Fuchun Restaurant, in a private room on the second floor.
Fang Xuan didn't sit; he simply leaned against the doorframe, cradling his black sword.
His face was expressionless, but he quietly released a sliver of late-stage Void Core spiritual pressure, filling the entire room.
Inside the room, besides him and Ning Xian, was a woman of elegant bearing—the proprietress of Fuchun Restaurant.
However, under the weight of Fang Xuan’s spiritual pressure, fine beads of sweat had already formed on her forehead, her smile was stiff, and she hardly dared to breathe.
"Three... three thousand low-grade spirit stones, Miss Ning... Considering you are a regular customer, this is the lowest price possible."
The woman struggled to keep her voice steady as she quoted the figure.
Securing two reliable slots on the periodic cross-realm airship of the Central Plains' largest sect, the Tianyan Sect, along with identity cover, was a price that would normally be considered pitifully low in the current market.
Ning Xian spoke directly: "Thirty."
As soon as she finished, the room fell into a dead silence.
The expression on the proprietress's face froze; she felt she must have misheard...
Cutting three thousand down to thirty?
This wasn't bargaining; this was daylight robbery!
Fang Xuan was also momentarily stunned, and he even retracted a bit of the pressure he was exerting on the proprietress...
Even he felt a bit embarrassed.
The proprietress forced a smile... If she had known, she would rather have died than deal with Ning Xian.
When she had revealed her connections before, she thought it was an opportunity for profit.
Looking at it now, she had walked straight into a den of bandits.
She wanted to run away...
But the young dao companion standing before her had a depth of cultivation that was unfathomable and a hardline attitude.
Furthermore, Ning Xian was a regular customer she truly did not wish to offend...
"Th-thirty... That isn't even enough for the tips needed to grease the wheels along the way..." the proprietress said with a bitter face.
Ning Xian continued, "I'll add some of this."
She began pulling items out of Fang Xuan’s storage ring.
It was a pile of mediocre spirit herbs—common goods they had picked up randomly in the secret realm.
There were also several jade bottles containing a large amount of low-quality pills—essentially trash gathered from the secret realm that she figured she might as well dispose of now.
These items were piled onto the pearwood table in a heap, clattering into a small mountain.
The proprietress’s mouth twitched as she looked at the pile of junk on the table.
Although all these things combined might technically be worth three thousand spirit stones, how on earth was she supposed to sell such a mess?
She glanced again at Fang Xuan, who was still cradling his sword with an indifferent expression.
She knew there was no room for negotiation. This deal would certainly be a massive loss, but offending such a calamity might lead to even worse consequences.
"...Fine." She practically gritted her teeth as she agreed, forcing a smile that looked more painful than crying.
"Consider it... making a friend. Thirty spirit stones plus these... fine materials."
"The slots and the identity credentials... two months from now, at this same location, I will hand them over to Miss Ning."
As she spoke, her heart was bleeding.
Securing reliable slots on a cross-realm airship belonging to a behemoth like the Tianyan Sect usually required at least thirty thousand spirit stones just to clear the various hurdles. This was essentially paying out of her own pocket to serve them!
Ning Xian seemed to feel that she had pushed the price a bit too far. After a moment of hesitation, she took out some slightly higher-quality spirit herbs from her own old storage pouch and placed them gently next to the pile of trash.
"Thank you for your hard work," she said softly.
Seeing the few extra items, the woman’s expression improved by the tiniest fraction as she hurried to sweep them away. "Miss Ning is too kind. It's my duty, purely my duty."
...................
Stepping out of Fuchun Restaurant, the afternoon sunlight was somewhat dazzling.
Fang Xuan didn't understand why his Senior Sister was in such a hurry to leave the Southern Wilderness.
According to his original slacker plan, he intended to stay in the Qingyun Sect with Ning Xian and slowly farm training value.
If trouble came knocking, he would solve it easily and eventually take control of the entire Qingyun Sect.
While it was a bit of a challenge, it wasn't entirely impossible.
However, he didn't dare say those things out loud.
If he actually revealed his plan to get rid of Lu Qingsong, Senior Sister would probably hang him up and thrash him...
Hm...? Hang him up?
A flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind.
Hanging him up... it seemed... like another way to farm training value...
Though it would certainly make Senior Sister angry, some appropriate sacrifice was necessary for the sake of rapidly increasing his strength.
Besides, if he didn't help Senior Sister develop the habit of training him early on, it might become harder to farm training value later.
...................
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. His eyes began to wander as very serious images began to surface in his mind...
...................
"Let's go, time to go home." Ning Xian's voice pulled him back to reality.
She glanced at the sky and turned to walk toward the town exit.
Fang Xuan followed, continuing to ponder his "Hanging Training Plan" as he walked.
...................
Back at the mountain, the small courtyard in the valley was as peaceful as ever.
The sun was already leaning toward the west.
Just as Fang Xuan stepped into the courtyard, still refining the detailed steps of "how to naturally get Senior Sister to hang him up"—even considering the material of the rope and the binding method—Ning Xian pushed open her door.
"Go take your medicinal bath first, then prepare yourself. We can begin the bone replacement soon."
"Mm, okay... wait, what?"
Fang Xuan responded instinctively before reacting to her words.
"Bone replacement? Then what about Shen Chen's side..."
Ning Xian had already entered the room and begun preparing the herbs. "As for Shen Chen, I've dealt with him."
The restriction barrier of the Qingyun Sect had already been completely excavated by her over the past few days.
Her own spirit bone had regrown completely under the stimulation of Fang Xuan’s pill, and her cultivation realm had returned to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Fang Xuan: "...??"
He had only been in the secret realm for three days, and yet Senior Sister's efficiency was this high?
But the direction this plot was moving in... wasn't it a bit too ridiculous?
Shen Chen was gone, and Shen Qingqing was dead... the main antagonist and the malicious supporting female lead of the tragic novel were both gone.
So this tragic novel... who was it supposed to be tragic for now?
...................
When it came to the plot, he was becoming more and more confused.
Still, it was better if it wasn't tragic.
On second thought, the current Senior Sister—who was easily embarrassed and occasionally dazed—was quite cute. It was much better than the one in his dream...
He recalled the dream from that day again...
In the dream...
The cold and aloof Senior Sister, with her bare white feet, stepped on his chest and looked down at him with an icy gaze.
Then, while cursing him with her frigid voice, calling him a disobedient servant, she would... er, she would drag him to bed for endless rounds until dawn...
That version of Senior Sister was too terrifying. Just thinking about it made his lower back feel sore.
He felt that if Senior Sister really were to be reborn and turn villainous... her style would likely be exactly like that dream...
...................
He snapped back to his senses.
Regarding the matter of going to the Central Plains, he planned to provoke Senior Sister first. That way, it would be best if she locked up the disobedient him and gave him a harsh training session.
Hehehe.
Just kidding. Actually, he planned to explain things clearly—that they couldn't run away just yet—while simultaneously annoying Senior Sister to farm some training value.
But if he directly refused to go to the Central Plains? No, Senior Sister would definitely press for answers and might even worry more.
After a bit of preparation, his performance was about to begin...
The story of the disobedient Junior Brother being harshly trained by the cold Senior Sister!
Rate on N.U.
