The cultivation world was vast, and throughout the ages, cultivators had come up with countless tricks.
Which favored child of the heavens didn’t have a few secrets of their own?
Although Nangong Yu was strange, as long as she wasn’t an evil cultivator and didn’t do anything malicious, there was no need for them to get to the bottom of her secrets.
“I’m making money, making money, and I don’t even know how to spend it…”
The girl skipped along ahead of them. Meng Yanqing, who had just suffered a tremendous loss, looked as though he were about to cry.
“Lend me some.” He held out his hand toward Chen Zhi.
He didn’t have a single spirit stone on him, which made him feel terribly insecure.
Chen Zhi said, “I just fed you a Rejuvenation Pill. Remember to pay me back.”
Meng Yanqing: “…”
He rubbed his nose, took out a bottle of Rejuvenation Pills, and, without counting them, handed it over. “Thank you for helping me just now, Senior Brother.”
Chen Zhi accepted the bottle, but only poured out one pill before returning the rest. “We’re fellow disciples. There’s no need to stand on ceremony.”
Helping was a matter of goodwill.
But pills that had been given out still had to be reclaimed. These weren’t common Spirit-Replenishing Pills one could find everywhere. Besides, Meng Yanqing had only run out of spirit stones; he still had plenty of other things.
Chen Zhi had unwillingly overheard the whole matter just now, and he did his best to forget about his junior fellow disciple’s fortune.
Meng Yanqing also remembered what had happened earlier. His expression became extremely complicated as he glanced at the girl ahead, who had picked up the spatula and started cooking again, then at Chen Zhi and Wang Hezheng beside him. He transmitted his voice to them, saying, “About what happened just now…”
“I didn’t hear anything,” Chen Zhi replied without hesitation.
“What happened?” Wang Hezheng asked instead.
Meng Yanqing looked at him. “Could you pretend nothing happened, Junior Brother?”
Wang Hezheng thought about how Meng Yanqing had rolled around on the ground earlier and looked utterly pathetic. He readily agreed. “All right.”
After receiving the assurances of his two fellow disciples, Meng Yanqing relaxed slightly. He truly didn’t want anyone to know that he had obtained the Nine-Revolution Grand Restoration Pill.
He was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the Nine-Revolution Grand Restoration Pill was useful even to Soul Formation cultivators.
He had stumbled upon an earth-shattering stroke of luck and had never told anyone about it. Who would have thought that today…
“Unfortunately.” He sighed and squatted down not far from Nangong Yu. “How did you make me…”
He lowered his voice. “Say all those things just now?”
Nangong Yu said, “Cultivators shouldn’t meddle in mortal affairs.”
“…”
Meng Yanqing was left speechless. He looked again at the girl, who had finished stir-frying the dish and was beaming with happiness, and couldn’t help admiring her.
If she really was a mortal, then she was very impressive.
If she was a cultivator, then concealing her identity so mysteriously was equally impressive.
He couldn’t help thinking of himself. Ever since he had obtained the Nine-Revolution Grand Restoration Pill by chance, he seemed to have become somewhat carried away.
He had thought his luck was extraordinary, that the Heavenly Dao favored him more than ordinary cultivators. Without realizing it, his conduct had become arrogant and frivolous.
When he had tested Nangong Yu today, he had clearly been acting out of arrogant conceit. That was why he had ended up receiving such a lesson.
“Hm?” Chen Zhi, who had just picked up his book, suddenly sensed something unusual.
“Is Senior Brother Meng about to break through?” Wang Hezheng sensed it as well and looked toward the nearby figure in surprise.
As their senior disciple, Chen Zhi immediately put down his book, flew into the air, and set up a formation around Meng Yanqing.
At that moment, his handsome face was filled with conflicting emotions—shock and confusion. He asked, “What did you do to Junior Brother Meng?”
Yesterday, she had given Xie Jinyue a bowl of soup, and Xie Jinyue had broken through.
Today, she had gotten into a scuffle with Meng Yanqing, and Meng Yanqing had broken through.
Nangong Yu took out a bowl of spirit rice. She had picked it up earlier from the Lin Family’s kitchen, and she paired it with the spicy diced chicken she had just cooked, starting lunch ahead of schedule.
“I didn’t do anything.” She didn’t even raise her head. “Don’t blame me. I didn’t touch him.”
