Having been given a second chance at life, I choose to join the Demonic Sect!

Actually, it's not really his fault that Gu Teng was behind on the news.

When he was captured by the Corpse Yin Sect, Cao Meng was indeed only at the Golden Core stage.

He'd been imprisoned by the Corpse Yin Sect for so long, how could he possibly know anything about Cao Meng's situation!
It was only on the way here that he learned from the disciples guarding them that they were going to be sold to the Hehuan Sect!

"Kid, the fight's already started. You have to buy it now. If you don't, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Blood Cloud Ancestor felt that Cao Meng's behavior was inappropriate. He hadn't paid yet, the transaction wasn't completed, and he was already hitting people!
If you're going to fight, you should at least pay up first!
Cao Meng paid little attention to the Blood Cloud Ancestor, instead focusing on using his divine sense to investigate Gu Teng and his group.

Although Cao Meng had only known the cunning old merchant, Blood Cloud Ancestor, for a short time, he had already figured out his personality.

That unscrupulous businessman only cares about money, not people!

Even if he killed Gu Teng in front of the other party, as long as he paid him, the old man would be happier than anyone else.

"Old man Blood Cloud, you name your price!"

Cao Meng felt there were no problems with the quality, and that he could use it immediately after purchasing it by feeding it the Soul-Devouring Gu.

"There are four Nascent Soul stage cultivators and twenty half-step Nascent Soul stage cultivators here!"

"The ancient vine costs 500 million low-grade spirit stones, the other three Nascent Soul stage cultivators cost 300 million low-grade spirit stones, and the twenty half-step Nascent Soul stage cultivators will cost you 200 million low-grade spirit stones!"

"The total price is one billion low-grade spirit stones, so I'll give you one million Immortal Inquiry Machines!"

When Old Man Xueyun saw that Cao Meng was asking him to make a price, he didn't hold back and offered a price of one million Wenxianji machines.

"Old man Blood Cloud, why don't you cut yourself first!"

When Blood Cloud Ancestor quoted an exorbitant price, Cao Meng didn't even bother to draw his Dragon-Slaying Saber and simply let the other party cut himself with it.

"Kid, all those Nascent Soul elders, Golden Core deacons, and other disciples from the Xuan Tian Sect outside are yours for free!"

Originally, Blood Cloud Ancestor intended to sell the other members of the Xuan Tian Sect to Cao Meng.

However, given the current situation, the only option is to give away those worthless goods to Cao Meng as a favor.

"Two hundred million low-grade spirit stones, which is equivalent to two hundred thousand Immortal Inquiry Machines!"

Cao Meng drew his Dragon-Slaying Saber, and this round of bargaining hit right where it hurt!

"Hey kid, is this how you bargain?"

Blood Cloud Ancestor felt that Cao Meng had gone too far; this wasn't bargaining at all, it was just arbitrarily quoting prices!

"Old man Blood Cloud, back in the Sword Debate Tournament, my master captured the Cold Light Sword Master of the Sword Inquiry Sect and sold him to the Dry Bone Daoist for just over 30 million low-grade spirit stones!"

Cao Meng gave this example, and then asked in return:
"Gu Teng and Han Guang are in the same league, why are you offering such an exorbitant price?"

Since Blood Cloud Ancestor had increased the price of Valley Vine by more than ten times, Cao Meng naturally wouldn't tolerate it.

Whoever wants to be the victim of this injustice, let them be!

"Dry bones, you've ruined my grand plan!"

Blood Cloud Ancestor cursed the entire family of Dry Bone Daoist in his heart. If it weren't for that old man's mess, he would have been able to get away with this wave of 1 billion low-grade spirit stones.

"Kid, after these people were captured, my Corpse Yin Sect treated them to good food and drink for so long, it cost nothing!"

The words of Blood Cloud Ancestor are actually a complete distortion of the facts.

After Gu Teng and his group were captured, they made a ruckus every day, and the people of the Corpse Yin Sect did treat them well.

However, the people of the Corpse Yin Sect used sticks, whips, and various instruments of torture to deal with Gu Teng and his group, which made them behave.

