Chapter 137: Letting me take the blame comes at a high price!

Small Golden Light Temple has truly racked its brains in order to recoup its investment.

This time, they have even brought out their entire family fortune.

It is for no other reason than to ensure more people survive until the spring blossoms next year, so that they can hold Dharma Assemblies to earn merit.

The free distribution of anti-evil items this time is for the same reason.

According to that monk from Small Golden Light Temple.

Coastal areas where Evil Spirits were originally scarce have recently seen a succession of Evil Spirit disasters.

Although the intensity is generally not high and the scope is small, it still served as a warning to Small Golden Light Temple, forcing them to heighten their vigilance.

After all, as practitioners everywhere use Markets or certain Spirit Veins as strongholds to shelter more and more people.

The population density has become increasingly high.

Once Evil Cultivators infiltrate such a stronghold to perform some kind of sacrifice, and Evil Spirits emerge, the number of victims will once again be a shocking figure.

These Evil Cultivators are not good at anything else, but adding fuel to the fire in the midst of chaos is their favorite signature project.

This is undoubtedly a major obstacle to the merit plan of Small Golden Light Temple, and it cannot be ignored!

As the Market Master of Jiuye Mountain Market, Su Ping naturally would not stop the overtures of a force like Small Golden Light Temple that maintains Order.

And after deliberately haggling for a while, he agreed to the other party's request to hold a Dharma Assembly in the densely populated area at the foot of the mountain next year.

After sending the other party away, Su Ping sat cross-legged in his room, summoned Spirit Mouse Xiaobai and Xiaohui, and contacted the rat swarm.

This cold winter also brought the impact of severe attrition to Su Ping's rat swarm.

Most of the rats only had spirituality and were not transcendent; they were frozen to death in the cold wave just the same.

This caused Su Ping's intelligence gathering power in Jinque City to drop significantly.

Now, reminded by the monk from Small Golden Light Temple and realizing that the current danger is not just natural disasters but also man-made ones, Su Ping began to arrange for the surviving rats to rush to the gathering point to receive enhancement.

At the same time, Su Ping also prepared to bring in a batch of new, enhanced Elite Mouse to fill the void.

Then there was the layout of Jiuye Mountain Market.

In addition to the anti-evil items from Small Golden Light Temple.

For the sake of security, Su Ping used his means as an Array Master to set up multiple Arrays in the residential area in case of emergency.

And he specifically had Spirit Mouse Xiaobai and Xiaohui monitor this area to prevent Evil Cultivators from sneaking in.

Afterwards, Su Ping did not wait for Evil Cultivators to sneak in.

Instead, he waited for envoys claiming to be from the Cultivator Alliance to come and visit.

Su Ping had no hatred or grudges against the Cultivator Alliance.

After all, it was Exorcist Mage Yunkong who killed their True Disciple and ruined their plans; what did it have to do with him, Baihe Zhenren of Jiuye Mountain Market?

It was just that he did not quite like the attitude of the envoys who came this time.

It seems they really took him for a lone wolf who had luckily reached Foundation Establishment.

Relying on the backing of the Alliance, they opened their mouths by hoping Su Ping would join them.

It sounded nice, talking about mutual help, but in reality, they wanted to share the profits of Jiuye Mountain Market every month.

And to ensure that the Market did not cheat, the position of Chief Steward had to be filled by someone sent by them.

Regarding this, after Su Ping finished watching their performance as if they were fools, the maid who had been prepared to serve tea was also quietly waved away by Su Ping.

Afterwards, he directly had the steward come forward to send these envoys of the Cultivator Alliance away.

On the official road outside Jiuye Mountain Market.

Blowing in the cold wind, the envoy group from the Cultivator Alliance had red faces, each more ashamed and indignant than the last.

They felt they had been abused, losing their own face while also losing the face of the Alliance!

Bang!

The young Cultivator, who was the grandson of an Elder in the Alliance and had become the leader of the envoy group because of this, kicked a small stone on the side of the road hard, causing it to smash heavily into a tree trunk not far away with a loud noise.

The few attendants behind him quickly lowered their heads, knowing in their hearts that this young master was truly angry.

"Good! Very good!"