What did she mean, she hadn’t touched him? It wasn’t as if she had done something wrong!
Chen Zhi’s expression grew even more complicated.
Although she had just tricked Meng Yanqing out of fifty thousand spirit stones, Meng Yanqing was already at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. Once he broke through, he would reach Foundation Establishment perfection, only one step away from Core Formation!
Crack—
Suddenly, a swift and unstoppable sword qi shot out, cleaving the table in front of Nangong Yu in two.
She didn’t have time to react. The spicy diced chicken she had only taken a few bites of immediately toppled onto the ground.
“Junior Brother Wang?” Chen Zhi looked back in shock. “What are you doing?”
Wang Hezheng held his sword, his eyes shining brightly. “I also delayed you from eating.”
Chen Zhi abruptly turned his head toward Nangong Yu and blurted out, “Don’t get angry!”
This girl had countless methods at her disposal, and each one came completely out of left field. Whether it was injuring her own eyes or revealing her fortune, she was impossible to guard against.
Who knew how many more tricks she had?
And Nangong Yu really did get angry. Just as she was about to put on a title, a storage pouch was suddenly tossed into her arms.
“I’m richer than him! I have one hundred and thirty thousand spirit stones! They’re all yours!”
“Help me break through!” Wang Hezheng’s eyes gleamed like starlight.
Nangong Yu: “…”
The anger that had been rising inside her was instantly extinguished by the one hundred and thirty thousand spirit stones.
She picked up the storage pouch and tried to open it, but of course, she couldn’t. Just as they had said, only cultivators could open storage pouches.
“I can’t open it,” she said directly. “Pour the spirit stones out.”
Wang Hezheng did exactly that. One hundred and thirty thousand spirit stones—more than twice the scale of the fifty thousand spirit stones from before—piled up in a glittering, radiant heap, overflowing with the air of wealth and luxury.
Nangong Yu’s mood improved considerably. As she put away the spirit stones, she forgave Wang Hezheng. “I’ll accept the spirit stones. Consider them your apology.”
The food had already been overturned and couldn’t be eaten anymore. Nangong Yu had lost her appetite as well. She stood up, dusted off her clothes, and walked toward the city gate.
“I haven’t broken through yet!” Wang Hezheng hurried after her.
Chen Zhi stared blankly, as though his mind had ceased to function. He remained rooted to the spot, watching his junior fellow disciple chase after the mortal girl into the distance.
“That’s a separate fee.” As Nangong Yu walked toward the city gate, she said to the person beside her, “The one hundred and thirty thousand spirit stones were only compensation.”
Wang Hezheng was puzzled. “Didn’t Senior Brother Meng give you any?”
Had he missed something?
“What do I have to do for you to help me break through?” Wang Hezheng didn’t dwell on the matter. He had no shortage of worldly possessions anyway.
How could Nangong Yu possibly know how those two had broken through? She answered casually, “I’ve already helped two disciples from the Ziyang Sect break through. Next, I have to take care of the other sects. It wouldn’t do to let the Ziyang Sect have all the good fortune, would it?”
Hearing this, Wang Hezheng blurted out, “Why not?!”
He barely gave it any thought. “Wait here. I’ll send a message to Elder Lu and have you join the Ziyang Sect right away.”
He no longer suspected Nangong Yu of being an evil cultivator.
What evil cultivator went around helping righteous cultivators break through every day?
He had personally witnessed Xie Jinyue and Meng Yanqing breaking through. Nangong Yu hadn’t used any tricks.
A talent like this naturally had to join a sect.
Even if she was an evil cultivator, with so many elders in the sect, surely they could set her straight.
“Wouldn’t that be inappropriate?” Nangong Yu hesitated. “The other sects haven’t had their chance yet.”
What was inappropriate about it? Why should they give other sects a chance?
Wang Hezheng was just about to speak when he received a voice transmission.
“Come back.”
It was Chen Zhi.
“Junior Brother Meng is breaking through here. You and I must stay and guard him, in case anything goes wrong,” Chen Zhi transmitted.
Although he was deeply shocked, he ultimately couldn’t bring himself to trust Nangong Yu completely. What if she had some ulterior motive? If she lured Wang Hezheng away, he wasn’t confident that he could protect Junior Brother Meng by himself.
As his junior fellow disciple, Wang Hezheng had no choice but to obey him and turn back reluctantly.
