SPMT : Chapter 184

Commerce Alliance Ye Family.

“Jinlan, is the person you found reliable?” The speaker was Ye Shengxue, a late Golden Core cultivator from the Ye family.

Although Ye Shengxue was already over three hundred years old, her appearance remained in her thirties and she still looked very beautiful.

“Great-grandmother, at this point, there’s no other way,” Ye Jinlan said.

Ye Shengxue’s eyes flashed with cold light. Among the Ye family’s younger generation, there were quite a few outstanding cultivators. If the Ye family was given more time, they would definitely be able to recover, but the Hong family was pressing them step by step, clearly not giving the Ye family any way to live.

“Great-grandmother, as long as you and great-grandfather can win two matches, Xiao Jingting doesn’t even need to enter the field,” Ye Jinlan said.

Ye Shengxue shook her head and said: “The Hong family has invited the Golden Core peak Yu Yao Laoren this time. We’ll definitely lose this match. For the other two matches, great-grandmother isn’t confident of winning either.”

Ye Jinlan frowned and said: “Even Yu Yao Laoren has been invited?”

Yu Yao Laoren himself had Golden Core peak strength and also commanded three Golden Core stage demon beasts. In battle, it was equivalent to one against four. Yu Yao Laoren alone was troublesome enough, and with those three Golden Core demon beasts, he became even more difficult to deal with.

“I think Xiao Jingting should be somewhat stronger than Xu Qingshan,” Ye Jinlan said.

Ye Shengxue shook her head and said: “I’ll handle Xu Qingshan. Your great-grandfather will deal with the Hong family’s Golden Core peak Hong Cheng. As for Yu Yao Laoren, we can only leave him to the person you hired.”

Ye Jinlan frowned and didn’t speak. Yu Yao Laoren was vicious by nature. Once a cultivator had offended Yu Yao Laoren, and after he became famous, he sent demon beasts to bite that entire family to death.

“Jinlan, the cultivator you hired won’t flee at the crucial moment, will he?” Ye Shengxue asked.

Ye Jinlan shook her head and said: “I don’t think he will.” Yu Yao Laoren would shed blood whenever he acted. She hoped Xiao Jingting could withstand it.

…

A small bee landed in Xiao Xiaojin’s hand. Xiao Xiaojin removed a listening device from the bee’s body.

“Father, if nothing unexpected happens, that Yu Yao Laoren will be your opponent. Yu Yao Laoren is extremely vicious. If ordinary Golden Core cultivators enter the field, he probably won’t give them a chance to surrender,” Xiao Xiaojin said while swinging his legs boredly.

A palm-sized little flying bear was lying in a bowl nearby, eating heartily, showing little interest in their conversation.

Xiao Jingting stroked his chin and smiled lazily: “The Ye family really thinks highly of me!”

Xiao Xiaojin said cheerfully: “Father, you’re so handsome, no wonder they think highly of you!”

Xiao Jingting glanced at Xiao Xiaojin and said irritably: “Sweet talker.”

A knocking sound came from the door. Xiao Jingting opened it and showed a brilliant smile: “It’s Miss Ye! Please come in.”

“Fellow Daoist Xiao, how is this guest room? Do you have any other needs?” Ye Jinlan asked.

Xiao Jingting shook his head and said: “No, thank you for the Ye family’s generous hospitality.”

“Fellow Daoist Xiao, this is your opponent for tomorrow,” Ye Jinlan calmly handed over a document.

Xiao Jingting’s eyes lightly scanned the document before tossing it aside.

“You want me to deal with Yu Yao Laoren – Miss Ye really thinks highly of me! Aren’t you afraid I’ll flee at the crucial moment?” Xiao Jingting crossed his arms and leaned against the door with a half-smile.

Ye Jinlan said with a cold face: “Fellow Daoist Xiao, we signed a contract.”

Xiao Jingting nodded lazily and said: “I know, I know. It’s just a heart demon oath. My aptitude is limited – I don’t even know if I’ll have a chance to form a Nascent Soul in this lifetime. It’s too early to worry about heart demon oaths now.”

Ye Jinlan said with a stern face: “Fellow Daoist Xiao, why put yourself down? You’re not even a hundred years old yet – you have great hope of advancing to Nascent Soul.”

Xiao Jingting slumped in his chair and said listlessly: “Perhaps.”

Ye Jinlan looked at Xiao Jingting and said: “Fellow Daoist Xiao, what exactly do you want?”

“I want a key to the Heavenly Tower.”

Ye Jinlan’s expression immediately darkened: “You want a key to the Heavenly Tower? That’s impossible.”

Xiao Jingting looked at Ye Jinlan and smiled good-naturedly: “Miss Ye, don’t be so quick to refuse me! If I’m not mistaken, you’re planning to give up on the match against Yu Yao Laoren, but I don’t think you have much chance of winning the other two matches either.”

Ye Jinlan stared directly at Xiao Jingting: “What do you want to do?”

“If Miss Ye agrees to my request, I’ll find a way to win the competition. My oath with you only states that I must enter the field – it doesn’t stipulate that I must win,” Xiao Jingting said.

Ye Jinlan said with interest: “Fellow Daoist Xiao, you mean you’re confident you can defeat Yu Yao Laoren?” Although Ye Jinlan thought highly of Xiao Jingting, she didn’t think he could beat Yu Yao Laoren at all.

Xiao Jingting rubbed his fingers and said: “About seventy percent confidence.”

Hearing Xiao Jingting’s boastful words, Ye Jinlan couldn’t help but be stunned: “Fellow Daoist Xiao, you’re not joking, are you? Yu Yao Laoren is Golden Core peak and commands quite a few demon beasts.”

