“These are the spiritual herbs you need.”
Yun Suxin packed up the herbs listed, gave Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi a cold glance, and snorted.
“A total of eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones. How are you going to pay?”
Chen Huaian, who was busy watching dramas on his phone while waiting for the meridian-opening needle to reach breakthrough, was instantly displeased.
What the hell?
I already split that formation for you, Lingxi Valley, what more do you want? And now you’re asking for money?
【Please choose your response】
<1> Spend 4 million yuan to purchase 80,000 low-grade spirit stones and help pay.
<2> Spend 88 yuan to draw your sword and instantly kill Yun Suxin.
<3> This item is destined for me.
…
Low-grade spirit stones cost fifty yuan each. Not even a discount.
Chen Huaian’s mouth twitched. He chose option three.
Simple—he just wanted to leave behind a “bond.”
Li Qingran’s ears perked up as though she’d heard something. Her pretty face flushed slightly, and she stammered:
“M-My master just sent me a message, and asked me to… pass it on…”
Yun Suxin’s scalp prickled. She subconsciously took half a step back and asked warily,
“Pass on what?”
“H-He said… these herbs are destined to be with him…”
Yun Suxin: “…”
Yue Qianchi: “…”
Li Qingran lowered her head awkwardly, her lashes trembling, but the tips of her ears quietly turned pink.
Everyone immediately understood.
No wonder Sword Pavilion was so adept at robbery.
Turns out… it was family tradition.
Yun Suxin’s chest rose and fell violently, her face flushing crimson, her beautiful eyes spitting fire. She took several deep breaths, barely suppressing her fury, before finally grinding her teeth and snapping:
“Fine! You Sword Pavilion people are ruthless!”
She shoved the herbs toward Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi, then turned away with her back straight.
“Take them! Not a single spirit stone! Satisfied? Tell your master—stop coming to Lingxi Valley to form ‘bonds.’ We’re not fated. We’ll never meet again!”
Li Qingran put the herbs away into her storage bag and said earnestly:
“Lingxi Valley’s reputation is renowned throughout the Cangyun Realm. If I need herbs in the future, I’ll come again.”
Yun Suxin clenched her fists until her knuckles whitened.
She kept reminding herself over and over—calm down. She had to hold back today.
That swordsman behind Li Qingran was far too terrifying. She couldn’t afford to provoke him.
For the sake of her mother, for the sake of Lingxi Valley… she would swallow this humiliation!
She held her silence. Only after the footsteps of Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi had completely faded did she finally turn back.
To her surprise, a rather worn storage bag had been left on the table. Clearly used for a long time, its seams had started to come loose. It looked as if anything put inside might just fall out. The style was unmistakably Sword Pavilion’s.
Opening it up, she found it full of Sword Pavilion’s specialties.
Though the value didn’t quite reach eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones, it wasn’t far off.
Yun Suxin’s expression softened a little. She took the bag, snorted, and muttered:
“At least you Sword Pavilion still have a shred of conscience.”
This was already the best outcome possible.
The illusion array would have to be repaired after being broken. The mountain gate had been cleaved in two and needed rebuilding. She couldn’t just leave it like this—what if others laughed?
But the resources and effort required were no small matter.
Just thinking about it made her tired.
Yun Suxin sighed. Suddenly, her mother’s voice echoed in her mind:
“Suxin, come to the back mountain…”
“Coming.”
At the back mountain of Lingxi Valley.
Valley Master Yun Baiyu had changed into clean clothes and sat beside the sword scar.
This scar was the deepest—over twenty meters wide. Sword energy, driven by sword intent, still radiated from it, leaving jagged horizontal and vertical slashes carved deep into the surrounding cliff walls.
Yun Suxin’s heart went cold as she stared at the bottomless gash.
Even more frightening was that, though the one who had struck the sword had already left, his sword intent still lingered within.
“Suxin, this is an opportunity.”
Yun Baiyu gazed at the sword scar, joy flickering in her eyes.
“This person’s attainments in swordsmanship are something I’ve never seen in my life. Far beyond Zhang Yibai, the strongest swordsman of Zhenwu!”
“Really?!” Yun Suxin’s eyes widened.
Zhang Yibai, Lord of the Zhenwu Holy Land, was said to have reached the Great Perfection of the Void Realm. He was regarded as the strongest swordsman in the entire Cangyun Realm.
