The spirited youth understood the meaning in Liu Baijian’s eyes. A flushed blush spread across his face as he scratched his head awkwardly. “Well… to be honest, due to certain circumstances, I’m currently penniless and in a rather dire situation.”

“Did you run away from home?” Liu Baijian asked suddenly, his gaze fixed on the youth.

Hearing this, the spirited youth was stunned. “How did you know!? Can you read minds or something?!”

“Oh, I guessed,” Liu Baijian replied indifferently. “It was pretty obvious from the look on your face.”

His attire screamed wealth or nobility, his demeanor exuded the refined restraint cultivated from a life of privilege in affluent circles. Not to mention his fair, delicate skin—this was clearly no child from a poor family. He must be the pampered young master of some prominent clan. Such a favored scion of a great family would never lack spirit stones in his pockets or attendants by his side.

Yet here stood this spirited youth, alone and unaccompanied, so destitute he couldn’t even produce thirty low-grade spirit stones. It could only mean he’d stormed out of the home in a huff, severing all ties with his family.

Caught out, the spirited youth flushed with embarrassment. “I had no choice,” he stammered. “I fled in such haste, I left everything behind.”

The meager spirit stones in his pocket were the hard-earned savings from months of grueling labor in Wendao City.

Thanks to those months of labor, the once-pampered young master, who’d never known hardship, had developed a thick skin. That’s how he mustered the nerve to approach Liu Baijian and ask him to pull strings with Yuan Ziqiu, the guide seller, to get a discount.

Liu Baijian glanced at him, his expression briefly thoughtful before he offered the spirited youth a smile. “Why go to such trouble?”

The youth froze, baffled by the remark.

Then Liu Baijian extended his hand, handing over the guidebook he held. “Here you go. Isn’t this what you need?”

The spirited youth gasped in surprise, his eyes immediately lighting up. His face beamed as he exclaimed to Liu Baijian, “You’re giving it to me? How could I possibly accept this? Hehe!”

He chuckled, reaching out his hand toward Liu Baijian without a hint of embarrassment.

Just as his hand was about to touch the guidebook in Liu Baijian’s grasp, Liu Baijian abruptly withdrew his hand.

“!!!!”

The spirited youth snapped his head up, his eyes filled with questioning. “?????”

Facing his bewilderment, Liu Baijian spoke calmly, “Who said it was for you? One price: twenty spirit stones.”

“…” The spirited youth.

Never expecting such a shady move, the spirited youth instantly wore a look of shattered dreams. I knew it was too good to be true! There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Having never expected a freebie anyway, the spirited youth quickly recovered from his brief disappointment. He bargained with Liu Baijian, “But you only paid ten spirit stones for it just now!”

“True,” Liu Baijian replied without batting an eye, “but Yuan Ziqiu was selling it for thirty! You can always choose not to buy mine.”

“…” The spirited youth.

Doesn’t your conscience hurt?!

The spirited youth shot him an accusing glare and blurted out, “Can’t you cut me a break? How about eleven spirit stones?”

“…” Liu Baijian.

This time, it was Liu Baijian who was speechless. Eleven spirit stones? You actually suggested that? He was only willing to add one more spirit stone. “Are you trying to give to a beggar? Twenty spirit stones, not one less.“ Liu Baijian declared.

”Not one less, really?“ The spirited youth persisted, unwilling to give up.

”No!“ Liu Baijian refused him coldly.

”…Alright.”

Seeing no room for negotiation, the spirited youth reluctantly agreed. After all, going to Yuan Ziqiu would cost thirty spirit stones!

With a pained expression, he emptied his entire money pouch, reluctantly handing over twenty spirit stones. “You’d better take good care of them—this is two months’ worth of my allowance!”

Hard-earned from selling his labor!

“…I’ll spend them all tomorrow,” Liu Baijian replied.

The spirited youth shot him an accusing glare. How could you be so cold, so heartless, so ruthless!

“…” Liu Baijian.

Seriously, you’re putting on quite the show! Isn’t the whole point of spirit stones to be spent?

↑Spirit stones that aren’t spent by me have no purpose! —by the former noble youth turned penny-pinching laborer due to poverty.

The spirited youth took the guidebook from Liu Baijian’s hand and said, “You really want to sell this to me? This guidebook is incredibly useful—you won’t regret buying it.”

Clearly, he knew the true value of this guidebook.

“It is useful, but I no longer need it,” Liu Baijian replied.

Hearing this, the spirited youth looked up at him, his eyes filled with questions.

“Because I’ve already memorized everything in it.” Facing the puzzled gaze directed at him, Liu Baijian didn’t hide anything. After all, this guy had paid twenty spirit stones for his secret realm guide. After deducting costs, he’d made a net profit of ten spirit stones—a whopping fifty percent return. Liu Baijian was giving him face.

“Photographic memory?” the spirited youth asked, his tone tinged with surprise. Yet his reaction wasn’t overly dramatic—just a look of sudden understanding. “I see.”

“You’re a sly one!” he declared to Liu Baijian, then added with a pout, “To pull off such a clean trick with nothing but your wits!”

Observing his reaction, Liu Baijian grew increasingly certain of the youth’s extraordinary background. Photographic memory was a rare innate talent—not exceptionally powerful, but highly practical. An ordinary person hearing that Liu Baijian possessed such a gift would never react so calmly. This youth’s composed response suggested either that he himself possessed an even more extraordinary talent, or that he was simply accustomed to encountering individuals with rare and unusual gifts—geniuses passing through his life were nothing unusual. Either way, this youth was far from ordinary.

