Chapter Twenty-Four: Frenzied Harvest of Negative Emotions

First, a cultivator at the Meridian Unblocking stage suddenly appeared. The city lord had even left a warning, nearly scaring him out of his wits; his heart pounded so violently it almost leapt from his chest. Fortunately, the head of the Lin family was reasonable—he simply made a point and let it go, even gifting him a generous amount of silver notes. He decided then and there to cultivate a good relationship with the Lin family and look after them in the future.

But hardly had the silver notes fallen into his hands when another young master of the Lin family appeared—supposedly a close friend of his own young lord. Yet his young lord had only been in Xiao North City for eight or nine days; how could he have made such a friend so quickly? He knew all of his young lord’s previous friends; each came from a powerful family. He wouldn’t dare offend any of them even if he had ten times his current courage!

At this moment, Wei Da was nearly on the verge of tears.

The reason he’d been able to become the Deputy Commander of the Xiao North City Security Battalion was precisely because he had long been responsible for his young lord’s safety back home, and could speak for him. Half a month ago, he had contributed a purple-gold ginseng worth a hundred thousand taels. It so pleased the young lord that, upon coming to Xiao North City, he brought Wei Da along and gave him this official post.

Thus, as the one long responsible for his young lord’s protection, he knew all his friends—each one a person of note—but there was no such young master from the Lin family among them!

Moreover, his young lord was extremely discerning in his friendships: he wouldn’t befriend those lacking in talent, those whose cultivation was weak, those with poor character, or those not of a similar age. How could he, in just eight or nine days, have become fast friends with the Lin family’s young master?

“Negative emotion value from Wei Da, +666!”

Elsewhere, in a corner of Xiao North City, a flash of negative emotion registered in Lin Fan’s Ascension System, though Lin Fan himself had no idea. He was too busy farming negative emotion points…

At this moment, Wei Da’s heart brimmed with resentment. He wondered if he had failed to consult the almanac before leaving home today—was this a day destined for misfortune?

“Not enough—!”

Seeing the silver notes Wei Da had just produced, Xiao Shuihan’s anger flared even higher. “Wei Da, didn’t you say you’d prepared a lavish gift for the Lin family? You said it would be no less than two hundred thousand taels of silver. And yet, now there’s scarcely over twenty thousand?!”

Just as he suspected, Wei Da had come to Lin Fan’s home looking for a payoff. Xiao Shuihan had a good sense of Wei Da’s net worth, since Wei Da had always been his bodyguard; if it were a mere ten or twenty thousand taels, Wei Da could scrape it up, but that would be his entire fortune. Why would he carry all his wealth on him? These silver notes must have been squeezed out of the Lin family!

Their brotherhood had nearly been ruined over these paltry twenty thousand taels, after they’d pooled together nine hundred thousand taels to buy a ceremonial blade as a token of their bond! If not for Uncle Lin and the others present—and for the fact that Wei Da, as Deputy Commander, now commanded considerable military power in Xiao North City—Xiao Shuihan would have kicked him out long ago.

“Young lord, I…!”

At Xiao Shuihan’s renewed outburst, Wei Da trembled all over, nearly collapsing to the floor. No one knew his true worth better than his own young lord; to demand two hundred thousand taels outright—where was he supposed to get that? Perhaps there had been hope before, but he’d spent all he had on that purple-gold ginseng for his young lord. That was why he was so desperate for money now.

Now, the young lord was truly furious, pushing him to the brink. Still, it was better to be forced than not; if he weren’t, he might well lose his head…

He couldn’t understand it—sure, he’d taken the Lin family’s money and embarrassed his young lord, but was that really enough to provoke such wrath?

Seeing Wei Da’s aggrieved expression, Xiao Shuihan finally sighed. “I heard that a few days ago, fifty kilometers west of Xiao North City, the Hong family discovered a rich iron ore deposit—worth at least two hundred thousand taels of silver.”

