Elder Shen was fiddling with a pile of spirit stones, his eyes filled with pure, unadulterated happiness. Upon seeing Xuhan, he calmly pushed the pile aside and cleared his throat loudly.

"Elder, I'm here for my share of the profit. It should be around four hundred spirit stone judging by today's sales," Xuhan said as he took out an empty pouch from his pocket and started waving it in the air like a flag.

"I'm sorry, what?"
Elder Shen looked dumbstruck.

Xuhan's smile faded slightly.

"Elder Shen, I know roughly how many copies were produced and sold. According to our agreement, I should be receiving fifty percent of the total profit, remember?"

Elder Shen still looked nonplussed. Looking at Xuhan as if seeing him for the first time in his life, elder Shen's brows wrinkled in confusion.

"Young man, what are you talking about? Share of profit from the book that was sold at the auction today? What has that got to do with you?"

Xuhan's face darkened. What the hell? Was this fucker really going to deny their agreement?

"Jokes like this aren't funny, elder. I am the author of that book. You can't deny the fact like this!"

Elder Shen looked even more awkward than before.

"Young man, that book was co-authored by many elders of this sect. How dare you claim to be the author so shamelessly? Are you mad?"

Xuhan gasped at the old man's recklessness. Did this guy really think he could just make such ridiculous claims and get away with it?

"Elder Shen, what the hell are you-"

Before Xuhan could even finish his sentence, elder Shen slapped the table in front of him and stood up with an indignant expression on his face.

"What gall! Young man, are you daydreaming? Look at this book!"

He pulled out a copy of Xuhan's book and shoved it on his face.

"Can you even read? Look at the cover properly, tell me who the author is!"

Xuhan frowned, a sinking feeling clenching his guts.

There was a small line written at the place where the author's name was supposed to be...

'Co-written by the elders of Crimson Snow sect '

Xuhan felt extremely pissed off.

"Elder Shen, how can you steal my work like this? All the elders of the sect agreed to this?!"

BAM!

"How dare you accuse us of thievery! You sure have guts! We should make an example out of you! "

The wooden table nearly cracked apart from the sudden slap of the furious elder. Xuhan took a step back, startled at his outburst.

"You-you can't do this...I have-"

"What? You have what? Some made up proof? Is there anyone who would vouch for you? Dont make me laugh and fuck off from here, boy. This isn't something you can joke around with. The sheer audacity of young people these days..."

There really wasn't anyone who could vouch for his words. Xuhan had written the book in secret lest anyone should leak the news beforehand and ruin the element of surprise. Looking back, that had been a grave mistake.

Xuhan couldn't understand why the elders would stoop so low. A few thousand spirit stones wasn't exactly a large amount. He wasn't crazy enough to think that his troll-ish book would generate a profit higher than that.

"Why are you still standing here? Do you have a death wish, boy?"

"Sigh...elder Shen, you're forcing me to do this," Xuhan muttered in a low voice.

Elder Shen disdainfully glared at him. Xuhan reached into his pocket and pulled out a flyer.

"Since you insist on screwing me over, please receive my uno reverse card..."

Confused, the elder took the flyer from him and read the contents, upon which he choked on his own saliva.

 

' Do you suspect that your daoist partner/ fiancee has bought the abominable book named "how to make a harem," ?

Are you angry that he dares to harbour such thoughts?

Are you angry at the sect for promoting such disgusting books?

Are you worried that you might be seduced by one of these harem seeking bastards?

Look no further.

This is your salvation.

The book that will tell you how to counter their disgusting tricks and keep your daoist partner in check.

HOW TO COUNTER HAREM SEEKERS: A PERFECT GUIDE TO A BLISSFUL MARITAL LIFE '

Underneath the flyer was the address of the black sheep mountain peak where the book would be sold that afternoon.

"What the f..."

Seeing the elder's stunned expression, Xuhan chuckled derisively.

"Dear elder, did you think I would choose a business partner who seeks to perfect the dao of deceit and scams, yet not take any precautions just in case you decide to mess around ?"

"You...You wrote another book?"

"I actually didn't want to reveal this one so soon. It was more of an attempt at keeping the balance in the sect. But really, I guess this isn't a bad outcome either. Frankly, the moment you accepted my businesses proposal, the outcome was already in my hand, regardless of what you did, old man."

Damn, speaking like a chunni villain was so satisfying!

