Fate Trading System – Chapter 253

Plan A

Furnace 4

[Refresher: Qi Refining stage → Foundation Establishment stage → Golden Core stage → Nascent Soul stage → Divine Transformation stage → Void Refining stage → Body Integration stage → Great Accomplishment stage.]

Jing Yueru felt the fire in her heart extinguish all at once. She just really disliked Su Xin’s indifferent demeanor, treating her own body as some kind of tool for a transaction; it made her both furious and pained.

“Don’t demean yourself like this. I don’t need to caibu¹ you, but I will help you.”

Jing Yueru said with a solemn expression.

Su Xin understood her meaning and, with a puchi, laughed out loud.

“Demean? Hahahahaha, Jing Yueru, do you know what you look like right now?”

“Like what?”

“You especially look like a monk trying to persuade a prostitute to conliang². Of course, I’m not comparing myself to that, just using it as a description. I know my limits; it’s only because you’re a woman.”

“This isn’t really demeaning myself, is it? Because this is my only bargaining chip right now. If I don’t offer something to negotiate with you, on what basis would you help me? We are not related and not old friends, and our relationship wasn’t very good before.”

Jing Yueru thought about it carefully; it seemed to make sense, but a small voice in her heart was still arguing.

How are we not related and not old friends? At the very least, between us… there was a rather special relationship, wasn’t there?

“But Jing Yueru, I’m starting to see you in a new light. You really are a good person.”

Su Xin hugged her arms, her eyes curving into crescents with her smile, her black hair stirred by the wind, further accentuating her graceful figure.

“I’ve always considered myself a good person; it’s just that you’ve always been prejudiced against me.”

“And you haven’t been towards me?”

Su Xin raised an eyebrow, the corners of her lips lifting in a slight smile.

“Initially, I indeed had no bad impression, because I didn’t know you. But later, I was influenced by some things, and on top of that, our first meeting wasn’t very pleasant, so…”

Jing Yueru was very honest, someone not skilled at lying, and very sincere towards people. This was the way of conducting oneself that her Shifu had taught her since she was young.

The first time she heard the name Wei Shuangling was from Xiu Yan’s mouth. Xiu Yan had spoken with an attitude of disgust, as if even mentioning her was irritating, yet he couldn’t help but complain.

Jing Yueru had been very curious, because in her eyes, Xiu Yan should be a person with a relatively good temper and good upbringing. What kind of girl could push a good-tempered, well-cultivated person to such a state, to make him act like that?

Later came their first meeting, but the process of that first meeting was not very pleasant. Although it couldn’t be called a direct confrontation, Jing Yueru had indeed sensed unilateral hostility and dissatisfaction from Wei Shuangling.

Jing Yueru found it utterly ridiculous: if a boy didn’t like a girl, why should that girl try to find reasons from other girls?

What made Su Xin feel rather fortunate was that although the original owner of the body’s emotional intelligence was relatively low, and she had been hostile towards Jing Yueru, at least she hadn’t done anything substantively foolish, due to fear of the Elders above knowing. For cultivators, pursuing the Great Dao and raising one’s cultivation was the foremost priority. Matters between men and women were not particularly necessary. Flirting and jealousy were permissible, but to engage in a fight for wind and eating vinegar³ when one’s cultivation was still insufficient truly indicated a poor temperament.

“Let the past be the past. I hope you don’t mind my previous attitude. The Wei Shuangling of the past is already dead; the one standing before you now is a new one.”

Su Xin stated this fact calmly, knowing that the person before her would definitely interpret her words with another layer of meaning.

Jing Yueru was somewhat at a loss as to how to comfort her. She clearly had many words of guidance for Su Xin in her belly, but she just inexplicably felt that the person before her didn’t need her sympathy, nor her guidance; she could walk out of it on her own and find her own direction.

“Next, I might have to trouble you to take care of me for a period of time. I will definitely find a way to cultivate again. If I can find a way out in the future, I will certainly repay you.”

Su Xin said with great certainty, her eyes and brows carrying an soaring confidence.

Jing Yueru just believed her. She felt that this person could definitely achieve this.

Some people’s confidence is extremely off-putting, making one feel it’s arrogance, or even conceit. They clearly cannot achieve something, yet they still make empty promises, because that matter is too distant, too unattainable.

But some people’s confidence inexplicably makes you feel a kind of firm strength, a confidence that bursts forth from the soul, like the midday sun radiating its own light, so captivating.

“Okay.”

Jing Yueru agreed, but not for any kind of future repayment.

She (Su Xin) was such a proud person; she would definitely not allow herself to make exchanges with others from an unequal position, or to be pitied and given charity.

But she wasn’t overly rigid to the point of being easily broken; sometimes she could become very flexible, capable of doing many things to achieve her goals.

In the Lancang Sect, only the Sect Master, Elders, and some extremely formidable people with great abiliies could have their own main peak⁴. Those personally transmitted disciple⁵ resided on one of the hills within the main peak.

Disciples of Jing Yueru’s generation were all of the ‘Ning⁶’ character generation⁷. Jing Yueru’s title name was Ning Xuan⁸.

