Chapter 63 – Bribing Jia Shan
Xie Tian revealed his spatial ring, which he had obtained from a dead demon. He unloaded a pile of common weapons unto the ground before Xu Xiuying.
A total of 34 common steel katanas, 72 naginata, 57 composite bows, and 34 sets of samurai armors piled into a mountain.
Xu Xiuying frowned as the quality of these weapons and armors was subpar. None of them was a low-grade magic item.
Then, Xie Tian walked to another empty spot and unloaded more items. This time, 20 chests of jewelry, gold bars, and trinkets came out from Xie Tian's spatial ring.
"How much will I get for these?"
Xie Tian didn't share a single low-grade weapon or a technique manual. Yet, he had the galls to request for points by giving Xu Xiuying trash items.
Xu Xiuying wanted to scold Xie Tian for being cheeky. Yet, she kept her mouth shut as she planned to brainwash him into her pet.
"Common weapons and items will be evaluated by their value. A thousand gold coins are equal to one point…"
It took a while for the silver phoenix sect's disciples to inspect all items and evaluated the total value in a commoner's currency. In the end, the wealth that Xie Tian contributed was worth 1,357,892 gold coins. Therefore, he acquired 1,358 points.
"Anything else," Xu Xiuying asked if Xie Tian wanted to compete for the first rank. As of now, his score was not enough to surpass Wei Yuan. He needed 4,641 more points to tie with her.
Xie Tian sighed as if he was unwilling to part with his items. Still, he placed five low-grade rusty weapons on Xu Xiuying's tray. They were all daggers, which he had obtained from a ruin inside the monster realm.
"Are these enough?"
Xu Xiuying glanced at the magic weapons and laughed, "You should have done that from the very beginning, crafty boy. You get 5,000 more points."
The leaderboard changed after Xie Tian decided to compete with Wei Yuan.
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1. Xie Tian – 13,450
2. Wei Yuan - 13,091
3. Wei Feng - 6,421
4. Kang Yan - 5,019
5. Nie Ping - 3,599
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With the changes, Xie Tian seemed to secure the first rank. Test-takers and spectators stared at him in admiration and awe, but some disciples from the mountain goose sect glared at him with hatred. Several inner disciples, who hadn't revealed their skills, also marked this protagonist as one of their hit lists.
Meanwhile, the wild card of this event stared at the leaderboard, wondering if he should snatch the first prizes from Xie Tian.
'The prize is only 100 refined stones and a low-grade weapon. What's the point of fighting over those items by giving away more valuable items? Why should I give them something worth more than the prizes?'
Xu Miao looked at Xu Xiuying, who stared back at him, hinting him that he had to win this round.
'Xu Xiuying tempted me that I can fuck her, but I won't bite the bait. Why should I risk myself getting brainwashed?'
Xu Miao glanced at Xie Tian, analyzing his character.
'Side characters rarely tried to get stronger than the protagonists unless they could change their roles to antagonists or MC's rivals. If I take over his prizes, he might be wary of me. But if I don't take over the spotlight, Xie Tian will win favor from all powerhouses and strengthen his plot armor. I need to turn his potential allies as my friends before he can expand his influence. First…
While Xu Miao's brain didn't stop working, his legs brought him toward Jia Shan instead of Xu Xiuying. He smiled at the sect master as he cupped his fist.
"This junior wishes to contribute something."
Jia Shan and Xu Xiuying looked bemused, questioning why Xu Miao chose to contribute to the mountain goose sect instead of his mother's sect. They peered at each other, doubting their motives.
Normally, candidates who wanted to get into the mountain goose sect would only contribute to Jia Shan. As for female cultivators, they always gave their items to Xu Xiuying, trying to win her favor and get her approval to join her sect.
In other words, the people that candidates decided to donate their items would affect the sect that they would join.
In this case, Xu Miao, who should have only given his items to Xu Xiuying, decided to contribute to the mountain goose's side instead. His action alone implied many meanings, such as a betrayal, a provocation, a taunting, or other hidden implications.
Xu Miao chose to give his items to Jia Shan for a reason. He wanted to be on a good term with this sect master, so he could use the old man in the future. As for the silver phoenix sect, he could just donate some of his items to Long Meifang or Qi Hong to exchange for contribution points, which would be a wiser investment option.
Two worn-out medium-grade short swords were placed on Jia Shan's tray. They were a shorter version of katanas, aka kodachi, which was normally used as secondary weapons, but they were made from demon ores. Xu Miao got these items from one of the spatial rings, which he had looted from the sealed box.
Jia Shan nodded and grinned as if he understood what Xu Miao was trying to do. He turned to Xu Xiuying and laughed, "Your son is admirable and sensible. You have raised him well, Xu Xiuying!"
Xu Xiuying's face twitched in annoyance. Yet, she only nodded in acknowledgment, "That's for certain. If he couldn't do that much, I would have expelled him from my sect long ago."
"That's too harsh. You know, I don't mind if he joins my sect. It would be a pity to lose someone as filial as him," Jia Shan hinted Xu Miao that he could seek the sect master if he got into trouble.
Xu Miao smiled and bowed to Jia Shan again. His bribery tokens worked as planned. And now, he obtained a connection with the mountain goose sect.
"Thank you, senior. I'll keep that in mind."
