“Huh?”
Her eyes widening in a rare loss of composure, Wen Li shot to her feet. “What did you say? Say that again.”
Xie Tinglan lifted his gaze and repeated evenly, “I said sure.”
Without even a shred of hesitation.
“Hah.” Wen Li let out an incredulous laugh of pure outrage. Quicker than words could tell, she raised her hand and swiped her palm straight toward Xie Tinglan's head.
“Well, aren't you something! You're actually daring to betray your sect!”
“Didn't you say that people strive for higher ground just as water flows downhill, and that doing something for one's own sake is never wrong? I'm merely switching to a master stronger than you. You were the one who said people must look out for themselves, and that self-interest is the true Dao.”
Xie Tinglan dodged instantly, his tone indifferent.
“You little brat, you actually dare turn my own words against me?!” Hearing this, Wen Li choked on her fury. Turns out, everything she had taught Yao Dai, he had absorbed word for word while standing right beside them!
“Master taught me well.”
“Come over here. I promise I won't hit you.”
“Master, you can't beat me in a fight.”
She struck, he fled, throwing the entire room into sheer chaos until the dwarf old man waved his hand.
“Whoa, whoa, show this old man some face. Calm down first.”
At that moment, Xie Tinglan darted behind him and called out with utter naturalness: “Master, save me!”
The dwarf old man's eyes lit up, and he readily responded, “Aha!”
The very next second—
“Aaargh!”
Wen Li's fist slammed directly into his eye socket. When she pulled it back, a dark bruise was already blossoming around his eye.
“Y-You two!”
Clutching his eye, the dwarf old man finally realized—this punch had been aimed at him all along.
“Don't mind me, Senior. I've raised him for so long, after all; seeing him just up and leave with you truly breaks my heart. I wouldn't feel right without throwing a punch.” Wen Li rubbed her knuckles with a cheeky grin, playing the innocent after landing the cheap shot.
Xie Tinglan blinked innocently from behind the old man's back.
“Fine, fine! Since he's agreed to come with me, the medicinal pill on the table is my way of repaying his debt of gratitude to you. As for that bracelet, it's my apprentice gift to him. Once he puts it on, no one will be able to detect his demon beast aura.” The dwarf old man snorted, too lazy to bicker with her.
Wen Li turned, picked up the bottle from the table, and uncorked it. Inside was actually a Liquid-Condensing Pill. Taken by a Foundation Establishment cultivator when condensing their core, it guaranteed a hundred percent success rate—a Mid-Grade Rank 10 pill.
A Liquid-Condensing Pill was not difficult to refine; what made it difficult was that it required a strand of guiding spiritual power from a cultivator at or above the Nascent Soul realm.
Golden Core cultivators were not uncommon in the Western Province, but Nascent Soul cultivators were already old monsters, capable of claiming their own territory, establishing cave abodes, and founding sects. As the saying went, all beneath Nascent Soul were mere ants; hence, pills refined with the aid of a Nascent Soul cultivator were exceedingly rare.
It seemed that while this old man couldn't see through her, he could indeed only detect her Foundation Establishment Great Perfection cultivation base, assuming she had hit a bottleneck and would need such a thing.
Wen Li didn't say much and simply pocketed it, yet she still spoke up: “Not enough.”
“What?”
“I've raised this disciple of mine for over a year. Food, drink, cultivation, plus teleportation arrays—all of it tallies up to at least fifty thousand high-grade spirit stones. He's worth far more than a single pill.”
The dwarf old man sputtered, his beard bristling as his eyes bulged in instinctive outrage.
“Bullshit! As if you could ever fork out that much money!”
She was blatantly trying to extort him!
“Who are you insulting?!” Wen Li retorted hotly. “Who doesn't have a bit of pocket change these days? Let me tell you, this disciple was raised with the utmost pampering! I spoiled him rotten! If you're broke, just say so sooner, and you won't have to raise him!”
The dwarf old man couldn't see through Wen Li. Beyond the fact that her strength truly was at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, he had previously attempted to divine her destiny, yet couldn't budge it in the slightest and had even suffered a backlash. This led him to suspect that she was either a mighty figure who had possessed a body, or had an almighty expert backing her.
He was reluctant to burn bridges with her; otherwise, he wouldn't have been polite enough to spend money to buy the boy. Turning his head, he glanced at Xie Tinglan behind him.
“Did she really spend that much money on you?”
Xie Tinglan, whom Wen Li claimed to have “spoiled rotten,” nodded without batting an eye. “Yes. I ate high-grade celestial herbs and mountain delicacies, drank immortal spring dew, wore frost-resistant and poison-repelling silk garments, and slept on gold, jade, and red sandalwood.”
In reality, he ate corpses, drank river water, wore coarse linen robes that she had mended hundreds of times until they had washed out into a faded gradient—oh, and slept in barren mountain graveyards while taking turns with Yao Dai to cook for her.
Xie Tinglan cast an indifferent glance at Wen Li.
Under his gaze, Wen Li's righteous facade faltered slightly, and she guiltily averted her eyes. You can make the child suffer, but you can never let yourself suffer. Besides, you shouldn't pamper children too much—it spoils them! Look at them now: both Yao Dai and he can whip up a table of exquisite dishes. That's entirely thanks to my guidance!
Although the dwarf old man still had his doubts that someone this stingy could ever be so generous to a disciple, he was, after all, poaching someone else's disciple. With a wave of his hand, he said, “Fine then. Fifty thousand high-grade spirit stones, plus ten thousand for child support! From now on, you two are no longer master and disciple.”
Beneath his seemingly calm exterior, Xie Tinglan's brows twitched. He quietly watched Wen Li, harboring a faint glimmer of anticipation for how she might react.
“Deal! I'll take my leave right away! May Senior's legacy burn bright with your new disciple, carrying on the mantle for generations to come!”
“...” Seeing Wen Li's greedy, money-grubbing face, Xie Tinglan's eyes darkened slightly. As expected, this woman was never reliable.
The dwarf old man waved him off. “Off you go, then.”
“Uh, Senior, at least let us say our final farewells. We were master and disciple once, after all.” Wen Li clutched the high-grade spirit stones to her chest, unable to bear parting with them, though fortunately, a shred of conscience remained.
“Mm, go on.”
“Many thanks, Senior.”
Wen Li offered a faint smile, then led Xie Tinglan into the adjoining private room. Once she had laid down an isolation barrier, the smile vanished from her face, replaced by a solemn expression. “Do you truly intend to take him as your master?”
Sitting on a chair, Xie Tinglan's chubby little face was taut, his expression cold.
“You can't beat him, and neither can I. He likely isn't after my life, so what choice do I have besides taking him as my master? Besides, didn't you sell your disciple quite happily?”
That was the plain truth. That was precisely why Xie Tinglan had agreed so readily when the dwarf old man demanded him—simply to avoid pointless conflict.
His instincts told him that this old man was more than just a Nascent Soul cultivator...
Beyond agreeing, letting Wen Li walk away with a sum of money was the best possible outcome. Otherwise, she would end up injured and he would be taken anyway—or worse, both of them would be grievously wounded before he was dragged off regardless.
Rate on N.U.
