A cultivator had trespassed into their Primal Heaven Sect, managing to sneak in silently, injure someone, and then get away. This was a complete slap in the face—or perhaps the other party was deliberately provoking them.

"Who the hell was that? This is infuriating."

"Exactly! Don’t let me catch them, or I’ll see to it their Divine Soul is obliterated."

At that moment, the elders of the Primal Heaven Sect were all seething with pent-up rage.

Someone spoke up, "Do you think it could’ve been someone from the Demonic Sects, sent just to provoke us?"

Otherwise, he really couldn’t imagine who would be so bold and reckless as to openly invade the Primal Heaven Sect and injure a disciple.

The others nodded in agreement.

"I think that’s a real possibility."

"Who could it be? What is their ultimate goal?"

While the elders and Peak Masters were gathered together in discussion, a scene was unfolding elsewhere in the Primal Heaven Sect’s Outer Sect servant quarters. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Rosso, clad in the uniform of a female Primal Heaven Sect disciple, was sitting in a servant’s room, sending a message to his client.

"Friend Trillia, are you there?"

"I’ve taken care of those two from Redleaf Peak at the Primal Heaven Sect for you. I even recorded a video as proof. I broke two bones of that guy, Sean Lockwood, and I shot the girl, Jocelyn Grant, in the leg with an arrow. Their clothes were a mess, and the Primal Heaven Sect disciples who rushed over all got an eyeful. I heard it was quite the spectacle. Too bad there were powerful experts from the sect at the scene, so I didn’t dare show my face... otherwise I definitely would’ve recorded a video of that for you."

After sending the private message, he attached the video and sent that over as well.

Rosso waited a moment before the other party replied.

Friend Trillia: "Nicely done, friend. Consider this a ’like.’ Send over your payment code."

’Seeing this, he relaxed. It seemed Friend Trillia’s bounty post was legitimate after all. His risky trip to the Primal Heaven Sect hadn’t been for nothing.’

’I wonder how much I’ll get this time? It’s a shame I couldn’t break their arms and legs. The three top-grade spirit stones Friend Trillia offered in the bounty are probably out of the question, but I can still look forward to something else.’

’My standards aren’t high; ten or twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones would be perfectly acceptable.’

Rosso sent over the identification code for his Trading Jade Token.

He held his Trading Jade Token and waited.

The next moment, he saw his Trading Jade Token light up as a transaction channel opened. Simultaneously, a vortex formed above the token, and Spirit Stones began to pour out.

He waved his hand lightly, and the Spirit Stones, which had been gushing out with a CLATTER, flowed into his Storage Ring. The other party had sent a full fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones, and at the very end, a single, crimson top-grade spirit stone appeared.

"This... This much?"

’Wait... why is there so much?’

Just then, he received a message from Friend Trillia on his phone.

"Rosso, based on the video you provided, your bounty is fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones. I saw from your previous messages that you’re trying to gather enough Spirit Stones to buy a Sixth Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill for your son. Since you were the first cultivator willing to trust me and accept the contract, consider this top-grade spirit stone a gift for your kid."

He gazed at the Spirit Stone in his hand.

Rosso was speechless.

He’d come from nothing, an orphan who had clawed his way through the Cultivation World for three hundred years. He had seen more than his share of deception, of a life where people would kill you and take what was yours without a second thought. People would suck up to you when your cultivation was high, but they would never, ever lend a hand when you hit rock bottom. In fact, they would just step on you and push you further down.

’He was touched.’

He sent her a message.

"Thank you... Friend. From now on, you can count me as a true friend."

’That didn’t feel like enough.’

He sent another message.

"Just you watch. You’ll see how I get revenge for you. No charge."

「Meanwhile.」

Celeste Grant chuckled as she looked at her phone.

’No charge?’

’There’s really no need for that.’

’Money was the one thing she wasn’t short on.’

’People who take money for these jobs are risking their lives. It’s hazard pay. So she wasn’t going to skimp on it. Money makes the world go ’round, and any problem that could be solved with cash wasn’t really a problem at all.’

She sent a reply.

"Friend, go wild! I’ve got plenty of Spirit Stones. And like I said before, as long as I get to see them miserable, I’m happy."

Rosso replied: "Friend Trillia, from now on, your enemies are my enemies. Just watch me deal with them."

Celeste Grant smiled faintly and sent her reply.

"I’m counting on you."

’Friend Trillia is a stand-up person,’ Rosso thought.

Rosso decided that Friend Trillia couldn’t be a bad person. For her to offer so many Spirit Stones just to cause trouble for those two from the Primal Heaven Sect meant that they must have done something terrible to her.

Rosso was now seeing Celeste Grant—or rather, Friend Trillia—through rose-tinted glasses.

Next, Celeste Grant took the video Rosso had sent her and posted it in the replies to her own thread, adding a comment:

"To all you friends out there, someone has already made a move, and the bounty has been paid out. The offer still stands: as long as you can make these two damn fools in the video have a bad time, you can claim your Spirit Stones. This is 100% legit."

As soon as she posted her message, Rosso himself appeared in the replies.

Rosso: "Brothers, Friend Trillia is a real stand-up female cultivator. I’ve already tested the waters for you all, and it’s absolutely legit. I’ve already gotten paid—fifty thousand Spirit Stones. On top of that, Friend Trillia found out I was saving up for a Sixth Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill for my son and gave me an extra top-grade spirit stone just for him. I’m not kidding you, I have pictures to prove it."

His comment immediately brought a ton of silent lurkers out of the woodwork.

The Abyssal Fiend: "Damn, Rosso, you move fast! You already got the bounty. Honestly, I’m seriously jealous."

Galevoid: "I was actually planning to make a move today, but someone beat me to the punch, so I had to lay low. Well, I’ll be damned. I didn’t think that someone would be you."

Yulia: "I can’t believe the bounty was real. Feels like I missed out on a million Spirit Stones. It hurts. I might have missed the main course, but I’ll be damned if I don’t at least get some of the soup. Looks like I’ll have to break out the special poison I’ve been saving, ’Soul-Flight in Seven Steps,’ to give them a proper welcome."

Fleur: "Friends... I’m about to go grab the next wave of Spirit Stones. Anyone wanna team up? Gotta get rich this year!"

Winnie: "Count me in."

Galevoid: "Me too."

Buck: "Well then, I’ll join in on the fun."

Luna: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do my eyes deceive me? This female cultivator in the video looks super familiar. Oh, I remember now... she’s a dead ringer for Jasmine Holt from that collector’s edition ’art book’ I bought a while back. Jocelyn Grant... Jasmine Holt... Don’t tell me the character was based on her?"

Buck: "Hehehe, no wonder Jocelyn Grant in the video looked so familiar! Now that you mention it, I remember. I have that book too. I have two volumes... the latest one is about Jasmine Holt and her master."

Luna: "@Buck, my friend, a man of culture, I see! We are truly kindred spirits... We should grab a drink sometime."

Back in the Bloodfiend Den, Celeste Grant held her phone, her eyes fixed on the screen.

In just a few moments, there were already over 999 comments.

Celeste Grant smiled.

’Jocelyn Grant, you’d better hang in there.’

’And your little boy-toy, too.’