Chapter 24 Purple Mini Cauldron

Ye Shaochong was a bit shocked. He looked at the youth and said with a cold smile, "What is it, Zhuo Wuhen? You North Mountain people want a fight?" As his voice fell, more than 20 youths had rushed to his back.

Zhuo Wuhen raised both hands, saying, "A fight? Your men had crossed the line!" Then, the men behind him threw out two youths, who were beaten black and blue. The two men said in a weak voice, "Brother... Brother Ye, sorry."

Ye Shaochong nodded and smiled coldly, saying, "Good! Very Good! Brothers, slash them to death!"

The fight was about to be triggered. The newly came sisters were scared to death upon seeing this. All of a sudden, a cold voice rose outside the crowd, "What are you doing?"

A youth in white walked toward the scene. Everybody greeted respectfully, "Senior Brother Wu."

Wu Yue looked at the two leaders and then scanned the crowd with his eyes, saying, "Newcomers, assemble!"

Dozens of newcomers quickly lined up in four rows. Xiao Chen thought, "The Outer Gate is just an Outer Gate. There's nothing but chaos and foul atmosphere. This place doesn't look like a Cultivators' sect at all; it's just some ghettos in Jianghu." He shook his head, sighed, and walked to the line with the three princes.

"Now, please follow me to the Treasure Pavilion. Everyone can pick a treasure or sword of your likes."

As a noble and decent sect, even the Outer Gate of the Three Pure Sect could not be stingy. The crowd was overjoyed upon hearing this and exclaimed, "We can even pick magic treasures!"

After 30 minutes, the crowd arrived at a place called Treasure Pavilion. An old man in gray was sitting at the door, smoking tobacco in a long-stemmed Chinese pipe. A small sandalwood desk stood in his front, and a purple little ancient Chinese cauldron was on the desk for tobacco ashes.

Everyone was excited. Wu Yue walked to the door and said in respect, "Elder Wu, the newcomers are here."

Elder Wu now looked up and scanned the crowd quickly.

Except for the five major elders, there were many other elders in the Three Pure Sect. In the Inner Gate, there were Elixir Room Elder, Sword Tower Elder, and Cultivation Method Elder. They barely deserved the name "elder". But the elders in the Outer Gate were just out of disciples' courtesy.

Prince Qi said in a low voice, "This Elder Wu must be something. He looks imposing."

Xiao Chen smiled and said, "If you stay here for decades, you can also sit in that chair."

"Really?!" Prince Zhao was thrilled at first. But he immediately realized something as he froze. Couldn't he become an Inner Disciple in decades?

Elder Wu knocked some tobacco ashes into the mini cauldron, coughed and said, "All right, the Three Pure Sect is showing its generousness by giving you magic treasures for free. Come in and everyone could only pick one treasure. You're not allowed to steal. Now go inside."

Dozens of people immediately rushed into the room. However, they were disappointed, whining, "What... What the heck are these?"

It was only a small room with scattered sabers, spears, swords, and halberds. Some of them were even broken and rusted. There were also some broken mirrors, broken flag with a corner cut-out, broken folding fans. Were these treasures? The crowd did not stop whining.

Xiao Chen could not help laughing. "Do they call this place Treasure Pavilion? This is a junkyard."

Prince Zhao complained, "Elder, what kind of wasted things are these? The Skygale Sect gives Spiritual class treasures. We don't ask for Spiritual class, but at least you should have some Normal class treasures."

"Yeah! I heard that the Cold-billow Sword Sect gives Grand class treasures." Someone followed.

There were quality ranks to those items like swords and magic treasures. From low to high, the ranks were: Normal, Grand, Spiritual, Sacred, Immortal, Divine, Primordial, etc. Xiao Chen's Immortal's Sword, Unsullied, was at least an Immortal item.

The crowd chattered about how good the Skygale Sect and Cold-billow Sword Sect was, and did not notice that Elder Wu's face had become sullen. Finally, he knocked the cauldron with the bowl of his pipe, and his pipe was broken.

"The Skygale Sect is good. The Cold-billow Sword Sect is good. Why don't you go there? What are you doing here in the Three Pure Sect?! If you want to pick one item, then pick; otherwise, shut up and get lost! Nobody is begging you to stay here. The sect still runs without you!"

"Alas... Forget about it. Let's just pick something. The summer is coming, at least we can pick something to kill mosquitoes."

Prince Zhao said in a sad face, "If I had known this, I should've secretly brought my father's Shangfang Sword of State." He then picked up some unknown thing and said, "What the heck is this? It's rusted. Is it a big-headed sword? Shall I use it to cleave, shear, or stab? Would you tell me how to use this thing?"

Elder Wu said angrily, "That's my spatula to cook! Put the fu*k down!"

"Okay, so this is the legendary spatula." Prince Zhao threw it away and picked something up again, saying in a loud voice, "Damn! What is this? There's mud on it. Don't tell me that this is used to cook! Or you will show me how to cook with this."

