The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

Chapter 787 - Getting a Loan to Buy an Elixir

Chapter 787: Getting a Loan to Buy an Elixir

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Su Yu’s gaze became ice-cold. He flew over and staunched Shao Li’s bleeding wound, then asked in a deep voice, “What happened?

Shao Li, who was taking her last breaths, pointed in the south-western direction. As Su Yu looked over there, he saw a disappearing blue blur. Even its aura was completely hidden.

When he saw this, he wondered... Did someone just try to assassinate me? Su Yu’s mind started racing. It was obvious that this person wanted to kill him, and Shao Li was just a sacrificial victim!

Swoosh!

The loud disturbance had alarmed several Divine Masters, who all came here at once. Three of them were men, who wore long, black robes and had stern expressions on their faces. Even the other Divine Masters dreaded this trio. These three men belonged to the Law Enforcement Division, and they were usually the ones who took care of emergencies.

“You were at the scene of the accident when it occurred? Okay... Tell us what happened. Be specific,” The head of the Law Enforcement team instructed the others to go and collect all of the objects that were here, while he questioned Su Yu.

Su Yu proceeded to recount the fight, as well to tell them about the spatial ring, which had exploded in the end. By this time, the other two Law Enforcement team members had already finished gathering all of the broken objects, which included a torn talisman.

“An eighth grade offensive talisman? As I look carefully at it, it seems like someone set a seal on it in advance to detonate it from a distance, thus using it to attack them!” one of the Law Enforcement team members said, recognizing this with just a single glance.

He then looked at Su Yu with a startled glance, as if he had just realized something. He said, “You should be careful in the future! The Red Blood Palace can get rid of most anyone who uses shady means, but it’s incapable of ensuring your safety completely.”

Su Yu nodded, then looked at the injured Shao Li and asked the team member, “What about her?”

The Law Enforcement team member shook his head and said, “Her injuries are too severe. Ordinary spirit pills can’t help her at this point. Now, only middle-grade spirit pills would be effective for her. If she had enough merit points, she could buy a middle-grade spirit pill at the fourth grade, like the blood Bone Spirit Fusion Pill. But, since she’s just a newcomer, she probably doesn’t have any merit points. So, we can only notify her family and take her back to her home to receive treatment.”

Such indifferent and cruel rules were a disappoint to everyone. After all, a disciple was on the brink of death, yet the only option was just to send her back to her family because she didn’t have enough merit points! This made Su Yu realize once again the extreme importance of merit points.

“How many merits points must I pay in order to procure a Blood Bone Spirit Fusion Pill?” Su Yu asked suddenly.

The Law Enforcement team member looked at Su Yu in surprise, then said, “Ten thousand merit points. Moreover, the sanctum reserves of such pills are quite low. But, if you are lucky, you can still manage to buy one.”

This pill was a middle-grade pill, and it wasn’t like the low-grade spirit pills that he had seen before. Moreover, it was capable of saving one’s life, which explained why many people worked hard for a whole year just to buy a single one, then kept it safely tucked away for the chance that they might one day need it to save their lives.

Ten thousand? Su Yu was startled by such a high price. He didn’t have more than a thousand merit points at the moment.

“You don’t need to get one. I have only myself to blame for this,” Shao Li said with great difficulty, while she pulled at Su Yu’s trouser with her only remaining hand. Her voice was weak and feeble, and it sounded if she was taking her last breaths.

Shao Li’s fate was really not related to him, but when the spatial ring had exploded, he had clearly noticed that Shao Li was capable of throwing the ring at him casually. But, she had changed direction in the end, and it was only because of this moment of hesitation that she had ended up suffering such grave injuries.

As Su Yu always wanted to keep a clear conscience and live nobly, this woman’s heavy injuries weighed heavy on his mind, as he now felt somewhat responsible for them. Hence, it was difficult for him to just ignore her and let her die!

However, he had no idea where he could he get ten thousand merit points. After all, he was also just a newcomer, so he wasn’t acquainted with even a single person here.

“Hehe, junior brother Su, are you fretting because you don’t have enough merit points?” At that moment, a shifty-eyed, hoodlum-like youth walked over to Su Yu.

Su Yu furrowed his brows and asked, “Do I know you?”

