you handle it!?" Zhang Ba crossed his arms and chuckled weirdly, his gaze scanning the three women shamelessly.

"With his body riddled with Pill Poison, he can't even perform as a man." Wang Laoliu's triangular eyes darted around, and when they landed on Su Qingyuan and Luo Ningshuang, they emitted a greedy light. "Old man, since you're useless anyway, how about you lend these three women to us brothers to play with for ten days or half a month? We'll return them to you once we're tired of them."

"Exactly, exactly." Zhang Ba's eyes kept wandering over the three women. "During that time, you won't have to worry about their food and housing. We brothers will take care of everything."

In their eyes, Lin Yue was a soft persimmon—easy to squeeze.

"Senior Brothers, please show some respect!" Lin Yue remained expressionless, looking at the two coldly. "I, Lin, have married these wives by the Sect's decree. From today on, these three are my wives. Anyone who dares to insult them is picking a fight with me, Lin."

"Hahaha! That's hilarious." Hearing this, Zhang Ba felt as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. "Just three pieces of trash, and you're treating them like treasures? You really consider them your wives?"

In his view, the Sect's so-called marriage assembly was nothing more than a way to use these women to squeeze Spirit Stones out of them.

Therefore, they naturally had no respect for these women, at most viewing them as Cauldrons for Dual Cultivation to harvest their Yin Essence and aid their own cultivation.

Who would actually view them as wives?

As for the three wives Lin Yue married, they either had no Spiritual Roots, terrible Aptitude, or even broken Meridians. They weren't even fit to be Cauldrons; at most, they could only be used for amusement and play.

Wang Laoliu also smiled sinisterly. "Old man Lin, you'd better be sensible. Killing you is as easy as crushing an ant. Hand over these three women for us to play with, and you can avoid physical suffering."

Lin Yue was only at Qi Refining Level 3, while they were at Level 4. It seemed like only a one-level difference, but the strength of their Spiritual Qi and the power of the Spells they mastered were vastly different.

Moreover, each of them had a powerful Magical Artifact. Handling a weakling like Lin Yue was no trouble at all.

"Play?" Lin Yue's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a heart-chilling coldness. "Sure."

Zhang Ba and Wang Laoliu were stunned, not expecting Lin Yue to be so "cooperative."

"However, if we're going to play, let's all play until we're finished." But Lin Yue's next words made their expressions change drastically. "Anyway, I've lived long enough. Taking you two down with me means I won't be lonely on the road to the Yellow Springs!"

As he spoke, he suddenly pulled a Bead from his robes! At the same time, he recklessly injected the Spiritual Qi from his body into it!

Buzz!

The Bead immediately emitted an unstable crimson glow, and a ripple that was not strong but full of destructive and chaotic energy radiated outward!