Chapter 558: Xu Xing, the Innocent Victim Who Got Shot Back Then

Just after those pea-sized puppet avatars and paper dolls bought a few boxes, it seemed to trigger a chain reaction.

One after another, more puppet avatars appeared before the stall.

But they had apparently observed the previous two transactions, so the puppet avatars that appeared afterward didn't even speak a word.

They simply looked at the price on the sign, dropped a jade card exactly enough to pay, grabbed the alchemical materials they needed, and vanished immediately.

All sorts of strange and bizarre puppet avatars—some precise, some crude—made Chi Jiuyu feel like she'd witnessed something entirely new.

In less than ten minutes, the batch of "Heaven-and-Earth Qi" she'd brought out that day was down to only two boxes left.

"After this, our reputation should be established. For the rest, we can raise the price by another thirty percent from the current level," said Zhao Ruohan beside her.

"Huh?!" Chi Jiuyu blinked in surprise.

Raise it by another thirty percent?

Isn't that… a bit too greedy?

"You're not a magic cultivator—you don't understand how rare high-quality alchemical materials are," Zhao Ruohan explained. "Even with a thirty percent increase, given the quality of your materials, the price is still low."

Otherwise, how could those cautious cultivators who'd rather hide until the end of time possibly be willing to 'risk everything' and come to such a crowded place?

Chi Jiuyu scratched her head; she truly had no concept of this sort of thing.

"Aren't sword cultivators supposed to struggle to make money?"

But right now, it doesn't seem that hard to earn money at all.

"First, there aren't many sword cultivators with your foundation," Zhao Ruohan said seriously.

"Second, do you really think you've made a lot this time?"

"…."

From those words, she felt a powerful pressure—the pressure of 'money'!

I hate rich people!

Fairies have no idea how hard life is for ordinary people!

Chi Jiuyu silently shed envious tears inside her heart.

But Zhao Ruohan didn't care.

As a top-tier magic cultivator of her generation,

she could casually craft a formation, grow some spiritual herbs, or forge a few puppets…

and still earn far more than this!

Relatively speaking, sword cultivators may have greater combat power,

but due to the nature of their magic power, the artifacts and formations they produce generally have weaker auxiliary functionality and adaptability compared to those of magic cultivators.

Sword formations are an exception.

At that moment,

another figure arrived before the stall and picked up one of the last two jade boxes.

"Excuse me…"

Chi Jiuyu paused, then looked at the figure with a strange expression.

The newcomer wore the uniform of the Tai Shang Dao Sect—a pale blue robe embroidered with the yin-yang fish pattern, his aura clearly at the late Nascent Soul stage.

She could directly perceive his cultivation level.

And he didn't seem like one of those puppet avatars from before.

Hmm…

Could he be some kind of puppet shaped like a normal human, or perhaps a deception technique?

Thinking this, she pulled out a black bag and handed it over.

But the man hesitated, didn't reach out to take it, and said: "I'll take both remaining boxes. Can you give me a discount?"

Oh?

This guy is actually haggling.

"This is already a discounted price."

"Can you issue a receipt?"

"Small business—no receipts, no way."

Staying this long here… this guy really isn't one of those sneaky old bastards…

Realizing this, Chi Jiuyu was startled, but quickly recovered.

After all, the Tai Shang Dao Sect has so many people—there's a saying: "The bigger the forest, the more kinds of birds." Among a crowd of oddballs, a couple of normal people…

Isn't that not so strange?

Damn it!

It's all those sneaky old bastards' fault—now that I've finally seen someone normal, I think he's suspicious!

"Alright."

The man reluctantly pulled out his jade card to pay.

He didn't need alchemical materials himself.

He just had a lot of spare money, saw so many 'cautious-stream' senior brothers coming here in person to buy, and guessed the alchemical materials on this stall must be excellent!

So he decided to buy them outright—maybe he could resell them later and make a profit!

The bold get fat, the timid starve!

Half a minute later.

"Take care now!"

Watching the only normal customer of this outing walk away, Chi Jiuyu looked at the glowing jade cards inside her storage ring, deeply satisfied.

"Pack up! Today's on me!"

With a grand wave of his hand, he accidentally knocked his phone, which was lying on the stall, off the table.

The phone spun through the air, rotating several times before beginning to fall toward the ground.

Chi Jiuyu reacted instantly, snatching it out of midair.

But because it was set to 'always on' mode, and due to the recent appearance of those puppet avatars, she hadn't turned off the screen.

Even that fleeting instant was enough for Zhao Ruohan to see the content on the phone screen.

The Book of Dao-Expounding Talismans: Hong Qianqian's Annotations.

She had read this book before; though she hadn't studied it deeply, she remembered its contents.

Zhao Ruohan: "..."

Well then, it wasn't just her who was grinding—Chi Jiuyu was secretly working hard too!

Facing her puzzled gaze, Chi Jiuyu remained unfazed, still grinning:

"Let's go, let's go! I'm sick of the Xiang Jianzong's cafeteria. Today you lead—we're treating!"