"Old man Xueyun, just let their cultivation level be locked up anywhere. They won't die even if they don't eat or drink for a hundred years!"
As for what you said about treating them well, what does that have to do with me!

Cao Meng didn't buy into Blood Cloud Ancestor's act at all, and there were some things he was too lazy to expose.

"Kid, you know I didn't arrest these people. I went to great lengths to get them transferred from other branches!"

Seeing that Cao Meng wasn't buying it, the Blood Cloud Ancestor started talking again.

"Old man Xueyun, you contact the head of that branch. I'll talk to him personally. I reckon we can save on middlemen fees!"

Cao Meng dared to say that Blood Cloud Ancestor definitely made a profit from the middleman's fee, and quite a lot of it.

If I didn't not know who in the Corpse Yin Sect was holding the Valley Vine, I wouldn't have let Blood Cloud Ancestor, the middleman, make the difference!

"Young man, what are you saying? Given our friendship, how could I possibly earn a commission from you?"

Blood Cloud Ancestor would naturally not admit to any middleman fees, since this was money he earned through his own efforts!

However, Blood Cloud Ancestor also felt that Cao Meng had gone too far, actually trying to kick him out of the way and pocket the middleman's fee.

"Old man Blood Cloud, buy all of them with 300,000 Immortal Inquiry Machines!"

Cao Meng also increased the supply by 100,000 units of the Wenxianji, which can be considered as giving the other party face.

As for the offer of one million Wenxian machines, that's impossible!
"Kid, 300,000 Immortal Inquiry Machines only cost 300 million low-grade spirit stones."

Although Cao Meng's price increased, Blood Cloud Ancestor was still very dissatisfied with the offer.

The old man with the blood cloud then turned his gaze to Gu Teng and asked again:

"Is your Xuantian Sect willing to pay four hundred million low-grade spirit stones to ransom you?"

The Blood Cloud Ancestor believed that Cao Meng dared to bargain so ruthlessly because he had no competitors, and thus thought he had him cornered, which made him arrogant!
Since that's the case, Blood Cloud Ancestor wouldn't mind if Cao Meng had another competitor, and Gu Teng, the person involved, would be a good fit!
Upon hearing that there was a chance to save himself, Gu Teng was overjoyed and quickly said:

"Senior, if you are willing to release us, my Xuantian Sect will soon deliver four hundred million low-grade spirit stones to you!"

Four hundred million low-grade spirit stones were not a lot to Gu Teng.

If his storage ring hadn't been taken by the Corpse Yin Sect long ago, he could have easily come up with 400 million low-grade spirit stones on his own.

As long as Blood Cloud Ancestor is willing to release his group, he will immediately contact someone to send the ransom.

"Kid, did you hear that?"

Blood Cloud Ancestor nodded with satisfaction upon receiving Gu Teng's reply.

He then turned his gaze to Cao Meng and said with a half-smile:
"Four hundred million low-grade spirit stones can buy four hundred thousand Immortal Inquiry Machines."

"Kid, tell me, do you want 300,000 Immortal Inquiry Machines, or 400 million low-grade spirit stones that can buy 400,000 Immortal Inquiry Machines?"

Blood Cloud Ancestor thought Cao Meng had better be sensible, since there were now other bidders.

"Old man Blood Cloud, how about I offer 400,000 Immortal Inquiry Machines too?"

Cao Meng said irritably, knowing that Blood Cloud Ancestor was forcing him.

He really didn't expect that Blood Cloud Ancestor would pull this trick on him.

Although Gu Teng didn't know what the Immortal Inquiry Machine was, he could tell that one Immortal Inquiry Machine was worth a thousand low-grade spirit stones.

"Senior, I'll offer six hundred million low-grade spirit stones!"

Gu Teng knew that if he fell into the hands of his mortal enemy, the Hehuan Sect, he would suffer a fate worse than death, so he raised the price to redeem himself!

Cao Meng was displeased to see that Gu Teng had raised the price by two hundred million low-grade spirit stones, and angrily said:

Cao Meng was very dissatisfied with Gu Teng's malicious bidding and immediately rebuked him angrily: "Gu Teng, you old dog, do you even have 600 million low-grade spirit stones on you? You're just making random bids here!"

