Chapter 353 Punishment

Before Fang Chen could speak, two figures hurried over.

As it turned out, they were Fang Ao and his wife.

Fang Jue was slightly surprised. "Why is Master here?”

"

Senior Brother, I had a feeling Father should know what was happening here and I sent him a secret transmission.

” Fang Yun’s voice rang in Fang Jue’s ears.

Only when Fang Yun said this did Fang Jue understand.

When Fang Ao saw the scene in front of him, he was shocked. He quickly bowed to the Golden Core Realm cultivators present before looking at the Fang Family ancestor with a worried expression.

"Elder, did Fang Chen cause trouble here? Please, don't be angry. Fang Chen has just arrived in Grand Qian and doesn't quite understand the rules yet...."

Everyone around revealed strange expressions.

Seeing how the Fang Family ancestor remained silent and how everyone else wasn’t saying anything, Fang Ao's expression kept changing.

What kind of trouble did Fang Chen cause to gather so many Golden Core Realm cultivators?

Was the matter related to Qian Feng and Qian Jiuye?

Thinking of this, Fang Ao’s heart sank further. They were juniors of the royal family! If the royal family was dragged into the mess, things would get infinitely more troublesome for him.

"Junior Sister, what did you tell your father?” asked Fang Jue with a look of confusion.

"I... I just said that Fang Chen caused a huge problem in the Jade River Pavilion...” said Fang Yun, shocked. She then hurriedly transmitted another voice transmission to Fang Ao and Jing Jing.

“

Father, actually....

”

Fang Yun tried to channel all the speaking mastery she had gained over the years to quickly explain the situation to her father again.

The Golden Core Realm Ancestor of the Fang Family frowned slightly. "Fang Ao, what are you so anxious about? You haven't figured out the situation yet, and yet you're causing a scene! How are you supposed to take care of your third branch if you keep acting like this? I’m getting worried for you!”

Question marks filled Fang Ao’s mind as a look of confusion appeared on his face.

Fortunately, his wife finally had an idea of what was happening from Fang Yun's explanation. She reined in her shock before explaining everything to Fang Ao.

The Golden Core Realm Ancestor of the Fang family couldn't be bothered with them. He turned his attention back to Fang Chen and asked, "Young man, did you obtain the root of a spiritual tree?"

Fang Chen nodded lightly. "That's correct."

"Why didn't you sell it to members of your own family? Are you afraid that the Fang Family can't bring out enough low-grade spirit stones?" asked the Fang Family ancestor before snorting coldly as he threw Fang Chen a storage ring. "This is the money I owe you for the mid-grade spirit stones I took from you a few days ago. Keep it, there's nothing wrong with that."

When Fang Lingxing saw that, her expression shifted immediately.

She would've never expected that their family ancestor would give Fang Chen the spirit stones directly because of today's bet.

Her father, Fang Mosheng, had been discussing with the family head about how they would use an excuse to temporarily withhold the spirt stones from reaching Fang Chen.

Fang Chen looked through the storage ring before putting it away, a respectful smile on his face. "There are ten thousand low-grade spirit stones here. Thank you, Ancestor."

He had just spent 4200 spirit stones just a few moments ago. And now that the family ancestor had given him ten thousand spirit stones. He had sixteen thousand low-grade spirit stones on him right now, and that was no small amount at all.

And by the time the bet ended, he would have even more spirit stones!

The three thousand from earlier hadn't been accounted for, and the Immortal Origin Stone worth four thousand low-grade spirit stones hadn't been opened yet.

Fang Chen was becoming more and more confident about promoting Little Sword to the next level and obtaining a rank three sword body.

The Fang Family ancestor turned to the elder and smiled. "Fellow cultivator, as you can see, a junior of my family was the one who obtained the treasure. Logically speaking, it should be up to our Fang family to decide whether to sell it or not."

The Jue Family ancestor and Princess Shenlong both frowned slightly.

