Nine Star Hegemon Body Art c1-2048
Page 972
Since Meng Qi, Chu Yao, and Tang Wan-er hadn’t wanted to come, Guo Ran ended up being interested. Without them present, it meant that the others could act completely unrestrained, using any vulgar or profane language that they wanted to.
“Long Chen, hello. I am-” began the leader of this group of Pill Valley experts.
“A hypocrite,” sneered Long Chen, finishing his introduction.
That expert’s face twitched, but he swallowed his anger. The higher-ups had already told him that he was only to negotiate with Long Chen.
“The Xuantian Dao Sect’s method of greeting its guests is really unique!” praised the leader. It seemed he was an expert at negotiating, and he smiled lightly instead of getting angry.
“First of all, you aren’t our guest. What guest would be so stupid as to run to the host’s house and destroy it, then come back with a smile and act like nothing had happened? And you say you aren’t a hypocrite?” asked Long Chen. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the table.
“It seems your Xuantian Dao Sect has no intention of reconciling?” asked the leader coldly.
“Reconciling? Are you an idiot? Do you think words can make up for Pill Valley killing so many people of my Xuantian Dao Sect?” sneered Long Chen. “Don’t act like you’re the magnanimous person wanting to reconcile. Or are you telling me that you don’t even know what your side has done? The images of Pill Valley attacking the Xuantian Dao Sect have filled the streets. Everyone on the Martial Heaven Continent knows of it. With such irrefutable evidence, you’re not able to control the public opinion any longer. That’s the only reason you’ve come today. Since you’ve come, you’ve admitted to your mistakes. So hurry up and get to the point. How much money are you going to compensate us with?”
With Zheng Wenlong’s help, there was a copy of that photographic jade in practically everyone’s hands. Even in a random ditch beside a street, it was possible to pick up a copy.
This news had shaken the entire Martial Heaven Continent. At the same time, Qu Jianying had come out and pointed her sword at Pill Valley. The Righteous path was no longer under Pill Valley’s control, and the sects that were dissatisfied with Pill Valley all began to loudly criticize them.
They claimed to be neutral but had secretly colluded with so many different powers, even using divine items to attack an ancient sect of the Righteous path. That was a grave sin.
Although Pill Valley had sent out news that they had killed the main conspirators, including the Flame Divine Palace’s master and vice palace masters, the damage was already done. That might have shut some people’s mouths, but things weren’t over. In the end, the real victim was the Xuantian Dao Sect. The Xuantian Dao Sect’s attitude was what mattered.
If Pill Valley was unable to settle this matter, then Pill Valley could give up their thoughts of continuing to do business with the Righteous path. The current Huayun Sect was already focusing on their alchemy business. They were providing a huge amount of medicinal pills each year.
Recently, the Huayun Sect’s medicinal pills had grown especially abundant. There were as many available as people wanted. Their sales might even be greater than Pill Valley in that regard.
In truth, that was because those medicinal pills had been the pills Long Chen had snatched from Pill Valley and given to the Huayun Sect. The Huayun Sect wouldn’t need to worry about running out of medicinal pills for at least a few years.
This was a fatal blow to Pill Valley. They had to placate the Xuantian Dao Sect in order to placate the Righteous path.
Pill Valley might not be afraid of the Xuantian Dao Sect, but they couldn’t be as indifferent when it came to the Huayun Sect. The Huayun Sect’s business domain was now reaching into their bowl. If this continued, even their bowl would be snatched.
Long Chen knew all of this, which was why he didn’t waste time with pleasantries. All he wanted to know was how much they were offering.
“Pill Valley sympathizes with the unfortunate event that occurred to the Xuantian Dao Sect. For such degenerates to appear within Pill Valley makes us very ashamed-”
“Don’t play this game with me. Just tell me how much money you have for compensation.” Long Chen waved his hand. Such childish and meaningless words were irritating.
