After lamenting, a question popped up.

Gu Zuo turned his head: "Big brother, how are we going to transport them back?"

Gongyi Tianheng rested his hand on Gu Zuo's shoulder: "First, we'd make an extremely large iron cage and recruit a number of wild birds."

Gu Zuo understood clearly — Air transport. But right away, he began to doubt: "We need to make that iron cage now? And make it here?"

Tianheng couldn't help laughing: "It was naturally done at an earlier time."

The aforementioned "first" meant before they set off. They had to make suitable preparations in advance.

Gu Zuo: "…Oh." He paused, before asking once more, "But big brother, why weren't the beasts put inside yet? Why wait until now? If the wild wolves woke up and escaped, then what would we do?"

Tianheng said: "If the beasts were enclosed ahead of time and other forces arrived here, wouldn't it be too easy for them to just carry the iron cage away? Moreover, I still have a lot of faith in the Bewildering Beast Mist Ah Zuo refined. Could it be that Ah Zuo doesn't have confidence in himself?"

Gu Zuo understood: "Of course I have…some confidence."

Hence, Tianheng laughed. After that, he went to the cave entrance and released the iron cage.

In the blink of an eye, an enormous cage appeared at the edge of the cavern. The cage door, which could roughly accommodate two wild wolves going in at the same time, directly faced them.

Dragon One and the others rapidly set about their tasks, carrying those unconscious wild wolves and packing them all into the interior of that iron cage. Not long after, the entire cage was filled to the brim.

Gu Zuo watched them bustle around, then chased after Tianheng out of the cavern: "Then, what about the wild birds?"

Gongyi Tianheng smiled before letting out a distant and prolonged whistle up into the air.

The next moment, the sounds of numerous flapping wings echoed in the sky. Soon after, as many as twelve or thirteen wild birds beat their enormous wings and landed from overhead.

These wild birds had gigantic builds and their talons were huge. Whether their tearing ability or transportation ability, both were extremely strong. It precisely suited this time's work.

Gu Zuo let out a sigh.

It was a pity that the wild bird he rented had fled back to the Sect because it was afraid of the Spirit-Grade wild beast. If not, they would've had another beastly transportation tool.

The goods were quickly stowed away. Gongyi Tianheng then made another signal for the cage to move. Those wild birds began flapping their wings and flew up. Each and every one was distributed evenly, and they used their talons to grab the railings on that iron cage.

At this moment, Dragon One jumped onto the back of the leading bird to guide the way.

Immediately following that, a surging air flow swept the surroundings. Those wild birds continuously flapped their wings. And after the iron cage produced creaking noises, it left the ground!

Ultimately, there only remained a couple wild bears that had already been tamed by Tianheng.

Tianheng asked: "Ah Zuo, how about you ride with me?"

As he said this, he lowered his head and his gaze carried a smiling expression.

Gu Zuo clenched his hands: "Okay!"

In fact, he was very interested in riding a bear. He was just worried that he'd look unimpressive when riding by himself. Now that his dear big brother saw through this hidden longing, he also felt a bit embarra.s.sed.

But, he was still very happy in his heart.

Soon after, Tianheng pulled Gu Zuo up and carried him directly to the back of the leading bear. Gu Zuo swayed a bit, and felt that the flexing muscles beneath him were very peculiar.

After that, the remaining subordinates and slaves all got on the bears' backs.

Then, the wild birds high in the sky spread their wings and the wild bears on the ground stamped the earth. A group of people grandly and mightily travelled towards the Sect.

In a rather exquisite mountain mansion, a young man sitting atop a throne was looking at a person down below. He opened his mouth, unhurriedly: "Sun Lang, I've heard that you've recently wanted to make trouble for someone. Have you already mobilized many people?"

The slim young man below heard this, and his body immediately trembled: "Senior, Senior Sect Brother Lu, I… I…" He was too nervous to dare breathe. In the end, he didn't tell any lies, "Ye-yes."

If Gu Zuo was here, he should've been able to recognize that he'd seen these two people before.

— Lu Jiusi as well as a pharmacist.

