The day after returning from the Feihong Mountain Range, Su Wanqing learned that Xiao Chen had broken through to the sixth level of Qi Refining.
'Another epiphany? Hmph!'
Her brief shock quickly gave way to a sense of triumph. She was certain she had figured out Xiao Chen's secret.
'It must be some kind of Inheritance Secret Technique, passed down from ancient times, that can dramatically increase one's cultivation speed.'
'This would explain why Xiao Chen had to gather a large number of Spirit Stones before he could break through.'
'There could only be one truth.'
'Those Spirit Stones were the price for using the Secret Technique.'
Such Secret Techniques were not actually that rare. From what Su Wanqing had read in her family's records, they usually came with two significant drawbacks.
First, to achieve a cultivation speed several times faster than normal, one had to consume dozens of times more resources, making it a poor trade-off overall.
Second, advancing with the help of external forces was, in the end, like pulling on a seedling to help it grow—a disastrous shortcut.
It made it very easy to get stuck at bottlenecks, especially the major ones between Major Realms, ultimately wasting even more time.
'Of course, she would let Xiao Chen worry about those problems himself.'
What Su Wanqing had to figure out now was how to exploit these vulnerabilities to forge a deeper cooperation with Xiao Chen, making him willingly join the Su Family.
Furthermore, based on the information she had gathered, Xiao Chen only had an entry-level Cyan Gourd he received when he joined the sect and was in dire need of a proper Magical Artifact.
'So, in her eyes, Xiao Chen currently lacked Magical Artifacts, Spirit Stones, and Spirit Medicine for breakthroughs. These were his three weaknesses.'
'As long as she targeted these needs, she was confident she could lure him in.'
So, Su Wanqing didn't approach him right away. Instead, she spent a few days preparing before confidently making her way to the Second Division.
"Xiao, open the door!"
Xiao Chen opened the door just a crack. "Junior Sister Su, is there something you need?"
"Xiao, come on! I'll take you out for a nice meal. I even ordered the signature dishes from Baiyu Workshop."
"Sorry, Junior Sister Su, I'm busy with something else. Please, go ahead without me."
'Being treated to a meal is nice, but his intuition told him Su Wanqing's intentions weren't so simple. It was best to keep his distance.'
A Cultivator's intuition could be uncannily accurate, so he chose to trust his sixth sense.
"But I even prepared a special gift for you, Xiao. Are you really not going to take a look?"
"Don't refuse so quickly, Xiao. I promise you'll be interested in this gift."
The corners of Su Wanqing's mouth curled upward, revealing her confidence.
"Junior Sister Su, you're treating me to a meal and bringing a gift... If I remember correctly, isn't this only the second time we've met?"
"Is that right? Oh, I hadn't even noticed. As far as I'm concerned, you and I are already good friends, Xiao."
"But I don't feel we're that familiar with each other, Junior Sister Su."
"Oh, is that how it is? And to think I went out of my way to get some Cyan Wood Spirit Liquid for you. I suppose I'll just have to take it home and use it on my flowers."
'Cyan Wood Spirit Liquid!'
'The key ingredient for repairing his Cyan Gourd! He had asked about it several times before, but the Marketplace was completely out of stock.'
'And with the Divine Fire Sect cutting off the trade routes, there was no hope of getting any anytime soon.'
'To think the Su Family actually had some in stock!'
'Why didn't you just say you had it in the first place, instead of beating around the bush?'
"Ahem! Junior Sister, what a waste it would be to pour out such fine Spiritual Liquid. You mentioned you ordered food? Well, let's get going! The dishes will get cold if we're late."
"Xiao, slow down a little!"
「On the second floor of Baiyu Studio.」
Once all the dishes had been served, Xiao Chen looked at the third person at the table. "And this is...?"
Besides Su Wanqing, a young man in a blue jacket was also seated in the private room.
He radiated the aura of the eighth level of Qi Refining. An azure Flying Sword hung at his waist, faintly emitting wisps of Water Spirit Qi.
He hadn't looked up since Xiao Chen entered, focusing instead on toying with a string of agate beads in his hand.
Su Wanqing made the introduction. "This is my second brother, Su Yuanpeng. He's currently serving under Elder Qi at the Sect's Bishui Peak."
The Li Huo Sect was surrounded by five small mountains, each corresponding to a different Five Elements Attribute. They were collectively known as the Five Elements Peaks.
Inner Sect Disciples who remained on the mountains to cultivate were required to join one of the Five Elements Peaks based on their Spirit Root Attribute.
Elder Qi was the Peak Master of Bishui Peak. She was proficient in Water Techniques, had a late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation, and was widely recognized as a great beauty within the Sect.
Xiao Chen understood at once. "So you're Su. I've heard a great deal about you. I'm Xiao Chen, from the Second Division. A pleasure to meet you."
Su Yuanpeng merely lifted his right eyelid for a glance. "You look pretty ordinary. Not some pretty boy. So how'd you swindle my sister out of her Magical Artifact?"
???
Xiao Chen blinked. 'Swindle a Magical Artifact? Is he talking about me?'
Su Wanqing was completely flustered. This was not what they had agreed to at all.
'I asked my Second Brother to help me win Xiao Chen over, so what is he trying to do now?'
"Second Brother, couldn't you wait for us? Did you start drinking already? There's a bed in the back room. Why don't you go lie down for a bit?"
Thinking quickly, Su Wanqing came up with an excuse while shooting Su Yuanpeng a look, signaling him to leave.
