Chapter 23: Great Harvest, Getting Rich Overnight

Li Yinsheng slightly released the suppression of the Artifact Manipulation Skill on the leader, Yang, allowing him to speak.

"Li... no, no, no, Elder Li, Elder Li!" Yang laid on the ground, his face covered in blood and dirt. He panicked and said, "We were blind to have offended you, Elder Li!

"We know we were wrong. We will offer up all the valuables on us. We only beg you to spare our lives, Elder Li, please!"

Even while lying on the ground, Yang did not forget to kowtow as he spoke, mixing the blood and dirt on his face.

"Relax, do I look like a bloodthirsty person?" Li Yinsheng smiled. "You're the leader of these people, right? Do you remember what I just said?"

"You said... you said... compensation! Compensation for Stealing Spirit Charm! And a ransom, a ransom!" Yang said hurriedly, as if grasping at a lifesaver. "Elder Li! I am willing to pass on your message! Please seal the meridians of my four junior disciples and take them back into custody! I will definitely bring your words to our Daoist Temple and have them bring talismanic coins to apologize and redeem them!"

He noticed from Li Yinsheng's earlier disgusted complaints that compared to valuable treasures, he probably preferred talismanic coins more.

As Yang spoke, the four previously terrified disciples behind him immediately glared at him, gnashing their teeth. If they hadn't been unable to speak, they probably would have cursed out loud long ago.

However, Yang had no other choice. As the unfortunate soul who took a hit from the White Blade Skill head-on, even though the White Blade Skill only struck his Magic Sword, he was still severely injured by the shockwave. Coupled with the backlash from having the ownership marks erased from his Magical Artifact and Qiankun Bag twice, he felt his inner meridians were in complete chaos. His arm injury was particularly serious; if he didn't return to the Daoist Temple for treatment early on, he feared it would leave huge hidden dangers. Therefore, he had to sell out his junior disciples.

As for what decisions the Temple Master and the Stewards would make after he returned to the Daoist Temple and reported the situation—whether they would let the matter rest or retaliate—that was not something he could control. Right now, he just wanted to run.

"You are quite sensible." Li Yinsheng smiled. "Good. The sensible ones are always more useful than the insensible ones."

Yang immediately felt the pressure on his body loosen. Having been squeezing his meridians to circulate Magical Power and hold on, the sudden relief actually caused him to spit out another mouthful of blood. But he didn't even care to wipe it. He hurriedly scrambled up and bowed. "Thank you for not killing me, Elder Li. Thank you. I will go pass the message right away! Right away!"

After saying that, he turned to run, but Li Yinsheng suddenly spoke. "Wait."

Yang quickly stopped and turned back to bow to Li Yinsheng again.

Li Yinsheng once again took out that Upper Grade Magic Sword and asked, "What is the origin of this sword, and what is its name?"

"This sword of mine..." Yang stopped halfway through his sentence and quickly corrected himself. "No, no, no, this sword of yours, Elder Li, this sword of yours.

"As far as I know, your sword was custom-made at Zulu Temple. It was refined by Refining Essence from three thousand pounds of cold iron, and then a six-hundred-year-old Blue Bright Stone was integrated into it for Refinement.

"Therefore, I named it... No, you named it... That's not right either..." Yang stuttered, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Enough, just tell me its name," Li Yinsheng said.

"Cold Bright Sword!" Yang immediately replied.

"Alright, I got it. You can go," Li Yinsheng put away the sword and waved his hand. He felt a bit emotional as he thought, "I didn't expect this sword's name to be so similar to my previous Magic Sword, the Cold Leaf Sword. It seems there really is some fate involved."

"I will take my leave, I will take my leave!" Yang fled in panic.

Li Yinsheng looked at the remaining four people. The four who had just been glaring at Yang now didn't dare to look at Li Yinsheng. They buried their faces in the dirt one after another. But if they dared to look up, they would find that Li Yinsheng also looked a bit troubled at this moment.

To capture these people and take them back to Xuanzhen Temple, he definitely had to seal their Cultivation. However, he did not know any Magic to seal a person's Cultivation. He wondered if he should just break their limbs and cut off their tongues. But would that be secure enough? For Magic like the White Blade Skill, as long as one had Magical Power, it could still be used without needing hand seals or incantations.

Suddenly, Li Yinsheng slapped his forehead. How could he forget that the three people behind him were Fellow Daoists from Jade Altar Temple! How could Array Masters not know Magic to seal a person's Cultivation?

Thinking of this, he ignored the four people on the ground, turned around, and walked towards Meng Yu, who had remained silent the whole time. He cupped his hands and said, "Meng, thank you for speaking up for justice just now."

