An Lin faltered for a full three seconds upon hearing this.
He was still waiting for praise from all of his friends, but they chose to champion Little Xie instead?
“What… Why is it Little Xie? Shouldn’t it be me? I’m Little Xie’s Master!” An Lin argued.
“Little Xie is Little Xie, and you are you. Little Xie is now an independent life form after successfully nurturing her spirit,” Liu Qianhuan said with a dainty smile.
She was trying to curry Little Xie’s favor in order to be able to hug her again.
Everyone nodded in agreement with Liu Qianhuan’s statement.
“Even if you did contribute somewhat, at most, your achievements would earn you half a tree out of the three heavenly peaches trees, which means that two and a half of them should still go to Little Xie!” Xu Xiaolan analyzed.
This was quite a fair evaluation. An Lin had no choice but to accept this harsh reality.
“Alright, how many heavenly peaches should Little Xie get then?”
He massaged his brows as he spoke.
“A few dozen at least.”
“Over a hundred!”
“Even two hundred is reasonable!”
All of the sect members voiced their opinions.
An Lin made a compromise between all of the suggestions. “Then we’ll go with a hundred heavenly peaches!”
Immediately afterward, all of the members who had participated in the battle for heavenly peaches received their rewards according to their contributions.
An Lin received sixty-four heavenly peaches, Xu Xiaolan, Su Qianyun, Xuanyuan Cheng, and Liu Qianhuan each received twenty, Tina received ten, Da Bai and Xiao Chou literally did nothing, so they each received only five.
The twelve cheerleaders of the sect each received three heavenly peaches.
All of the mighty figures around them were green with envy upon seeing them.
Even the members who hadn’t participated in the activity received three heavenly peaches each! That was what everyone had been allocated from the start.
They were receiving double the amount just for being in the Four Nine Immortal Sect!
Aside from that, An Lin gifted the Ten-Thousand Spirits Immortal Sect, the Vermilion Bird Sect, and the Mythological Beast Sect five heavenly peaches each. He also gifted ten heavenly peaches to the West Sea Alliance. The Heavenly Sword Sect also received a gift in the form of a disdainful glance.
An Lin was gifting them these heavenly peaches as a gesture of gratitude for standing with the Four Nine Immortal Sect during their time of need.
This made his attitude quite clear. All those who stood with the Four Nine Immortal Sect would also have benefits coming their way!
These were all friends and allies anyway, so An Lin was happy to part with the heavenly peaches.
As for the remaining hundred and forty-five heavenly peaches, all of them were added to their sect’s resources and would be given to sect members who made important contributions.
After distributing all of the heavenly peaches, An Lin sat back in his chair. “Little Xie is still young, so I’ll take care of her heavenly peaches in her stead for now.”
Tina blinked her beautiful emerald eyes as she tapped a thoughtful finger on her chin. “Why does that sound so familiar?”
Everyone: “…”
Right at this moment, the Evil-Slaying Sword tremored gently.
A little girl in a black dress appeared before An Lin and looked at him with her dead fish eyes as she extended her soft, chubby hands.
“What are you doing, Little Xie? Get back quickly! There are many people itching to hug you here!” An Lin cautioned in a low voice.
“Don’t play dumb. Hand over the heavenly peaches,” Little Xie said in a cold voice.
An Lin: “… You’re so small, how are you going to be able to carry so many heavenly peaches?”
Little Xie patted the Evil-Slaying Sword. “There’s a storage space here.”
An Lin was astonished. “Why do I not know about this?!”
“It’s exclusive to me! Do you think it’s something anyone can access?” Little Xie chuckled coldly.
She picked up one of the fruits on the table as she spoke before tossing it toward the Evil-Slaying Sword, upon which the fruit disappeared following a burst of spatial fluctuations.
An Lin stared blankly at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
He felt like he had been abandoned by the Evil-Slaying Sword… He was its master for God’s sake!
Why was he not even aware of the fact that the Evil-Slaying Sword had a storage space?!