If it weren't for the special circumstances, Cao Meng would have slapped this old dog who maliciously raised prices to death!

And that old man with the blood cloud too, who allows hostages to redeem themselves?

"Little devil, although I don't have 600 million low-grade spirit stones on me, my Xuantian Sect has plenty of spirit stones!"

Gu Teng gave Cao Meng a tough rebuke. Now that he had finally seen a glimmer of hope, he naturally wanted to seize it with all his might.

"You old dog Gu Teng, those are spirit stones from the Xuan Tian Sect, not yours!"

Cao Meng was speechless. It was sect property, not personal property.

Xuantian Sect doesn't belong to Gu Teng alone. It's not that easy for Gu Teng to move the sect's assets.

Moreover, Gu Teng is only a peak master, and there are many people above him. It is basically impossible for him to establish a one-man rule!

"Old dog Gu Teng, if you lot were truly valuable, the Xuan Tian Sect would have redeemed you long ago. Why would you still be here?"

Cao Meng felt that the value of the valley vine was limited and not that high, perhaps not worth 600 million low-grade spirit stones.

After all, with the Xuantian Sect's financial resources, a mere 600 million low-grade spirit stones is just a drop in the ocean.

Gu Teng and the others were truly valuable; they were redeemed by the Xuan Tian Sect long ago and returned to the sect.

“Little devil, I am one of the nine peak masters of the Xuantian Sect. My value is beyond your imagination.”

Gu Teng is quite confident in his own worth.

You must know that he is the current peak master of the Great Abyss lineage, one of the nine main branches of the Xuantian Sect, and he also has people behind him.

They are not comparable to ordinary people at all. As long as the Corpse Yin Sect is willing to pay a price, the Xuan Tian Sect will definitely redeem them.

"You old dog, Gu Teng, who gave you permission to put on airs in front of me!"

Cao Meng roared and slapped Gu Teng, his former senior brother, across the distance.

Damn it, I'm still here, and you're a prisoner of war, still packing up goods waiting to be priced? You're asking for a beating!
"Kid, that's going too far! You haven't bought it yet, so it's not yours yet. Why are you always hitting me!"

Blood Cloud Ancestor only verbally reprimanded Cao Meng a few times.

"Cao Meng, do you think the reason these people weren't redeemed by the Xuantian Sect is because they're worthless?"

Knowing Cao Meng's doubts, the Blood Cloud Ancestor spoke them directly!

"No no no!!"

The Blood Cloud Ancestor denied Cao Meng's conjecture and then said:
"Young man, let me be frank with you. This group of people is worth ten bodies of Void Refinement cultivators, or perhaps one hundred and fifty bodies of Nascent Soul cultivators!"

This price was the one that the Corpse Yin Sect offered to the Xuan Tian Sect. The fact that the Corpse Yin Sect dared to offer this price means that Gu Teng and his group are worth it!
Blood Cloud Ancestor then reminded Cao Meng again, saying:

"Kid, it's precisely because our Corpse Yin Sect doesn't want spirit stones, but rather cultivators' physical bodies, that the Xuan Tian Sect hasn't been able to gather them so quickly!"

"If we were to tell the Xuantian Sect that the ransom is low-grade spirit stones!"
Let alone one billion low-grade spirit stones, even two billion low-grade spirit stones would not be something they would agree to without hesitation!

"And I can guarantee that the Xuantian Sect will definitely deliver two billion low-grade spirit stones within two hours!"

Because the Corpse Yin Sect has no shortage of spirit stones, and only needs cultivators' physical bodies, this is why Gu Teng and the others were not redeemed by the Xuan Tian Sect!
Of course, there is another important factor, namely that Xuantian Sect is a top-tier righteous sect, and it is inconvenient to destroy the physical bodies of cultivators due to the sect's reputation.

If it were a top-tier demonic sect, acquiring the physical bodies of 150 Nascent Soul cultivators would be relatively easy.

Slaughtering some top-tier forces with Nascent Soul cultivators, digging up their ancestral graves, and getting 150 Nascent Soul cultivator bodies is a piece of cake!

"Cao Meng, one million Immortal Inquiry Machines are not worth two billion low-grade spirit stones."

