SPMT : Chapter 181

“Miss, is it necessary for us to hire Xiao Jingting?” Ye Fang asked as she walked beside Ye Jinlan.

“Although we might not necessarily need to use him, it’s better to be prepared,” Ye Jinlan said somewhat dejectedly. Who to send into battle wasn’t her decision alone – it had to go through the clan. Although Ye Jinlan felt Xiao Jingting’s strength was sufficient to match ordinary late Golden Core cultivators, her opinion could only serve as a reference.

“Who could have thought Xu Qingshan would turn around and join the Hong family? That bastard! Our Ye family spent so much effort winning him over, and then this guy turned around and joined another family. What a loss – this guy usually puts on such a righteous appearance too,” Ye Fang said with displeasure.

To win over the late Golden Core cultivator Xu Qingshan, the family had even married two Ye family female cultivators to him as concubines. Yet Xu Qingshan accepted the Hong family’s olive branch and left without hesitation.

Ye Jinlan closed her eyes and said: “You can know a person’s face but not their heart!”

Xu Qingshan always acted righteously and put on airs of taking the Ye family’s interests as his own responsibility. Yet when he betrayed the Ye family, he didn’t hesitate at all. It was said this guy would even represent the Hong family in battle. In the end, it all came down to the Ye family’s main branch becoming weaker. If the Ye family had a Nascent Soul ancestor presiding, that kind of trash wouldn’t dare act up.

“Miss, from our dealings with Xiao Jingting, he should possess the ability to hunt late Golden Core demon beasts. You also said this person conceals his true abilities – maybe he’s even more formidable than Xu Qingshan,” Ye Fang said.

Ye Jinlan smiled bitterly and said: “Even if you and I think so, do you think the clan will think the same? Besides, the challenge tournament is extremely important – we must be cautious.”

Ye Jinlan paused and continued: “Having the ability to kill demon beasts doesn’t necessarily mean being skilled at fighting other cultivators. Let’s just invite him for now. But with this invitation of mine, Third Grandfather will probably have opinions, saying I’m wasting Spirit Stones.”

Ye Fang’s face turned cold. The Ye family wasn’t united – Ye Jinlan and the Ye family’s Third Elder didn’t get along.

“Third Elder spent so much effort winning over Xu Qingshan, only for him to join another family. At this point, how can he have the face to criticize Miss?” Ye Fang said with displeasure.

Ye Jinlan squinted and said: “Those Xiao Xiaodong and others who just came in all have decent strength.”

With five Golden Core cultivators around Xiao Jingting, plus Xiao Jingting himself making six, such a force was truly not to be underestimated!

“Although they’re just a group of early Golden Core cultivators, when they fight, each one is more formidable than the last. The magical artifacts in their hands are all powerful. It’s also strange – cultivators who just entered Golden Core stage usually don’t have time to refine magical artifacts, but these people all have powerful magical artifacts, and these artifacts don’t seem like Nebula Island’s style,” Ye Fang said. Xiao Xiaodong and the others had been on Nebula Island for over ten years, and their information had long been thoroughly investigated.

“Xiao Jingting’s people might be from foreign domains. Enough – why worry about so much?” Ye Jinlan said.

Ye Fang nodded and said: “True.”

…

Xiao Jingting looked at the spoils of war from Xiao Xiaodong and the others and said: “Your harvest is really quite good!”

“Of course,” Xiao Xiaodong said proudly.

Little Flower Chicken bounced around happily, indicating its contribution was the greatest. Every time they encountered demon beasts, Little Flower Chicken would rush up first and spray breath at the demon beasts, leaving them dizzy and confused, making it much easier for them to finish the job.

Little Flower Chicken had long since advanced to Golden Core, and its bloodline had been awakened. When ordinary demon beasts saw Little Flower Chicken, they would be intimidated by this bloodline pressure, which helped them considerably.

