A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Rogue Cultivator

The two were a little confused, and Wang Li was even more confused.

Damn, this is awkward.

On the other hand, those two are really awful, using their teammates as cannon fodder to probe for danger.

Now they're even stealing his peaches!

Chapter 37 IOU

"Gentlemen, no matter what, I was the one who lured the Heavenly Bullfrog away, so this Jade Marrow Mushroom should belong to me."

Deep down, she already knew it was hopeless, but she still insisted on saying it.

Wang clearly wanted to get a "good price".

"Wang Li, right?"

This disrespectful tone made the person with higher cultivation feel very uncomfortable, but he still politely clasped his hands in greeting: "I am indeed the humble one."

"Then you should know both of us, right?"

The two of them were all grinning.

"Wang Xiao, Xue Pan, and Uncle Chen asked us to look after each other."

Wang Li's eyes flickered, and he frowned slightly.

"That's right. Fourth Uncle has already asked you to take good care of us, so it's only right that you give us these two Jade Marrow Mushrooms, isn't it? More than two years ago, you gave up the Foundation Establishment Pill from the Ascension Token to help my cousin successfully establish his foundation, which was quite good. Now, you're just giving up two spiritual herbs to help my brother and me. I think Brother Wang won't be stingy, will he?"

As Xue Pan spoke, he moved closer to Wang Li, intending to pat him on the shoulder as encouragement.

I don't know if this guy is really stupid or pretending to be stupid, but he is so unscrupulous in making fun of a senior brother whose cultivation level is one level higher than his.

"Give it to you?"

Wang Li's eyelids twitched twice, and at the same time, he subtly shifted his body to the side, skillfully dodging a hand that was about to pat his shoulder. This caused Xue Pan's smile to freeze as his right hand missed its target. It also made Wang Xiao's grinning face stiffen.

In that brief moment of probing, both sides had already gotten a sense of each other's intentions.

"Hmph, you two are joking. This is a forbidden area. We came here to fight for that Foundation Establishment Pill, didn't we?"

Originally, Wang Li was indeed willing to give in, or rather, "sell at a low price" to maintain a low profile. But after these two interfered, he suddenly changed his mind and no longer wanted to offer a discount.

"I think you two should be very clear about what the Foundation Establishment Pill means; it's no exaggeration to say it determines a person's entire path to enlightenment..."

The two looked at each other in bewilderment.

The next words and actions of the person in front of them made their eyelids twitch and their faces gradually turn ugly.

What did Wang Li say and do?

"Taking my Foundation Establishment Pill is tantamount to cutting off my path to cultivation, and is like killing my parents!"

As he spoke, his hand was already on the storage bag at his waist, and the power fluctuations of the thirteenth level of Qi Refining suddenly spread out from his body without restraint, as if he were ready to fight at any moment.

"Brother Wang, you're exaggerating!"

Is this guy a hothead?

The two of them felt as if they had swallowed a fly.

From their perspective: regardless of their respective status, the disadvantage of being outnumbered two to one and in terms of magical equipment, and the necessity of maintaining good relations with them out of courtesy, the young man in front of them should not have been so stubborn.

But now, they're really in a difficult situation.

"These two Jade Marrow Fungus are the main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills!"

Wang Li refused to budge an inch.

If it weren't for the fact that the two might still bear the divine imprint of Ancestor Chen, the strong support Ancestor Chen and Uncle Chen had given them in terms of magical artifacts and talismans, and the special care the Chen family had given him after he entered the valley...

If it weren't for these various factors, he would have loved to unleash a full round of Five Fireballs to defeat them.

"Boy, are you going to disobey the wishes of your sect elders?"

Why would you spit out a piece of fat meat that's already in your mouth?

Therefore, the two annoyed individuals also reached for their respective storage bags.

"Gentlemen, there's a puddle in the corner..."

What do you mean?

It would be best to take a picture first:

"I only promised Uncle Chen to keep an eye out for a few special spiritual herbs for him, but I didn't say I would give up the opportunity that should have been mine! On the contrary, you two are always representing the uncles and senior masters of my Yellow Maple Valley. Is that really okay?"

Wang Li's question, delivered with a smirk, left the two of them feeling a tightness in their chests.

Just as the latter was about to explode, the former suddenly changed the subject, his tone shifting from gloomy to cheerful:

"However, I can accept exchanging something. Magical artifacts, spirit stones, pills, talismans, and so on—anything useful to me can be used as a bargaining chip."