"I'm only asking you for a million units of the Immortal-Asking Machine, all because of our friendship!"

After Xueyun explained the value of Gu Teng and his gang, he began to enlighten and advise Cao Meng.

Accept the price of one million for a fortune-telling session, and everyone's happy!

"hehe!"

Cao Meng sneered, thinking, "Does he really think I'm a three-year-old child, so easily fooled?"

"Old man Blood Cloud, is one million Immortal Inquiry Machines really worthless, even if they are worth two billion low-grade spirit stones?"

Cao Meng questioned the Blood Cloud Ancestor, though he dared to ask such a question because he knew what he was doing!

"Cao Meng, your Inquiry Machine costs 1,000 low-grade spirit stones to operate within the sect, and 1,300 low-grade spirit stones to operate outside the sect!"
Even if we calculate it at 1,300 per unit, one million Immortal Inquiry Machines would only cost 1.3 billion low-grade spirit stones. How could that possibly compare to 2 billion low-grade spirit stones!

Blood Cloud Ancestor lied without batting an eye, trying to fool Cao Meng and make him quit while he was ahead!
"Snapped!"

Cao Meng slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

Cao Meng's arrangement of the table disturbed the five women who were eating.

Ganfanhu Hongqi gave Cao Meng a resentful glance, her eyes seeming to say:

Cao Cao, what are you doing slamming the table for no reason? You've scared this princess and are ruining my meal.

"Pink fox, keep eating!"

After dismissing Hong Qi, Cao Meng stared at the Blood Cloud Ancestor and shouted:

"Old man Blood Cloud, do you really think I don't know that your Corpse Yin Sect sold my Immortal Inquiry Machine to the other four continents!"

Through his absolute authority over the Inquiry Machine, Cao Meng sensed that a batch of Inquiry Machines had left the Eastern Dao Continent and scattered to the other four regions, and there were quite a few of them!
Cao Meng was aware of the number of "Asking the Immortals" opportunities he had released.

The current production of the Immortal Machine is not even enough to fully meet the internal supply of the Hehuan Sect.

Apart from those used to settle debts and those sold to the Corpse Yin Sect, only a very small portion ended up in the hands of other top-tier sects.

In addition, the passages between the Eastern Region Dao Continent and other continents are suspected to have been blocked by the Corpse Yin Sect.

Therefore, it is highly likely that the Immortal Inquiry Machines scattered in the other four regions were made by the Corpse Yin Sect.

"Boy, that's right, some of the Immortal Inquiry Secrets were indeed sold by my Corpse Yin Sect to other regions such as the Southern Barbarian Continent, the Western Buddhist Continent, the Northern Dark Continent, and the Central Holy Continent!"

Although Blood Cloud Ancestor didn't know how Cao Meng knew about this matter, now that it had been exposed, he had no choice but to admit it.

"However, kid, our Corpse Yin Sect sold the Immortal Inquiry Machine to the other four regions for your own good. We don't want to compete with your Eastern Region Dao Continent for business, do we?"

“Our Corpse Yin Sect is giving you the market in the Eastern Region Daozhou, kid. You earn spirit stones from the Eastern Region Daozhou, and our Corpse Yin Sect earns spirit stones from the other four regions. Isn’t that great!”

As expected of an old scoundrel who has cultivated for over a thousand years, Blood Cloud Ancestor directly turned black into white.

They're the ones making the profit from the price difference, yet they're making it sound like Cao Meng is being unreasonable.

"Old man Blood Cloud, although I don't know the price you sell the Immortal Inquiry Machine for in the other four continents, my intuition tells us that you sell it for at least three times the price!"

"Your Corpse Yin Sect's middleman earns more than I, the creator of the Immortal Inquiry Technique!"

Cao Meng had extracted a lot of information from Hong Qi, and roughly knew the situation of the other four continents.

The other four continents are much richer than the Eastern Continent, and have far more high-level cultivators and demonic beasts!

Based on this intelligence, coupled with the fact that the Corpse Yin Sect sold the Immortal Inquiry Machine to the other four continents, Cao Meng was certain that the Corpse Yin Sect, as a middleman, had made at least several times the profit! (End of Chapter)