The fowl looked at Li Qiye with one eye and said: “Hehehe, damned crow, invite you in for a bit?” It paused for a bit and loudly said: “We must be sick in the head to let you in. Haven’t you borrowed enough immortal crystal from us already yet you still want more? Plus, what if you don’t leave until you get what you want, what are we going to do then?!” “I’m really someone like that?” Li Qiye smiled and said: “I’m always open and honest with a penchant for fairness...” “Yeah, you’re someone like that!” The fowl interrupted Li Qiye without giving him any face. Li Qiye was as carefree as always: “There’s no free lunch in this world. You can say that I did borrow a lot of immortal crystals from you cheapskates and never gave them back, but after the long years, shouldn’t you all be thanking me?” “Thanking you, my ass!” The fowl snorted: “Back in the Ancient Ming Era, you borrowed so much resources from us. Just that portion alone is enough to start a world!” “Exaggerating again?” Li Qiye shook his head:” That’s indeed the case but it was only a dozen or so crystals, the other stuff are just scraps.” “Scraps?!” The fowl had a bigger reaction this time and jumped up high. It stretched out its neck and screeched: “I hope the heaven kills you, damned crow! You dare to say scraps?! Those are precious materials of the Immortal Emperor level! Go die already!” “I’m just telling the truth. Compared to the special crystals here, the other materials are just scraps.” Li Qiye ignored the fowl and said: “In my eyes, the immortal crystals are the real goods here.” “Hmph, you got enough crystals already just from the Ancient Ming Era. A dozen? Damned crow? Not even talking about the other times, you still haven’t paid back one from that period!” The fowl was exasperated. “I don’t have any left. Remember, I was the one who ended the Ancient Ming Era and swept away the darkness. If it wasn’t for me, can your mine still be so peaceful and you old chicken can sleep like this? No chance! Then, why should I need to repay you?” Li Qiye nonchalantly stated. “Hmph, we knew you would renege on your debt. Every single time, always some excuses to not pay back!” The aggrieved fowl felt helpless as well. Li Qiye continued: “How can you say that instead of thanking me? Yes, I do borrow a lot of crystals but think about it, if Immortal Emperors had come to harass you every once in a while, or, if I had gathered the legions of the nine worlds to attack your place, how many generations would this place last? How many crystals would be required to make up for the loss? There are two sides to everything, good and bad, so you shouldn’t latch on to the bad all the time. Focus on the good now. For millions of years, because of me, you were able to have peace. Thus, lending me the crystals isn’t a loss at all. Am I right?” Li Qiye smirked at this point. “Crow, you’re a goddamned bastard, a bloodsucking devil!” The fowl indignantly shouted. “I know I’m a bastard.” Li Qiye smiled leisurely: “But, now that you got your yelling done, no longer angry, right? It’s time to talk business.” “Hmph, you’re just here to borrow more crystals. Well, in this generation, we can only give you five crystals since you borrowed already two generations ago. Yes, five at the most!” The fowl knew what Li Qiye was here for but he had to acquiesce. Li Qiye indeed came here for the so-called “scraps” back in Immortal Emperor Yin Tian’s generation. Of course, these scraps were precious immortal items if others were to find them. The crystal eighteen cannons of the Yu were made from the scraps of the Crystalfowl Immortal Mine! “Five is not enough to satiate my appetite.” Li Qiye shook his head and refused. The fowl glared at him in response: “Crow, you should stop borrowing from us so much. Remember, last time you promised us to bring the escapees back but I don’t see them right now yet you have the face to come and borrow more?” “I know.” Li Qiye chuckled: “But that’s two different matters. I only promised to find them back then but I couldn’t so how am I going to catch and bring them back here?” The fowl guarding here wasn’t afraid of people sneaking in or invaders. Its job was to stop people from inside running to the outside world! “Hmph, I don’t believe your lies. There are things you can’t find in this world? No way, it’s just that you never really tried to search for them.” It snorted in response. Li Qiye shook his head: “It’s all in the past now, no need to talk about it. Let’s focus on the immortal crystals, I need a certain number this time.” 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖 “Five, that’s the max.” The fowl said: “That’s the number we negotiated back then. Even when Immortal Emperors pushed it, whether they even got five or not was situational. And since you have borrowed some recently, all you can get is five now.” The immortal mine wouldn’t necessarily cave into Immortal Emperors’ demands. There were strict standards in play. “You want to chase me away with five? Impossible since I want to go all out in this generation. My supreme formation requires a large number of immortal crystals.” Li Qiye said slowly. The fowl stared at him before conceding: “Okay, damned crow, give me a number so we can negotiate but don’t push your luck. We don’t have that many.” “Not much, just one hundred. That’s enough.” Li Qiye revealed. “One hundred!?” The fowl screamed again with a long and piercing harshness. After a long time, it took a deep breath and said: “Crow, that’s not funny at all. Try again!” “I’m not joking.” Li Qiye emphasized. The fowl gave a careful stare and eventually found that he wasn’t messing around, judging from his expression. “There’s no way.” It coldly refused: “We can give you fifteen at best, just fifteen.” “One hundred, I must have one hundred.” Li Qiye didn’t relent. “Twenty, no more. Crow, this is the limit and we’re only doing this to give you some face. Otherwise, even the strongest emperor wouldn’t get this number!” The fowl said firmly. “I’m not leaving without one hundred.” Li Qiye gently shook his head with the same unyielding attitude. “Crow, don’t take a mile when we’re giving you an inch.” The fowl turned cold: “For millions of years now, our cooperation can be regarded as beneficial so that’s why we accede to your pleas for crystals. However, asking for one hundred is simply crossing the line. You’re not just robbing us at this point but simply wanting to kill us!’ Li Qiye stared straight at the fowl and said: “Fowl, it’s not easy to hide anything from me. Let us talk numbers then. No need to talk about ancient eras. All of you had only escaped here so I can understand it was hard at the beginning. However, you have some reserves now, especially after the Emperors Era when it was peaceful. It should have been a handsome harvest and I should be given credit for it. Now onto the numbers, your production should be around ten if slow in one generation, twenty if fast. Of course, your nest does consume some so you keep at least eight each generation. This is a conservative number. Of course, when I come to borrow, I go even lower at five. That shouldn’t be a problem at all. After some gains and losses across the generations, in my calculation, you should have around two hundred crystals in stock. Of course, if you were lucky, the number should be around three hundred.” He paused for a moment here: “Even if you have two hundred crystals, all I’m asking for is one hundred. That’s not unreasonable, I’m still leaving some leeway.”