The elder’s expression grew unnatural. Long Chen was even more difficult to deal with than he had expected. Long Chen didn’t give the elder any chance to test his bottom line.
Negotiation required testing the other side’s minimum and then haggling based on both side’s limits.
However, Long Chen simply repeatedly asked how much money he was offering. There was no way for him to reply to that. Starting too low would be offensive, while starting too high was not beneficial to the haggling.
“Can I know if you have any suggestions?” asked the elder. He didn’t want to start things off by saying his bottom line.
“Me? It’s simple. For the damage done to the Xuantian Dao Sect, including its buildings, mountains, treasures, etc., pay us back one hundred times the cost,” said Long Chen indifferently.
“A hundred times? That’s impossible!” roared the elder.
“Is a hundred times a lot? What a joke. This is already a nice offer. Who asked you to be so despicable as to sneak attack the Xuantian Dao Sect?” demanded Long Chen.
“I’ve already said, it was done by some traitors. We’ve already-”
“Then were those people not from your Pill Valley?”
“Well-”
“Exactly. Killing them was just cleaning up your sect. It was your own internal matter. However, their actions represent Pill Valley, and Pill Valley has to pay back the debts. That’s simply a principle,” said Long Chen disdainfully.
“A hundred times is too much. At most, I can offer… ten times.”
“A hundred times.”
“Fifteen times.”
“A hundred times.”
“Damnit, twenty times should be enough, right?!” raged the elder.
“A hundred times.”
“You… you aren’t negotiating at all! You have to lower your price!” roared the elder. He had never encountered such a person in his life.
“I just like the number one hundred. I’m no good at negotiating, but I do like hacking people with my saber. In any case, one hundred times is one hundred times,” said Long Chen.
“Then what about when you destroyed the Eastern Xuan Region’s Pill Tower? How are you planning on compensating for that damage?!” raged the elder.
“That’s simply karma. It was your side that planted the seeds for that. If you want to go find someone to blame, find those old ghosts that you killed. Perhaps those old ghosts, which should have died, are still alive?” Long Chen smiled sinisterly.
Although Pill Valley had publicly shown the images of those experts dying, including the Flame Divine Palace’s master, Long Chen knew that he hadn’t really died. That person was definitely just a scapegoat.
The elder raged, “What are you talking about? Even the valley master was enraged by what happened and gave all those traitors the death penalty!”
“Hahaha, I won’t argue with you over this. In any case, it’s still one hundred times. If you don’t like it, then scram.” Long Chen flapped his hand at them.
“Fifty times is the most I can give you. It can’t go any higher!” The elder clenched his teeth.
“Alright, have a safe trip.”
Long Chen directly stood and turned to leave.
“Hey, don’t go! We’re still talking!”
The elder became dumbfounded. Li Tianxuan had left everything about the Xuantian Dao Sect to Long Chen. If Long Chen left, these negotiations would fall apart.
“I don’t like haggling. One hundred times. Take it or leave it,” said Long Chen.
“Let me discuss this with everyone.”
The elder hesitated and clenched his teeth, bringing his people into a corner. They argued for a long time over this compensation. It
seemed the high price had caused conflict amongst them.
However, in the end, they calmed down and ran back. “One hundred times is truly too high, but through our efforts-”
“Stop wasting words. Do you accept or not? If you do, then we can start discussing the details,” interrupted Long Chen.
“Alright. I’ve recorded everything here with a photographic jade, and neither side can back out. Otherwise, if the photographic jades were spread, they would end up becoming a despicable petty person,” laughed the elder. Now he looked to be a wily old fox.
Clearly, one hundred times had not surpassed his limit. In fact, it seemed it was much lower than he had expected. All his fury had been an act.
“You old bastard!” raged Guo Ran. They had actually been schemed against.