The mountain peak where Jing Yueru lived had a name, called Huanling Mountain⁹; it was a name bestowed by Jing Yueru’s Shifu.

Huanling Mountain received a guest, a young girl wearing a veil.

Apart from the Sect Master and the disciples who performed saosa¹⁰ on Huanling Mountain, no one knew about this matter.

Su Xin had nothing she could do, so she could only read books to pass the time. Sensing spiritual energy and matters of cultivation would have to wait until later; it was better to understand more about this continent first.

As a good disciple, Jing Yueru would tell her Shifu everything.

She had been brought back by her Shifu, and had regarded him as a father since childhood, respecting him immensely. To Jing Yueru, her Shifu, the Sect Master of the Lancang Sect, was not just a simple Shifu to her; her longing for a father, for a teacher who taught by word and deed, for a life mentor who illuminated the fog of confusion—all these desires were fulfilled in her Shifu.

The Sect Master of the Lancang Sect knew what his little disciple wanted to say the moment Jing Yueru came before him. His little disciple had a look of apprehension, seemingly worried about something.

“Reached Foundation Establishment? Not bad.”

“Thank you for your praise, Shifu.”

“Don’t be impetuous. Continue to strive.”

The Lancang Sect Sect Master, Xuan Yi¹¹, had the appearance of a young scholar in his thirties. Every movement carried an air of detachment, and his eyes held a hint of compassion; he looked like a kind person at first glance.

“Yes, this disciple will remember Shifu’s teachings.”

Jing Yueru wanted to say something more, hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke.

“Shifu, I brought someone back, to Huanling Mountain.”

“An ordinary woman? Ru’er¹², why bring her up the mountain? If you rescued her, just place her in a human town.”

“No, Shifu, she’s not an ordinary woman. She is Wei Shuangling.”

“Wei Shuangling? The one from the Wei family?”

Xuan Yi did not have a Dao companion¹³, and naturally had no children, so he doted on his few disciples, especially his last female disciple. He was naturally very concerned about his disciple’s life and thus knew about the girl who always had issues with his own disciple and treated her as a love rival.

Isn’t she a girl from a cultivation family? Although her temper isn’t very likable, her aptitude is quite good. With proper nurturing, she could become talented. How could she suddenly lose her spiritual power?

Xuan Yi sensed something unusual.

“En, her meridians have been crippled, so I brought her back to see if there’s any solution.”

“Why not let her return to the Wei family?”

“Elder Wei sold her to a black market merchant. She managed to escape with great difficulty; she can’t go back.”

Jing Yueru said, a little angrily.

“So she’s someone who escaped from a black market merchant now? Ru’er, you’ve been a bit reckless.”

Xuan Yi frowned.

“It’s best not to easily get involved in matters of yinguo¹⁴. Although the Wei family selling their daughter violates morality, after he made the transaction with the black market merchant, Wei Shuangling became the merchant’s property. If Wei Shuangling escapes like this, the merchant will definitely not let it go; he will surely come looking. And that Wei Shuangling belongs to him is an indisputable fact. If he comes asking for her, will you hand her over or not?”

“Can’t I refuse to hand her over? Wei Shuangling had her cultivation crippled by him and was even turned into some kind of messed-up constitution¹⁵. If Wei Shuangling returns to him, she will definitely suffer immensely.”

“But Wei Shuangling has no contractual relationship with you. You must give her to him, because black market merchants have their own set of methods to prove a transaction. Unless he voluntarily gives her up, or there’s a secondary transaction, or your power is great enough to forcibly take her, Wei Shuangling will definitely be taken back.”

“But Wei Shuangling is a person, not some thing!”

Jing Yueru couldn’t help but raise her voice, angered by her Shifu’s words. But after a short while, she calmed down again, realizing her loss of composure. Although her Shifu’s words were things she didn’t want to hear, or rather, didn’t want to admit, they were all facts.

“Shifu, I’m sorry, this tu’er¹⁶ lost her composure.”

“It’s very good that you could calm down so quickly. Weishi¹⁷ has not ignored the fact that Wei Shuangling is a living person. However, she is indeed an ‘item’ that has been traded. Within the merchant’s own transaction rules, even if Wei Shuangling’s own will is negative, it has no effect whatsoever.”

Xuan Yi stated this fact in a gentle voice. His identity was not just Jing Yueru’s Shifu, but also the Sect Master of a sect, so he needed to consider many more things.

If the black market merchant really came to their door, they would have no standing or reason to keep the person. Even if he wanted to help his disciple, there would be no suitable justification, and his status would not allow him to do so.

“This is disregarding a person’s will!”

“Yes, but this world is just very chaotic.”

Xuan Yi realized that he seemed to have always instilled in his disciple the ideas of honesty and friendliness, of helping others when they encounter difficulties, and of harboring righteousness, to the extent that his disciple had become a very upright person. But this cultivation world, and indeed the entire mortal world, contained chaos.

“Shifu, do you mean… this tu’er has no way to protect her?”

“Yes. For now.”

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