Chapter 53: An Argument Breaks Out

"Not bad. Uniting our collective strength to forcibly suppress the unruly rogue cultivators is better than letting the Dharma Bead be taken away for nothing. Even if it has been swallowed, there won't be enough time to refine it. No matter what, we must get that bead out!" Patriarch Liao sneered.

Hearing this from not far away, Lu Xiaotian felt a chill in his heart. Fortunately, he had a mysterious barrier within his body that could accommodate spiritual items; otherwise, it would have been truly dangerous. However, he was accustomed to placing all spiritual items inside the barrier, using the storage bag merely as a formality. The bag hanging at his waist was empty, without even a single low-grade spirit stone, which was highly unusual for a rogue cultivator venturing into the mountains.

Moreover, his arm had just fallen right next to him, and everyone around had looked over. Lu Xiaotian had a sudden thought and said with a string of curses, "Damn it, I don't know which bastard took the Dharma Bead. We've been working for days and haven't even gotten a single hair of profit. Now that the best treasure is gone, I'll just pick up a few spirit stones to recoup my losses."

Hearing Lu Xiaotian's words, the others suddenly realized the truth. Indeed, most of them had come for the Dharma Bead and the demon core. Now that they had been taken by someone else, all that time had been wasted. Fortunately, there were still many water-attribute and ice-attribute spirit stones at the bottom of the lake; if they were lucky, they might even dig up a rare piece of weapon-refining ore. Regardless, they would pick up whatever benefits they could first.

Lu Xiaotian stuffed several low-value spiritual herbs and a few spirit stones into his storage bag.

Looking up, he saw that both the long-browed freak and Patriarch Liao were looking in his direction, seemingly trying to memorize the faces of those nearby. Then, the major cultivation clans and the leaders of the various rogue cultivator groups departed. While the rogue cultivators were busy scouring the lake bottom, these clan leaders and rogue leaders had already taken their teams to guard the key paths along the lakeshore.

Lu Xiaotian gave a wry look at the departing group and then joined the treasure-hunting army at the bottom of the lake.

The lake bottom was not particularly large, accommodating several thousand people with a certain amount of room to move. However, during the previous scramble for the Dharma Bead and the demon core, few had paid attention to the spiritual items scattered on the ground. Now that the most valuable treasures were gone, the rogue cultivators searched thoroughly, digging three feet deep. The lake bottom was quickly picked clean. Aside from silt and some weeds, nothing remained.

However, when these rogue cultivators attempted to ascend the shore to leave, they were blocked by the heavily guarded cultivators of the various clans.

"On what grounds? Why won't you let us pass?" someone immediately shouted in dissatisfaction.

"You are the cultivation clans of Moon-Watching City, wealthy and powerful, but do you think being clan cultivators makes you special? We outnumber you two to one. If a fight really breaks out, you won't be able to hold us back!" another bearded rogue cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refinement roared angrily.

Lu Xiaotian smiled inwardly. He had seen this bearded rogue cultivator pick up a piece of ore earlier, the value of which was not inferior to his own Zhiwu Ore. Seeing the clan cultivators blocking the shore, he was naturally unwilling to comply. From the indignation of the rogue cultivators, it was clear that their conflict with these clan cultivators had not formed overnight.

"To kill this fourth-order Crystal Toad, our clan cultivators have paid a great price. But now, the Dharma Bead has been secretly stolen by an unknown person. We only want the Dharma Bead; we will not touch any other spiritual items."

A cold, imposing young man dressed in black spiritual armor stood before them, followed by dozens of guards all clad in uniform armor; these were the cultivation teams of Moon-Watching City.

After a burst of commotion, the rogue cultivators gradually quieted down. Even the city guards of Moon-Watching City had stepped forward to speak, bringing so many people with them. They could argue logic with ordinary clan cultivators, but this cold young man represented the massive organization behind Moon-Watching City.

"No, we do not agree! Moon-Watching City has long had an unwritten rule: any spiritual items obtained while adventuring in the mountains belong to the individual. No one has the right to demand them by force, unless you intend to openly rob us!" an elderly man in the late stages of Qi Refinement shouted angrily.

"Right, we don't agree!" a large number of rogue cultivators responded in unison.

"If you do not agree, that is not up to you. Let me state it once more: as long as someone hands over the Dharma Bead, we guarantee not to touch anything else. However, if anyone tries to lead a riot, they will be making an enemy of our Liao Clan!"

"And an enemy of our Guo Clan!"

As the various clan cultivators called out their names, the voices of the rogue cultivators noticeably weakened.

"I'll show you. There isn't much anyway, so just look." A youth with a face still carrying traces of childishness—clearly a novice venturing into the mountains for the first time—had only a few spirit stones in his storage bag and no valuable items. There was no need to clash with these clan cultivators.

"Bastard!" The elderly late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator leading him glared at him. The young rogue cultivator hurriedly turned his head away, not daring to meet his gaze.

"What, is it fun to bully the young? This young friend is reasonable. I will make a decision: you may go to our Liao Clan's weapon-refining workshop to refine equipment, and you will receive a twenty percent discount on spiritual tools." Patriarch Liao was a man of considerable skill; he stepped directly in front of the young rogue cultivator, shielding him from the old man's piercing gaze.

"That's right. Our clans have joined forces to manage all industries, including pills, cultivation techniques, and spiritual tools. The top one hundred cooperating rogue cultivators can purchase items from our various shops with a twenty percent discount!" Soon, other patriarchs proposed similar measures.

The rogue cultivators present broke into an uproar. Spiritual tools and cultivation techniques were things that required a significant amount of money for a cultivator to acquire. The mid-grade spiritual tool in Lu Xiaotian's hand had cost over sixty spirit stones; a twenty percent discount would save over ten stones, which was a massive amount for a rogue cultivator.

Many were like the youth, having nothing of value in their storage bags, so they didn't mind being inspected. Those who strongly opposed it were mostly those with significant assets who feared being targeted. After all, there were too many people who robbed others among the rogue cultivators. However, such people were ultimately a minority. A considerable portion was attracted by the preferential policies offered by the clans; after all, securing a spot in the top one hundred could mean avoiding several months of life-and-death struggles in the Moon-Watching Mountains. Consequently, they proactively opened their storage bags for inspection.

With people taking the lead, the disorganized crowd of rogue cultivators quickly lost their resolve. Seeing that the clan cultivators were indeed only checking for the whereabouts of the Dharma Bead and had no other intentions, they had no choice but to open their bags, despite their resentment.

More and more people left, leaving only a few with stubborn attitudes, but they were no longer enough to contend with the clan alliance and could only accept the situation with grimace.

Lu Xiaotian followed at the back of the line. The person responsible for checking his storage bag was a valiant-looking woman in armor. Seeing that his bag contained only two or three spirit stones and a couple of spiritual herbs, she muttered, "Why bother stalling if you're this poor?"

"Giggle, Sister Hong, are you treating him like a golden groom?" a younger woman beside her laughed, covering her mouth.

"Who says otherwise? What a waste of our eyes," the heroic woman, Sister Hong, said with a bored yawn.

Lu Xiaotian stowed his storage bag, rubbed his nose awkwardly, and walked away to blend back into the crowd of rogue cultivators. It wasn't his fault that he had so little in his bag.