In the world of cultivation, one grinds for proficiency and longevity.

"Oh my god~"

It's one thing for women to have a sweet tooth.

A group of grown men...

This is outrageous! The world is going to the dogs!

"Stop shouting, I'll go!"

Outnumbered and outgunned, Chen Changqing had no choice but to accept his fate.

Another day of being "kidnapped".

It's hard to hold back.

Fortunately, I had already decided that other grilled items would taste bad.

otherwise……

Don't be so busy you'll be spinning like a top!

Zhou Youran's beautiful eyes darted around in the crowd, paying special attention to Chen Changqing.

She keenly noticed the frown between Chen Changqing's brows, and stepped forward at the opportune moment to speak:

"Fellow Daoists, please hear what I have to say. Brother Chen is generous and righteous. He shared all the papaya birds he hunted with us. Everyone has witnessed this and we are all beneficiaries."

"But have you all thought about it? Brother Chen gave up his cultivation time to hunt and barbecue for us... He could have hunted on his own and made a fortune... But he didn't abandon us. While we enjoyed a delicious meal, he also increased our cultivation."

"Therefore, I suggest that those who have eaten Brother Chen's roasted bird should be paid one spirit stone per day as a reward for their hard work, how about that?"

There was a moment of silence, then everyone rushed to agree:

"You Ran is right, that's how it should be. Besides, the value of the papaya bird we eat is far more than that."

"Yes, I ate seven papaya birds in two days, which were worth several spirit stones. It wouldn't be right to not charge me if I ate them again today."

"Exactly, exactly. If I had to hunt birds myself, I wouldn't catch a single one in a whole day, let alone be able to eat them..."

Afterwards, each person indeed dug out one or three spirit stones.

Seeing that Chen Changqing might have difficulty accepting the money, Li Erniu thought that if Zhou Youran didn't help him, he would step in.

Unexpectedly, I had been overthinking it.

Zhou Youran not only helped Chen Changqing collect the spirit stones, but also thanked them one by one.

"Tsk tsk, my sister-in-law is a good housekeeper. My brother is very lucky," Li Erniu thought to himself.

This girl...

At this moment, Chen Changqing's feelings were rather complicated.

He both wanted and didn't want to take these spirit stones.

He wanted to take it because he had indeed put in hard work and made contributions, and he felt it was perfectly justified and natural to take it.

The reason they didn't want to take it was that there were only about twenty people present, and they could only collect a hundred or so spirit stones at most.

Since the bulk of the money has already been spent, why bother accepting more spirit stones from cultivators who are not wealthy to begin with?

Moreover, Chen Changqing had a deeper concern: he believed the Duan family couldn't possibly be unaware of the massive loss of papaya birds.

Or perhaps this was all part of a conspiracy orchestrated by the Duan family against the Zhou family?

If that's really the case, it's truly terrifying—as the "prime gunner," how could I possibly survive?

Upon realizing this, Chen Changqing felt a chill run down his spine.

"Fellow Daoist You Ran, I appreciate your kind offer, but I absolutely cannot accept these spirit stones."

Chen Changqing suddenly raised his hand, signaling Zhou Youran to return it.

He's going to take a gamble.

He might not be able to buy his life with those hundred or so spirit stones, but this act of kindness—his lack of greed—might become his only protection in a life-or-death situation.

Although he had been neglected and didn't really trust people, now... he had no choice!

Seeing that he was determined, Zhou Youran had no choice but to return it as instructed.

The group took back their spirit stones, and their opinion of Chen Changqing improved even further.

"Fellow Daoist Chen," someone asked tentatively, "then... will you still take us hunting tomorrow?"

Hundreds have been killed; there's no turning back now.

Chen Changqing answered without hesitation: "Of course! The Duan family has gone too far; we must wipe out their evil birds!"

"That's right! Kill all those evil birds..." the crowd happily echoed.

