The Strongest System

"Congratulations?"

"Now, how come it doesn’t seem that way then?" Lin Fan acted as though he did not understand and then looked around at the Jiuxiao Sect disciples. "These guys say that they’re here to offer their congratulations. Now, what they did present for gifts? Come, tell me."

It was time to make an example out of someone for the rest to be afraid.

Lin Fan was still not in the state whereby he’d kill someone just because of a few words of disagreement. If these Grandmasters deserved it, then so be it. But not all of their disciples under them were bad people.

And, things turned out pretty well just now. Even though Lin Fan did not kill for fun, a Grandmaster had jumped out to serve as fodder. Killing a few people here and there because of reasons like that was no issue for Lin Fan.

The 37 Grandmasters remaining were all pale right now.

They had not expected the other party to ask such a question.

The Grandmaster who had claimed to have given a chest of gold bars earlier on was looking especially grim right now.

If he had known earlier that things would turn out as such, even if he had 10 lives, he wouldn’t have dared to give just a chest of gold!

To mere commoners, a chest of gold bar might seem extremely precious. However, to a sect, it was just like a chest of useless metal without any bit of use.

Towards this, Grandmaster Hu let out a sigh of relief as well. Thinking back, all the other Grandmasters said they had given jewels or gold bars. At least he had given a 10-year-old cherry fruit.

A Jiuxiao Sect disciple stepped forth with a look of excitement on his face. Looking at these overbearing people earlier on, he shouted out loudly.

‘Red Cloud Sect. 10 Year Old Cherry Fruit!"

"Huodao Sect. A chest of gold bars!"

Listening to the announcements, Grandmaster Hu was relieved that he was still positioned at the top. Compared to the other sects, his gift was still comparably precious.

When he heard that Grandmaster Liu of Huodao Sect had only gifted a single chest of gold bars, he couldn’t help but turn his gaze towards this man. Oh, what a pitiful fate he was going to suffer.

Even though it was just a 10-year-old cherry fruit, it was still better than that chest of gold bars, heh.

But still, something was beginning to feel amiss to Grandmaster Hu. Why was this Jiuxiao Sect disciple not continuing with the announcements?

Grandmaster Hu was still waiting excitedly for the next announcements to come. If he recalled, someone had even mentioned gifting a coffin! Now THAT guy was going to get it bad.

At that thought, Grandmaster Hu couldn’t help but break out into a chuckle. At the same time, everyone else was chuckling at Grandmaster Hu and Grandmaster Liu.

"Senior Brother Lin. That’s all. Grandmaster Hu and Grandmaster Liu were the only two people who came with gifts." The Jiuxiao Sect disciple stopped.

The moment he heard this, Grandmaster Hu was stumped beyond words. What! How could this be? When they were chatting idly earlier on, everyone was talking about the gifts they had presented! How was it just down to him and Grandmaster Liu right now?

"What? I thought you guys said you were here to offer your congratulations? With not a single gift? Are you guys looking down on Jiuxiao Sect?" Even though Lin Fan’s voice was calm and casual, it lingered within everyone’s ears. The frostiness in his tone was enough to make their hearts freeze up.

"N-no! My gift is just not added in YET. I was just waiting to hand it to Grandmaster Xin personally after the ceremony!" One by one, the Grandmasters hurried to explain while heaving a sigh of relief at the same time. Whew! Thankfully they didn’t give any gift when they arrived. Otherwise, they would be in for it right now.

They had come here looking at Jiuxiao Sect like a piece of meat to be shared, so they didn’t even bother with preparing any gift or anything.

But when they heard Grandmaster Hu talk about gifting earlier on, it seemed to just be a joke to jeer at Jiuxiao Sect. Hence, they bragged proudly about how sh*tty their own ‘gifts’ were as well.

And of course, one Grandmaster even said that he had given them a coffin to gain the approval of the other Grandmasters present.

But now that things had changed, they were secretly relieved that they did nothing of the sort.

As for Grandmaster Hu and Grandmaster Liu, the both of them looked like they were going to be the ones in dire straits now.

"Oh? Okay, that’ll do then. So, what’s up with you guys then, Grandmaster Hu and Grandmaster Liu? 10-year-old cherry fruit? A chest of gold? Are you out to look down on my Brother here? How about this? I’ll carve the gift out of you guys. How about that?" Lin Fan said while glaring at these 2.

Suddenly, Grandmaster Hu’s expression changed as he turned around and barked fiercely at his disciples.

"Who gave the wrong gift?"

