Chapter 6: Contribution Pavilion

"Who permits you to collect payment from your fellow miners?" Hu Lingfei, one of Jiang Sheng's group of five, asked.

Like Jiang Sheng and the others, Hu Lingfei was also one of the recently ascended cultivators from the same Ascension Mountain. He was the tallest in Jiang Sheng's group of five and famed in his world for his peak attainment in Body Tempering Art.

This explains why his temper was the shortest out of the five. After all, a martial practitioner's head, like Hu Lingfei, operates with instinct and guts.

But at the same time, he was also the warmest out of the bunch, being the first to willingly share what he had or knew without asking for anything in return.

Perhaps that was one of the reasons he was part of Jiang Sheng's group.

"Who permits us? My fist says so." the leader of the trio said. But his words don't end here.

"I suggest you consider our offer before you lot decided to do anything. We can accompany you to a fight anytime if you're unwilling to drink a toast but a forfeit instead. But if that happens, we will not take one, but all the Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals found on your body." the leader added.

It is puzzling to Jiang Sheng and the group to witness the trio's confidence.

At the same time, his two mates quickly step forward at the end of his sentence to exert additional pressure on his words. Looking ready to pounce at Jiang Sheng and the rest of his members at any time, the action causes the atmosphere on both sides to tense up.

The heated dispute between them was apparent from how clearly the Spirit Qi fluctuated around them. The passersby don't even need to have a specific eye technique to sense the changes happening in the surrounding Immortal Qi.

"Boss, leave these two newcomers to me. I'll make sure to teach them the importance of listening to their seniors when they're told politely." said one of the two lackeys. He was staring fiercely at Jiang Sheng and another scholar-like member of Jiang Sheng's.

The member was Yi Xuanming, an ascended like Jiang Sheng and Hu Lingfei. Appearing like a suave young master with likable mannerisms, this member had a disposition and attitude like a scholar. Was it not for the white eyebrows that betrayed his age, many would assume he was simply a youth in his prime and not an ancestor-stage expert over seven thousand years old.

"In that case, I'll take on these two," the second lackey also joined the conversation and stared at the two remaining members of Jiang Sheng's group. "Boss, teach that muscle-thing what it means to be obedient towards your senior," he added.

With everyone now deciding who to go for, all that was left in between was a brawl. But the leader of the trio felt there's still a space for negotiation.

"This is your last chance to decide. Are you going to pay, or are we going to fight?" the leader asked. This time, his attention falls on Jiang Sheng because he appears calmer than Hu Lingfei.

The question made Jiang Sheng turn to his group members for their opinion.

It took them several minutes of whispering to one another before they eventually agreed to pay the crossing fee. Although Jiang Sheng's group felt they might not lose terribly if they got into a fight, that was not the main part of their concern.

The point is, would losing one Immortal Spirit Qi Crystal per person outdo its profit?

Even if they were to get into a fight and then evenly matched, everything would be pointless if the injury or aftermath delayed their progress for the next few days.

After all, losing is also winning.

"We'll pay," Jiang Sheng answered the leader's question and produced an Immortal Spirit Qi Crystal. The rest of his group members also followed and paid for their part before walking past the trio.

With the payment made, there's naturally no reason to keep Jiang Sheng and the member's group any longer. But this does not mean they would thank Jiang Sheng's group for their "generosity."

After half a mile of walking, Hu Lingfei was finally unable to withhold the anger inside him and decided to vent it out on the spot. The wall of uneven rocks left by a fellow miner in the past becomes the victim of his wrath as the body-tempering cultivator bombards the wall with his bare fists.

Stone grains were blown off left and right, forming a dust cloud.

"I'm so angry. There are five of us, and only three of them. Why should we be the ones to tolerate them instead?" Hu Lingfei asked. He could not deduct the reason to show weakness and not their overbearingness.

As a body-tempering cultivator, brute approach, frontal assault, and competition in physical strength is always Hu Lingfei's option. This method naturally brings him many conveniences as well as challenges.

If a fight ensued, Hu Lingfei might not win. Still, he wouldn't lose that terribly either unless the opponent was a difficult iron wall, for example, as strong as the High Heaven Sect's disciple who came to pick them up.

This was his source of confidence for disrespecting the trio.

"We might have more people, but that's not the point. Don't you realize that more than three people might be on their side?" another group member responded instantly to Hu Lingfei's statement. His interruption even got Jiang Sheng to keep his words on hold.

This member, called Pang Tong, was the third addition to Jiang Sheng's group of five. He had a regular, hardly eye-catching appearance of a scholar swordsman. He had the least presence out of them while dressed in a casual black robe from head to toe.

Was it not because Hu Lingfei's action was too eye-catching, he could be maintaining his silence all the way until they arrived at the Contribution Pavilion.

Surprisingly, Pang Tong had this intense gaze capable of transmitting what he was thinking from a glance. It was also thanks to him that Jiang Sheng was able to calmly decide their course of action earlier.

"Re - Really?" Hu Lingfei stuttered. If the other party indeed had more members lurking nearby, that would really spell trouble to his course of action.

"No. I sensed nobody near us at that time," Pang Tong replied unexpectedly. The answer was somewhat puzzling as it differed from what they expected.

"Ah... I understand." Yi Xuanming joined the conversation and folded the paper fan in his hand. "Brother Pang Tong's answer was both yes and no." this suave group member continued.

"Those who drink a toast and pay their due will sail smoother than those who don't. This was the keyword hidden in their message. No wonder they still dare to approach our group of five members even with only three people." Yi Xuanming said.

"Correct," both Jiang Sheng and Pang Tong responded to Yi Xuanming's assumption.

"Their arrival wasn't a coincidence but a setup by someone. If I am not mistaken, the person who arranged this already knows how many Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals we had. He simply wanted to see if we're willing to part with a few to buy ourselves a safe trip to the Contribution Pavilion." said Jiang Sheng.

"But this is not a small mining vein... How can they make sure that we'll meet them on this route?" the fourth and last addition to Jiang Sheng's team finally spoke.

He's Mang She, an ascended like the rest. But different from Jiang Sheng, Hu Lingfei, Yi Xuanming, and Pang Tong, Mang She is a Spiritual Beast that transformed into a human form.

Not only did he preserve the physique of a Spiritual Beast, but he also obtained the opportunity to cultivate both human and Spiritual Beast's techniques. But he can be said to be a little slow regarding mentality and maturity.

"How could we know? It was all conjecture for now. But if paying a few Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals could buy us a safe route, why should we act rashly for a moment of short impulse?" Jiang Sheng responded to Mang She's question.

"If something really happens, it won't be too late even if we take our revenge ten or twenty years after settling ourselves firmly in this place." Jiang Sheng continued. "But if things go wrong just now... Even given more fifty years wouldn't be enough." he added.

"Wow... I didn't think that Brother Jiang Sheng is someone who would think about things so thoroughly," said Hu Lingfei after listening to what Jiang Sheng said.

"Heh... Do you think everything is a musclehead like you?" Yi Xuanming couldn't help but knock the back of Hu Lingfei's head with his folded fan.

"Anyway... We should go. The Contribution Pavilion is already in our sight. Let us see what is so special about these Contribution Points the High Heaven Sect gave." Jiang Sheng said and pointed at where several buildings were built close to one another.

"Here we come, Contribution Pavilion!" Hu Lingfei shouted and chased after his few fellow brothers.