Chapter 23: A Bountiful Harvest

Ye Zhaozhao wondered what kind of madness had possessed Li Shuang. She couldn’t help but stare intently at her every move.

For a full half an hour, Li Shuang continuously touched every single Spirit Stone.

Manager Qiu was getting tired of watching. When Li Shuang finally touched the last stone, he couldn’t help but say, "Immortal, have you made your choice?"

"Wait." Li Shuang’s expression was indifferent.

She had touched every stone here, and she already knew their values by heart. However, where was the stone worth a hundred top-grade spirit stones? Why didn’t it seem to be among these stones?

Li Shuang placed her hand on the table. Suddenly, the progress bar of the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace jumped by twenty points.

Li Shuang looked down. "This table...?" she thought. She stepped back a bit and touched other parts of the table, but the progress bar didn’t change at all. Only that small area from before triggered such a change.

Li Shuang couldn’t help but smile. She began to search the area top to bottom.

Manager Qiu watched Li Shuang’s actions, a sudden sheen of sweat forming on his forehead. "Immortal, you..."

"Found it." To everyone’s surprise, Li Shuang had located a hidden button. With a press of the button, a secret compartment opened up on the table. Inside rested a single stone.

Li Shuang’s strange behavior had already drawn the attention of the others. Seeing that she had actually found a secret compartment, the crowd cried out in astonishment.

"A secret compartment? Why would there be a secret compartment? What’s the deal with this stone!"

"The Spirit Treasure Pavilion has always been known for its fairness and justice. Could they be resorting to petty tricks?"

A flurry of discussions immediately broke out.

Beads of cold sweat trickled down Manager Qiu’s forehead.

"Immortal, this stone..." Manager Qiu hurriedly tried to explain.

"I’ll choose this one," Li Shuang said calmly.

Manager Qiu’s face instantly turned ashen.

The biggest attraction of this game was the ultimate grand prize. Before the final prize was revealed, there would be an endless stream of people paying to participate. Therefore, he had planned to secretly bring this stone up at the very end, and a shill would then win it. This meant they would suffer no losses at all.

But now, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Li Shuang had found the secret compartment!

Manager Qiu’s body stiffened. This wasn’t just about a hundred top-grade spirit stones; it was about the century-old reputation of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion! His mind went completely blank.

Li Shuang had already opened the stone in public. Inside lay an intricately carved Jade Pendant.

"A Clear Heart Jade Pendant! Worth a hundred top-grade spirit stones!" someone nearby exclaimed. "The final grand prize has been drawn!"

Immediately, everyone crowded around.

Li Shuang smiled faintly and tied the Jade Pendant around her waist. "Manager Qiu, I’ll be taking this grand prize. However, you hid it a bit too well. If it weren’t for my good luck in finding the secret compartment, others would probably never have drawn this grand prize even if they opened every single stone."

As Li Shuang spoke, the bystanders also realized what was going on. They turned to glare furiously at Manager Qiu!

"Manager Qiu! What a fine trick you’ve played!"

"You claimed it was all based on luck, yet you secretly hid the final grand prize."

"We only participated in this event because we trusted the Spirit Treasure Pavilion’s reputation. By pulling a stunt like this, the century-old reputation of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion is completely ruined!"

Manager Qiu’s lips trembled. "Everyone, please calm down. I... I can explain this..."

However, the crowd was enraged, and his voice was instantly drowned out.

Holding the Jade Pendant, Li Shuang quietly slipped away from the scene.

Among the items this time, there were actually quite a few stones whose value exceeded the entrance fee of five Mid Grade Spirit Stones. If she had taken all the stones worth more than five Mid Grade Spirit Stones, she could have made a huge profit.

However, Li Shuang only chose to take the final grand prize. It wasn’t that she was afraid of offending the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, but doing so would have been too obvious, risking the exposure of her possessing an Exotic Treasure.

"Not bad, Junior Sister." Luo Mingyue gave Li Shuang a thumbs-up.

Li Shuang smiled slightly. "Just good luck."

