Scum Of The Demonic Sect

Chapter Six: The Duel

The man spoke these words in a sarcastic tone, clearly mocking Lin Haoming's low cultivation level.

But before Lin Haoming could retaliate, another gaunt man in his thirties sneered, "Guo Xin, kid, didn't you start from the seventh level of Qi Refining? I remember you broke through to the seventh level of Qi Refining after you turned twenty, right? Now you want to mock someone who broke through earlier than you, you really have some skills!"

"Niu Wu, what do you know? The reason Lin Haoming's cultivation is so high is simply because he was a descendant of Ancestor Lin, with daily access to pills and spirit stones. If I had those conditions, he'd probably be at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining by now." Guo Xin said disdainfully.

Hearing these words, Lin Haoming realized that quite a few people in this place knew him.

Niu Wu was clearly unaware of the truth, and seeing that Lin Haoming didn't refute him, he knew the other was telling the truth.

Lin Haoming noticed that after learning the truth, Niu Wu, who had initially seemed quite enthusiastic towards him, only muttered a few words and then fell silent. Most of the others did the same.

Lin Haoming could also tell that everyone knew his identity and understood he had little future, so they had no intention of befriending him. The managers here were likely divided into two groups: one group consisted of Zhou Zhiye's men, and the other group, including himself and Niu Wu, consisted of Situ Ping's men. The fact that the two groups were at odds showed how bad the relationship between Situ Ping and Zhou Zhiye was.

Guo Xin, seemingly sensing the others' thoughts, chuckled, "This kid's lucky today. According to our rules, newcomers must participate in the competition. Don't be too scared to fight during the big month three months from now!"

Lin Haoming, hearing this, felt puzzled and looked at Niu Wu, asking, "Senior Brother Niu, what's this competition all about?"

"We managers hold a competition every big month, best of three. Each manager on the losing side has to pay two spirit stones, and the person directly participating has to pay five. If you win, you not only get the spirit stones from your opponent but also get two more spirit stones from the other person's wager. As a newcomer, you must participate. This competition just ended, and we won. Since you're new, you must fight next month!" Niu Wu explained.

"I'm only at the seventh level of Qi Refining, this isn't fair!" Lin Haoming deliberately feigned resentment.

“Normally, newcomers are usually paired with opponents of similar cultivation levels. However, no one here is below the eighth level of Qi Refining, so your opponent can only be at the eighth level of Qi Refining!” Niu Wu explained, glancing at Lin Haoming with a hint of displeasure. This kid's cultivation was low; in three months, he would have to win both of the remaining matches, or he would lose spirit stones.

The others also realized this, their eyes filled with displeasure as they looked at Lin Haoming. Clearly, this new manager was making them lose spirit stones right from the start, which was definitely not a good thing.

One of them, Tang Gaojun, even warned, “Junior Brother Lin, don't think you can just go through the motions because you think your cultivation is low. Show your true abilities, or don't blame us managers for not giving you face!”

Tang Gaojun was at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and looked to be only in his early twenties. He was already quite strong here, and he could tell that everyone on his side revered him, so he was probably the strongest.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother, I won't give up easily!" Lin Haoming assured him.

Lin Haoming's assurance wasn't due to Tang Gaojun's warning, but rather because he wasn't one to give up easily. The taste of defeat was unpleasant, and he didn't want to experience it.

However, Guo Xin wasn't one to mince words. He sneered a few times, saying, "That sounds nice, but I think everyone should prepare to lose. Everyone should be frugal for the next three months, lest you can't even scrape together spirit stones!"

"We'll see. We've won three matches in a row before!" Tang Gaojun was very displeased and directly uttered these words. But after glancing at Lin Haoming's cultivation level, he felt a surge of anger and finally simply snorted coldly, choosing to ignore him.

Lin Haoming knew that his words earlier had already shown his lack of confidence in him, and he had displeased both stewards. However, this was beyond his control, and he didn't want to get involved. His mind was currently preoccupied with whether the Spirit Gathering Pearl could replenish the spiritual energy of the spirit stones. Therefore, after leaving the cave where Steward Ma was, he immediately used the jade token.

He channeled spiritual energy into the jade token, and it shone brightly. A faint glow then appeared at the entrance of one of the stone chambers on the rock wall. Lin Haoming then flew directly inside.

This stone chamber was much larger than his previous one. Besides the meditation room, there was a space resembling a living room, with a stone table and four stone stools. Otherwise, there was nothing particularly special.

Of course, there was also a magic array. Lin Haoming placed a spirit stone on it to activate the array, then took out the Spirit Gathering Pearl, followed by a spirit stone that had long ago absorbed all its spiritual energy, and placed the Spirit Gathering Pearl on top of it.

Having made these preparations, Lin Haoming kept his eyes fixed on the spirit stone. As time passed, he noticed that the previously dull spirit stone was gradually regaining its luster, albeit subtly. This indicated that spiritual energy had returned to the stone.

Upon discovering that the Spirit Gathering Pearl could indeed replenish a spirit stone depleted of its spiritual energy, Lin Haoming jumped for joy.

However, a day later, things turned somewhat disappointing. He discovered that it took almost a whole day to fully replenish a low-grade spirit stone. He couldn't rely solely on the Spirit Gathering Pearl to replenish its energy; he still needed to cultivate!

So, Lin Haoming experimented, placing three spirit stones around the Spirit Gathering Pearl. He found that the effect was roughly the same regardless of the number of stones. After a day, all three stones had replenished about a third of their spiritual energy, and the replenishment was only effective within a three-foot radius of the Spirit Gathering Pearl; beyond that, it had no effect.

Having obtained the results, Lin Haoming didn't intend to waste any more time on it. He had already set his sights on unsealing the Merit Pearl.

On his third day as manager, Lin Haoming left his stone chamber and returned to the slaughterhouse, which he hadn't visited for three days.

Upon arriving, he found that even without his managership, everyone had been working there just the same way for the past two days.

Considering that Li Haiying had just been publicly executed, this incident was enough to keep everyone behaving themselves for a while.

"Manager Lin!" Seeing Lin Haoming arrive, Li Shuntian's fat face beamed as he approached.

Previously, he wasn't well-liked, and Li Shuntian was one of the few who were somewhat close to him. Now that he was a manager, he didn't miss the opportunity.

As a manager, he actually had quite a bit of power. For example, he could appoint one or two people to help him oversee the slaughterhouse, like Bao Wenliang, Li Haiying's trusted lieutenant, whom Li Haiying had originally intended to put in charge of the slaughterhouse.

Of course, now that Li Haiying is dead, this good fortune is definitely not for him. Instead, he stares at Lin Haoming with an extremely unpleasant expression, clearly afraid of Lin Haoming's revenge.

Lin Haoming has no time to retaliate against Bao Wenliang. His eyes gleam as he watches the pangolins being sent to the slaughterhouse, waiting to be slaughtered.

PS: When I posted the last chapter, I promised everyone that during the new book period, I would add an extra chapter if the book reached 1000 favorites. Now I'm making another promise: if it gets to the top of the new book charts and appears on the homepage, staying there for a day, I will add an extra chapter, and this will not overlap with the chapter added for the number of favorites! I keep my word, so please support me and add this book to your favorites!