Chapter Fifty-Four: I’ll Strangle You

Originally, Wang Changsheng had intended to coax Lao Mou out of the spirit stones and elixirs slung over his shoulder—if he succeeded, he would have two bags of resources! Yet, recalling the cloth bag on his own back, filled with a considerable number of mid-grade spirit stones and elixirs, Wang Changsheng abandoned any designs on Lao Mou’s sack. After all, every time he’d acquired Lao Mou’s cultivation supplies in the past, and now, with one bag of mid-grade spirit stones more than enough to last until the next allocation, he felt a twinge of guilt.

Within the Spirit Stone Hall, spirit stones were countless; in the Elixir Hall, elixirs abounded. As long as he followed Lao Mou to collect them, he would never lack resources for cultivation.

Back in his room, Wang Changsheng poured all the elixirs and spirit stones onto the ground, a look of excitement lighting his face.

He ignored the elixirs—although the spiritual energy in them was more readily absorbed, their medicinal properties had become something he truly feared. More importantly, this time he had brought back nothing but mid-grade spirit stones.

The spiritual energy within mid-grade stones far surpassed that of the low-grade. By his estimation, he could absorb at most ten pieces in a month. Even with his increased absorption speed and growing demand for spiritual energy, the monthly consumption would be no more than twenty.

Sure enough, after a month, Wang Changsheng looked at the remaining spirit stones and elixirs, a rueful expression on his face. More than half of the spirit stones remained, and as for the elixirs, not a single one had been used.

He genuinely didn’t want to get any fatter.

Cultivators could perfectly control their physique, but Wang Changsheng couldn’t—his bulk was not flesh, but the accumulated effect of the elixirs’ medicinal properties.

Hearing Lao Mou open the door in the neighboring room, Wang Changsheng didn’t hesitate. He stopped cultivating, stepped out, and cajoled Lao Mou into taking him along once more.

In the end, Wang Changsheng returned with another haul of over a hundred mid-grade spirit stones and elixirs.

However, as he took out the elixirs from last time, his brow furrowed.

“The medicinal properties are slowly fading...” Wang Changsheng muttered to himself, puzzled.

In the Elixir Hall, the air was thick with spiritual energy—so thick in places it had condensed into liquid. Bathed in such energy, the elixirs retained their potency. Now, removed from there without any special preservation or jade boxes, their efficacy was waning.

“What should I do?” Wang Changsheng mused.

Elsewhere in the cultivation world, jade boxes were cheap and easily obtained; after all, for cultivators, jade was only good for preserving elixirs. Perhaps he could find some in the Corpse Refining Sect, but Wang Changsheng had never interacted with their disciples and had no access to such things.

Just because he didn’t want to absorb the elixirs’ energy himself didn’t mean they were worthless. On the contrary, these elixirs would fetch a high price outside, far exceeding the energy they could provide if exchanged for spirit stones.

But he couldn’t leave.

“Is it just going to be wasted like this?” Wang Changsheng muttered grimly.

In the end, he decided to first absorb and refine the spiritual energy within these elixirs.

For the next month, Wang Changsheng practiced without using spirit stones, instead consuming elixir after elixir. He ate so many that the very smell made him nauseous, and still he hadn’t finished them all.

“It seems it’s time to make contact with the Corpse Refining Sect disciples,” Wang Changsheng said aloud.

He’d considered this before, but fear had held him back—especially since the Corpse Refining Sect disciples looked at him as if they saw a delicacy. Now, with the issue of preserving elixirs, he had no choice.

He stepped out of his small yard and made his way to the main hall of the Corpse Refining Sect.

This time, without Lao Mou accompanying him, Wang Changsheng was anxious. Especially as he set foot on the sect’s plaza, memories of his first arrival here filled him with dread.

“Well, if it isn’t you!”

Just after stepping onto the plaza, a cultivator wrapped head to toe in a gray robe appeared before him.

“And you are?” Wang Changsheng asked, puzzled.

He didn’t know any disciples from the Corpse Refining Sect, and this person’s sudden greeting made him suspicious.

“Don’t you remember? I’m the one who brought you here!”

No sooner had the words left the gray-robed man’s mouth than Wang Changsheng, without hesitation, lunged and seized him by the throat.

