Chapter 317: The Frost Does Not Frost, Yun Yi's Gift of Thanks (38k, seeking subscriptions)

The two white iron floating pillars merged, and the internal space was optimized.

Upon returning, Du En clearly sensed this change, but he was in no rush to experience it in practice right now.

Because four figures appeared one after another.

The cruel duels of the past few days had cast a shadow over their hearts, but at this moment, because Du En had won the first battle—crushing his opponent, so to speak—and had left enough leeway for the opponent to be eliminated with only superficial injuries, unlike the previous eight days where everyone was either dead or wounded.

Naturally, this inspired and encouraged them, and their expressions eased up quite a bit.

"Du Yingcai is truly worthy of being Du Yingcai, playing the enemy in the palm of his hand. The entire duel can be described as effortless, entirely under his meticulous control, and he remained vigilant throughout. It was like a lion battling a rabbit, going all out, not giving the other party the slightest chance to turn the tables. I am truly filled with admiration!"

As soon as Ying Dongqing came up, it was a standard routine of flattery and praise.

"Du Yingcai is truly amazing!"

"However, there are a few places I didn't understand. His natal dharma treasure is clearly not as simple as it appeared. Could you clear up my confusion?"

"What exactly is that guy thinking? Being so shameless?"

The words of Xiong Fa and the others here were quite casual; they expressed emotions when they felt like it and asked questions when they needed to, already in a state of great familiarity.

Du En took the lead in answering the questions, though he only gave a general explanation, because he had only seen a rough description of that Wind of Impermanence in the Scripture Pavilion of the Southern Pivot City; the specifics were not clear, so he still needed to observe it during the battle.

In fact, the semi-public books at the level of Pivot City did not encompass everything; they were just relatively more numerous and comprehensive.

Therefore, if one wants to truly master that Impermanence Blade and that Wind of Impermanence, one must set aside time later to practice it carefully and experience it personally.

After answering the questions simply, Du En reminded them: "I was intentionally targeted by those above, which is why I was sent up early to face such an unbalanced matchup. You will not face this in the coming rounds. If there is targeting, it will only be very intense, so you must not be careless."

Everyone naturally nodded repeatedly.

And so, unknowingly, things like Ying Dongqing's flattery and the others' exclamations were brushed aside.

In Du En's view, those were basically nonsense and not worth paying attention to.

If one were to actually care and respond, there would be a back-and-forth of a few sentences, which would just be a waste of time with empty pleasantries.

Especially Ying Dongqing, who was always being polite and courteous back in Changle City; even now she still wanted to do it. Du En was no longer willing to play along. In any case, the situation and positions had completely shifted, and it was time for him to be the one setting the tone.

Ying Dongqing blinked her beautiful eyes, very much adapting to the current situation. After nodding, she immediately spoke: "Du Yingcai, although you beat Lu Quan into that state because he brought it upon himself, and you also had good intentions, you should still be careful of his senior sister, Tang Mingshan, in the future."

These words, which went straight to the point, immediately made Du En turn his head: "Ren Li's third senior sister? What is there about her worth guarding against?"

"Although I don't want to admit it, when I was in the late Nascent Soul stage, I was already inferior to her. And now, even though I have reached perfection, she is still in the late stage, but she is clearly accumulating strength for a breakthrough. I fear she has already touched the threshold of a genius."

Ying Dongqing's emotions were somewhat complex when speaking of this matter. The other three were also concerned upon hearing this, because it wasn't their turn yet, and they might just run into her in this first round!

Thus, Xiong Fa immediately asked: "City Lord Ying, is there anything else special about that junior sister surnamed Tang that we need to pay attention to?"

For Du En, knowing the cultivation realm and talent was enough, but for them, they naturally needed to pay attention to more.

Of course, that was just what they thought; Du En actually knew as much as he could know.

A lion battling a rabbit must also go all out!

Hearing Xiong Fa's humble inquiry and his formal tone, Ying Dongqing's willow-leaf brows lifted, and her previous gloom immediately eased. She smiled and said: "She has a natural Ice Spirit Root, rated as top-grade, but in reality, it slightly exceeds that. The cultivation method she practices is the Ice Frost Codex, a pure, top-grade Ice-element technique."

"With this talent, effort, and technique perfectly complementing each other, she should at least be at the minor success stage now. To be cautious, it is not impossible that she has already achieved mastery."

