Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

“The other candidate has the fortune of their entire clan, with overwhelming luck and dual cultivation in barbarism and Confucianism!”

“Fifth Elder, how about joining us?”

“Originally, our Heavenly Court Sect planned to take a long time to grow, so we could stand out in the Great Competition. However, the detestable Nine Nether Sect has set its sights on us, and we need a protector to help us deal with the Nine Nether Sect!”

Lu Yang clasped his hands solemnly and said, “If the Fifth Elder is willing to extend a helping hand to our Heavenly Court Sect this time, we will surely give you a great reward in the future!”

The Fifth Elder was silent for a moment. Just when Lu Yang thought the Fifth Elder was going to agree, he slowly asked:

“Has your Heavenly Court Sect registered with the court?”

Lu Yang was stunned: “Registered?”

“Yes, according to the laws of The Great Xia, the establishment of any power requires registration with the local government office. Unregistered entities are considered illegal operations and are severely cracked down on.”

“The former Four Major Demonic Sects, now the Three Major Demonic Sects, were never registered.”

Lu Yang: “…”

Seeing the silence of Lu Yang and the others, the Fifth Elder laughed heartily, “Alright, alright, just tell me the truth. What’s really going on?”

As one of the famous Nine Disciples of Dao Seeking, the Fifth Elder naturally wouldn’t be easily deceived by Lu Yang.

What ancient immortal inheritance and assistance from great families? He knew they were talking about themselves.

The fall of the Undying Sect left Lu Yang with the inheritance of the Everlasting Celestial.

Meng Jingzhou, as the eldest son of the Meng family, spent money that counted as aid from a great family.

Li Haoran’s past life, Qin Haoran, was at the half-step Tribulation Crossing Stage.

Qin Yanyan’s father was Qin Haoran, making her the first heir.

Lu Yang had no choice but to honestly recount the events, leaving the Fifth Elder amazed and his eyes gleaming.

“You all are quite talented, fabricating a fictitious Heavenly Court to deceive the Nine Nether Sect and leveraging this to form a collaboration. If you’re lucky, you might even find the Solar Sect and the Heartless Sect.”

The Fifth Elder reminisced, “We nine did something similar back in the day.”

“What happened?” Lu Yang and the others looked at the Fifth Elder curiously.

The Fifth Elder picked up a stone and casually refined it into a table and chairs, inviting Lu Yang and the others to sit.

The table and chairs looked thin, but after being refined by the grandmaster of artifact refining, they were sturdy enough to withstand several blows from a Golden Core Stage cultivator.

“It must have been around nine hundred years ago. The Eighth Junior Brother pretended to be a low-level cultivator and went out to act chivalrously. By chance, he discovered a Nine Nether Sect disciple. Instead of raising the alarm, he followed his nature, mingling with the disciple, frequenting brothels and gambling dens, mostly at the Eighth Junior Brother’s expense. This behavior quickly earned the trust of the Nine Nether Sect disciple.”

The Eighth Elder, whom Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had little contact with but remembered vividly, once sold the entrance exam questions from twenty years ago to Meng Jingzhou, confidently claiming they were the real questions.

“What happened next?”

“The Nine Nether Sect disciple asked, since they were both at the Nascent Soul Stage, where did the Eighth Junior Brother get so many Spirit Stones? The Eighth Junior Brother said they had discovered a recipe for an elixir that extended life. Although the improvement wasn’t significant, it was enough to drive those nearing the end of their lifespan mad.”

“Eighth Junior Brother also said that this was insider information from their organization, and he wouldn’t have told him if they weren’t such good friends.”

“However, the elixir for extending life had a very low yield, and supply couldn’t meet demand. It required a large amount of Spirit Stones to buy materials and expand production.”

“Eighth Junior Brother said their organization was currently short of money and asked if he could lend some. It wouldn’t be for free; after a year, he promised to return the principal along with twenty percent interest.”

“The Nine Nether Sect disciple was tempted but still skeptical. He initially invested only a few ten thousand Spirit Stones. A year later, Eighth Junior Brother returned the principal along with twenty percent interest.”

“The Nine Nether Sect disciple tried this for three years, and it was the same every year.”

“Later, this matter was discovered by the disciple’s superior in the Nine Nether Sect. The superior also wanted to invest and asked Eighth Junior Brother if it was possible. Eighth Junior Brother said he needed to consult his superiors, then brought out Old Ninth, who is your master.”

“Your master said it was possible to invest. The disciple’s superior invested for five years and doubled his assets, being overjoyed.”

“There is no secret that doesn’t come to light eventually. This matter finally reached the ears of the Nine Nether Sect Sect Leader. The Sect Leader didn’t tell anyone but cautiously requested to observe the alchemy process. Eighth and Ninth Brothers called us over to fake an alchemy scene, with Big Brother posing as someone who had taken the elixir.”

“After observing, the Sect Leader felt we were reliable and first invested his own Spirit Stones, making quite a profit.”

“Although he made a lot of money, the Sect Leader felt it wasn’t enough, so he set his sights on the Nine Nether Sect treasury. He planned to use the treasury’s funds for investment, then return the funds after a year and keep the interest for himself. Wouldn’t that be perfect?”

“The Sect Leader embezzled a portion of the treasury, made even more money, but was still not satisfied. He ended up investing most of the treasury.”

“And then we absconded with the funds.”

“Don’t tell anyone about this. Not even your grandmaster knows about it.” The Fifth Elder reminded.

Qin Yanyan was puzzled, “Weren’t the Spirit Stones you used to return the profits from the Dao Seeking Sect? How could the grandmaster not know?”

The Fifth Elder shook his head, “We didn’t need Dao Seeking Sect’s money at all. The only time any Spirit Stones were used was when Eighth Junior Brother initially tricked the disciple using his own Spirit Stones.”

Qin Yanyan was even more confused.

The Fifth Elder patiently explained to his grand-disciple, “Think about it. When we returned the profits, weren’t there other Nine Nether Sect disciples investing in us?”

Qin Yanyan nodded.

“Then couldn’t we just use the Spirit Stones from the new investors to pay the previous ones?”

Qin Yanyan suddenly understood.

“Wait, isn’t this a scam?”

“I asked Eighth Junior Brother the same question. He said, ‘How can this be called a scam? We just had a business failure, and the investment funds were lost. It’s normal for businesses to have gains and losses.’”

“If they feel wronged, they can report us to the authorities. We have nothing to hide.”

“And besides, if anyone is guilty, it’s the Nine Nether Sect Sect Leader for embezzling the treasury.”

Qin Yanyan: “…”

Lu Yang noticed Li Haoran’s strange expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Li Haoran looked conflicted, “The Sect Leader who got scammed was so angry that he soon died. Then Qin Haoran took over as Sect Leader and discovered the Nine Nether Sect’s finances were in serious trouble.”

“The previous Sect Leader never found out who scammed him until his death.”