Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 609: Chieftain Jin and the Nine-Netherworlds Creed

Chapter 609: Chieftain Jin and the Nine-Netherworlds Creed

“Master Yuanchen, you are too heartless. When you were young and traveled throughout Great Xia seeking alms with a counterfeit ordination certificate, you were caught by the authorities and nearly imprisoned for the crime of possessing forged official documents. It was only after I intervened and explained that the authorities didn’t press charges.”

Great Xia had stringent requirements for the qualifications of monks and Daoists. Monks from the Buddhist Kingdom or disciples of the Hanging Monastery were treated equally. They needed to pass examinations and undergo review—only by holding an ordination certificate could one be recognized by the court as a monk. This approval would permit them to beg for alms and perform rituals. Otherwise, it would be illegal.

In Master Chenyuan’s youth, he came to Great Xia to propagate Buddhist teachings, and his first task was to obtain the ordination certificate.

At the mention of this matter, Master Chenyuan became even more restless. “If you hadn’t informed me that I needed an ordination certificate to preach in Great Xia and then sold me a counterfeit one, how could I have been arrested by the authorities?”

First Elder declared with righteous conviction, “You were the one who approached me first, claiming the people of Great Xia lived in abject misery, plunged into deep water and scorching fire—an abyss of suffering. You said you came to Great Xia to help the commoners escape their predicament and guide them to your Buddhist Kingdom to chant Buddhist scriptures and renounce mundane life.

“I told you the people of Great Xia lived better than those in the Buddhist Kingdom, but you refused to believe me. I simply wanted you to enter prison to see for yourself. Even the prisoners weren’t living in such abject misery. How could the common people possibly be as you had described?

“Later, when I saw how fiercely you resisted arrest, I stepped in to explain the circumstances.”

First Elder and Master Chenyuan sat in the front row, with Ao Li of the East Sea Dragon Tribe between them.

As Ao Li listened to their argument, his heart itched, and he temporarily forgot his own enmity with First Elder, instinctively asking, “So did the authorities let Master Chen Yuan go?”

“Not exactly. Although he didn’t know the certificate was fake, which didn’t constitute the crime of knowingly possessing forged documents, he didn’t understand Great Xia’s rules. He had crossed the border directly, which constituted illegal entry, so he was still arrested. And while they were at it, they arrested me too.”

“Why did they arrest you?” Ao Li asked, not quite following.

“Because I forged the certificate.”

“Oh, right.”

Master Chen Yuan closed his eyes to rest his mind, refusing to engage further with First Elder.

First Elder continued scanning the seating area for familiar faces. Since they were outside the sect without the Taciturn Daoist Priest present, First Elder’s words and actions represented the Dao-Seeking Sect. On such an occasion, he had to take the initiative and manage the sect’s diplomatic relations. He had traveled extensively in his youth. The East Sea Dragon Tribe, the Buddhist Kingdom, the Demon Region Dragon Tribe, the Phoenix Tribe, and the Qiongqi Tribe—all had his acquaintances.

“Is Little Jin not here?” First Elder noticed the seat reserved for the Qiongqi Tribe Chieftain was empty and found it strange. Would he really miss such a major event as the Demon Region’s kingdom-founding ceremony?

“You know Chieftain Jin?” Ao Li couldn’t help but ask again.

“Of course! How could I not know him? Back when Little Jin accidentally stumbled into a diabolic creed, it was us, the Dao-Seeking Nine, who intervened in time and fished him out.”

Ao Li grew even more curious. “Which diabolic creed?”

“Qin Jiunian, shut your mouth!”

Chieftain Jin gasped for breath as he arrived late. Hearing First Elder bring up this matter, he shot him a warning glare.

Two nights prior, he had encountered Jiang Lianyi and immediately raced back to his tribe to report to the Little Ancestor. Upon learning that Jiang Lianyi had reappeared in the world, the Little Ancestor had a feeling that unforeseen incidents might occur at the kingdom-founding ceremony and instructed him to attend the ceremony posthaste.

The territories of the Dijiang and Qiongqi tribes spanned nearly half the Demon Region. Chieftain Jin had pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion just to make it in time.

