Hearing Lin Mu's suggestion, Dai Mubai immediately looked towards Oscar and the other two.
Oscar went without saying—while not as destitute as Ma Hongjun, he wasn't much better off. One thousand gold spirit coins was already an astronomical figure to him, let alone ten thousand.
Zhu Zhuqing's situation was similar to his own; she probably didn't have much money either. That left only Ning Rongrong.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School was the wealthiest sect under heaven, bar none. If anyone could produce ten thousand gold spirit coins, it could only be Ning Rongrong.
Seeing Dai Mubai's gaze, Ning Rongrong decisively refused: "Don't even think about it. I won't lend it to you."
Seeing Ning Rongrong so unyielding, Dai Mubai's face turned ashen. He said word by word: "Ning Rongrong, I am your classmate."
"Classmate? When you wanted to take action against me earlier, why didn't you say that?"
Facing Dai Mubai's furious stare, Ning Rongrong still left no room for compromise.
Seeing the two at odds, Lin Mu wasn't interested. His gaze inadvertently fell on Zhu Zhuqing, who stood a bit further away.
Her exquisite cheeks were exceptionally aloof, the tight leather outfit outlining astonishing curves, especially that area which seemed ready to burst forth—simply unbelievable.
"She seems not even twelve yet, right?" Lin Mu was inwardly shocked. In a few more years, it would be completely unimaginable.
Sensing this senior's gaze, Zhu Zhuqing instinctively straightened her back slightly and actively met his line of sight.
Their eyes met.
Seeing those incredibly deep eyes, her heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
An indescribable feeling surged up, causing a faint blush to appear on her icy, pretty face, uncontrollably.
This fleeting interaction happened to be seen by Dai Mubai, making his heart instantly tighten.
Could it be... this senior is interested in Zhu Zhuqing?
It wasn't impossible. After all, this senior looked extremely young, at most twenty-four or twenty-five.
Even if he liked someone of Zhu Zhuqing's type, it wouldn't be too strange.
Once this thought occurred, Dai Mubai felt a surge of anger rush to his head. Jealousy and humiliation gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.
He clenched his fists tightly, nails almost digging into his flesh, yet he didn't dare utter a single word, he could only suppress this rage and frustration deep in his heart. His face darkened as if water could drip from it.
If it weren't for not being able to produce ten thousand gold spirit coins, he would want to leave this damn place right now.
"Senior, as you can see, she's unwilling to lend the money. It's not that I don't want to compensate you."
When Dai Mubai said this, he deliberately or otherwise attributed part of the reason to Ning Rongrong, seemingly wanting to make Lin Mu trouble Ning Rongrong.
Once Lin Mu took action against Ning Rongrong, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan definitely wouldn't let him off.
How could such a petty scheme fool Lin Mu? Even Ning Rongrong saw through it.
She quickly walked over, a confident and sweet smile on her face, saying:
"Senior, I am willing to give you ten thousand gold spirit coins. But not to help him compensate—it's a personal gift from me to you."
Hearing this, Lin Mu couldn't help but view Ning Rongrong in a new light.
Although her personality had some issues, as the heir of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, her abilities weren't weak.
"Forget the gift. Nothing in this world is truly free."
Lin Mu rejected without a second thought. Although ten thousand gold spirit coins wasn't a small sum, he didn't want to owe a favor.
Being refused to her face, Ning Rongrong's smile instantly froze. She hadn't expected the other party to reject so decisively, not even considering it.
Could it be this senior wasn't someone greedy for money?
Originally, she had thought that if this senior accepted the ten thousand gold spirit coins, she could pull him into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
But, the idea was beautiful; reality was harsh.
After refusing Ning Rongrong's gift, Lin Mu grabbed Dai Mubai by the neck and forcibly lifted him up.
"Cough cough... Senior, spare me!"
Dai Mubai hadn't expected this senior to be so unpredictable, bullying at the slightest disagreement.
Now, his life was in the other's hands, leaving him no room for any more petty schemes.
Just as Dai Mubai was about to lose his breath, Lin Mu threw him to the ground. With a thud, intense pain and suffocation almost made him black out.
"Take out all the gold spirit coins you have on you."
Lin Mu's eyes held not a trace of sympathy. His tone brooked no argument.
Hearing this, Dai Mubai endured the pain, taking out all the gold spirit coins from his storage spirit guide—about over a thousand gold spirit coins.
There was also a black card, though it was temporarily unclear how much was stored on it.
That wasn't all. Lin Mu kicked Ma Hongjun, who was pretending to be dead. "Keep pretending, and I don't mind really sending you down."
Ma Hongjun was so scared his entire body of fat trembled. Ignoring the pain, he stood up from the ground.
He then took out all his savings—less than one hundred gold spirit coins. One could say he was so poor it clink. No wonder he could only frequent those lowest-grade brothels.
Seeing Ma Hongjun produce so little, Dai Mubai instantly felt rage boiling up.
What a bad luck!
"Together, we'll count it as three thousand gold spirit coins from you. For the remaining seven thousand gold spirit coins, I'll naturally come to collect from you later."
"Senior, that black card of mine has four thousand..." Dai Mubai started to say his card had more than that, but seeing the other's icy stare, he could only swallow his words.
Forget it. As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood. At most, he'd avoid this person in the future, not believing he could find them.
At this moment, Zhao Wuji finally managed to climb out of the pit.
After all, he was a Spirit Sage powerhouse; his recovery ability certainly wasn't weak.
In his heavily injured state, Zhao Wuji staggered into the inn.
Oscar quickly supported him, then produced two Super Recovery Sausages and fed them to Zhao Wuji.
With these two Super Recovery Sausages, Zhao Wuji quickly recovered some energy.
"Your Excellency, this is all my savings, as compensation for your disciple."
Zhao Wuji took out a black card and handed it to Lin Mu.
Having混迹 the spirit master world for decades, he had seen all sorts of storms. But this young powerhouse before him completely overturned his understanding.
So young, yet possessing strength rivaling a Title Douluo—this could no longer be described by the word "genius." Such a formidable existence was simply not someone they could afford to provoke. They had to appease his anger, or else the consequences would be endless.
"This matter ends here."
Lin Mu took the black card from Zhao Wuji, glanced at him, and said indifferently: "Remember to keep your eyes open in the future. Don't think you can act recklessly just because you have Spirit Sage cultivation."
After saying this, Lin Mu turned and left, taking the mostly recovered Tang San and Xiao Wu upstairs.
Watching their departing backs, Zhu Zhuqing stood quietly in place. Within her aloof eyes, thoughts surged tumultuously, though it was unclear what she was pondering.