All the Red Cloud Sect disciples looked at one another nervously. Finally, a tactful disciple stood out and wept, "Oh, Grandmaster! My apologies! I was the one who made a mistake! You handed me a 10,000 year old cherry fruit, but I took out a 10 year old one by mistake! Please forgive me, Grandmaster!"

The moment Grandmaster Hu saw a disciple stepping out, he felt extremely heartened as well. At the same time, he made sure to remember the face of this disciple to reward him immensely when they returned to the sect. However, when he heard the 2nd half of the disciple’s response, he nearly puked out his guts.

10,000-year-old cherry fruit?!?

Holy fuck...!

A 10-year-old cherry was worth nothing.

A 100-year-old cherry was worth a little.

A 1,000-year-old cherry was worth pretty darn much.

And bloody hell, a 10,000-year-old cherry fruit?!? He would practically have to sell the entire sect for that item!

At this point, Grandmaster Hu’s body was shivering non-stop. He did not dare to correct his disciple outright, so all he could do was to shoot glares at his disciple, hinting for the latter to change his wordings.

As for the disciple, his smart brain caught on to his Grandmaster’s meaning immediately. Seemed like his Grandmaster was a generous man after all.

"Sorry, sorry, my bad!" The disciple shouted out once more.

The moment Grandmaster Hu heard his disciple, he let out a sigh of relief as well. Good lad, good lad.

"It was not a 10,000-year-old cherry! It was TWO 10,000-year-old cherries!"

Hearing this, Grandmaster Hu’s blood pressure spiked up instantly, and he had to forcefully gulp down his saliva.

TWO 10,000-YEAR-OLD CHERRIES! THIS...THIS...!

"Oh, generous you are indeed, Grandmaster Hu." Lin Fan spoke up.

Lin Fan knew of the 10,000-year-old cherry fruit. Glory Sect had those as well, but not too many, just 4.

It was an extremely precious item.

Grandmaster Hu felt like he was about to die, but he could only go along with it now, "N-no. It’s nothing much. I ought to. I ought to..."

As for the other Grandmasters, they were dumbfounded by Grandmaster Hu’s lavishness.

Two 10,000-year-old cherries! That was no bloody joke!

Red Cloud Sect would have to scrape at their treasure vaults to even afford those!

But the real question was, what were they supposed to give as presents now?!

"And you, Grandmaster Liu. A chest of gold huh? You’re quite generous HUH..." Lin Fan’s gaze was now at Grandmaster Liu.

In a panic, Grandmaster Liu turned behind to look at his bunch of disciples.

When one of them stepped up automatically, he was really heartened as well.

"Grandmaster, I’ve misheard you as well. When you asked for a chest of Yellow Goblins’ Spirits, I heard it as a chest of gold bars..."

"URGH...!"

Before his disciple had even finished, Grandmaster Liu spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and nearly lost his balance and collapsed onto the ground.

If not for the fact that there was someone nearby to help him up, he would have collapsed down and fainted over.

Looking at the scene before him, Lin Fan could not help but chuckle as well, "Grandmaster Liu, what are you spewing blood for?"

"I-I’m just overwhelmed with happiness over the new Grandmaster’s ascension!" Grandmaster Liu slowly caught his breath as he was determined to rip this disciple apart in his heart. Could this bloody guy be a spy sent from Jiuxiao Sect?!?

Holy f*ck! A chest of Yellow Goblins’ Spirits! He would have to expend almost 10% of the entire Huodao Sect just to purchase that!

"Oh! Then my gratitude to Grandmaster Liu too. I’ll let you carry on with the rest yourself, Brother Xinfeng." Lin Fan grinned widely.

"Yes!" Xinfeng looked at Lin Fan emotionally. Words could not even begin to illustrate the feelings that were bubbling within him right now.

As for the other Grandmasters, all of their hearts were grinding terribly. The gifts of these 2 men were more outrageous than the previous one! What were they supposed to do?

Bloody hell! They had come here expecting to grab a piece of Jiuxiao Sect’s pie. But to think that they would need to cough their lungs out for a gift in exchange. This...this...!

But even then, that man from Glory Sect was way too terrifying! He wasn’t someone they could afford to offend...

Translator’s Thoughts

Lam Lam

Hi guys! In case you’re wondering why the jump from ‘Gold Bars’ to ‘Yellow Goblins’ Spirits’. In Chinese, the raws for Gold Bars and Yellow Goblins sound the same as Huang Jin. Hence it was a pun.

As for sharper readers, notice something familiar? That’s right, it’s the same Huodao Sect that had pestered Gong Bingye earlier on. Hahaha! Cheers!