“But it sits within the den of the Snow Wolves—over a hundred of them. Nearly half are already at the second tier, with several third-tier wolf guards, and a Snow Wolf King. That’s why the Hong family hasn’t dared act rashly…”

He let his words trail off, trusting that Wei Da would understand. If he truly didn’t, then he would only have himself to blame. Wei Da had been with him for years; as angry as he was, Xiao Shuihan didn’t really want to drive him to death, so he gave him a hint.

“Yes, I’ll go clear out the wolf’s den and present that iron mine to the Lin family as a gift!”

Wei Da’s eyes lit up at the words, and he bowed deeply in assent. Snow Wolves were fierce beasts—most at the Body Tempering stage, second-tier ones equivalent to the Qi Gathering stage, third-tier like the Qi Meridian stage, and the Wolf King itself was probably at the late Qi Meridian stage.

Now the young lord had given him a way out: if he could secure the mine for the Lin family, the matter would be settled. The venture was dangerous, but not overly so: as Deputy Commander, he himself was at the late Qi Meridian stage, with several captains at the same level, dozens of squad leaders at the Qi Gathering stage, and three thousand Body Tempering troops.

Most importantly, unlike the family retainers, they were an army—armed with the finest crossbows and weapons, and their numbers far surpassed those of any clan. After a volley of powerful arrows, who knew how many Snow Wolves would remain?

Of course, for safety, he would ask the other Deputy Commander for help. After all, the Wolf King was a late Qi Meridian beast—if he was careless, it could cost him dearly!

Having spoken, Wei Da saluted Xiao Fei, cupped his fists to Lin Xiong, and quickly withdrew from the Lin family’s council hall.

...

In the northern part of Xiao North City, a group of thirty or so beggars had surrounded a delicate, white-robed youth.

This youth raised a single tael of silver and addressed the beggars: “Do you all want this tael of silver?”

“We do!”

The beggars chorused as one, their eyes glued to the silver, longing to snatch it. If not for two who had already tried—and were now sprawled on the ground after a beating—they would have rushed forward.

“You can’t have it!”

Before the echoes of their answer had faded, the youth refused without the slightest hesitation.

Wang Bing: “???”

Lu Bin: “???”

Ma Yueyue: “???”

Hong...

“Negative emotion value from Wang Bing, +211!”

“Negative emotion value from Lu Bin, +178!”

“Negative emotion value from Ma Yueyue, +198!”

“From...”

The youth’s eyes sparkled as he watched lines of system notifications flashing in his mind, recording the flood of negative emotion values. This single act had netted him over five thousand points, making him laugh inwardly in delight.

This youth was none other than Lin Fan.

Seven days prior, he had wiped out the three major clans and killed more than thirty people, earning a staggering sixty thousand negative emotion points from the dead. He had exchanged them all for Body Tempering Fruits, but that only added six threads to his vital energy!

With three months left before the Tianshu Academy opened, he had decided to spend one month madly farming negative emotion points, then consume all the Body Tempering Fruits at once to make a great leap in cultivation. The following two months would be split between tempering himself and then heading to the academy.

That was why he now found himself in this situation.

The beggars, seeing how decisively Lin Fan refused them, were filled with resentment. They contributed another wave of negative emotion points and began to disperse.

“Wait! I really do want to help you—I was only joking just now!”

Seeing the beggars about to leave, Lin Fan quickly called after them. He truly meant to help them, but he wanted to harvest some negative emotion points in the process.

An older beggar asked, “You really will give it to us?” The hope rekindled in the beggars’ eyes.

“Nope!”

Lin Fan bared his pearly white teeth and replied crisply, with a tone as clear as a bell.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The beggars, whose faces had just brightened with hope, now felt as if a thousand arrows had pierced their hearts; their faces darkened in an instant.

Especially the old beggar who had spoken—his face was as black as burnt corn, utterly charred.

Who did this brat think he was fooling?

Beggars have their pride, you know!

“Negative emotion value from Zhang Shushen, +248!”

“Negative emotion value from Wang Bing, +233!”

“Negative emotion value from Granny Jiang, +212!”

“From...”

The system’s notifications flooded the screen again—another massive surge of negative emotion points, this time totaling over seven thousand.