I Have An Infinite Cultivation Resource
Chapter 54: Embezzlement
Zhou Lei narrowed his eyes into a thin slit. After thinking for a moment, he made up his mind and said to Lu Xiao'e:
"Since Junior Brother Lu is resting, I won't disturb him. Junior Sister, please accept this on his behalf. This is a token someone sent for Junior Brother Lu."
Zhou Lei took out the letter written by Zeng Yan, but he only produced the letter—he did not take out the Qi-Nourishing Pill.
Lu Xiao'e looked at Zhou Lei suspiciously.
"You deliver letters without collecting money? And if you did collect money, why wouldn't you hand it to Lu You personally?"
Everyone knew Zhou Lei was a greedy man who scraped profit from everything. He frequently took on delivery errands, and he never stopped until he squeezed benefits from both sides. If he handed the letter to her now, he would lose the chance to collect a reward from Lu You. Lu Xiao'e simply didn't believe Zhou Lei could be so generous.
"I usually worry that others might embezzle the items. But with Junior Sister's wealth, you obviously wouldn't care about someone else's token. So there's no need for me to deliver it personally this time."
Zhou Lei laughed awkwardly, handed the letter to Lu Xiao'e, and then hurriedly turned to leave.
The last time, Zhou Lei had already squeezed Lu You for profit, and Lu You had only produced two bottles of spirit wine. Knowing Lu You didn't have much left, Zhou Lei simply kept the Qi-Nourishing Pill Zeng Yan had given.
'Zeng Yan, Lu You, you two can't blame me. It's such a long trip; I can't run errands for free. And giving the pill to you would be a waste anyway. I'm not robbing you, this is just my rightful payment.'
Qi-Nourishing Pills could strengthen one's foundation and stabilize vitality.
For Qi Refining cultivators, they accelerated cultivation speed.
For Foundation Establishment cultivators, they helped polish the foundation and stabilize the realm.
Within the Verdant Cloud Sect, pills were strictly controlled. Other than exchanging contribution points or receiving scheduled distributions, it was extremely difficult to obtain them through other channels.
On the black market, the price of Qi-Nourishing Pills was even higher than Foundation Establishment Pills.
After all, Foundation Establishment Pills had restrictions—they could only be used by cultivators at the peak of the tenth level of Qi Refining.
But Qi-Nourishing Pills had no such restriction. Even a mortal who consumed one could strengthen their body and extend their lifespan.
. . .
In the courtyard, Lu Xiao'e squeezed the letter in her hand and returned to Lu You's room. Seeing that Lu You was still meditating, she quickly grew bored.
So she returned to her own room, put on a large black robe, and chased off in the direction Zhou Lei had gone.
At this moment, the sun had just set, and the sky had not yet fully darkened. Yet Lu Xiao'e seemed to blend perfectly with the shadows. Not a single outer sect disciple noticed her presence.
Moving swiftly and silently, her figure graceful and elusive, she circled ahead of Zhou Lei within just a few breaths.
Seeing Zhou Lei happily admiring the bottle containing the Qi-Nourishing Pill, Lu Xiao'e curled her lips into a smile.
'I knew it, this fat guy would definitely skim profits. And he even tried to trick me. If Lu You ever meets the person who wrote the letter, he might even suspect that I embezzled the pill.'
Thinking of this, Lu Xiao'e turned into a wisp of black mist, appearing in front of Zhou Lei in the blink of an eye.
"Who's there?! How dare you rob an innocent man?!"
Zhou Lei constantly engaged in shady side deals, so both his strength and awareness were extremely sharp. Seeing the black mist rushing toward him, he didn't panic at all. His body reacted instantly as Foundation Establishment spiritual energy surged into his palm.
Then Zhou Lei unleashed a massive palm strike.
Peak Foundation Establishment!
With the resources he had secretly earned, Zhou Lei cultivated much faster than others and had already touched the threshold of the Golden Core realm. That was also the confidence that allowed him to skim profits so boldly.
The next second—
A faint silver glint emerged from the black mist.
Looking closely, it was actually a section of a flexible sword.
The seemingly weak soft sword lightly tapped the massive palm print in the air.
The palm strike instantly collapsed, and even the spiritual energy inside Zhou Lei's body was thrown into chaos.
Boom!
Zhou Lei was blasted backward by the force transmitted through the soft sword, and the Qi-Nourishing Pill in his hand fell into the black mist.
