“No, that can’t be right. You could have just given me the Spirit Stones directly inside the Secret Realm, or stored them at Linglong Pavilion instead.”
After being brought out of the Secret Realm, Hua Jian finally realized something was off.
There was no need to exchange payment face-to-face like this. Linglong could simply have stored her payment at Linglong Pavilion.
Did Linglong Pavilion even dare to embezzle the Saintess’s Spirit Stones?
“I’m afraid Linglong Pavilion might steal your payment.” Then Linglong spoke aloud the very thought that had crossed Hua Jian’s mind.
This made Ma Shijie, who was waiting by the Spatial Gate, barely able to hold back. Could you two tone it down a bit when talking bad about Linglong Pavilion? Not right in front of me, please.
“Dragon Scale, hand it over.” After speaking to Hua Jian, Linglong turned her gaze to Ma Shijie, who was dressed in the Linglong Pavilion uniform, and pulled out the Dragon Scale Redemption Token she had obtained.
Ma Shijie’s expression grew even more helpless. If it were some other cultivator, maybe she could have found a way to cover it up, perhaps by offering some other treasure.
But Linglong was the Saintess of Yaoci. With this token in hand demanding the Dragon Scale, there was no way she could refuse.
“Hahaha, this requires some coordination. Saintess Daren, would you mind waiting for a while?” Ma Shijie could only stall for time, hoping to delay the matter.
Something this big wasn’t within her authority to decide. Better let the big shots upstairs deal with it.
“Send the Dragon Scale to Yaoci — either to my master or my mother’s side.” Linglong handed the token to Ma Shijie, showing no concern at all about Linglong Pavilion trying to renege.
If they tried, would they not fear the Yaoci Sacred Sect’s Saints coming to demand justice?
After settling the Dragon Scale matter, Linglong stepped aside and whispered quietly with Ziwan Shijie, who had been waiting for some time.
Feeling like this matter no longer concerned her, Hua Jian habitually walked over to the Storage Pouch recycling area on the other side and dumped all the pouches she had brought out onto a pile on the table.
“Recycle them all!” she said boldly.
The cultivator on duty at the counter stared dumbfounded at the pile of Storage Pouches stacked like a small mountain, his expression turning increasingly amusing.
Then a voice from not far away made his expression even more entertaining.
“That’s my Storage Pouch! How dare you sell it right in front of me, you scoundrel!”
A cultivator, just recovering from an illusion, forced himself to stand and shouted loudly at Hua Jian.
To have one’s Storage Pouch stolen and then see the thief try to sell it in front of you—wasn’t that just shameless?
Hua Jian could only express regret, saying that she was just that shameless, and if he had the guts, he could come bite her.
“How is it your Storage Pouch? I defeated you and took it from you as spoils of war. It’s mine now!”
“That was a despicable sneak attack!”
“A sneak attack is still a win. If you’re weak, then go practice more, don’t act like a whining loser here,” Hua Jian replied fiercely, arms crossed.
After this verbal assault, she glanced at the stunned Linglong Pavilion cultivator. “Hey, Linglong Pavilion didn’t say I can’t snatch other people’s Storage Pouches and exchange them for Spirit Stones, right?”
Of course, Linglong Pavilion had no such rule. The Storage Pouches recycled here required no explanation of origin — whether found, stolen, or snatched, all were accepted equally and paid five Spirit Stones each.
But selling these Storage Pouches right in front of their owners was by far the most brazen act this cultivator had witnessed in recent years.
Not to mention the sheer number of them. She must have stripped almost everyone in the Secret Realm clean.
“You… shameless! You villain!” The cultivator was fuming from Hua Jian’s retorts but couldn’t find any procedural fault to press against her, so he resorted to attacking her character.
Unfortunately, Hua Jian could flexibly adjust her character reputation based on the situation, so his insults only made her more excited.
Listening to the defeated wail was a privilege unique to the victor, wasn’t it?
“You’re just bad at your skills. Are only you allowed to gang up and bully a poor little girl like me? Am I not allowed to resist?”
“You started the attack on us first!”
“That was fair competition. You stepped right into the trap I set. You’re not allowed to attack me? Don’t pretend to be so righteous — are you really good people normally?”
Hua Jian felt herself growing more confident. A winner like her had every right to harshly humiliate the losers!
“When you snatch spirit items, you don’t care who you hurt, but now you’re all acting so decent. You’re the disgusting ones!”
Hua Jian admitted she was a little villain, but a real villain was still much better than these hypocrites who said one thing and did another.
“You… you… didn’t your elders or parents teach you manners and shame?”
“Oh, what a coincidence — I have neither elders nor parents, so I honestly don’t know.”
The cultivator who had been firing off at Hua Jian was instantly silenced, not expecting to encounter someone so impervious that she could casually admit being an orphan.
Hua Jian even used her parents in heaven as a skill — what chance did he have?
The Linglong Pavilion cultivator gasped inwardly, surprised that such a seemingly cute girl had such a tragic background.
No wonder her psychology was so twisted — lack of love since childhood.
After counting the Storage Pouches, he quickly handed over the Spirit Stones according to the recycling price.
“Aren’t you going to recycle these three Storage Pouches?” After completing the transaction, he curiously pointed to three particular pouches Hua Jian had deliberately set aside.
“No, I’m not recycling those. Why would I recycle my own?” Hua Jian put away those three pouches, took the heartwarming Spirit Stones, and happily trotted over to Linglong, who was still whispering with Ziwan Shijie.
After she left, the cultivator who had been scolded into silence approached the counter in anger and said to the Linglong Pavilion cultivator who had just witnessed the farce, “I want to redeem my Storage Pouch!”
“Sorry, this counter only handles Storage Pouch recycling. For Storage Pouch redemption, please come to the appropriate counter tomorrow after the redemption department opens.”
“But… you’re here, I’m here, my Storage Pouch is here — why can’t I redeem it?”
“It’s troublesome if you don’t follow the rules. I just get a salary, don’t make things difficult for me.” The Linglong Pavilion cultivator shrugged, implying big companies have lots of rules — you’d better not get mad.
After all, it was for their own good. Nobody wanted to be extorted when redeeming Storage Pouches later, right?
“Tch, such a hassle! That damned little thief — next time I see her, I’ll make her pay!” The cultivator growled in frustration, vowing silently.
The Linglong Pavilion cultivator rolled his eyes and thought this guy was just asking for trouble. “I think that girl is clever, skilled, and unconventional — a rare talent. You’d better not pick a fight with her. You won’t win.”