The Bargaining Price of a Karmic Merit Disciple

The Evil Dragon River rolled on, its waves surging like ten thousand stampeding horses.

Aboard the large ship, Ji Ning finished his inquiries and felt he had a good measure of the situation. This young girl called 'Qi Xiaoyu' truly had little life experience; she was as pure as a blank sheet of paper. It was also obvious that she was extremely respectful to the three young nobles, always watching the young prince for cues as to how to act.

"By her account, she's only been cultivating for twenty years. For a great karmic merit bearer, her talent is indeed excellent. And she isn't an evil person," Ji Ning mused to himself.

He didn't require his disciple to be perfect, but at least they shouldn't be wicked. With his current level of insight, it was a simple matter to carefully scrutinize a mere Zifu Disciple.

"I have taken a great liking to Little Rain," Ji Ning spoke up. "Since Little Rain's previous master has already died, I wonder if you, Shi Feng, would be willing to part with her and let her become my disciple."

The Evil Dragon River's waves crashed with a thunderous roar, but the ship fell into a dead silence.

The young girl Qi Xiaoyu was stunned. She immediately shook her head, looking towards her prince and princesses.

The faces of the prince and two princesses also changed.

"This Beiming truly doesn't know his place," the purple-robed woman transmitted angrily. "He actually wants to accept Little Rain as a disciple. Little Rain carries great karmic merit and can stabilize our royal clan's fortune. How could we give her to an ordinary Primal Daoist, much less him! Hmph, even if an Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal wanted to take her, we wouldn't easily agree. And this Beiming!"

"Big brother," the black-robed woman also transmitted. "What do we do? We absolutely cannot give Little Rain away so easily, but now this Beiming is insisting on taking her as a disciple. How should we handle this?"

The prince frowned as well.

Their royal clan had deep foundations, and they had once had Primal Daoists of their own! With a sweep of his divine sense, he would have naturally known how astonishing Qi Xiaoyu's karmic merit was. That was why they had expended great effort to take her in as a disciple, granting her the imperial surname 'Qi' and spoiling her rotten. It made Qi Xiaoyu feel incredibly grateful.

"Little Rain is a crucial pawn. We absolutely cannot give her to this Beiming, a mere Primal Daoist," the prince transmitted.

While the prince and princesses of the Qi Kingdom's royal clan were communicating telepathically, Qi Xiaoyu quickly spoke up as well. "Senior Beiming, I have received great kindness from my master. I cannot betray..."

Ji Ning interrupted, "If you are willing to let Little Rain become my disciple, I will repay you with treasures." As he spoke, ten Heaven-ranked flying swords radiating a powerful watery fluctuation appeared around him. The undulating aura pressured everyone present.

"Ten Heaven-ranked top-grade flying swords. How about it?" Ji Ning asked.

"This Beiming fellow, who looks like a bumpkin, actually has some goods," the purple-robed girl transmitted.

"Heaven-ranked treasures are also important to a Primal Daoist. Producing ten pieces isn't easy. It seems he really wants to take Little Rain as a disciple. Unfortunately, to our Qi Kingdom's royal clan, ten Heaven-ranked top-grade flying swords mean nothing," the prince transmitted back.

Although the three prince and princesses pretended to be surprised on the surface, they were all calm inside.

Seeing this, Ji Ning frowned slightly. "How about one hundred Heaven-ranked top-grade flying swords?"

Suddenly, over a hundred Heaven-ranked flying swords densely filled the air above the ship. The combined aura of each Heaven-ranked flying sword put immense pressure on the team, which consisted of a single Wanxiang Adept and eight Zifu Disciples.

"This, this..."

Qi Xiaoyu was completely dumbfounded. One hundred Heaven-ranked top-grade flying swords just to take her as a disciple? Although she was unwilling to betray her former master, this young-looking senior called 'Beiming' still stirred a sliver of joy in her heart. At the very least, this Senior Beiming was willing to pay such a high price, which showed he truly valued her.

"One hundred pieces!" The prince and princesses were also tempted.

Although they carried many treasures with them, they had been destroyed as a nation decades ago. They had been hunted for decades, and many of their royal clan's experts had died, their treasures taken. The prince's own treasure stash was limited.

One hundred Heaven-ranked top-grade flying swords were worth a million jin of Primordial Liquid!

"This Primal Daoist actually has so many Heaven-ranked flying swords," the purple-robed girl's eyes heated up. "Big brother..."

"Three!"

Ji Ning controlled the hundred-plus Heaven-ranked flying swords floating above him, frowning as he shouted. "Enough. Don't push it."

The prince was indeed tempted.

But he knew very well that even if he got these hundred Heaven-ranked flying swords, it wouldn't help them run away. Even if he went to a city to exchange them for Primordial Liquid and bought some treasures, what good would that do? They already had some escape treasures. At most, he could buy a few more pieces.

"Senior Beiming." The prince said respectfully, "A hundred Heaven-ranked top-grade flying swords would be more than enough to let Little Rain become your disciple. This is a wonderful deal. However, the problem isn't that we are unwilling. It's that Little Rain, after becoming a Zifu Disciple, swore a Heavenly Dao Oath long ago. She must remain loyal to my clan. Asking her to leave would force her to break that vow, and she would die instantly."

Ji Ning frowned. "When servants swear a Heavenly Dao Oath, the master can generally transfer the servant to another, correct?"

It was a common practice in large tribes to gift retainers or death warriors.

Thus, when servants swore their Heavenly Dao Oaths, they would generally say they would obey the orders of the clan's chieftain.

"That is true. It can be transferred. But it requires the agreement of my Shi clan's chieftain. My word alone is useless," the prince said.

