Chapter 145: The Eighth Floor

Yunfan stared blankly as a swarm of youths rushed furiously toward his group, his mind temporarily short-circuiting. This seemed rather different from what he had envisioned. His original intention was to let Che Wuyou hold the Qiankun pouch, thereby avoiding these unnecessary conflicts. Yet what had Che Wuyou done? It seemed he had deliberately provoked these youths...

However, this was not the time to dwell on such matters. Since trouble had arrived, it had to be resolved. Decisively handing Zhang Qing'er over to Che Wuyou, Yunfan let out a booming shout and stepped forward to stand resolutely before the youths, his posture radiating the imposing aura of a single warrior holding off ten thousand foes.

Sure enough, seeing Yunfan's fierce and formidable momentum, the charging youths came to an abrupt halt. Yet Yunfan immediately cupped his fists with a sheepish expression, offering a flattering smile. "Elder brothers, fellow Daoist brothers, all these treasures were painstakingly gathered by my Wuyou brother and me along the way. In light of the countless hardships we have endured, might you gentlemen spare us this once... I would be endlessly grateful, endlessly grateful!"

With that, Yunfan repeatedly bowed and cupped his hands, displaying an extremely humble demeanor... The burly youth with a face full of rugged flesh found his expression—a mixture of sincerity and bashfulness—alongside his utterly submissive attitude, immensely gratifying. Waving a hand to halt the rushing crowd, he deliberately pondered for a moment before adopting the authoritative bearing of a leader. "Kid, seeing as your manners are somewhat proper and you have begged us repeatedly... Very well, toss the Qiankun pouch over. Consider this third trial taken care of by yours truly."

Seeing the burly youth speak up, the others chimed in one after another. "Hey you brat, why aren't you thanking our Duan leader yet? This is a blessing cultivated over several lifetimes; having our leader guide you is something you couldn't buy even with spirit stones... Why are you dawdling and wasting time, hand the items over promptly..."

"Ugh..." Yunfan had originally intended to plead a bit more to see if he could live in peace with this group. Things, however, turned out contrary to expectations: not only did these people demand his treasures, but they also expected him to publicly thank that brawny fellow. His face instantly darkened...

Thinking that since a falling out was inevitable, he ought to deliver some grand and imposing lines—wasn't that how it always went in books?—he wrung his brains for a long time without coming up with anything sufficiently dramatic. Instead, mimicking Che Wuyou, he hollered at the top of his lungs, "Hah! This brother has spirit stones to spare, and they are all right here in the Qiankun pouch. If you have the guts, come and grab them! Don't stand on ceremony with your big brother, come on..."

Seeing Yunfan shift from extreme humility to utter arrogance, the youths were deeply provoked. Before the burly youth could even give the order, they flew into a rage and swarmed chaotically toward Yunfan. Only then did the burly youth manage to roar, "Charge! Brothers, beat him to death for me!" With an animalistic howl, he too lunged at Yunfan.

Although their aspirations were grand, the outcome was thoroughly pathetic. One by one, the youths were sent flying back even faster than they had come, knocked straight back to their original spots by Yunfan's combination of fists and kicks. Even the burly youth, despite his status as their leader, failed to last a single round in Yunfan's hands. Judging by the extra force Yunfan seemed to apply, he appeared to have suffered an even more wretched fate than the others.

Having dealt with the pack of youths, Yunfan looked somewhat bewildered. He stood frozen on the spot, momentarily at a loss as to what demeanor to strike next. After a moment of thought, however, a shy expression crept back onto his face, and he bowed to the group in a sweeping circle. "My apologies, my apologies, I might have hit a bit too hard..."

This gesture genuinely startled the youths, causing the chorus of agonizing groans from those sprawled across the ground to abruptly cease. Only the burly youth remained stubbornly defiant. Even though he was heavily injured by Yunfan, he glared fiercely with knitted brows. "Stop putting on a hypocritical act! If you want to beat or kill me, come straight at yours truly. Do you think I'm afraid of you?"

As Yunfan stood wondering how to respond to the burly youth's furious glare, he suddenly heard Che Wuyou's cold voice from behind. "What are you howling about? Weren't you acting all majestic and murderous when you were trying to rob other people's treasures? What's wrong now, playing the tough guy for our benefit? Fine then, I'll let you taste what it feels like to have your treasures plundered."

Placing Zhang Qing'er safely back on the ground, Che Wuyou actually began robbing these people one by one. Trapped by Yunfan's spiritual lock, these individuals could not even surrender if they wanted to, and they were thoroughly stripped clean by Che Wuyou, leaving Yunfan staring in utter astonishment. The glowing red characters hovering above Che Wuyou's head skyrocketed from fifty-eight kilograms of medium-grade spirit stones all the way up to seventy-five kilograms before finally coming to a halt.

Yet at that moment, Che Wuyou muttered discontentedly, "A whole crowd of people, yet they only have this pitiful amount of spirit stones? I truly wonder what each of them is doing with their time." Even though the burly youth had resolved himself to swallow this bitter pill—as the old saying goes, one cannot walk by the river without getting one's shoes wet—he still could not help letting out a cold snort upon hearing Che Wuyou's remark.

Naturally, having suddenly acquired such a vast sum of spirit stones, Che Wuyou had no intention of bickering with him further. Stowing the Qiankun pouches away, he glanced at the purplish-red characters above his head, called out to Yunfan, and strode off toward the glowing energy pillar. Only then snapping back to his senses, Yunfan quickly hoisted Zhang Qing'er onto his back and chased off into the distance after Che Wuyou, all the while muttering to himself, "Plundering like this is truly exhilarating! Why didn't I ever think of it before? If spirit stones could always be acquired this fast, wouldn't I make a fortune... Hehe, haha..."

With Yunfan's presence, the third floor was likewise a breeze. Wielding his formidable might, Yunfan swiftly led the three of them through the trial.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, aside from collecting treasures everywhere, Yunfan purposely escorted Che Wuyou around the densely populated central zones. Naturally, they encountered plenty of blind fools attempting to plunder 'Che Wuyou's' treasures. This time, however, Che Wuyou did not even need to lift a finger; with astonishingly swift efficiency, Yunfan knocked the robbers flat one by one and then thoroughly ransacked them in return.

The red characters above Che Wuyou's head turned a radiant shade of deep purple, soaring to a staggering one hundred and eight kilograms of medium-grade spirit stones. Furthermore, the people they encountered grew increasingly powerful, each casting looks of burning envy and jealousy upon laying eyes on Che Wuyou. Yet ultimately, under Yunfan's deliberate enticements, they ended up parting with even more spirit stones.

Charging forward with unstoppable momentum, the trio used Yunfan as the sharpest of spearheads, eventually reaching the eighth floor of the Heavenly Pagoda. By this point, the glowing red characters above Che Wuyou's head had reached a terrifying magnitude of three hundred kilograms of medium-grade spirit stones.

Along the outer perimeter of the eighth floor, Che Wuyou's group strolled leisurely. Zhang Qing'er had already regained consciousness by now, though she merely remained quietly behind Che Wuyou, speaking very little. Only Yunfan was brimming with excitement, continuously chattering away to Che Wuyou.

Yet Che Wuyou offered him no warm expressions, even though the loot had reached the terrifying total of three hundred kilograms of medium-grade spirit stones. The share Yunfan had promised Che Wuyou remained a mere twenty kilograms. While already a substantial sum, it paled vastly in comparison to the total of three hundred kilograms, leaving Che Wuyou predictably unimpressed by Yunfan's stinginess.