Xiao Feng was moments away from writing his name in blood on the jade slip contract, when Xiao Ying stopped him with her voice.

“Hey, screw off, damn brat, you can’t disturb the signing process!” The lazy cultivator who worked in the Mission Hall was annoyed beyond belief. He needed Xiao Feng to carry through with this loan to justify his mission being posted on the top of the Mission update monument, otherwise the lazy cultivator would be in big trouble for neglecting his duties and messing up the order procedures.

“Calm down,” said Ying Er in an icy tone, her beautiful features emitting faint killing intent. “Giving money to my friend isn’t against the rules, is it?”

She let traces of her Mid Foundation aura rise, intimidating the lazy cultivator who was only at the early stage of the Foundation establishment level.

“N-no, Sect sister, it isn’t.” He said, feeling intensely emasculated.

Ying Er plopped a small bag containing spirit stone vouchers beside the table Xiao Feng was standing over.

“This is from my personal savings, don’t make a fuss, you can pay me back later. Just hurry up and take it!”

Xiao Feng knew it was best to accept her gift without questions for the moment, right now he needed to hurry to sign so that he could save Master Ji Han. He edited the down payment detail on the jade slip before finalizing the loan with his signature.

The lazy cultivator sighed audibly in relief upon receiving Xiao Feng’s name in signature, while Xiao Feng bowed and cupped his hands before sister Ying Er.

“Ying Er Jie, thank you,” he said, voice moved with emotion. “With this, you’ve saved me probably a decade paying back the interest rate, as the initial rate for 85,000 spirit stones was simply too much!”

“Don’t worry about it, Xiao Feng,” she smiled. Her sparkling eyes caused Xiao Feng’s heart to skip a beat, before he realized that within her kind, almond-like eyes hid her sincere intentions. He was incredibly moved to realize that Ying Er was one of the few people besides himself that really, truly wanted to save Master Ji Han!

“Ying Er Jie, if I may be so presumptuous as to ask, how exactly did you save so much money?” Xiao Feng asked.

“Er…” Ying Er laughed embarrassingly. “Perhaps you didn’t know, my He clan is a respected and powerful clan in the Sect. I save my allowance pretty well, and I earn a lot from participating in clan missions.”

Xiao Feng nodded. Having the backing of a family meant your financial foundations and short-comings were covered, he just didn’t realize yet how much so.

“What the-!”

The lazy cultivator cried out.

He was fetching another jade slip when he checked the slab of rock by his personal desk, which kept a real-time account of Sect members who sent offers to undertake Sect missions.

Xiao Feng and Ying Er rudely came behind the lazy cultivator to peer over his shoulder.

There were easily over a dozen notifications on the monument regarding the Personal Requst Rescue Mission that paid 100,000 spirit stones.

The record flashed, as more and more cultivators attempted to contact the Mission Hall with interest in undertaking it. The record had no method of showing anything other than the individual’s cultivation level underneath a specific mission, as the vast majority of the interested were of Late Foundation stage. Of course, Core Formation Cultivators have also pinged their response, much to their delight.

“I was supposed to give you a Jade slip that is like a miniature version of this big slab after you made your payment,” said the lazy cultivator. “But that jade slip won’t show you what level the cultivators are, and you’re already here in the Mission Hall, so you should wait. The entire Sect is probably gonna show-”

Before he finished his sentence, a blinding flash filled the dim Mission Hall.

A cultivator wearing white-blue robes of the Core Formation stage had teleported into the Mission Hall, his bold entry only matched by the aura of his Golden Core.

“I, Chen Zixi, have arrived. That Rescue mission that pays 100,000 spirit stones is mine!”

Chen Zixi had white hair and a long flowing beard, but he did not appear old, because his Golden Corr preserved age. His skin was smooth, and mostly unwrinkled, and his entire body exuded dominance.

“Wow!” said Ying Er. “For him to be able to teleport here, he must really be a powerful Golden Core cultivator, he’d be a valuable pillar of strength in our squad!”

