NOVEL NEXT Chapter 100: Splitting The Loot
"Huh? What exactly are they negotiating without asking for my opinion first?" Li Ling asked with shock and puzzlement.
Pang Wen gave him a scornful glance. "You have potential, not realm. You are not yet ready to sit at the big boys' table to make big decisions, dude."
Li Ling scowled at that, feeling extremely unhappy. He stopped relaxing and sat up, glaring at Pang Wen.
"Oh? Then I'd like to see how they plan to pair me up with whoever they have in mind!" Li Ling said menacingly, his face full of killing intent.
Pang Wen waved his hands to calm Li Ling down, flinching with sweat on his forehead. "Hey, hey! I am not your enemy, Brother!"
Li Ling was always smiling with him, so Pang Wen had not been aware of how terrifying the fellow could be when he was in the mood for violence.
Li Ling snorted and settled down. "Then speak like my ally. What exactly is your motive for revealing this anyway?"
Pang Wen sighed with relief and then put aside the counting for the spoils as he leaned in toward Li Ling.
"Obviously, I want to invest in you early, Brother Li. You have potential that is greatly untapped, and even the Hall Masters can see it, so why can't I?" Pang Wen whispered conspiratorially.
Li Ling understood his intentions and chuckled. "Usually I wouldn't mind since we get along quite well, fatty, but you are currently too weak. I only need someone either at the peak of the second realm or in the third realm to partner with if I absolutely have to."
Pang Wen snorted with dissatisfaction, continuing to count the spoils again. "Look at you, daydreaming again! Yes, you may be in the second realm for your qi cultivation, but the only thing that is important to the sect and to your future is your body cultivation since you are in the Asura Blood Hall. Merely at the first realm peak, and you want to climb the tiers too quickly? Audacious!"
Li Ling raised an eyebrow and then smiled, releasing his perfected Blood Aura for Pang Wen to see. Pang Wen, who lowered his head to continue sorting things out while grumbling, felt that something was not right and looked up, his mouth almost dropping to the floor as he gaped in shock.
"B-Body Foundation Perfection? B-But how… why? When…?"
"I'm more surprised that you are clueless. I did not hide when I broke through, so the token should have sensed that and you bloody peeping toms should have found out, right?" Li Ling asked in a relaxed manner, smiling smugly.
Pang Wen was left speechless. It took him a while to gather his thoughts before he decided to come clean. "In truth, what we can access as administrators only has to do with what you have been tasked with. For example, we know of your Perfection Meteor Spell because you used it to clear most of your dispatch targets, and this is recorded by the token when logging your merits."
"However, things like your current cultivation, your location, and what you do outside of your specific task are not logged by the token, nor can we access them." Pang Wen revealed with a gesture of helplessness.
Li Ling sneered. "If so, then it is enough to put the token in our hands. Why place it in our hearts, where it's hard to remove at the lower levels? I bet anyone I ask in the upper echelon would swear that they did not secretly record information, but who would give up such a chance to monitor their competitors and juniors?"
Pang Wen couldn't say anything to that, so he only made a difficult expression. "Well, Brother Li, this matter is quite tough. As for the Hall Masters, their discussion is pretty much a waste because previously you were a mere Path Walker, the bottom level of the sect. Now that you are a Path Lord, they cannot easily decide your fate, especially if you enter the yearly tournament."
Li Ling nodded. "I certainly plan to. It's the only way to qualify for promotion to the middle layer after reaching the third realm of cultivation, and I have no plans to waste away here at the lower levels with a bunch of incompetent Hall Masters."
Pang Wen could only laugh weakly. It seemed that his revelation of the Hall Masters' actions had left Li Ling with an abysmal perception of them, but Pang Wen was not really inclined to explain on their behalf.
Li Ling then scanned Pang Wen up and down. "Fatty, don't say I don't take care of you. Carry away your spoils and cultivate hard. If you are able to at least reach the entry of the third realm by the time the tournament comes around, I will partner up with you."
Pang Wen slapped his forehead. "Brother Li, do you think all demonic sect disciples are like you, going out on a stroll for a week and coming back having crossed one full major realm? The yearly tournament is in ten months, and even if I abuse resources and do not care about the backlash, the best I can do is to get to the peak of the second realm."
Li Ling frowned with impatience. "You're haggling over this little thing? Fine, fine, why is my heart so soft nowadays? Sigh."
Pang Wen decided to close his eyes and not look at Li Ling lest he be tempted to brawl with the fellow. Instead, he quickly continued counting the spoils, surprised that there was actually so much. This was even with Li Ling flinging over some storage rings, specifically the ones from the True Light Sect.
Even more shockingly—and chillingly—three fellows wearing red robes in the second realm of body cultivation knocked on the gate, opened by Kong Beiwu to reveal his sect seniors: Majin Four, Majin Five, and Majin Six, who had been tasked to raid the resource areas of the Fire Heart Sect as well as some belonging to the True Light Sect.
They presented their gains to Li Ling, who allowed Pang Wen to inspect them, then ordered the three to happily commit suicide as he no longer needed their services. So, right in front of a stunned Pang Wen and a grim Kong Beiwu, the three men smiled and immolated themselves from the inside, turning into ashes that were blown away by the wind.