"This Baihe Zhenren actually dares to look down on our Cultivator Alliance like this; I, your young master, will remember him!"

This person cursed a few times, seemingly feeling that the lost face could not be recovered, and sneered repeatedly:

"Just a lone wolf who had to run to a Market to find a Cave Abode for Foundation Establishment; does he really think that after reaching Foundation Establishment and going to a few exchange meetings at Yunshan Market, he can stand on his own?"

"He doesn't even look to see if those Deacons of Yunshan would come to help if something really happened!"

"That's right, young master!"

Several confidants nearby hurriedly echoed:

"This Baihe Zhenren is just a short-sighted person, only caring about the little profit in front of him, not knowing how many Cultivators who don't band together die every day in the current environment!"

"Our Cultivator Alliance coming to incorporate these Loose Cultivators is pitying them! Yet who would have thought our good intentions would be treated like donkey liver and lungs!"

"So what if he's Foundation Establishment? Is Foundation Establishment so great? A Foundation Establishment without a background is still just cannon fodder!"

Speaking of this, a confidant paused, and after a flash of cunning in his eyes, he whispered:

"Young master, when we went up the mountain, we saw that the population sheltered by this Jiuye Mountain Market is truly large!"

"One Jiuye Mountain has more than all the ones we talked to before combined!"

"After the cold wave passes, we will add oil and vinegar to the news and let it out; I don't believe other cultivation forces won't be tempted!"

"Although these lowly people are easy to raise and there would be a bunch of them in ten years if left alone, this time, after all, too many died at once..."

"Other families also need people to farm, mine, and even sacrifice to Dharma Artifacts, right?"

The young master nodded slightly, acknowledging this idea, but still felt it wasn't enough to vent his anger, and snorted:

"When I go back, I will personally report this Foundation Establishment's arrogance to the Old Ancestor... Our Cultivator Alliance must establish its prestige if it wants to gain a foothold in this region!"

"This Loose Cultivator is a Foundation Establishment, but he happens to have no background, and it won't be that fast for him to build deep connections just after breaking through!"

"This is truly an excellent target for establishing prestige!"

The young master had already prepared his excuse for the return trip, and with that, he laughed heartily and continued forward with his trusted aides, preparing to head toward another Market.

He was indeed furious at Baihe Zhenren.

After all, relying on the banner of the Cultivator Alliance previously, which cultivation force had not treated him with fine food and drink, or even gifted him Spirit Stones and Dharma Artifacts?

Even if they did not agree to participate immediately, they had at least displayed a positive attitude.

This had allowed the young master to satisfy his vanity to a great extent.

Yet, not long after being satisfied, he had been blasted out by Baihe Zhenren.

It made him recall once again the days of fear and anxiety with his parents in Nanhuang.

Their Cultivator Alliance appeared to have come to the Central Region to occupy territory and seek development.

In reality, wasn't it just a league of losers formed by small sects and factions that couldn't survive in Nanhuang, banding together and then continuously absorbing Loose Cultivators or the remnants of various families along the way?

It was only because of the recent outbreak of Chiyuan Xianren and the Evil Qi Tide in the Central Region.

The major forces had no time to pay attention, and the small and medium forces were in a state of chaos.

Cultivators who had become Loose Cultivators for various reasons would instinctively choose to join various forces to protect themselves in the face of this complex environment.

This gave them the opportunity to fish in troubled waters and gradually grow larger.

It also caused many people within it to be quite sensitive, fearing that their facade would be seen through, causing them to once again fall into the status of losers.

These people vented their dissatisfaction, not knowing that the area around the Jiuye Mountain Market was the absolute priority under Su Ping's intelligence control.

The cursing of these people had long been recorded by the audio monitoring equipment placed in the woods and by the rocks.

After Su Ping learned of this, besides sneering, his heart also stirred.

He knew that what the other party said was not without reason.

During this winter, the population collected by his Nine Leaves Mountain had indeed increased a bit.

The Cultivation World was indeed not lacking in population.

After all, for mortals in this world to turn their lives around, in a sense, there was only one path: having children!

