"I am cultivating." Zhi Xuan shifted his gaze away from the spiritual cave door again with indifference, closing his eyes and meditating to stabilize his essence. "It’s just a small hole, why are you standing there staring at me like that?"

  Zhi Xuan opened one eye slightly, glancing at the large, gaping hole in his spiritual cave. It was true that only his spiritual cave was holed, but the effect was that the other cultivators were disturbed by the explosion of the blood devil sword in the air.

  ‘It was quite large, after all,’ Zhi Xuan muttered in his mind, furrowing his brow in surprise. ‘Was the explosion really that powerful?’

  Zhi Xuan knew the night had darkened, and he was making a commotion when all cultivators should be entering a period of calm and insightful cultivation, yet he carelessly failed to restrain his essence and instead released a massive sword—the result of his fusion—into the air.

  Zhi Xuan closed his eyes again and took a deep breath; he needed to quickly stabilize his condition after foolishly forcing his realm limits to create a technique equivalent to an Organ Transformation attack, and he shuddered slightly.

  ‘If I do that a second time,’ Zhi Xuan muttered. ‘Then it won't be the sword formation that explodes, but me.’

  The silver-robed man, who was in the Organ Transformation realm, felt his blood boil. He was a cultivator known for his patience, but the indifferent attitude of the bloodied young man in front of him was severely testing the limits of his sanctity.

  "Hey, are you insane?" The silver-robed man roared, restraining his instinct not to slap the bloodied face of the youth in front of him. "In the middle of the night when everything is quiet and calm, you play with fireworks that cause spiritual vibrations?"

  Zhi Xuan opened his eyes completely this time, showing his sharp sapphire eyes. He stared at the silver-robed man, then at the other cultivators who were hovering in the air with angry or surprised expressions.

  He sighed, a gesture that should have looked graceful but, colored by the remnants of drying blood on his face, looked ridiculous and arrogant instead. Almost like a foolish and impolite young man.

  "Fireworks?" Zhi Xuan repeated, his voice returning to its familiar flat tone. He tilted his head slightly, his expression as if the Organ Transformation man in front of him had just uttered the strangest words.

  He looked at the silver-robed man, whose chest rose and fell with restrained anger, then up at the dark night sky.

  "Sir," Zhi Xuan said, his tone cold and calm, as if correcting a fatal error in the formula for a Supreme Pill. "This is not a fireworks display. This is merely a sword formation technique that I have completed; I was attempting to unify twenty-seven swords—no, I was attempting to unify ten swords into one."

  Zhi Xuan, now sitting on the threshold of his holed spiritual cave, looked like a deity who had just been deposed from his throne due to foolishness. Blood was drying on his jade-like face, and his sharp eyes stared at the silver-robed man in front of him with pure confusion—confusion as to why these cultivators did not understand how important it was to unify ten swords into one.

  Silence fell upon the spiritual cave area. The cultivators hovering in the air, who had been filled with anger, now fell silent, stunned by the ridiculously honest answer. The silver-robed man felt his own essence choked in his throat.

  "Ten swords into one?!" The silver-robed man nearly screamed. "That is the mastery of the Organ Transformation realm! And you, with an unstable Blood Transformation aura, explode it in the middle of the night, disrupting the meditation of dozens of people, and you call it 'just a completed sword formation technique'?"

  The silver-robed man pointed to the large hole in the wall of Zhi Xuan's cave. "That hole is big enough to house two spiritual oxen! If you were 'finished,' why are you bleeding nearly to death?"

  Zhi Xuan glanced at the hole again, then at the drying blood on his hands, and then back at the silver-robed man's face. He nodded seriously.

  "Yes, how could that be just a small hole?"

  "This is a rented spiritual cave, not a spiritual cave to be drilled."

  "Does that boy have enough wealth to cover the damage to the rented cave?"

  The cultivators in the air murmured loudly, agreeing with the silver-robed man. Clearly, the cost of spiritual cave damage was a much more pressing issue than the miracle of technique mastery in the eyes of those who craved quiet night cultivation.

  Zhi Xuan shifted his gaze from the silver-robed man to the large, gaping hole in his cave wall. The hole now emitted a thick, putrid Spiritual Blood Essence aura—the remnants of the Single Blood Blade he manifested.

  ‘Heavens, that hole will make me pay double the monthly rent,’ Zhi Xuan muttered internally, his mind now more disturbed by material problems than the threat of death in the Devil's Arena.

  He recalled his last Spiritual Stones had been used for the initial wager and the technique loan. The pain of this secondary bankruptcy felt sharper than the technique's backlash he had just experienced.

  "I will pay for it," Zhi Xuan replied, his tone flat. "What is the cost for this hole?"

  The silver-robed man snorted loudly, his hand pointing at the hole. "You have damaged the Essence filtering formation, destroyed the pure stone wall, and disturbed dozens of cultivators! At least a hundred low-grade Spiritual Stones! Or one mid-grade Spiritual Stone!"