"Since your luck is so good today, Junior Sister, let’s go! I’ll take you for a stroll through the bargain-hunting market!" Luo Mingyue said.

In this bargain-hunting market, it was impossible to distinguish the genuine from the fake. Many times, even the sellers didn’t know the true value of their items. Some people spent exorbitant prices on worthless trash, while others bought great treasures for a bargain. It all depended on one’s own judgment.

This was a good place for Li Shuang. With the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace, there was absolutely no possibility of her misjudging an item. But the existence of the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace was Li Shuang’s biggest secret. She could openly display the profoundness of the Supreme Forget Emotion Technique all she wanted. But not the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace. Its existence must never be exposed.

Li Shuang planned to buy a mix of genuine and fake items, aiming just to make a profit in the end to avoid drawing anyone’s attention.

Before leaving, Li Shuang cast an indifferent glance toward the second floor. It was already empty. A trace of a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Just a moment ago, her Spiritual Power had inexplicably increased by a fraction out of thin air. Previously, she didn’t know why. But now, she had a clue.

The person on the second floor harbored immense malice toward her. This malice exceeded Manager Qiu’s by a thousand—no, ten thousand times! She had only ever felt such malice from Ye Zhaozhao.

She figured the person on the second floor must have been Ye Zhaozhao. Even today’s setup was likely orchestrated by her, designed to swindle her out of her wealth. But she hadn’t fallen for it; instead, she had delivered a counterattack. Ye Zhaozhao must be feeling incredibly resentful.

Come to think of it, the last sudden increase in her Spiritual Power was also related to Ye Zhaozhao. When she won the competition, Ye Zhaozhao’s expression had been utterly sour.

Could it be that Ye Zhaozhao’s resentment could increase her Cultivation? Why was this? Li Shuang couldn’t immediately sort out the cause and effect, but she didn’t care too much either. Once it happened a few more times, she would eventually discover the real reason.

Li Shuang continued to stroll through the workshop.

Meanwhile, Ye Zhaozhao rushed back to the Sword Sect in a panic.

Today, she had caused the Spirit Treasure Pavilion to lose both Spirit Stones and their reputation. Manager Qiu would probably never treat her well again! It was best if she left as soon as possible!

Not only that, she couldn’t use this identity to meet Manager Qiu anymore. Her partnership with the Spirit Treasure Pavilion would have to end here. Otherwise, Manager Qiu, being a man who valued money over his own life, would definitely not let her off the hook.

Ye Zhaozhao fled in a hurry, her expression full of venomous resentment. The trap she had gone to such great lengths to set up had been inexplicably broken. How on earth did Li Shuang figure out there was a secret compartment!

"Host, you have lost another portion of your Spiritual Power," the system’s cold voice rang out. "If you continue to be this useless, I won’t mind obliterating you and finding a more useful host."

Ye Zhaozhao’s heart skipped a beat. Trembling, she said, "This is only the beginning. I... I still have ways to deal with Li Shuang!"

"It better be." The system went back into dormancy.

Ye Zhaozhao bit her lower lip viciously. She wished Li Shuang had just obediently plummeted to rock bottom! Why did she have to crawl back up! Her Cultivation absolutely could not drop any further. She had to think of a way as quickly as possible to trample Li Shuang back under her feet!

Spiritual Artifact Pavilion.

Manager Qiu’s face looked exceptionally ugly.

To appease the anger of those Cultivators, he had handed out quite a few benefits. Even so, the blow to the Spiritual Artifact Pavilion’s reputation from this incident was devastating. As a mere manager, he could no longer keep a lid on this!

The Spiritual Artifact Pavilion valued its reputation above all else, and news of this would soon reach the headquarters. When that time came... his fate would probably not be very pretty!

"Manager, that Miss Ye has already left," someone reported.

Manager Qiu’s expression instantly turned savage. "She thinks she’s safe just because she ran? Does she really think I don’t know her true identity? Let’s go! Call for Honored Hong. I’m taking a trip to the Sword Sect!"

If he had to suffer, Ye Zhaozhao wouldn’t be able to escape either!!