Chapter 143: The Distribution
What remained was the question of how many Youth Preservation Fruits each side would get. For Leo, this wasn't something he absolutely had to fight for. Their strength spoke for itself — at least two or three fruits would come their way. One more or one less didn't make much difference to him.
What he cared about was using his share of the allocation as an excuse to get close to the Youth Preservation Fruit tree — and those one or two seedlings. With his alchemy skills, even if he had seven or eight fruits, nine times out of ten he'd end up with nothing but waste pills. Only by growing the tree inside his boundary space could he successfully refine Youth Preservation Pills. As for Quincy, he preferred to keep his distance. Making an enemy of Lowell over her would be a pointless disaster.
When the Demonic Sun Sect and Void Heaven disciples saw Ethan appear, they stopped fighting and pulled back to a safe distance from the Ancient Sword Sect, their expressions uncertain. The situation had spiralled beyond their control. Whether it was Ethan, that freakishly strong prodigy, or the equally formidable squad of Palace core disciples, either side alone was more than enough to crush whatever alliance they could muster.
Seeing that the fighting had stopped, Ethan relaxed slightly. As long as no one else interferes, he thought, with another core disciple and a sword formation on his side, he might not have to fear the Palace. He spoke up. "Since our two sects together can crush everyone else here, hoarding all the treasures wouldn't look good. Here's my offer — the Ancient Sword Sect takes five fruits. The other three go to the Palace. You can figure out how to split them with the cultivators from the other sects."
This kid may be young, but he's got a deep bag of tricks. Leo's heart tightened. On the surface, their strength was roughly equal to Ethan's side. But they lacked anyone who could match Ethan in a one-on-one fight. And the Ancient Sword Sect's reputation alone was enough to keep the other cultivators in line. If Ethan had proposed a straight two-way split, the others would have grumbled but swallowed it. But by taking five fruits and then washing his hands of the rest, Ethan was forcing Quincy into a corner. If she took all three remaining fruits, she'd earn the hatred of every other sect present. That was exactly the outcome Ethan wanted.
Quincy, Lowell, and Vera all exchanged uneasy glances. They'd realized it too. After several brushes with death, the three of them had grown up fast.
"Leo, what do we do?" Quincy shot him an annoyed look.
Lowell felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Something must have happened while he was unconscious after Monty's ambush. A lot of things he didn't know about. He couldn't very well ask. Now he had no choice but to swallow his pride. It was becoming clear that Leo was more than just an ordinary core disciple. Quincy had never cared about his opinion this much.
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"Give up one fruit," Leo said without hesitation. "If we take all three, we fall right into Ethan's trap."
"Give one up?" Quincy's irritation flared. "There's more than just the four of us in this squad. Even among us four, how would we split two?"
"Every woman wants to look beautiful," Leo replied. "Especially female cultivators. If we end up with two, I'm willing to step back. Lowell probably is too. Senior Sister Quincy and Junior Sister Vera can compensate us with some spiritual herbs. How about that?"
Quincy considered it. "That could work. Fine."
"Agreed. We'll do as Leo says."
Vera nodded, a smile spreading across her face. Leo had saved them more than once. If he had insisted on taking a fruit for himself, neither she nor Quincy could have refused. With her strength and background, she knew she couldn't compete with Quincy — even going up against Lowell would be a stretch. But with Leo's proposal, Quincy had agreed, and that left Lowell out of the conversation. Vera was the biggest winner in this arrangement. She shot Leo a grateful glance.
Lowell's heart sank. Only now did he realize that among the four of them, he had become... redundant.
When Ethan heard their decision, surprise flickered across his face. By rights, Quincy's group was nearly as strong as his own. They could have easily taken all three remaining fruits. But that would have turned the other sects against them. By giving up one fruit, the Palace had defused that trap. And now the scattered cultivators, unable to challenge the Palace, turned their attention to the last remaining fruit, arguing among themselves, faces red, neither side willing to back down. But how fiercely they fought no longer mattered to Leo or Ethan.
Both the Ancient Sword Sect and the Palace sent one person forward to harvest the fruits. Leo volunteered. Quincy, Vera, and the others were surprised but didn't hesitate to agree. As Leo carefully collected the fruits, he also bent down and gently dug up a small seedling from beneath the tree, placing it into a jade box. The sight drew a wave of amused laughter.
"Senior Brother Leo," Vera whispered as she took the fruits he handed back, "those seedlings aren't worth anything. There's a reason Youth Preservation Pills are rarer than Foundation Establishment Pills. The trees have extremely strict environmental requirements. Once you take them out of the soil, they lose all their spiritual energy and wither within half an hour."
"Oh?" Leo feigned embarrassment. "I didn't know that. Now I've made a fool of myself for nothing."
But in truth, he had already slipped the seedling into his boundary space. Ripening it would cost a fortune in spirit stones. If he could have gotten away with it, he would have taken the whole mature tree to save himself the expense.
"You should be embarrassed," Lowell snorted, crossing his arms and looking away in disgust. "What a disgrace."
But Solon, Quiver, and even Quincy were grinning, barely holding back their laughter. After all, Leo had always appeared so calm and clever in front of them. Seeing him make such a basic, foolish mistake was strangely endearing.
"Who makes the decisions in your Palace squad?" Ethan asked, eyeing the strange group with curiosity.
Lowell opened his mouth, then thought better of stepping forward. He looked to Quincy. But to his bitter dismay, Quincy, Vera, Solon, Quiver — all of them — turned their eyes to Leo.
"Senior Brother Leo," Solon said quickly, "stop trying to dodge it. If it weren't for you, we'd all be dead by now."
Leo felt a flash of embarrassment. There was no avoiding it. He steeled himself and stepped forward. "What advice does Senior Brother Ethan have for me?"