  Hearing the number one hundred spiritual stones, Zhi Xuan felt genuine dizziness. That was the price of one Organ Transformation technique. He had wagered his life in the Devil's Bite Chain Arena tomorrow to get fifty Spiritual Stones, and now he owed a hundred?

  ‘Forget it, Monkey. Just leave this place. You already have the technique. Let them shout,’ Ruo Xianxue whispered, her voice filled with dark amusement.

  However, Zhi Xuan had a principled mindset—he hated debt. Especially annoying mortal and cultivation debt.

  "I do not have that many Spiritual Stones now," Zhi Xuan replied, with sudden, embarrassing honesty. "I only have one gold coin."

  A deadly silence fell over the area. The cultivators in the air—Blood Transformation, Organ Transformation, up to one Consciousness Transformation cultivator who only wanted to sleep or cultivate quietly—all froze.

  A cultivator capable of manifesting an Organ Transformation level attack, wearing an expensive silk robe and having a divine cauldron spinning in his hair, only had one gold coin? That was a greater insult than the sword explosion.

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  The silver-robed man stared at Zhi Xuan, his expression shifting from anger to a mixture of pity, foolish admiration, and disgust.

  "You... you spent all your inheritance on the Blood Transformation realm, and you're still poor?" asked the brown-robed man, his voice choked. "You are a bankrupt genius?"

  Zhi Xuan sighed, shrugging indifferently. "A poor foundation is poison to the Dao. That gold coin... I just used it to buy Fire Blossom sweets for a little girl's rag doll."

  THUD!

  For some reason, the silver-robed man and several cultivators in the air nearly fell from their flying swords. Their expressions were a perfect picture of horror mixed with idiocy.

  A genius who almost killed himself with his technique, who owed a hundred Spiritual Stones, but just spent his gold coin on sweets for a rag doll?

  ‘He's crazy,’ the female Organ Transformation cultivator whispered to her colleague, "He must have lost his mind due to the technique's backlash!"

  Zhi Xuan ignored the whispers and judging gazes that had now turned to total astonishment. He maintained his serious expression, as if his gold coin sacrifice for the rag doll's sweets was the next logical step in his cultivation Dao.

  "The doll was hungry," Zhi Xuan added flatly, as if providing a very important detail. "And Fire Blossom sweets are the only thing it will eat."

  The silver-robed man closed his eyes for a moment, rubbing his temples. His anger vanished, replaced by a deep spiritual headache. He was a cultivator who had seen many others; he had seen much madness, but this madness surpassed the limits of his comprehension.

  "Alright! Enough!" the silver-robed man yelled, his voice rough again. He took a long breath. "I don't care about the doll, or the sweets, or your stupidity. Listen to me, Young Master. I rent out the caves in this area. I will not let you die before you pay for this damage!"

  Zhi Xuan pondered for a moment, thinking about what he would use to compensate for the damage to the rented cave. He certainly could not discard the scrolls or artifacts in his storage pouch; they were all his useful future treasures.

  A bright spot of hope emerged in Zhi Xuan's head; at this critical juncture, it was better to pull a move that would bring him great wealth at once. If they were not easily deceived, then Zhi Xuan, who had already gone through negotiations with several black markets, surely had the capability.

  "How about," Zhi Xuan said, pausing briefly before continuing with a flawlessly serious face. "If you support me by betting in the Devil's Bite Chain Arena?"

  Zhi Xuan stared at the silver-robed man, who now looked as if he was about to explode from frustration. This idea, though crazy, was the only way out he saw. His blood-smeared face and serious expression provided a strange contrast.

  Silence fell again. However, this time, there was a flicker in the eyes of the cultivators hovering in the air. The name Devil's Bite Chain Arena had a terrible reputation, but also an aura of unrivaled wealth.

  "Devil's Bite Chain Arena..." one of the brown-robed men muttered, his voice filled with horror and knowledge. "Do you mean the arena in the eastern lower district that is hidden from the Empire?"

  "Yes," Zhi Xuan replied, his tone flat and firm. "I will fight there tomorrow night. I promise to produce blood crystals from every opponent. If you support me by betting on every one of my matches, then I will surely give you enough blood crystals."

  Zhi Xuan knew he was playing with a double-edged sword. He had already promised ten blood crystals to Jue Mu and Chu Feng. Now, he was promising this to the cultivators who ambushed him due to his carelessness. However, he was undaunted and would rack his brain to resolve this.

  "Even though you are the foundation of the True Dao," Zhi Xuan said once more, a faint smile that was more like a devil's sneer was drawn. "Aren't blood crystals from every Transformation cultivator a good treasure?"

  Zhi Xuan's offer felt like a lightning strike in a calm Sea of Consciousness. The cultivators hovering in the air—those who were just angry because their cultivation was disturbed—now exchanged glances with a mixture of astonishment and veiled greed. Although they were generally straight-laced cultivators, Blood Crystals were a very powerful temptation.