An Lin had no choice but to hand over the heavenly peaches before loading them into Little Xie’s Evil-Slaying Sword.
Little Xie sat down on a chair and nibbled on a heavenly peach with an elated expression on her face. The exquisite taste and texture of the spirit fruit gave her an immense sense of enjoyment, and she narrowed her big, adorable eyes.
“Hmm… This fruit is quite delicious…”
Liu Qianhuan produced a heavenly peach with an eager expression on her face. “Little Xie, Big Sister has more heavenly peaches for you here. I’ll give it to you if you agree to let me hug you!”
“Heh, idiot! I still have ninety-nine left! Piss off!” Little Xie rolled her eyes at Liu Qianhuan before turning down her offer.
“Big Sister, Big Sister, I would be happy to take your deal! If you give me that heavenly peach, you can hug me for all of eternity!” Xue Zhantian flapped his little wings, and he spoke in a sweet voice as he looked at Liu Qianhuan with an adorable expression.
His position as the most adorable creature in the Four Nine Immortal Sect was under threat, and he was struck by a sense of insecurity and urgency as a result.
“You?” Liu Qianhuan shot a glance at Xue Zhantian before picking up a grape from the table. “A hug from you is only worth this much!”
Boom!
Xue Zhantian felt as if his head had been struck by lightning, and he instantly lost all of his vigors as he lay on the table with a suicidal expression on his face.
“You’re all cruel, heartless people who do away with the old in preference for the new! All of you loved to hug me before, waah…”
In that instant, Xue Zhantian realized he had lost the former love and adoration afforded to him, and he immediately began to howl tearfully.
Everyone ignored him.
The Celestial Thearch stood up with a smile on his face. “Thus concludes our battle for the heavenly peaches. All of the powers gathered here have had a chance to interact on a friendly basis with one another, thereby improving the relationships and unity between all sects, as well as furthering your relationships and understanding of one another…”
An Lin looked at the bruised and battered contestants, as well as the resentful expressions on many people’s faces, and he was quite astonished. “Increased unity and understanding? Where? Why does it look to me like they’re about to start a war?!”
At this moment, a pleasant, flowing voice sounded from behind him.
“It’s all just a guise. Do you think the Heavenly Peach Banquet is really an event held by the Heavenly Court to unify all of the sects across the continent?”
An Lin turned to discover a beautiful woman in a plain daoist robe behind him.
“Is there a hidden conspiracy behind this Heavenly Peach Banquet, human piggy bank?” An Lin was astonished.
The woman’s face immediately darkened upon hearing this. “Call me Celestial Maiden Tian Yu!”
“Celestial Maiden Tian Yu!” An Lin amended obediently.
“The Heavenly Peach Banquet is held in order to increase the Heavenly Court’s influence over the entire continent, as well as to generate some animosity between the sects and instigate some conflicts,” Lin Junjun said with a meaningful smile.
“Think about it, if all of the sects within the Kingdom of the Nine States become very friendly with one another to the point where they began to unify, they would become too powerful for the Heavenly Court to govern.”
Lin Junjun’s words instantly enlightened An Lin and the others.
“Should you really be telling us these things so blatantly?” An Lin was a little surprised that Lin Junjun would be willing to disclose so much.
“We’re all friends here. Besides, do you really think those old monsters across the Kingdom of the Nine States won’t know what we’re up to? They know what’s going on, but they just turn a blind eye to it.” Lin Junjun splayed her hands open with a smile.
An Lin stroked his chin and nodded. “Alright, I understand now, but why are you here? You can’t be here just to tell me all this.”
“You’re right, I’m here to propose a deal to you,” Lin Junjun said with a mysterious expression.
“What kind of deal?” An Lin asked with a cautious expression, “My body is not up for sale!”
Lin Junjun’s chest constricted. “Who the f*ck would want you?!”
“Then what kind of deal is this?” An Lin asked again.
“I have extremely important insider information on the events to come, and I’m willing to disclose it to you for two Chef God dishes. What do you think?” Lin Junjun offered in a quiet voice.
An Lin: “…”