This was the moment Fang Xing began to feel his vision had been too narrow in the outer sect. He had thought he was rather wealthy with a mere couple hundred Spirit Stones, but now that he considered it, this amount of Stones was not even enough for basic expenses in the inner court. It was no wonder the three elders at the Grand Hall of Promotions had asked him to choose a technique that would help him earn resources; without money, all advancements in cultivation could only be forcibly paused.

　　Fang Xing was out of options right now. He had believed he surely had over three hundred Stones; who would have thought he was just nine Stones short? Without any other choice, he looked at the elder and grinned. “Can’t you make it a little bit cheaper?”

　　The elder glared sharply back, unwilling to budge. “I’ve never seen anyone haggling here!”

　　“You see, this is all the Stones I have, and I’m only nine short. I’ll give it back to you next time…” Fang Xing bitterly begged.

　　“Then make one less copy! You can’t spend all of your Stones and not leave any for your Qi fluctuations!”

　　“But you’ve already made the copy. Just let me take it for now….”

　　“No. You can’t take it even if you’re missing just a single Stone.”

　　“I’ll give you twenty Stones next time to make up for it!”

　　“Next time is next time, but this time there is no deal. Not a single Stone less.”

　　The pair of old and young argued in front of the long desk. One wanted to take all three jade scrolls, while the other was determined not to let it go without the precise number of Stones required.

　　When it seemed that Fang Xing was left with no other chance but to do a snatch-and-grab, a female voice suddenly rose up from behind him, “Shidi Fang must be a little tight on money lately. I can lend you some if you’d like.”

　　Turning around revealed a female in a light yellow robe with a soft smile hanging on her attractive face. She was around twenty years of age, and her long black hair draped gently down her tall and slender figure. Although she lacked feminine curves such as breasts and a bottom, there was still something rather alluring about her.

　　To her side was a man in the fifth tier, and even though his robes were elegant and luxurious, his appearance was rather unsightly. His skin was tanned to an excess and his brows were raised unnaturally with his eyes bulging out beneath. His lips, too, were extremely wide, while his cheeks sat at an angle that seemed impossible and made him appear angry at all times.

　　The fact that he was standing next to a beautiful girl created a stark contrast on its own, making her appear gorgeous to the extreme. It could even be said that if this female’s beauty were to be rated as a ten out of ten, three of those points would have been caused by the contrast of the man next to her.

　　“Who are you?” Fang Xing thought she looked familiar, but he couldn’t recall from exactly where he’d seen her.

　　The female smiled faintly upon hearing this. “You must have forgotten, Shidi Fang. We met at the black bamboo forest, remember?”

　　Fang Xing suddenly recalled something. Indeed, he had met her before along with the dark-faced man when Meng Xuanzhao wanted to take a piece from him. Who would have thought that she had become an inner court disciple by now and had broken through into tier five as well? There were also some physical changes to her, which had caused Fang Xing to be unable to recognize her straight away.

　　“Uhh, yes, I remember now. Your name was….”

　　“Heh, my name is Qin. Qin Xing’er.” The yellow-robed female was polite and immediately introduced herself.

　　“Ahh, Shijie Qin, my apologies. You… you’d like to lend me money?” Fang Xing looked at her with doubt, unable to trust her intentions since both she and the dark-faced man had been on Meng Xuanzhao’s side back then. Even though Fang Xing had had the last laugh and there wasn’t any basis for specific resentment either, they had been far from being friendly. Why would she want to lend him money now?

　　Was she trying to ensnare him with debt?

　　Qin Xing’er smiled. “It’s only nine Spirit Stones. It’s nothing big, and you don’t have to return it.” As she spoke, a few shining red Stones—exactly nine of them—flew onto the long desk. All of them had come from a small ring on her index finger that was similar to Fang Xing’s own storage ring.

　　Fang Xing tilted his head and glanced curiously at the female. “Thanks, then!” He then pushed all of the Spirit Stones on the desk towards the elder before taking the three jade scrolls. He had made up his mind, and even if she wanted to trap him in debt, he would just refuse to pay; it wasn’t as though she could do anything about it.

　　Of course, Fang Xing was merely being overly cautious this time. Qin Xing’er would have probably been rather upset if she knew what Fang Xing’s real thoughts were at this moment.

　　“I, err, will return it back to you sometime.” Fang Xing was ready to leave as soon as everything was finished. He wasn’t sure why she had lent him the Stones, but the less interaction they had, the better. This was especially true if she had a secret crush on him and wanted him to marry her; that would be a huge problem.

　　As the angry-looking man next to Qin Xing’er watched the back of Fang Xing leaving, he turned to ask, “Shimei Qin, who is this person?”

　　Qin Xing’er, on the other hand, was rather cold towards this man. “It’s an old friend of mine from a meeting in the outer court. By the way, you might have heard of him before as well. Strictly speaking, he was the first person to enter the inner court from our group; our achievements may be impressive in the eyes of ordinary disciples, but in front of him, we’re still slightly a cut below.”

