Filthy Cultivation: I Pierced the Heavens with the Merit System

"Esteemed guest, we do not accept low-grade Rejuvenation Pills or low-grade Cleansing Talismans from our Hundred Treasures Pavilion. You may keep them for your own use."

The beautiful appraiser behind the counter spoke as she divided the items in front of her into two groups, taking a large pile for herself and returning a small pile to the short, black-robed man in front of her.

"Your current eligible items for sale are 27 medium-grade Rejuvenation Pills, 48 ​​high-grade Rejuvenation Pills, 17 medium-grade Purification Talismans, and 69 high-grade Purification Talismans."

She fiddled with the abacus with her slender fingers for a few moments, then smiled gently at the man in black:

"The Treasure Pavilion will pay you a total of fifty-one low-grade spirit stones and sixty-five gold coins. Are you satisfied?"

Good heavens, no wonder Sister Qingqing's master left her these two formulas; alchemy and talisman drawing really make money fast!

And it turns out that earning money with your own hands is such a joyful thing.

Suppressing her joy at the harvest, Li Fuyao set aside twenty low-grade spirit stones for emergencies and used the rest of her money to buy materials.

The booklet contains more than one type of pill formula and rune pattern. If the two most basic ones are so profitable, wouldn't the others be even better?

After putting away the materials, Li Fuyao left the appraisal room and turned to leave.

But before he had taken more than a few steps, a rather shocking question came from behind him:

"What? You're saying an item was lost during the auction?!"

She looked in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged man who looked like a waiter, sweating profusely, explaining to the manager in front of him:

"Manager, what's missing is a small white-furred beast with golden eyes and a strange bloodline. A waiter just discovered that the beast had somehow broken free of its shackles and escaped, and the cage is covered in blood."

"Hmph, this auction is of utmost importance. The higher-ups have given us countless warnings, and yet things still went wrong. What kind of job are you? You're just making things worse!"

Upon hearing this, the steward's face flushed red, then turned pale, then green, then white. After a moment of silence, he dejectedly flicked his sleeves and demanded:

"If this affects the higher-ups' plans, even if we had ten lives, we wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility. Will that thing ever be found again?"

"Peak Master, this little beast is extremely fierce. Because it never lets anyone get close, we haven't been able to establish a contract with it, and we don't know exactly when it slipped away..."

Seeing the manager's grim expression, the waiter's voice grew softer and softer, and he trembled so badly he almost knelt down, stammering with a pained expression:

"I'm afraid, I'm afraid..."

"Useless! Absolutely useless!"

The steward's face flushed with anger upon hearing this, but seeing the waiter's pitiful appearance, as if he were about to be executed, he finally managed to take a few deep breaths to suppress his rage.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go look! If you can't find it by the day after tomorrow, we'll both go and choose our own coffins!"

Upon hearing this, the waiter, as if granted a pardon, quickly ran away and disappeared. The steward, whose flushed face had just faded, turned around and saw Li Fuyao shrouded in a black robe, and his emotions immediately surged again:

"Who are you?! When did you get here? How much of what you just said was overheard?!"

"I'm just someone who sells things, and I just came out of the appraisal room."

Li Fuyao pointed behind her and raised her hands to signal the other party to calm down:

"Don't worry, I don't know anything."

The manager stared at him suspiciously, then snorted coldly after a long while: "Who would believe you! You're short and never show your face, always acting suspiciously—you're obviously not a good person!"

"No, buddy!"

Li Fuyao's eyes widened upon hearing this:

"That's unfair! There are so many people wearing black robes and masks on the street, why don't you ask them?!"

"And if you don't want people to hear, then don't stand in the hallway and loudly plot your scheme!"

"Sharp-tongued and eloquent!"

Enraged, the steward snorted and beckoned several guards: "This man is suspected of being a demonic cultivator who is spying on secrets. Men, arrest him immediately and lock him up for interrogation!"

Damn, I'm so unlucky, even selling something can cause me trouble...

Li Fuyao helplessly tilted her head back and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes were filled with an enthusiastic fighting spirit.

Anyway, with the fairy sister backing us up, what's wrong with making a fuss?

These are perfect for practicing!

Seeing that Li Fuyao was unwilling to surrender and instead pulled out a strangely shaped long-handled hammer to confront him, the steward couldn't help but show contempt in his eyes:

"Heh, that's novel. Our Hundred Treasures Pavilion is a merchant guild backed by the Yanjian Sect. You're the first one who dares to cause trouble with just a mere Xiantian stage cultivator!"

