Chapter Fifty-Five: It Is Only Polite to Return the Favor

Su Jian had long considered that if he wanted to grow stronger, the Myriad Treasures Pavilion would always be a hurdle he couldn’t overcome. If he wanted to be completely free of hidden dangers, he had to strike first. Nevertheless, compared to the Alliance of Righteous Paths, the Myriad Treasures Pavilion was much easier to deal with.

[Mission successfully accepted. Time limit: three years. Good luck.]

Su Jian was a bit surprised—the time limit for this mission was rather reasonable. Three years should be more than enough for him.

[Reward obtained: Advanced Infinite Player Summoning Mode.]

[Advanced Infinite Player Summoning Mode Explained: At the moment a player descends, you may choose to gift them a novice package and enable the player penalty function. If the player fails to complete the task within the set time, they will suffer the penalty you edit.]

[Please begin editing the penalty content.]

Su Jian’s eyes immediately lit up. This advanced version had come at the perfect time—it was just what he needed to patch up the shortcomings of the player summoning mode. Penalties like losing a limb were far too mild. However, he couldn’t simply dispose of the players, since they were summoned with fifty thousand spirit power at his expense. If the player died, he would suffer the true loss.

After some deliberation, Su Jian began to edit:

[If the player fails to complete the task within the time set by the host, they will be afflicted with unbearable itching all over their body, endure the torment of fire and ice, and for every day delayed, their lifespan will diminish by ten percent.]

This left little room for criticism. Otherwise, if he ever summoned a powerful figure, their lifespan would surely be more than a hundred years. No one, no matter who they were, could withstand losing ten percent of their life each day.

It was a pity, though, that this advanced function couldn’t be applied to Ouyang Feng. Otherwise, much of the current trouble could have been avoided, and at the very least, things wouldn’t have to be so convoluted. For the sake of what little life he had left, Ouyang Feng would certainly complete the mission at the first opportunity. Even if he didn’t give it his all, he wouldn’t dare to slack off deliberately. If he lost his life, there would be no chance to see Ouyang Ke again.

After thinking for a moment, Su Jian converted all the cultivation resources he’d recently obtained into spirit power. In addition, he gathered the more than eight hundred spirit stones he had on him.

[Current remaining spirit power: 36,750.]

He was still short by more than ten thousand spirit power...

Su Jian had no choice but to seek Zhao Qianxue’s help once more.

Zhao Qianxue spread her hands, her face full of helplessness. “I really don’t have any more. All I have left are these two hundred or so spirit stones.”

Sometimes she truly couldn’t understand… Su Jian always seemed to have a never-ending supply of treasures, yet he was perpetually short on spirit stones. Did he need spirit stones just to exchange for those treasures?

Su Jian didn’t stand on ceremony, simply accepting the two hundred-odd spirit stones. Zhao Qianxue said with some concern, “Little Jian, you mustn’t let villains take advantage of you…”

Though her words sounded a bit strange, Su Jian understood her worries. He had never concealed anything from Zhao Qianxue; it was only natural for her to sense something amiss.

“Do I look like someone being used? If anything, I’m the one taking advantage of others.”

Zhao Qianxue nestled into his embrace, holding him more tightly. Su Jian chuckled, “Just take it as me having obtained a fortuitous encounter.”

The next day, the sky was a flawless blue, not a cloud in sight.

Before leaving, Su Jian instructed his little maid, “I may be home late today. If madam asks, be sure to let her know.”

A short while later, Su Jian appeared on the street again. Before leaving, he had once more used the Morphing Pill to alter his appearance—after all, someone from the Tribunal of Evil had seen his previous face. Better safe than sorry.

Not long after, he passed the old beggar’s usual spot; the man glanced at him, seemingly by chance. Su Jian walked by indifferently. This old wretch had long since abandoned any semblance of dignity—despite being a Return-to-Void stage cultivator, he had no shame left. Yet the man had never used his spiritual sense to monitor Su Jian—was he afraid of alerting him?

Cultivators above the Golden Core stage could usually sense when others probed them with spiritual sense. To deceive someone, even an ordinary Return-to-Void cultivator wouldn’t suffice.

After a brief pause, Su Jian set off toward the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. Though he was still short on spirit stones, he had no intention of selling high-grade talismans there again. Instead, he planned to make flexible use of one of the system’s abilities.

Reciprocity was only fair.

Inside the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, there were currently more than a dozen customers.

Su Jian paid them no mind; no matter how many people were present, none could affect him. He was dressed like a wealthy young master—an outfit he had prepared in his storage ring back at the Azure Divine Palace. Since he was skilled in disguise, he naturally kept attire suited to different identities.

With an air of extravagance, Su Jian declared, “Bring out your shop’s finest treasures! I wish to join an immortal sect and am in need of a suitable spiritual weapon. Even if it’s a top-grade weapon, I can afford it. Just bring them out.”

The steward of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion greeted him with a beaming smile. “Forgive my ignorance, young master, but may I ask which family you hail from?”

Su Jian replied impatiently, “Since when did the Myriad Treasures Pavilion start dealing in information trading? Do you want me to recite my ancestors’ names for you as well?”

The steward’s lips twitched. “Just a casual question, young master, no offense intended. But these spiritual weapons are valuable, and the shop can’t produce many at once…”

Su Jian had no patience for his rambling. “Then bring out whatever you have. I’ll take a look first. If I’m not satisfied, you can have your main branch send more.”

The steward didn’t give it much thought and soon had his staff bring out three spiritual weapons from the vault. The best of them was only a mid-grade spiritual weapon.

Su Jian was disappointed. “Is this it?”

The steward responded, “If none of these please you, here’s a catalogue with records of all our best items…”

But before he could finish, Su Jian’s face twisted into a strange smile. In the blink of an eye, he vanished before the steward’s eyes.

The steward was left utterly bewildered. He realized something was wrong but couldn’t quite grasp what had happened. That technique… it looked as if the man had used a Great Teleportation Talisman. The guest had done nothing at all—only looked a few more times at the three spiritual weapons.

Was this some rich wastrel’s idea of a prank?

Just as the steward was about to have his staff put away the three spiritual weapons, he noticed something odd about them. A sense of dread washed over him. He quickly grabbed the Azure Rainbow Sword, but it had lost all spiritual energy and felt like plain iron. The other two were the same…

The steward’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

“Hurry, fetch Elder Luo!”