Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 732: I, Chu Liang, Invest In This Project (I)

"Heh," Chu Liang chuckled as he showed a faint smile.

The man before him was Hong Jufeng, the young master of Starhold Island in the East Sea.

Hong Jufeng was a massive man, his bulky frame resembling a small mountain of flesh as he sat there. His demeanor was domineering and unyielding.

For someone to act this brazenly on Mount Shu without getting beaten to a pulp, he had to have some serious backing.

“We should at least discuss how much more we’re expected to give and how it should be handled,” Lin Bei interjected, trying to suppress his anger. He spread his hands and continued, “You can’t just keep silent about it. That puts us in a difficult position.”

“If it is difficult, then don’t do it.”

Suddenly, Hong Jufeng stood up. He didn’t even spare Lin Bei a glance as he fixed his gaze solely on Chu Liang. "We came here today out of respect for you. Our demands were clear—you know exactly how much more we want. You can’t agree to the price increase, yet you still expect the job to be done. Tell me, where in the world would you find such a good deal?"

Hearing this, Chu Liang smiled and shook his head.

Starhold Island wasn’t just a single island. It was the heart of a powerful sect that controlled nearly a hundred islands in the East Sea, making them a huge and powerful force.

They were originally a branch of the Heavenly Star Divine Cult, known as the Starhold lineage. However, after the Heavenly Star Divine Cult split up—or perhaps even before that—the Starhold lineage aligned itself with the Penglai Supreme Sect.

When the Heavenly Star Divine Cult collapsed and split apart, the Starhold lineage swiftly relocated to the East Sea, seizing a resource-rich island as their stronghold. It was hard to believe this hadn’t been orchestrated by the Penglai Supreme Sect from the start. Being a classic case of defecting to the winning side, the Penglai Supreme Sect provided Starhold Island with unwavering support.

Over the centuries, Starhold Island's influence grew to its current scale, and in the East Sea, they could even be considered a dominant force.

However, by openly siding with the Penglai Supreme Sect and acknowledging it as Starhold Island's new master, Starhold Island naturally incurred the wrath of its old one.

The Celestial King Sect, Celestial Pivot Pavilion, and Sea King Sect—once all top-tier immortal factions part of the Heavenly Star Divine Cult—relentlessly sought to suppress Starhold Island. However, as long as the Starhold Lineage remained within the East Sea, the Penglai Supreme Sect’s protection ensured their survival.

This led to a peculiar situation. Within the East Sea, Starhold Island’s influence was nearly as fearsome as the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten, and few dared to provoke them. But beyond the East Sea, they were practically unheard of.

They continued to dominate within the East Sea, and at first, they kept to their own business and had no interactions with Mount Shu Sect.

However, Starhold Island controlled the Turbid Mountain Archipelago, which produced a spiritual ore known as Mountain-Suppressing Rock. This ore had long been an essential material for immortal sects in constructing buildings infused with spiritual energy. The majority of the Starhold lineage’s income came from selling this resource.

Previously, the sects of immortality cultivation didn’t have a high demand for spirit-infused buildings, so the price of Mountain-Suppressing Rock stayed stable. But that changed when the Feng-grade houses on Red Cotton Peak became popular and sparked this renovation craze.

The Mount Shu Sect’s Hall of Construction found itself with orders scheduled years in advance. Seeing that the Mount Shu Sect's Hall of Construction was raking in so much profit, Starhold Island could no longer sit still.

Just as the Hall of Construction was about to go all out, Starhold Island suddenly announced that the price of Mountain-Suppressing Rock had to be raised, except that the raise was ridiculous. It was nearly ten times the original price!

This was nothing short of daylight robbery.

Chu Liang had invited him to Red Cotton Peak for negotiations, but he hadn't expected the young master of Starhold Island to arrive with such hostility.

"Young Master Hong, there’s no need to be upset. With the price of Mountain-Suppressing Rock skyrocketing, you must understand that it’s difficult for us to accept it right away," Chu Liang said slowly.

The Red Cotton Peak was already in a tight financial spot. Even if they had more than enough funds, they couldn’t tolerate such blatant price gouging. Otherwise, every supplier would try to exploit them in the future, making business impossible.

Chu Liang’s tone remained gentle as he continued, "If you're determined to profit from the Hall of Construction’s operations, we can explore other ways to collaborate."

He paused before adding, "For example, investment dividends."

"Oh? And what exactly do you mean by that?" Hong Jufeng sneered, his double chin jiggling. "Are you saying that we should pay you for our spirit stone mine? Chu Liang, let me tell you—I know exactly how you became rich, and I know what happened to Huyan Bin, the last person who worked with you. If the Mount Shu Sect wants Mountain-Suppressing Rock, you’ll pay the price. Otherwise, we’re done talking!"

With that, he lifted his leg and strode toward the door. The disciples of the Starhold Island behind him all rose and followed behind him.

"Actually, we could sit down and go over the numbers properly," Chu Liang said with a helpless smile, still unwilling to give up.

"I have nothing to discuss with you people from Mount Shu!" Hong Jufeng snorted coldly and shoved the door open. "What a waste of time!"

Bang.

As the door swung open, a strikingly cold and beautiful face was suddenly revealed outside.

Hong Jufeng froze for a moment. Before he could get a clear look at the person, a powerful kick struck him square in the chest.

Bam!

Like a rolling boulder, the mountain of flesh hurtled backward through the banquet hall, crashed through a window, soared across three streets, and finally slammed into the upper-floor wall of a shop.

The shop, having taken the brunt of the impact, remained unshaken. But Hong Jufeng, who had borne the full force, hit the ground with a thud and lost consciousness.

Such was the beauty of the Feng-grade building.