“I didn’t. Don’t make things up,” Liu Baijian corrected him. “If I took your spirit stones without giving you the guide, that would be swindling you. At most, I’m just reselling it at a premium.”

“It’s not even a premium resale,” Liu Baijian added. “After all, it’s worth thirty spirit stones. Anyone who gets it for twenty should be grateful.”

The spirited youth instantly wore an expression of admiration upon hearing this, sincerely exclaiming, “You’re shameless.”

“Please call me Clever, thank you,” Liu Baijian corrected him.

“Hello, Clever, I’m Shen Lanmao,” the youth said politely.

“Hello, Mr. Penny-Pincher. I’m Liu Baijian,” Liu Baijian replied equally courteously.

“…What did you just call me?” Shen Lanmao demanded.

“Shen Lanmao,” Liu Baijian stated without batting an eye.

“You called me Penny-Pincher! You did!” Shen Lanmao insisted.

“No! You misheard.” Liu Baijian denied it without blinking an eye.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Because of this twenty spirit stone transaction, Liu Baijian and Shen Lanmao formed a deep bond (not really) and became good friends (yeah, right).

“What’s your relationship with Yuan Ziqiu?” Shen Lanmao stood beside Liu Baijian and asked curiously. “That crooked merchant Yuan Ziqiu won’t part with a single penny. He never gives anyone a bargain.”

After saying this, he added indignantly, “I begged him for ages to sell me something cheaper, but he wouldn’t budge!”

Liu Baijian looked at him, thinking, Even if you asked me, I wouldn’t know.

“No connection. I don’t know him,” Liu Baijian replied.

Shen Lanmao wore a look of disbelief. “If you’re unrelated and don’t know him, why would he give you such a discount? I’ve never seen him treat anyone this well.”

Is this what you call kindness? Liu Baijian thought inwardly. “He still charged me ten spirit stones. You’ve clearly never met someone who truly cares about me.”

After all, Liu Baijian was handsome. Since leaving the valley, he’d encountered countless people offering to take care of him—providing food, lodging, and even money.

“…Hey! You’re talking about being kept, right? Those guys are all sleazy old men with ulterior motives!” Shen Lanmao couldn’t help but retort. “They have no good intentions toward you! They just want to take advantage of you!” “

”There were young ones too,“ Liu Baijian corrected him.

”Is that the point?!“ Shen Lanmao snapped. ”Then what?!“

”What else could I do? I broke their third leg.“ Liu Baijian said it with a casual tone.

”!!!!” Shen Lanmao.

Shen Lanmao instantly felt a sharp twinge in his lower body, a stinging pain in his balls. His gaze toward Liu Baijian instantly changed. This guy was ruthless!

Though cultivators could regenerate severed limbs, having your third leg broken… For a man, that would be a painful memory he’d never forget for the rest of his life! It would leave a permanent psychological scar, likely causing impotence.

He began to pity those blind fools who dared to provoke Liu Baijian.

Observing the expression on his face, Liu Baijian remarked coldly, “Anyone who would lay a hand on a youth of my age is scum! Castrating them would be too lenient. Do you actually feel sympathy for that trash?”

“It’s not sympathy, it’s just…” Shen Lan Mao stammered.

It’s just that you’ve scared the hell out of me!

Liu Baijian was only fourteen now. In the cultivation world, that age was still considered a child. Cultivators practiced celibacy; breaking one’s virginity before reaching the Golden Core stage was discouraged, and it was absolutely forbidden to lose one’s virginity before establishing a Foundation. Doing so would damage one’s primordial essence and make the path to the Dao difficult to achieve.

Therefore, anyone capable of harming Liu Baijian must be despicable, shameless scum!

Any person with a shred of conscience would never commit such acts—attacking a youth, severing another’s path to cultivation.

“Alright, you’re right.” Shen Lanmao hesitated, then conceded Liu Baijian’s point. “We shouldn’t show mercy to that scum, but…”

He spoke with evident conflict, “Aren’t we getting off topic? Weren’t we discussing your relationship with Yuan Ziqiu?”

Hearing this, Liu Baijian shot him a sidelong glance. “Didn’t I already say? There’s no relationship.”

“…Are you absolutely sure there’s nothing?” Shen Lanmao couldn’t help but question.

“Why would I lie to you? What purpose would that serve?” Liu Baijian countered.

Shen Lanmao’s expression visibly twisted again. “Then why? Why is he so good to you? It can’t be for no reason…”

“It’s so strange! Why exactly? I just can’t figure it out!” Shen Lanmao exclaimed.

Watching his tormented expression, Liu Baijian felt exhausted for him. “Is it really that important?” he asked.

“It matters!” Shen Lanmao snapped his head up, his gaze fixed on Liu Baijian. “Do you remember what Yuan Ziqiu said earlier?”

“What?” Liu Baijian asked.

“He mentioned that he passed the Wendao Sect’s assessment every single time,” Shen Lanmao stated. “It’s true.”

“…” Liu Baijian fell silent.

Hearing this, Liu Baijian looked at him.

“I know what you’re wondering,” Shen Lanmao continued. “He took the Wendao Sect’s assessment three times and passed each time. The reason he never joined the sect is that…”

“He has no spiritual roots,” Shen Lanmao paused before continuing.

“…,” Liu Baijian.

“He’s a thoroughly ordinary mortal—utterly devoid of spiritual roots and incapable of cultivation.” Shen Lanmao.