Well then... the bird is in trouble.

result……

On this day, from the morning hunt to the evening, only a mere ninety-eight birds flew in.

That's right, they can't even come up with a three-digit number.

……

By the fourth day, there were only a few scattered ones left.

"Trouble is coming..." Chen Changqing muttered to himself.

really.

On the fifth day, the Duan family finally sent someone—

The second elder of the Duan family, Duan Ce, is at the ninth level of Qi Refining; the fourth elder, Duan Gaoming, is at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

In addition, there is Duan An, the illegitimate son of the Duan family head who has been through many trials, and he has the cultivation level of the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Faced with such a formidable lineup and overwhelming force, Zhou Dezheng had no choice but to take it seriously and summoned the Third Elder and the Fifth Elder to accompany him.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"Zhou Dezheng!" Duan Gaoming was the first to attack, his voice fierce and stern. "Nearly a thousand Papaya Spirit Birds, bred at great expense by my Duan family, have vanished from your Cuiya Lake! If you don't give me an explanation today, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"

Zhou Dezheng thought he had misheard and retorted, "Nearly a thousand? Duan Gaoming, don't spout nonsense! Although my Zhou family cultivators may hunt birds, we don't possess such extraordinary power. They must have flown elsewhere!"

Zhou Dezheng knew that Zhou Youran and others had hunted a lot of birds, but he didn't know the exact number. He was quite tough when questioned.

As the head of the household, I'm extremely busy, how can I possibly manage everything!

He wouldn't interfere as long as the number of spirit fish in Emerald Lake didn't decrease significantly.

"Patriarch Zhou," Duan Ce said coldly, his tone certain, "my spirit bird is equipped with a positioning array. What Fourth Brother said is absolutely true."

Zhou Dezheng's heart skipped a beat.

Oh no! The spirit fish hasn't decreased in number?

If the birds were truly all killed, the spirit fish would have nothing to worry about. The fact that there have been no reports of spirit fish losses these past few days confirms Duan Gaoming's words.

Could it be that the old man in the library couldn't control his mouth and made a move?

Zhou Dezheng became increasingly frightened and immediately sent a telepathic message to his steward, Zhou Jian, to investigate.

A moment later, the butler returned and whispered a few words to Zhou Dezheng, whose tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and he burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Good! Excellent!"

Hunted down 800 half-tier spirit birds in three days!

Good lad, no wonder you are the immortal seedling I personally selected!

"Zhou Dezheng, you condone your subordinates' violence, yet you dare to laugh wildly in front of us?" Duan Gaoming's face turned ashen with rage.

"Oh? As the head of the Zhou family, I can't even laugh on my own turf? Who's being so arrogant here?"

Zhou Dezheng suppressed his smile and put on a playful expression:

"I just received news that your Duan family's bird was indeed killed by a cultivator from my Zhou family! Since you've come knocking on our door, let's talk about compensation."

These words caused an uproar in the room.

The Duan family elders were stunned, and the Zhou family elders were also taken aback, wondering what Zhou De was up to.

"Nine hundred birds, at nine spirit stones each, that's eight thousand one hundred spirit stones! However, since you readily admitted it, we'll round it down to eight thousand!"

Duan Gaoming stated the price without hesitation.

Clearly, they had already settled this score before they arrived.

"What! Eight thousand spirit stones?!" Zhou Hao, with his fiery temper, retorted, "You might as well just rob us!"

A fully grown papaya bird is worth four to five spirit stones on the market. However, a half-tier spirit bird is only worth a little over one spirit stone.

That's an outrageous demand.

"Birds lay eggs, eggs hatch birds, and the cycle of life continues endlessly. This price is already quite reasonable; we're not asking for more. We need to quickly compensate you. Otherwise, we'll throw a tantrum on the spot!"

"That's right, he lost his temper on the spot!"

The two elders of the Duan family stubbornly insisted on the price, maintaining a firm stance.