“Originally, Fellow Cultivator Su, you couldn’t even protect yourself, so I didn’t need to go to such lengths.
However, since you now have the capital to protect yourself, why don’t we make a deal?”
Lin Chengyun didn’t show the slightest hint of embarrassment at being caught.
She acted as if everything was perfectly natural as she pulled out a token and continued.
“This is a token of the Luoshui Sword Sect.
As long as you hold this, you can request a master from our sect to strike once.
Anyone below the Golden Core stage can be killed!”
“If you are willing to let me take Zhiwei back, I will present this to you with both hands.”
Lin Zhiwei looked at the token in her hand.
A sharp sword was engraved upon it, surrounded by a faint, sharp sword intent.
It was clearly extraordinary.
For the first time, a look of stunned disbelief appeared on her cold face.
‘Anyone below the Golden Core stage can be killed!’
In all her years, she had never seen cultivators who were like immortals, let alone seen someone slay them!
To her, this was an absolute, priceless treasure.
‘Is Sister Lin actually using it to trade for me?’
‘Would Su Xuan be willing to refuse?’
She turned her gaze toward Su Xuan, thinking he would likely agree quite readily.
“I’m sorry, Miss Lin, but I refuse.”
Su Xuan shook his head.
Without even thinking, his refusal was crisp and decisive.
Whether it was its territorial influence or the strength of the cultivators within the sect, the Luoshui Sword Sect was considered a top-tier prestigious sect in the Chuhe Realm of Zhongzhou.
Furthermore, as a holy land for sword cultivators in Zhongzhou, it was a place countless sword cultivators dreamed of joining.
Although a token and a favor from such a massive power were things countless people dreamed of, they were of no use to him at all.
Nonsense.
Anyone with a brain would know whether to choose a single strike or countless future opportunities to dominate.
“What!?”
“Huh?”
Two voices rang out in unison.
Neither Lin Chengyun nor Lin Zhiwei expected him to refuse so bluntly.
Lin Zhiwei looked at him, unable to imagine such words coming from his mouth.
“Does Fellow Cultivator not know what kind of existence the Luoshui Sword Sect is?
Do you know what holding this token represents?”
Lin Chengyun thought he was some ignorant country bumpkin.
She gave a contemptuous smile and raised her head.
“The holy land of sword cultivators in Zhongzhou, a prestigious sect spanning countless realms.
The Chuhe Realm is just one insignificant corner of it,” Su Xuan looked at her and spoke unhurriedly.
Then, he pulled over the dazed Lin Zhiwei and patted her head, his tone shifting.
“However, Zhiwei is my disciple.
Once a disciple, always a disciple.
I cannot trade her for personal gain.
So, Miss Lin, please leave.”
Su Xuan pointed toward the door, his meaning clear.
“You!”
Lin Chengyun’s eyes widened.
As a disciple of the sword sect practicing in the mortal world, the sect’s reputation had always been her trump card.
Many times when she encountered danger, simply revealing her identity as a disciple would save the day.
She hadn’t expected that not only would she reveal her identity, but she would even offer the sect’s token in exchange, only to be rejected!
“You… Do you have any idea what Zhiwei’s aptitude is?
Do you intend to waste her life?”
After a moment of thought, her eyes flickered, and she immediately tried to use a moral high ground to pressure him.
“As her master, I naturally have my own teaching methods.
There is no need for Fellow Cultivator Lin to worry!”
In his previous life in the modern world, Su Xuan had suffered greatly because he was too thin-skinned.
He didn’t fall for this tactic at all.
His wording became more distant as he spoke coldly.
To deal with someone using moral kidnapping, a simple ‘none of your business’ was more than enough.
“Zhiwei, what about you?
Are you really willing to follow a Loose Cultivator?
And he —”
Having been rejected repeatedly, Lin Chengyun’s proud and composed demeanor finally cracked.
She looked at Lin Zhiwei with urgency.
Lin Zhiwei stood silently by Su Xuan’s side.
Seeing him reach for her head, she quietly shook her head and dodged.
Her gaze shifted between the frantic Lin Chengyun and the determined Su Xuan.