Looking at Xiao Xiaodong and the others, Xiao Jingting thought: Unknowingly, these little brats had all grown up. At this point, if they could return to Yunzhou, Xiao Xiaodong and the others’ performance would definitely shock Yunzhou’s cultivators.

“Father, here are the Spirit Stones from last time,” Xiao Xiaodong tossed the Spirit Stones to Xiao Jingting.

Xiao Jingting said somewhat embarrassedly: “How can I feel good about this?”

Chen Xu smiled and said: “Uncle Xiao, don’t feel embarrassed! The spirit pills, magical artifacts, and talismans we use for cultivation are all provided by you – those are much more precious than Spirit Stones.” Chen Xu really didn’t understand where Xiao Jingting got so many good things. Those spirit pills suitable for Golden Core cultivators were all extremely precious, yet Xiao Jingting would produce a whole bunch at once.

With Xiao Jingting as their backing, they usually didn’t spend many Spirit Stones in daily life, so most of their Spirit Stones were given to Xiao Jingting.

…

Ye Jinlan moved quickly. After reaching an agreement with Xiao Jingting, she delivered the Spirit Stones to him.

At the same time, both parties established a heart demon contract.

Once a heart demon contract was established, if either party violated the agreement, they would suffer heart demon backlash when advancing to the next level.

Xiao Xiaodong looked at the contract in his hands and said: “Father, if they need you to fight, you must fight according to this contract you signed.”

Xiao Jingting nodded and said: “I know this. If I have to fight, they’ll pay extra – that’s not bad either.”

“Father, aren’t you worried about encountering cultivators you can’t handle?” Xiao Xiaodong asked.

“Son, don’t be such a worrywart. I heard that Ye Jinlan can’t make the decisions at all – the Ye family is controlled by several old men. I’m the person Ye Jinlan favored, but those old men look down on me.” This Ye family is really strange! They’re facing imminent disaster but still fighting internally.

Xiao Xiaodong nodded and said: “Alright, there’s still some time. Father, try to improve your strength as much as possible, just in case.”

Xiao Jingting rubbed Xiao Xiaodong’s head, messing up his perfectly neat hair into a bird’s nest: “Xiaodong has grown up – more and more like an adult.”

Xiao Xiaodong said irritably: “Father, I am an adult.”

Xiao Jingting nodded and surrendered: “Fine, you’re an adult.”

…

After accepting the Ye family’s invitation, Xiao Jingting quickly threw the matter to the back of his mind.

When Ye Jinlan invited Xiao Jingting, there were still four years until the grand competition, and obviously the Ye family didn’t think much of this mid-Golden Core cultivator of unknown origin.

So after inviting Xiao Jingting, the Ye family treated him as a super substitute and cast him aside. Xiao Jingting was naturally happy to be carefree, using the time cultivation room to focus on cultivating spiritual power, tempering his physique, and refining pills and magical artifacts.

Four years later, Ye Jinlan appeared again on Xiao Jingting’s mountaintop.

“Miss Ye, are you formally inviting me to participate in the Ye family’s selection tournament?” Xiao Jingting looked at Ye Jinlan with surprise.

Ye Jinlan nodded and said: “That’s correct.”

Xiao Jingting couldn’t help thinking: He thought he was just a super substitute! He never expected that even a substitute like him would have a day to become official. What is the Ye family up to? Four years of silence, and now they come with a sudden attack.

Xiao Jingting looked at Ye Jinlan puzzledly and said: “Miss Ye, won’t you reconsider?”

“No need to consider further. I have complete faith in Fellow Daoist Xiao’s abilities,” Ye Jinlan said.

Xiao Jingting blinked, thinking: You trust my abilities, but do those old ghosts in your family trust my abilities too?

“Please prepare yourself, Fellow Daoist Xiao. In three days, someone from the Ye family will come to fetch you,” Ye Jinlan said.

Xiao Jingting: “…” So urgent – is it necessary?

“Father,” Xiao Xiaodong walked in.

Xiao Jingting looked at Xiao Xiaodong and said: “You’re back!”

