A Demon's Path Volume 1 Chapter 11

The three Sect Masters from the Everlasting Pool Sect, Sunny Spring Sect, and Sand Mound Sect left the grounds of the Northern Jade Sect. After which they stopped to a halt, angrily glaring back. One of them said to the pleasant-looking man, "Sect Master Qian, this little boy actually dared to talk back to us. We have to teach him a lesson! I won't be able to sleep at night if we don't!"

A sinister chuckle escaped from Sect Master Qian's lips as he said, "Sect Master Luo, Sect Master Chen, the Northern Jade Sect can't be arrogant for much longer. Let the boy feel pleased with himself. The Northern Jade Sect has firmly held onto dead last place in the Sunken Wind Valley's newcomers tournament. If they do so again, they'll have to merge with other sects! At that time, he'll be forced to leave the sect."

The three of them exchanged glances with one another and came to a common understanding. With heads upturned to the sky, they burst into laughter. These devious men resembled a pack of wolves splitting the spoils that would soon come their way! They looked vile and despicable, completely different from the awe-inspiring righteousness they normally assumed in front of their disciples.

The next day, tens of disciples from the three sects trudged up Northern Jade Mountain, pushing large chariots forwards. Halfway up the mountain, they came to a stop.

"Northern Jade Sect, hurry up! Come take these medicinal ingredients!" a fierce-looking youngster roared, transmitting his voice all the way up the mountain.

"How dare they! Who do they think they are?!" Cheng Yu raged.

Li Yuanhuan quickly soothed her. "Junior Sister, don't worry about it. Let's just go along with their whims." With that said, he brought the other male disciples with him to pick up the medicinal ingredients halfway down the mountain.

Once the youngster saw Li Yuanhuan, he stretched his hand out and demanded, "Pay us 200 orange gems!"

Shock and confusion formed on Li Yuanhuan's face as he asked, "Didn't we agree that you guys are in charge of providing the materials? Why do we still have to pay you?"

The youngster explained with a vicious smirk, "Boy, you're quite right. We're responsible for providing the raw materials. But we didn't agree to do the dirty work for free! 200 orange gems serves as our labour fees. Don't worry, we won't haggle with you guys. We're under the jurisdiction of the Sunken Wind Valley, after all! But if you insist on being pesky, we'll just take these medicinal ingredients back with us!"

Clamour erupted behind the youngster as his fellow disciples echoed in agreement. It was evident they wanted to extort Li Yuanhuan.

The disciples from the Northern Jade Sect were outraged, some of them even voicing their opinions.

"How dare you?!"

"How do you sleep at night?!"

When the youngster widened his eyes, they were the splitting image of the eyes a thoroughly cooked fish had. "What? Do you want it or not? If you do, pay up!"

Li Yuanhuan was put in a tight spot. "This-"

"Senior Brother, we don't want these medicinal ingredients anymore. Get them to take it back," a voice said from behind Li Yuanhuan.

The Northern Jade Disciples instantly recognized this voice. It was Ling Xiao's!

The youngster was taken by surprise when he heard Ling Xiao say this. When he came back to his senses and noticed some random boy had said these words, he couldn't help but fly into a rage; he was humiliated! "Snotty brat! How dare you reject my kindness? I, Wang Batian, will beat you black and blue!"

Wang Batian released his soulforce and a powerful yellow aura flashed around his body.

He was actually a yellow-ranked Celestial Soul Master!

The only yellow-ranked Celestial Soul Master in the Northern Jade Sect was Li Yuanhuan.

Everyone instinctively took a step back out of fear. That was, except for Ling Xiao who showed a relaxed smile in the face of Wang Batian's threatening stance. "Go ahead. But if you injure me, there'll be no one concocting medicine. Either way, you can take these medicinal ingredients back with you."

"What? You're the kid who knows how to concoct medicine?!" Wang Batian had a look of disbelief on his face. But judging by the confidence in Ling Xiao's bearing, he really did seem to be the real deal. "Fine, snotty brat! You win! Let's go!"