But Su Yuanpeng ignored her signal. "Third Sister, you're still too young. It's easy to be fooled by this kind of hick who crawled up from the bottom."
He pointed a finger at Xiao Chen. "I came here today to warn you: stay away from my sister. Don't you even think about a toad trying to eat swan meat."
"I don't care what tricks you used to deceive her. The past is the past. But from now on, if you keep pestering her, I'll break both your legs."
Su Wanqing felt her head spin. "Second Brother, what in the world are you saying? Have you considered my reputation when you say things like that?"
Su Yuanpeng looked at her. "Then you tell me: why, after you came back from your trial, did you suddenly start caring so much about a piece of trash with a low-grade Spiritual Root?"
"You go on one trip, and you lose your Spirit Stones, you lose your Magical Artifact... I think you lost your heart, too, didn't you? You even had someone make inquiries about him."
"This morning, Auntie told me you even asked her for some Cyan Wood Spirit Liquid. Tell me, who was that for?"
Su Wanqing's expression turned grim. "This is my private business. How do you know all this?"
Su Yuanpeng jutted out his chin. "Hmph, I have my ways. Just tell me, have you taken a liking to this punk?"
Su Wanqing couldn't help but put a hand to her forehead. She looked at Xiao Chen. "I'm sorry, Xiao. My second brother must have gone mad. Please give me a moment. Just a moment."
Then she grabbed Su Yuanpeng. "You! Come outside with me!"
Su Yuanpeng didn't resist, but before he left, he shot Xiao Chen one last, vicious glare.
'Sigh, my sixth sense was right. I knew getting this Cyan Wood Spirit Liquid wouldn't be so easy.'
Xiao Chen walked to the door, pricked up his ears, and could faintly hear them arguing outside.
"So what if he's at the sixth level of Qi Refining? He's nothing but an Outer Disciple. He's only gotten this far on a stroke of luck."
This wasn't the first time he'd heard that sentiment. He had been busy researching in the Scripture Pavilion for the past few days, but he'd still heard similar talk.
The main reason was that his breakthrough to the sixth level of Qi Refining had set a new record for cultivation speed among Outer Disciples.
As a result, talk had spread not just through the Second Division but to the other divisions as well. The consensus was that he was just lucky to have experienced consecutive epiphanies.
Naturally, there were also plenty of people who were jealous and secretly spread spiteful rumors.
It seemed those words were quite effective, seeing as Su Yuanpeng had bought into them.
Su Wanqing's voice was too low to make out clearly.
Su Yuanpeng's voice, however, was much louder. "Potential? What bullshit potential? You tell me, what's so great about him?"
"You can't say? Or is it that there's nothing to say?"
"Do you two have some kind of agreement? Some secret? Did he tell you not to tell anyone? Let me tell you, I've seen plenty of con artists like him."
"So tell me, what's so great about him? What makes him worthy of your investment? Worthy of your attention?"
A moment later, footsteps approached, and Su Yuanpeng pushed the door open. He held a Glazed Bottle in his hand. "I have some Cyan Wood Spirit Liquid here, too. If you've got the skill, you can take it from me."
"And don't say I'm making things difficult for you. I'll suppress my Cultivation to the sixth level of Qi Refining. We won't use any Magical Artifacts. We'll go outside and have a fair and square fight."
"If you lose, or if you don't have the guts to fight, then stay away from my sister from now on."
The wager Su Yuanpeng proposed wasn't exactly fair.
Generally speaking, the party with higher Cultivation would also have superior Magical Combat skills and a greater mastery of Magic.
However, for Xiao Chen, who had his Augments, he was practically invincible in Magical Combat against someone of the same Realm. He didn't even know how he could possibly lose.
He was more interested in something else. "And what if I win? You'll give me the Cyan Wood Spirit Liquid for free?"
Su Yuanpeng sneered. "You? If you win, not only will I give you the Cyan Wood Spirit Liquid, I'll bow and apologize. I'll pour your wine and serve you food to make amends."
Su Wanqing immediately objected. "No! Xiao Chen, you can't agree to this duel. My second brother has loved Magical Combat since he was a child and has learned all sorts of Magic."
"He hasn't lost a single fight against a Cultivator of the same Realm in ten years. He's making this offer to deliberately trap you."
But Su Yuanpeng goaded her, "Third Sister, don't go scaring Junior Brother Xiao. You wanted to give him Cyan Wood Spirit Liquid, right? Then let's add your bottle of Spiritual Liquid to the wager."
Saying this, he turned to Xiao Chen. "How about it? If you win, both bottles of Spiritual Liquid are yours, free of charge. With such a good deal on the table, you're not going to be a turtle hiding in its shell, are you?"
"Of course, if you're scared, I understand. Just slap yourself in the face a couple of times, swear to stay away from my sister, and I'll let everything that's happened slide."
Xiao Chen calmly accepted. "You want to have Magical Combat? Fine. Then it's a deal. If I win, both portions of the Spiritual Liquid are mine."
Su Wanqing became frantic. "Xiao Chen, how could you agree—"
But before she could finish, Su Yuanpeng cut her off. "Third Sister, he agreed himself. Are you going to decide for him?"
"Besides, you can relax. I'm just going to teach him a little lesson. I promise I'll go easy on him."
Su Wanqing looked at Xiao Chen, then back at Su Yuanpeng. Finally, she stomped her foot. "Then I'm going with you. I have to be there."
And so, the three of them left the Marketplace together.