“You’re telling me that a very attractive couple, made up of a young blonde woman with blue eyes — but evil — and a young man with black hair who looked really dumb, wearing robes from my sect, stole all your uncle’s spiritual stones, and he’s a vendor?” Lin Xiaoxue looked at him strangely.

“Yes!” Bai Yan nodded firmly, maintaining a serious gaze.

“If there’s no one out there pretending to be a disciple of my sect, the only person I know with golden hair and blue eyes is Senior Sister Liu, and she really is a couple with Senior Brother Long, who has black hair and eyes. And the two of them are very beautiful…”

Xiaoxue explained, but before she could finish, she was interrupted.

“Yes! It’s them, it can only be. I’ve never seen anyone with golden hair and blue eyes at the same time, so there must be no mistake,” Bai Yan stated with conviction.

But he grew worried upon hearing her refer to them as senior siblings. He realized it wouldn’t be as simple as he thought, even with Lin Xiaoxue’s help.

“I wasn’t finished.” Xiaoxue frowned at him. “Although they match your physical description, they are completely different in personality. Sister Liu is very kind and polite, and Brother Long is smart, funny, and kind. Neither of them would do what you’re claiming. Besides, how many stones could your uncle have had to tempt them into doing something so out of character?” She shook her head firmly, making her twin buns sway from side to side.

Bai Yan furrowed his brow, dissatisfied with the direction the conversation was going. His only option was to clench his fists and take a risk. There was no other way.

“Almost seven hundred thousand low-grade stones,” he revealed the real amount, surprising Xiaoxue.

“Well, that is a lot for casual cultivators like you. Impressive that your uncle had so much. But even so, in my sect, that amount isn’t that much for a regular disciple who’s completed one or two missions,” Xiaoxue mused aloud, leaving Bai Yan even more stunned.

Xiaoxue had joined the sect less than a year ago, so she understood the reality of a normal cultivator well, which is why she was impressed by the amount. However, in the Infinite Dao Sect, just exploring a tomb with your companions was enough to accumulate that value.

Foundation Establishment cultivators often made their tombs in spiritual mines, which were treasures in themselves, and took all their belongings with them before dying — if they had no family to inherit their possessions, which was quite common. And with how easily the sect provided information about these tombs for disciples to take on missions, it was easy to get rich, even after sharing with the sect and the exploration team.

As for Bai Yan, he was shocked by how easily she talked about such a large amount. Qi Refinement cultivators like him might never reach such wealth, even saving for decades.

Xiaoxue scratched her cheek, troubled by Bai Yan’s disbelieving look, and found it hard to defend her sect siblings’ innocence.

Then an idea came to her.

“You, come with me. Let’s go straight to Brother Long and Sister Liu to find out what’s going on,” she suddenly said, running behind him and pushing him, making him slightly pale.

Facing those two cultivators directly could be very dangerous, but he had no choice. His life wouldn’t be worth anything if he couldn’t save his little sister.

Xiaoxue quickly led him to the mountain peak.

Bai Yan was speechless when he realized where they were going. That place was the residence of the powerful Jiang family, which had two Foundation Establishment cultivators — one even in the late stage.

The home of such powerhouses was not a place someone like him could even set foot in.

But seeing the Infinite Dao Sect disciples casually walking around there, you’d think it was actually their home.

Occasionally, disciples wearing a simpler, gray version of little Xiaoxue’s white uniform would pass by and greet her respectfully.

“Senior Sister Lin!”

“Senior Sister Lin!”

“Senior Sister Lin!”

Lin Xiaoxue puffed out her chest with every greeting she received, and if her tiny chest could, it would’ve inflated like a balloon — extremely satisfied to finally be treated as a Senior Sister.

It was because she now had a huge bunch of juniors, and also because Rihai and Aotian had displayed terrifying powers during the competition — far greater than hers — that she reluctantly started calling the two of them seniors instead of juniors, as she did in the past.

Soon, Xiaoxue led Bai Yan to a specific cave-mansion.

Due to the large number of disciples and the lack of sufficient lodging space on the mountain peak, the elders left most of the disciples on the ship, where they could cultivate and sleep temporarily. Only the senior disciples remained on the mountain, to better enjoy the experience.

Arriving at the entrance of Aotian and Rihai’s residence, Xiaoxue knocked and shouted:

“Senior Brother Long! Senior Sister Liu! It’s me, Xiaoxue!” After calling out, she waited.

Slightly bored of waiting even just a few seconds, her gaze wandered to the sides, and she noticed some butterflies flying nearby. She couldn’t help but approach them and crouch down, watching them with a smile as she hugged her knees.

Bai Yan’s mouth twitched.

‘Girl, could you be a little more serious? This is important to me,’ he complained internally with helplessness, but he wasn’t actually angry.

She was just a little girl, and it was natural that she wasn’t so focused or patient.

While he was thinking that, the circular stone sealing the cave entrance slid aside, revealing some stairs from which Rihai and Aotian calmly ascended.

As soon as he saw the couple, Bai Yan recognized them immediately, silently clenching his fists in rage.

Aotian raised an eyebrow when he noticed the intense gaze of the young man and smiled.

“Wow, you didn’t waste any time finding us,” he commented with a grin, startling the boy and scattering his anger.

“Oh! Brother Long, you know him? He said you and Sister Liu stole from his uncle — is it true?” Xiaoxue suddenly jumped in, stopping beside Bai Yan and standing on one foot in a cute and silly pose.

“His uncle?” Aotian raised an eyebrow, amused.

Rihai leaned against the wall with her shoulder and crossed her arms.