But just as she was praising the Golden Core cultivator Ma Meng Li, the Mission Hall began flashing twice, thrice…four more times in Golden light.

“What the, there are five Golden Core cultivators in the Mission Hall now!” The lazy cultivator trembled in his sandals. “Their awe-inspiring aura…they could kill you with a fart. Is this how the Mission Hall feels during war time?”

Before long, the Mission Hall was crammed with other cultivators who made it here on foot, mostly including those of the Foundation establishment stage, and a few other Core Formation cultivators who did not have the ability to teleport.

“Wow, what’s happening? It’s like we’re about to prepare for a Sect invasion or something…”

“Look! It’s about to be a face-off between Golden Cultivators, I recognize Chen Zi Xi and master Ling Ke! Man, even if I don’t have the qualifications to be hired for the mission, at least watching what will unfold will be worth it.”

The once cold and uninviting Mission Hall quickly became a loud and bustling gathering of cultivators, their eager eyes watching the five top Golden Cultivators of the sect to see what they’ll do next.

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“I was here first,” said Chen Zixi. “I already accepted the Personal Request mission, you guys can scram.”

“Chen Zi Xi, you were supposed to be in closed door cultivation, why are you here snagging Personal Requests?!” Another Golden Cultivator demanded.

“Hmph!” Chen Zi Xi harrumphed. “Cultivators need spirit stones to continually progress. I need the money, and evidently so do you, Zhou Cao Pi. What difference does a personal request make, as long as it pays me 100,000 spirit stones?”

Chen Zi Xi’s Golden Core gave off a warning aura of dominating superiority. The Golden cultivator he responded to saw red, as he let his Golden Core also exude killing intent.

“You liar, you didn’t accept the mission, you just got here, just like us!”

Then before anyone could blink, he leaped at Chen Zi Xi.

The Golden Core cultivator’s attacks were almost too fast to be seen by the naked mortal eye, but Chen Zi Xi had an expression of absolute calm as he dodged all of his opponent’s punches and kicks as if in slow motion.

Slap! Chen Zi Xi countered with a powerful slap that drew tears from the victim’s eyes!

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

His opponent fumed, as he was figuratively and quite literally losing face in front of everybody. How dare Chen Zi Xi be so arrogant in attitude, does he really think he was so easy to bully?!

He threw a wide, downward angled punch which manifested a single ray of sword qi from the man’s robe out of thin air, threatening to behead Chen Zi Xi.

BLAM!

A giant, almost ethereal jade-colored hammer almost the size of a bull manifested from behind Chen Zi Xi in an instant, crushing both Zhou Cao Pi and his sword qi!

The blow was not enough to kill a Golden Core cultivator, but every Foundation level and Qi Condensation cultivator winced in agony, knowing that they’d be crushed into a bloody pulp if it were them.

BLAM! BLAM! THUD!

The ethereal jade hammer repeatedly slammed on top of Zhou Cao Pi until he was simply knocked out!

Chen Zi Xi stroked his white beard arrogantly as he looked into the eyes of the other three Golden Cultivators who teleported here after him.

“If you want to avoid the same embarrassment,” he warned. “Then you’ll let me take the mission, and screw off!”

“The person who put up the offer can hire multiple people,” explained another Golden Cultivator named Ling Ke, who looked scholarly like brother Sun Lu. “Since we all came here so fast, that person must still be here. He’ll be able to tell us if he can afford all five of us, maybe.”

The other cultivators in the audience rose up in excited chatters.

“Yeah, who posted the mission? I want to see him!”

“That was the most exciting thing I’ve seen in my twenty years in the Sect, damn, I need to take cultivating seriously again!”

“You’re always making it about yourself, didn’t you hear what master Ling Ke just said? The person who posted the mission must be from an incredibly rich clan, so which family is it? The He? The Ouyang? The…”

Xiao Feng couldn’t take it anymore.