“I saw Ye Jinlan come over. Did she invite you to participate in the competition?” Xiao Xiaodong asked.

Xiao Jingting nodded and said: “Yes! I didn’t expect it would actually fall to me.” This doesn’t make sense!

Xiao Xiaodong glanced at Xiao Jingting and said: “The Ye family found many people, but they were all sabotaged by the Hong family. The Hong family married their talented female cultivator to an old man from the Cao family, establishing connections with the Cao family. Many Golden Core cultivators were either won over by the Hong family or sabotaged. Only you remain. The Ye family didn’t take you seriously and sought you to make up numbers, and the Hong family didn’t take you seriously either.”

Xiao Jingting: “…” What kind of situation is this!

Xiao Xiaodong looked at Xiao Jingting and said: “Father, I discovered a secret about the Commerce Alliance.”

“What?” Xiao Jingting asked.

“The Commerce Alliance has a total of thirty keys to enter the Heavenly Tower. The three leading families of the Commerce Alliance – Xie, Cao, and Miao – each have four keys. The remaining nine families each have two keys. If the Ye family loses their Commerce Alliance position, they’ll also lose ownership of the Heavenly Tower’s two keys,” Xiao Xiaodong said.

Xiao Jingting looked at Xiao Xiaodong and said: “Heavenly Tower – what is that thing?”

Xiao Xiaodong shook his head and said: “I don’t know either, Father. I think you should have noticed too that this place’s overall cultivation level is somewhat lower than Yunzhou’s. There are far fewer Nascent Soul cultivators than in Yunzhou. I heard that the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Xie, Cao, and Miao families were all able to advance to Nascent Soul because they encountered opportunities in the Heavenly Tower.”

“The Heavenly Tower has twelve floors in total. It’s said that Nebula Island’s cultivators can at most reach the eighth floor, and the eighth floor contains things that allow people to enter Nascent Soul stage. You can imagine how precious the things on the ninth and tenth floors must be.”

Xiao Jingting stroked his chin and said: “You mean we should find a way to obtain keys to the Heavenly Tower?”

Xiao Xiaodong nodded and said: “Yes!”

Xiao Jingting squinted and said: “The Ye family also finds this thing precious. Even if I win them the position, they might not be willing to trade!”

Xiao Xiaodong said lightly: “We’ll discuss that when the time comes. The Ye family is short on talent. Although there are opportunities in the Heavenly Tower, it’s also very dangerous. The current Ye family’s Golden Core cultivators might not be willing to take risks. If Father can win the competition for the Ye family and pay a bit more, obtaining the keys in their hands shouldn’t be difficult.”

Xiao Jingting nodded and said: “That makes sense.” The prerequisite was that he could win the competition for the Ye family.

“If Father can find great opportunities in the Heavenly Tower and advance to Nascent Soul, then we can return to Yunzhou early,” Xiao Xiaodong said.

“Is it you who wants to return, or Chen Xu who wants to return?” Xiao Jingting asked.

Xiao Xiaodong didn’t speak. “Chen Xu went to the teleportation array and has repaired it almost completely.” Only one corner remained unfinished – once completed, they could leave immediately.

“Chen Xu has worked hard,” Xiao Jingting sighed. Chen Xu’s grandfather was a Nascent Soul cultivator who had been cherished since childhood, yet this young master had accompanied them to this place.

Chen Xu walked in and asked: “Uncle Xiao, what are you talking about?”

Xiao Jingting looked at Chen Xu and said: “Chen Xu, do you want to go back?”

Chen Xu smiled bitterly and said: “Not really! I just miss Grandfather a bit, but I’ll see him sooner or later. Actually, when Grandfather goes into seclusion, it’s often for decades. My disappearing for decades is just an instant for Grandfather.”

Xiao Jingting patted Chen Xu’s shoulder apologetically and said: “Sorry.”

Chen Xu smiled and said: “Uncle Xiao, you don’t need to be like this. I’m very happy being with all of you.”