Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 318: Deceiving the Nine-Netherworlds Creed Is a Tradition of the Dao-Seeking Sect

Chapter 318: Deceiving the Nine-Netherworlds Creed Is a Tradition of the Dao-Seeking Sect

“The Heavenly Court Creed isn’t reputable, yet its foundation runs so deep?” Fifth Elder gasped. I’ve never heard of such a sect before.

Seeing that Fifth Elder was hoodwinked, Lu Yang continued, “In addition to the rich foundation, the Heavenly Court Creed will soon conduct another round of recruitment. There are already two candidates.

“One has an Innate Immortal Physique. The Nine-Layers Immortal, the first immortal in the ancient era, had managed to attain the Dao because of his Innate Immortal Physique.

“The other carries an entire race’s fortune and is blessed with immense luck. This individual is also both a Barbarian and a Confucian cultivator!

“Fifth Elder, what do you think? Do you want to join us?

“In our original plan, the Heavenly Court Creed will require a long time to grow, so that we can dominate the Battle of the Great Era. Unfortunately, the despicable Nine-Netherworlds Creed has set its sights on us. We need a protector to help us deal with them!”

Lu Yang cupped his fists and said solemnly, “Fifth Elder, if you are willing to lend a hand to the Heavenly Court Creed this time, we will surely repay you generously in the future!”

Fifth Elder fell silent for a moment. Just when Lu Yang thought Fifth Elder would agree, the latter slowly asked, “Have you registered the Heavenly Court Creed with the imperial court?”

Lu Yang was caught off guard. “Register?”

“Yes, according to the laws of the Great Xia Dynasty, any newly established organization must register with the local yamen. Those not registered are considered illegal operations and are subject to severe crackdowns.

“The former Four Great Diabolic Creeds, now the Three Great Diabolic Creeds, never registered.”

Lu Yang, “...”

Seeing Lu Yang and the others go quiet, he laughed heartily. “Alright, alright, out with it. Don’t give me all that flowery talk. What exactly is going on?”

As a member of the famous Dao-Seeking Nine, Fifth Elder naturally wasn’t taken in by Lu Yang’s bluff. What ancient immortal legacies? What support from prominent ancestral clans? Aren’t you just talking about yourselves?

After the destruction of the Everlasting Creed, Lu Yang obtained the legacy of the Everlasting Immortal.

Since Meng Jingzhou is the eldest son of the Meng Family, all the money he spends counts as support from a major ancestral clan.

Li Haoran’s incarnation in his past life, Qin Haoran, was a Half-Step Transcendent Tribulation cultivator.

Qin Yanyan’s father is Qin Haoran, so logically, she’s the first successor.

Lu Yang had no choice but to explain the whole situation honestly.

Fifth Elder clicked his tongue in amazement, his eyes shining. “You guys are something else, fabricating a non-existent Heavenly Court to deceive the Nine-Netherworlds Creed into forming an alliance. If you get lucky, you might even find the Radiant Sun Creed and the Heartless Creed.” A reminiscent expression emerged on his visage. “Back in the day, the nine of us did something similar.”

“What did you do?” Lu Yang and the other three looked at Fifth Elder, curiosity gnawing at their hearts.

Fifth Elder picked up a stone and casually refined it into a table and chairs, inviting Lu Yang and the others to sit.

The table and chairs appeared thin, but after being refined by Fifth Elder, an artifact-refining grandmaster, they were sturdy enough to withstand several attacks from a Golden Core cultivator.

Fifth Elder continued with his story. “It was probably nine hundred years ago. Eighth Junior Brother disguised himself as a low-level cultivator as he went out to carry out heroic and chivalrous deeds. By chance, he discovered the traces of a Nine-Netherworlds Creed follower. Instead of exposing him, Eighth Junior Brother yielded to his nature and consorted with that follower, indulging in debauchery and gambling day and night. Most of the time, Eighth Junior Brother paid for everything. His behavior quickly earned the trust of that Nine-Netherworlds Creed follower.”

Although Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou hadn’t interacted much with Eighth Elder, they had an indelible impression of him. After all, Eighth Elder had dared to sell Meng Jingzhou the sect’s entrance exam questions from twenty years ago, even vowing that they were the real deal.