Long Chen held Guo Ran back and indifferently said, “I’ve also activated a photographic jade. Don’t worry, both our words have to count. Here, these are the details of the damage to the Xuantian Dao Sect. It includes our one hundred and eight main mountains, over nine thousand buildings, thirty thousand pieces of equipment…”
Long Chen rattled off a list, while the elder recorded everything. In the end, the elder said, “According to that, the damages cost around three hundred and fifty thousand spirit crystals. A hundred times that would be thirty-five million spirit crystals. I will send them over within three days.”
Spirit stones were the normal currency in the cultivation world. They went from low grade, middle grade, high grade, and top grade. As for spirit crystals, they were even above top grade spirit stones. Thirty-five million of them was an absolutely terrifying sum. However, to Pill Valley, it wasn’t much. The elder smiled with satisfaction.
“Alright, excellent. Then the calculations for the damage are complete. Now let’s calculate the price for the lives of the disciples and commoners from the Xuantian Dao Sect that you killed!” Long Chen also had a smile. However, his smile looked even more sinister.
The elder’s face immediately turned green.
Chapter 1583 Boss, You Really Are Evil
“What is that supposed to mean?” demanded the elder coldly.
“Are you acting stupid in front of me? You killed over eighty million commoners of the Xuantian Dao Sect. Did you forget?” asked Long Chen.
“Tch, lowly commoners are nothing more than ants. Are they worth compensating for? According to that, wouldn’t each blade of grass and each insect of your Xuantian Dao Sect require compensation?” demanded the elder.
Long Chen slapped the elder in the face, sending him flying outside. The other experts in his group hastily flew over to help him up, only to see that he had fainted from the slap. He only slowly woke thanks to their efforts.
“Lowly commoners are ants? Do you think you’re a god? In front of me, you are just an ant. I can crush you with a single finger. Thus, can I also kill you whenever I want?” demanded Long Chen. Pointing at the desolate wasteland around them, he said, “There were eighty million commoners here. Some of them were disciples who came from the Eastern Wasteland, Southern Sea, Western Desert, and Northern Source and failed the trial. However, they didn’t want to leave, so they stayed behind. They knew there was no hope for them, but they hoped that their descendants could make their dreams a reality. Their hopes and dreams were stripped away by you along with their lives. Do you really feel no guilt?”
“Long Chen, stop trying to act so grand. How many people do you think you’ve killed? If everyone came to find you for revenge and compensation, then even ten thousand of your lives wouldn’t be enough!” sneered the elder. He could tell that Long Chen had no intention of reconciling. Ever since ancient times, in the battles against sects, the casualties of the commoners were never taken into consideration. Long Chen was intentionally trying to find trouble with Pill Valley.
“I don’t even know how many heavenly geniuses I’ve killed, but I can guarantee this: I’ve never killed anyone innocent. From a small empire in the Eastern Wasteland, my path has been one of my enemies’ bones. However, my conscience is clear. I have nothing to feel guilty about. But what about you? Pill Valley used despicable means to secretly destroy the Xuantian Dao Sect. If you really had guts, you would have come openly, but instead you brought a bunch of dogs to do your dirty work and blamed me. Then you had a bunch of brainless idiots follow the dogs to bite me. Killing those people doesn’t affect my conscience at all. Are you even fit to be compared to me? Either pay up or scram. The Xuantian Dao Sect doesn’t need your money. If it weren’t for getting justice for the commoners you killed, I wouldn’t even be willing to see you. Your Pill Valley can pay for this justice or you can not pay for it. In either case, I don’t care,” said Long Chen.
Pill Valley’s experts clenched their teeth. The elder took a deep breath and said, “What do you want? Since those traitors came from Pill Valley, Pill Valley won’t shirk responsibility.”
Long Chen was a bit surprised. Why had his tone changed so suddenly? However, he quickly noticed a bracelet on the elder’s arm sparkling. Most likely, someone had sent him a message.
His guess was that Pill Valley’s higher-ups were using the bracelet to see what was happening here and to communicate with the elder.
With the elder’s bargaining style, he definitely wouldn’t say such binding words. This was just an act, a high attitude for others to see. It was to show the world how magnanimous Pill Valley was.
