Crow Immortal: I Can Duplicate Infinite Resources

Before the echo of the challenge could fade, a sharp buzzing sound vibrated from the horizon.

The clouds tore open as a massive flying artifact, shaped like an old-fashioned spinning wheel, descended over the Green Grain Market.

Figures drifted down from the spindle, their faces obscured by gauze veils and their bodies draped in robes embroidered with star patterns. beneath their feet, they balanced on smaller, silver-white spindles. Leading them was a thin man with a pale, narrow face—Qin Ting, the Golden Core patriarch of the Little Sky Net Sect.

But the eyes of the onlookers were briefly drawn to the figure standing beside him.

It was a young man in purple star-patterned robes. His most striking feature was his eyes. They were not merely bright; they were literally luminous, emitting a soft, physical starlight. It wasn’t a metaphor. To look into his eyes was like gazing up at the night sky—cold, distant, and inhumanly brilliant.

However, the gazes of Sect Leader Qi, Yin Hong, and Daoist Lingxiu only lingered on the extraordinary youth for a heartbeat before snapping back to the real threat.

Qin Ting.

The Little Sky Net Sect had arrived uninvited to stir up trouble. That was the immediate crisis.

“What business brings the Little Sky Net Sect here?” Sect Leader Qi asked, his voice plunging the temperature of the gathering. “I do not recall sending you an invitation.”

“Though uninvited, we come with goodwill. How could Sect Leader Qi be so heartless as to turn us away?” Qin Ting’s voice was soft, almost effeminate, yet it carried a piercing clarity. “Moreover, the Green Grain Market is not the Wanchun Valley proper. If you bar us from observing the Immortal Destiny Grand Ceremony, we will simply stand with the rogue cultivators and watch the excitement from the sidelines. Surely Wanchun Valley isn’t so overbearing as to expel every loose cultivator from a public market, is it?”

“A dignified Golden Core cultivator, resorting to the tactics of a street ruffian?” Sect Leader Qi shot back.

Qin Ting chuckled, a sound like silk sliding over a blade. “We come following destiny, bearing goodwill. Why is Sect Leader Qi so suspicious?”

“Suspicious?” Sect Leader Qi sneered. “Is it suspicion when everyone here knows exactly whose leash you are on? Can the Little Sky Net Sect even be considered a sect of the Southern Domain anymore? Your so-called ‘destiny’ is nothing more than orders barked by your masters in the Central Heaven Domain.”

Yin Hong, the Supreme Elder of the Spirit Sword Sect, stepped forward, his sword intent flaring. “Qin Ting, your sect has played a double game for too long. You knew of the Upper Sect’s schemes, yet you said nothing. We do not walk the same path. What defense do you have?”

Daoist Lingxiu of the Mystic One Sect flicked his horsetail whisk, his expression stern. “You knew the tribulations of the Nascent Soul realm were a trap. You knew my junior brother Lingyin was desperate to break through, yet you watched in silence as he was lured in. Matters have reached this point… do you take our three sects for soft clay to be molded as you please?”

Lingxiu’s aura surged. “Leave now, and we will not make things difficult. Refuse, and we might just keep you here permanently to interrogate you about the Upper Sect!”

Hearing the threat, Qin Ting spread his arms. Behind him, silver threads of spiritual energy erupted, weaving into a massive, shimmering spider web that dominated the space behind him.

“Why the intimidation?” Qin Ting asked, unfazed. “Over the past year, your sects have been busy gathering intelligence in the Central Heaven Domain. Naturally, the Little Sky Net Sect has not been idle.”

“You have likely discovered that the previous envoy came from the Myriad Forms Sky Net Sect. And you likely know that our founding ancestor, Xing Jizi, originated from that very sect.”

Qin Ting sighed theatrically. “Yes, we know a little more than you, but not much. If the main lineage issues a command, can a branch sect resist? In the end, our ‘betrayal’ is simply that destiny is hard to defy. Our hand was forced.”