Chi Jiuyu's calm demeanor made Zhao Ruohan begin to doubt her own suspicion.

Maybe she really had just been playing with her phone, and only pulled it out out of boredom?

Then she remembered she herself had also been secretly grinding...

She didn't dare ask, only nodded:

"Mm."

…………

Inner Sect of the Xiang Jianzong.

Deep within a quiet bamboo grove stood an ancient small courtyard, its path paved with winding blue stone slabs.

Two figures walked along the stone path and arrived at the door.

The door was carved with auspicious cloud patterns, its weathered marks testifying to the passage of time.

Pushing the door open, a faint scent of sandalwood filled the air.

On the wall hung a landscape painting, its ink softly blurred.

In the corner stood a delicate incense burner, from which thin blue smoke curled upward, blending with the sandalwood scent and calming the spirit.

The room's light was soft; several simple meditation cushions sat in the center.

Through paper windows, dappled sunlight fell as a vigorous, sharp-eyed woman sat with closed eyes upon one of them.

Resting on her knees was a pure white longsword, its pommel tied with a sprig of winter plum.

It was Ji Yue.

As if sensing someone entering, her tightly shut eyes trembled slightly before opening.

Her gaze was hazy, but upon seeing who it was, a faint smile appeared on her face.

"Yuanjun, Jianzu."

Yuanjun nodded slightly, then walked forward with Xu Xing and sat across from Ji Yue.

Looking at her energetic, no-longer-aging friend, Yuanjun couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Long time no see."

"Long time no see," Ji Yue replied indifferently, smiling and nodding gently. "Now this—makes you laugh, doesn't it?"

In ancient times, their tribes lived extremely close, nearly growing up together.

But their relationship could hardly be called good.

As a child, she was stubborn, inwardly refusing to lose, and always tried to outdo Yuanjun—yet in every matter, she fell short.

This made Yuanjun her psychological shadow for a long time, and also her goal to strive toward.

"Always wanted to beat you, but in the end, I still couldn't match you."

"..." Yuanjun fell silent.

Last time her Dao-brother emerged from seclusion, she came to the Xiang Jianzong hoping to see Ji Yue—but Ji Yue avoided her.

"Back then, young and reckless, many things, many words went too far..."

Beside her, Xu Xing paused, then glanced at Yuanjun.

Why does this sound so familiar?

Yuanjun looked at Ji Yue before her.

Ji Yue competed with her—but hadn't she herself competed with Ji Yue too?

"Who among the young isn't reckless?" Ji Yue chuckled lightly.

"But over these many years, I've always been curious: when we exchanged techniques back then, Jianzu defeated me with swordplay, and you learned Jianzu's sword techniques to defeat him—was it also because..."

Holy shit!

So that's how it was!

Xu Xing suddenly understood.

He'd always wondered why Yuanjun had done that back then—he hadn't even wronged her.

So there was another reason behind it? You two were competing, and I just got caught in the crossfire?!

Back then, she nearly broke him mentally!

"Those are all past matters—let's not bring them up again," Yuanjun quickly interrupted.

Though it was true she'd once harbored a bit of rivalry toward Ji Yue...

Then she abruptly changed the subject:

"By the way, why aren't you avoiding me this time?"

"My previous appearance was too ugly. If I were to meet you like that, I'd always feel a head shorter than you." Ji Yue said frankly.

She had grown old and withered from the backlash of her failed attempt to break through the barrier.

Yet the person she had always wanted to surpass remained in the absolute bloom of her prime…

"So I simply avoided you, to spare myself the frustration."

"…" Xiang Yuanjun paused, "You are rather candid."

Hearing this, Ji Yue merely smiled lightly and shook her head, sighing:

"After going through so much, one has to learn to let go of some things."

"So you've decided to stop competing with me?" Xiang Yuanjun asked curiously.

"It's not quite that."

Xiang Yuanjun: "…"

Ji Yue smiled: "After persisting for so many years, I still have to keep persisting."

Back then, it was precisely because she saw the Xiang Jianzong surpass Xiang Yuanjun in her subsequent cultivation that she chose to switch paths and become a sword cultivator.

Even her sword intent, 'Indomitable,' was forged through this.

How could she possibly give up now!

"Of course, the current me probably doesn't have the chance to compete with you anymore."

The last time she had forcefully intervened, the backlash from her failed barrier-breaking attempt worsened considerably, and she had no idea how long full recovery would take.

"That's not necessarily true." Xu Xing suddenly said.

Seeing Xiang Yuanjun turn her head to look at him, he explained.

"What I mean is, Senior Sister Ji's injuries might not need to drag on that long."

"Mm?"

Recalling some things that had happened before, she was somewhat surprised.

"Could it be that Dao Brother can directly sever Ji Yue's negative state?"

Ji Yue paused, a flash of hope also crossing her eyes.

"It's not quite that."

This was the backlash from a failed attempt to break through the Immortal Barrier, 堪称 the most unsolvable of injuries, intimately tied to Ji Yue's own Dao.

If it were truly severed, Ji Yue herself would perish and her Dao would消散. (End of Chapter)