Fang Yuan put down his wine glass and sat down.
Only then did everyone dare to sit. These were not all of his classmates. For instance, those with deep backgrounds like Mo Bei and Chi Cheng were not present.
“It’s about time. I should get going. This banquet was quite good,” Fang Yuan indicated his intention to leave.
Flattered by this praise, Gu Yue Dingzong was overjoyed. He quickly stood up and took out a money pouch from his bosom.
The pouch was naturally stuffed full of primeval stones.
He bent over and said fawningly, “Today, listening to your excellency’s teachings, this humble one has had an epiphany and gained a lot. This small gift is just a token of my gratitude.”
He was talking nonsense; from the start of the banquet, he had been nothing but flattering and bootlicking. When had he ever asked about cultivation topics?
But everyone acted as if this had really happened, noisily urging, “Section 161: Willingly Exploited, Clan Elder Fang Yuan, accept!”
Fang Yuan did not refuse; with a slight smile, he naturally took the pouch in hand.
Immediately after, the second, third, and others came up one by one to give gifts—all primeval stones!
“Easy, easy,” Fang Yuan said with squinting eyes and a smile, accepting each one.
Dozens of pouches of primeval stones—Fang Yuan couldn’t possibly carry them all. Gu Yue Dingzong saw this and thoughtfully called over a few servants to hold them behind Fang Yuan.
In a short while, Fang Yuan had collected nearly ten thousand primeval stones!
Finally, Fang Yuan leisurely stood up and raised his wine glass again: “Meeting is fate; let us remember this bond of classmates. It’s worth a drink.”
“Yes!”
“Lord Fang Yuan speaks excellently!”
“His words are incisive, reaching the pinnacle. He has said exactly what we are thinking!”
……
Everyone stood up one after another, praising, and also raised their wine glasses.
They either had no background, or their background was not deep. When Fang Yuan became a clan elder, they all feared his revenge and also wanted to attach themselves to Fang Yuan’s line.
Fang Yuan smiled faintly. He slightly raised his hand and lifted his wine glass.
At this time, the dark clouds outside dispersed. The moonlight emerged like gauze, covering the outer courtyard. The cold air was mingled with the blood qi of Section 161: Willingly Exploited, real and cruel.
In this hall, the decor was elegant and bright, filled with wine, women, wealth, and ambition. Each face wore exaggerated smiles. It seemed like a warm paradise on earth.
“This is the charm of the organizational system.” Fang Yuan’s eyes shimmered with clarity as he stared at the rich wine in his cup, his thoughts drifting.
Before, when he robbed and extorted his classmates, just a few primeval stones would incur public anger.
Now, he didn’t even mention it. These people eagerly sent primeval stones, each pouch containing over a hundred!
The difference seems superficial—Fang Yuan now had the status of clan elder.
But actually, it was because before he was outside the system, now he is at the top of the organization.
Under the system, members are willingly exploited. Without Fang Yuan even hinting, people would voluntarily offer bribes, connections, and even women throwing themselves at him.
This world is like this, and Earth is even more so.
“How ridiculous are the people of this world. If they are stolen, robbed, suffer slight losses, they resist fiercely and cry injustice. But when bribing the upper echelons, giving gifts, bodies, chastity, they do it willingly, even afraid they haven’t done enough! Tonight, I can harvest so many primeval stones simply by the power of the system.”
Fang Yuan sneered inwardly, inevitably thinking of Gu Yue Qingshu, Mo Yan, Chi Shan, and others.
Talents like Gu Yue Qingshu, with B-grade talent, are actually much higher in cultivation talent than Fang Yuan!
But they cultivated slowly, stuck at the second rank for a long time.
Is it because they don’t work hard?
Heh. He gave two cold laughs.
This is the exploitation and oppression of the system.
Yet this exploitation and oppression is often invisible. Ordinary people can hardly see through it!
Take Fang Yuan’s current situation: if these primeval stones had been used by their owners, it would definitely boost their cultivation.
So as long as bribery exists, it is a form of exploitation!
Countless lower-level people compete to bribe the upper levels—it is a fundraising for the top, increasing their authority.
Besides money, there is also exploitation of time.
Elites like Gu Yue Qingshu naturally don’t need to bribe others much, but their time is taken up. On ordinary days, they are told to do this and that, to run errands, to toil, with the high-sounding name being the attention and favor of the higher-ups.
If they used this time for cultivation, Gu Yue Qingshu would have already broken through the peak of second rank and reached third rank. Then with the wood spirit gu, he might even be able to kill Bai Ningbing!
The subtlety is that the clan elders internally don’t want juniors like Gu Yue Qingshu to advance to third rank so quickly.
Such a capable pawn—if he becomes third rank and equals their status, how can they order him around?
Who is willing to see their power divided?
So they deliberately hold him back and suppress him, with the high-sounding rationale: ‘I think highly of this child, but he needs to be polished to become jade...’
Heh.