As long as one could give birth to someone with a Spirit Root, even if it was just an inferior Spirit Root, becoming a Loose Cultivator could greatly improve the living environment of the entire family or even the clan.

So there was no need for the masters to encourage it.

Regardless of status, regardless of gender, everyone was very conscious of such things that were beneficial to themselves.

Plus, the Cultivation World had Spirit Qi, so the physical fitness of the bottom-tier people, even when enduring hunger, was much better than on Water Blue Star.

The rates of difficult labor and infant mortality were far lower than in the ancient society of Water Blue Star during the same period.

Therefore, in terms of population recovery, it had never been a problem in the Cultivation World.

As long as the grain production was sufficient, ten years of giving birth and ten years of raising would allow a large population to emerge.

But all of this required time.

Yet, merit would not wait for anyone.

In the face of the benefits of merit, it was hard to say if someone would truly be tempted to borrow people from him...

And the first one to speak up might very well be that Cultivator Alliance!

Thinking of this, Su Ping closed his eyes and confirmed the traces left by the envoy team through the rats.

Immediately, Su Ping flashed and disappeared from Nine Leaves Mountain.

Several hours later.

Golden Spring City, a large city near Jinque City.

Because of an Ancient Relic nearby, this place had also gradually formed a Cultivator stronghold.

The envoy team of the Cultivator Alliance arrived here to rest for a while, and by the way, see how much of the skill of the Xianmiao Pavilion the beauties cultivated by the Dongli Family of this place possessed.

Yet, they did not expect that as soon as they entered the city.

A middle-aged sword cultivator, who was the true leader and protector, immediately changed his expression and drew his Long Sword to guard in front of the young master:

"Careful!"

"There is something wrong with this city!"

As soon as the words fell, the entire Golden Spring City was seen by them to be wrapped in black Qi.

At the same time, amidst cackling evil laughter.

Three old men in black robes flew over slowly from three directions.

"We were just planning to perform a Blood Sacrifice on the whole city, never expected a few more blood-food to run in."

"This is Heaven's will!"

"You shall all enter the formation together!"

An old man in a black robe raised his cane and said loudly, black mist rolling behind him, and hundreds or thousands of arms made of black Qi emerged and grabbed toward the people at the city gate!

"Wait... wait!"

At the critical moment of crisis.

The young master, who had always appeared incompetent, suddenly ran out and raised a Wooden Tablet.

The Wooden Tablet emitted white light.

It caused the three old men in black robes to let out a sound of surprise simultaneously.

Afterward, it was unknown what they discussed.

Except for the bewildered middle-aged sword cultivator.

The remaining trembling attendants were actually all grabbed into the black mist by the black giant hands that appeared again, letting out bursts of screams!

"Young... young master!"

The sword cultivator looked at the returning young master with a pale face, only feeling that he could not see through the other party.

The young master's mouth twitched as he said:

"An, don't speak for now, otherwise even I cannot save you."

"Once we return, the Old Ancestor will explain it to you personally."

The young master patted the other man on the shoulder, then immediately pulled An and fled Golden Spring City in a rush.

The three black-robed elders watched them leave without stopping them, instead turning and fleeing back into the black mist.

"Young Master!"

Having escaped the Array, the middle-aged sword cultivator spoke again, wanting to say something but hesitating.

The young master panted, looking back at Golden Spring City with lingering fear; from afar, it seemed perfectly normal, even having guards at the city gate.

He said in a low voice:

"There is no need to go anywhere else; we are going back right now!"

"As for the deaths of the others, we'll say it was that Baihe Zhenren... no, that Loose Cultivator is too shortsighted to have killed them; it would be too fake."

"Right, let's just say we ran into that white-haired madman!"

"An, what do you think of this excuse? Anyway, that white-haired madman killed so many of our people, he wouldn't mind doing me this favor, right!"

"Huh?"

A soft chuckle suddenly interrupted the young master's train of thought as he was getting excited.

Immediately, a voice that chilled him to the bone rang out across this snowfield.

"Making me a scapegoat comes at a very high price!"

Su Ping, or rather Exorcist Mage Yunkong, walked slowly out of the small woods by the side of the road.

His gaze fell upon the two people before him, as if looking at two clowns!