"Choosing a sect requires careful consideration. If chosen well, it's not impossible to achieve your wishes," a voice suddenly came from beside them.

Leaf Gray and Dawn Fielding turned their heads in surprise, astonished to find a fat man had appeared beside them at some point. He was smiling at them, his small eyes almost squeezed shut by the flesh on his face.

It was the very same fat man who had previously registered and verified the identities of the slaves.

When had he come over? Leaf Gray hadn't noticed at all.

"Greetings, Shixiong!" Dawn Fielding hurriedly bowed, her expression tense. Although she had opened several apertures, cultivators like the fat man were still lofty figures far beyond her reach, making her inevitably nervous now.

Leaf Gray also bowed.

"I heard you chatting animatedly and couldn't resist coming over to take a look. You don't mind, do you?" The fat cultivator patted his large belly with one hand, his expression amiable and kind.

"We wouldn't dare," Dawn Fielding quickly waved her hands. Despite her nervousness, her thinking remained clear. Realizing this was an opportunity, she intended to seek advice: "May I ask, Shixiong, what did you mean by those words just now?"

Although she knew more about the cultivation world than Leaf Gray, her knowledge was still limited. How could she compare to a bona fide The Firmament Palace disciple like the portly cultivator?

"Just the literal meaning. Want to know?" The fat cultivator smiled even more kindly. While verbally responding to Dawn Fielding, his gaze was fixed on Leaf Gray.

Leaf Gray didn't know why this guy was staring at him, always feeling he had some ulterior motive. But since it concerned his own future, he still said politely, "We ask Shixiong to enlighten us."

"If you want to know..." The fat cultivator amiably patted Leaf Gray's shoulder, "Then it depends on whether you have sufficient sincerity."

Sincerity?

Leaf Gray raised an eyebrow, recalling the first time he met this fat cultivator, when the other had stared at the storage bag at his waist.

Could it be? It shouldn't be like this, right?

He's a cultivator of profound cultivation, after all. Is it necessary for him to set his sights on a nobody like me?

But the implication in his words was very clear; anyone who wasn't a fool could hear it.

After a moment of silence, Leaf Gray tentatively raised his hand and reached into the storage bag at his waist. He noticed the fat cultivator's slit-like eyes slowly opened a little wider, and his smile became even more hearty.

He put his hand down, and the fat cultivator reverted to his previous expression.

He raised his hand again, and the fat cultivator's eyes opened a bit more...

After repeating this several times, Leaf Gray finally confirmed that things were really as he thought.

The fat cultivator, however, couldn't take it anymore. He had never seen someone like Leaf Gray who so blatantly toyed with people. Unhappily, he flicked his sleeve: "It seems you don't want to know."

But as soon as he turned, his hand felt heavy. The fat cultivator looked down and saw a bottle of Vermillion Dawn Pill had been stuffed into his hand. Standing before him, Leaf Gray wore an expression as if several pounds of flesh had been cut from him.

The fat cultivator couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth: "Is this your sincerity?"

What kind of crap is this? He had come over specifically, surely not for such a piece of junk!

"Then what does Shixiong want?" Leaf Gray asked.

The fat cultivator, thoroughly fed up with him, simply spelled it out: "Ore!"

Leaf Gray asked curiously, "A lofty personage like Shixiong can also take a fancy to those ores?"

The fat cultivator said, "Then you don't know. The ores produced by the The Lunar Blight vein are all premium quality, very rare. Furthermore, if you want information, you naturally have to pay a price. I can't just tell you this and that for nothing; we have no relationship to speak of."

"That makes sense." Leaf Gray nodded in agreement, casually took out a piece of ore from his storage bag, and handed it over to the fat cultivator.

The fat cultivator didn't accept it immediately. His eyes narrowed into slits as he shook his head faintly: "I don't see your sincerity."

"Such a big piece!" Leaf Gray held up the basin-sized ore – this was the largest piece of ore in his storage bag.

The fat cultivator hummed a little tune softly, ignoring him.

Leaf Gray couldn't help but click his tongue, his face a picture of heartache. He placed the ore in his hand on the ground by his feet and took out another piece of ore from his storage bag.

He had mined for over a year in the mine and had some understanding of these ores. Although he didn't know their exact value, the ones that were easy to find were certainly of lower value. The two ores he took out looked large, but in fact, they weren't rare when he was mining; they belonged to the type that was relatively easy to find.

There weren't many ores in Ryan Carter's storage bag, only five or six pieces, most of which were common types. In contrast, Manager Miller's storage bag contained not only more ores but also many rare items.

When the second piece of ore was taken out, a bit more smile appeared on the fat cultivator's face: "Kid, don't think I'm taking advantage of you. I'm doing this because I find you congenial, so I came specifically to give you some pointers. I am Morgan Sterling of The Righteous Path Gate, and I have some reputation in the Tranquil Province cultivation world. If others wanted my advice, I couldn't be bothered."

Beside them, Dawn Fielding, watching these two operate so blatantly in broad daylight, and hearing this fat cultivator repeatedly claim to be from The Righteous Path Gate, felt as if something in her heart had shattered.

Leaf Gray also found it a bit hard to take: "You're from The Righteous Path Gate?"

Where is your Noble Spirit of Righteousness?

As he spoke, he had already taken out a third piece of ore.

Morgan Sterling's eyes remained narrowed into slits, clearly still not seeing enough sincerity.

The corner of Leaf Gray's eye twitched. He wished he could pry the man's eyelids open to let him see clearly.

Helplessly, knowing he was certainly no match for the other, he took out a fourth piece, this time choosing a precious Magnetic Ore.

Morgan Sterling's eyebrows twitched slightly, maintaining the smile on his face.

Leaf Gray clapped his hands, pointing at the four pieces of ore on the ground: "Still not enough sincerity?"

Morgan Sterling smiled without speaking.

"Alright, then there's no other way." Leaf Gray sighed. Under the stunned gazes of Morgan Sterling and Dawn Fielding, he squatted down, put the first piece of ore he had taken out back into his storage bag, then looked up at Morgan Sterling: "Is it enough now?"

Morgan Sterling's eyes flew wide open, staring at Leaf Gray in shock, his mind in turmoil.

Dawn Fielding was also greatly startled by Leaf Gray's bizarre move, not understanding what this Brother Gray meant.

Leaf Gray then put the second piece of ore he had taken out back as well, and again looked up to ask Morgan Sterling: "Is it enough now?"

"I..." Morgan Sterling seemed to want to curse, but held the words back at the last moment, struggling to maintain his air of an expert, though his expression was already somewhat frantic.

Leaf Gray's devilish claws were already reaching for the third piece of ore when a hand pressed down on his arm. Leaf Gray looked up to see Morgan Sterling glaring at him, gnashing his teeth: "Enough! It's more than enough!"