“I wonder what the fiancé wants with us?”
“Pfft...”
Sect Master Shen of the Danji Sect's words made Lu Ming instantly spray out the tea in his mouth.
Ji Chen and the others also looked at Sect Master Shen, utterly speechless!
“Cough, cough... Sect Master Shen, my name is Lu Ming!”
Lu Ming quickly explained.
“Ah! My apologies, Saint Lu... My tongue slipped!”
At this point, Sect Master Shen realized his slip of the tongue and hurriedly clarified.
Then, Sect Master Shen's eyes lit up.
“Saint Lu, it's like this. I heard your fiancée passed away, so you're currently single. Our Danji Sect has plenty of female cultivators of marriageable age...”
“Yes, exactly... Marriage is marriage, no matter who you wed!”
Hearing Sect Master Shen's words, the Great Ancestor of the Danji Sect chimed in.
They had just recalled the message sent back by their own Saint.
It said that this Saint of the Qingshan Sect was an alchemy genius who refined pills as easily as stir-frying.
If they could swindle him into joining their sect, the overall alchemy level of the Danji Sect would definitely skyrocket.
Lu Ming was completely speechless. How had this suddenly turned into a discussion about his marriage prospects?
Ji Chen and his companions also stared at the Danji Sect Leader in shock.
Talk about opportunistic. The man's fiancée had just died, and they were already making a move.
Meanwhile, Big Yellow, Wang Defa, and the others had a glint in their eyes.
If Lu Ming was willing to sell out his love life, could he trade it for the Danji Sect's Soul-Returning Pill to save Huang Tianbao?
Lu Ming was actually thinking the exact same thing. Should he just sell out his own marriage prospects?
With this in mind, Lu Ming turned to the Danji Sect Leader and asked,
“Then can your sect offer the Soul-Returning Pill as a betrothal gift to me?”
As soon as Lu Ming spoke, Sect Master Shen and the two ancestors of the Danji Sect twitched their lips, staring at him in utter disbelief.
Was this guy's skin made of iron?
You're marrying a female disciple of our sect, yet you want us to give you a betrothal gift?
More importantly, you actually want our sect-stabilizing precious pill? How does that make any sense?
“Cough, cough... I suddenly recalled that none of the female cultivators in our sect are worthy of Saint Lu's peerless elegance...”
Sect Master Shen coughed lightly, rejecting him outright.
Lu Ming was speechless. How could this man back out so easily?
He had already mentally prepared himself to sell his body, yet they went and changed their minds.
However, since the Soul-Returning Pill was in their hands, they held all the cards. He would have to fight for it himself.
If looks didn't work, there was always shamelessness.
Lu Ming immediately adopted an expression of utmost sincerity.
“Sect Master Shen, to put it in the most direct, straightforward, sincere, candid, and blunt way possible: I need your Soul-Returning Pill.”
Sect Master Shen and his companions twitched their lips, staring at Lu Ming in sheer shock.
...Well... that was certainly direct!
But his skin was also unbelievably thick!
How did he have the face to just come out and ask for their sect-stabilizing precious pill, the Soul-Returning Pill, like that?
Sect Master Shen looked at Lu Ming and replied with equal sincerity,
“Saint Lu, I understand your feelings and know you want our Soul-Returning Pill, but we really cannot give it to you! This is our sect's precious treasure, our showpiece!”
Hearing Sect Master Shen's refusal, Lu Ming, Big Yellow, and the others frowned.
However, they had expected this. If the Soul-Returning Pill could be acquired so easily,
other sects in the Central Province would have taken it long ago.
Refusing to give up, Lu Ming continued,
“Sect Master Shen, we can trade for it. Name whatever you want.”
“Yes! Whatever treasure you want, just say the word. If we don't have it, we'll steal it or rob someone for you.”
Big Yellow chimed in from the side.
Sect Master Shen's eyelids twitched. They truly lived up to the name of the Bandit Sect; their reputation was indeed well-deserved.
Sect Master Shen stroked his beard and said slowly,
“We want another Soul-Returning Pill!”
