Zhao Youqian.
Many jade pendants were still jingling on his body, clanking together loudly as he walked.
However, a new short sword was now hanging at his waist.
The scabbard was made of fine spiritual wood and inlaid with jade—it looked expensive at a single glance.
When he saw us, his eyes lit up and he sauntered over.
“Yo, you paupers from the Heavenly Sword Sect, you guys made it out too?”
His tone was just as punchable as ever.
Su Ning rolled his eyes.
I greeted him enthusiastically: “Hello, Senior Brother Youqian!”
Zhao Youqian looked down at me, a little surprised: “Little rascal, you’re still alive?”
I nodded: “Still alive, still alive! Senior Brother Youqian, how come you didn’t enter the secret realm?”
Zhao Youqian sneered: “Why enter the secret realm? Fighting and killing is so dangerous. Is there anything I, Zhao Youqian, can’t buy? Why risk my life going in there?”
I nodded: “Makes sense.”
The logic of a rich person is just that unpretentious and simple.
Zhao Youqian proudly drew his new sword, brandishing it in front of me.
“Look, my new sword! Forged using the Nether Deep Iron I bought from you guys last time!”
My eyes lit up, and I leaned in closer for a careful look.
The blade was pitch black, emanating a faint, cool luster.
It was indeed forged with Nether Deep Iron mixed in.
I immediately activated praise mode: “Wow! Senior Brother Youqian, this sword looks amazing! It suits you so well! Anyone can tell it was forged by a famous master at a glance! How many spiritual stones did it cost?”
Flattered to cloud nine by my praise, Zhao Youqian said boastfully: “Just a mere three hundred high-grade stones.”
I fell silent.
He had only spent five hundred medium-grade stones buying my Nether Deep Iron ore.
500 medium-grade = 5 high-grade.
He spent 5 high-grade stones on the raw material, but spent 300 high-grade stones hiring someone to forge the sword?
Three hundred high-grade stones!
If my brother knew about this…
He would cry his eyes out…
Toiling so hard to mine ore, yet unable to match even a fraction of what a swordsmith earns?
My brother’s “scarcity marketing” strategy was still far too conservative.
He should just open an artifact-refining shop directly.
A one-stop service.
Refine the ore into swords before selling them.
The profits could increase a hundredfold.
Zhao Youqian was still showing off over there: “This sword is amazing! Last time I sparred with someone, a single strike sliced their magical treasure right in half!”
I clapped my hands: “Senior Brother Youqian is so amazing!”
Then I pointed to the spiritual herbs and medicines on our stall.
“Senior Brother Youqian, since you have such great taste, why not take a look at the spiritual herbs we just gathered?”
Zhao Youqian raised an eyebrow: “Spiritual herbs?”
I pointed at the stall: “Freshly gathered right from the Phantom Beast Ruins. Senior Brother Youqian, you’re so rich that you definitely wouldn’t care for these cheap goods, but buying them to give as gifts to others is still a great idea!”
Zhao Youqian looked down to check them out.
Su Ning immediately handed over a stalk of ganoderma:
“This is a hundred-year-old ganoderma.”
Yan Chuan held up a medicinal herb:
“This is a hundred-and-fifty-year-old Polygonum multiflorum.”
Murong Zhuo blinked his peach-blossom eyes:
“This is… ordinary spiritual grass, great for feeding spiritual pets.”
Zhao Youqian waved his hand: “Say no more. How much? I’ll take them all.”
Gu Chenguang quoted a price instantly: “Package price, fifty high-grade stones.”
Zhao Youqian froze for a second: “That cheap?”
Me: “…”
This was my first time encountering a customer who complained that the quoted price was too cheap.
Zhao Youqian pulled a bag of spiritual stones from his chest pocket and threw it right over: “Deal!”
Gu Chenguang caught it with trembling hands, opened it, and looked inside.
Fifty high-grade spiritual stones.
Neat, orderly, and sparkling brightly.
His hand for keeping accounts started shaking again.
I patted him: “You’ll get used to it.”
Gu Chenguang muttered: “No, I really can’t get used to this.”
Zhao Youqian happily packed up the spiritual herbs and medicines and left.
As he walked away, he even turned around and waved at me: “Look for me again next time you have good stuff!”
I waved back as well: “Alright! Take care, Senior Brother Youqian!”
……………………
After Zhao Youqian had walked far away, I asked my senior brothers in a quiet voice: “Why do I feel like Zhao Youqian’s cultivation level is about the same as mine?”
Su Ning said with a hoarse voice, but in a very certain tone: “Your feeling is right, he’s at the Foundation Establishment stage.”
Yan Chuan added: “And it was piled up using heavenly materials and earthly treasures.”
Murong Zhuo shook his head: “With his aptitude, forming a Golden Core in three hundred years would already be considered good.”
Gu Chenguang closed his ledger and said eerily: “I heard his slot as an inner sect disciple was bought by his father using an entire vein of spiritual ore.”
I fell silent.
An entire vein of spiritual ore?
Just to buy a single slot?
I let out a sigh: “The world of rich people—as expected, I just don’t understand it.”
Gu Chenguang comforted me: “It’s fine, as long as you understand how to earn rich people’s money.”
I nodded.
Those words were spot on.
………………
Finished selling the spiritual herbs.
Packed up the stall.
Headed home.
All along the way, Gu Chenguang was doing calculations.
His fingers moved lightning fast, his lips moving as he chanted under his breath.
