583: Chapter 583 Ancestor, stop cursing! If you keep going, the sect will have to be disbanded.

Facing Ancestor Xuan Yin's rage, Xu Ruyu simply and calmly held up a second finger.

“Second threat, add twenty thousand. Total: thirty thousand.”

Ancestor Xuan Yin's eyes bulged wider than copper bells. He pointed at Xu Ruyu outside the light screen, his finger trembling like a withered branch in the wind.

“You think you've won? Your Hehuan Sect will be exterminated sooner or later! Just you wait!”

Xu Ruyu held up a third finger.

“Third threat, add forty thousand. Total: seventy thousand.”

Ancestor Xuan Yin's lips quivered; he wanted to curse but didn't dare.

He held it in until his face turned purple and the veins on his forehead bulged like earthworms wriggling under his skin. But in the end, he couldn't help himself.

He had never suffered such indignity in his life. A dignified Half-step True Immortal who had lived for nearly ten thousand years was being played like a monkey and locked in a cage; he couldn't swallow this grievance.

“Xu Ruyu! You little animal! Just you wait, once this old man gets out, I will tear you into ten thousand pieces!”

Xu Ruyu held up a fourth finger, his smile becoming even more radiant.

“Fourth threat, add eighty thousand. Total: one hundred and fifty thousand. Oh, you threatened me again and made me tremble with fear, add another ten thousand. Total: one hundred and sixty thousand.”

Xuan Mingzi stood beside Ancestor Xuan Yin, his face no longer just green but an ashen gray.

His lips were trembling, and his legs were shaking too.

He watched as Xu Ruyu held up his fingers one by one. With every finger raised, the Spirit Stones increased by tens of thousands.

In just a few breaths' time, it had already reached one hundred and sixty thousand.

If he kept cursing like this, the fifty-million-stone hole wouldn't be filled, and they'd end up adding several million more.

“Old Ancestor, stop cursing!” Xuan Mingzi grabbed Ancestor Xuan Yin's sleeve, his voice kept so low that only the two of them could hear. “If you keep cursing, we won't be able to get out even if we go bankrupt!”

Ancestor Xuan Yin flung his hand away.

“Shut up! This old man has lived for nearly ten thousand years, and no one has ever dared to humiliate me like this!”

The more he spoke, the angrier he got, and he began shouting abuse at Xu Ruyu outside the light screen.

“Xu Ruyu! You Qi Refining Stage trash! Who do you think you are? If it weren't for Xiao Nianyin backing you up, you would have died eight hundred times over!

Don't think that just because you've trapped this old man for a few days, I'm afraid of you!

I'm telling you, the Righteous Path of the Cultivation World won't let you off! The people of the Tianshu Sword Sect won't have died in vain!

Just you wait, one day, your Hehuan Sect will be slaughtered until not a single soul remains!”

Xu Ruyu counted with a beaming smile.

The fifth finger, the sixth, the seventh... every curse added tens of thousands. It rose from one hundred and sixty thousand to three hundred and twenty thousand, then to six hundred and forty thousand, the price jumping faster and more outrageously as it went.

With every sentence Ancestor Xuan Yin spat out, the Spirit Stones doubled.

His mouth was like a money-printing machine—the kind that couldn't be stopped.

The faces of the Frost Hall Elders had turned as white as paper.

Some began to back away, some covered their ears, and some closed their eyes, not daring to look.

Xuan Mingzi was sweating profusely with anxiety. He couldn't pull him back, and his advice fell on deaf ears. He desperately wanted to rush forward and cover Ancestor Xuan Yin's mouth, but since the Old Ancestor was a Half-step True Immortal, he didn't dare lay a hand on him.

Standing behind Xu Ruyu, the Grand Elder watched this scene and couldn't help but shake his head.

He had lived for most of his life and had seen people seeking death, but never someone seeking death quite like this.

The man was kindly offering to release you; wouldn't it be over if you just left quietly? You just had to spout threats; you just had to have a foul mouth.

Now look at you, locked up again.

