“Stolen?” Qin Quan’s old face instantly turned ashen upon hearing this, looking even more grim than a dead man. He knew that if this were true, the Golden Life Flower Seed was stolen property.
“Do you understand now? That Golden Life Flower Seed is stolen property, so the contract you signed naturally doesn’t count. Hand it over immediately.” The pale-faced middle-aged man demanded forcefully.
Qin Quan’s old face showed a look of difficulty, and he could only cast a pleading glance at Cheng Hong Ling and Qi Huang.
“May I ask for the specific details? How was it stolen? And what is your relationship with them?” Qi Huang pondered for a moment before asking.
“No comment!” The pale-faced middle-aged man shook his head unyieldingly.
“Heh heh, then you can’t just rely on your word, can you? You say it’s stolen property, so it is?” Qi Huang’s tone became a bit firmer.
“You’re actually right. If I say it’s stolen property, it is. Even if the King of Heaven himself came, he couldn’t change it,” the pale-faced middle-aged man said arrogantly.
“Oh really? Something that the King of Heaven can’t change, perhaps I can?” Qi Huang taunted.
“Didn’t you say you were going to find more Golden Life Flower Seeds? Why bother arguing with him?” Cheng Hong Ling sent a telepathic message doubtfully.
“Ah? Sorry, I got a bit carried away with the act!” Qi Huang immediately reacted.
“What an arrogant yellow-haired girl. With mere early Shentong Realm cultivation, do you really think you’re that strong? Today, I will show you what it means to be like a frog in a well.” The pale-faced middle-aged man lost his patience and slowly drew his treasured sword.
“Wait, if you say it’s stolen property, then so be it!” Qi Huang immediately changed her tune and then said to Qin Quan, “Sect Leader Qin, did you hear that? That Golden Life Flower Seed is stolen property, hurry up and return it to them!”
“You’re quite sensible.” The pale-faced middle-aged man showed a look of disdain on his face and then sheathed his treasured sword.
“Uh…” Qin Quan spread his hands in resignation, putting on a smile that was worse than crying. He thought to himself, “My dear lady, didn’t your main body eat that thing? Where do you expect me to get it?”
“I ate that Golden Life Flower Seed! No seeds, but I’ll give you my life.” Just then, Shen Yuan, with her impatient nature, stepped forward.
“It wasn’t her who ate it, it was me.” Yun Fei eagerly chimed in.
“You ate it? Is the aroma of the Golden Life Flower Seed on your body as strong as mine?” Su Qingying spoke with a lie, her naturally cold demeanor. Although she tried her best to overcome her psychological barriers, she still couldn’t bring herself to make physical contact with Cheng Hong Ling and Qi Huang.
“Reporting, I’m the strongest.” Miao Xiang weakly raised her small hand. She wasn’t lying, as her innocent appearance often gave her opportunities to get close to Cheng Hong Ling and Qi Huang.
“What are you arguing about? Could you even touch that Golden Life Flower Seed? It was in my grandfather’s hands, so Iate the Golden Life Flower Seed.” Ruan Lingyu refuted with reason.
The surroundings suddenly fell into dead silence, completely unaware of what had happened.
“Sect Leader Qin, did they really eat that Golden Life Flower Seed?” The pale-faced middle-aged man’s face contorted with ferocity.
“I ate it. You are powerful, so you should be able to tell whose body has the strongest aroma of the Golden Life Flower!” Cheng Hong Ling said expressionlessly.
The pale-faced middle-aged man’s eyes darted around rapidly. After a moment, he said, “Oh dear, I’m getting old and can’t really tell. I’m afraid I’ll have to take all of you back for investigation.”
“Great! Wonderful! What a wise decision!” Ruan Lingyu and the other five sisters cheered as if it were New Year’s. For them, even if they couldn’t replace their Junior Sister, going with her was also a good option.
“You want to take them away? Then you can only stay here forever.” Cheng Hong Ling, however, was not having it, her pretty face so cold it made people want to retreat.
“Insolent creature, you…” The pale-faced middle-aged man started to draw his treasured sword again.
“Don’t do it, don’t do it. I’m scared of you! Fine, take them along then.” Qi Huang “backed down” again.
Hearing this, Cheng Hong Ling hesitated, her delicate eyebrows furrowed deeply.
“Can’t you let me finish drawing my sword before you back down? It’s uncomfortable, you know?” The pale-faced middle-aged man said, trembling as he sheathed his sword.
“Then I’m truly sorry!” Qi Huang quickly apologized.
“Never mind, seeing as you’re so sensible, I, this Immortal Elder, won’t quibble. You all will travel with us.” The pale-faced middle-aged man said magnanimously.