A teacup rested in Lu Jiusi's hand, while a finger lightly caressed the cup's lip. His tone was calm, but one couldn't tell his mood: "In that case, why do you want to make trouble for him?"

Sun Lang's thoughts turned extremely quickly. He considered many things, and rapidly sorted out his version of events: "Senior Sect Brother Lu, you wouldn't know how arrogant he was. He clearly didn't have much strength, but he was disrespectful to a senior disciple of mine. His words were full of contempt to a disciple of my Inner Sect Pharmacist Hall. He also said that the person he followed was far stronger than the Inner Sect's senior disciples. It was really unbearable! I was at the end of my patience and chided him. He was still full of himself from that time's medicine refining achievement and he wantonly ridiculed me…"

There were truths and falsehoods in these words. However, it wasn't nine parts truth and one part lies. Nine parts lies and one part truth was more accurate. Many embellishments had been added, and even some matters that clearly didn't happen were fabricated. The speech was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with instigations.

While Lu Jiusi listened, he guessed where there were certainly exaggerations. He'd investigated and seen the person Sun Lang was talking about, and he was also the target Lu Jiusi wanted to rope in. However, he didn't feel that the other party was that domineering — It was possible if it was Xu Lingxiu, who'd been pampered and loved since childhood.

Only, the truths and lies weren't important. The important thing was that the other party was indeed loyal to the person he followed. It probably wasn't enough to plant a seed of ambition in his heart. Perhaps it'd be better if there was some pressure from the outside to give a small push.

As a result, Lu Jiusi let go of the cup's lid.

Clink!

The sound of a crisp collision echoed out.

At first, Sun Lang spoke in a carefree manner. At this moment, he suddenly shut his mouth and hunched his shoulders: "…It was like that. If that person had only insulted me, I would've left it at that, but he shouldn't have insulted my Inner Sect Pharmacist Hall's disciple. I'm unsatisfied and I want to make him suffer a little so he knows that my Pharmacist Hall isn't a target to bully."

His ramblings had a desire for the public good, and it seemed like there really wasn't the least bit of selfish desire.

The corner of Lu Jiusi's mouth curled into a grin, and the expression in his eyes was ice-cold: "Oh? It seems you're still quite considerate towards the Pharmacist Hall."

Sun Lang's voice was somewhat feeble: "Yes… Senior Sect Brother Lu."

Lu Jiusi sneered: "Then, why do you want to mobilize my Jiusi Tower's workers? Could it be that I, this humble Lu, have given you too much power, making you think that you can supersede me and directly dispatch my subordinates?"

Sun Lang was greatly alarmed and almost immediately fell prostrate on the ground, his head covered in a cold sweat: "No, no! I just wasn't thinking clearly for a moment. I wanted to teach him a little lesson, so I rushed ahead! Please forgive me, Senior Sect Brother Lu! I wouldn't dare do that again!"

Perhaps others would think that this Lu Jiusi treated people with grace and elegance, that he was an ideal Senior Sect Brother. However, after Sun Lang was roped in by Lu Jiusi, he'd seen many things. Naturally, he wouldn't think as such. When he recalled Lu Jiusi's previous methods of dealing with those who dared to double-cross him, it truly drenched his back with sweat. It felt like he'd been put into an oven.

Lu Jiusi lifted the teacup and took a sip. The aura his body exuded was also restrained: "Okay, stand up. It looks like I gave you a scare."

Sun Lang shook uncontrollably: "I… I…"

Lu Jiusi's voice was gentle: "Alright."

Sun Lang shuddered, then he abruptly stood up.

Lu Jiusi said: "Your words have a lot of exaggerations. I don't want to get involved, but since you're a person under my employ and someone has obstructed your path, I won't fault you for teaching him a lesson. So long as you can become stronger as quickly as possible and that you pay me back sufficiently, what does it matter if you kill a few small worms?"

Sun Lang heard this, and only felt his body's temperature returning to normal. Thinking about Lu Jiusi's words, his lingering fears had turned into gratefulness and self-satisfaction.

"Only, I have also met the person you've spoken of. He currently has some connections with Xu Lingxiu. If you want to make things hard for him, you can't do it too obviously. More so, you can't take my Jiusi Tower's known staff to do this kind of thing."