Ji Ning's face darkened.

The Qi Kingdom's royal clan members' hearts tightened.

Ji Ning waved his hand, and all the Heaven-ranked top-grade flying swords in the sky vanished. He gave the prince an icy glare and said coldly, "You are lying."

"Lying?" The prince was stunned. "I am not lying at all..."

"You said your name was Shi Feng! That is a lie! You also said that your chieftain must agree to transfer Little Rain to me as a disciple. That sentence was also a lie," Ji Ning said coldly.

The prince was shocked.

The two princesses were also greatly alarmed.

Indeed. The prince's name was naturally not Shi Feng, but Qi Rufeng! His surname was 'Qi.'

The Qi Kingdom's royal clan had been reduced to just the three of them. This prince, Qi Rufeng, was now the chieftain himself. If he nodded, he could transfer Qi Xiaoyu to Ji Ning.

"I am not lying," the prince insisted stubbornly.

"Do you dare to swear a Heavenly Dao Oath that you are not lying? If you dare, I will give you the hundred Heaven-ranked top-grade flying swords and leave immediately." Ji Ning's face darkened.

Qi Rufeng and his two sisters felt the pressure.

"This Beiming has turned from soft persuasion to hard pressure. Ten years ago, when our old servant was still alive, we would have killed him already," the purple-robed girl transmitted angrily.

Just then—

"Eh?" Ji Ning suddenly turned his head to look.

The Qi Kingdom's royal clan also turned to look.

A group of figures had appeared on the bank of the Evil Dragon River. There were twelve figures in total, all wearing black armor. They were staring in their direction. On their arm guards was the pattern of a 'Firewing.'

The twelve soldiers were watching from afar. The squad leader, a burly, tiger-backed man in black armor, held a Firewing Insect. He pointed coldly into the distance. "The Qi Kingdom remnants are on that ship. Move out!"

"Kill!"

A wave of savage killing intent surged forth.

The twelve soldiers instantly transformed. Some turned into massive one-horned rhinoceroses, others into three-tailed foxes, winding snakes, or white-furred bears. They all shared one thing in common: each wore black armor. With the one-horned rhinoceros at the center, the other soldiers spread out. Soon, their Yuan power surged through their Dao-Soldier armor, linking them together.

A massive poisonous insect with flaming wings appeared in mid-air.

The Firewing Insect was like a centipede with wings, its body coiling, its eyes gleaming with a green light. It looked like a deadly venomous creature.

The Firewing Guards... their most famous asset was their Dao-Soldier formation, which formed a Firewing Insect!

"The Firewing Guards!" The Qi Kingdom's royal clan members' faces changed drastically. For decades, they had been hunted by the Firewing Guards. They were a nightmare, one they could never escape. Their tribe's Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals had died, their Primal Daoists had all perished.

Only they themselves remained. Could they even stop the Firewing Guards?

Although it was just a single squad, they knew that this squad consisted of one Primal-level great demon and eleven Wanxiang-level great demons, all linked in a Dao-Soldier formation. Once the formation took shape... even a perfect Primal Daoist would find it difficult to deal with them.

"What do we do?" The black-robed girl transmitted urgently.

"We can't use escape techniques here in the Evil Dragon River, nor can we fly. We're stuck on this ship," the prince said, panicking.

"Let this Beiming deal with them. He's a perfect Primal Daoist; he should be able to stall them for a while," the purple-robed girl transmitted.

Just then, the flaming-winged, centipede-like poisonous insect dove into the Evil Dragon River, charging across the surface like lightning. It was upon them in an instant.

"Prepare to die!" the massive Firewing Insect roared.

"This is my ship." Ji Ning stood at the railing, looking at the huge Firewing Insect rushing towards him across the water. "Get lost. Now."

The prince and princesses nearby were overjoyed.

"Good, this Beiming has stepped up on his own."

"Let him hold them off for us."

"It would be best if this Beiming and those Firewing Guards destroy each other, and then we get the Beiming's treasures."

The Firewing Guards' fearsome reputation had long since spread. Native cultivators and demonic cultivators would flee at the sight of them. They hadn't expected to encounter someone who wasn't afraid of them today. Behind them was the 'Firewing Demon King,' but they didn't know... behind Ji Ning was 'Patriarch Subhuti.'

"Since you dare to block the Firewing Guards, you can die with them!" The huge Firewing Insect's green eyes were filled with savagery as it let out a sharp, furious shout.

With a whoosh, the Firewing Insect charged straight forward, surrounded by a hazy green mist. The prince and princesses were terrified and immediately retreated, setting up a formation to defend themselves. The Firewing Insect raised its ugly, venomous head and lunged towards the ship's deck, aiming straight for Ji Ning.

Ji Ning shook his head. "You're just asking to die."

Bang!

The ordinary-looking Ji Ning standing on the deck suddenly erupted with an incomparably terrifying aura. The entire world fell silent. The surging waves of the Evil Dragon River instantly froze, water droplets suspended in mid-air, unmoving. The massive Firewing Insect, which had been charging forward, was frozen in place mid-lunge.

The Qi Kingdom's royal clan members hiding behind their formation were also frozen. Some had looks of shock on their faces, others had their mouths wide open, and one was in mid-step. They were all completely immobilized.

The wind stopped. The water stopped. The people stopped. The demon stopped. Everything was frozen.

That boundless, terrifying pressure filled everyone with dread. Although the prince and princesses couldn't even move their expressions, terror was plain in their eyes.

In this entire world, only Ji Ning remained as he always was. He stood at the ship's railing, looking at the giant Firewing Insect before him, and shook his head with a sigh. "You asked for death. Who can you blame?"