The hoodlum youth chuckled, then said, “Junior brother Su, you obviously don’t know me. But, who in the whole outer sanctum doesn’t know your prominent name?”

He then said, “Let me introduce myself... I’m Chen Zilong, but I’m known as Ruffian Long. I’m known in the outer sanctum for how kind and charitable I am. I specialize in helping people solve their problems. Junior brother, if you are short of merit points, I can help you.”

Su Yu’s eyes flickered as he asked, “Well... I need ten thousand merit points, so how can you help me?”

“I can lend you ten thousand merit points. But, any good person must be rewarded generously for their goodness, so when you repay me, it won’t be just ten thousand...” Ruffian Long said, while raising his brows.

Su Yu sneered. “If you want to set a high-interest rate for such a loan, just state so clearly. Why are you being this secretive? How much is the interest? Just say it.”

Su Yu could infer from this person’s tone that he would set a very high interest rate, and as it turned out, this really was the case.

Ruffian Long didn’t get angry after hearing Su Yu’s words, but just chuckled and said, “Junior brother, you are really a straightforward person! The interest rate is a monthly charge of thirty percent, which means that you will need to pay me three thousand merit points as interest each month until you return the full amount of the borrowed points to me.”

Su Yu looked at Ruffian Long and sneered coldly, then replied, “Thirty percent a month? Your heart is really too black!”

Su Yu then extended his finger and said firmly, “I’ll agree to ten percent a month. Moreover, you must help me find a person who is willing to sell me a Blood Bone Spirit Fusion Pill. These are my terms, and there is no room for discussion. Besides, you are surely not the only person who offers high-interest loans in the sanctum.”

Upon hearing this, Ruffian Long’s facial expression stiffened as he replied in a deep voice, “Junior brother, ten percent a month? I never set such a low rate! Moreover, you want me to find a pill seller for you too? Why do you feel like you are qualified to receive such special treatment?”

Su Yu replied calmly, “Because I took the number one position in the outer sanctum’s exam.”

If Su Yu was just some unknown, ordinary disciple, Ruffian Long surely wouldn’t be willing to lend him such a large number of merit points. Su Yu knew this, as all loan providers must always first consider whether the receiving party is capable of paying back the loan before they offer to provide it!

As Su Yu was a genius with boundless potential, who had once reached the 50th layer of the Carp Leaping Over Dragon Gate, he was valued greatly by the two Lesser Palace Masters. As such, everyone knew that his future achievements would surely be great. Hence, they also knew that they wouldn’t need to worry whether he or not he could pay back the loan.

Ruffian Long started hesitating, as Su Yu had clearly figured him out. Now, if he didn’t take his business, the other loan providers would surely snatch the opportunity to deal with Su Yu! Then, even though the interest rate would be lower, they could still get impressive returns.

After Ruffian Long was quiet for a while, he clenched his teeth and said, “Okay... It’s a deal then.”

Ruffian Long felt quite frustrated as he looked at Su Yu and added, “I have never once made such a deal. Junior brother, you are really skilled at negotiating!”

Su Yu replied calmly, “It isn’t that I’m skilled necessarily. I just don’t like to waste money!”

It was obvious that this man had wanted to rip him off, and so Su Yu had simply refused to be bamboozled. So, he had simply haggled over the price, which couldn’t really cause him to be considered as particularly skilled.

“Fine, let’s use a Heart Oath Scroll and strike a deal,” Ruffian Long said as he took out an ancient scroll.

Su Yu then proceeded to make a deal with him. Su Yu agreed to pay him ten percent each month until he returned his merit points to him.

“Okay, the oath is officially set now, and as for the Blood Bone Spirit Fusion Pill, I have it to sell to you, but its price is higher than the market’s by ten percent. So, that means that it will cost you eleven thousand for one pill,” Ruffian Long said.

He then added, “Also, the Elixir Hall probably doesn’t have a Blood Bone Spirit Fusion Pill for sale, so you must consider this carefully.”

Su Yu didn’t give even give it a second thought before he said, “Okay, then I will borrow another thousand merit points from you. But, since I have already borrowed this much, why don’t we make another deal?”

Ruffian Long’s eyes lit up as he said, “Okay, junior brother, state your terms.”

