The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Hua Jianzhi’s words clearly carried a threatening undertone.

Lu Sangjiu blinked, very self-awarely taking a step back and looking toward Xie Ningyuan.

Xie Ningyuan cooperatively took a step forward and gave Hua Jianzhi a slight smile.

”Fellow Daoist Hua, according to the rules of the martial world, sealing someone’s lips requires hush money.”

Hua Jianzhi: ”...”

’So, you, a dignified Buddha Son, stayed hidden the entire time, only to finally step forward just to ask for benefits?’

At that moment, Hua Jianzhi looked at Xie Ningyuan as if she were witnessing the fall of a Buddha Son.

Sword Bu Gui’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. Then, seeing the equally speechless Gu Jue, he suddenly felt a sense of relief... ’Right, at least my own foolish apprentice hasn’t learned their shameless ways yet!’

After a moment of silence, Hua Jianzhi finally relented. ”What do you want?”

Xie Ningyuan: ”Hmm, how about 300,000 top-grade spirit stones? Just a little something will do.”

Hua Jianzhi: ”...”

Forget her, even Lu Sangjiu almost choked on her own spit... ’Three hundred thousand? He really has the gall to ask!’

Unsurprisingly, Hua Jianzhi’s face darkened as she refused. ”Where am I supposed to get that many Spirit Stones for you? Three hundred thousand? The most I can give you is thirty thousand!”

Xie Ningyuan: ”Alright, deal!”

Hua Jianzhi: ???

She froze for a second, then grew furious. ”Are you messing with me?”

Xie Ningyuan feigned innocence. ”Not at all. You haggled, and I accepted. Isn’t that a good thing? Or do you also think thirty thousand is too little? If you want to give a bit more, I certainly wouldn’t mind.”

Hua Jianzhi: ”...”

She took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose with a headache. She truly couldn’t understand how a perfectly good Buddha Son had turned into this.

Still, 30,000 top-grade spirit stones... was within her means.

Besides, the identities of the three of them were indeed troublesome to deal with. If she offered too little, they probably wouldn’t even deign to accept it.

If the news really did leak, it would be difficult for her to hold them accountable. It was better to use Spirit Stones to seal their lips. That way, she would be the one on the side of reason.

After a moment of deliberation, Hua Jianzhi gritted her teeth and, with a wave of her hand, gave them 30,000 top-grade spirit stones.

”Remember my words. You are not to leak this matter to anyone.”

The moment she saw so many Spirit Stones, Lu Sangjiu’s face lit up with a huge grin. Right in front of Hua Jianzhi, she directly divided the Spirit Stones into three portions, each person getting 10,000 top-grade spirit stones to put into their storage bag.

Xie Ningyuan took his share without hesitation, but Gu Jue seemed a bit conflicted... To be honest, he didn’t want these Spirit Stones. It felt too much like blackmail, which was really not right.

But if he refused now, it would be no different from backstabbing Lu Sangjiu and Xie Ningyuan.

So, after a brief hesitation, Gu Jue finally accepted the Spirit Stones. ”...Thank you, Elder Hua.”

Sword Bu Gui: ”...”

His gaze toward Gu Jue was like that of someone watching a youth fall from grace.

’Where are your principles? Your integrity? You struggled for just a moment before choosing to sink to their level???’

Gu Jue kept his head down, not daring to look at his master’s expression. He pressed his lips together and retreated to the back again.

After divvying up the Spirit Stones, Lu Sangjiu looked at Hua Jianzhi with a beaming smile. ”Elder Hua, actually... I have another small request...”

Hua Jianzhi’s expression immediately darkened. ”Don’t you dare push your luck!”

Lu Sangjiu quickly said, ”Please don’t be angry, it’s really just a small request!”

”It’s like I said before, I’m very interested in that mission Miao Miaomiao mentioned, so I’m planning to go with these two. I just wanted to ask, Elder, could you please not send anyone else from the Joyful Union Sect for the time being?”