Not only are you locked up, but even the people who came to ransom you are now trapped.

The Spirit Stones were collected, but the person wasn't released.

Was there any greater injustice in the world?

Zhao Yan was also dazed by the sight.

He had originally been dying of anger, wishing he could rush forward and tear Ancestor Xuan Yin's mouth apart.

But now, watching Ancestor Xuan Yin curse a line and add tens of thousands, curse another and add tens of thousands—the more vicious the curse, the more was added—his anger suddenly dissipated, replaced by an indescribable feeling.

He wanted to laugh, but felt it would be inappropriate.

He held it in until his stomach hurt.

Li Ergou lowered his Chuanyang Gun and stood there with his hands on his hips, watching Ancestor Xuan Yin curse like a fishwife inside the light screen with great interest.

“This old guy really has a motor-mouth.”

He whispered to Zhou Daniu beside him.

Zhou Daniu nodded.

“Motor-mouth indeed. I bet he can curse his way up to a million.”

“A million? You're underestimating him. He's a Half-step True Immortal; his lung capacity is huge. I bet he can curse his way to a hundred million.”

The two looked at each other and chuckled simultaneously.

Inside the light screen, Ancestor Xuan Yin was still cursing.

He had cursed for an unknown number of lines, from Xu Ruyu's ancestors eighteen generations back to his yet-to-be-born great-grandchildren, and from the founding Ancestral Master of the Hehuan Sect to the janitors at the gate.

His voice was hoarse from cursing, but he didn't stop, like an out-of-control transmitter constantly spitting out profanities.

Xu Ruyu had run out of fingers to count on, so he simply stopped counting and announced a total price.

“Ancestor Xuan Yin, you really can curse. In just this short time, you've cursed away over three million Spirit Stones.”

Ancestor Xuan Yin's cursing came to an abrupt halt.

His face turned a deep purple, like a rooster whose neck had been stepped on.

“What did you say?”

“Over three million. I didn't calculate the exact amount, but it's definitely over three million.” Xu Ruyu looked at him with a beaming smile. “Do you want to continue? If you keep cursing, I'll keep adding.

I'm not in a hurry anyway; I have plenty of time.

If you curse until dark, I'll add it up to a hundred million.

If you curse until tomorrow morning, I'll add it to a billion.

Let's see how long your throat can hold out.”

Ancestor Xuan Yin's mouth hung open; he wanted to curse, but he didn't dare anymore.

A rasping sound came from his throat, as if a breath were stuck there, unable to go up or down.

His chest heaved violently like a volcano about to erupt, yet the lava just wouldn't come out.

Xuan Mingzi, standing nearby, finally caught his chance.

He grabbed Ancestor Xuan Yin's arm, his voice carrying a sob: “Old Ancestor, I beg of you, stop cursing! If you keep going, even our Frost Hall's ancestral graves will be cursed away by you!

You might not care about Spirit Stones, but we do! Those Spirit Stones were gathered by selling everything we own!”

Ancestor Xuan Yin gritted his teeth and said word by word: “I. Will. Not. Curse. Anymore.”

Xu Ruyu smiled.

“No more cursing? Fine then. As for the extra fees, we can talk about those slowly.

Grand Elder, did you record everything this senior just said?”

The Grand Elder was taken aback.

“Record it?”

He was old and his hearing wasn't what it used to be; how could he remember so much?

“Forget it, I can't be bothered to record it.” Xu Ruyu waved his hand. “How about this, a flat rate: add another ten million.

Plus the previous fifty million, that's sixty million in total.

When the Spirit Stones arrive, the person is released.

If the Spirit Stones don't arrive, the person stays. Additionally—” He glanced at Xuan Mingzi, “those of you who came to pay the ransom are also locked in now.

Your ransoms are calculated separately: ten thousand per person.

How many of you from Frost Hall came? One, two, three, four... seven. Seventy thousand.

Added to the previous sixty million, that's a total of sixty million and seventy thousand.

No credit given, and no installment plans supported.”