Wang Batian waved his large hand and just about turned around when he heard Ling Xiao coldly say, "Be a good boy and send those medicinal ingredients up to the Northern Jade Sect's doorsteps. If not, the Northern Jade Sect is not to be held responsible for any damages along the way."

Wang Batian raised his chin and gritted his teeth. "Snotty brat, don't think you're all that just because you can make some pills! Let me, your father, put you in your place! Let's see what you're made of!"

In the instant his words fell, Wang Batian sent a fist flying straight towards Ling Xiao's chest. If it were to really hit him, Ling Xiao would be bed-ridden for at least several months. That was, if he was fortunate enough to survive this strike.

Even though the other disciples normally thought of Ling Xiao as somewhat of an eyesore, they still warned him. "Be careful, Junior Brother!"

However, these warnings were for naught. It was practically impossible for Ling Xiao to react in time with his current achievements in cultivation.

The moment Wang Batian's fist was about to hit its target, a white silhouette rushed up and pushed Ling Xiao to the side. At the same time, the silhouette also countered Wang Batian's attack with his own fist.

A bone-tearing sound erupted as the fists met. Both Wang Batian and the silhouette were forced to retreat several steps.

"Senior Brother!" Ling Xiao and the other disciples cried out in alarm. Fortunately, Li Yuanhuan didn't seem to sustain much injury.

Wang Batian stared at Li Yuanhuan with his ravenously vicious eyes. "You're not too shabby. You actually withstood my punch. Whatever, that was only with 70% of my strength. If you have the balls, take another hit from me!"

Li Yuanhuan bitterly responded, "Wang Batian, you're going too far! You've already reached the yellow rank, yet you attacked a red-ranked Celestial Soul Master. Don't you have any shame?"

A blood-curdling scream interrupted the two. "Aiyaaa! Senior Brother, I think my hand's broken!" Ling Xiao howled with an agonised look on his face. "I'm afraid I can't concoct medicine anymore!"

Wang Batian knew Ling Xiao was putting on an act. Even so, he couldn't help but hold a lingering fear toward his own hot-headedness. If I really harmed Ling Xiao and cut off Master's source of wealth, he'd beat me to death!

"Fine. Guys, bring the medicinal ingredients to their doorsteps. I'll head back first and report to Master." Wang Batian bitterly snorted, then turned around and darted off.

Having lost the support of Wang Batian, the other disciples dared not make things anymore difficult for the Northern Jade Sect. They obediently pushed the carts and delivered the goods to the Northern Jade Sect.

"Junior Brother Ling, are you alright?" Li Yuanhuan asked, deeply concerned about his health.

Cheng Yu snorted, a disdainful look on her face. "Only Senior Brother is gullible enough to believe that fraud."

Ling Xiao could only giggle. "Thanks for your concern, Senior Brother. Don't worry, I'm alright."

When Ling Xiao recalled that his fellow disciples were worried for him, he felt a strange sense of belonging. Not to mention Senior Brother, who didn't just worry for him, but even stood up and fought for him! Ling Xiao would never forget this camaraderie.

Only now did Ling Xiao really start to treat the Northern Jade Sect as home, its disciples as family.

His brothers started fuming at his death-feigning act and those who looked down on him still behaved as they did before. Even so, Ling Xiao didn't take offense.

"Alright, I'll start concocting medicine." Ling Xiao turned around dramatically, feigning confidence, and shimmied out. He walked into the Medicine Warehouse and started concocting medicine.

Ling Xiao kept Li Yuanhuan's three-part flame in the form of a tinder. When he wanted to concoct medicine, he would direct the tinder under the cauldron and the raging three-part flame would immediately combust. He no longer needed Li Yuanhuan to be present to act as his source of fire.

Naturally, the firewood that could withstand the three-part flame's heat cost a considerable amount.

Ling Xiao secluded himself in the Medicine Warehouse for three days and three nights.