When Meng Yu looked at Li Yinsheng, her eyes were first sluggish, then flashed with surprise. After a long time, she returned the greeting as if waking from a dream. "It was just lifting a finger, there is no need to be polite. However, Li... your profound Cultivation is truly admirable..."

She hesitated for a moment but still didn't change her form of address to "Elder Li."

Li Yinsheng shook his head and smiled. "It's just a minor trick, just enough to deal with a few petty thieves."

This was not false modesty; the two instances of Magic he had just used were truly "minor tricks." It was just that his Magical Power was relatively profound.

"Everyone gets a share," he said with a smile, taking out the five Storage Bags he had picked up. "Meng, take a look. Is there anything you like inside? Pick whatever you want."

The male disciple behind Meng Yu instantly widened his eyes. He thought, "These are stolen goods! Senior sister is the Direct Lineage of the Temple Master, how can she share the spoils with someone else!"

Meng Yu shook her head. "I didn't contribute, so I can't accept an unearned reward."

"What a coincidence, I was just about to ask you to contribute, Meng!" Li Yinsheng pointed at the four people on the ground and smiled. "I am... not very interested in Magic that seals Cultivation, so I have never dabbled in it. I would like to ask you, Meng, to take action and seal the Cultivation of these four people for me."

Meng Yu raised her hand. A white light shot out from the Celestial Essence point on the Cyan Jade Chessboard, shining on the four people individually. Their auras immediately withered. Even after Li Yinsheng withdrew the Artifact Manipulation Skill, they still remained motionless.

"I have sealed their Magical Power and meridians. For a month, they won't be able to cast Magic, and their movements will be restricted," Meng Yu said.

Li Yinsheng glanced at the Cyan Jade Chessboard. He thought, "Although they are both Upper Grade Magical Artifacts, this chessboard is probably slightly superior to the Cold Bright Sword, right?"

"Meng, pick one," Li Yinsheng said again as he lined up the five Qiankun Bags in a row.

"It was just lifting a finger. This is too precious," Meng Yu still shook her head.

Seeing her refuse again, Li Yinsheng did not force the issue. He took back the Qiankun Bags and said, "Then consider it that I owe you a small favor, Meng."

Meng Yu was momentarily stunned. Truly speaking, she felt that a "small favor" from this Fellow Daoist in front of her—who looked a few years younger than her but possessed unfathomable Cultivation—might actually carry more weight than a Middle Grade Magical Artifact.

She was about to open her mouth to refuse, but Li Yinsheng spoke first. "Meng, don't say things like 'unearned reward' or 'just lifting a finger' anymore, because I have another matter to trouble you with."

He pointed to the Spirit Gathering Array of the Yellow Crane Temple that was Stealing Spirit Charm. "If this thing is dismantled and the materials sold to Jade Altar Temple, how many talismanic coins would it be worth?"

"This is stolen property!" the male disciple from Jade Altar Temple blurted out. "Jade Altar Temple has rules! We cannot accept things with an unclean origin!"

Li Yinsheng looked at him with a chuckle. "What stolen property? This is clearly compensation given to my Xuanzhen Temple by the Yellow Crane Temple after Stealing Spirit Charm."

The male disciple was speechless. He grumbled internally, "How can something you robbed not be stolen property?" But he didn't dare say it out loud. After all, those four people from the Yellow Crane Temple were still lying half-dead on the ground.

Meng Yu did not answer Li Yinsheng immediately. Instead, she walked up to the Spirit Gathering Array, carefully inspected it completely, and then spoke. "These materials are uneven; some are good and some are bad. Added together, they are worth about one hundred and twenty-seven thousand talismanic coins."

Li Yinsheng's eyes lit up.

The talismanic coins in cash inside the Qiankun Bags of those five people amounted to over thirty thousand. Added to this one hundred and twenty-seven thousand, it would exceed one hundred and sixty thousand. Along with what he had left himself, it came to one hundred and seventy thousand talismanic coins, all in cash. Besides, those four Middle Grade Magical Artifacts, as well as some odds and ends in the Qiankun Bags, were worth at least another hundred thousand or more talismanic coins combined.

However, fencing stolen goods was a troublesome matter. Just as the male disciple from Jade Altar Temple had said, the shops of most Daoist Temples did not like to accept items with unclear origins. Even if they did, the price would be heavily discounted.

But even if he didn't consider these troublesome matters for now, the talismanic coins in his hands alone would be enough to claim the rewards in his Cultivation Aspiration corresponding to the "thirty thousand talismanic coins" and "one hundred thousand talismanic coins" tiers. Those were twenty years and thirty years of Cultivation, respectively—a full fifty years in total! And that wasn't even counting the compensation and ransom that the Yellow Crane Temple would have to send over.

Oh, right, there was also an Upper Grade Magic Sword of considerable value.

This was truly getting rich overnight!