Nangong Yu quickly slipped into the line of people entering the city.
By then, the guards at the city gate had already changed shifts. None of the people who had heard her cry for help earlier were still there, and no one paid any attention to her.
Nangong Yu entered the city and returned to the teahouse.
She ordered a pot of tea and several plates of fruit, then began listening for the latest news.
“The Ziyang Sect has sealed off the Lin Family ruins.”
“I heard they might have found something extraordinary.”
“What kind of thing?”
“How would I know? That’s just what people are saying.”
Yesterday, Fairy Bai Xuan had brought two fellow disciples to the teahouse to gather information, but she was nowhere to be seen today. She must have gone somewhere else.
Because of that, the cultivators in the teahouse now dared to discuss the Ziyang Sect openly.
“That elder from the Ziyang Sect has been going back and forth between the city gates today. Seems like she’s checking everyone entering and leaving the city.”
“Why? Did evil cultivators sneak into Luoxia City?”
“Who knows?”
“An expert could stand right in front of you, and you still wouldn’t be able to tell. As for the ones who aren’t experts, what does it matter?”
“I heard the Lin Family disappeared. No one saw them alive, and no bodies were found either. That elder is probably looking for the Lin Family, isn’t she?”
“I heard that too. The other three great clans all went there that day. Seventy or eighty cultivators died in the ruins, but none of them appeared to be members of the Lin Family.”
“How is the Ziyang Sect’s elder investigating?” someone asked, voicing the very question in Nangong Yu’s mind.
“She has a magical treasure called the Rewind Mirror. It can reveal what happened over a certain number of days in the past.” The speaker sighed with admiration. “With a treasure like that, investigating cases must be so convenient.”
“But how can she watch everyone at the city gates? Countless people enter and leave every day. Can she keep up? How does she know which people to look for?”
“Don’t worry about that. She’s an elder of the sect. Her cultivation is far beyond what you or I could fathom.”
Elder Lu was a Nascent Soul cultivator, on the same level as the lord of Luoxia City—an entire major realm above the Head of the Lin Family.
Having her investigate the extermination of the Lin Family showed just how seriously the matter was being treated.
Nangong Yu listened all afternoon. Once she grew hungry, she left the teahouse and made her way to the Lin Family estate.
The Lin Family estate had now been reduced to ruins and sealed off. Unrelated outsiders were forbidden from entering.
But this kind of blockade was hardly airtight from every direction.
Nangong Yu had been curious before about how large the area covered by the formation around Miss Lin Qi’s courtyard was.
Now she had the chance to find out.
She released a miniature mechanical dog and had it dig a dog hole. It had barely dug very far before breaking through to the other side.
“…”
What a pointless defense.
She recalled the mechanical dog, crawled through the hole herself, and headed straight for the spirit-beast garden.
When she had woken from her beautiful dream that day, all she had seen was the collapsed ruins and corpses scattered everywhere.
She hadn’t dared stay at such a bloody crime scene for even a second. She had immediately slapped an Invisibility Talisman onto herself and fled.
Now that she had returned to the place, she found that the spirit-beast garden had been affected as well. Most of the spirit beasts had escaped.
The large spirit beasts—such as the golden-armored spirit rhinos, spirit monkeys, and flying cranes—were all gone. She didn’t know whether cultivators had captured them or whether they had fled on their own.
Nangong Yu made a beeline for the pond where the dragon-patterned koi were kept.
The pond had been affected too. Fallen trees lay scattered around it, their branches jutting into the water and making the entire surface look like a mess.
Nangong Yu took off her outer clothes and dove in.
“Wow!”
Sure enough, the ones with legs could run, and the ones with wings could fly, but the creatures that lived in the water had nowhere to go.
One huge, fat fish after another swam slowly through the water. Nangong Yu chased them down one by one and injected them with anesthetic.
Last time, she hadn’t wanted to cause too much commotion, so she had stopped after catching a dozen or so.
But this time was different. The Lin Family was gone, and these fish were ownerless now. They were supplies for the players!
Collect. Collect. Collect…
She didn’t miss a single one. Even the scales they had freshly shed were all gathered into her storage space.
Nangong Yu opened the system panel and checked the storage slots: (90,117/99,999).
The road ahead was long and arduous!
Filling all those slots was truly a daunting task!