Clearly, the gray-robed cultivator hadn’t expected Wang Changsheng to attack so suddenly and was promptly caught.

“It’s you! So it’s you! Today I’ll strangle you myself!”

Wang Changsheng used all his strength, squeezing the man’s neck with all his might, but his hands made no impression, no matter how hard he tried.

Still, Wang Changsheng didn’t care.

He’d suffered so much, even becoming a tribute—this man was the root of it all!

“If you hadn’t brought me here, would I have ended up like this? Look at what I’ve become!”

“Today, I’ll kill you for abducting me!”

Enemies meeting face-to-face—hatred burned in Wang Changsheng’s heart.

Had it not been for this person, Wang Changsheng would never have ended up in the Corpse Refining Sect. Since his arrival, he’d lost his freedom and lived every day in fear of becoming an offering. If not for Lao Mou, Wang Changsheng would likely have been dead already.

“You’re insane!”

Bang!

The gray-robed cultivator kicked him, sending Wang Changsheng sprawling.

The difference in strength was simply too great.

“Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because Lao Mou protects you!” the gray-robed man grumbled. “Damn it, think about it—if it weren’t for me, would you be living so well now?”

“Out there, cultivators risk their lives every day, fighting over a few measly spirit stones!”

“Look at you—endless spirit stones and elixirs, squandering them without restraint! And look at you, you’ve grown so fat!”

The gray-robed cultivator berated Wang Changsheng without mercy.

Lying on the ground, Wang Changsheng cooled off. Thinking about it, it was true—he could now cultivate in peace, with abundant resources to squander. It was the life of a privileged scion.

As the gray-robed man pointed out, if not for him, Wang Changsheng would probably still be fighting over scraps outside—or dead.

Not like now, when he could squander without a care.

“So, I should thank you?” Wang Changsheng said sarcastically.

No matter what, his current situation was the result of his own efforts. The fact remained that he had been captured as a tribute. If he were stronger, Wang Changsheng would have killed this man long ago.

“Thanks aren’t necessary,” the gray-robed cultivator replied. “In any case, the day Lao Mou stops shielding you, you’ll still end up as a tribute. In fact, you’ve fattened yourself up just right for many of the elders’ tastes.”

At the look in the gray-robed man’s only visible eye, Wang Changsheng shivered.

“Bastard!” he cursed.

“Just help me find some jade boxes,” Wang Changsheng demanded as he got up. “I’ll let go of the fact you brought me here. Get me as many as you can!”

He intended to preserve the elixirs—if he ever escaped, he could trade them for a mountain of spirit stones.

“What?” the gray-robed man exclaimed in disbelief. “You’re shameless! Not only do you use resources for yourself, you’re even planning to hoard them?”

He understood exactly why Wang Changsheng wanted jade boxes, but he was amazed by his lack of tribute’s self-awareness. Not only was he enjoying free spirit stones and elixirs, he was even trying to squirrel some away!

“So what? If you don’t like it, do something about it!” Wang Changsheng shot back. “Go on, bite me if you dare!”

“Oh, I give in,” the gray-robed man said. “You’re the most carefree tribute I’ve ever seen!”

Carefree? Wang Changsheng didn’t think so. Every time he collected resources, Lao Mou wouldn’t let him take extra. If he were truly carefree, he’d have emptied the entire Spirit Stone Hall by now.

“Do you really think those spirit stones and elixirs are useless?” the gray-robed man continued. “Even if you can’t use them for cultivation, you can exchange them for supplies the sect needs. Do you know how many disciples in the Corpse Refining Sect want to devour you, seeing you and Lao Mou take spirit stones and elixirs each month without restraint?”

Wang Changsheng’s expression changed.

But then he calmed himself. “If they want to eat me, let them try. As long as Lao Mou’s around, I’ll live another day.”

“At least you’re clear-eyed,” the gray-robed man said.

“Wait here!” He disappeared.

Wang Changsheng waited, growing impatient, until the gray-robed cultivator returned.

With a wave of his hand, two jade coffins appeared before Wang Changsheng.

“Take them,” the gray-robed man said. “Put your leftover elixirs in here—they’ll keep. Anyway, whatever you don’t use will belong to the Corpse Refining Sect after you die. We can’t let you waste them.”

“Put elixirs in coffins?” Wang Changsheng marveled. “Is that even a thing?”