Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 523: Pay-Your-Debts-With-Your-Life Lightning

“This storage ring contains ten million spirit stones—consider it a deposit. Please keep it well, Teacher Tao.” Vice Creed Leader Shi’s heart ached. He had originally planned for this ten million to purchase the promotional rights. However, with just a brief exchange, it had been reduced to a mere down payment. “I will need to go back to gather the remaining forty million. Please allow half a month.

“We also haven’t finished producing the one-minute promotional illusion. It will be handed to Teacher Tao alongside the forty million spirit stones in two weeks. This is a wooden token for communication.” He passed a palm-sized wooden tablet to Tao Yaoye, identical to the one he had previously given Lu Yang.

“Once all the spirit stones are ready, we will get in touch with you through this wooden token, Teacher Tao.” His attitude was nothing but attentive. Just as Lu Yang had said, it was the Nine-Netherworlds Creed begging Tao Yaoye for a favor—she was the one who held all the leverage.

“Alright, I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t keep you any longer.” Vice Creed Leader Shi slowly rose to his feet and shot a meaningful glance at Huo Huashen, signaling for the latter to escort Lu Yang’s trio out.

Huo Huashen nodded in understanding. He retrieved a bottle of eye drops from his storage ring and handed it to Vice Creed Leader Shi.

Shi Huagu didn’t know how to respond. “I meant for you to escort them out!”

If not for his exceptional talent and the possibility of him becoming vice creed leader or even creed leader given enough time, I would have hacked this brat to death long ago!

Huo Huashen grumbled inwardly, How could you blame me for this? Your meaningful glance can have several meanings. Who could understand?

After Huo Huashen led the trio away, they had walked for barely two li when a sudden clap of thunder boomed behind them, jolting all of them. Turning back, they saw roiling storm clouds above Vice Creed Leader Shi’s location. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, like a doomsday scene unfolding before them.

This was a lightning tribulation deadly even to Fusion cultivators. Despite the distance, the pressure it emanated was palpable.

“Wait, why don’t I feel any pressure?” Lu Yang was perplexed, noting how his two junior sisters and Huo Huashen had paled under the residual might of the thunder.

Why do I not feel anything at all?

“Naturally, it’s because of me,” declared the Everlasting Immortal Fairy as she puffed out her chest with pride.

“You’re that powerful, Immortal Fairy?” Lu Yang was stunned. Since when did the Immortal Fairy command such respect?

“Of course! Most lightning tribulations trace back to the Heaven Mandate Immortal’s Tribulation Mandate Dao Fruit. Wouldn’t lightning tribulations have to show me some respect?”

The lightning tribulation wasn’t the Heaven Mandate Immortal’s creation. His contribution was simply in developing and promoting its variations.

Lu Yang was amazed. I didn’t know that even lightning tribulations have to give face to the Immortal Fairy.

Looks like the Heaven Mandate Immortal was deeply traumatized by her.

“From the looks of it, this is probably the ‘Pay-Your-Debts-With-Your-Life Lightning’ whipped up by the Heaven Mandate Immortal, designed to fry deadbeats.”

Lu Yang recalled something. Hadn’t Huo Huashen taken Qin Haoran’s “inheritance” from me? And wasn’t that inheritance related to debt notes...?

He confirmed that the Huo Huashen beside him was a living person and sighed inwardly. Seems like Vice Creed Leader Shi must value Huo Huashen immensely to shield him from this and keep him alive.

“Speaking of which, isn’t this lightning tribulation’s name a bit too plain?” From my impression, shouldn’t lightning tribulations be called “Supreme Purity,” “Purple Heaven,” “Six Ding,” “Six Jia,” or whatnot?

If you’re calling it “Pay-Your-Debts-With-Your-Life Lightning,” why not just call it “Debt Note Lightning?”

Heaven Mandate Immortal, did you even try?

“I also think the name works,” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy commented.

Lu Yang’s expression cleared, as if the fog had parted before his eyes. “So it was you who named it, Immortal Fairy! No wonder it carries a sense of primal simplicity. Upon reflection, it encompasses great principles. As the saying goes, ‘pay what is owed.’ If one actually pays their debts, how would they encounter lightning tribulations? Thus, only those who refuse to pay their debts have to pay with their lives. Immortal Fairy, the name you gave it is truly profound and thought-provoking. In just a few words, it conveys multiple layers of meaning and invites repeated contemplation!”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy beamed with a smile befitting her age. “Hehe, I didn’t think that much about it.”