“We did rob someone. A scammer who tried to trick us. But it wasn’t his uncle—it was him, disguised as a middle-aged man” Rihai revealed dispassionately.

Honestly, she had already erased him from memory. He wasn’t important enough to remember.

What had surprised her was that his real appearance was that of a young boy. When she heard what Aotian said and Xiaoxue’s words, she immediately understood. Only then did she notice fragments of the aura she had sensed from both the old scammer and the middle-aged man. With that, she realized the youth in front of her was the scammer’s real form… at least, she believed this should be his true form.

She had to admit, his disguise technique was actually quite good, having fooled her Foundation Establishment senses. Even though it was possible to discover it with a more attentive observation, it was rare for someone to scrutinize everyone around them so carefully, so 99% of the time, his disguise would go unnoticed.

When Xiaoxue heard Rihai’s response, she froze. Then she turned an angry glare toward Bai Yan, who stiffened under the powerful aura she released. What horrified him was realizing that this aura, coming from a girl as young as his sister, was even stronger than his father’s had been in life.

Things were not going the way he had hoped.

“Wait! Wait!” He quickly raised his hands, waving them desperately. Without wasting time, he explained: “I may be a scammer, but I’m an honest scammer!” he shouted shamelessly, freezing the entire atmosphere.

Three pairs of eyes stared at him with strange expressions after that line.

“An honest… scammer?” Xiaoxue murmured, clearly confused.

“Yes! Exactly! I never forced anyone to fall for my trick. I pretended to be someone vulnerable, and if people hadn’t tried to take advantage of my fragile appearance, they never would have bought my ‘treasures’ at low prices. So, they weren’t good people. Besides, I only targeted people who looked rich, who wouldn’t be seriously harmed by the loss,” he explained with his chest puffed out, as if he were saying something noble.

Xiaoxue hesitated upon hearing his words, which made a certain amount of sense.

But Rihai and Aotian simply rolled their eyes at his twisted logic.

“That doesn’t excuse you for trying to sell junk as if they were high-grade artifacts at outrageous prices. And what would happen if a good person wanted to help you and offered a fair price? What would you do?” Aotian asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, curious.

“That… well, if the person really wants to give me money, who am I to refuse?” he replied with a slightly flushed face, although he didn’t show much shame.

But then, Xiaoxue’s heavy and furious aura returned with intensity.

“Wait! Wait! That was just an example! That never actually happened!” He waved his hands again in a panic, making her aura recede.

Aotian scratched his chin, reflecting on the boy’s words.

He wouldn’t be hypocritical and judge him for stealing. He himself had done it before. If Bai Yan really chose targets who wouldn’t be harmed by the loss and weren’t nice people to begin with, like he claimed, then it didn’t seem that serious.

With that in mind, Aotian thought it wasn’t a problem to return his belongings — but only after a small test. After all, it was just pocket change to him.

But before he could speak, Xiaoxue stepped forward, staring at Bai Yan.

“I don’t know if I can believe you. You lied to me, saying you needed to recover something stolen from your uncle, claiming he might die. But your uncle was you! How do we know that everything else you said isn’t just another lie?” she asked, still upset about being fooled by the desperate act he had put on.

Bai Yan’s face lost its shine upon hearing that.

“I lied about him being my uncle… but I really won’t last long if I don’t recover those spiritual stones.” His voice came out bitter.

That caught Aotian’s interest.

“Oh? And why’s that? Can you tell us?” he asked, curious.

Bai Yan hesitated, so Aotian gave him some incentive.

“If you tell me, the chances of me returning your stuff go up a lot.”

Faced with that, Bai Yan clenched his teeth and took a deep breath.

“The money is to treat someone very important to me. If this person doesn’t survive… then I’ll have no reason to live either,” he declared with clenched teeth, a firm gaze full of pain.

Those words surprised Aotian, Rihai, and Xiaoxue.

‘Doesn’t seem like a lie…’ Aotian pondered.

“Good. Just one more question.” He nodded and stated, making Bai Yan look at him silently.

“What’s the quality of your spiritual root?”

The unexpected question caught him off guard, as it seemed completely out of context.

Even without understanding, Bai Yan took a deep breath and answered sincerely.

“My root is a perfect five-element spiritual root,” he replied carefully.

A small smile appeared on Aotian’s face, and Rihai immediately understood what he was about to do.

“Very well. My sect is conducting a recruitment in the city. Go take the test. If you’re accepted, not only will I return all your belongings, but I’ll also pay in full for the treatment of the person you mentioned. But don’t take too long. The recruitment ends tomorrow. Come speak to me again when it’s over,” he declared calmly, and without waiting for a response, he left with Rihai under Bai Yan’s stunned gaze.

Xiaoxue, upon hearing that, also got excited. Her eyes sparkled, thinking the idea was brilliant.

As soon as the cave door closed, she turned to Bai Yan and smiled.

“At least you weren’t lying when you said it was Brother Long and Sister Liu who robbed you. Looks like they were just playing with you, which is why they acted the way you described. But the two you just saw — those are the real them. And know that Brother Long and Sister Liu are the two strongest disciples in the entire sect. You can trust their promise.”

She explained with a smile, then turned and skipped away, leaving the stunned Bai Yan behind. There was still an entire city for her to explore and enjoy.

Bai Yan remained still, his gaze vacant.

But gradually, that gaze was replaced by intense determination.

His fists clenched, and his knuckles cracked.

A powerful hope he hadn’t felt in a long time surged in his heart.

“Jingjing, big brother is going to get your treatment no matter what.”

With that promise in mind, he set off.

His destination: the Infinite Dao Sect’s recruitment square.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep