Li Jian recognized her.
’That’s... the timid one next door.’
From the original body’s memories, this female disciple rarely spoke to anyone.
She always kept her head down, avoided attention, and lived like a shadow among the outer disciples.
Most people didn’t even remember her name.
But as Li Jian’s gaze lowered slightly, his eyes paused.
Even under the loose outer sect robes and the cover of her long messy hair, the unusually full and heavy outline of her chest was still difficult to completely hide.
Those soft, massive curves pressed against the fabric in a way that was completely at odds with her gloomy and timid presence.
’...Damn. This girl actually has such a huge pair?’
Li Jian’s eyes flickered with a trace of surprise.
The timid female disciple seemed to realize she had been noticed.
Her body stiffened slightly, and she quickly lowered her head even further, allowing her long messy hair to completely cover her face as she silently retreated back into her residence and closed the door.
Li Jian stood there for a moment longer, the smile at the corner of his lips deepening ever so slightly.
’Interesting.’
As if thinking of something, Li Jian suddenly changed direction and walked toward the neighboring stone house.
Under the moonlight, he raised his hand and lightly knocked on the door.
Knock.
Knock.
There was a brief silence from inside.
A moment later, the door opened just a small crack, and a pair of nervous amber-golden eyes peeked out from behind the long messy hair.
"...Y-Yes?" a soft, timid voice stuttered. "I-Is something the matter...?"
The female disciple looked extremely nervous, her body half-hidden behind the door as if ready to close it again at any moment.
Her long messy hair continued to cover most of her face, only allowing a glimpse of her pale skin and slightly trembling lips.
Li Jian smiled gently.
"Nothing much," he said in a calm and friendly tone. "I just happened to have some extra spirit stones today and thought I should thank my neighbor for looking after the area."
Before she could react, he took out fifty low-grade spirit stones and held them out toward her.
The timid female disciple’s eyes widened in clear surprise.
"T-This... I can’t accept something like this..." she quickly stuttered, shaking her head as she tried to reject it. "I-I didn’t do anything... You don’t need to give me—"
"It’s fine."
Li Jian didn’t give her the chance to refuse properly. He casually pushed the spirit stones into her hand and spoke with a sincere-looking smile.
"Just treat it as a small gift between neighbors. Holding onto too many spirit stones makes me uneasy anyway. Consider it my way of building good relations."
Before she could continue rejecting, he had already released the spirit stones into her palm and turned around, casually walking back toward his own residence as if it was truly just a simple neighborly gesture.
Behind him, the timid female disciple stood frozen at the doorway, staring blankly at the fifty spirit stones now resting in her hands.
At the same time, a clear system notification rang out in Li Jian’s mind.
[Ding!]
[Detected: Host has given a clear benefit to Nangong Mei.]
[Favor Debt from Nangong Mei: +100]
Li Jian’s steps paused slightly, and the smile on his face deepened.
’Nangong Mei... So that’s her name. But a hundred points?’
He was a bit surprised by the amount.
Fifty low-grade spirit stones were not a small sum for an ordinary outer disciple, but they were still far from something precious.
When he had given spirit stones to Han Jin and Su Qin earlier, each of them had only generated 100 points as well... and that was after a much more complicated situation.
Yet this timid neighbor, Nangong Mei, had given him a full 100 Favor Debt points from a simple gift of fifty spirit stones.
Li Jian pushed open his door and stepped inside, his eyes flickering thoughtfully.
’Is it because she is weak and poor... so the same benefit holds much greater value to her? Or is there something else about her that I don’t know yet?’
He sat down on the edge of his bed and called up the system panel once more, looking at the newly added name.
[Favor Debt from Nangong Mei: 100]
Seeing that, a quiet interest rose in his heart.
Li Jian leaned back slightly, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
’Nangong Mei...’
A gloomy, timid outer disciple who hides her face behind messy hair... yet has an unusually huge pair of breasts, and generates Favor Debt unusually efficiently.
’I should properly pay attention to this neighbor of mine from now on.’
After settling that thought, Li Jian took out the remaining fifty spirit stones he still had and sat down cross-legged on the bed.
_
_
_
Night had already deepened over the Purple Shade Sect, and the faint purple mist outside drifted quietly under the moonlight.
He closed his eyes and began to cultivate.
One by one, the spirit stones were refined, their pure spiritual energy drawn into his body and tempered through his meridians before slowly merging into his dantian.
His foundation was average and his talent ordinary, so the process was not particularly fast.
But with the system’s existence, he no longer felt as anxious about his slow progress as before.
Time passed quietly.
By the time the first light of dawn filtered through the small window of his stone residence, the last spirit stone had already been completely refined.
Li Jian slowly opened his eyes and let out a soft sigh.
His cultivation had improved slightly.
Right now, he was still only at the 3rd Stage of Qi Refinement.
Among the outer disciples of the Purple Shade Sect, this level was nothing impressive.
Many disciples his age had already reached the 5th or 6th Stage, and the truly talented ones were already approaching the peak of Qi Refinement.
With only average talent and no powerful background, every small step forward required far more resources and effort than others.
Still... it was progress.
Just as he was about to get up and stretch his slightly stiff body—
Knock.
Knock.
A light knocking sound suddenly came from outside his door.