Chapter 537 Brought Home as a Younger Brother

"Truly, people destined for sainthood are never genuinely cheerful and open! They all hide so many devious thoughts!" Old Dong couldn't help but sigh. He even used a line from a currently viral song online. And it fit the situation perfectly. After all, the song "A Cheerful and Open Young Man" describes the author attending a script-killing party, only to feel like an outsider the whole time. While everyone else played the game with all their might, achieving their respective goals. Now, Old Dong and the other two were in the same predicament as the author in the song. Ying Chen and Zhang Daoling were locked in a struggle, both with hidden agendas and mysterious methods. Only Old Dong and his companions were like three cheerful, open young men, sitting on the side, utterly bewildered, like outsiders. "I'll take this Golden Seal Dharma Paper. As for the Ten Thousand-Corpse Golden Elixir, I obtained it through my own strength, and it has nothing to do with you. And the Purple Mansion Heavenly Master Sword and the Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal, they are my spoils of war, also unrelated to you. Speaking of which, we only have this scrap of toilet paper's worth of connection. This connection isn't deep enough!" Ying Chen put away the Golden Seal Dharma Paper and sighed. Zhang Daoling's corpse trembled again. Clearly, Ying Chen's words had struck a nerve. He had just said the Golden Seal Dharma Paper was incredibly rare, and now he was calling it toilet paper. Could Ying Chen be any more shameless? "Old Dong, how does that modern saying go? Buddhas don't look at money, they look at..." Ying Chen turned to Old Dong and asked. Old Dong immediately replied, "They look at 'yuan'! But not the 'yuan' of fate, but the 'yuan' of one hundred!" Ying Chen nodded with admiration, "Yes, yes, that's exactly it. It's incredibly insightful and brilliant. I wish brother Zhang could understand this saying." Zhang Daoling's corpse trembled again. If he could, he would have jumped up and pointed at Ying Chen's nose, demanding, "Who's your big brother? What kind of big brother do you have who not only robs tombs but also extorts people?" "Huh, it looks like brother Zhang is starting to understand. How about this, I'll do the talking, and brother Zhang will listen. If brother Zhang agrees, shake again." Ying Chen looked at Zhang Daoling's corpse and said with feigned surprise. Then Ying Chen continued leisurely, "Brother Zhang's plan spanning eighteen hundred years is indeed admirable. The only oversight was that brother Zhang's abilities are inferior to mine. Of course, there's no shame in that, as many people in this world are less capable than me, and you're just one of them." "..." Zhang Daoling's corpse shook again, this time so violently that the coffin itself moved, showing how furious Zhang Daoling was. He was a venerable sect founder, yet he was being told he was inferior to Ying Chen. Where would he save face? "Hmm, you don't agree? Then shall we have a contest?" Ying Chen squinted at Zhang Daoling. Zhang Daoling immediately became quiet, no longer trembling. What a joke, he was currently a living corpse with no abilities. The outcome of any contest was obvious: Ying Chen would dismember Zhang Daoling's corpse, strip off his robes, and sell his coffin! A person under someone else's roof has no choice but to yield, so Zhang Daoling could only swallow his anger. "That's more like it! Actually, since we're like brothers, I wouldn't want to do anything to harm a sibling." "Unless... someone pays more." "Of course, I hope the one paying more is you." "My good brother, do you understand?" "If you understand, shake once." Zhang Daoling became like a mobile phone set to vibrate mode, and under Ying Chen's incessant coaxing, he began to vibrate frequently. "I can leave you a sliver of life, and I can even personally protect you until the great upheaval of heaven and earth arrives. But you must repay the favor. Can you do that?" Buzz... "I don't fancy this robe of yours, but it is essentially my war prize. I can sell it to you at a brotherly price, and you can pay after you revive. Do you agree?" Buzz... "Your Phoenix Feather Golden Thunder Bamboo coffin is also my war prize. But I can rent it to you indefinitely to preserve your corpse from decay. The rental fee will also be payable after your revival. Do you agree?" Buzz... "Furthermore, I've set up a spiritual energy formation on a mountain peak. The spiritual energy from this formation can speed up your revival process, allowing you to revive on the very first day of the great upheaval of heaven and earth. You should understand the immense benefits of reviving early, but this is also a paid service. Do you agree?" Buzz buzz... buzz buzz... This time Zhang Daoling's corpse trembled four times, clearly showing Zhang Daoling was becoming impatient. Because Ying Chen's offer was too tempting! It was like playing a game, why do many players insist on being the first to reach max level and get the best gear? It's because being a step ahead allows for a snowball effect of overwhelming advantage, dominating the world from then on. The spiritual energy revival is the same. Even reviving just a day earlier could bring immense benefits to an ancient monster like Zhang Daoling! "Don't get excited, this is all I should do, who made us brothers?" "Oh, and since we're chatting so congenially and having such a good time, why don't we become sworn brothers? You'll call me big brother, and I'll call you little brother. If I tell you to go east, you won't go west. If I tell you to chase a dog, you won't chase a chicken. How about it?" Zhang Daoling stopped trembling this time. Because Ying Chen wasn't proposing a brotherhood; he was trying to take a subordinate! He was treating Zhang Daoling as his henchman, his enforcer! How could a venerable sect founder be reduced to someone's subordinate? Zhang Daoling would rather die than comply. "Oh, it seems I was thinking too highly of myself. I thought our bond had reached the point of becoming sworn brothers!" Ying Chen said with disappointment. "If that's the case, then I can only treat you as a competitor in business. I'll place ten or eight restrictions on you, and then bury you in a volcanic rock pool. When you revive, after you've paid what you owe, I'll detonate the restrictions and trigger the lava, extinguishing you. After all, who would want a powerful competitor in the future?" Buzz buzz buzz buzz... Zhang Daoling's corpse vibrated as if it were a mobile phone on ten times speed, causing the entire platform holding the coffin to shake. This showed how anxious and terrified Zhang Daoling was. Ying Chen's move was truly insidious! It was even more hateful than directly snuffing out Zhang Daoling's chance of revival! It was like giving someone hope and then plunging them into the abyss! Zhang Daoling absolutely could not accept this! "Alas, you don't agree with this, nor that. What do you want?" "I'll give you one last chance. If you want to be my subordinate, shake once; if you want to be suppressed by me after reviving, shake twice." Buzz! Zhang Daoling vibrated once. He finally compromised with Ying Chen! Agreeing to become Ying Chen's subordinate after the spiritual energy revival! Of course, he might be pretending to agree. In reality, he might turn against Ying Chen as soon as he revived. But how could Ying Chen not anticipate what he was thinking? So Ying Chen, with a serious expression, walked up to Zhang Daoling's corpse and grabbed Zhang Daoling's ring finger. "Since you agree to become sworn brothers, we must be serious and solemn. We can't just have a verbal agreement." "We must... swear with blood!"