Chapter 179

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Chapter 179: Trouble Comes Calling

After hearing Fang Lie’s words, Liu Dingyi was stunned, his eyes wide in shock.

After a long moment, he finally reacted, wailing loudly, "Oh heavens! Why is my life so bitter? I finally got a chance to ambush a fat sheep, only to meet someone poison can’t touch! Old Heaven, are you trying to kill me?"

"Hey~" Fang Lie retorted immediately, "This has nothing to do with Heaven. You brought this upon yourself! As they say, heaven’s mischief can be forgiven, but self-made disasters are unforgivable!"

"Right, exactly!" Liu Dingyi said with a bitter face. "Fang Lie, Young Master Fang, I know my wrongs now. I’ll reform completely and start anew. Please, for the sake of us both being Mo Sect members, give me one chance! I’ll cling to it and never repeat this! Spare me, and I’ll serve you like an ox or horse to repay your mercy!"

"Heh, old man," Fang Lie mocked, "you beg smoothly. Do this often?"

"What choice do I have?" Liu Dingyi whimpered. "With my weak strength, begging’s my only way to survive!"

"Hmph!" Fang Lie snorted. "You’ve clearly poisoned many over the years."

"No, never!" Liu Dingyi cried. "This was my first attempt! Had I experience, I wouldn’t have capsized in a ditch!"

Fang Lie ignored him, inspecting Liu Dingyi’s face instead. Finding no murderous intent, he realized the man carried no karma.

This surprised Fang Lie. Then he understood – Liu Dingyi’s weakness and cowardice meant embezzlement was his limit. Murder required courage he lacked.

Since this was Liu Dingyi’s first crime and no deaths resulted, Fang Lie’s killing intent faded. He spared those without blood debts, though he’d show no mercy to true villains.

Still, Fang Lie wouldn’t let him off. He declared sternly, "You’ll pay for scheming against me!"

"Yes, yes! I’ll give everything!" Liu Dingyi babbled. "My Sumeru Bags are here – take them!"

The Demon-Subduing Golden Bowl had trapped Liu Dingyi’s possessions. Though immobilized, Fang Lie easily summoned the bags with a wave.

Inspecting them, Fang Lie erupted, "You mock me? Beggars carry more wealth!"

The bags held mere tens of thousands of spirit stones, pitiful materials, and low-grade spirit pills. Not a single treasure existed within.

Even Mo Sect’s outer gate disciples would scorn such poverty. As an inner gate disciple, Golden Pool realm cultivator, and Mo Fang Shopkeeper, Liu Dingyi’s destitution baffled Fang Lie.

"You’ve hidden treasures elsewhere!" Fang Lie accused.

"I’m truly this poor!" Liu Dingyi wailed. "Only desperation made me target you!"

"Where’s the money?" Fang Lie demanded. "The Mo Fang Shop alone holds millions. Gone?"

"I… spent it all on spirit pills," Liu Dingyi admitted sheepishly. "To boost my cultivation."

Scanning him with divine sense, Fang Lie started. Liu Dingyi’s cultivation had reached Golden Pool’s peak, nearing Purple Palace. His seven-hundred-zhang Golden Pool and enhanced meridians/organs suggested decent breakthrough chances.

Even sealed, he might still reach Nascent Soul True Immortal – though under 10% odds, with no further progress. Impressive for someone clanless.

Sect stipends alone couldn’t fund this. The embezzled wealth clearly fueled his cultivation.

Liu Dingyi’s aged face revealed dwindling lifespan. This gamble – diverting all funds to cultivation – was his last bid against obscurity.

For Liu Dingyi, failing to advance would mean certain death, forcing him to gamble everything even if it meant betraying his Sect. After learning the full story, Fang Lie found himself sympathizing with the man.

Liu Dingyi was clearly a man stuck in dead end, otherwise the sect wouldn’t have dispatched him to this remote outpost. His title of Shopkeeper masked his true role as an informant – less about gathering resources, more about collecting local information.

Holding this crumbling post alone in weak sect territory was grueling work. Only those rejected by the sect ended up here… like Fang Lie himself.

Fang Lie’s own past mirrored this hardship. The outer gate’s bullies had tormented him worse than Liu Dingyi’s troubles. Without surviving the three unyielding tortures and Cycle of Fire through sheer desperation, he’d be long dead.

Their shared struggles softened Fang Lie’s resolve. After consideration, he declared, "I’ll pardon your offenses against me."

"Thank you, thank you!" Liu Dingyi bobbed his head.

"But," Fang Lie’s voice turned stern, "personal grudges aside, official matters remain. Repay every stolen spirit stone, or I can’t answer to the sect."

Liu Dingyi wailed, "Just kill me! Those stones became spirit pills in my gut! Should I repay with my flesh?"

"Quit the waterworks!" Fang Lie snapped. "If I wanted you dead, you’d be gone. What’s thirty million stones? Hardly worth dying over."

"Thirty million? Thirty MILLION!" Liu Dingyi’s eyes bulged. "If it’s pocket change to you, pay it yourself!"

"Fine," Fang Lie shrugged. "But you’ll work off the debt."

"Work?" Liu Dingyi gaped. "How?"

"One million yearly," Fang Lie stated. "Thirty years clears it."

"Deal! Done!" The Shopkeeper nearly tripped over his words. For someone whose shop earned nothing – even costing fees yearly – this was salvation. Decades of labor beat death. Clear the debt, reach Purple Palace level, then return to sect comforts. Mo Sect valued Purple Palace realm cultivators highly despite their numbers.

Fang Lie freed him from the Demon-Subduing Golden Bowl. "Swear the Heart Demon Oath."

"I, Liu Dingyi, swear to serve Master Fang Lie at one million stones yearly until debts settled!" The man’s voice shook. "Violation curses me to never advance!"

Fang Lie nodded. Ambition glittered in Liu Dingyi – that drive toward Purple Palace’s five-century lifespan extension made the oath binding. Breaking it meant heart demons devouring him during advancement.

With matters settled, Fang Lie gestured to a seat. "Now – exactly how much did you steal?"

"Well…" Liu Dingyi scratched his neck. "When I took over, the Warehouses held fifteen million in materials and stones. Now? Empty."

"Thirty million total?" Fang Lie raised an eyebrow. "You’ll serve thirty winters then."

"Gladly!" Curiosity overcame the Shopkeeper. "But Master Fang – how can you shrug off thirty million? What’s your secret?"

A faint smile. "Nothing grand. I’m simply a Great Pill Master."

"What?!" Liu Dingyi nearly choked. "You’re barely twenty! And why would the sect exile such a treasure here?"

"Fang Family doesn’t lie." Fang Lie’s smile vanished. "I made enemies."

As Liu Dingyi opened his mouth, a crash shattered the outer gate. A sneering voice echoed:

"Old Liu! You rotting yet? Crawl out and face me!"