The once-arrogant Starhold Island disciples who had followed Hong Jufeng now stood frozen. The woman’s terrifying presence sent chills down their spines, and one dreadful name surfaced in their minds. Not one of them dared to step forward.

In the end, they bolted for the window, scrambling out as they shouted:

"Young Master!"

"Young Master!!"

"Young Master!!!"

...

The woman watched the group leave, then frowned and stepped inside, muttering curses under her breath.

"Ugh, who is that eyesore..."

Indeed, the woman had no idea what had just happened. She simply found the man an eyesore. She was none other than Di Nufeng, the peak master of Silver Sword Peak.

Whoever the sect leader didn’t dare to beat up on Mount Shu, she would. Whoever Chu Liang wouldn’t dare to touch, she would.

Chu Liang gave an awkward smile as he answered, "A... business partner."

He had long found that fat man unpleasant, and since his esteemed teacher had already struck, he saw no reason to smooth things over. Instead, he gave Lin Bei a look, and Lin Bei quickly led a group to check the situation.

Chu Liang quickly stood up and greeted her with a smile. "Esteemed Teacher, are you in a bad mood?"

It wasn’t just him—anyone, even a blind man, could see that Di Nufeng had stormed in seething with anger. She was clearly in a foul mood. The moment Lin Bei left, nearly everyone else hurried after him, afraid they might be next to face her wrath.

"Hmph!" Di Nufeng sat down and slammed the table with a loud smack. Letting out a frustrated cry, she snapped, "Don’t even mention it! I’m absolutely furious!"

"What happened?" Chu Liang asked hurriedly.

"I was just out collecting debts for the Red Cotton Peak and ran into a troublesome bastard," Di Nufeng said, furrowing her brows. "I came back to have you gather more men to head over there with me and settle this with blood!"

With finances running tight, Chu Liang had his esteemed teacher initiate another round of debt collection. After all, since they still had debts to pay, it was only natural to collect what was owed to them first.

Di Nufeng was an expert in this field. With just a few moves, the immortal sects indebted to Red Cotton Peak had wailed like ghosts. None of them dared to refuse payment.

However, she had just experienced the first failure of her debt-collecting career.

This time, the debtor was the Talismanic Sect of Mount Nao. Their sect leader, Huan Leisheng, was a newly ascended Eminent One who had reached the Dao Attainment Realm through the Dao of Talismans.

Despite Huan Leisheng being a beginner at the seventh realm, Di Nufeng had surprisingly failed to catch him right away. This was due to the ever-shifting nature of the Dao of Talismans and the treacherous terrain of Mount Nao.

In her frustration, she set fire to the entire Mount Nao. Yet, despite her efforts, Huan Leisheng managed to escape, which was why she became so furious.

When she returned to get reinforcements from Chu Liang, she happened to see Hong Jufeng walking out the door with his ugly face. Overcome with anger, she couldn't hold back and sent him flying with a single kick.

"The Talismanic Sect of Mount Nao?"

Chu Liang couldn’t recall much about the sect, but given that Red Cotton Peak had lent them money, it was likely that Chu Yi had been the one to approve the loan. This meant that they were a legitimate immortal sect with an established cultivation legacy.

If they were people of proper morals and upright character, then there would be nothing to fear.

"The fact that he escaped from you must mean he's skilled!" Chu Liang said, slamming his hand on the table. "I'll gather some men from Red Cotton Peak right away. We'll follow you back!"

"Yes!" Di Nufeng gritted her teeth. "I'll bring Yan Zi along too. Let's see if that bastard can still escape!"

"Um..." Chu Liang quickly tried to dissuade her. "Bringing in a powerful cultivator at the eighth realm might be a bit much. How about we try again first?"

"Fine!" Di Nufeng snapped. "Then go and call for reinforcements. Numbers don’t matter... just bring a few more spirit dogs. I refuse to believe he can escape beyond the land of the nine provinces!"

Moments later, Di Nufeng, Chu Liang, and the Golden-Furred Hou charged out of Mount Shu once more.

Previously, for the sake of safety, Venerable Wen Yuan had advised Chu Liang to stay on Mount Shu for the time being. But there’s no such thing as guarding against thieves for a thousand days—he couldn’t remain on the mountain forever.

When Chu Yi left a while ago, the way he left reminded Chu Liang that while his actual body couldn’t leave the mountain, he could leave as a clone created through External Manifestation.

Thus, the one accompanying his esteemed teacher today was his clone, which he had created using External Manifestation.

In fact, many Eminent Ones, upon reaching a certain level of cultivation, chose to travel as clones instead of in their true form. They would only appear in their actual selves when absolutely necessary. A clone created using External Manifestation possessed the same cultivation level and divine abilities as the real person. The only difference was that it would be inconvenient for him to bring certain enchanted tools.

The reason Chu Liang had to go with Di Nufeng to the Talismanic Sect was that he had some knowledge of talismanic script. With his current cultivation, he might actually be able to help. @@novelbin@@

Moreover, he was worried that if he wasn’t there to keep an eye on things, his teacher might lose her temper and flatten the mountain range that spanned a hundred li, causing a disaster far too great.

Mount Nao lay in the heart of the Southern Regions. Surrounding the great mountain were several villages and towns, home to a considerable population. However, the deep valleys and towering peaks were seldom traversed, and legend had it that this place had many immortals.

Everyone in the world of immortality cultivation knew that Mount Nao was the home to the Talismanic Sect.

Yet, when Chu Liang arrived, what lay before him was no longer the lush, green mountain.

Instead, it was now a vast, charred wasteland.

"I knew it..."

As Chu Liang gazed at the devastation before him, his heart trembled with fear. He couldn’t help but think, If my teacher went to collect debts and left the debtor’s ground barren with no grass left to grow... that’s already an act of mercy.

...