Upon returning to the Heavenly Sword Sect, he immediately rushed to the stone table at the hilltop cafeteria and poured everything onto it.
“Come, come, come! Let’s tally our gains!”
My senior brothers sat around in a circle.
I sat in the middle, with the pile of spiritual stones and spiritual herbs displayed right in front of me.
Gu Chenguang flipped open his notebook and began recording:
“Spiritual herbs, three hundred years old: 12 stalks. Note: Reserved for Second Elder to refine pills.”
“Spiritual fruits: 50 provided by the Beast Taming Sect, 300 gathered by ourselves. Note: Not for sale, kept as snacks for Junior Sister.”
He raised his head and glanced at me.
I smiled at him.
He smiled back and continued recording.
“Spiritual stones: Qingyun Sect contributed 1,600 high-grade spiritual stones.”
“Beast Taming Sect’s purchase of demon beasts: 500 medium-grade spiritual stones.”
“Stall sales of spiritual herbs and fruits: 10 high-grade spiritual stones, 550 medium-grade spiritual stones.”
He put down his pen and looked at the pile of spiritual stones, his gaze as tender as if looking at a lover.
Yan Chuan whispered: “Ever since joining the Heavenly Sword Sect, we’ve never been this rich before.”
Su Ning corrected: “It’s not ‘feels like’. We truly have never been this rich before.”
Murong Zhuo looked up at the sky: “Is this what it feels like to be rich?”
Gu Chenguang’s eyes turned slightly red: “I finally don’t have to count money for steam buns anymore.”
I patted him: “You’ll get used to it.”
He nodded, then flipped to a new page and began recording even more important items:
—— Inventory of Special Gains:
—— Fire-attribute Supreme Treasure: One 3,000-year-old Vermilion Crimson Fruit.
—— Beneficiary: Yan Chuan
—— Status: Consumed
—— Result: Mid Golden Core Stage → Late Golden Core Stage
—— Water-attribute Supreme Treasure: One 3,000-year-old Nine-Leaf Azure Ganoderma.
—— Beneficiary: Su Ning
—— Status: Awaiting consumption
—— Earth-attribute Supreme Treasure: One 3,000-year-old Ginseng Root Whisker.
—— Beneficiary: Murong Zhuo
—— Status: Awaiting consumption
—— Supreme-Grade Advancement Pill: One.
—— Beneficiary: Gu Chenguang
—— Status: Awaiting consumption
Gu Chenguang finished writing, set down his pen, and stared at those few lines of text, falling silent for a long time.
The other senior brothers fell silent as well.
The few of them sat there, dazed.
Even now, they probably still thought they were dreaming.
Su Ning pinched his own cheek.
It hurt.
Yep, not a dream.
Yan Chuan looked up at the sky, tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.
Murong Zhuo bowed his head, pretending to wipe his sword, though he had already wiped it three times.
Suddenly~~
Yan Chuan scooped me up into his arms and spun me around: “Junior Sister! You are the God of Wealth of our Heavenly Sword Sect!”
Beside us, Su Ning swallowed hard: “A 3,000-year-old Nine-Leaf Azure Ganoderma… I wouldn’t even dare to dream of it.”
Murong Zhuo held the ginseng root, his eyes rimmed with red.
Gu Chenguang cradled the Advancement Pill, tears already welling in his eyes.
Eldest Senior Brother stood to the side, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly.
That night, we indulged in a lavish feast.
The spread was extraordinarily grand.
There was roast chicken, braised pork belly, and fish.
There were even spiritual bird eggs poached from the Sect Master’s cave abode.
Scrambled into a bright golden hue, the eggs were so fragrant they could make anyone drool.
Su Ning sighed emotionally as he ate: “If the Sect Master finds out we snatched all the eggs from his cave abode, will he be angry?”
Yan Chuan chewed on his egg: “Probably not. He said so himself—birds occupied his cave, so laying eggs as compensation is completely fair and logical.”
Murong Zhuo nodded: “Right, the birds laid the eggs. We took the birds’ eggs, not the Sect Master’s eggs.”
Gu Chenguang kept accounts while eating:
—— Dinner Expenses:
—— Roast Chicken ×3: 30 Low-Grade Spiritual Stones
—— Braised Pork Belly ×2: 20 Low-Grade Spiritual Stones
—— Fish ×4: 20 Low-Grade Spiritual Stones
—— Spiritual Bird Eggs ×6: 0 Low-Grade Spiritual Stones (Self-retrieved from the Sect Master’s cave abode; theoretically legal.)
—— Total: 70 Low-Grade Spiritual Stones
—— Note: Finally no longer worrying about being unable to afford meat.
Nibbling on a chicken leg, I watched my senior brothers brag and swap stories.
Su Ning was telling the tale of how he defeated three opponents with a single sword strike during the Sect Tournament back in the day.
Yan Chuan was sharing how he chopped firewood with a sword for the first time, ending up splitting the entire tree in two.
Murong Zhuo was recounting how he was flirted with by a female cultivator from the Hehuan Sect, scaring him so badly he fled back to the sect and didn’t dare step outside for three days.
Gu Chenguang listened while jotting it down, laughing so hard his hands were shaking.
Eldest Senior Brother didn’t say a word. He sat to the side, occasionally picking up food with his chopsticks or taking a sip of tea, listening very attentively.
I didn’t speak either, completely focused on devouring the meat and eggs, feeling like my life had officially hit its peak.