Chapter 318: Cheating the Nine Nether Sect is a Tradition of the Dao Seeking Sect

"This Heaven Court Sect has no renowned reputation, yet its heritage is so incredibly profound?" The Fifth Elder gasped, having never heard of a sect called the Heaven Court.

Seeing that the Fifth Elder was intimidated, Lu Yang continued, "In addition to the aforementioned heritage, the Heaven Court Sect will soon hold another grand recruitment. Two candidates have already been selected. One is a born Immortal Physique. The very first person to ascend to immortality in ancient times, the Nine-Fold Immortal, proved his Dao and achieved immortality precisely because of this born Immortal Physique."

"The other enjoys the destiny of an entire race, possessing overwhelming fortune, and is a dual cultivator of both the Barbarian and Scholar paths!"

"Fifth Elder, what do you think? Would you like to join us?"

"Originally, our Heaven Court Sect planned to take a long time to grow, so that we could take the absolute lead in the struggle of this great era. Unfortunately, the abominable Nine Nether Sect has targeted us. We need a Dao Protector to help us deal with them!"

Lu Yang cupped his fists and said solemnly, "If the Fifth Elder is willing to extend a helping hand to my Heaven Court Sect this time, our Heaven Court Sect will surely offer a grand reward in the future!"

The Fifth Elder fell silent for a moment. Just as Lu Yang thought the Fifth Elder was about to agree, he heard him ask slowly:

"Has your Heaven Court Sect registered and filed with the imperial court?"

Lu Yang blanked for a moment: "Registered and filed?"

"Yes, Great Xia law stipulates that the establishment of any faction requires filing and registration with the local magistrate's office. Those that do not register are classified as illegal operations and are targets of severe crackdowns."

"The former Four Great Demon Sects and the current Three Great Demon Sects have none of them registered."

Lu Yang: "..."

Seeing Lu Yang and the others fall silent, the Fifth Elder burst into laughter: "Alright, alright, just say whatever is on your mind. Stop putting on these grand airs. What is actually going on?"

As one of the renowned Nine Disciples of Wendao, the Fifth Elder would naturally not be fooled by Lu Yang.

What ancient immortal inheritance, what assistance from great clans? Aren't you all just talking about yourselves?

The Undying Sect was annihilated, and Lu Yang obtained the inheritance of the Undying Immortal.

Meng Jingzhou, as the eldest son of the Meng family, spent money that counted as assistance from a great clan.

Li Haoran's previous life, Qin Haoran, was a half-step Tribulation Transcendence cultivator.

Qin Yanyan's father was Qin Haoran, so she was naturally the first in line of succession.

Helpless, Lu Yang could only honestly recount the entire sequence of events, leaving the Fifth Elder marveling in wonder, his eyes shining brightly.

"You kids certainly have ability, fabricating a non-existent Heaven Court to deceive the Nine Nether Sect, using it to forge a cooperation. If your luck is good, you might even find the Yaoyang Sect and the Ruthless Sect."

The Fifth Elder showed a look of reminiscence: "Thinking back, the nine of us once did something quite similar to you all."

"What happened?" The four of us looked at the Fifth Elder with curiosity.

The Fifth Elder picked up a stone and casually refined it into a table and chairs, gesturing for the four of us to sit down.

The table and chairs looked very thin, but having been refined by the Fifth Elder, a Grandmaster of Artifact Refining, they were sturdy enough to withstand several strikes from a Golden Core cultivator.

"It was probably about nine hundred years ago. The Eighth Junior Brother disguised himself as a low-level cultivator and went out to practice chivalry. By chance, he discovered the tracks of a Nine Nether Sect member. He did not make a sound, but instead followed his natural disposition, mingling together with the Nine Nether Sect member. Day and night they frequented brothels and gambled, with the Eighth Junior Brother footing the bill most of the time. Such behavior quickly earned the trust of that Nine Nether Sect member."

The Eighth Elder was someone Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had not interacted with much, but he left a deep impression.

After all, the Eighth Elder dared to sell the sect entrance exam questions from twenty years ago to Meng Jingzhou, solemnly vowing that they were absolutely the real questions.

"What happened next?"