And the first thing he heard upon his arrival was First Elder dredging up his dark history.

Among the leaders of the major factions, Chieftain Jin was relatively young, only just over nine hundred years old.

When he just reached the Nascent Soul Stage nine hundred years ago, he felt the Qiongqi Tribe was stagnant and rigid in their thinking. He feared that if this persisted, they would only grow poorer.

To seek a way out, he left his homeland and illegally entered Great Xia. As he lacked proper identification, he lingered in the black market, and by chance, he joined the Nine-Netherworlds Creed.

After working in the Nine-Netherworlds Creed for some time, he met a wealthy young master. This young master shared his fondness for wine, women, and gambling, and often picked up the tab. The two quickly became friends. The young master lived a life of debauchery, yet his money never seemed to run out, which Chieftain Jin was terribly envious of.

Once, he tried to ask about the young master’s background, inquiring which wealthy ancestral clan he hailed from.

The young master replied that he wasn’t from an ancestral clan—the money he spent wasn’t given by his family but earned by himself.

This piqued Chieftain Jin’s curiosity further. He pressed for details on the young master’s money-making methods and asked whether he could get involved.

At first, the young master was unwilling. After Chieftain Jin was at his beck and call and attended to his every need by working like oxen and horses, he finally managed to persuade the young master.

The young master said a friend of his had invented a lifespan-extending pill formula. Although the improvement wasn’t significant, it was enough to make cultivators nearing the end of their lifespans desperate to get their hands on it. Investing in this venture now would promise great returns, where investing one hundred spirit stones would yield one hundred and twenty back—the more one invested, the more one earned.

Hence, Chieftain Jin tentatively invested twenty thousand spirit stones. A year later, the young master gave him twenty-four thousand back.

That night, Chieftain Jin was so excited he couldn’t sleep, convinced a golden money-making opportunity had arrived.

However, he wasn’t a reckless person. Worried the venture might be unstable, he tested the waters for two more years.

For three consecutive years, the profits were substantial. The young master hadn’t lied!

The path to riches was right before him!

Unfortunately, one could never forecast the wind and clouds—no one could anticipate when things would go awry. This matter was discovered by Chieftain Jin’s superior, a branch leader of the Nine-Netherworlds Creed.

The branch master squeezed Chieftain Jin away and began dealing directly with the young master.

Some time later, Chieftain Jin found himself being hunted by the Nine-Netherworlds Creed. He had to flee while trying to figure out why.

Even after he escaped back to the Demon Region, he still couldn’t understand why the Nine-Netherworlds Creed chased him down.

Two hundred years ago, he inadvertently mentioned this story when chatting with First Elder. It was only then that he learned that the young master he had known back then was none other than Eighth Elder.

The Dao-Seeking Nine had devised an elaborate scheme for the Nine-Netherworlds Creed, swindling them until they bled with nothing left. And he had been the very first member in the creed to have fallen for it.

It was likely out of sheer fury and the desire to vent his anger that the then Nine-Netherworlds Creed had ordered his death, but Chieftain Jin had narrowly escaped.

A little over a year ago, he discovered three Nine-Netherworlds Creed followers had sneaked into the Demon Region. Reminded of his days of being hunted, his pent-up rage flared, and he swatted the three followers to death with a single claw strike.

The matter of his joining the Nine-Netherworlds Creed and getting deceived by the Dao-Seeking Nine was definitely not something he could allow First Elder to reveal. It’s too embarrassing. His tiger-like eyes widened menacingly as he glared at First Elder with hostility.

First Elder spread his hands, gesturing that he wouldn’t speak of this matter. I’m just here to reminisce; I have no ill intentions.

First Elder was about to continue locating more familiar faces for a chat when the deep, resonant toll of a bronze bell rang out. Its sound seemed to emanate from a bygone era, reverberating through the heavenly altar.

Mist began to rise from the heavenly altar. Within it, the colossal figure of the ancient Dijiang flickered in and out of view, shrouded in mystery.

The white clouds in the sky shifted and morphed into auspicious clouds.

The kingdom-founding ceremony had officially begun.

Out of courtesy, First Elder had no choice but to temporarily shelve his plans for further conversations.