  Blood Crystals were a main currency in the black market. They were not only used to refine dark pills, but also as a rare catalyst material in High-Level Formations, especially for techniques requiring dense spiritual blood as a foundation. It was guaranteed wealth.

  The silver-robed man felt a chill run down his spine. Not from anger anymore, but from a sudden, cold calculation that enveloped his brain. He was a principled man—but a hundred spiritual stones was the rent money he needed, and Blood Crystals were his ticket to the breakthrough he sought.

  He looked at the youth in front of him: pale, bloody, careless, but capable of manifesting an attack equivalent to the Organ Transformation realm. That meant high risk, higher reward.

  “You… you are not just crazy, you are an open Devil,” the silver-robed man muttered, his voice now calm, eliminating his anger. He glanced at the hovering crowd of cultivators.

  All of them, even the quiet Consciousness Transformation cultivator in the corner, were now leaning in, listening. Greed had overcome anger.

  “What guarantee do you offer, Young Master?” the silver-robed man asked, his tone now formal, as if they were negotiating the price of a Supreme Enlightenment Pill, not rented cave damage. "You already owe me a hundred Spiritual Stones. And you are promising Blood Crystals, a very rare product, from the Devil's Arena."

  Zhi Xuan shrugged, his awkward movement colored by the elegance of a weary genius. He did not need to talk much; he just needed to show proof.

  "Xiao Die, emerge."

  From the folds of his red silk robe, Xiao Die, the heavenly moth that usually hid carefully, slowly emerged. The small creature, with wings that radiated a pure rainbow sheen—a color only produced by extremely pure spiritual essence or the highest-grade heavenly herbs—floated gracefully around Zhi Xuan's head.

  An immediate silence descended. It was a silence filled with awe, not anger. All the cultivators, from the Blood Transformation realm up to Consciousness Transformation, widened their eyes. A Fortieth Order Heavenly Moth? This was a Heavenly Species that only existed in legends!

  The quiet Consciousness Transformation cultivator in the corner, who had only been listening, now dropped the Spiritual Tea Leaf he was holding. His essence trembled.

  “Thousand Feathered Moth!” the silver-robed man whispered, his voice choked. His expression, which had been full of calculation, now changed to a mixture of horror, greed, and extreme reverence. "A Heavenly Moth on the ancient insect list!"

  "It has already reached the Verdant Titan stage! Equivalent to a Five Elements cultivator!"

  "Yes! I feel this pressure, this is equivalent to Sir Hu!"

  Amidst the sea of whispers and shock, there was always one soul who could not control his greed.

  An Organ Transformation cultivator, standing on his spiritual sword, his face covered by a rough beard and his eyes radiating madness, suddenly roared.

  He forgot the threat of the Sword Formation just now; he forgot his respect. All he saw was extraordinary spiritual wealth, a Heavenly Species that could guarantee his cultivation glory for a lifetime.

  "Catch him!" the greedy brown-robed man shouted, his skinny hand immediately shot out, summoning a spiritual Essence net decorated with capturing runes; the net flew straight towards Xiao Die. "This Heavenly Moth is mine!"

  The cultivator's move was fast, driven by a greed that surpassed logic. The capturing rune net almost reached Xiao Die. Zhi Xuan did not even move. He was still sitting at the threshold of his cave, his blood-smeared face now radiating only deep disgust and weariness. He ignored the attack, because he knew he did not need to act.

  Xiao Die, the Heavenly Moth, merely emitted an extremely disapproving hum—a hum that was no longer gentle, but filled with the menacing wrath of a Verdant Titan.

  The rainbow aura on its wings exploded into a dazzling golden light. The capturing net, made of dense Organ Transformation essence, instantly shattered into spiritual dust upon contact with the pure golden light.

  Then, in the blink of an eye, three tendrils of pure golden Essence shot out from Xiao Die's wings, as fine as hair, but radiating an unbearable sharpness.

  WHIZZ!

  The three golden tendrils pierced the greedy cultivator's chest, precisely at three vital points: the Divine Wheel, the Sea of Consciousness, and his spiritual blood. It was a fast, precise, and completely fatal attack.

  The brown-robed cultivator froze in the air. The expression of greed on his face turned into frozen horror; no blood was spilled—but his entire spiritual essence began to be absorbed at a terrifying speed by the golden tendrils.

  Within the span of three breaths, the cultivator's body began to wither. His skin dried up, his hair turned white, and his sturdy body softened, becoming withered like a fallen leaf in autumn.

  The golden tendrils pulled back, bringing back extremely dense spiritual energy. The cultivator's body fell from his flying sword with a very quiet and unimportant plap sound onto the damp ground, leaving behind only a skeleton covered in withered skin.

  Xiao Die emitted a terrifying, high-pitched hum. It caused all the cultivators in the spiritual cave to duck due to the air pressure; they knelt to the ground amidst the extremely strong pressure of the Verdant Titan for them.