After these words were spoken, the atmosphere between the two sides, which had been tense for a while, became strangely awkward.

This person is doing the opposite: first escalating the conflict, then offering a way out.

The results seem pretty good.

"But we have nothing extra to exchange with you."

After exchanging a glance, Wang Xiao and Xue Pan explained it this way.

The two were clearly interested.

However, these things are also very important to them within the forbidden area, and they would never intentionally weaken themselves at this moment. Otherwise, that would be too foolish.

"No?"

Wang Li's expression turned cold again.

"No, it's not that we don't want to change, it's just that we're short of money."

Neither of them wanted to get into a fight with the guy on the other side, but they also didn't want to give up their own interests and resources.

"Then, shall I write an IOU?"

Wang Li stroked his chin and muttered to himself, bringing up the topic, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately shook his head and rejected the proposal:

"No, no, what if you deny the debt after we leave, with an IOU or anything like that?"

He shook his head, pondering to himself.

Upon hearing this murmur, Xue and Wang's eyes lit up.

Should I write an IOU?

Great idea!

"Brother Wang, I think this is a good idea. After we get out, my brother and I will definitely make up for the debt on the IOU as soon as possible. What do you think? You know we are both from the Chen family, and we have that much credit. You can rest assured!"

Once they leave and establish their foundations, the so-called IOU will become nothing but a piece of waste paper.

And even if he's unlucky and fails to establish his foundation, as long as this guy surnamed Wang in front of him also fails to establish his foundation, hehe, can this guy go to the Chen family to demand an explanation?

The spiritual herbs within the forbidden area were already scarce. Their acquisition of these two meant the other side had lost two. With one gaining and the other losing, they would likely find it difficult to gather enough herbs to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Without the Foundation Establishment Pill, there is no hope of establishing a foundation.

Furthermore, if this kid were to venture into dangerous areas to collect spiritual herbs and were to perish in a forbidden zone due to bad luck, then all his creditors would be gone, and what good would an IOU be?

"Don't try to fool me, you two!"

Wang Li looked very serious.

"Brother Wang, rest assured, my brother and I always keep our word."

A potential conflict was thus averted. What followed was the bargaining process between the two sides.

In the end, both sides got what they needed, and everyone was happy and harmonious.

As for the Huangfeng Valley disciple surnamed Zhang, he lay quietly to one side, with a storage bag conspicuously placed on his corpse.

"By the way, Junior Brother Wang, Junior Brother Xue, how should we divide Junior Brother Zhang's storage bag?"

Wang Li asked with a smile.

Judging seniority by cultivation level is definitely correct, even if he is younger and started learning later.

Ironically, when he entered the cave, he didn't see such a storage bag on the corpse.

The deeper meaning behind this is worth pondering.

However, even knowing it might be a trap, and even knowing that it wasn't a trap but rather that the two of them had already divided the spoils before him and taken all the good stuff, Wang Li still pretended not to know and adopted the good attitude of "everyone gets a share and I will never eat it all myself".

"Ahem, Brother Wang, now that my brother and I have obtained the spiritual medicine, we won't compete with you for Junior Brother Zhang's storage bag. Whatever's inside is yours. You know, we haven't even had a chance to check the storage bag yet. You've really struck gold this time."

"really?"

"It's true."

Haha, I don't believe you for a second.

"Thank you both for your kindness, then I won't stand on ceremony."

He had a beaming smile on his face.

"Alright, Brother Wang, now that this matter is settled, my brother and I must go and work on Uncle's elixir. Farewell."

"Please take care, you two."

After bowing with clasped hands, he immediately started rubbing his hands together excitedly, his eyes constantly darting to the storage bag on the ground.

"Ha, what a poor fellow."

When Wang Xiao and Xue Pan reached the entrance of the grotto, they turned around and saw this scene. They looked at each other and the same thought popped into their minds at the same time.

Wang Li, though lacking mind-reading abilities, noticed many details because his divine sense never left the two of them:

“Family offspring, pshaw.”

His smile was always full and genuine, but there was a chilling coldness hidden deep in the corner of his eyes.

Although he didn't fall out with the two of them this time, a thorn had already been deeply planted in his heart.

"Those from immortal cultivation families are ultimately different from a helpless drifter like me. Whether it's Ancestor Chen or Uncle Chen, they are no different. It's just that I have temporary value to be used or to be won over."