That day, two Foundation Establishnt cultivators flew in and stood arrogantly in the air. One of them announced loudly, "I am Gu Zhanpeng of the Green Mountain Sect. Tiancheng Sect, send soone to pay your respects imdiately!"
However, after waiting for a long ti, there was no response from the Tiancheng Sect. The wooden huts below remained silent.
Gu Zhanpeng was about to make a move, his face darkening with anger, when the cultivator beside him quickly advised, "Elder Gu, please don't be hasty! That formation looks formidable from here. Perhaps we should wait a bit and assess the situation before acting."
Gu Zhanpeng snorted dismissively. "Hmph! No matter how powerful the formation is, can it be as powerful as our Green Mountain Sect's heritage? If we don't teach this little sect a lesson today, they'll think we're easy to bully. I won't tolerate such disrespect."
After saying that, Gu Zhanpeng ignored the cultivator beside him. He patted his storage bag, took out a gleaming longsword, and launched an attack at the mountain gate below.
Buzz—
A transparent light screen shimred into existence, emitting extrely dense spiritual energy fluctuations. It easily blocked Gu Zhanpeng's longsword, absorbing the impact without effort.
Gu Zhanpeng was surprised and doubtful. "If I'm not mistaken, this is a spirit-level formation, right? How can it block my attack so easily? That shouldn't be possible for a re spirit-level formation."
He attacked again, pouring more power into his strike. It was still ineffective. The light screen held firm.
"I refuse to believe it!" Gu Zhanpeng's pride was stung. He gathered his spiritual energy and thrust his longsword out once more with all his might.
The result was the sa. Still no effect. But this ti, the transparent light shield rippled, and streaks of red light emanated from it, rushing madly towards Gu Zhanpeng.
The aura emanating from that light startled Gu Zhanpeng, but he quickly masked his surprise with disdain. "A spirit-level attack formation thinks it can threaten ? How laughable. But I must say, this newly built sect is quite sothing, having so many formations. They must have spent a fortune."
Although he said this dismissively, Gu Zhanpeng didn't dare to be careless. He quickly took out defensive spiritual artifacts and various talismans, forming a barrier in front of him.
The red light arrived at this mont, all striking Gu Zhanpeng's hastily erected defenses.
A series of booming explosions rang out instantly. The force sent Gu Zhanpeng flying a great distance before he finally managed to stop himself. Once he regained his footing, his face was filled with shock and disbelief. His defensive artifacts were cracked, and his talismans were spent.
Just then, Xu Ning erged from the wooden house. He looked up at Gu Zhanpeng and the other cultivator outside the formation and asked calmly, "Why are you causing trouble at my Tiancheng Sect? We've done nothing to provoke you."
Gu Zhanpeng narrowed his eyes, his pride still smarting. "I am from the Qingshan Sect, here to ransom our disciple. How dare you accuse of causing trouble? You kidnapped our people!"
Xu Ning nodded, his expression unchanging. "That's right. We're holding your disciple. He caused damage to our property. The ransom is three thousand spirit stones. Pay up, and you can have him back."
Gu Zhanpeng was furious at the casual acknowledgnt. "You're courting death! I'll send you to et the King of Hell right now and tear down this pathetic sect of yours!"
With that, Gu Zhanpeng attacked again with his sword, pouring even more power into the strike. But the result was the sa as before—he was sent flying far away by the attack formation, his robes singed and his dignity in tatters.
At this mont, Xu Ning produced an abacus, his fingers moving rapidly as he spoke. "The defensive formation consud two thousand spirit stones' worth of energy. The offensive formation consud four thousand spirit stones. That's a total of six thousand spirit stones in operational costs for your little temper tantrum."
Gu Zhanpeng, who was about to make another move, stopped abruptly, his eyes bulging. "What? Six thousand spirit stones? Why don't you just rob ? That's extortion!"
Xu Ning looked at him with feigned offense. "Look at what you're saying! Our Tiancheng Sect is a reputable, newly established sect. How could we possibly engage in such thieving and robbery? We have principles."
He tapped the abacus aningfully. "These are all real costs. Ask yourself, does your sect's formation require any resources to operate? Does energy co from nowhere? These things need to be replenished."
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The truth was, the Tiancheng Sect's formations were all of the legendary spirit level. They could absorb ambient spiritual energy and operate on their own, requiring no external resources.
Of course, Xu Ning wouldn't say this aloud. Otherwise, how would he find an excuse to ask for spirit stones? It was the principle of the thing.
Gu Zhanpeng was speechless. He remained silent for a long ti, his face cycling through various expressions of anger and frustration.
Xu Ning continued, his tone reasonable. "Alright, our Tiancheng Sect is reasonable. The Sect Managent Office is a joint responsibility of each sect. Our sect has all the necessary paperwork and registration, yet they ca and tried to extort us without explanation. That's a clear violation of protocol."
"In the end, when we refused, they vandalized our sect buildings, smashing several of our newly constructed wooden houses. Add to that the cost of operating the array for defense, three thousand spirit stones for ransom and six thousand for the array costs isn't unreasonable, is it? We're barely covering our expenses."