"However, she is actually cold on the outside but difficult to be cold on the inside. If you run into her, you can target this point."

She pointed out this key point and weakness of the opponent, but she was also somewhat deliberative and quite vague, mainly out of consideration for the Great Cultivator Yun Yi, as it was not good to be too explicit and cause the conflict between Du En and them to flare up again.

Although she was speaking to Xiong Fa, Du En heard it and actually noticed that she seemed to care, which was why she spoke in a quiet, roundabout way, unable to openly damage the relationship.

Thus, Xiong Fa scratched his head: "What do you mean by cold on the outside but difficult to be cold on the inside?"

Ying Dongqing: "..."

How do you expect me to say that directly?

To say that she looks cold but is actually full of schemes, a bird of a feather with Lu Quan, and then go on to explicitly point out the conflict between Du Yingcai and the Great Cultivator Yun Yi?

She was momentarily at a loss for words and needed to deliberate first.

Du En, however, had no such scruples or concerns, and simply stated calmly and directly: "It means she looks cold, like ice and frost, but in reality, she has many miscellaneous thoughts and schemes. Hmm, she's a scheming woman."

A, a scheming woman?

This description, it seems quite fitting?

While everyone was slightly stunned, they couldn't help but think this. At the same time, Xiong Fa was very straightforward; looking at Ying Dongqing, he subconsciously followed that line of thought.

Just like you, right!

Xiong Fa immediately indicated he understood.

It was this look of his that made Ying Dongqing appear as if she were about to turn cold as frost.

"Sorry, sorry, my apologies, my apologies! My brain is straightforward, I didn't turn the corner!"

Xiong Fa quickly noticed his rudeness and immediately apologized, prioritizing an apology that doesn't wait until tomorrow.

Ying Dongqing's expression finally eased.

Then, she suddenly realized something.

Du Yingcai's words were somewhat insinuating; could it be that in his eyes, I am also this so-called scheming woman?

Ah, this... well, fine, it is indeed considered as such anyway.

Ying Dongqing thought to herself and accepted it to herself.

"Alright, disperse and prepare."

After Du En finished speaking, the five of them acknowledged and dispersed.

However, he did not return immediately to experience the changed internal space, but instead used his divine sense to send a message into the air quite casually.

"Resolution, who did this?"

"Who else could it be, that woman Hui Qing."

Meng Changqing, holding the belief that since she started it, he should finish it, said directly: "I will organize the general information on those geniuses and bundle it all up for you!"

Just in time to take advantage of the situation!

Of course, that information might only be things on paper; the truly critical parts would be hidden, and there might even be false news, so in the end, he would need to judge for himself.

After all, seeing is not necessarily believing.

However, he felt very reassured leaving things to Du En, not feeling that he would be hoodwinked or deceived.

"I'll leave it to you."

Du En nodded calmly and then asked, "Also, I want to buy some things to enhance myself more quickly; this should be doable, right?"

Simply put, it was the same old routine: spirit meals to increase speed, and medicinal pills to add training sessions!

After all, the conditions here were a far cry from the fifth-tier cave dwelling and the sect's thatched cottage; previously, he could get by without cooking spirit meals, but here, they were a necessity.

By the same token, to maintain or even significantly increase the number of training sessions, he now needed to resume using medicinal pills; of course, as his mana's endless cycle began to take shape, the required amount was actually decreasing day by day.

"..."

Meng Changqing fell into silence for a moment, and only after a while did he speak with a stomachache: "You're really eating from both sides!"

Speaking up at this moment, it was clear he wasn't aiming for what was currently on the market, but rather for the various cultivation resources that Xu Fengjiao had taken the opportunity to hoard!

The key was that Du En had already profited quite a bit from that affair and hadn't even finished using it all yet; now, turning around like this, he actually wanted to take another share!

However, Du En felt not the slightest bit of embarrassment and just spoke calmly and naturally: "In any case, when the resolution is made to allocate those supplies later, it will only be measured at the original price, and right now, I am still using spirit stones to buy..."

"Fine, fine, say no more. How many spirit stones do you have? I'll sell them to you at the original price."

Seeing Du En calmly start to mutter like he was chanting scriptures, going straight for his own principles of conduct, Meng Changqing felt deeply helpless, feeling as though he were truly being eaten alive.

