Chapter 11: The Elder's Grievance

Seeing the expressions of the outer sect disciples, Little Bao'er narrowed her eyes and said, "What? Do you think I'm too young, so you're planning not to give me any?"

Jiang Qiushui's eyelids twitched as she looked at Little Bao'er. Her gaze flickered for a moment, and then she smiled and said, "Why wouldn't we give it to you? You know we don't have that many spirit stones on us. How about this, if you come with us to collect them, what do you say?"

Upon hearing this, the people behind Jiang Qiushui exchanged glances, their eyes flashing with a cold light. Then they nodded lightly, indicating their agreement with Jiang Qiushui's approach.

At this point, they couldn't produce that amount of energy stones no matter what. Even if they could, they wouldn't. Since they couldn't provide the stones, there was only one way left—get rid of the little girl standing before them!

Although they knew the little girl had an extraordinary identity, they had no other option this time. They couldn't come up with hundreds of thousands of energy stones, not even the outer sect elders!

This time, they all thought in unison.

Upon hearing Jiang Qiushui's words, Little Bao'er glanced at the outer sect disciples. Seeing that no one opposed Jiang Qiushui, she pointed her finger at them and sneered, "Fine, great! Do you think Little Bao'er is a fool? You outer sect disciples only receive twenty energy stones per month, and even the top-ranked disciple on the outer sect ranking list gets only an extra hundred per month. Where would you get so many energy stones? Are you planning to deceive me, lure me to a secluded place, and then kill me?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qiushui's smile froze. She hadn't expected the little girl to be so clever. She quickly said, "We are outer sect disciples. How could we do something as terrible as murder? I'm telling you the truth, if you're willing to come with us, we will definitely give you the energy stones. If you don't want to come, then we can't do anything about it, right?" She glanced at the people behind her.

"Yes, little girl, if you don't come with us to collect them, we can't do anything..."

"We are all outer sect disciples. Would we deceive you over such a small number of energy stones?"

"That's right, little girl. Come with us to collect them, and we will pay you the energy stones. Do we look like liars to you?"

"..."

Watching the disciples act shamelessly, Little Bao'er's face turned red with anger. She pointed at them and said, "Fine, great! No one has ever dared to bully Little Bao'er like this. Just you wait!"

Saying that, Little Bao'er ran towards the life-and-death platform.

Seeing Little Bao'er storm off in anger, the outer sect disciples breathed a sigh of relief, then they watched her to see what she was planning to do.

As Little Bao'er ran up to the life-and-death platform, the elder below furrowed his brow. When he noticed the symbol on her chest, his brow furrowed even deeper, and he whispered, "This little witch, how did she end up here?"

Seeing Little Bao'er on the platform, Yang Ye, who had been absorbing energy, opened his eyes. He was about to greet her, but at that moment, Little Bao'er pointed her finger at the outer sect disciples in the distance and loudly declared, "I, Little Bao'er declare that from now on, the Symbol Peak will no longer provide any symbol rewards to outer sect disciples. Additionally, we will no longer accept inscriptions or repairs of any treasures belonging to outer sect elders. In short, Symbol Peak refuses to offer any services related to the outer sect!"

Upon hearing Little Bao'er's words, the crowd was initially stunned, but then they burst into laughter. Even Jiang Qiushui and the outer sect disciples on her side couldn't help but join in the laughter.

"Who does she think she is? The sect master? Hilarious!"

"She's refusing to provide symbol rewards to outer sect disciples? Is she driven mad by anger or something?"

"This is the funniest joke I've heard in Sword Sect. Hahaha!"

...

As the laughter echoed, Cao Huo, who was below the life-and-death platform, had a significant change in his expression. He turned his head to look at the laughing outer sect disciples and sternly shouted, "Silence!" His voice, enveloped in profound energy, thundered in the ears of the hundreds of outer sect disciples.

The outer sect disciples immediately paled, their faces filled with shock as they looked at the furious elder, unaware of why he was reprimanding them.

Ignoring the outer sect disciples, Cao Huo's figure flickered, and he appeared directly on the life-and-death platform. He looked at the still-angry Little Bao'er, and a smile appeared on his solemn face. "So it's Little Bao'er! What brings you here today?"

Witnessing this scene, the outer sect disciples below felt a sense of unease. They knew that this situation might be more serious than they had imagined.

Seeing the elder suddenly appear on the life-and-death platform, Yang Ye, who had been absorbing energy, wore a serious expression. He thought to himself, "A King Realm expert."

After the Ninth Rank of the Profound Realm was the Innate Realm, and only after that came the King Realm. If the old man before him could travel without relying on external objects, it could only mean that he had reached the King Realm. The fact that such a powerful expert showed such respect to Little Bao'er piqued Yang Ye's curiosity about her identity even more.

