The Outer Sect of the Lingxiao Sect, The Mission Pavilion.

  Steward Wang had just seen off Inner Sect disciple Shen Qingfeng. Shen Qingfeng was a Legacy Disciple from The Twelve Peaks of the Inner Sect, blessed with a Metal Heavenly Spirit Root. Every so often, he would come to the Outer Sect to post a missing person bounty. Steward Wang gladly collected the spirit stones for the listing, but he could only shake his head at the low-tier bounty that no one had successfully claimed in ten years.

  Just as Shen Qingfeng left, Xu Nan's group arrived.

  Steward Wang held a well-worn Purple Clay Teapot. His shriveled eyelids drooped as he methodically blew the foam off his tea.

  Xu Nan’s face was plastered with a sickeningly sweet smile. With both hands, he respectfully placed the pile of Wind Ape Bone Essence on the counter. "Steward Wang, could I trouble your experienced eyes for an appraisal? These are genuine, top-tier goods."

  Steward Wang didn't even look up. He casually tossed a deflated storage bag that landed on the desk with a flat smack.

  "The Wind Ape is settled. Thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones."

  Xu Nan's eye twitched slightly. This old dog just swallowed a fifty percent cut in one bite! Without missing a beat, he pocketed the bag, his smile growing even more radiant. "Thank you for the fair assessment, Steward! Thank you for the patronage!"

  Falling out with a local enforcer was a guaranteed loss. Cash in the pocket was the only hard truth. Yan Zheng stood to the side with his heavy sword on his back, watching Xu Nan's fluid transaction without a word, though a flash of understanding crossed his eyes.

  Steward Wang set down his teapot. Pulling a dark bamboo slip from his sleeve, his gaze bypassed Xu Nan entirely and locked onto Su Wan.

  "The sect just issued a new mandate, specifically naming you." Steward Wang's voice carried a hint of mockery. "Head south to The Hundred Thousand Mountains and investigate anomalies within the Dark Shaman Cult. Su Wan, the higher-ups' intention is clear. That place is no place for a pampered young lady like you. If you hand over your Identity Token right now and obediently return to The Central Continent, I will pretend I never took this slip out."

  The lobby fell silent.

  Xu Nan saw the board clearly. Those Gu-manipulating lunatics in the Dark Shaman Cult were extremely xenophobic. This mandate was an artificial barrier set up by The Su Family to force Su Wan to quit. Even if her family secretly sent Suicide Operatives to shadow her, who could guarantee zero casualties in a hellhole like The Hundred Thousand Mountains?

  Su Wan stared dead at the bamboo slip.

  Her father's condescending, utterly contemptuous voice echoed in her ears: "Wan-er, without The Su Family's protection, you won't survive the storm outside. Once you've had enough, obediently crawl back for your marriage. Stop disgracing us out there."

  A nameless, vicious fire surged to her head. A fierce, almost paranoid arrogance flushed her pale face.

  "I accept."

  She stepped forward, snatched the bamboo slip, and slammed her Outer Sect Identity Token onto the table. "Since I've left The Su Family, I have zero intention of crawling back!"

  Steward Wang sneered. Turning to Yan Zheng and Xu Nan, his tone cooled. "The mandate specifically targets her. According to Outer Sect rules, you two can decline. The squad will disband immediately."

  Xu Nan didn't hesitate for a microsecond. He turned and headed straight for the door. What a joke. Escort an aristocratic heiress to The Hundred Thousand Mountains? I wouldn't underwrite that liability if they paid me a spirit stone mine!

  Yan Zheng was equally decisive, turning to leave.

  During a turf war between Outer Sect disciples the night before, stray sword qi had leveled his thatched hut into a pile of rubble.

  While digging his belongings out of the ruins, a Sect Courier had tossed him a crumpled letter. It was from his younger brother, Yan Ping. Orphaned young, Yan Ping was a mortal with no spirit root, currently working a grueling delivery job for a small merchant caravan in The Central Continent.

  The letter simply said the caravan was heading to the bitter cold of the extreme north and urged his older brother to take care. Yan Zheng kept that letter pressed close to his chest. He knew his brother was trying to save up silver, hoping to one day buy low-grade spirit herbs to help his "immortal" brother's cultivation. To ensure his mortal brother could live a good life, Yan Zheng always sold his life on the edge of a blade. But right now, lacking even a roof tile over his head, he figured sticking with this fat guy was better than sleeping in the dirt.

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  "Xu Nan. Yan Zheng."

  Just as the two crossed the threshold, Su Wan's voice called out from behind. Those eyes, which had always looked down on others, were unprecedentedly red. She bit her lower lip hard, her frail shoulders trembling.

  "Help me. I'm begging you."

  Xu Nan stopped. He turned around, dropping his clownish smile entirely. His eyes revealed the ruthless edge of a cutthroat street merchant. "Senior Sister Su, you're dragging us into the yellow springs of The Hundred Thousand Mountains. My trash life might be a penny stock, but my buyout price is high. A three-thousand High-grade Spirit Stone relocation fee. I won't move for half a copper less!"

  He intentionally quoted an astronomical price, aiming to use the absurd valuation to force the hot-headed heiress to back down.

  "Deal."

  Su Wan didn't waste a single word. She instantly pulled out a blank Jade Slip Ledger, pressed it to her forehead to inject a thread of Divine Sense, rapidly engraved the massive debt, and slapped it hard against Xu Nan's chest.

  Xu Nan froze.