On the fourth day, an explosion resounded throughout the Northern Jade Sect. It originated from the Medicine Warehouse. Everyone panicked and hastily looked over to see what had happened.

Ling Xiao looked like a crow, walking out of the Medicine Warehouse covered in black soot.

"Master, I succeeded in concocting 30,000 Crimson Soul Pills!" Ling Xiao chuckled and revealed his pearly whites. It was a distinct contrast to his dark face. "But Master, I destroyed your cauldron."

Cheng Qiantai was so moved that tears almost rolled down his face. He knew that Ling Xiao didn't sleep a wink these last three days, exhausting all of his mental strength to concoct 30,000 Crimson Soul Pills. This disciple really did go all out for the sect!

"So be it! Master will find a better cauldron for you tomorrow," Cheng Qiantai said as he put his hands on Ling Xiao's shoulders. "You get some rest. Leave everything else up to me."

"Martial Nephew Ling Xiao really is capable! Haha!" the voices of the three Sect Masters suddenly resounded through the sky in unison. The look on everyone's faces changed as they looked up above.

Ling Xiao's face was painted black so no one could clearly make out his expression. A soft, sarcastic laugh sounded from his lips.

The three Sect Masters arrived in front of Ling Xiao. Sect Master Qian still had what Ling Xiao regarded as an extremely fake smile hanging from his lips. "Martial Nephew Ling Xiao, we'll be taking those 30,000 Crimson Soul Pills back with us now. We'll send 20% of the profit over to the Northern Jade Sect when we finish selling the pills. Martial Nephew Ling Xiao, please, lead the way!"

Cheng Qiantai was furious. These three have clearly been monitoring the Northern Jade Sect! It's preposterous!

Even if Cheng Qiantai was clenching his fists until they cracked, the three feigned ignorance.

Ling Xiao made a hand gesture, inviting them into the Medicine Warehouse. "Please, come with me."

Once they entered the Medicine Warehouse, their eyes bulged out of their sockets. The floor in front of them was littered with thousands of Crimson Soul Pills. 30,000 pills! What was the meaning of this?! A red-ranked Celestial Soul Master could reach the orange rank with 10 pills. 30,000 pills meant they could train 3,000 orange-ranked Celestial Soul Masters!

They could sell them for 300,000 orange gems at a bare minimum. The cost of the medicinal ingredients added up to 100,000 orange gems so they would each earn more than 50,000 orange gems after splitting 20% of their 200,000 orange gems profit to the Northern Jade Sect. Investing 30,000 orange gems would net them a profit of about 50,000 orange gems. That was nearly double the investment!

The three Sect Masters were even happier because they originally thought these medicinal ingredients were roughly enough for 20,000 Crimson Soul Pills. Even then, that was under the condition there was no wastage, at all. Ling Xiao had actually exceeded the initial quota, doubling their initial profit projections. How could they not beam with joy?

Sect Master Qian chuckled and said, "Junior Nephew Ling Xiao, rest well. We won't disturb you. Once you've rejuvenated, let us know and we'll immediately send the next batch of materials over."

Ling Xiao took his time, seemingly pondering on the matter. Finally, he replied, "I won't be seeing Sect Masters off then. Please send over the same amount of medicinal ingredients next month."

"Of course!" The three of them hurriedly stored the 30,000 Crimson Soul Pills in their chain's depositories, ignoring Cheng Qiantai as though he was a part of the furniture. They didn't even spare him a single glance as they hurried off as quickly as they arrived.

"Shameless!" Cheng Qiantai growled through his gritted teeth.

"Master, don't be angry. We made use of them and made a large profit." Ling Xiao chuckled in a mischievous manner.

Cheng Qiantai stared blankly at him. "How so?"

Ling Xiao pushed away a bunch of medicinal ingredients spread across the floor in the corner of the Medicine Warehouse, revealing more than 10,000 Crimson Soul Pills!

Chapter end