Sun Lang listened to this, and his heart's jealousy dyed his eyes red: "Then, what should this subordinate do?"

This time, he was even more deferential — Why was that youngster's luck so good?!

Lu Jiusi said: "I have a few people to choose from here. You can get in touch with them and have them undertake a task. As for you, just add fuel to the fire in the back and don't expose yourself by going out — You're very important to me. What you need to do the most is still to upgrade your own medicine refining abilities. If you do other things yourself, you'll seem excessively stupid and it'll waste too much time. Do you understand?"

Sun Lang shed tears of grat.i.tude: "This subordinate understands! Many thanks, Senior Sect Brother Lu… No, many thanks for pointing this out, Tower Master!"

Lu Jiusi's tone became even warmer: "Good, you can go. However, you can't take his life. Just relieve your anger by making things difficult for him. If it isn't easy to get started on that person, the one he follows doesn't have any skill. As an Inner Sect disciple, it'll be much more convenient to target that one. And once that young master loses his henchmen, what would that person be able to achieve? At that time, wouldn't you have total control?"

Sun Lang's face was filled with aspirations. He looked as if he was already witnessing that scene, and was stirred up: "The Tower Master's words are just. This subordinate will handle it at once!"

After his voice fell, Sun Lang obeyed Lu Jiusi's dismissal and left this place in high spirits.

Once his silhouette vanished, only Lu Jiusi remained in the totally empty hall. He quietly had his tea and refreshments.

There was a slice of gloom in his eyes.

Sun Lang's apt.i.tudes were pretty good, but he was stupid. One wouldn't know if this kind of stupid person could go far along the path of medicine refinement. He wanted to overtake Xu Lingxiu, which was basically impossible. Meanwhile, the newcomer Gu Zuo could obtain Xu Lingxiu's respect — Lu Jiusi had investigated. At Gu Zuo's age, that time's performance in the Medicine Pavilion was nothing short of breathtaking. Once he had grown in the future, even if he couldn't compare to Xu Lingxiu, he certainly wouldn't be too far off.

This could close the personal distance between himself and Xi Yangyun.

This time, Sun Lang had sent the Secret Tower's people to act. It was basically impossible for outsiders to link it to Lu Jiusi. Even if the plot was exposed, it could be pushed into Sun Lang's hands. After pressuring Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng, they would've certainly encountered many troubles. If Gongyi Tianheng was able to resolve these troubles, his value would have to be rea.s.sessed. If he couldn't resolve them… When the young master was unable to protect Gu Zuo time after time, would Gu Zuo's ambitions fail to sprout? At that time, so long as he came to the rescue a few times, with his connection to Xi Yangyun and Xu Lingxiu, he wasn't worried that Gu Zuo wouldn't take the bait.

In the end, he was only a teenager.

…It was absolutely impossible to escape the palm of his hand.

Thinking up to here, Lu Jiusi smiled faintly.

In his smiling expression, there was a trace of strangeness and a trace of…obsession.

Inner Sect's Market Street. It was particularly lively today.

"Senior Sect Brother, hold on! What's caused you to run like this?"

"Don't bother me. I don't have the spare time to tarry here!"

"Senior Sect Brother! Ai—"

"Make way! Please move!"

"Wait… This Junior Sect Brother? Why are you also…"

Some people were unable to make sense of the matter. Yet, some people were running very quickly, and all of them were going towards the same direction.

One among them was especially fond of getting to the bottom of things. It was very easy to find and question a fellow disciple who couldn't run fast, but who still had a face full of envy. Then, he realized what had happened.

As it turned out, early in the morning, a flock of wild birds carrying an iron cage had landed in a tract of wide, open s.p.a.ce on Market Street. And that iron cage had no less than a hundred wild wolves that were grade three and above! They heard it also included a grade six wolf king! This truly increased the people's interests!

One must know that if the bloodline was lacking, it wouldn't be able to advance. If a wolf king appeared in the same community, then it showed that this type of wild beast's bloodline had achieved a certain level. If it was raised with care, it should also be able to reach grade six. And grade six wild wolves surpa.s.sed Qi Breathing stage three martial artists. If it was subdued, it could be considered the ideal combat partner.