"Go! Let her know what's what!"

Upon hearing this, the guards drew their swords and charged forward. Li Fuyao showed no fear, popped a Rejuvenation Pill into her left cheek and a Spirit-Restoring Pill into her right cheek, and then charged with her hammer!

The appraisal room was on the fourth floor, which was usually quiet and deserted. In addition, the corridor of the treasure pavilion was not narrow, so it was easy to get things done for a while.

Li Fuyao has almost no practical experience, but a wealth of theoretical knowledge.

Moreover, she learns everything very quickly.

Her high soul power enabled her to react quickly, and the immobilization effect of the Tetanus Hammer allowed her petite body to dart around among the guards like an eel.

For the sake of her life, Li Fuyao did not use the spiritual powers of wind and thunder.

She only used the five elements' spiritual power to attack, sometimes letting the opponent wash their face with water, sometimes turning into earth spikes and vines to trip them up, occasionally poking them with a hammer enchanted with metal spiritual power, and even mischievously using fire spiritual power to singe off their hair and eyebrows.

It's a completely shameless, wild monkey-like fighting style.

If you get injured and bleed, just swallow one of the pills in your mouth. Not only will your condition be restored instantly, but after doing this a few times, your physique will even become slightly stronger.

Li Fuyao used these guards as practice, and his use of spiritual power gradually became more proficient during the fights.

He fought a group of late-stage Innate Realm experts and held his own for a time.

This infuriated the guards, who cursed him as despicable!

Damn it, everyone is either throwing fireballs and water bullets to bombard each other with spiritual energy, or using combat techniques to clash with weapons. Whose cultivators are learning to fight from monkeys?

The commotion upstairs quickly attracted the attention of many people. The manager, fearing the situation would escalate and the news would leak out, was about to roll up his sleeves and join the fray himself when he heard a furious shout with immense pressure coming from behind him:

"What kind of behavior is this! All of you, stop it right now!"

Seeing that the guards had all stopped trembling, Li Fuyao also stopped and looked up to see that the person who had spoken was the old man from that day.

She glanced at the Tetanus Hammer in her hand, and touched her nose somewhat guiltily:

We're doomed!

This black cloak is useless; with this hammer, the old man will definitely recognize me unless he's blind.

"I am Liu Zefeng, the manager of Baibaoge. Greetings, Elder Ye."

The steward, wiping his sweat, stepped forward to bow. Perhaps fearing reprimand, he rolled his eyes and pointed at Li Fuyao, beginning to complain:

"Elder, please forgive me. My subordinate failed in his duty, which led to a mishap with one of the items at the auction. This man in black robes was lurking around, eavesdropping. I was just about to investigate to see if there were any clues when he suddenly attacked me. I had to act to protect myself..."

"Alright, alright, shut up! Who asked you?"

He had only listened for a few words when the old man interrupted him, scolding him impatiently:

"It's one thing for a bunch of strong men to be unable to defeat a little girl who has only been cultivating for a few days in their own territory, but you, you piece of trash, are here spouting nonsense. How could my Yanjian Sect have appointed someone like you as a manager? I'm ashamed for you!"

The old man grew angrier as he spoke, and not content with kicking the steward into the wall, he stroked his beard and kicked him again.

"Also, I, Ye Wuxin, am old, but not deaf or blind. I was downstairs discussing something with someone, and I heard you yelling so loudly that I came up here and watched the whole commotion from beginning to end."

"It's disgusting enough that you try to shift the blame for your incompetence to others, but you just dared to spout nonsense in front of me? What, do you think you can use me as a pawn?"

The steward didn't reply; he had already bent over.

Watching him ramble on, Li Fuyao couldn't help but label this old man named Ye Wuxin as a man of character.

She stole a glance at the steward and added a word of mercy.

Judging from the oppressive aura emanating from this old man, he could easily crush the steward into mincemeat, yet he merely kicked the steward unconscious as punishment, showing no intention of killing him whatsoever. This demonstrates that he is not someone who bullies the weak.

No wonder she was able to raise such a kind and benevolent person as Fairy Sister.

Li Fuyao secretly admired him.

Perhaps because her gaze was too direct, the old man dismissed the guards, led Li Fuyao into an empty appraisal room, activated the soundproofing array, and asked calmly:

"Little girl, why aren't you diligently cultivating in your courtyard? What are you doing here?"