Xiao Jingting shrugged and said: “I love to joke, but not this time.”

“How about this, Miss Ye – if I help the Ye family win against Yu Yao Laoren, and if the Ye family wins overall, I won’t take any reward, just one key to the Heavenly Tower,” Xiao Jingting said.

Ye Jinlan looked at Xiao Jingting and said: “I can’t make this decision. I need to discuss it with great-grandmother and great-grandfather.”

Xiao Jingting nodded and said: “Naturally.”

…

After Ye Jinlan left Xiao Jingting’s room, she went to find Ye Shengxue.

“Xiao Jingting wants a key to the Heavenly Tower?” Ye Shengxue asked.

Ye Jinlan nodded and said: “Yes. The Heavenly Tower key is of great importance. Your granddaughter didn’t dare make the decision, so I came to discuss it with great-grandmother.”

Ye Shengxue squinted and said: “Give it to him.”

Ye Jinlan looked at Ye Shengxue with some surprise: “Great-grandmother, the Ye family only has two keys to the Heavenly Tower.”

Ye Shengxue smiled and said: “I’ve also heard of this Xiao Jingting. The entire Xiao family consists of Golden Core cultivators. If this family’s strength wasn’t so evenly distributed without top-level experts, the Xiao family could already stand shoulder to shoulder with our family.”

“If Xiao Jingting truly has the ability to defeat Yu Yao Laoren, then using one Heavenly Tower key to win over a powerhouse comparable to Golden Core peak isn’t a loss. Of course, the prerequisite is that Xiao Jingting truly has the ability to defeat Yu Yao Laoren, and that our Ye family really keeps its position because of him.”

Ye Jinlan nodded and said: “I understand.”

…

The new contract was quickly delivered to Xiao Jingting by Ye Jinlan.

“Father, the Ye family actually agreed! I thought these guys would drag their feet for a while. I didn’t expect them to be so decisive – truly surprising,” Xiao Xiaojin said lazily.

Xiao Jingting said carelessly: “Of course they don’t mind – they’re not losing anything. Look at this clause: the contract only takes effect if the Ye family keeps its position because of me. In other words, if the Ye family wins two matches on their own, even if I also win, it still has nothing to do with me.”

Xiao Xiaojin blinked and said: “Ah, these guys are really cunning!”

“You can’t say they’re cunning. The Heavenly Tower key is of great importance. If I can’t produce sufficient stakes, why would they give me the key?” Xiao Jingting said.

“True. Father, are you confident about that Yu Yao Laoren?”

Xiao Jingting said carelessly: “Don’t worry. He just has more demon beasts. No matter how many demon beasts he has, can he have more than your old man?”

“True.” Father raised a nest of scorpions and a nest of Golden Bees. Among them, six scorpions and eight Golden Bees were Golden Core stage – completely overwhelming Yu Yao Laoren.

…

The Commerce Alliance grand assembly finally arrived amid great anticipation.

All twelve Commerce Alliance families attended in full dress. Although the Nascent Soul ancestors of the Xie, Cao, and Miao families didn’t appear, with Nascent Soul ancestors backing them, the leaders of the three families were all high-spirited and took bigger steps than others.

Xiao Jingting wore Ye family clothes and walked among the Ye family procession.

The Ye family’s Golden Core peak cultivator, Ye Mi, had a face full of wrinkles and walked slowly. To match this person’s pace, Xiao Jingting had to walk slowly too.

Although Ye Mi looked like he was about to breathe his last, Xiao Jingting didn’t dare underestimate him at all.

This Ye family ancestor was said to have attempted Nascent Soul formation. Although he failed, having taken that step made him much stronger than ordinary Golden Core peak cultivators.

Xiao Jingting noticed that several Ye family juniors were pointing at him. Xiao Jingting couldn’t help feeling ashamed – after arriving at the Ye family, he had been shelved, or rather ignored. Many Ye family members still didn’t seem to know him.

Xiao Xiaojin also got himself a set of Ye family clothes and mixed into the Ye family procession to watch the excitement.

People from the twelve major families took their seats.

The Commerce Alliance assembly was hosted by someone from the Xie family, with a punk rock styling that made Xiao Jingting marvel.

After the Xie family host babbled a string of gibberish at the altar, he finally got to the point.

“It’s time for the centennial Commerce Alliance challenge tournament again. To ensure the Commerce Alliance’s vitality, survival of the fittest is necessary. Now I announce – the challenge tournament begins…”

“The Hong family challenges the Ye family.”

As soon as the assembly host finished speaking, a Hong family cultivator immediately leaped out. A cultivator in green robes jumped into the arena.

As soon as the green-robed cultivator entered the field, Xiao Jingting noticed the Ye family members’ faces filled with anger.

Xiao Jingting rubbed his nose, realizing the cultivator below was Xu Qingshan – the Golden Core powerhouse the Ye family had spent great effort to win over. It was said the Ye family had even found him a Foundation Establishment pure yin female cultivator as a cultivation partner, but it all became someone else’s wedding dress.

So-called pure yin female cultivators were those born in yin years, yin months, and yin hours. Female cultivators born at this time had special constitutions – dual cultivating with them would greatly improve one’s strength.

Xiao Jingting looked toward Ye Jinlan’s direction. Ye Jinlan clenched her fists, her eyes full of cold light.

Xiao Jingting played with his hair, feeling somewhat dissatisfied. They were both fighting in the arena for the Ye family, but when Xu Qingshan was with the Ye family, he was well fed and treated, while when it came to him, the Ye family ignored him completely. Really a bunch of shortsighted people.