Chapter 188: Chapter 186: The Exalted One Is Robbing, Spirit Clams Line Up to Surrender Pearls

"Rest assured, Madam," Elder Lawson said. "This is no trouble for us."

Elder Warren and the others nodded in agreement. "Madam’s proposal is excellent. It will make transactions much more convenient in the future. How did we never think of this before? Old Man Lawson, let’s go refine these right now."

Generally, top-tier Artifact Refiners only bothered with High Level Attack Treasures or Defense Treasures. No one ever really bothered to research items for everyday convenience.

They could build Teleportation Arrays and forge Space Treasures; a simple Jade Token for trading Spirit Stones would be no challenge at all.

Celeste Grant smiled slightly.

"The capable are always the busiest. Thank you for your hard work, Elders."

The elders placed their hands over their hearts.

They bowed deeply.

"It is our honor to serve you, Madam."

"Old Man Warren, let’s go figure out how to refine these right now."

Seeing how eager they were,

Celeste Grant said, "There’s really no need to rush. You elders can take a couple of days off first. Or I could give you a proper vacation. You could take ten days, even half a month, to relax before continuing. There’s plenty of time."

’I’m really not the kind of ruthless boss who just exploits their employees.’

But apparently, they didn’t see it that way.

Elder Warren simply said, "There’s no need to rest. We’re not tired."

As he spoke, he turned to Elder Lawson beside him.

"Old Man Lawson, are you tired?"

Elder Lawson replied, "I remember being surrounded by several Golden Core Stage Cultivators once. I fought them for days on end and ended up killing them all. I was only at the Early Stage of Golden Core then, and I never felt tired. Now that I’m a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, how could a small task like this possibly tire me out? Madam, we will take our leave. We’re going to create the Trading Jade Tokens you described right away."

Celeste Grant smiled slightly.

"Alright, you can go. There’s no rush, take your time."

’They’re such workaholics.’

After the elders had left once more,

her thoughts turned to Javier Sinclair.

’Look at his subordinates. Every single one is more capable than the last, and they’re all eager to work overtime.’

’How could he, The Exalted One, possibly be lazing around?’

"Speaking of which, where did he go?"

’He’s been gone since early this morning.’

Javier Sinclair’s Cultivation was profound.

If he concealed his Cultivation, not even Celeste Grant could sense his presence.

Celeste Grant took out her phone, about to start a video call with him...

「At that moment, on The Open Sea, not far from Bloodfiend City.」

Javier Sinclair’s figure glided into view.

The surface of the water rippled, waves churning from time to time. Yet the spray didn’t dampen even the hem of his robes. He walked upon the water as if it were solid ground.

’It’s already the end of September.’

’In a few days, it’ll be that woman’s birthday.’

Javier Sinclair had come here to find Spirit Clams. He wanted to take their pearls and refine them into a few pieces of defensive jewelry for her gift.

He didn’t normally pay attention to such things, but he had run into his brother-in-law in Bloodfiend City that morning, who mentioned celebrating his sister’s birthday.

So he’d made a mental note.

"Found it."

’This is it. The habitat of the Spirit Clams.’

Javier Sinclair waved a hand.

The water beneath him stirred.

Just then, a massive Spirit Clam slowly rose from the depths. Its shell was magnificent, marked with blood-red patterns—the clear sign of an old clam that had been cultivating for seven or eight hundred years.

The clam shell trembled, trying to break free from its bonds and escape.

This Spirit Clam was already a Fifth-rank Spirit Beast, the king of all the clams in this area.

It had been hunting when it was suddenly captured. Sensing the overwhelming aura of its captor, it now trembled in terror.

’I’m so screwed.’

’I’m going to be eaten.’

The clam shell began to creak and groan, as if begging for mercy.

That’s right, it really was begging for mercy.

Spirit Clams had no offensive capabilities; only their defensive power was noteworthy.

Its creaks and groans were a desperate plea: *My lord... spare me.*

*My lord, spare me! I beg you, let me go! I don’t taste good!*

With creaks and squirts of water, the clam was trying its hardest to beg for its life.

A wooden box appeared in Javier Sinclair’s hand.

He glanced at the Spirit Clam and said, "Go summon your entire family, young and old, and have them hand over their pearls. Alternatively, This Seat can simply drag all of you out, pry open your shells, and take them myself. It’s all the same."

At the words "pry open your shells,"

the Spirit Clam trembled violently.

It clearly understood him.

It made creaking sounds.

’So he only wants pearls!’

’That’s easy! No problem!’

In The Cultivation World, Spirit Clams form an inner core as the source of their Cultivation. During their Cultivation, any excess energy they don’t need condenses into pearls, which can be used as materials for refining Magic Treasures. Taking the pearls, therefore, caused them no harm.

He couldn’t understand what the clam was saying, of course.

’It must have agreed.’

"Let’s start with you."

The Spirit Clam opened its shell and offered up several blood-red pearls that glowed with a dewy luster. The pearls flew from its shell and landed neatly in the wooden box in Javier Sinclair’s hand.

It was the Clam King.

The pearls it offered were large, round, and exceptionally beautiful.

Javier Sinclair glanced at them and gave a slight nod of approval. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"That will do."

"Now go get the rest of your family."

The Spirit Clam creaked.

Fearing he might not understand, it even managed to make a bobbing, nodding motion. Then, it felt the binding force disappear.

The Spirit Clam dove back into the water at once. It summoned its entire clan, and they all began offering their pearls to The Archfiend before them.

’Any slower and they’d be dead!’

And so, a long line of Spirit Clams, large and small, queued up on the surface of the sea to deposit pearls into Javier Sinclair’s wooden box, with the great Clam King itself directing traffic.

Just as he was collecting the pearls,

the phone in his Storage Ring buzzed.

Javier Sinclair took it out and glanced at it.

Then he answered it.

Celeste Grant’s image appeared on the phone screen.

He glanced at her.

He asked.

"What is it?"

Celeste Grant leaned into the screen, staring at him.

"What are you up to? You vanished first thing this morning."

"I’m on The Open Sea, not too far out."

"Huh? What are you doing out there? Wow, you really are on the sea. Look at that wind."

Hearing her words,

Javier Sinclair gave a faint smile. "Collecting some pearls."

He then turned the camera to show her the clams, and the wooden box in his hand.

The next moment, he heard Celeste Grant’s incredulous shout.

"Fuck... what the hell? Am I still asleep, or am I going blind? I’m actually seeing a line of clams spitting out pearls."

Javier Sinclair replied calmly, his thin lips barely moving, "I’m robbing them."

Robbing them?

Hearing that, Celeste Grant looked again at the line of Spirit Clams handing over their pearls and couldn’t hold back her laughter. "Hahaha, that’s hilarious! If this were an anime, the sight of those clams lining up would be adorable. It definitely has the look of a stick-up, though."

As she spoke,

another large Spirit Clam opened its shell, contributing two pink pearls. They weren’t large, but they were exquisite.

Celeste Grant’s eyes lit up.

"Wow, those two are so pretty."

"You like them?"

"Like them? I adore them! They could be made into earrings. They’d be absolutely gorgeous."

Seeing her happy,

Javier Sinclair’s voice was low as he replied, "Alright. I’ll make them for you."