Chapter 66: You Should Understand This Principle

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: You Should Understand This Principle

A Steward from the Law Enforcement Hall, who had been watching the commotion from nearby, quickly came over. Once the Spirit Contract was formed, it was divided into three copies. The Steward took one, while the other two went to Yang Haichen and Yuan Hui.

The Spirit Contract was bound by Essence Blood. Violators would be punished by the Sect; minor infractions would result in the deduction of resources, while serious ones would lead to the direct revocation of their disciple status.

"Senior Brother, this is yours."

Yang Haichen placed the Spiritual Cuisine in front of Yuan Hui. Although he didn’t know why the other man harbored such ill will toward him, he knew this senior brother likely wouldn’t have time to bother him for a long while.

Once the matter was resolved, Yuan Hui staggered to his feet, only to be immediately shoved away from the stall by a crowd of True Disciples.

"Junior Brother, about these last two portions of Spiritual Cuisine...?"

A True Disciple couldn’t help but ask. The buffoon was finally gone, so now they could get down to business.

"Junior Brother, this is two thousand Spirit Stones. Go ahead and count them."

In contrast to the restraint shown by most of the True Disciples, one of them directly tossed two thousand Spirit Stones in front of Yang Haichen.

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Yang Haichen took the two thousand Spirit Stones, and one of the portions of Spiritual Cuisine on his stall vanished in an instant.

The True Disciples, who had been hoping to chat a little, were stunned for a moment. In that same instant, another two thousand Spirit Stones appeared before Yang Haichen. He accepted them, and before he could even speak, the last portion of Spiritual Cuisine was gone too.

"Who was so fast?!"

The True Disciple who had spoken first couldn’t help but blurt out. With so many higher-ups watching, no one would dare to do anything shady. But who was it that had no honor and just went for it?

No one answered his question. Yang Haichen nonchalantly packed up his banner and box and started walking away, heading toward the registration area for the Inner Sect Disciple assessment.

The True Disciples who noticed this didn’t stop him. But then, a group of them suddenly remembered the portion of Spiritual Cuisine that had been sold for ten times its price. They certainly weren’t going to be taken for fools, but it was still a portion of Spiritual Cuisine—better than nothing.

"Here are nineteen hundred Spirit Stones, Junior Brother. The price of a Second Grade Spiritual Cuisine is obviously going to be affected after some of its Spiritual Qi has already leaked out."

By the time they found Yuan Hui, they saw that the True Disciple who had suggested signing a Spirit Contract with the Law Enforcement Hall had just closed a deal with him.

"I understand, Senior Brother. You don’t need to explain."

Yuan Hui nodded. He was now saddled with a debt of twenty thousand Spirit Stones. Exchanging a portion of Spiritual Cuisine that was of little use to him for Spirit Stones was the absolute best option right now.

"Don’t you have anything to say, Elder Wang?"

As the farce came to a close, an Elder from the Law Enforcement Hall appeared directly beside the Grand Elder of Purple Bamboo Peak. His voice was not concealed in the slightest, and in an instant, the gazes of all the Elders and Stewards fell upon the Grand Elder of Purple Bamboo Peak.

"The one with the stall is my disciple. He’s participating in the Inner Sect Disciple assessment today."

The Grand Elder of Purple Bamboo Peak shook his head with a resigned sigh. He knew full well what these people really wanted to know was the identity of the Second Grade Spirit Chef behind Yang Haichen. And so, his gaze shifted to Mo Xuan, who was sitting in a corner sipping tea.

All eyes followed his gaze. Mo Xuan, who had been smiling and chatting with Bai Qiulan, silently set down his teacup.

"Before the assessment begins, Purple Bamboo Peak will announce its pre-selected candidate."

Mo Xuan didn’t answer their question directly. Instead, he turned his gaze to the light screens that had materialized around the grand hall. As soon as an Inner Sect Disciple passed the assessment, their name would appear on their peak’s corresponding screen.

The screen for Purple Bamboo Peak depicted a swaying stalk of purple bamboo, but at the moment, it displayed no other information.

With a flick of his finger, Mo Xuan made the screen change instantly.

The two words "Liu Chen" appeared at the very top of the screen in a pale gold script. This signified that he had not become an Inner Sect Disciple by passing the assessment, but had been directly granted a pre-selected spot by Purple Bamboo Peak.

Unlike the slots for disciples who passed the assessment, a pre-selected spot required a justification. In the past, the most common reason given was winning the peak’s internal competition for Outer Sect Disciples.

And now, as everyone watched, two more words materialized in pale gold script after "Liu Chen": "Spirit Chef."

"So that’s how it is."

All the Stewards and Elders nodded in understanding. If a Spirit Chef couldn’t even secure a pre-selected spot to become an Inner Sect Disciple, then no one else was qualified.

All Outer Sect Disciples were in the Body Tempering Realm. To put it bluntly, if Purple Cloud Valley were to lower the bar for its entrance assessment, they could recruit endless numbers of Body Tempering Realm Loose Cultivators from the Great Xia Dynasty. But a Spirit Chef... he was likely one of a kind.

And a Second Grade Spirit Chef at that. However, no one was foolish enough to ask if this Spirit Chef had a master. Mo Xuan’s actions had already made it perfectly clear: the Second Grade Spirit Chef was his own disciple.

’Liu Chen, huh?!’

The True Disciples in the plaza, who had now settled down, all narrowed their eyes. After a moment of thought, their gazes fell upon the True Disciples from Purple Bamboo Peak they had seen chatting earlier.

They hadn’t known which peak Yang Haichen belonged to before, but now it was obvious he was a disciple of Purple Bamboo Peak. This made the Purple Bamboo Peak True Disciples, who had seemed so uninterested in the Spiritual Cuisine earlier, look extremely suspicious.

"Those closest to the source get the first pick. You should all understand that principle."

Huang Haixuan leaned against a large tree and commented nonchalantly. Though the matter had nothing to do with him, the feeling of superiority was rather enjoyable.

Several nearby True Disciples exchanged a look, seemingly reaching a silent consensus. A few Binding Type spells immediately enveloped Huang Haixuan. His vision went black, and before he could even react, he was thoroughly beaten.

By the time Huang Haixuan broke free of his restraints, the surrounding True Disciples had long since vanished.

What left Huang Haixuan most speechless was that they had shown perfect restraint. He definitely felt the pain, but he wasn’t injured. It couldn’t even be called a spar.

Huang Haixuan straightened his disheveled clothes and walked off, carefully scrutinizing the other True Disciples. But none of them gave anything away; they all looked as if they had been chatting amongst themselves the entire time.

After completing his registration and entering the waiting area for the assessment, Yang Haichen looked up at the highest light screen. Right now, only Junior Brother Liu’s name was on it.

The entire plaza was abuzz with talk about him. The Outer Sect Disciples from Purple Bamboo Peak who were also taking the assessment were completely surrounded by others trying to get information out of them.

More accurately, everyone in the plaza was trying to find out about Liu Chen, both openly and in secret.

Yang Haichen had planned to find a spot near the center, but after catching the eyes of a few Outer Sect Disciples from Purple Bamboo Peak, he decisively found an out-of-the-way corner. He just wanted to get through the assessment first.

"Peak Master Mo, why not invite your disciple over to show us a thing or two?"

The Sect Leader of Purple Cloud Valley slowly materialized beside Mo Xuan. He was aware of the Mo Family’s existence. When that Guardian from the Mo Family had first descended, he’d mistaken him for an old enemy who’d achieved a breakthrough and returned for revenge. He had been prepared to sacrifice his life for the Sect, but as it turned out, the man’s attitude toward him had been surprisingly decent.