"The Nine Nether Sect member asked, since everyone was at the Nascent Soul stage, where did the Eighth Junior Brother get so many spirit stones? The Eighth Junior Brother then said that they had discovered a pill formula that extended longevity. Although the improvement wasn't prominent, it was enough to make those cultivators whose lifespans were nearing their end fight frantically for it."

"The Eighth Junior Brother also said this was insider information from their organization, and that if it weren't for their good relationship, he wouldn't tell him."

"However, the production volume of the longevity pill formula was too low to meet demand, and a large amount of spirit stones was needed to purchase raw materials in order to expand production scale."

"The Eighth Junior Brother said their organization was currently short on money, and asked if he could borrow some. It wouldn't be borrowed for nothing; a year later, the principal would be guaranteed to return, along with a twenty percent interest."

"The Nine Nether Sect member was tempted, but remained somewhat skeptical, initially investing only a few tens of thousands of spirit stones. A year later, the Eighth Junior Brother returned the principal as scheduled, plus twenty percent interest."

"The Nine Nether Sect member tried this for three years, and it was the same every year."

"Later, this matter was discovered by the superior of the Nine Nether Sect member. The superior also wanted to invest and asked the Eighth Junior Brother if it was possible. The Eighth Junior Brother said he needed to ask his superior for instructions, and then brought out Old Nine, who is your master."

"Your master said investment was allowed. Subsequently, the superior invested for five years, more than doubling his assets, and was overjoyed."

"There is no wall in the world that does not leak wind. This matter was finally learned by the Sect Master of the Nine Nether Sect. The Sect Master did not tell anyone else, but instead cautiously proposed to inspect the alchemy process. Old Eighth and Old Nine then called us over to forge an alchemy scene, with the Eldest Brother posing as a user experiencing the effects of the pill."

"After the Sect Master visited, he felt the nine of us were quite reliable, and first invested his own spirit stones, earning quite a lot of money."

"Although he earned quite a lot of money, the Sect Master felt it was still not enough, so he turned his gaze toward the treasury of the Nine Nether Sect, using the treasury to invest. When he obtained the returns a year later, all the spirit stones in the treasury would return to their places, and the interest would belong to him. Wouldn't that be perfect?"

"The Sect Master embezzled a portion of the treasury and earned even more money. Still unsatisfied, he simply used the majority of the treasury for investment."

"Then we absconded with the funds."

"Don't tell anyone about this matter; even your Grandmaster doesn't know about it," the Fifth Elder reminded them.

Qin Yanyan was puzzled: "Wasn't the spirit stones you used to pay returns to the Nine Nether Sect from the Wendao Sect? How could Grandmaster not know?"

The Fifth Elder shook his head: "There was absolutely no need for the Wendao Sect's money. In the entire process, only the Eighth Junior Brother used his own spirit stones when he first deceived the sect member."

Qin Yanyan was even more perplexed.

The Fifth Elder was very patient with this grand-disciple: "Think about it, when we were paying out returns, weren't there other Nine Nether Sect members coming to invest in us?"

Qin Yanyan nodded.

"Then couldn't we just pay the spirit stones invested by the later people back to the previous batch of people?"

Qin Yanyan suddenly understood.

"Wait a minute, isn't that just fraud?"

"I also asked the Eighth Junior Brother this question. The Eighth Junior Brother said how could this be called fraud? We merely failed in our business operations, and the invested capital went down the drain. It is normal to make profits and losses in business."

"If they feel a crime was committed, they can go to the imperial court to sue us. We stand straight and do not fear crooked shadows."

"Furthermore, speaking of crime, it was the Sect Master of the Nine Nether Sect embezzling property that truly counts as a crime."

Qin Yanyan: "..."

Lu Yang noticed that the expression of Li Haoran beside him was unspeakably strange: "Is something wrong?"

Li Haoran looked at his master with a face full of entanglement: "The Sect Master who was deceived was consumed by sudden rage and soon died of anger. Then Qin Haoran took over the position of Sect Master, only to find that the financial situation of the Nine Nether Sect had encountered a massive problem."

"The sector master before the last one never knew who had deceived him until the day he died."

Working late, the second update will be around eleven o'clock.

(End of Chapter)