｢System Prompt: You have gained 90 Slaughter Points.｣
Pang Wen gulped and shared the final tally when everything was counted, feeling that indeed, these Asura madmen were truly bloodthirsty killers. If it had been him, he would have had countless uses for second realm strongmen like that to handle tasks for him, but Pang Wen understood that it was a fundamental difference in mentality between him and Brother Li.
Li Ling listened to the final amount and boredly waved his hand. "Take your 80% and leave me my 20% in spirit stones. I don't want many materials or resources; they are useless to me."
This pleasantly surprised Pang Wen because, as a True Human Hall disciple, what he lacked the least were spirit stones and merits, and what he needed were resources! The exchange was extremely favorable for him, so he quickly did the calculation.
"Alright, your share is worth 165,400 low-grade spirit stones. Do you want it all right now?" Pang Wen asked after rubbing his palms again.
"Sure, whatever. Before that, help me put out word that I am selling a Grade 4 Artifact that is incomplete. I want merits only, by the way, and what would be the best price for it?" Li Ling took out the Golden Sword Hilt and placed it before Pang Wen, whose eyes bulged.
"Holy shit! This is a righteous path artifact, one usually used by the Bright Sword Sect! Huh, these markings…" Pang Wen immediately entered serious mode and began inspecting the item professionally, reminding Li Ling that True Human Path fellows were the artificers and craftsmen of the sect.
Pang Wen finished his inspection and looked up with a difficult expression. "You… You are quite brave. Not only did you kill a Sword Carrier of the Bright Sword Sect, but one whose master was at least a Dao Integration True Elder."
Li Ling snorted. "He should have thought about that before trying to kill me. Alright, spit it out, fatty, how much can I get for this thing?"
Pang Wen gently caressed the Golden Sword Hilt. "Grade 4 artifacts are usually priced around 30,000 merits and above, but this one is incomplete, so the best it can be used for is to be smelted and reforged into something else. Because of the weight it carries, I'd say you'd be better off selling it at 10,000 merits to get a quick buyer."
Li Ling pondered and felt that this was not too bad. His only issue was that the bloody penalty from that Hall Master Tang Huo would reduce his merits from 10,000 to 1,000 if he made the sale, which would severely limit his options. This made his killing intent toward the fellow rise even higher.
Pang Wen stood up to leave. "Alright, I'll send over your money and put out word of the private transaction first. If you need me, you have my details in your sect token."
Li Ling rolled his eyes. "Stop right there! Where do you think you're going, fatty?"
Pang Wen flinched and smiled sheepishly, taking out a void ring and tossing it to Li Ling. "You know, I almost forgot that I had so many void rings, hahaha!"
Li Ling caught the void ring with amusement but forked a finger toward the courtyard house specifically. "I didn't stop you for that, fool. You asked me to bring you back some beauties, and I had them wash up while you were counting. Take them away and free me of those burdens!"
Hearing this, Pang Wen instantly perked up and seemed to be injected with chicken blood. "T-This…! Brother Li, you are too good to me! I always knew that you were my destined brother!!"
Li Ling dodged the fellow's attempted hug by raising a foot to block his face, watching as Luo Roumei brought out the nine beauties who admittedly looked much better than before. When they saw the fatty Pang Wen, their faces blanched as they thought they were going to be with the handsome Li Ling, which was barely tolerable.
But what was this overweight fellow who looked desperate? Even worse, when Pang Wen saw them, he froze on the spot and began drooling as if they were pieces of meat, thoroughly disgusting the entire crowd.
Even Li Ling was embarrassed on his behalf, giving the fellow a light kick. "Make something of yourself, fatty! Stop standing there like a stooge!"
"OH! Right, my name is Pang Wen! Nice to meet you, sisters!" Pang Wen greeted them rather cordially, which alleviated the negative opinion of him somewhat.
Li Ling was not impressed though. "Get out, get out, get out! Take your women and go, I have stuff to do!"
Pang Wen excitedly corralled the reluctant ladies with him, waving to Li Ling excitedly as he exited the courtyard, which finally brought peace as it was left with Luo Roumei, Kong Beiwu, and himself at last. Now that it was just them, Li Ling stood up and turned to Luo Roumei with a slightly sinister expression.
"You should know what's about to happen, don't you?"
Luo Roumei scowled but sighed, nodding. "I expected this day to come. Just be as gentle as possible."
She began removing her clothes, not even bothering to shy away from it because she felt a beast like Li Ling wouldn't care about propriety.
Meanwhile, Kong Beiwu blushed and looked away while Li Ling froze on the spot, tilting his head with confusion.
"What the hell are you doing?" Li Ling asked with puzzlement, causing Luo Roumei's actions to pause.
"Aren't you going to…" Luo Roumei inquired with skepticism but was cut off by Li Ling, who smiled.
"You think I'm going to have sex with you? Pffttt… hahahah!" Li Ling burst into raucous laughter, causing Luo Roumei to tremble with shame.