Jiang Ke’er still remembered the types of pills she had seen in the Dan Sect Alliance Flagship Store.
So she had a clear target. Following the placement list in the Notebook, she headed straight to their old strongholds.
Starting with the Demon Dispelling Pill Sect.
The Sect Leader of the Demon Dispelling Pill Sect was an old man, and because he had focused on pill refining in his youth, his cultivation was relatively weak.
When he saw the pill formulas Jiang Ke’er brought, his expression was as spectacular as that of the Bloodpill Ancestor, and then he collapsed to the ground.
His face twisted grotesquely, his voice filled with hysteria and murderous intent.
Even a cornered dog will jump the wall! How could he ever have endured such humiliation?!
“Yo… you little thief! You dare to use a mere pill formula to coerce the entire Demon Dispelling Pill Sect into working for you for free! Ha! Hahahahahaha…”
“…Deal.”
Sometimes, losing dignity is just that simple.
“Very well. In the future, someone will contact you.” Jiang Ke’er nodded, taking out her Notebook and crossing out the Demon Dispelling Pill Sect’s name in front of their Sect Leader.
The Demon Dispelling Pill Sect Sect Leader was speechless… marked with an X right before his eyes. When had the Demon Dispelling Pill Sect sunk to this level?
But wait—didn’t he just see a whole bunch of names from the Danxiu Alliance on there?!
Jiang Ke’er visited more than a dozen sects in a row.
All of these Danxiu sect leaders were old men—those who had been obsessed with pill refining in their youth and became overnight millionaires after discovering a single pill formula.
Perhaps because of their age or some other reason, each of them chose to yield to reality… Jiang Ke’er had originally worried about encountering some stubborn, unreasonable fool who would act purely on emotion and instantly kill her, ending her journey then and there.
In truth, that would have been the only real problem.
Unfortunately for them, no one could have guessed that Jiang Ke’er had no grand backing at all.
From the very start, she had acted alone, deciphering all the formulas herself; she was the mastermind behind everything.
No one believed the mastermind behind such a scheme would be a reckless lunatic willing to personally take the field and risk her life.
But that was the truth.
The last stop was the Luo’e Pill Sect.
Perhaps fate could not always favor Jiang Ke’er.
This time, she did not face an old man.
During the negotiation, the opposing Sect Leader slammed down a massive broadsword, heavy as a mountain, onto the table in front of Jiang Ke’er with a clang.
The table, forged from mysterious iron, became a stand for the blade, like a chopping block.
And Jiang Ke’er sat at the edge of that chopping block.
Her expression unchanged: “You’ve already seen the pill formula. The conditions are attached at the end of the formula. What does Sect Leader think?”
Luo’e Pill Sect Sect Leader—Luo’e—snorted contemptuously through his nose. “No one in this world dares mock me like this. Little girl, speak—how do you want to die? If you don’t want to die, bring out your superior to die in your place.”
“Does Sect Leader not care about the fate of the Luo’e Pill Sect?” Jiang Ke’er frowned slightly.
“I care, but I don’t just survive on one pill formula,” Luo’e sneered.
“I’m not some deadbeat living off my past achievements. I’ve long advanced to the Realm of the Venerable by my own strength! Even if this sect falls, I can go somewhere better to take a guest elder’s idle post. I’m not bound here!”
Jiang Ke’er fell into thought, feeling a bone-chilling coldness in her heart.
She had truly struck a brick wall.
“You’ve done things I’ve heard of before,” Luo’e raised his broadsword and lightly scraped the blade.
“But unfortunately, your methods only work on those pitiful old fossils with nothing left! Come on, whether you stick your neck out or hide it, it’s the same—one stroke of the blade. Be quick about it… I want to take your head to those old men and show off!”
At this, Jiang Ke’er smiled.
“If you don’t care, then what are you hesitating for?”
A barely perceptible twitch appeared on Luo’e’s facial muscles. The friction sound of his fingers scraping the blade grew louder, revealing growing impatience.
“With your power at the Realm of the Venerable, killing me should be simple. As for the one behind me, just capture me first and interrogate me harshly. Are you afraid I won’t talk?”
Jiang Ke’er smiled faintly, elegantly lifting the teacup from the iron table and leisurely blowing on the steam rising from it.
Luo’e stared at her calm composure, unaware that Jiang Ke’er had already hidden poison between her teeth. Panic rose within him as he sensed the danger and prepared to end his own life.
“Sect Leader Luo’e, you are very smart—worthy of respect,” Jiang Ke’er continued with a gentle smile, “because you think several steps ahead of others, much more so than those weaklings who break at the slightest pressure…”
“Hmph.” Luo’e snorted coldly, still unable to believe that such a young girl had seen through his thoughts.
“You deliberately displayed murderous intent to intimidate me, to gain negotiation leverage… and also to test me,” Jiang Ke’er lightly inhaled the fragrance of the tea,
“You know very well that the faction capable of producing so many Exclusive Pill Formulas is no ordinary force. So you don’t dare make a move lightly. Instead, you first release killing intent and aura to test my reaction…”
From Jiang Ke’er’s response to this powerful aura that crushed realms, Luo’e could roughly guess the combat strength of the forces behind her.
Few could remain expressionless in the face of such overwhelming aura unless they themselves were strong or constantly surrounded by the strong.
Luo’e was deeply disappointed—Jiang Ke’er showed no reaction.
Perhaps she truly had many powerful backers and was not part of some ordinary trickster group.
What Luo’e could not imagine was that Jiang Ke’er’s numb reaction came from being repeatedly battered by various strong opponents.
She had even faced life-and-death crises inside the System Training Space countless times… No sudden eruption of aura could frighten her anymore.
“You are not fearless; at least, you fear death,” Jiang Ke’er said slowly, “which is only natural. I fear death too. But I know Sect Leader Luo’e will not kill me.”
Luo’e was indeed unafraid of his sect’s collapse, but he was cautious about reckless actions that might provoke even stronger monsters, which would be worse than sect ruin.
He was now basically certain Jiang Ke’er could not be harmed.
This little one must have a large number of veteran strong monsters behind her to have cultivated such fearlessness.
If negotiation failed, and force failed, the only path left was submission.
Though Luo’e did not fear his sect’s collapse, he naturally did not want a meaningless collapse… Even if he ended up being exploited forever, that was better than nothing.
“Deal.”
Luo’e sheathed his broadsword behind his back and answered promptly.
After descending the mountain, Jiang Ke’er finally let out a long—long—breath!
She had already been so tense she was close to collapse.
Every moment she had to bluff, acting as if “I have someone above me,” though only she knew… if the other party stiffened even a little, her fate would be sealed!
Facing strong opponents who could kill her at a glance over a dozen times, Jiang Ke’er felt it was a miracle she had held on this far!
Thanks to the System’s ruthless training dummies, thousands of deaths had forged a resilient heart.
Luckily, she had made it through. The future was bright!
“You did well. Now, you may die.”
“?!”
The voice was right next to her ear.
Then came the killing intent of a Realm of the Venerable cultivator.