If there was only one, two, or even a dozen beasts, it wouldn't have been worth mentioning. Wild wolves weren't a rare wild beast. In the past, many martial artists were able to slay them on their own. Even if one could exchange contribution points in the Sect, everyone felt it wasn't worth it. But who encountered a pack of over a hundred wolves and captured them alive?

Ordinary Inner Sect disciples were just that. Meanwhile, disciples with some financial ability and power all wanted to purchase the entire wolf pack. There was a tacit understanding between members of a wolf pack. If they could be organized into a wolf-rider battle squadron, they would certainly become the core of even an apex power!

It wasn't strange that this place was bustling.

It could be a.s.sumed that even disciples who couldn't afford it would come to take a look.

This disciple finally understood. His eyes widened, and he promptly broke out in a sprint, only leaving behind a rolling cloud of dust — For no other reason except that he also wanted to go see the wolf pack!

Moreover, which great power was capable of getting a hold of so many wild wolves? They were too stupid. They weren't going to keep the pack for their own use. Instead, they were going to sell it! He needed to see who those two fools were!

But this disciple absolutely didn't expect that the ones who got the wolf pack weren't considered a great power at all. At most, they were…an ordinary team.

Right. To a team, over a hundred wild wolves was too many. In fact, it really wasn't of much use.

Hence, more and more people arrived, congregating around that piece of wide land.

Gu Zuo followed behind Gongyi Tianheng and watched the dense crowd of people before his eyes.

It had only taken them an hour or two to bring the iron cage. Wasn't the arrival speed of those people just a little too quick? Or had the attractive force of the wild wolves reached this stage?

Most of all, many of the people who arrived either wore the same kind of clothing or bore the same badges. It seemed to have a special style of dress, which expressed that the powers that backed them were not identical. Their a.s.sets were probably very robust.

In that crowd, there were also many familiar faces.

It was just that these familiar faces hadn't wormed their way into becoming friends, so they could only give looks of hidden bitterness from afar.

That's right. And the one with the most bitter expression was that fatty.

That facial expression of his was as if piles of gold had slipped through his fingers. But after thinking about it, hadn't it really slipped away?

Gu Zuo secretly laughed in his heart. He couldn't help transmitting to Tianheng: Big brother, Senior Sect Brother Fu is over there…

Gongyi Tianheng's expression didn't change and he replied: In the business world, one talks with money. We previously gave him medicinal pills because our foundations were lacking and business opportunities were far away. Although the wild beasts aren't a one-off deal, they also aren't long-term. It's just so we can acc.u.mulate some capital. In addition, it will also let others know that we exist.

Gu Zuo didn't really get it, but he vaguely understood that his big brother had plans in mind. In any case, the current feeling he gave people was that he was a pharmacist with some potential who followed and learned from Xu Lingxiu. This should've been able to reveal something. Otherwise, he would've always been hiding and supporting from the backlines, and wouldn't have received any importance in the Inner Sect.

He shared his thoughts with Tianheng, who also approved: Correct. It's unsuitable to have a reputation that's too prosperous in the Outer Sect, but it's also unusable to have one that's too weak in the Inner Sect. Without a reputation, there'll be no one to seek for shelter. That's disadvantageous to us.

Gu Zuo nodded.

One couldn't always purchase slaves…

The facts were indeed as such.

One needed a certain strength in the Inner Sect when establishing one's own power to keep a public venue under control. Right now, Gongyi Tianheng seemed to have done something hastily, but because he had certain connections, his true strength reached a point comparable to Xiantian stage six, which presented no problems — Under normal circ.u.mstances, an Inner Sect disciple with Xiantian stage three strength would often have to recruit manpower for sufficient resources and cultivation.

Gu Zuo "spoke" a few sentences with Tianheng as more people arrived here.

As for why no one had called out a price the whole time while so many powers were allowed to come? There was only one reason. It was because it was too late!

Gongyi Tianheng and the others were discovered the moment of their arrival by quite a few disciples. It was only natural that solitary cultivators would watch the bustle. They would at most be interested in the grade five and grade six wild wolves, but news would quickly spread. At the same time, several powers had rushed over.