A Fusion cultivator undergoing tribulation was a rare sight. The four of them paused to watch for a while. Huo Huashen had actually seen it several times before; he was simply accompanying Lu Yang’s trio.

In truth, they were just there for the spectacle. This lightning tribulation could threaten even Fusion cultivators. At the trio’s current cultivation realms, they still couldn’t discern the arcane essence behind Vice Creed Leader Shi’s tribulation.

As for the Everlasting Immortal Fairy, she had personally witnessed the whole process of the Heaven Mandate Immortal creating this lightning tribulation, so there was nothing for her to see.

Leaving Vice Creed Leader Shi to endure the lightning tribulation alone, Huo Huashen escorted the trio to their flying vessel.

Before parting, Huo Huashen decided he should voice his thoughts and not keep them bottled up. “If the three of you ever get the chance, do visit our barbeque shop. It may not rival the exotic delicacies in immortal sects, but our barbeque skewers taste pretty good.”

“Sure.”

~~~

Inside the flying vessel’s cabin, Lan Ting still hadn’t fully processed everything.

How did an ordinary mission escalate into being intercepted by the Nine-Netherworlds Creed’s vice creed leader, then a business proposal, a windfall of ten million spirit stones, and finally a polite send-off?

Lan Ting didn’t lack money, but she had never seen anyone make money like this.

She was born into the Lan Family, whose name carried no regional prefix. Most ancestral clans bore such regional prefixes, such as “Qing Province Yan Family,” “Liang Province Wenren Family,” or “Liang Province Ye Family.” Only a select few like hers went without one. This was a mark of prestige reserved for the most elite of aristocratic clans, earned through both power and legacy.

The only other family sharing this distinction was the Meng Family. Although the Lan Family did not match the Meng Family’s status as the number one ancestral clan, they were undeniably one of the most elite.

Lu Yang exhaled in relief. This trip went quite smoothly—we didn’t have to kill Fusion cultivators or confront Transcendent Tribulation cultivators.

“Senior Brother Lu, these ten million spirit stones...” Tao Yaoye clutched the storage ring, looking at Lu Yang with unease. The sheer ease of acquiring such wealth left her unsettled.

I didn’t do anything, yet ten million spirit stones landed in my lap—with another forty million pending.

Lu Yang waved dismissively. “You earned this with your abilities. Keep it.”

“Oh.”

“One more thing.”

“What?”

Lu Yang’s eyes narrowed as several burly men stood up nearby and began approaching. He reminded her calmly, “Never show your wealth when you’re out. It’ll invite trouble.”

Tao Yaoye suddenly realized she hadn’t been speaking with Lu Yang through auditory messages earlier. Any cultivator paying attention could have overheard her. To outsiders, I possess ten million spirit stones, a fortune that would take a Divine Transfiguration cultivator a lifetime to amass, yet I’m just a Golden Core cultivator!

Such a glaring mismatch between wealth and strength is destined to attract trouble!

The burly men’s faces were twisted into fierce expressions as they strode over. Their cultivation couldn’t be discerned, but they were at least at the Golden Core Stage, possibly even the Nascent Soul Stage.

Long-distance flight drained cultivators’ spirit energy too quickly, so many cultivators still opted for flying vessels.

The burly men encircled them, ignoring Lu Yang and Lan Ting entirely. Their gazes locked onto Tao Yaoye, thinly veiled with avarice.

“Fellow Daoist, you seem to have a lot of spirit stones, eh?”

“Carrying so many spirit stones around is unsafe, ain’t it? Why don’t we safeguard them for you?”

“What do you want?!” Tao Yaoye demanded warily, her fingers subtly brushing her identity jade tablet, ready to activate her magical treasure any moment.

So what if they could be at the Nascent Soul Stage? I’m not afraid.

The leader of the burly men chuckled coldly and no longer masked his intentions.

“Fellow Daoist, have you considered depositing your spirit stones with our Luodi Merchant Guild? We offer five percent annual interest.”