Only like this could they win back Pill Valley’s lost prestige. Long Chen would bet money that the one who had sent this order down was Yu Xiaoyun.
“How refreshing. Then I won’t try to cheat you. We’ll calculate them according to the normal standards for the life of cultivators. I won’t even count them as Life Star experts. For an ordinary Soul Transformation expert, the cost is at least one hundred top grade spirit stones. At a hundred times, it would be ten thousand top grade spirit stones. Ten thousand top grade spirits stone is one spirit crystal, so for over eighty million commoners, it’s eighty million spirit crystals. I’ll even get rid of the remainder for you,” said Long Chen.
“What absolute nonsense. Those commoners were basically all at the Xiantian realm and below. Some of them hadn’t even reached Bone Forging. How can you value them the same as Soul Transformation experts?!” raged the elder.
Long Chen was clearly trying to cheat them. Those commoners hadn’t been able to become true members of the sect precisely because their talent was lacking. Now, Long Chen wanted to value them as Soul Transformation experts? That was definitely bullying.
Yu Xiaoyun’s goal this time was to keep the price within thirty-five million spirit crystals, with an absolute limit of fifty million. Otherwise, even Pill Valley would be hurt by the price.
After all, it wasn’t too long ago that Master Long San had caused chaos in Pill Valley, damaging them gravely. They had still yet to recover.
That was why the elder had been delighted when Long Chen had agreed to a price of thirty-five million at first. That would have perfectly accomplished his mission.
Now though, he was enraged. Eighty million commoners valued at eighty million spirit crystals, then when added to the previous thirty-five million, it was one hundred and fifteen million spirit crystals. That was far beyond the target that the valley master had asked of him. In fact, it was over double.
“Tch, what era do you think this is? The great era is about to descend. Heavenly geniuses are sprouting like bamboo after the spring rain. How do you know that they wouldn’t break through? How do you know they wouldn’t grow past the Soul Transformation realm, the Life Star realm, or even the Netherpassage realm? Not counting them as Life Star experts was already being too kind. You don’t know how to appreciate kindness,” said Long Chen.
“Kindness? Haha, what a joke!” The elder laughed furiously. “How many of those elders had already been about to reach the end of their longevity? How many of them were just waiting for death? Don’t you think it’s funny to say that they could still b
reak through?”
“Fine, then we can go according to what you just said. I admit the majority of those eighty million commoners were old. I’ll exclude those sixty million people. That way, the remaining ones are all in their youth and could still break through,” said Long Chen.
To immediately remove sixty million was good for Pill Valley. That way, they would only have to compensate them with an additional twenty million, and adding the previous portion, it was fifty-five million. That was just barely acceptable.
“That’s fair,” said the elder.
He didn’t say anything explicitly about it. Long Chen easily saw through that, and he continued, “Alright, then let’s continue calculating. Of those twenty million young disciples, there were men and women. How many children would they have given birth to in just one year? I’ll say around five million. In ten years, that would be fifty million. As for after thirty years, I won’t bother you with that. So how many children would be born within thirty years? If I kept calculating each and every generation that was born, that would be a bit too much, so just thirty years is definitely fair. So, we’re counting it as twenty million people whose descendants were cut off because of you. Just compensating thirty years is definitely not cheating you,” said Long Chen lightly.
Long Chen’s indifferent words made Li Tianxuan and the old Xuan Master shake their heads. They were watching his negotiations from within the Xuantian Tower.
The old Xuan Master sighed, “This little fellow Long Chen really is shameless. How could things be calculated like that?”
Li Tianxuan shook his head. “Master, you don’t know this, but Long Chen grew up in a poor environment. He feels close to those commoners, and he dislikes those arrogant, lofty existences. He acts according to his own viewpoint and doesn’t care about some big picture. His actions are obstinate and self-opinionated, and yet, those words also aren’t too suitable for him because his actions are always for justice, not selfishness.”