“Daoist Long,” the puppet Zhang Xian spoke, its voice mechanical yet polite. “If you are not pressed for time, could you wait here a moment? My main body has a matter to discuss with you in person.”

Long Zhi assumed he was concerned about his main body being ambushed by the Nascent Soul shadow while in transit. It made sense; he likely needed her, a newly ascended Nascent Soul, to act as a deterrent.

She nodded slightly, saying nothing. She sat cross-legged in the void above the clouds, closing her eyes to regulate her breath. She needed to stabilize her cultivation base and repair her internal injuries.

Faint, tiny arcs of purple lightning danced across her skin. Her aura, previously volatile from the tribulation, began to deepen and settle.

About an hour later, the space in front of her rippled. Zhang Xian’s true body stepped out of the distortion.

Long Zhi slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was clear and cold, now shining with a profound, terrifying light. Even after such a short rest, the pressure of an Early-Stage Nascent Soul radiated from her form.

“Yujing City lies just ahead,” she said, rising to her feet. “Since you have arrived safely, I will take my leave.”

She flicked a finger, shooting a small talisman wreathed in purple lightning toward him. “This is my transmission talisman. You may use it to contact me. My sect is located within a secret realm inaccessible to outsiders, so I hope you understand the precautions.”

“Daoist Long, please wait,” Zhang Xian interjected quickly. “There really is something I need to discuss.”

Long Zhi paused. Facing the comrade who had just fought beside her against a formidable enemy, she granted him a rare sliver of patience. “Speak.”

“It regards Yang Poxiao…”

“My master-disciple bond with him is severed,” she cut him off coolly. “We have no further connection. He betrayed the sect, and the Spirit Ruins Sword Sect will not tolerate him. Whatever enmity exists between you two has nothing to do with me.”

Zhang Xian pivoted smoothly. “Then, regarding the identity of that Nascent Soul shadow… I hope you will keep it to yourself.”

Long Zhi glanced at him, her expression indifferent. “I have no interest in gossip. Furthermore, these are merely speculations without hard evidence. Recklessly discussing a senior expert who has been missing for two hundred years would be improper.”

She placed heavy emphasis on the word missing. Clearly, she had reached the same conclusion about the assassin’s identity.

Zhang Xian nodded, satisfied. He then retrieved a ring—pure white, translucent, and glowing with soft light—and held it out.

“I was able to preserve my life today thanks to you,” he said. “This is a defensive Spirit Treasure. Please accept it as a token of my gratitude and for your future protection.”

Long Zhi’s gaze fell upon the ring. The spiritual essence it emitted was pure yet restrained, carrying an aura of power that felt fundamentally different from anything she had seen before.

She instinctively took half a step back, her delicate brows knitting together. “Unnecessary. I cannot accept such a precious treasure. Between us… there is no bond that warrants this.”

Long Zhi was aloof, not foolish. She could tell from the battle that Zhang Xian likely had means to escape even without her help.

Moreover, she had been beautiful since childhood and was accustomed to men fawning over her with gifts. Combined with the unsavory rumors she had heard about Zhang Xian’s romantic escapades, her guard instantly went up.

[Ding! Long Zhi’s Favorability -2. Current Favorability: 3.]

Zhang Xian felt a headache coming on.

Damn it! Do you think I actually want to give this to you? It’s for the system rebate! Do you have to look at me like I’m a predator?

This ring was a Mid-Grade Spirit Treasure. He had created it by burning hundreds of drops of precious Spirit Treasure Essence, gambling with odds worse than a gacha game from his previous life.

In the Southern Region, practically all “Spirit Treasures” were Low-Grade. Locals didn’t even distinguish by grade because they had never seen anything better. This ring was likely the highest-quality artifact in the entire region.

The tragedy was that Zhang Xian couldn’t use it. His cultivation was too low to refine it. He had tried giving it to Li Fuxi, but even at the seventh level of the Golden Core, she couldn’t bind it either.

Among all the Daughters of Destiny he knew, only Long Zhi—a fresh Nascent Soul with massive karmic luck—qualified to equip it.

This was a rare opportunity to dump the item for a reward. He couldn’t let it rot in his inventory!

If she wouldn’t take it willingly, he would have to use his silver tongue to force it on her.

Zhang Xian let out a long, melancholy sigh. His expression instantly shifted to one of solemn dignity. “Daoist Long, you misunderstand me.”

He looked into the distance, his voice taking on a philosophical weight. “As the ancients once said: With great power comes great responsibility.”