“Could it be that this mysterious swordsman is even stronger than Zhang Yibai?”
“Not necessarily.” Yun Baiyu pulled her daughter closer and shook her head.
“Zhang Yibai hasn’t drawn his sword in five hundred years. Five centuries ago, with only three strikes, he slaughtered countless demons, killing four of the nine demon emperors. So much time has passed—no one knows what realm he has reached now…
But judging by this swordsmanship, this swordsman is indeed stronger than Zhang Yibai was five hundred years ago!”
“So what if he is…” Yun Suxin grew even more discouraged, covering her mouth and muttering:
“His swordsmanship may be unmatched, but what does that have to do with us?”
Yun Baiyu pointed at the sword scar.
“Look.”
Suddenly, a streak of sword qi burst out from the scar.
With a sharp hiss, it punched a hole into the rock wall beside Yun Suxin. Just the breeze it stirred was enough to make her break out in a cold sweat.
“For a swordsman, the most important thing is sword intent. Comprehending sword intent is the key to advancing one’s swordsmanship.” Yun Baiyu’s lips curved faintly, her eyes glowing:
“The sword intent in this scar is condensed, unscattered. Isn’t this the perfect chance for comprehension? From now on, all disciples of Lingxi Valley will meditate here daily. They will major in medicine, but also take the sword as a secondary path, so they may protect themselves beyond our gates!”
Yun Suxin opened her mouth.
She felt… this wasn’t how things should be.
But… was there really anything wrong?
After all, Lingxi Valley disciples were notoriously weak in combat. If they could comprehend even a fraction of sword intent, it would be invaluable.
But still… it wasn’t realistic. They didn’t have the qualifications to understand something as profound as sword intent.
It’s not like they could just move to Sword Pavilion, right?
Even there, a scar like this would be considered a sect treasure.
“That senior must have left the scar on purpose.” Yun Baiyu sighed.
“Though the people of Sword Pavilion act boldly, they know when to advance and when to retreat. They won’t overstep, and they never truly suffer losses.
Since you didn’t harm their disciples, he broke our array and split our gate as a warning. But in the end, he also left us this opportunity. It’s like rain in a drought!”
“Is it really that exaggerated?”
Yun Suxin couldn’t help wondering if her mother was overthinking it.
“Of course it is.” Yun Baiyu sat upright, face solemn.
“For a cultivator of this level, every action carries meaning. Go. Inform the entire sect. From today on, everyone is to spend three hours a day comprehending this sword intent.”
“Uh… okay…”
Yun Suxin scratched her head, but still went to deliver the order.
Not long after her daughter left, Yun Baiyu suddenly coughed violently, spitting out another mouthful of blood. Her cheeks turned a sickly red, her eyes dimming.
“The old wounds haven’t healed, and now there are new ones…”
She muttered weakly, clutching her chest with a bitter smile.
“Well, I was dying anyway. Just a little sooner now… Fortunately, before I go, I’ve left Suxin and Lingxi Valley a path forward. This way, we won’t have to beg Yaochi Holy Land…”
Yun Baiyu shuddered, as though remembering something terrible.
Three years ago, she had once gone to Yaochi Holy Land to treat her wounds.
But never again in this lifetime did she want to return there.
“Wulian Heavenly Lord! The Meridian-Opening Needle is complete!”
After waiting so long, only by noon did Chen Huaian finally max out his proficiency with the meridian-opening needle.
“But my wallet’s already empty.”
Chen Huaian gave a bitter laugh. Of course the speed was fast—you throw money at it, and levels fly up. But if this meridian-opening needle turned out useless later, he’d really cry himself to death.
Still, it was much better than before.
Back then, he had no clue how to even make money.
Now? He might be broke, but at least he could take missions from the Demon-Slaying Division.
Chen Huaian carefully washed and disinfected his hands, pulled out the set of silver needles, and was just about to stick them into his legs when his fingers froze.
“Wait. This is my first time doing acupuncture. I should be careful.”
His eyes shifted.
If humans could open their meridians, then cats could too, right?
If a cat got crippled from acupuncture, well, he could just raise the cat for life.
But if he crippled himself—would the cat raise him?
At that thought, all guilt instantly vanished.
“Let’s test it on the Overlord Muscle first!”