“Cough, cough...”
Lu Ming felt a phantom ache in his lower back.
If I had a Soul-Returning Pill to give you, would I even be asking you for one?
At this moment, Big Yellow bared its teeth and spoke up again,
“Sect Master Shen, we can give you a massive amount of spirit stones...”
Lu Ming, Wang Defa, and the others nodded along, gazing at Sect Master Shen with eager expectation.
Sect Master Shen shook his head. “We aren't short on money!”
“We can also throw in the Desolate Soul Sect's territory...”
Lu Ming offered once more.
“My apologies, Saint Lu, but that is truly out of the question!”
Hearing Sect Master Shen refuse again, Lu Ming frowned. What should he do now?
Was his only option left to wear the cloak of invisibility and steal it from the Danji Sect?
Just then, Wang Defa spoke up,
“I wonder if your esteemed sect possesses the pill formula for the Soul-Returning Pill?”
Lu Ming also looked at Sect Master Shen with hope.
If there was a formula, he could find the necessary spiritual herbs and refine one himself! Even if it was a bit troublesome.
Before Sect Master Shen could speak, the Great Ancestor beside him replied,
“Our Danji Sect does not have the formula. This Soul-Returning Pill was something I obtained in a secret realm...”
Lu Ming raised an eyebrow, looking at the Great Ancestor of the Danji Sect as he spoke,
“Senior, how do you know that pill is indeed a Soul-Returning Pill? What if you've misidentified it? Why don't you bring it out, and I'll appraise it for you...”
The Great Ancestor's lips twitched. This kid was quite the character!
What a beautiful fantasy. How would he even appraise it? Was he going to find someone to test it on?
“I have used one before,” the Great Ancestor said flatly.
Lu Ming and the others looked at the Great Ancestor in shock.
Ji Chen and his group were also surprised; this was the first time they had ever heard of this.
All the local powers had heard rumors that the Danji Sect possessed a Soul-Returning Pill.
However, most of them had remained skeptical.
Many factions even believed it was just a false rumor spread by the Danji Sect to boost their prestige.
After all, if they truly had a Soul-Returning Pill in their possession,
wouldn't the Tiansheng Sect and the Tianqi Dynasty have snatched it away long ago?
“When we entered that secret realm back then, we obtained a total of two Soul-Returning Pills. I was beaten to death by someone, but my junior brother shoved a Soul-Returning Pill into my mouth, allowing me to live once more!”
“Indeed, my senior brother was truly dead at the time. In my desperation, I turned to any doctor I could find and stuffed one of the Soul-Returning Pills into his mouth!”
“Because of that incident, we verified that the pill was indeed a Soul-Returning Pill,”
the Second Ancestor, who had remained silent until now, chimed in.
Sect Master Shen was somewhat taken aback. He didn't understand why the two ancestors were openly sharing such a closely guarded sect secret.
Lu Ming, Ji Chen, and the rest were also slightly surprised.
Meanwhile, Lu Ming found himself in a bit of a dilemma. Since they were being so sincere,
he felt a bit guilty about the idea of stealing from them!
If they had mocked or bullied him, he could have robbed them blind without a single shred of remorse,
and maybe looted some of their other stock while he was at it.
Since stealing was out of the question, he would have to trade for it.
Lu Ming immediately began taking inventory of his treasures,
searching for anything that might tempt the Danji Sect.
“How about I trade the Equality Secret Realm for it?”
Lu Ming then explained the details of the secret realm to Sect Master Shen and the others.
Sect Master Shen was highly tempted. Having such a secret realm in their possession
would indeed allow their disciples to experience the power of the Nascent Soul stage in advance.
This would be of immense help when they attempted to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, significantly raising their success rate.
However, when he thought about the Soul-Returning Pill, it was practically a second life.
Especially for a sect like theirs that was not adept at combat, it was essentially a lifeline for the entire sect.
With this in mind, Sect Master Shen suppressed his longing and reluctantly rejected Lu Ming's offer.
Rate on N.U.