Noticing that the elder was wearing the robes of an outer sect elder, Little Bao'er snorted and said, "You can ask them yourself. Let me tell you this, if you don't give me an explanation, Symbol Peak will no longer welcome any outer sect disciples or outer sect elders!"

Upon hearing Little Bao'er's words, Cao Huo let out a bitter laugh. He swiftly moved, transforming into a blurry figure and instantly appearing in front of Jiang Qiushui and the others. In a cold voice, he said, "What has happened? If anyone dares to conceal the truth, I will cripple their cultivation and expel them from Sword Sect!"

The people were startled and didn't dare to hide anything. They honestly confessed everything.

When Cao Huo heard that they owed Little Bao'er over three hundred thousand energy stones, his face twitched. As he heard the others suggesting that Little Bao'er should go with them to retrieve the stones, Cao Huo's gaze turned icy. Being experienced and astute, he knew exactly what these people were planning. He coldly glanced at them and said, "You want her to go with you to collect several hundred thousand energy stones? Are you planning to kill her to silence her? Very well, I wish I could slap you all to death! Let me tell you, if you can't convince her to retract her words, I assure you that you will become enemies of all the outer sect elders and disciples!"

Hearing Cao Huo's words, the people turned pale, devoid of any color in their faces. Jiang Qiushui clasped her fists and respectfully said to the elder, "E-Elder, who exactly is this little girl?"

"Never mind who she is!" Cao Huo shouted. "Now, each of you go and gather energy stones from your friends and borrow from the outer sect elders. Explain the situation between you and that little girl to them. For their own interests, they will lend you the stones!"

"Elder, the amount she asks for is really too much..." Jiang Qiushui hesitated and wore a troubled expression.

"Do you want your cultivation to be crippled and be expelled from Sword Sect?" Cao Huo coldly interjected.

Upon hearing this, the people trembled. They now realized that the situation had escalated, and they dared not waste any more time. They quickly went to gather the energy stones.

On the platform, after listening to the exchange between Little Bao'er and the outer sect disciples, a warm feeling surged through Yang Ye's heart. He never expected that this little girl would trust him so much, willing to bet hundreds of thousands of energy stones for him.

"Hmph, this time I won't let them off easily. They actually dared to plot against me and silence me!" Little Bao'er thought angrily. She grew increasingly furious as she contemplated the actions of those outer sect disciples. Throughout her life, she had never been bullied!

The old man reappeared on the life-and-death platform and saw that Little Bao'er was still filled with anger. He sighed inwardly and then smiled. "Little Bao'er, you see, I've already made them prepare the energy stones. But about what you said earlier, are you really..."

Little Bao'er snorted and said, "I won't take back what I said! Let me tell you, when my grandpa returns, you all are done for! From now on, the outer sect elders shouldn't even think of coming to Symbol Peak for inscriptions from my grandpa!"

Upon hearing Little Bao'er's words, Cao Huo's smile froze, and in his mind, he cursed all the outer sect disciples and their families. Dealing with a few dozen people who were asking for trouble was one thing, but now they were involving the outer sect elders. He managed to squeeze out a smile, softened his voice, and said, "Bao'er, little one, this matter doesn't concern us outer sect elders, does it?

Little Bao'er disdainfully replied, "It does concern you, the outer sect disciples bullying me!"

Seeing that Little Bao'er was still angry, Cao Huo felt helpless. He couldn't afford to offend this young lady.

After about half an hour, Jiang Qiushui and the others arrived. This time, it wasn't just the outer sect disciples, but also four outer sect elders wearing light blue robes. Among them, Yang Ye recognized one of them—it was Elder Qian, the one who had punished him earlier.

Upon seeing Elder Qian, Yang Ye quickly bowed to him. Elder Qian nodded in response and then turned his gaze toward Little Bao'er. They had come to apologize to this little witch.

When the four outer sect elders saw Little Bao'er, their expressions changed slightly. One of the round-faced elders smiled at her and took out a ring, saying, "B-Bao'er, there are 390,000 energy stones inside this ring. Take out your spatial ring, and I'll transfer it to you!"

As he mentioned the number, the round-faced elder's face twitched, and his heart was bleeding. These energy stones were contributed by the outer sect elders and disciples together. The entire outer sect was practically bankrupt because of this gambling game.

Little Bao'er sneered and took the old man's ring. Then, she looked at the small pouch in front of her and with a thought, the ring emitted a silver light. After a while, she handed the ring back to the old man. As if she had just thought of something, she retracted her hand with the ring, raised it, and said, "This one too, give it to me. Do you have any objections?"

The round-faced elder's hand in midair froze, and the expression on his face was extremely amusing. After a moment, he forced a smile and said, "No, no objections..." Meanwhile, he cursed in his heart, "Damn it! A storage ring worth a hundred thousand gold coins! It's gone just like that..."