"H-have you already released these flyers in the sect?"
Elder Shen's voice shook. If this flyer got into the hands of the victims of the first book by now, his whole scheme would be destroyed. The sect master would punish him!

"No, not yet," Xuhan shrugged and answered him, enjoying his despairing look. But as soon as his sentence ended, that look vanished and a ruthless gleam flashed across elder Shen's eyes.

However, Xuhan didn't look nervous in the slightest.

"Oh I know what you're thinking. You want to 'shut me up' right here and now, so that these flyers never reach the hands of the disciples, correct ?"

Elder Shen, who was about to make his move, suddenly paused, an ominous feeling enveloping his mind.

"The flyers aren't with you, are they?" He finally rasped out his guess.

"Hehe, elder Shen is so smart! Of course they aren't. I gave them all to my martial brother Mu Ran and told him to start handing them out if I don't leave this place within ten minutes."

"So even if I kill you right now..." Elder Shen mumbled thoughtfully.

"You'll still be screwed. Do you think the disciples who are interested in buying this book are dumb? They'll know for sure that the sect has interfered with this. How long do you think it'll take for this sect's reputation to go down the drain, eh?"

Elder Shen thought for a few moments before smiling suddenly.

"So if I send a few disciples to go and capture Mu Ran and snatch the flyers away from him, the problem would be solved."

Xuhan's eyes widened. How far was this elder going to go for that measly amount of profit?

"I've already sent my orders to capture Mu Ran. So don't even think about leaving this place now." A few seconds later, elder Shen suddenly spoke with joy coloring his tone.

"What? When? How?" Xuhan looked around in confusion.

"Hah, ignorant mortals like you wouldn't even know about the advanced communication techniques practiced by cultivators at our level. The inspection squad should already be on their way by now," elder Shen answered him calmly, his eyes still looking at Xuhan with suspicion, mainly because Xuhan didn't look like he was cornered yet.

Proving his suspicion true, Xuhan smiled deviously again.

"Does the inspection squad consist of senior disciples with high cultivation base?"

"Yes, the weakest among them has a cultivation base at the fourth layer of physique transformation realm while the strongest disciple has reached the seventh layer a few days ago."

Elder Shen answered his question just to enjoy seeing Xuhan's confidence crumble, but alas...

"Hehe, nice try old man. But your inspection squad is going to fail."

Elder Shen felt a cold chill down his spine. How could that be? The batch of disciples of the outer court this year could be at the sixth layer of physique transformation realm at best. How can anyone from the infamous black sheep mountain peak defend themselves against the inspection squad with a lower cultivation base?

Was there anyone secretly protecting him?

Or is this boy just bluffing?

Should I kill him or not? Can I?

Elder Shen's mind raced. The situation was slowly slipping beyond his control.

Xuhan looked quite relaxed. He dragged a tool from nearby and sat on it like a bored guy getting some sunlight on his skin.

Soon after, the last hope of elder Shen, the inspection squad returned, all of them showing various degree of injuries. A few were even nearly unconscious and required immediate first aid before being carried to the medicine pavilion.

But when the gloomy elder asked them about what happened during their confrontation...

"We got beaten up so badly that one of the weaker ones finally blurted out our intention when Mu Ran was punching him. But turns out, Mu Ran never had any flyers on him to begin with. He even let us check his hut and his clothes. There really was nothing, elder Shen. We got beaten up for no reason... And now he wants compensation for the misunderstanding or he's making some serious threats..."

"...." speechless, elder Shen glared at the bent over form of Xuhan. The boy was laughing so hard that his eyes had teared up.

"Oh yes, my bad. I misspoke the name, it should be martial brother Xiao Wu. He has the flyers, sorry. But i guess he already started handing them out by now..."

Xuhan started giggling again uncontrollably.

Elder Shen felt exhausted. It was no longer an option to carry on this farce. He, Shen Xie, had actually lost to a boy in a competition of deceit.

Sighing with melancholy, He strode inside the treasury and came back with four hundred and twenty spirit stones in a large pouch.

"Here is your money, young man. Don't mind the small prank. This old man just loves making practical jokes, cough...cough..."

Xuhan took the pouch happily. The mission had been accomplished. He was rich again and this would continue as long as his sales remained decent.

Sigh... this world of cultivation was too dangerous for a naive, pure youth like him.