Cashing In

"Three demon kings?! Over a thousand great demons?!" Hearing these words, Lu Li came to an abrupt halt. He stared at Yaoguang, his eyes brimming with sheer disbelief. The Penglai Immortal Sect stood on the front lines of purging the demon race in the Deep Blue Sea. Before assuming his post guarding the Biyou Immortal Market, he had lived in the outer sea for no less than three hundred years. Over those three centuries, he had clashed with dozens of demon kings, yet the number he had actually managed to slay could be counted on one hand. On one hand, demon kings were relatively scarce in the outer sea. On the other, the moment a demon king sensed something was amiss, it would flee in panic and call for help from a demon emperor, or even a demon sovereign comparable to a human Void Shattering cultivator. Under such circumstances, one could well imagine how difficult it was to execute a demon king. Yet Yaoguang... How long had it been since he attained Void Piercing? How long had he even been in the Deep Blue Sea? How could he possibly boast a battle record of slaying three demon kings?! How could that be possible?! Sensing the shock and doubt in his gaze, Yaoguang gave a slight smile. "We were quite lucky. We found a newly established demon lair, and through it tracked down another. Moreover, our formation probably looked rather weak, so midway through, three demon kings led a host to intercept and kill us." There was no need to state the outcome. The corpses of the three demon kings were the ultimate answer. "Three demon kings!" Lu Li looked at Yaoguang, then glanced toward Qi Sha, the Hall Master of the Tianshang Battle Hall standing behind him. There were only so many Void Piercing cultivators across the Ten Immortal Sects, and he had heard of this Void Piercing expert from the Heavenly Dao Sect. A peerless genius who had been considered exceptionally brilliant even a thousand years ago. To think... He had become this powerful? To kill three demon kings—such combat prowess had to be considered the absolute pinnacle among Void Piercing cultivators, wouldn't it? "Outnumbered as you were, defeating three demon kings was already no small feat. For the two of you to execute all three is truly astounding in strength and divine abilities," Lu Li could not help praising. Realizing that Lu Li's praise was primarily directed at him, Qi Sha hastily clarified, "The three demon kings were slain by the Junior Sect Master alone. I merely held the perimeter." "The Junior Sect Master?" Lu Li froze, his gaze snapping back to Yaoguang. "It was thanks to Qi Sha's presence keeping them on edge and preventing them from fighting as one that I found the chance to defeat them individually," Yaoguang explained simply. He had little desire to boast, wishing only to get down to business. "Shall we head to the Demon-Slaying Hall first to appraise the value of these demon kings? Allocating the resources later will likely take some time, won't it?" Lu Li looked at Yaoguang, still finding it hard to believe. He could not tell whether Qi Sha was deliberately hyping up Yaoguang's reputation as Junior Sect Master, or if... He truly possessed such strength. However, since Yaoguang had suggested heading to the Demon-Slaying Hall, Lu Li could not delay any further. "Come, let me escort you both over." He, too, wanted to see whether Yaoguang and his group had truly slain three demon kings and over a thousand great demons. Before long, the group touched down at the Demon-Slaying Hall. Several deacons responsible for running the hall personally greeted them at the entrance and escorted them into the inner hall. Once inside, Yaoguang wasted no time, promptly bringing out the demon king corpses one by one and placing them upon the pre-prepared formations. Each of these demon kings had cultivated a Heavenly Demon True Body. Capable of accommodating a Dao seed, such a true body shared subtle wonders with the grotto-heaven of the Void Piercing realm, seeming to contain a space of its own within. Though Yaoguang had dispatched them with apparent ease, the moment his own true body attained a grotto-heaven, it had already become equivalent to a primal cavern residing in another "world," making plucking stars or seizing moons trivial. In reality, out in the open universe, a single drop of a demon king's blood could crush a star. Even on Beihai Star, specialized formations were required to contain and store them. Otherwise, the demonic aura radiating from a Heavenly Demon True Body could instantly demonize every cultivator in Biyou Immortal Market below the Heavenly Fire realm; even cultivators of the Heavenly Fire and Constant Light realms would only hold out a little longer. As the three corpses were laid onto the formations, Lu Li abruptly leaned forward, as if wishing to inspect the three demon kings more closely. "This is... Demon King Chilian?! Thirteen years ago, a team led by a true disciple of our Penglai Immortal Sect who had achieved an Azure Blue Golden Core was ambushed by this demon king. Even with a Void Piercing Battle Immortal accompanying them, not a single one of the thirty-two members survived!" Lu Li quickly identified these Void Piercing demon kings. "And the other... is Demon King Qingyan! Back then, Vice Sect Master Leng Qingqiu of our Penglai Immortal Sect hunted it for ten days and ten nights, yet it still managed to escape!" He had initially assumed Yaoguang and Qi Sha had joined forces to slay ordinary demon kings. He never imagined that two of them were formidable demon kings that had wrought havoc across the deep sea for over a decade, or even several decades. Not only was their base value 300 million contribution points each, but they also carried additional bounties of 100 million and 200 million contribution points respectively, totaling 900 million! Judging by the Heavenly Demon True Body of the third demon king, it was no newly ascended demon king either, worth over 200 million. In other words, these three demon kings alone were worth 1.1 billion contribution points—nearly a fifth of a Dao artifact! Hearing Lu Li's words, Qi Sha's expression shifted slightly as well. "Demon kings with renowned names..." Though the three demon kings had displayed formidable divine abilities during the battle against Yaoguang, they had been suppressed and pummeled by Yaoguang the entire time. While Qi Sha had thought