“Destiny is hard to defy… a convenient excuse!” Sect Leader Qi spat. “At least have the spine to admit you were ordered to harm Wanchun Valley and sell out the Southern Domain!”

“Sect Leader Qi, you misunderstand,” Qin Ting interjected smoothly. “I admit that we joined forces with the Mystic One Sect and the Spirit Beast Sect to deceive you. But at that time, the order was simply to seize your earth veins. It was the Spirit Beast Sect who thirsted for blood and pushed for a massacre.”

“But look where we are now. Genocide is no longer feasible. The Upper Sect still wants the earth veins, but I come seeking a peaceful solution. Why don’t we discuss a relocation? You give the veins to the Upper Sect, and everyone wins.”

Qin Ting gestured broadly toward the horizon. “Consider the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range. It stretches for tens of thousands of miles and borders the Great Zhou Dynasty. The Spirit Beast Sect has been wiped out, leaving their ruins vacant. Why doesn’t Wanchun Valley simply move there? You get a massive territory, and we complete our mission without punishment. We can even forgo the Nascent Soul Pill reward.”

Qin Ting looked at the three leaders, waiting for the bait to be taken.

Yin Hong immediately turned to Sect Leader Qi. “His words are honeyed poison! Do not forget Song Wanxiong’s dying scream. The moment Wanchun Valley leaves the protection of the Ancestral Tree and the Guardian Formation, you will be slaughtered like livestock.”

Daoist Lingxiu nodded gravely. “Agreed. Since we learned the truth about the ‘Nascent Soul Trap,’ no promise from the Upper Sect can be trusted.”

Sect Leader Qi felt a wave of relief. He had feared his allies might pressure him to compromise for the sake of peace. Seeing them stand firm bolstered his resolve.

The Wanchun Valley was their ancestral home. The Ancestral Tree was their strongest shield. Leaving it would be suicide.

“Elder Yin, Sect Leader Lingxiu, your thoughts mirror my own,” Sect Leader Qi declared. He turned his cold gaze back to Qin Ting. “If this is why you came, then leave. Wanchun Valley will not abandon our ancestral foundation for your dubious schemes.”

“Since you won’t move, I won’t waste my breath,” Qin Ting said, shrugging with an infuriating chuckle. “With your three sects united, I cannot force the issue. We will simply wait twenty-five years for the Upper Sect to come and decide your fate personally.”

“But until then…” Qin Ting’s tone shifted back to polite negotiation. “I come with goodwill. Will Sect Leader Qi allow my disciples and me to observe the ceremony?”

Yin Hong scoffed. “Observe the ceremony? Without a gift?”

He pointed to the guests. “I brought a Sword Heart Spirit Crystal from the Sword Washing Pool. Sect Leader Lingxiu brought rare Talisman Treasures. You, an uninvited guest, arrive empty-handed and expect a seat?”

Qin Ting smiled, his eyes narrowing into crescents.

“I have a Spirit Condensing Golden Pill to offer.”

His voice was soft, but the words hit the crowd like a hammer blow.

“It increases the success rate of condensing a Golden Core by twenty percent for a cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Foundation Establishment. With such a gift… may I take a seat?”

The square fell dead silent.

A twenty percent increase for the Golden Core bottleneck. It was a treasure that could drive Foundation Establishment cultivators to madness.

Sect Leader Qi’s mind raced. Wanchun Valley had several elders approaching that bottleneck. This pill could mean the difference between a new Golden Core patriarch and a corpse. And what was the cost? Letting Qin Ting sit in a public market for a few days?

“If you truly possess such a pill,” Sect Leader Qi said slowly, “then Wanchun Valley is not so petty that we cannot find a few extra chairs.”

Qin Ting laughed, the sound triumphant. “Excellent. It’s settled.”

Without hesitation, he flicked his wrist, tossing a jade box containing the Spirit Condensing Golden Pill directly to Sect Leader Qi.