Gu Zhanpeng, upon hearing this, indeed thought it made so sense from a certain perspective. But he didn't want to give the spirit stones. He tried a different approach. "Young friend, could you give my Qingshan Sect so face? We'll rember this kindness. A favor between sects is valuable."
Xu Ning nodded amiably. "You should definitely give the Qingshan Sect face. After all, we'll be seeing each other all the ti here in the Ancient Chen Mountains. Good relations are important."
Gu Zhanpeng nodded repeatedly, relief washing over him. "Young friend is right. So wise. Then release our disciple quickly, and we'll put this misunderstanding behind us."
Xu Ning shook his head and began calculating again, his abacus clicking. "Three thousand spirit stones for the ransom, six thousand spirit stones for attacking my sect's array, that's a total of nine thousand spirit stones. For the sake of the Qingshan Sect's good na, I'll give a 10% discount as a gesture of goodwill."
"A 10% discount would be 8,100 spirit stones, but we'll round it down to an even 8,000. Consider it a favor to your esteed sect."
Gu Zhanpeng's mouth gaped wider and wider as the numbers climbed. His eyes were wide with disbelief. "Eight thousand? That's more than the original! You just added more!"
Seeing Gu Zhanpeng's unwilling expression, Xu Ning waved his hand dismissively. "If you're unwilling, then please leave. We're not forcing you. Once your sect's disciples have done nial work in our sect and paid off these debts through labor, we'll release them naturally. It might take a few decades, but we're patient."
Killing Xu Ning was out of the question. Gu Zhanpeng knew that if he escalated further, he'd only add to the debt. As long as they didn't kill anyone and didn't completely break ties, the Golden Core cultivators from the other sect wouldn't erge from seclusion over such a trivial matter. This was standard practice.
A Foundation Establishnt elder was still very valuable to a sect. He was completely worth several thousand spirit stones to retrieve. Training a replacent took decades and resources.
Moreover, when the debts would be paid off was entirely up to Xu Ning. He could say one day, and it would be one day. He could say one hundred years, and it would be one hundred years. There was no oversight on such matters.
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhanpeng's lips twitched involuntarily. His anger was reaching its peak, but he forced it down. He couldn't win this fight, not without the sect's backing.
He then forcibly suppressed his rage, took out his communication talisman, contacted the sect leader, and explained the situation in hushed, humiliated tones.
After hearing the situation, the sect leader on the other side sighed helplessly. His voice ca through the talisman, weary but resigned. "Give it to them. It's unreasonable, but we have no choice. Even if we asked the Supre Elder to intervene over such a small matter, they wouldn't care. It's beneath their dignity."
There was a pause, then the sect leader's voice took on a sly edge. "But while we're giving it to them, don't remind the other sects that we can't be the only ones suffering this loss. Let them find out on their own. Spread the word subtly, of course."
Hearing this, Gu Zhanpeng's previously extrely aggrieved mood imdiately brightened. Especially when he thought about how the other sects would also be tricked into paying inflated ransoms. He had to suppress a laugh.
He then composed himself, counted out enough spirit stones from his reserves, put them into a storage bag, and tossed it down to Xu Ning below with as much dignity as he could muster.
Xu Ning caught it, counted it carefully, and shouted back, "The people from the Green Mountain Sect can be released now!"
From the wooden house behind, the captured disciple from the Green Mountain Sect ca out, looking at Gu Zhanpeng with a face full of grievance and sha. "Elder Gu, I..."
Gu Zhanpeng cut him off sharply. "Useless thing. Co back to the sect with . We'll discuss your punishnt later."
The man quickly flew up and followed Gu Zhanpeng, not daring to say another word.
Not long after they left, representatives from other sects began arriving. Each ca with their own demands and their own arrogance.
However, just like Gu Zhanpeng, they initially attacked after failing to get an imdiate response to their calls. They were used to being feared and respected.
After all, these were prominent sects from the Ancient Chen Mountain Range. They were accustod to arrogance and initially didn't take the small, newly built Tiancheng Sect seriously. They thought it would be easy.
As a result, like the Qingshan Sect, each found themselves battered by the formations and forced to pay inflated spirit stones to retrieve their disciples.
Of course, with the Qingshan Sect as an unwitting precedent, the representatives of the later sects felt much more at ease with the arrangent. They had heard through the grapevine that this was simply how things were done now. They readily paid up with spirit stones, not wanting to be the only ones to make a scene.
Finally, after all the sects had taken their representatives away and the mountain was quiet again, Xu Ning counted his earnings. He had 64,000 spirit stones left after expenses.
He then gathered everyone together for a eting.
"Everyone has worked hard these past few days building our sect. The sect's inco has been settled today. So, I'll keep 50,000 spirit stones for sect expenses and future developnt. The remaining 14,000 will be distributed to everyone as a bonus."
Everyone's eyes lit up at the sa ti upon hearing this. There were even spirit stones being distributed! What sect's servants and disciples would receive such treatnt just for doing construction work? Indeed, staying was the right choice!
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