they were capable, he hadn't felt particularly awed. Yet now it seemed... Every single one of these demon kings possessed such fearsome renown?! A 300-million bounty?! The Penglai Immortal Sect's base contribution bounty for slaying a demon king was 100 million, but 100 million was for those who had just broken through. It was just like a cultivator newly ascending to Void Piercing. Whether demon king or Void Piercing cultivator, few moved about at that stage. Generally, they would only venture out after stabilizing their condition. Those who had consolidated their grotto-heavens and transformed their divine abilities into Dao techniques belonged to the second stage, or the middle Void Piercing stage, yielding 200 million contribution points. Higher still were figures of the Void Piercing realm who had been renowned for years and commanded terrifying might, known as late-stage Void Piercing. Finally came the pinnacle Void Piercing experts whose grotto-heavens were perfected and had planted their Dao seeds, preparing to ascend to Void Refining. Both Lu Li and Qi Sha were at this level. Yet asking himself honestly, if Qi Sha were pitted against two late-stage Void Piercing and one middle-stage Void Piercing demon kings, let alone triumphing, even maintaining a stalemate would be a serious question. Yet Yaoguang... Had slaughtered all three demon kings. And had won with such effortless ease! Such methods... Even compared to newly ascended Void Refining experts, he likely wasn't far off. "Junior Sect Master Yaoguang, you have truly done us a tremendous service," Lu Li could not help cupping his hands in salute. "Expelling the demon race is the duty of every member of the human race," Yaoguang said. He then brought out the demon cores of the ordinary great demons along with shadow-recording stones, handing them over for the Demon-Slaying Hall staff to verify one by one. Before long, the staff finished the tally. "The total for the various rank-seven, eight, and nine great demons... comes to 81,610,000 contribution points." Yaoguang glanced over it and nodded. A total yield of around 1.2 billion contribution points was roughly what he had anticipated. "Then I will trouble Perfected Lord Lu to help me exchange all 1.2 billion contribution points into cultivation resources," Yaoguang said. "This... Does Junior Sect Master Yaoguang wish to save them up? If you keep this pace up a few more times, you could probably redeem an entire Dao artifact," Lu Li suggested. Qi Sha cast a glance at him. A Dao artifact? Lu Li probably had no idea how absurdly wealthy their Junior Sect Master truly was. However, seeing that Yaoguang genuinely intended to exchange these points for cultivation resources for the members of the Tianshang Battle Hall, Qi Sha spoke up: "Whether hunting the three demon kings or the other demons, Junior Sect Master Yaoguang bore the brunt of the work. Therefore, these contribution points should rightfully belong to the Junior Sect Master..." "Were it not for the members of the Tianshang Battle Hall scouting out the demons and locating their nests, how could I have slain so many? All who took part deserve a share," Yaoguang cut him off with a wave of his hand. "As members of the Tianshang Battle Hall, obeying your orders, Hall Master, is their duty," Qi Sha countered. "I made a promise to them, and I naturally keep my word." Yaoguang pondered for a moment before saying, "Let us set aside the contribution points from the three demon kings. The remaining eighty-some million points shall all be exchanged for Pure Yang Great Pills and distributed among the members of the Tianshang Battle Hall." "Over eighty million..." Hearing Yaoguang's words, Qi Sha still drew a sharp breath, shaken by his generosity and magnanimity. Eighty-some million contribution points, converted into cultivation pills, would equal at least eight million Pure Yang Great Pills. The Tianshang Battle Hall comprised just over four hundred members in total. On average, each person would receive twenty thousand Pure Yang Great Pills. That was an income many Azure Blue Golden Core cultivators could not earn in an entire year. Crucially, that was only the average. There were quite a few rank-seven and rank-eight Golden Core battle immortals in the Tianshang Battle Hall whose annual income amounted to merely a thousand or even a few hundred Pure Yang Great Pills. Once distributed... Each person would receive a haul they couldn't accumulate in ten years, yet they had been following Yaoguang in the Deep Blue Sea for less than a single year. "Hall Master..." Qi Sha started to speak again, but Yaoguang cut in, "It's decided. Besides, I noticed you don't even have a decent set of protective armor. This Leize Divine Armor, valued at 130 million contribution points, looks quite good. I'll make the call and exchange it for you as a gift." "You must not, Hall Master! That is far too valuable!" Qi Sha said hastily. "That settles it. I am the Hall Master; listen to me." Yaoguang brooked no argument. At the same time, he handed over a list. "Exchange the remaining roughly one billion contribution points entirely for the materials on this list. I imagine fulfilling these supplies will be no problem given the capacity of Biyou Immortal Market?" Looking at the exchange list Yaoguang handed over, Lu Li's mouth twitched slightly. Biyou Immortal Market's annual commodity trade volume was only around ten million Pure Yang Great Pills, which translated to less than one hundred million contribution points. Of course, Biyou Immortal Market conducted other businesses, such as renting cave abodes and so forth. Now, Yaoguang wanted to exchange for a billion all at once... "Supplies for the Golden Core realm are manageable, but the materials you requested, Junior Sect Master Yaoguang... you will likely have to wait a few days. After all, these materials appear quite precious, beyond the standard tier stocked by Biyou Immortal Market... But please rest assured, we will assemble everything you need as quickly as possible," Lu Li said with a wry smile. Yaoguang smiled without mocking him. In the end, this was merely an outer market of the Penglai Immortal Sect, separated from their sect grounds by millions of li. That it could not immediately cash out supplies worth over one hundred million Pure Yang Great Pills was only natural. "Then I shall await your word."