Volume One, Chapter 46: The Cursed Clouds of Penglai

Zhou Ping now suffered a stress response merely upon hearing the word "foundation."

A moment of distraction caused his internal spiritual power to riot, almost making him lose his mental composure. He hurriedly closed his eyes and concentrated to regulate his breath.

After quite a while, he managed to stabilize his condition and gasped, "What did you say? A foundation... a great philanthropist?"

Ouyang Chu said as if it were only natural, "Right, is there a problem?"

Zhou Ping sneered, "That joke is not funny at all!"

Ouyang Chu: "???"

He finally noticed something was amiss. After observing Zhou Ping's condition, he let out a soft hiss, "The pill you took seems to have rather mediocre effects. It wasn't issued by the foundation, was it?"

Zhou Ping: "..."

Ouyang Chu frowned slightly. "Your injuries... a single Yuxu Pill probably won't suffice. Fortunately, this old man has an unused spare. Consider it lent to you! You must return it in the future!"

With that, he flipped his hand to produce an orange-yellow pill and used his spiritual power to send it right before Zhou Ping.

"This medicinal fragrance..."

Zhou Ping's eyes widened instantly. Even before tasting it, he could instantly tell that the quality of this Yuxu Pill was of the highest grade.

It was incomparably superior to the trash he had spent ten thousand spirit stones on.

The effect would be at least fifty percent stronger.

As Ouyang Chu lent the pill to Zhou Ping, he caught a trace of gratitude in the other's eyes, yet more of it was... pity and sympathy.

Ouyang Chu: "???"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"How much did you pay for this pill?" Zhou Ping's lips twitched involuntarily.

Buying that kind of garbage-tier Yuxu Pill had cost him ten thousand spirit stones.

The quality of this one was so much higher.

How could it cost anything less than fifty or a hundred thousand?

Seeing his old rival get heavily scammed, Zhou Ping felt not only a secret thrill of schadenfreude, but even more so, a sense of relief and sympathy.

Yet unexpectedly.

Upon hearing Zhou Ping's words.

Ouyang Chu chuckled a few times. "Pay money? What money? The people from the foundation gave it to me! They gave me three pills in total... and dragged this old man right back from the gates of hell!"

Zhou Ping: "???"

Ouyang Chu continued, "Oh, right, they even thoughtfully fed me nourishing sun broth to soothe the abyssal cold force inside my body..."

Zhou Ping: "???"

Ouyang Chu added, "To be honest, in all my life, apart from when I was a child by my parents' side, I have never been taken care of like this! At the time, I wanted to give them my last remaining magical treasure, the Azure Silk Jade Pendant, to show my gratitude, but they stubbornly refused no matter what. Tell me... how embarrassed does that make me? I owe them a massive favor now!"

Zhou Ping: "!!!"

Looking at Ouyang Chu, he desperately wanted to say: *Go on, keep making things up.*

If I hadn't seen the true colors of those people from the foundation myself,

I might have actually believed you!

***

Just at that moment.

"Senior Ouyang!" A young girl in a white robe ran over quickly, fine beads of sweat dotting her forehead. Reaching them, she let out a sigh of relief. "So you were here! I thought something had happened to you!"

Ouyang Chu smiled warmly. "Thank you for troubling yourself, Little Rou. I ran into an old friend and chatted for a bit, nothing major!"

Little Rou glanced at Zhou Ping, nodded in sudden realization, and then instructed, "Senior Ouyang, your injuries have not fully healed yet. You should go back and lie down. Later on, we'll have specialized personnel come give you a massage so you can recover faster... and avoid leaving behind any sequelae."

Zhou Ping: "???"

Ouyang Chu thanked her repeatedly. "Oh my, oh my, how could I be so presumptuous? Thank you so much! I'll finish chatting with my old friend and head right back!"

"Hurry up then!"

"Alright, alright!"

"..."

Watching Little Rou's departing figure, Zhou Ping stared blankly.

Ouyang Chu glanced at him. "At your age, what are you staring at? Looking to graze on tender grass?"

"..." Zhou Ping's face twitched. "Which foundation is she from?"

"The Langya Foundation, of course. Which else could it be?"

"..."

Seeing the other man's constipated expression, Ouyang Chu seemed to understand something, the corners of his mouth curling upward uncontrollably. "Were you... saved by that so-called Penglai Yunhai Foundation?"

Zhou Ping: "..."

He chose silence, unwilling to answer.

But in Ouyang Chu's eyes, this was already a tacit admission.

Connecting this to Zhou Ping's previous remarks,

Certain truths suddenly came to light!

"Could that garbage Yuxu Pill of yours also have been given by them?"

"Wait, no... don't tell me you actually *paid money* to buy that piece of trash?"

Zhou Ping turned around silently, fuming with anger and refusing to speak.

"No way, no way. The dignified Grand Elder Zhou actually fell for it and became a fat sheep?"

Ouyang Chu beamed with smiles and spun around to follow him. "How much did it cost? Care to share?"

"Five hundred spirit stones?"

"One thousand?"

"Three thousand?"

"That piece of crap couldn't possibly have cost you ten thousand spirit stones a piece, could it?"

Zhou Ping: "...Ou-what's-his-name, your damn talking is getting a bit excessive!"

Seeing his livid complexion,

Ouyang Chu knew his guess was almost spot on. He felt a sense of exhilaration reach its absolute peak, laughing out loud and stamping his feet repeatedly.

Zhou Ping grew increasingly depressed, his face turning an alarming shade of black.

***

Damn it!

Both are foundations, why must the gap be this massive?

The others hand out pills, brew soup, and give massages—putting customer care to the ultimate standard!

While this goddamned Penglai Yunhai Foundation swindles, extorts, and coerces!

There is no comparison without harm!

Are these people even human?

How dare they operate under the banner of a charitable foundation?

Of all people, *he* had to bump into this exact bunch!

What the hell!

The more he thought about it, the more utterly suffocating it felt!

...

Similar scenes were constantly playing out across the numerous islands of the Xingluo Archipelago.

Although the Langya Charitable Foundation and the Penglai Yunhai Foundation had divided their rescue zones and kept to their own paths,

cultivators move around.

Especially since the ties between these islands were originally very close.

Before long,

the starkly contrasting attitudes and styles of the two foundations caused a huge uproar.

"Holy shit! The Langya Foundation is giving away Yuxu Pills for free?"

"Holy shit! Is that for real? This lord had to spend a full twenty thousand spirit stones just to buy one!"

"Holy shit! The Langya Foundation even boils soup for you to drink, and those managers are more considerate and gentle than the last!"

"That is way too awesome! I just saw two managers from Penglai Yunhai get into a physical fight over a badly injured cultivator's magical treasure!"

"Comparison really kills a man! Are we sure both of these are charitable foundations?"

"This is too absurd! The three major merchant alliances behind Penglai Yunhai joined forces, and their financial resources far exceed Langya's. Whenever they raise donations, it's always hundreds of thousands or millions... yet when disaster relief comes, they hand out defective Huiyuan Pills?"

"Wait, where on earth did their spirit stones go?"

"Do you even have to ask? Langya is genuinely burning money to do charity, while Penglai's bastards actually manage to turn a profit during disaster relief! It's an absolute joke!"

"Penglai Yunhai, you sons of bitches, get lost! We don't want your help!"

"We want the Langya Foundation! Penglai Yunhai, get out of here!"

"..."

For a time, similar voices echoed across all the major islands.

Zhang Yang and other members of the Penglai Yunhai Foundation, who were grinning from ear to ear as they calculated their recent profits, suddenly felt a chill run down their spines, a strong sense of foreboding surging in their hearts!