Pouting slightly, she spoke.
“Sister Lin, I only want to cultivate with Master and my Junior Sister.”
“Even if you waste your talent for a lifetime?
Isn’t that a pity?”
Lin Chengyun’s eyes were wide.
She couldn’t understand why someone would voluntarily waste their talent.
She felt angry at her lack of ambition.
“Yes!”
Lin Zhiwei nodded without another word.
Since her master was already at Level 3, there was naturally no need for her to sacrifice herself.
More importantly, she could not accept Lin Chengyun’s cold attitude.
“Fine, fine, fine!”
After being rejected repeatedly, as a disciple of the sword sect, this was the first time she had been treated this way.
She was finally enraged.
After a long moment, she looked at Lin Zhiwei and gritted her teeth.
“Since Fellow Cultivator Su is so confident, I will stay in this wretched Marketplace for one more month!
I want to see exactly what you can make of such a good prospect!”
If the sword sect hadn’t required every disciple to experience the mortal world, she would never have come to this run-down Marketplace, let alone lowered herself to work as a servant.
This place had no spiritual energy and no resources.
Even the place she was staying had suddenly developed a rat problem over the past two days.
She had truly had enough.
However, looking at Lin Zhiwei’s talent, she was truly reluctant to let go.
Suppressing her anger, she planned to stay for another month.
Fuming, she slammed the door open and walked out.
Seeing that she didn’t resort to violence, Su Xuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Fortunately, I barely managed to get through it.’
“Master… I’m going to boil some water.”
Lin Zhiwei’s face remained expressionless as she looked away and spoke softly before heading to the kitchen.
Su Xuan watched the direction Lin Chengyun had left, falling into deep thought.
Lin Chengyun’s appearance made him realize a problem.
Looking back from his previous life’s perspective, these two disciples of his were naturally talented.
People coveting their talent definitely wouldn’t stop with her.
If they wanted to take them as disciples, that was one thing.
But what if they were like Wu Renyou, who had ulterior motives?
If someone with a higher cultivation than him used force later, would he even have the ability to resist as their master?
Furthermore, these two disciples were growing up and had their own thoughts.
They wanted to cultivate.
With their talent, what if they directly surpassed him?
He sat in the courtyard, pondering a solution.
For now, his cultivation at Level 3 was still too weak.
He had no ability to protect himself.
He had to hurry and increase his cultivation!
He also lacked offensive divine abilities; otherwise, he was just a hollow vessel despite his level.
As for them… Su Xuan looked at the two busy girls.
‘I can’t refuse to teach them, but I can’t teach them too well either.
I need to find a way to make these two highly talented individuals take some detours — at least until I have the power to protect myself.’
The joy of his recent breakthrough didn’t last long.
He nodded silently, finalizing his subsequent plans.
A moment later, Su Xuan moved the bath barrel into the bedroom and began to wash away the black mud and impurities expelled from his marrow during the cleansing.
He was already handsome, but after the cleansing, his skin had become much fairer, and the outlines of his muscle lines were faintly visible.
Lin Zhiwei brought him bucket after bucket of hot water.
Although she still didn’t say a word, she would peek through the crack of the door every time.
‘Zhiwei is my disciple.
Once a disciple, always a disciple…’
Thinking of his words from earlier, a rare trace of confusion appeared on Lin Zhiwei’s habitually expressionless face.
She and Lu Zhiyi had depended on each other for so long.
Several times, she had almost been tricked into becoming a furnace, and she had even been a hair’s breadth away from being a human sacrifice for the Demonic Cult.
Because of this, she understood things very clearly.
Good intentions in this world always came with a price.
If someone gave, they wanted something in return.
No one would be good to you for no reason.
But today, she couldn’t understand why her master would refuse to trade her for the Luoshui Sword Sect’s token.
‘What do you… really want?’
She took a deep breath, staring blankly at Su Xuan inside.
‘It couldn’t be that his conscience suddenly appeared and he truly wants to be a good master?’
After a while, she touched the wound on her head as if thinking of something incredibly ridiculous.
With a light chuckle, she turned and went back to the kitchen.