“Me!” he shouted. “I’m the one who posted it!”

At once, the audience quieted down.

“No way, how is that possible? It’s just a little brat at Qi Condensation level.”

“Think again, he must be talented to reach Qi Condensation at his age, look how young he is!”

“Hey, wait a minute, I know him! He’s one of the orphan cultivators!”

One of the Foundation sect members called out, Xiao Feng realized it was exactly the same Sect disciple who he first ran into and desperately asked for his help.

The Hall was alive with the buzzing of chatter, it sounded like a beehive.

“You all know that the orphan cultivator doesn’t have a family nor any money, right? Now it makes sense, his master Tian Ji Han was rumored to be missing in the Green bamboo Valley after his Sect Mission went badly. The only logical thing to infer is that this kid took a loan!”

“Wow, it’ll take him all his life to pay off that debt! Hahahaha!”

The crowd laughed cruelly, completely disregarding the fact that master Tian Ji Han needed to be saved. Ying Er wanted to hug Xiao Feng to shield him from their mocking cries, as she ground her teeth in anger.

The Golden Core cultivator Ling Ke sighed: “Aiya, it seems that our potential client is one of the orphan cultivators Xiao Feng. That means you can only hire one of us for the reward of 100,000 spirit stones, correct?”

At being addressed by another Golden Core not his master, Xiao Feng could only tremble as he nodded.

“Well, we’re back to square one again,” growled Chen Zi Xi. “Xiao Feng, is it? Hire me now, unless you want me to watch me destroy these Golden Cores like you’d step on ants. I won’t be so gentle as I was with Zhou Cao Pi!”

The other Golden Core cultivators were indignant but intimidated by Chen Zi Xi’s dominating personality and battle strength.

Suddenly, the two Golden Cultivators who haven’t spoke anything yet teleported on the left and right side of Chen Zi Xi, and attacked! Evidently they had reached a non-verbal agreement to take out the strongest aggressor in the room.

The battle was over before it even began. Chen Zi Xi let the bodies of the two Golden Core cultivators fall unconscious as he stroked his white beard.

“This isn’t good,” thought Ling Ke. “Chen Zi Xi has beaten all the other Golden Cores in this room, and while I want to avoid fighting him, I have to convince the client to choose to hire me over Chen Zi Xi somehow.”

“Xiao Feng!” Ling Ke said. “Your time is running out for your master. You’re going to have to choose between me or Chen Zi Xi.”

Chen Zi Xi looked at Ling Ke menacingly before letting his killing intent fade.

“Very well,” said Chen Zi Xi. “Xiao Feng, listen well: it is clear that because of my superior might Ling Ke wishes to avoid directly addressing me, as he is not my match.”

“You!” Ling Ke’s face turned ugly at being called out so bluntly by Chen Zi Xi.

“Instead, he will attempt to trick you by relying on your pressing need for time. Under the guise of moral platitudes and aided by your desperation, he will trick you into hiring his inferior skills.”

The audience went mad. They were absolutely fascinated with the developments of this showdown between such powerful cultivators, which had evolved from a battle of fists to wits.

“Master Chen Zi Xi is no longer relying on brute force, but plans to calmly negotiate with the client?”

“He even managed to derail Ling Ke’s attempt to shift Xiao Feng’s side to his favor, how clever! It turns out that Master Chen Zi Xi isn’t just all brawn and no brains!”

“Xiao Feng!” said Ling Ke, trying to regain his dignified scholarly persona. “Think carefully. Chen Zi Xi deals with any and all conflicts with violence as a solution. This is not the way of Righteous sects, would you really feel safe working alongside this cultivator? Do you think Tian Ji Han would approve of you working with such a cultivator?”

Xiao Feng was paralyzed by Ling Ke’s rhetorical questions, but Chen Zi Xi smiled through his beard.

“Hahaha. Xiao Feng, do you really think Chen Zi Xi cares about your master?”