“I want two recipes of low-grade spirit elixirs, as well as ten batches of their ingredients. I will take them all from you, and you can convert their values into merit points. You may consider it another loan that I will be borrowing from you,” Su Yu said.

After all, he knew that his merit points would all be exhausted one day, so he knew that he must look for a way to gain them back. As he was lightly skilled in alchemy, he figured that he could make elixirs, sell them to the sanctum, and gain merit points this way.

Ruffian Long rolled his eyes. “Junior brother, are you capable of concocting elixirs?”

The people nearby were all startled when they heard this. After all, alchemists were quite rare, and one needed to first possess an innately powerful soul, then get an alchemist’s inheritance, as well as spend a great sum in order to practice alchemy!

The first of these criteria was manageable, but one could only come across the second and third ones by chance. As such, it was almost impossible for ordinary people to aspire to become alchemists!

Su Yu said calmly, “No, but I have a friend who is adept in alchemy.”

Ruffian Long was still skeptical. “Fine, I can strike this deal with you. I will go to look for elixir recipes, then come back to discuss the price with you.”

Su Yu nodded, and after he got a Blood Bone Spirit Fusion Pill, his body flickered as he left. After he left, many of the people commented on this situation...

“Isn’t this new junior brother Su a bit too confident, as he dared to take a loan from a local bully like Ruffian Long? The young are really fearless!”

“Junior brother Su probably plans to depend on the fact that he’s valued by the sanctum in order to go back on this loan. But, if that’s really the case, junior brother Su’s plan will surely fail.”

“That’s right, since loan providers like Ruffian Long can live safely in the sanctum, many elders, as well as even the Lesser Palace Master, would turn a blind eye to their activities. Isn’t that suspicious? It’s all because every one of them have a deep relationship with the inner sanctum, and there isn’t any outer sanctum’s disciple who would dare to not pay their debts.”

“Junior brother Su will surely have troubles in the future.”

Su Yu was clearer about this last statement than anyone. After all, he was a businessman in his past life, and he knew everything about commercial banks and the like.

Thus, he knew all about the hidden dangers of high-interest rate loans. Due to this fact, he knew that he must quickly pay such loans back. Otherwise, he would sink into a bottomless pit of debt!

After Su Yu went into the Law Enforcement Hall, he learned that the Shao family’s people had already come and carried away Shao Li. Su Yu chased after them immediately,and as he did so, he observed from a distance the two Shao family’s juniors, who had survived the past trial.

They were carrying Shao Li out of the sanctum. They weren’t heading toward the Shao family’s residence, but to the Fairy Confining Forest.

Although Shao Li was incapable of moving, she was still able to detect that something was amiss, so she asked, “Where are you taking me? I want to meet the Family Master.”

The two disciples didn’t respond, but just continued carrying her into the gloomy depths of the forest.

“Are you both conspiring to kill me?” Shao Li was frightened.

After all, there were still many remnant beings of the Beast Tide that were wandering around in the forest, and as her whole body was soaked with blood, she knew that this would attract them. Then, her fate would be to become one of their next meals! Just by imagining this matter, she trembled all over with fear.

“Conspiring to kill you? You overthink things too much! We are just obeying the Family Master’s order.” Pity appeared on one of the disciple’s faces as he said, “Sister Li’er, don’t blame us, as this is not our idea. Besides, you knew too much! And... As you are already this heavily injured, it would better to send you to the underworld than to waste a precious middle-grade elixir on you. In any case, you have already lost all of your value.”

He then added, “This was what the Family Master has said personally. Even though the Family Master wants us to kill you personally, since you once taught us in the past, we will just leave you to your fate.”

The other disciple then asked coldly, “Why are you wasting your breath on her? She’s just a lowly woman from a branch family, who only has a slightly good talent in cultivation, yet she still dreams about becoming a devoted member of the family! It’s really laughable! Let’s just leave.”

After they finished speaking, they both flew away, leaving Shao Li, who couldn’t move at all, laying there alone in the forest. Her eyes were moist and shone with great hatred.

She had done her utmost for the Shao family, listened to all of their orders, and carried them! She had even taken on a dangerous mission, triggering a Beast Tide, but in the end, after she was left heavily injured, they didn’t even help her, but just abandoned her and threw her away!