Chapter 40 - 'Small Condition'

…

"W-What conditions does Your Excellency have…?"

The elders felt goosebumps and grew wary, the infamous Karmic Banisher listing a 'small condition'?

The tribe elders grew up listening to the tales of Li Qu's deeds and rumors. Furthermore, they were rather familiar with what 'small conditions' that powerhouses would usually state.

There were plenty of stories throughout the Heaven Realms of the bigshots listing apparent small conditions.

The most unforgettable story about a powerhouse listing his small conditions, was from the Heavenly Emperor of the Karmic Palace.

Back when the Heavenly Emperor was being pursued by his enemies after falling into a trap, he ran for three days and three nights and nearly died to his pursuers.

After the reinforcements he had called for help arrived, the situation was reversed after a few long hours of fighting. The Heavenly Emperor had won and imprisoned all his enemies.

The captured enemies begged for mercy, claiming they had an eighty year-old mother and five kids to take care of at home so they could not die, but the Heavenly Emperor simply smiled and listed a 'small condition' for them to fulfill if they wanted to live.

They all hastily agreed and till date, the eight generations of the captured enemies were still in the Immortal Jade and Spirit Stone mines, laboring away for the rest of their lives to nick the cultivator's currency forever.

It was an uneventful but memorable story that reminded fellow cultivators to always take precaution and ask in detail when experts listed their 'small conditions'.

Li Qu clearly knew about the notorious 'small conditions' stories and had purposefully teased them.

Li Qu's smile was dazzling to the unknown, but to the known, it was like a smiling devil tempting one to jump into the hole that they dug themselves.

"Ah, I have not thought of it yet. I will think about it and list it next time."

The sound of hearts beating nervously from the elders was heard throughout the silent and oppressing atmosphere in the room, their backs were covered in cold sweat.

"Your Excellency, p-please don't tease us anymore… We are just worthless ants in your eyes! Can you please just state your condition…?"

An elder plucked up his courage and mentioned meekly with trembling legs.

Li Qu laughed and stopped his teasing.

"Haha, alright. This is something beneficial to all of you anyway. I have a teahouse that I run on Earth…"

He proceeded to explain the details about his teahouse and the tea he was selling.

"...In short, I want all of you to frequent my teahouse and stop remaining in seclusions."

The tribe elders listened quietly in focus and tried to find any loopholes or things that Li Qu would exploit them of, but failed to notice anything that would be malicious towards them.

"...That's it? Your Excellency, please forgive me for being untactful, but isn't this just plainly beneficial to us?"

Donaer Cerle asked in incredulity as the puzzled elders nodded their heads as well in agreement, they simply could not believe something as good as this happening to them for free.

"Do not fret too much about it, I have my own plans. Just know that it is indeed beneficial to all of you."

Li Qu waved off their doubts and stated.

They believed that Li Qu would definitely not lie to them, a powerhouse at his level would not go through such elaborate means to bring harm upon people that he could kill in a blink of an eye.

Although there were people that would really do that out of boredom or entertainment, Li Qu was not one of those maniacs.

Although his reputation was horrifying, however, there were no news of him killing the innocents unjustly or torturing enemies just for the sake of it.

Donaer Cerle took the lead and gave a bow to thank Li Qu, the elders followed suit soon after.

"We thank Your Excellency in advance, please do let us know if you need any help no matter how small, to thank you for your benevolence!"

Li Qu looked at the white bearded Elf Magus and spoke,

"Hmmm… I will take you up on your offer, there actually is something I would appreciate a helping hand for."

Li Qu stated his request and soon healed them back to their peak without any hidden injuries left, including Cal Cal.

"I will do my best to assist you! Please rest assured, Your Excellency!"

Donaer Cerle spoke with confidence and pride of an Elf Magus.

"Then, I will leave it up to you in the future. My waitress will be in your hands."

As Xia Qiu had the Endless Icefire Physique, elements with conflicting nature, an Elf Magus like Donaer Cerle would certainly be a good teacher for her with his very existence being in conflict, but at the same time, harmonious.

He would teach her how to unify and resonate her powers to her maximum capability and potential.

After all was said and done, the elders left gratefully to do their own things.

Only the original two, Cal Cal and Melian Aelfis remained inside the room.

Cal Cal bugged Li Qu to bring her out after he healed her injuries too.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency! Bring me out to explore! I've been cooped up in this place for so long that the human civilizations outside must've gone through major changes!"

The time period of 500 years was enough to leave many things in the dust, civilizations could rise and fall within this period, and technologies were ever-progressing.

"Call me Young Master Li next time when we go out."

Li Qu coolly said, but contrary to his coolness, Cal Cal burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Young Master Li?! Your Excellency is pretending to be a young master? At your old age?!"

Li Qu spoke with an emotionless and sonorous voice,

"Little elf, I think you need a spanking."

"Heeeuup! No!"

Cal Cal covered her mouth and stopped her laughter when she remembered her ordeal.

Melian Aelfis smiled while shaking her head in amusement.

Just when all the fun was over, the System's robotic voice sounded out in his mind and issued a series of notifications.

[...]

[Detected that Employee: Xia Qiu has attained the Tea Heart!]

[Ejecting Employee: Xia Qiu out of the mini pocket realm…]

[Ejection complete.]

[...Detected that Host has completed the 5th Mission!]

[Mission Reward: Enlightenment Tea Recipe will be sent to your Inventory.]

[...]

[Issuing 6th Mission!]

[6th Mission: Successfully brew a pot of Enlightenment Tea! 0/1]

[Time Limit: - ]

[Mission Reward: Enlightenment Tea will be added to the menu.]

Li Qu's fingers held his chin and he pondered,

'Looks like my waitress is out of her seclusion. I wonder how long she took.'

He summoned the interface to look at his stats.

[Displaying Stats]

[Host: Li Qu – Personal Information

Name: Li Qu

Race: Immortal

Cultivation: Void Immortal Realm (0.3% - Next Stage: Immortal King Realm)

Location: Amizonya Danger Zone, Elf Bloodline Dimension

Inventory: Enlightenment Tea Recipe, ID Card, Satellite Phone…

Tea Invented: Gold Spirit Tea

100:1 Mini Pocket Realm Hours Accumulated: 298 Hours (Can be shared)

Employees: Xia Qiu

.… Advanced information is locked. Please work hard!]

'Hmmm, just a little over 400 hours, roughly equivalent to seventeen days. Just as I thought, a mind that is uncorrupted by teachings like a blank piece of paper, can absorb knowledge like a sponge.'

…