Long Zhi blinked, caught off guard by the sudden profundity.

“The demonic forces are running rampant,” Zhang Xian continued, his voice rising with passion. “That shadow assassin and his cohorts already number two Nascent Souls. I fear this is merely the tip of the iceberg. As for me? My cultivation is limited. My talent is shallow. I merely… possess some modest wealth.”

He placed a hand on his chest. “My responsibility is to exhaust my fortune to arm the righteous pillars of this world—people like you. Not just you, but any cultivator in the Southern Region willing to slay demons, I will support with all my financial strength.”

He pointed the ring at her, his eyes burning with conviction. “And your responsibility is even heavier. You must don the gear I provide, bravely slaughter the enemy, flatten the Demon Nests, and restore peace to our lands!”

Zhang Xian was getting so worked up he almost believed his own bullshit. His gaze was firm, his tone clanging like iron.

Long Zhi watched him in silence. Her clear eyes shifted between his face and the ring. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if these words came from the heart or if she was watching a performance by a grandmaster actor.

However, the extraordinary spiritual fluctuations from the ring were real. A rare hesitation surfaced in her heart.

After a long silence, she spoke. Her voice was still cool, but the icy barrier of distance had thawed slightly. “I will… borrow this treasure temporarily. Once the Demon Nests are eradicated, I shall return it to you.”

Zhang Xian nodded gravely. “A fair proposal. You are truly righteous.”

He immediately shoved the ring into her hand.

The moment her fingers closed around it, a heavenly chime rang in Zhang Xian’s mind.

[Ding! Gift of Mid-Grade Spirit Treasure successful. Rebate triggered.] [Reward: High-Rank Spirit Treasure Essence x10.]

[Item: High-Rank Spirit Treasure Essence] [Description: Essence of a Peak Earth-Grade treasure. Can be used to upgrade a magical item or Spirit Treasure to Mid-Grade. Has a very small probability of elevating it to High-Grade.] [Special Note: Host can activate system-created Mid-Grade Spirit Treasures once reaching the Late Golden Core stage.]

Jackpot.

If he wasn’t sure she could kill him instantly, Zhang Xian would have hugged Long Zhi and planted a kiss on her forehead.

Long Zhi held the ring. It was warm to the touch, yet emitted a cool, calming energy. She could sense the terrifying protective power within it, far surpassing any treasure she had ever known.

A strange feeling rose in her chest. She had just taken a massive advantage of him.

She looked at Zhang Xian’s face—so full of justice and integrity—and felt a pang of guilt. Silently, she retrieved a money pouch from her storage bag and handed it to him.

“Consider this collateral,” she said softly, her voice lacking confidence.

Zhang Xian took the pouch. His divine sense swept inside automatically.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

It was mostly Mid-Grade and Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Sword Cultivators… they really are broke as hell.

“You are too polite,” Zhang Xian said, pocketing the change without breaking his smile. I’ll complain internally, but business is business.

“Well then… thank you. Farewell.”

Long Zhi didn’t linger. Her body dissolved into a brilliant streak of purple lightning, tearing through the sky and vanishing in an instant.

Zhang Xian turned and entered Yujing City.

True to his habits, he went straight to the most prosperous district and bought a luxurious mansion equipped with a large-scale defensive formation.

At the entrance, he deployed two combat puppets as gatekeepers. His enemies were now Nascent Soul powerhouses; the city’s standard perimeter defenses were no longer enough to ensure his safety. The enemy possessed a strange white energy that could corrode formations, so he needed layers of redundancy.

Inside the mansion, he activated the private arrays. Layer upon layer of shimmering light screens rose up, sealing the property.

Immediately, he pulled out the [High-Rank Spirit Treasure Essence] and used it to upgrade a defensive item into a Mid-Grade Spirit Treasure.

He tried to refine it.

Failure.

He tried again.

Failure.

As expected, his cultivation was too low.

Thinking back to the arena, if he hadn’t stacked over a dozen Low-Grade Spirit Treasure shields on himself, the shadow’s ambush might have actually worked. He would have ended up like Yang Poxiao—dead, or forced to rely on the [Nine Nether Tribulation Puppet] to respawn. That would have been a catastrophic waste of a trump card.

Zhang Xian sat back, unbothered by the failure.

He wasn’t anxious. He now possessed the [Prodigious Disciple Aura]. As long as he fed resources to Li Fuxi and power-leveled her, his own breakthrough to the Late Golden Core stage was just around the corner.