Scam

Chapter 14.

Somewhere on the eastern continent.

Ill tidings reached a cultivation sect built on a turtle-shaped mountain.

In the Ghost Gate Sect's main hall (大殿), dark gray qi swirled. The sect master's murderous intent pressed down on the entire hall, filling the cold, eerie air.

The elders prostrating on the floor were drenched in cold sweat, while the sect master's bloodshot eyes gleamed from the seat of honor.

“In Golden Ring Immortal Paradise... you dare say we lost two Ghost Gate Sect Core Formation elders?”

His voice was low and subdued, but it held all the fury threatening to erupt.

How much time and how many resources did it take to raise a Core Formation cultivator? And these weren't just any Core Formation cultivators—

Two elders, core assets who would become pillars of the Ghost Gate Sect, had died at once. One of them was even a blood relative of the sect master.

“That is correct, Sect Master. Elder Hyeon and Elder Pi's name plaques have been completely shattered. We made inquiries, and no one has seen them since they went to the eastern forbidden ground.”

“Who was it? Which bastard dares...”

“I suspect it was the master of the eastern forbidden ground. As you know, Golden Ring Immortal Paradise has one forbidden ground at each of its four ends—east, west, south, and north—and each is guarded by a master. It may have been one of them.”

The elder delivering the report spoke with a faint tremor in his voice.

“How many opponents were there? We should be able to get a rough idea by using the Ghost Gate Eight Trigrams.”

Then an old woman stepped forward, bowed, and answered.

“The one who appeared to be the master of the eastern forbidden ground was a Yao General who wielded thunder qi.”

Just one.

They'd been defeated by that one?

The sect master's hand crushed the armrest as if he meant to pulverize it.

With a crack, the hard spiritwood armrest crumbled into powder.

“Our Ghost Gate Sect cultivates slowly. Everyone has looked down on our methods. Yet despite all that persecution and humiliation, we became a great sect because we never let those who scorned us get away with it.”

We never forget our debts.

Whether gratitude or enmity, the Ghost Gate Sect repays it all.

And that went for the culprit in the Secret Realm, too.

“We cannot let the blood of our elders be cheapened. Prepare for our next entry into Golden Ring Immortal Paradise. This time, assemble a force for revenge without a single hitch. Do you understand?”

The next entry would be a hundred years from now.

That was more than enough.

“Proclaim it to all under heaven. The Ghost Gate Sect will subjugate the Yao General of Golden Ring Immortal Paradise's eastern forbidden ground.”

“We obey!”

The sect master rose and declared,

“Swear to avenge them. I will scatter their bones across the world and show all under heaven what fate awaits those who defy the authority of the Ghost Gate Sect!!”

Chilling murderous intent filled the main hall.

Another colossal storm was gathering, one that would still the turbulent winds of Golden Ring Immortal Paradise.

*

A few days later.

“Whoa, that's amazing! You found this?!”

Having fully recovered thanks to all the lovingly prepared pills and spirit fruits, Seo Geum was immediately put to work in the field.

I'd said I would cherish Seo Geum, and then put them straight to work? What, was I crazy? I couldn't exactly deny it.

But Seo Geum had pushed for this harder than I had.

I feel a little wronged!

“If I really am what you said, Master, a Treasure-Eyed Golden Rat... I want to be of help.”

Well, how should I put it?

It felt less like genuine loyalty and more like Seo Geum was trying to prove their usefulness so they could save their life.

Well, time would take care of that. I just had to sit back and enjoy the show.

“I think there's something behind that wall over there, rather than here.”

“There? Just a moment.”

I lightly reached toward the damp wall outside the cave abode that Seo Geum had pointed to.

At that, a pile of refined spirit stones glowing with a soft white light and an ancient spirit herb emerged from within.

“Whoa... There really is something there?”

“We were lucky.”

As Seo Geum looked at the treasure they'd found, they subtly straightened their shoulders, apparently proud of themself. Unlike at first, when they'd been secretly afraid, their eyes sparkled whenever they found a treasure, and they seemed to feel a quiet sense of accomplishment.

‘Seo Geum really is a bundle of good fortune.’

We'd only been strolling around the vicinity of the cave abode, yet piles of strange treasures and spirit herbs were already accumulating.

Of course, after I tossed Seo Geum a few of the spirit pills we'd collected along the way, their loyalty seemed ready to shoot through the roof.

“Did you not notice when you were little?”

“I was good at finding things people had lost. But I just thought... I had a better eye than other people.”

“I see.”

Well, it wasn't as if fortuitous opportunities were scattered everywhere.

Of course, this worked out well for me.

Our plane wasn't familiar with the Treasure-Eyed Golden Rat, and that's how I ended up meeting Seo Geum.

And they lived happily ever after!

[Baby Jiaolong: Guys, the Treasure-Eyed Golden Rat is seriously busted lol]

-We've been wandering around for a few days, and now there's a mountain of spirit stones and spirit herbs. You guys don't have this, do you? Jealous?

When I casually tossed a photo into the Yao Immortal Gallery, it erupted exactly as expected.

└Yao Immortal (178.1): Aaaaaagh!! Block! Is there no block button?! Please make this smug bastard disappear from my sight!!

└HumansSuck: At this point, that's basically plundering an entire Secret Realm.

└Yao Immortal (333.3): Fortuitous opportunities really do roll in relentlessly for you. If you keep bragging that much, you'll invite disaster someday, so show some restraint.

I casually ignored Yao Immortal (333.3)'s preachy advice. Just watching (178.1) rage in the chat was enough to wash away all my fatigue for the day.

‘This is what a proper xianxia life is all about.’