“What happened next?”

“That Nine-Netherworlds Creed follower asked how Eighth Junior Brother got so many spirit stones despite being fellow Nascent Soul cultivators. Eighth Junior Brother explained that his organization had unearthed a longevity pill formula. Although the effects weren’t significant, it was enough to drive cultivators nearing the end of their lives into a frenzied fight to lay their hands on it.

“Eighth Junior Brother also stressed that this was insider information from their organization, saying, ‘If we didn’t get along so well, I wouldn’t even share this with you.’

“However, the production of the longevity pill formula was too low to meet demand. They needed a large amount of spirit stones to purchase raw materials and scale up production.

“Eighth Junior Brother expressed that their organization was short on funds and asked that follower if he could lend them some money. It wouldn’t be a free loan. He promised they would return the principal plus twenty percent interest after a year.

“The Nine-Netherworlds Creed follower was tempted but still skeptical. At first, he only invested less than a hundred thousand spirit stones. A year later, Eighth Junior Brother returned the principal on time, along with the twenty percent interest.

“That follower tested it for three years, and it worked every year.

“Eventually, that follower’s superior in the Nine-Netherworlds Creed found out about it and also wanted to invest. He asked Eighth Junior Brother if it was possible, and Eighth Junior Brother replied that he needed to consult his superior. Then, he brought Ninth Brother in, in other words, your shifu.

“Your shifu said it was possible to invest, and that superior invested for five years. He more than doubled his assets and was over the moon.

“However, wind passes through all walls; no secret can stay hidden forever. This matter ultimately reached the ears of the creed leader of the Nine-Netherworlds Creed. The creed leader didn’t tell anyone and instead cautiously requested to observe the pill-concocting process. Thus, Old Eight and Old Nine called us over to stage a fake scene, with Eldest Brother posing as the person consuming the pill.

“After the visit, the creed leader felt that the nine of us were quite reliable, so he invested his own spirit stones and earned a lot of money.

“That said, it was not enough for him, so he set his sights on the Nine-Netherworlds Creed’s treasury, using it for investment. Once the profits rolled in a year later, the treasury’s spirit stones would be restored in full, and the interest would go straight into his own pocket—wouldn’t that be perfect?

“By shifting part of the treasury’s funds, the creed leader raked in even more money, but he was still unsatisfied. In the end, he decided he might as well invest most of the funds.

“Then we ran off with the money.

“Don’t tell anyone about this. Even your grand-shifu doesn’t know,” Fifth Elder reminded.

Qin Yanyan was puzzled. “Didn’t the spirit stones you handed out as rebates come from the Dao-Seeking Sect? How could the grand-shifu not know?”

Fifth Elder shook his head. “We didn’t need the Dao-Seeking Sect’s spirit stones at all. The only time Eighth Junior Brother used his own spirit stones was when he deceived that Nine-Netherworlds Creed follower at the very beginning.”

Qin Yanyan was even more perplexed.

Fifth Elder was very patient with his grand-disciple. “Think about it. When we gave out the rebates, weren’t there other Nine-Netherworlds Creed followers who came to invest in us?”

Qin Yanyan nodded.

“So, couldn’t we just use the spirit stones from the new investors to pay back the previous batch of investors?”

Realization dawned upon Qin Yanyan.

“Wait, isn’t this just fraud?”

“I have asked Eighth Junior Brother the same question. He said, ‘How can this be called fraud? We simply failed in our business venture, and our investment funds went down the drain. It’s perfectly normal for businesses to have profits and losses. If they think it’s a crime, they can report us to the imperial court. As individuals who stand upright, we need not fear that our shadows are slanted. Besides, if anyone’s guilty, it’s the Nine-Netherworlds Creed’s leader for embezzling funds.”

Qin Yanyan, “...”

Lu Yang noticed an inexplicably strange expression on Li Haoran’s visage. “What’s wrong?”

Li Haoran looked at his master with a conflicted gaze. “The creed leader who got scammed was so enraged that he died soon after. Then, Qin Haoran took over the reins as creed leader and discovered that the Nine-Netherworlds Creed’s finances were in shambles.

“Even until the moment he died, the creed leader before Qin Haoran never found out who had swindled him.”