Hua Jianzhi narrowed her eyes. ”This involves Demon Cultivators and is within the Joyful Union Sect’s jurisdiction. I can’t rest easy with only you three going.”

”How about this: I’ll have Yan Zui go with you.”

Lu Sangjiu was taken aback. ”Huh? But Fellow Daoist Yan is only at the Foundation Establishment Stage. I’m worried...”

”Don’t worry. Wait one more day, and she’ll be at the Golden Core Stage.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’Fine. Having a master at the Body Integration Realm really is something else.’

Besides, Lu Sangjiu could guess that Hua Jianzhi was sending Yan Zui over at this time to let her earn some merit in the matter of the Demon Cultivator. That way, after Miao Miaomiao was dealt with, it would be a natural progression for her to become the new Holy Daughter.

So, Lu Sangjiu said nothing more and agreed with a nod.

However, it wasn’t appropriate for the three of them to stay in the Joyful Union Sect’s guest rooms now. And Hua Jianzhi, having just been scammed out of her Spirit Stones, was not pleased with them and had no intention of offering them lodging.

Lu Sangjiu very tactfully stated, ”In that case, we’ll wait for Fellow Daoist Yan at an inn in the town at the foot of the mountain.”

「One day later.」

What Lu Sangjiu and the others were waiting for turned out to be not just Yan Zui, but also...

”Second Senior Sister? Third Senior Brother? What are you guys doing here???”

Lu Sangjiu stared, a little dumbfounded, at the grinning Luo Linlang who rushed over to hug her, and at the shyly smiling Shen Yuzhao standing next to Yan Zui.

Luo Linlang said with a smug look, ”Take a guess.”

Lu Sangjiu’s eyes widened. ”Wait a minute... Don’t tell me you secretly kidnapped Third Senior Brother and escaped?”

Luo Linlang: ”...”

She was speechless, her face full of resentment. ”Little Junior Sister, is that really the image you have of me?”

Lu Sangjiu said sincerely, ”Yep. Is there a problem?”

Furious, Luo Linlang began to wail accusatorially, ”You heartless little thing! Your senior sister here got Master’s permission to come out! Third Junior Brother and I traveled thousands of miles without rest to find you, and this is what you say to me!”

Lu Sangjiu was a little surprised and couldn’t help but look at Shen Yuzhao. ”Master agreed to let you out? But isn’t Second Senior Sister...”

Shen Yuzhao nodded. ”Second Senior Sister has been working incredibly hard recently. Her progress has been lightning-fast, and she’s already at the Late-stage Golden Core. She told Master that she wants to try breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm and needs to go out and gain experience to find an opportunity.”

”Master was also afraid of holding Second Senior Sister back, so he found a way to get her a mask that can conceal her aura. He also gave her some life-saving items. With me accompanying her, he finally let her come out.”

Lu Sangjiu was astonished by Luo Linlang’s rapid progress, but she quickly understood. She figured it was related to that time she had used the Word Spirit Technique.

Luo Linlang had always been suppressing her talent for the Word Spirit Technique, which had also hindered her cultivation to a certain extent.

Now that she had unleashed it, her entire being was unburdened, so her cultivation naturally progressed at lightning speed.

Knowing how it had happened, Lu Sangjiu felt much more at ease. As long as they hadn’t snuck out, it was fine.

”Then why didn’t First Senior Brother come along?”

At the mention of this, Luo Linlang immediately stopped crying and happily chimed in, ”Because First Senior Brother is about to break through to the Nascent Soul realm!”

Although Li Qiancheng had been staying in the sect to take care of their master for a while, he hadn’t neglected his cultivation. He had been at the Late-stage Golden Core for a long time. Now that everyone else was catching up one by one, it was indeed time for him to have a breakthrough.

Lu Sangjiu was also very happy for Li Qiancheng. Then came the final question. ”So, why did you two come here with Ms. Yan Zui?”