  A Jade Slip Ledger, sealed with Divine Sense. Defaulting on this debt guaranteed a fatal backlash from inner demons during a future breakthrough. This woman is completely unhinged. She actually collateralized her own life.

  He pinched the jade slip, his fingers trembling slightly. Three thousand High-grade Spirit Stones! This explosive influx of capital was large enough for him to grit his teeth and walk through the gates of hell.

  Yan Zheng simply took a step forward. Planting his heavy sword onto the bricks, he spat out two words: "Cover meals."

  Half an hour later, in a remote corner of the Outer Sect, at the border between Block Ding and a desolate graveyard.

  A dilapidated, three-story building with peeling walls and waist-high weeds stood in the shadows. The crooked plaque above the door read "Nanxi Pavilion." Half of the door was still screeching in the wind.

  "Senior Brother Yan's place collapsed, and my unit can't fit three people." Xu Nan pushed open the broken door, coughing from the falling dust. "From now on, we group up here."

  Yan Zheng walked inside without a word, but Su Wan stood outside the collapsing doorway, refusing to step foot inside.

  She had just returned to her inn to check out. Predictably, without the backing of The Su Family's Identity Token, the innkeeper had immediately turned on her. He was verbally abusive and even tried to seize her Jade Pendant as collateral for her tab. If she hadn't summoned her Flowing Cloud Silk, she might not have made it out the door. Walking the streets, the same servants who used to bow to her now looked at her with undisguised greed and mockery.

  She truly had nowhere else to go.

  "Xu Nan, isn't your abacus a bit broken?" Su Wan looked around. On the left was an abandoned mine; on the right was a heavily shaded, eerie graveyard. She gritted her teeth. "I get why Yan Zheng would stay here, but there's a difference between men and women. How can a pure maiden like me squeeze into a filthy ghost house with two men?"

  Hearing this, Xu Nan didn't even blink. He leaned slowly against the doorframe. "Senior Sister Su, your market analysis is fundamentally flawed. How is this 'squeezing in'? This is called 'guarding a gold ingot in a treasure bowl.'"

  He pointed at Su Wan, then patted the Jade Slip Ledger secured inside his robes. "You are currently my primary investor, holding a three-thousand-spirit-stone deficit. You are my living god of wealth. Since The Central Continent forced this death sentence on you, who's to say they won't hire phantom assassins tonight to wipe you out at the inn? My Nanxi Pavilion might be a distressed asset, but backed against a graveyard with constant Yin winds, it provides perfect camouflage for the living. You take the second floor, Senior Brother Yan secures the front door on the first floor. This is an ironclad defensive portfolio. Not even a Malignant Spirit could breach us."

  Su Wan was temporarily stunned by his twisted logic, unable to find a counter-argument.

  Seeing her hesitate, Xu Nan immediately pressed his advantage, rubbing his fat hands together with a smile. "Besides, tomorrow morning we need to buy supplies for The Hundred Thousand Mountains. Your Identity Token and Bank Exchange Mark are both void. How are you going to pay for an inn? Are you going to collateralize 'Miss Su's prestige'? Just come in. I’m painfully sacrificing the most spacious room on the second floor for you!"

  Su Wan took a deep breath. Glancing at the darkening sky and the eerie ghost fires in the graveyard, she finally lifted her skirt in disgust and stepped into the ruined house.

  Behind her, Xu Nan covertly broke into a grin.

  Ironclad defensive portfolio? He just wanted to tie these two free laborers down where he could keep an eye on them. The property was overgrown with weeds and had shattered windows; he had been stressing over how he was going to renovate it all by himself.

  As for the house itself? Xu Nan covertly tapped his foot against the stone slab by the dry well in the backyard. The pervasive Death Aura and Yin winds from the mountains perfectly masked the frequency of the Micro Spirit Spring buried underneath. He had locked in a ten-year Lease Contract for a mere five spirit stones. This grossly undervalued premium asset was now firmly secured in his pocket.

  Xu Nan sidled up to Yan Zheng, producing another blank Jade Slip Ledger like a magic trick. He smiled broadly. "Senior Brother Yan, even blood brothers keep transparent accounts. That packet of Nine-Revolution Life-Saving Powder I used on you in Wind-Rending Gorge, plus the private room and meals here at Nanxi Pavilion... Don't you think we should set up a Jade Slip Ledger for this too? One thousand five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones—and I even waived the fractional fees!"

  Yan Zheng opened his eyes and stared fixedly at Xu Nan.

  He didn't take the slip immediately. Instead, he spoke in a low, rigid voice: "The medicine at the gorge was inferior; maximum value is thirty stones. This ruined house leaks wind everywhere; rent is five stones. You have overcharged me by exactly one thousand four hundred and sixty-five stones."

  "Ah, Senior Brother Yan, your accounting is too rigid." Xu Nan's expression didn't change as he tapped his own chest with a smile. "When that Wind Ape brought its claw down, my Heavy Earth Talisman was padded under your feet right on schedule. The 'life-saving premium' I paid by risking my own neck is priced at exactly one thousand four hundred and sixty-five stones. A perfectly fair market valuation."

  Yan Zheng looked at that fat, mercenary face, and suddenly, for the first time, the corner of his mouth twitched.

  He reached out his large, rough hand, grabbed the jade slip, rapidly engraved his Divine Sense, and tossed it back.

  "My life is worth more than that. I acknowledge this debt."

  Xu Nan froze for a moment, then broke into a wide grin. Doing business with a rational market participant was always a pleasure. He carefully secured both Jade Slip Ledgers close to his chest and clapped his hands in satisfaction.