　　A sense of disdain filled the face of Shen Hujun as he laughed. “The first person to join the inner court? So he must be that so-called ‘Qing-Yun’s number one trash’ from the rumors going around? Heh, Shimei Qin, why are you so kind to him? No matter how early he joined the inner court, he is still a good-for-nothing brat who couldn’t even take advantage of such a great chance thrown in front of him!”

　　As the two spoke, it became clear that something was going on between the pair.

　　Qin Xing’er disliked this man, who would always follow her around and boast about himself as if he was the best of the best. This was precisely the reason why she had purposefully mentioned that Fang Xing was in fact the first person to enter the inner court, so as to hint to him that he had gone too far in his usual boastings. However, Shen Hujun only felt a sense of disdain and jealousy when he heard her praising Fang Xing, and his words towards Fang Xing were thus not kind at all.

　　Shen Hujun had only considered how to make himself look good in front of Qin Xing’er, and hadn’t noticed that his words had angered the eavesdropping Fang Xing.

　　“Who did you call trash just then? I’ll peel your skin off, you ugly mole!” Although Fang Xing had already walked off, he turned back again to point at Shen Hujun with a yell.

　　Fang Xing knew about these rumors in the sect, and even he himself was confused as to how he became “trash” overnight. It must have been that old bastard of his Uncle Shi’yi—Bai Qianzhang—who had told everyone Fang Xing was dismissed by him. They had been on such good terms, though; what reason would the old bastard have to do such a thing at the end of all this?

　　Fang Xing couldn’t do anything to stop the rumors, but to point fingers at him from behind his back was different from doing it in front of his face. He had obviously not walked very far off before this ugly mole began to call him names. Did he truly believe Fang Xing could not hear him at all, or did he believe Fang Xing did not have the guts to beat him? Such matters were things Fang Xing would not let go of, and he hence turned straight back around.

　　“Who are you cursing, little bastard?” Shen Hujun yelled back, the color of his face changing. He knew he was ugly, but he also disliked being called so, particularly in front of the girl he was trying to woo. It was only natural he was furious.

　　Fang Xing tucked the three jade scrolls safely in his robe before standing with his hands on his hips. “I called you an ugly mole! If you’re unconvinced, why don’t we have a spar?”

　　Shen Hujun cracked his knuckles as he let out a deep growl. “Are you tired of living?”

　　Fang Xing rolled up his sleeves. “Come at me, then! We’ll see who’s tired of living!”

　　Within moments, the atmosphere was rather heavy and the scene was literally seconds away from exploding into a fight, to the point that even Qin Xing’er was left dumbstruck and unable to interrupt. She hadn’t thought Fang Xing would be listening in on their conversation after he left and would return. The worst of it all was that the kid’s temperament was not to be taken lightly; he had returned with curses right away.

　　Seeing these two disciples about to begin a fight in front of the Grand Hall of Scriptures, the elder banged on the long desk and broke the intense aura. “If you want to fight, go fight somewhere else where no one is around! Are you all pretending I don’t exist?”

　　The elder was in tier nine; his cultivation level was much greater than both Fang Xing and Shen Hujun. His words were especially effective on Shen Hujun who was unlike Fang Xing and knew the rules of the Grand Hall of Scriptures, as it would only cause trouble if they were to truly begin a fight within its corridors. Shen Hujun forcefully swallowed his anger and looked to Fang Xing in a foreboding manner, “Just you wait, little bastard. I will make sure to play a good game with you.”

　　“Enough!” Qin Xing’er demanded while pulling Shen Hujun to the side. For lack of a better option, she turned to Fang Xing and spoke in an apologetic manner, “Shidi Fang, I’m so sorry about this. Please just let it all end here, just for me?”

　　“Humph!” Fang Xing turned back to head out of the Grand Hall once again without a single word.

　　Qin Xing’er let out a sigh, as she had originally planned on genuinely befriending Fang Xing. She had heard the rumors detailing what kind of “trash” he was and the fact he had been dismissed by Grand-Shishu Bai, as though Fang Xing had been kicked from the top of a cloud and into a muddy quagmire after sabotaging his own future. However, not once had Qin Xing’er believed this to be true. Especially after witnessing the boy’s potential three years ago at the black bamboo forest, she was certain that he would no doubt become someone in the future.

　　There was nothing wrong in wanting to befriend someone with such potential early on, and this would have been the perfect opportunity. With only the cost of nine Spirit Stones, Fang Xing would have immediately owed her a favor. Who would have thought the rude and impetuous Shen Hujun would ruin her plan completely? Fang Xing might have even started to hold a grudge against her because of Shen Hujun’s actions.

　　The fact Fang Xing left straight away, however, was enough to lift a heavy weight from her chest. In comparison to three years ago, it seemed his temper was slightly tamer, and he at least knew to avoid those he could not deal with now. If the two had really gone into a fight, Fang Xing at only tier four would have surely lost beneath Shen Hujun’s fist.