Book 2 - Chapter 27 (Patreon)

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Perhaps this hadn’t been his best idea.

William had impulsively told Xu Feng that they should get to know each other because he looked like a scared puppy.

The problem he now faced was that he didn’t know where to start, and Xu Feng was of no help since he seemed more than happy to keep smiling at him as they sat across from each other. A small table separated them in the middle.

William cleared his throat. “So, Brother Xu, what made you want to buy the guest spot?”

“Oh,” Xu Feng’s smile slipped off his face, baffling William, “I apologize, Brother Wei. I wish I could pay you its true worth, but I couldn’t afford to without losing the chance to bid in the auction.”

He had already assumed it was worth much more, but that was set aside when he accepted Xu Feng’s offer.

“I never said anything about wanting more from you,” William reassured, “but now you brought it up, what do you think I could get for the spot?”

Xu Feng frowned, his thoughts almost visible. “Maybe fifty Spirit Stones? It would depend on whether the buyer could use the discount effectively. Someone like Senior Lan would gladly pay hundreds since he is bidding on the most expensive items in the auction.”

“That makes sense,” William nodded calmly. Not that he was sure if it came out that way. Internally, he was screaming in rage.

If he knew it was this valuable, there was zero chance he would have given a damn about looking respectable in front of that Nascent Soul Realm Elder.

Fifty Spirit Stones.

Five thousand Qi Stones.

That’s what he gave up like an idiot to avoid looking like a money grubber. It wasn’t often he thought Wang Xiaoling’s presence would be a benefit, but he sorely missed her at the moment.

If the queen of misers were here, this would have never come to pass. Then again, she would have swindled most of it from him.

“Brother Wei?” Xu Feng’s voice broke him from the self-loathing that was drowning him.

“Sorry, I was distracted, Brother Xu,” William said weakly, “Did you ask me something?”

Instead of answering, Xu Feng took out ten Spirit Stones and carefully placed them on the table. “I can see this is affecting you, Brother Wei. This is the most I can spare right now, but I will pay you the full fifty in the future.”

“… Is there something wrong with you?” William blurted out, making Xu Feng give him a confused look.

This was either the most naive kid in the Tianxia Empire, or this was some ploy to quickly gain his trust. Either way, there was wealth behind Xu Feng.

If William had to bet, he would guess the latter. He had seen how quickly cultivators stopped caring for anything unrelated to their interests, and Xu Feng suddenly showing how much of an innocent and ethically upright person he was set off all the alarms in William’s mind.

“Did you want everything now?” Xu Feng grimaced before moving to take out more Spirit Stones.

“Stop!” William stood up, making Xu Feng drop his hand to the hilt of his sword. He noted that and continued, “I don’t go back on my word, Brother Xu. Take those back and use them for what you need.”

This pained him, but he couldn’t fleece someone from another sect. Not when he was a newly admitted Inner Disciple and had the attention of Elder Yu and the Grand Elder.

The chance to make money on the guest spot was lost at the entrance of the auction house, and he would have to accept it, no matter how much he didn’t want to.

“Thank you, Brother Wei!” Xu Feng quickly snatched the Spirit Stones placed on the table.

“Hm,” William sat back down, “Senior Yang said you are from the Heavenly Sword Sect.” The geography lessons Zheng Tao gave him were already helpful. “That’s at the border of the Empire, right?”

“Yes, Brother Wei. We are a small sect, but I believe it’s the best one in the world!”

William raised an eyebrow at the boldness. He didn’t care too much about it. Still, he imagined other disciples would take personal offense that someone claimed any other sect was greater than the Jade Healing Sect.

“That’s nice to hear you think highly of your sect, Brother Xu,” William teased, again noting that Xu Feng’s hand dropped to the hilt of his sword.

So, the boy wasn’t as sweet and naive as he portrayed himself. If the mildest of jokes had a reaction like that, then this had to be a fake persona.

In the meantime, William kept his Qi in a constant ready state to active [Force Multiplier]. He seriously doubted it would ever be needed since attacking him here would be suicide, but he wasn’t going to use logical thinking as a reason to be unprepared.

If Xu Feng dared to make a move, he would end up as a smear on the walls.

… On second thought, he should ensure his assumption of easy victory was true. He usually used [Observe] on a target, but Xu Feng’s age made William curious about his Luck attribute.

So [Detailed Observe] it was.

[-20 Spiritual Energy]

Name: Xu Feng

Age: 14

Level: 109

Cultivation: Foundation Establishment (Early Stage)

Health: 2100/2100

Spiritual Energy: 685/685

Spirit: 137

Strength: 139

Stamina: 141

Agility: 173

Luck: 60

Xu Feng was young. It was an obvious statement, but one that had to be pointed out. Far younger than William had assumed.

He was under the impression that Xu Feng might be around Li Xinyue’s age. After all, she was considered a rare type of cultivator, but seeing that he was actually around the same age as himself baffled him.

William thought about what had been necessary for him to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm at this young age. Xu Feng suddenly didn’t seem so naive and innocent anymore, unless all he needed to do was breathe to cultivate at a monstrous pace.

However, Xu Feng’s Luck attribute made it hard for William to accept that the fast cultivation was normal. It was stupidly low.

He hadn’t used [Detailed Observe] on many people, but without fail, the more impressive the cultivator’s Luck attribute was, the faster their advancement had been. Xu Feng must have had outside help of some kind.

“It’s true,” Xu Feng defended himself. “We are like a family instead of a sect.”

William’s dissection of the boy’s stats hadn’t taken more than a second or two. Still, he almost forgot why Xu Feng responded so adamantly.

“Well, so is mine,” he decided to be stubborn, acting his physical age for once. “I’m guessing the Jade Healing Sect is larger, but everyone is accommodating. How do you think my cultivation is so high?”

“My senior brothers say that can help me advance even faster. I can match Brother Wei when I am your age!”

William paused. “My age?”

“Yes, Brother Wei must be fifteen,” Xu Feng smiled. “I am only fourteen years old.”

This was the first time someone had called him older than he was. It felt nice. After having most of the cultivators he met calling him ‘cute’ and ‘adorable,’ it took a toll on his ego. It didn’t help that every cultivator that had called him that also happened to be a woman.

… Speaking of women, he just realized that it was far more common to see women instead of men in the sect. Nothing outrageous that stood out immediately, but enough where it would be noticeable eventually. That would have to be something he would need to bring up with Lan Yang.

He snapped his thoughts off the sect's demographics and returned to the matter of Xu Feng, who still looked far too proud. William started to think the politeness came from Xu Feng's mistake of thinking he was younger.

It's too bad he had to break the bad news.

“I’m not older than you,” William said bluntly, enjoying the blank look on his face.

“… You’re not?”

“Not at all,” William confirmed with a grin, “In fact, I’m younger.”

“Impossible!” Xu Feng stood up in shock, “How? Did you also bathe in a spiritual lake, too?”

He was about to deny that but then remembered the lake in the oasis. With how dense the Qi was, it could be considered a spiritual lake.

“I’m just that awesome, Brother Xu.” William settled on ignoring it entirely. It did no good to confirm or deny it.

“… For some strange reason, I don’t think you’re wrong,” Xu Feng muttered, looking even more like a lost puppy than he had at the start.

Before William had the chance to feel bad that he forgot his original intention to be friendly with the kid and instead started arguing about who was better, the door opened.

“You’re already out,” Lan Yang commented as he immediately walked to the entrance of the bidding area, “Follow me. It’s about to start.”

William shared a look with Xu Feng before doing as told.

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