Even then, the black mist didn't stop. It rushed forward again, striking Zhou Lei with a single blow and knocking him unconscious.
Then it picked up Zhou Lei's spatial ring.
"Tsk. It actually has a self-destruct restriction."
With this type of restriction, if anyone other than the owner tried to open the spatial artifact, it would automatically destroy itself along with all the items inside.
Lu Xiao'e had always disdained such things anyway. She casually tossed the spatial ring back onto Zhou Lei's body.
"Hmph, that stinking Lu You. You got a free bargain again—I ended up doing the work for you for nothing."
Lu Xiao'e hid her presence once more and quickly returned to her courtyard.
After changing her clothes, she went back into Lu You's room. By now, the sky had completely darkened. Seven full hours had passed.
Sensing Lu Xiao'e enter the room, Lu You suddenly opened his eyes.
The countless life-and-death battles he had experienced inside the Blood Shadow space had filled his eyes with a chilling killing aura. When Lu Xiao'e met his gaze, it felt as though a divine sword soaked in blood was slowly being drawn from its sheath.
Without a word, Lu You flipped his palm and lifted the sword.
The sword dance that Lu Xiao'e had originally demonstrated was reproduced by Lu You with astonishing accuracy. After finishing the dance once, he didn't stop. With the same sword stance, his movements suddenly began to change.
Inside the Blood Shadow space, after countless rehearsals, Lu You had a sudden idea. He made the blood shadows of Zeng Yan and Lu Xiao'e spar with each other, taking the strengths of both and merging them into a newly fused sword dance.
This time, the graceful footwork contained a hint of sharp ferocity.
The unpredictable sword flourishes gained a trace of courage.
Originally, Lu Xiao'e's sword style focused on striking once and immediately withdrawing, constantly searching for opportunities. But now, the sword intent carried a desperate, all-or-nothing spirit.
Every strike looked false. Every strike seemed ready to retreat.
Yet every strike also felt real—like the swordsman might risk their life at any moment.
Lu Xiao'e's eyes first showed amazement. Then she puffed up her cheeks angrily.
"Stop messing around with random practice! That's not my sword technique. It looks awful. Completely unacceptable!"
Lu Xiao'e stubbornly refused to admit that Lu You might actually be a genius. She then tossed Zeng Yan's letter into Lu You's arms.
"Zhou Lei just delivered it. So annoying! I don't have time to wait for you to finish learning!"
After saying that, Lu Xiao'e snatched back her sword and deliberately stomped across the floor—tap tap tap—as she left.
"Was the sword dance really that ugly? Even if it was, did she need to get that angry?"
Lu You felt slightly puzzled but didn't stop her. Instead, he picked up the letter on the table.
After reading it carefully once, Lu You folded it and tucked it close to his chest.
Then he secretly glanced toward Lu Xiao'e's room. After confirming she had returned to rest, Lu You changed into night-travel clothing, activated a Divine Speed Talisman, and slipped quietly out of the courtyard.
His senior sister had mentioned Qi-Nourishing Pills in the letter. Yet Zhou Lei had embezzled them.
A surge of anger burned in Lu You's chest. In the letter, Zeng Yan not only mentioned the Qi-Nourishing Pill but also the duel scheduled three days later. After spending so much time with her, Lu You could sense her situation between the lines—and even guess a little of her intentions.
Although the letter had other purposes, the fact that she sent him the Qi-Nourishing Pill was genuine.
Even when she was already struggling herself, she still chose not to use the pill for her own cultivation and instead gave it to him—simply because she feared he might be too weak and get bullied in the outer sect.
"You can earn what you're allowed to earn. But what you're not allowed to take—how dare you steal it?"
With the Divine Speed Talisman and the movement technique he had learned from Lu Xiao'e, Lu You instantly turned into a shadow-like blur, disappearing into the night.
. . .
The moment Lu You left, Lu Xiao'e poked her head out from her second-floor bedroom window.
"Uh… I forgot to give Lu You the Qi-Nourishing Pill. He's not going to go looking for Zhou Lei, is he?"
She snorted.
"Hmph, let him go. It'd be great if Zhou Lei beat him to death. How dare he mix another woman's shadow into my sword technique—so disgusting!"
After complaining cutely to herself, Lu Xiao'e quickly put on her own night-travel clothes.
"Whatever. Lu You is still useful. Tonight your great aunt here will show mercy and help you deal with Zhou Lei one more time."
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