“We can go, but you have to give us some time to pack our luggage, right?” Qi Huang frowned, not only did she need to pack, but she also had to find Qin Quan to “settle the score.”
“Alright, I’ll give you half an hour. Don’t even think about running, otherwise, after today, the HongHua Sect will disappear from the Cultivation World,” the pale-faced middle-aged man threatened.
Qi Huang smiled ambiguously and then led the way back into the sect.
“What’s wrong with you? Why bring them along?” Cheng Hong Ling reprimanded her clone when she had a moment.
“Do you think I can’t protect them with my current strength?” Qi Huang retorted. She now possessed the cultivation level of Heavenly Punishment Realm Level 8, making her seemingly invincible in the Cultivation World. Protecting a few Martial Sisters was a piece of cake.
“This isn’t about strength or not. Why should my personal affairs involve them?” Cheng Hong Ling argued.
“But they don’t think so. Look how happy they are right now.” Qi Huang gestured towards the chattering senior sisters.
Cheng Hong Ling turned to look and found that a few senior sisters were indeed jumping for joy.
For years, they had been unable to let go of the matter concerning the Golden Life Flower Seed. If their heart knots weren’t untied, even if this matter passed, they would feel guilty for the rest of their lives. Qi Huang reminded her sternly.
Cheng Hong Ling was stunned and then fell silent.
Qi Huang then turned to the old man Qin Quan and asked, “Sect Leader Qin, is it time to tell the truth now? That Golden Life Flower Seed was clearly rented by you, so why did you say it was entrusted to you by someone else?”
Upon hearing this, everyone cast unfriendly glares at Qin Quan, as this old man was undeserving of his position and had deceived them.
“I’m sorry, everyone, I did lie!” Qin Quan apologized honestly, and then began to narrate: “As everyone knows, the people of Huangtian Capital have been discriminated against by the entire Cultivation World because of their height, and as a result, our HongHua Sect has also been implicated! Therefore, ever since I became the Sect Leader, I have been thinking of resolving this issue, and the only way was to obtain Golden Life Flower Seeds.”
Qin Quan first explained his intentions and then sighed, “As you all know, for ordinary cultivators to obtain Golden Life Flower Seeds, they can only participate in the Evergreen Convention. But with the HongHua Sect’s previous strength, let alone many, even obtaining one was a pipe dream. So I had to find another way, such as purchasing them.
But then came another problem. Huangtian Capital has hundreds of thousands of people, and the number of infants born each year is at least thousands. I simply didn’t have enough money to buy so many Golden Life Flower Seeds.”
Hearing this, Qi Huang’s hostility towards Qin Quan diminished significantly. Although he had lied, his starting intention was good.
“At this time, I unintentionally heard a rumor that a certain genius in Zhongzhou had actually managed to grow a Golden Life Flower Seed after obtaining one at the Evergreen Convention. This suddenly gave me a glimmer of hope!” Qin Quan’s eyes revealed a trace of hope.
“How is that possible? The Golden Life Flower Seeds rewarded by the Immortal Alliance are all cooked. They wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake,” Qi Huang immediately raised an objection.
“Yes, but when people are desperate, they always hold onto some unrealistic fantasies. So I managed to gather a large sum of money and went to Zhongzhou, hoping to buy a Golden Life Flower Seed. Once it could be grown, it would completely solve the problems faced by Huangtian Capital.” Qin Quan’s gaze became increasingly fervent.
“What happened next?” Xu Mei pressed.
“What happened next? Later, I did find someone selling Golden Life Flower Seeds in Zhongzhou, that Pi Lao Er. Who would have thought that this person was greedy and only leased, not sold, and the price was outrageously high. The monthly rent was ten thousand taels of silver. For the sake of the entire Huangtian Capital, I leased it for twenty years in one go, thinking that if the Golden Life Flower Seed hadn’t fully matured within such a long time, it would still be able to grow.” Qin Quan gritted his teeth.
“Twenty years? That’s over two million taels of silver! My heavens!” Someone exclaimed in surprise.
“Unfortunately, heaven was not on my side. I spent four to five years cultivating it, but it still couldn’t take root and sprout, so I could only keep it with Elder Ruan. And what happened later, you all know.” Qin Quan said helplessly.
“So that’s how it is!” Everyone around nodded. This explanation was much more reasonable than the previous story.
“Sect Leader, I don’t understand. Since you had so much money, why didn’t you lease more Golden Life Flower Seeds from him? Even a shorter lease period would be fine, at least better than pinning all your hopes on one seed.” Xu Mei questioned.
“I wanted to, but he said he only had one,” Qin Quan explained.
“You still haven’t answered my question. Since you rented it, why did you say it was entrusted to you by someone else?” Qi Huang pondered for a moment before continuing to press, as she was not easily fooled.