"Your items can be polished and upgraded to high-ranked magic weapons. All of them are worth 20,000 points!"
Jia Shan purposely raised his voice, so everybody could hear it. He also updated the leaderboard.
In an instant, Xu Miao's total score shot up from 2,500 to 22,500, which secured the first place of the overall ranking.
While Xu Miao was admiring his name in the leaderboard, Jia Shan sent him a telepathic voice into his mind.
[I don't know what you're planning by giving my sect these precious weapons. But if you ever run into trouble, you can reach out to me. I'll do my best to help you.]
Xu Miao widened his eyes and turned to Jia Shan, but the old man already looked away and walked toward Xu Xiuying, discussing the event rewards and the last event.
The plan for spreading his network worked well. Xu Miao obtained one more potential ally to be used against Xu Xiuying and Xie Tian. However, to get Jia Shan to do his bidding, he required a firmer relationship.
That was when the Wei Clan and their influence in the mountain goose sect came to play. Xu Miao wanted to tie his connection through the bond with the Wei Clan. Once he married Wei Yuan, manipulating the mountain goose sect would be easier.
'I got Jia Shan's favor, and I fucked Wei Yuan. From what I heard from Xu Xiuying and Qi Hong, Wei Yuan has another brother inside the mountain goose sect, and he's a big shot. Now, all lurking villains inside the mountain goose sect should have become my allies by default. Wei Yuan should also be spreading words about my deeds and the items I have to Wei Huang. Now, I just need to have a few words with my soon-to-be grandpa...'
Unbeknownst to Xu Miao, Xie Tian had already offended many people because of his protagonist's trait. Most of the mountain goose disciples already wanted Xie Tian dead. At the same time, Xie Tian already earned favors from Kang Yan and many female disciples.
Without Xu Miao's intervention, Xie Tian already made enemies everywhere. However, Xu Miao's actions still contributed to the development and would trigger more chaos, which would affect the entire province soon.
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On the mountain goose VIP stand, ten inner disciples were watching the show with interest. When Xu Miao stole the first place by giving their sect master two potential high-grade weapons, these elite disciples admired him.
"That Xu Miao isn't half bad."
"True. I like him. He's a funny guy."
"Funny? It's more like [Crafty]. He downright bribed our sect master."
"Hah! For whatever reason, two high-grade weapons are no joke. He's sincere, so we should be good to him in the future. After all, he will be our senior's brother-in-law soon."
Nine inner disciples glanced at a young man with long red hair and red eyes. The red-haired man was donned in red and gold plate armor as if he was a general of an army. His tall and toned stature couldn't hide under the medium-grade armor as they increased his bulkiness.
Wei Xiang, the elder brother of Wei Feng, had been observing Xu Miao's action after the latter had tried to harm Wei Yuan.
Wei Xiang was surprised and annoyed when his little sister reunited with Xu Miao at the underground mine and ended up becoming husband-and-wife there. It was too sudden and abrupt. Yet, he couldn't find fault with Xu Miao after seeing how his sister subtly interacted with her lover on the stage.
Wei Yuan seemed happy, and Wei Xiang didn't want to ruin his sister's happy love life.
Although Wei Xiang hadn't approved Xu Miao yet, he warned his subordinates. As the number one inner disciple of the mountain goose sect, he could command all juniors and outer disciples.
"Xu Miao is my brother-in-law. Don't offend or provoke him. Treat him as if you guys are treating me."
The nine inner disciples acknowledged the command. They gazed at Wei Yuan and Xu Miao in admiration.
"I guess a grand wedding is on the way."
"Right. The Wei Clan and the Xu Clan will become one. That's an auspicious sign."
Wei Xiang shook his head, rejecting his friends' comment, "Not yet. We have an issue to deal with," he glared at Xie Tian, "We need to avenge for our brothers first. I'll kill Xie Tian during the last event challenge!"
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Meanwhile, Wei Huang was worried about his granddaughter. He talked to her in private after Xu Miao had obtained his score.
"Yuan'er, did he hurt you?"
Wei Yuan giggled, "No. Grandfather, you should prepare for my wedding soon."
"You… Do you really like him?"
"Of course. He's a rare find. If he's my dao partner, I can cultivate THAT yin art."
"What yin art?"
"THAT one. The one that you've been trying to find a compatible user for years!"
"What!? But that art requires yin essence. You haven't even reached the 4th stage…"
"I've already obtained many drops of essence. Let me explain…"
While everybody's attention was on Xu Miao, Wei Yuan revealed her husband's secret as a dual cultivator and his pseudo demonic abilities.
After hearing everything, Wei Huang's eyes gleamed as he gazed at Xu Miao's direction.
Wei Yuan reminded her grandfather, "I've sacrificed my purity to get him to our side. Don't disappoint me, grandfather."
"I know… So, is my grandson-in-law a human or a demon?"
"I can't determine, but most of his techniques are from demon clans. We can assume that he's a demon, but he doesn't know which race he belongs to."
"Good. You don't have to worry. After today, I'll talk to Xu Xiuying after this and get an auspicious day for your wedding."
"Thanks, grandpa. Oh, by the way…"
"What is it?"
"Do you have a skill that can check if I'm pregnant or not? I think we overdid it."
"…"
Wei Huang's smiling face froze. He turned into a stone.