When Tong Hu saw the frowns on their faces, he knew that the spiritual tree was out of his reach.

Glancing at the Fang Family ancestor, the old man chuckled lightly. "Interesting."

“When the junior of your family cut open the treasure, you weren’t here. Why don’t you ask all of those here how this spiritual tree reappeared in this mortal world?”

Tong Hu spoke slowly. "Fellow cultivator Fang, our fellow expert here was the one who used a drop of Immortal Spring Water to revitalize the spiritual tree. Even I failed to notice this treasure before he did that. All I had been able to see was a withered tree."

"I don't care about that," the Fang Family ancestor's eyes flickered as he looked at the old man. "I heard you bought this spiritual tree for three thousand low-grade spirit stones, right? In that case, I'll buy it back for 25000 low-grade spirit stones. That should work, right?"

"How about we do this..." the old man smiled, "If you really want this spiritual tree, I can sell it to all of you, but you will have to pay for the drop of Immortal Spring Water I used."

"Immortal Spring Water?"

Everyone looked at one another. None of them knew how precious this drop of Immortal Spring Water was.

"How much is Immortal Spring Water valued at?" asked the Fang Family ancestor.

"Not much at all," said the old man, chuckling lightly. "You can give me ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones for it."

"Ten thousand spirit stones? That was a bit pricey" was the first thought that crossed everyone's mind initially.

The Fang Family ancestor frowned. He was about to speak when he heard Princess Shenlong growl in a deep voice, "Mid-grade spirit stones?"

Mid-grade spirit stones?!

Everyone was stunned, and they stared at the old man in shock.

This old man clearly didn't want to sell the spiritual tree at all! He had to be merely saying this as an excuse so the Golden Core Realm cultivators would back down!

"Fellow cultivator, you're asking for too much. Do you know that you are still within the borders of Grand Qian?" The Fang Family ancestor's frown deepened. "If you're willing to become friends with us today, leave this spiritual tree behind. If not, it will remain here either way. There is no room for negotiation.”

Princess Shenlong nodded lightly, and the Golden Core Realm Ancestor of the Jue family looked at the old man, his eyes flickering with inscrutable intentions. The spiritual tree doesn't need to be bought by any particular family. As long as it stayed in Grand Qian, they, including their disciples and descendants, could all benefit from it!

"No room for negotiation?" repeated the old man. He glanced at the little girl beside him and smiled indulgently. "Little lass, looks like we've walked into a bandit camp."

"Grandpa, why don’t we just kill them all?” said the little girl.

The old man rubbed the girl's head dotingly. "No, no, we can't do that. They're just talking nonsense. How can I kill them over mere words? Young lass, you need to remember this, there are karmic consequences in this world that we shouldn't get involved in. The Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations can be terrifying."

The crowd was shocked when they saw the two chatting away as if nothing else mattered, completely disregarding the Golden Core Realm cultivators present.

"But a little punishment is still necessary," said the old man with a chuckle, sweeping his gaze over the Golden Core Realm cultivators present, except for Tong Hu.

Princess Shenlong.

The Fang Family ancestor.

The Jue Family ancestor.

Suddenly, the three felt like a terrifying force had shackled them, and their eyes quickly filled with horror as they tried to break free; however, no matter how much they circulated their spiritual energy, it couldn't pose any resistance.

The Fang Family ancestor's scalp went numb as he cast the old man a pleading look. "Nascent Soul Realm cultivator? It’s over...!"

Princess Shenlong and the Golden Core Realm Ancestor of the Jue Family weren't doing that well themselves either. They had also come to their own conclusions regarding the old man's cultivation.

Nascent Soul Realm! Only a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator could easily restrain them!

"They..."

Tong Hu was a Golden Core Realm cultivator too, and he naturally sensed what was happening to them. An expression of shock appeared on his face as he stared at the old man in fright.

The old man smiled lightly at the three. He pulled two chairs, one for him and one for the little girl, before sitting down.

"Alright, go get the members of your family to come pick you up.”