A life spent having the Treasure-Eyed Golden Rat scour the Secret Realm for treasures.

I smiled as I looked at the piles of spirit herbs and Dharma artifacts filling my storage room.

“I'm rich!”

It was about time I expanded my cave abode.

‘It might be good to learn a decent earth spell.’

Now that I had a storage pouch and plenty of spirit stones, splurging on a suitable one didn't seem like a bad idea.

[Baby Jiaolong: Guys, recommend a useful earth spell that's good for digging through soil and carving rock.]

-Looks like I need to expand my cave abode? My Golden Rat keeps bringing home treasures, so I'm running out of space ㅠㅠ

As soon as I posted, replies poured in as if they'd been waiting.

└Yao Immortal (178.1): No humblebragging!! If it's for mining, just buy a few Earth-Splitting Talismans and slap them on. Best bang for your buck. You've got plenty of money, too. Spend some!

└LotsaTails: Baby! Just learn Earth-Melting Art and melt it away! It's super convenient! You can decorate your cave abode with precision.

Skimming the chat, I got the gist. It was a choice between buying talismans for convenience or learning a spell myself to carve the terrain beautifully.

‘Since I'm renovating my cave abode anyway, I might as well learn a proper spell. It'll look cool, and I can use it later, too.’

I went into the Yao Immortal Pavilion and started looking through earth-element spells.

[Registrant: LotsaTails]

Item name: [3rd Realm Product] (Earth) [Earth-Melting Art]

Requirements: 200 Product Spirit Stones.

-A spell that melts bedrock into mud. It leaves no trace or debris, letting you keep your cave abode neat and tidy. For anyone serious about decorating their cave abode, there is no better earth spell.

LotsaTails was the type to pour excessive effort into unnecessary details when creating cultivation methods.

If this was a cultivation method LotsaTails had made, I could buy it with confidence.

[Baby Jiaolong: But are there scam items or anything in the Yao Immortal Pavilion?]

-Could I get scammed? Like, I buy that and then a Nascent Soul suddenly pops out and tries to possess me or something?

That sort of thing had happened in novels I'd enjoyed.

Those who used fixed usernames couldn't pull something like that because of their reputations, but Yao Immortals using plane-specific usernames didn't seem all that trustworthy.

└SunshineIsThisWorld: A Nascent Soul could pop out, but there aren't usually scams.

└Baby Jiaolong: Why not?

└SunshineIsThisWorld: The Yao Immortal Pavilion evaluates the item's grade itself. It's pretty absolute, so people rarely lie about it to sell things. They might describe it inaccurately, but they generally can't lie about the grade.

So, in short, the Yao Immortal Pavilion appraised items itself, which meant there was no way to cheat about the grade.

In that case, there was nothing to worry about.

I had around five hundred Product Spirit Stones on hand, so buying the Earth-Melting Art wouldn't be a problem.

Honestly, spending 200 Product Spirit Stones just to learn a spell for managing my cave abode was overkill.

But hey, if I was going to learn one, I might as well learn a good one, right? Besides, Seo Geum would earn more for me from now on.

‘If I run out, I can sell spirit fruits to make more.’

Every time my alchemy improved, the quality of my Purple Heart Pills went up.

If I really wanted to, I could make as much money as I liked!

So, what did that mean?

Time to flex~

“Purchase!”

[You have purchased the Earth-Melting Art.]

[It will be sent to your registered storage pouch.]

Heh heh heh!

I lifted the bracelet on my wrist and took a look.

It was the bracelet-type storage pouch I'd bought from the Crimson-Blood Dragon last time. It was made from a jiaolong's sinew, had an enormous capacity, and came with a protective spell!

I hadn't had a storage pouch, so even after buying it, I hadn't been able to use it. But after slaughtering those humans, I had plenty of storage pouches.

That's how I registered one and finally got to use it!

“Let's take a look. Earth-Melting Art... Mm, I see. There's nothing particularly wrong with the contents... Maybe because LotsaTails made it, it's a bit labor-intensive and unnecessarily complicated, but it should definitely perform well.”

LotsaTails was a Bone-Melting Hedgehog.

They were also the one who'd created a cultivation method that let you make clothes from your own fur or shed skin.

They were the sort to pour excessive effort into the details, so with the Earth-Melting Art, expanding my cave abode was as good as done.

Water of Motion and Stillness (動靜之水).

Qi of the Great Void (太虛之氣).

An incantation that fused the earth's solid framework and guided the stubborn bedrock to take on the properties of flowing mud.

“Wow, there it is again. They called it 3rd Realm, but made something that requires 4th Realm proficiency.”

It was labeled Earth-Melting Art, but its real name was a little different.

Earth-Bone Fusion (地骨融化).

The true origins of the Earth-Melting Art's incantation lay in Earth-Bone Fusion.

Melt the bones of the earth.

Even at a glance, it sounded extraordinary.

The bones of the earth.

It was a phrase I'd never heard before, and it seemed like it'd be difficult to use properly without considerable insight.

But who was I?

‘Master of the eastern forbidden ground in Golden Ring Immortal Paradise.’

A body destined to become a True Dragon after diligent cultivation.

If I couldn't even learn something like this, how could I call myself a master?

While practicing Earth-Bone Fusion with the Yao Immortal Gallery open, a familiar user posted.

[LotsaTails: Who bought my Earth-Melting Art? lol]

-It's worth about 20 Product Spirit Stones, honestly, so 200 was too much. I listed it wrong when I uploaded it, but somebody bought it lol. Don't tell me it was you, Baby?

└Baby Jiaolong: Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The first scam in my life as a jiaolong.

It was summer.