Who was it being sold to this time?

For over a hundred wild wolves, no one would want to yield. As a matter of fact, even more powers had shown up, but arguments over who would buy them hadn't broken out. Everyone's strengths were about the same. At most, they were separated by a hierarchy, but those of different strata still had comparable strengths. In the end, they were still in a deadlock with no conclusion.

Gongyi Tianheng waited, unruffled by the bustling chaos.

There was nothing to be done. If he didn't wait, wouldn't that offend people? In any case, none of these powers issued any statements, so he kept his mouth shut. Silence was golden. Contrary to expectations, it wasn't easy to stir up trouble.

But now, it was no longer suitable to remain silent.

The interested powers, both great and small, should've all arrived.

Dragon One, Dragon Two, and several slaves all stood around the iron cage. At this time, Gu Zuo didn't dare follow behind Tianheng. Rather, he quietly withdrew a few steps and arrived next to the cage.

In the iron cage, the wild wolves continuously issued low snarls — Yes, they'd already overcome the Bewildering Beast Mist's effects. Currently, they were leaping and frisking about. They were even colliding with the cage endlessly, exhibiting their varying capabilities.

Gongyi Tianheng cupped his hands in greeting and first said: "I am indebted to my Senior Sect Brothers and Sisters for your patronage." Then he said, "This one had luckily come across these wild wolves, which all hail from the same race and species. If they were separated, some would truly be unable to bear it. Thus, the total here amounts to one hundred twenty-eight wild wolves. There is one grade six, seven grade five, eighteen grade four, and one hundred two grade three beasts. The base price is thirty million gold and two hundred contribution points. Only the contribution points may be raised."

This price truly wasn't expensive. It could almost be said that it was perfectly cheap.

But this was only the base price. Once the auction began, the price would rise. It wouldn't remain this low.

Tianheng didn't mince words, and those powers were very appreciative. As for the matter of using contribution points in exchange, everyone felt it was normal — After all, in the Inner Sect, contribution points were a stable currency.

Hence, the sounds of bidding quickly spread from all directions:

"Two hundred fifty contribution points!"

"Three hundred!"

"Three hundred twenty!"

"Three hundred eighty—"

"I bid four hundred twenty!"

Originally, a grade three wild beast only required one or two contribution points at most. Grade four beasts were also four or five points. After some calculations, after grouping all the wild wolves here, three to four hundred points would be the limit.

But it wasn't the case here. Solitary wild wolves were easy to find, but it was just too rare to capture a pack of fully-grown wolves alive. Most of all, there was a complete set of male and female alpha wolves. One could carefully nurture the wolf pack and expand it!

The price slowly but surely rose.

Gu Zuo shockingly discovered that there were many "rich people" in the Sect!

In just a brief period of time, the whirlwind had already reached five hundred contribution points. Moreover, the trend was still going up!

"Five hundred ninety!"

"My Tianfang Pavillion bids six hundred fifty! Is anyone blind enough to keep fighting?"

"We bid seven hundred twenty!"

"Seven hundred forty…"

"One thousand!"

Finally, a grim voice echoed out. All of a sudden, the price had been set at five times the base price.

One after another, numerous powers turned their heads to look and saw a woman wearing armor. Her appearance was beautiful yet aloof, but her countenance did nothing to hide her glares.

Many people recognized her.

This was…a member of Mingyue Pavilion.

Mingyue Pavillion was currently in the middle of a fight to the death with Duanshui Hall. There were many women in the pavilion who wanted this wolf pack to raise their own strengths. Indeed, it was to be expected.

The scene was quiet for a time. It seemed that no one would raise the price.

The remaining powers looked at each other in dismay — It wasn't that they couldn't bear this price. Rather, it just wasn't worth it to raise it again. Moreover, who could've imagined that Duanshui Hall would also come to partic.i.p.ate? No matter how precious the wild wolf pack was, it wasn't worth it to make them wade through muddy shoals.

Sure enough, a voice followed soon after:

"One thousand two hundred contribution points."

T/N: Sorry in advance. I had some trouble with this chapter, so the translation may be more shoddy than usual.

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