Sigh! When you are being unscrupulous, why don't you ever think of my principles?

No, no, no, you are being unscrupulous right now!

He felt more and more depressed the more he thought about it; if there weren't several True Monarchs in front of him at this moment, he would have long since been unable to stop himself from showing a pained expression.

"I still have 33,832 top-grade spirit stones. I'll buy everything now, mainly the main and auxiliary ingredients for spirit meals—preferably top-tier fourth-tier—and then fourth-tier high-grade recovery pills. They don't need to be of very high quality, just large in quantity."

"You have that many spirit stones? Just how much did you earn before?!"

Listening to Du En's wealthy and overbearing statement, Meng Changqing's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but want to follow suit, launching a special marketing campaign for quasi-True Monarchs to ruthlessly harvest those True Person great cultivators!

Because this was just too profitable!

One must know that Du En had already stocked up heavily; the fourth-tier magical artifacts he had finally refined and reserved numbered over 13,000 at this moment!

If not for the fact that the inventory of the Southern Pivot City was truly deep, it would not have been enough for him to toss about like that before.

"This is the final payment. After they started shipping, they said they estimated well and paid me in advance. Although they didn't say it explicitly, it should be about 10% to 20% higher than the normal estimated value. Of course, that was the previous situation. Now that news of the Thousand-Day Grand Competition has spread, the other Nascent Soul stage cultivators are likely all fearing for themselves, and the market will have normal fluctuations; they can take the opportunity to raise prices and continue shipping."

"..."

Meng Changqing was silent and speechless.

Following Du En, it seems one can always make money. What is this, a walking wise master?

Then what am I?

The more he struggled, the more his head ached, so he simply stopped thinking about this aspect and just said: "Fine, I'll have them brought over as soon as possible."

To say as soon as possible meant as soon as possible.

In the afternoon, the things Du En wanted were delivered out of thin air.

Taking out the spirit stones and watching them disappear as they were spent, he didn't feel any heartache.

Spirit stones can be earned again once they are gone. When he reaches the Deity Transformation stage, he will see if he can harvest other great cultivators; if that really doesn't work, then he'll just take on a normal side job.

Besides these agreed-upon things, there was also unexpected news.

"Yun Yi is very grateful for your mercy, so he sent you a thank-you gift; it's all been put together for you."

"That is well-deserved."

Du En appeared to take it for granted as he began to count the items.

A masterless fifth-tier storage bag was filled with all kinds of things.

The gift sent by the great cultivator Yun Yi was very simple: fifth-tier spirit items.

He didn't know what Du En needed, so the things he sent were simple and unadorned—various fifth-tier spirit items that could be used by himself or used as equivalent value to exchange for other things with others.

There were a full 100 types and 300 pieces, of considerable value, especially given that the market price had increased fivefold.

In this way, Du En's fifth-tier spirit meals wouldn't even need to rely on piling up ingredients!

"Hmm, it seems if I encounter his third disciple again later, I can show a bit more mercy?"

"Anyway, as long as you win, no matter what the opponent's situation is, I might let that duel come to an end; of course, it is limited to that."

Speaking of this, Meng Changqing felt a bit down.

After this grand competition, who knows how many geniuses will lose their luster, let alone the elites.

And once they lose their power and luster, eight or nine times out of ten, they will have to walk the battlefield again in the future, turning into a grain of sand on the battlefield.

Du En took the opportunity to ask: "Speaking of which, in such cruel duels, can the final top twenty still participate in the Dragon Palace exploration in one piece?"

"We'll clean up the mess when the time comes. Anyway, the Thousand-Day Grand Competition is a rule set by those old immortals. Once we affirm and promote it, we cannot change anything at will; at most, we can just drill through some small loopholes."

Supreme Luoyu!

Du En nodded thoughtfully, said nothing more, and took the goods he had obtained to go back and grind his training.

"When you're done, remember to return the storage bag to me."

Meng Changqing was a bit calculating about this; after all, the landlord's remaining grain was getting less and less, and sooner or later, it would have to align with the price environment.

Therefore, since Du En only needed one fourth-tier storage bag at the moment and had no use for a second, he naturally had to be calculating.

Du En just nodded slightly without looking back, indicating he understood, and then stepped into the wilderness that already had some green grass.

(End of this chapter)