Elder Wu was pissed off as his face changed. He thundered, "That's the hoe I use to dig vegetables! You..." He then madly kicked him away.

The crowd burst out laughing. Prince Zhao stood on his feet and dared not to touch anything again.

Then, everybody "gladly" picked something they "liked". Xiao Chen walked to Elder Wu, looked at the purple mini cauldron and asked, "Elder Wu, would you give this to me?"

Elder Wu glanced at the mini cauldron filled with ashes and asked, "This is just an ashtray to me. Do you want it?"

Xiao Chen nodded his head.

"Alas. All Right, my pipe is broken anyway. I'll go buy another set of smoking gears. I'll give this to you, along with its lid." Elder Wu then took out a purple round lid from the cabinet beside him. It looked like the original pair to the mini cauldron.

Xiao Chen nodded and smiled, saying, "Many thanks, elder." He then took up the mini cauldron. The crowd was laughing at him, "A random sword is better than this. Are you stupid?"

At the noisiest moment, in walked a young man in white. He carried three big packages which suffused with the fragrance of herbs.

Elder Wu immediately raised his hand to gesture silence. He then smiled to the youth in white and said respectfully, "What's the matter?"

The young man looked gloomy and said, "Where are Elder Liu and Elder Song? Why can't I see them in this broad daylight?"

Elder Wu's back was drenched with cold sweat. He smiled and said, "Uhh... Maybe... They..."

"Humph!" The young man threw the three packages to the desk and said, "Refine these medicinal materials this month. The elder of the Elixir Room needs them next month. Do it as quick as you can! Are you clear?"

Elder Wu's face was full of bitterness. He said, "Uhh... Last month, we just had..."

"What?" The young man glared at him.

"Nothing. Rest assured, we'll definitely refine these in this month."

"Humph!" The young man swung his sleeve and scanned the crowd before he left on the sword.

After the man left, Elder Wu finally let out a sigh of relief. He shook his head while looking at the three big packages. The crowd dared not to say anything and left the room one after another.

"Well, you can go back now. Let's call it a day. You have classes tomorrow, and everyone will have to attend." Elder Wu waved his arm and said weakly.

At noon, Prince Zhao said, "I'm so hungry. Let's go. The mess hall seemed to be open today."

The disciples then walked to the mess hall of the Sunset Peak. The hall was clean and tidy inside, and the cooks were not bad. People were satisfied with this place. However, a few moments later...

"What? 20 taels of silver for a plate of shredded potato? Are you kidding me?"

"32 taels of silver for a dish of vegetables? Are you so poor that you even rob disciples?"

Looking at the swinging little wood plates that hung on the roof beam, the disciples felt desperate.

A cook smiled and said, "Nobody forced you to buy our meal. The vegetables on the Sunset Peak contained rich Spiritual Qi. You'll live a longer life after having our meal."

"Why don't you say that we'll directly become Immortals after having your meal?"

The disciples were still not buying it. The mess could not bully them just because they were Outer Disciples. Could they charge such an expensive price to those talented Inner Disciples?

At this point, three well-dressed people swaggered into the hall and said, "No money? How can you cultivate without money? I want Sliced Beef in Chili Oil, Braised Carp in Brown Sauce, Sauteed Shrimps, Steamed Chicken, and Fried Loquats with Noodles..."

The crowd in the hall stared agape at him. "Can you eat them all?"

"If I can't eat all of them, I'll just throw them away! The State of Zhao is vast in territory and rich in natural resources. We're wealthy enough to do this." He then whisked the lower hem of his robe and sat on the bench. However, before his buttocks touched the bench, he hurriedly stood up again, giggled and said, "Senior Brother Xiao, you sit first."

A man nearby sneered and said, "With you as a prince, the people in the State of Zhao can hardly earn a living and then starved to death with corpses all over your land."

"How dare you!" Prince Zhao slapped the table, and stood up again.

Xiao Chen coughed and knocked the table with chopsticks, saying, "He who doesn't fight with the others will make no mistake. This is the first commandment of cultivating. Bear it in mind."

"Hehe, Senior Brother is so right."

A few moments later, the waiter brought up a plate of unknown things. Prince Zhao looked at it and asked, "Why are here only Fried Loquats? Where are the noodles?"

The waiter glanced at him and said, "Noodles? Nah, we don't have noodles. The other food materials are not delivered yet either. We've only got this." He then walked back.

"Ahem, you have a good meal. I'm going back now."

After saying so, Xiao Chen left. Fortunately, when he returned to the courtyard, Lil Ruo had already prepared a full table of meals for him.

Xiao Chen asked in surprise, "Where did you get the pots, bowls, gourd ladle, and dishes?"

"He-he. I borrowed these from Elder Wu this morning."

"All right." Xiao Chen moved his chopsticks and thought, "Although Elder Wu looked tough, he is a nice person." He then thought of the purple mini cauldron, took it out from his chest, and put it on the table. The sun happened to slant through the window, and a tiny stream of purple smoke suddenly rose from the mini cauldron.