“Fellow Daoist, we meet again.”

The old woman’s eyes lit up the moment she spotted Wang Ba.

Wang Ba’s eyelids twitched. He was about to feign ignorance and walk away when the management deacon of the Wood Tower Dwelling spoke up, his tone indifferent.

“You know each other? Perfect. You take him. Building Bing, sixth floor, the east end.”

“You got it!”

The old woman grinned, her withered lips peeling back to reveal a set of gleaming, golden false teeth.

She snatched the house token the deacon tossed her way and turned her beaming, predatory gaze onto Wang Ba.

Wang Ba sighed inwardly. With no other choice, he reluctantly followed the old crone.

“I still don’t know how to address you, Fellow Daoist…”

Once they were out of earshot of the deacon, the old woman began to butter him up, sidling closer.

Wang Ba opened his mouth to give a fake name, but the old woman slapped her forehead before he could speak.

“Aiya, look at my memory! I just saw your name on the register… Fellow Daoist Wang, hehe. We had some misunderstandings before, but please, don’t take them to heart. Water under the bridge!”

Seeing that anonymity was no longer an option, Wang Ba dropped the pretense. He cupped his hands formally.

“Fellow Daoist Long, let’s not beat around the bush. I only need a place to stay. I want to cultivate quietly and peacefully. I have no desire to provoke trouble.”

“No trouble, absolutely no trouble!”

The old woman waved her hands frantically. “I can tell Fellow Daoist Wang is a dedicated ascetic cultivator. Your willpower must be extraordinary. How could I let those little temptresses distract you?”

She paused, a sly glint entering her eyes.

“However… Fellow Daoist, are you truly not considering sharing a room with a female cultivator? Not only is the rent halved, but you might even…” She trailed off suggestively.

Wang Ba hesitated for a split second before shaking his head firmly. “If Fellow Daoist Long is unwilling to take me to the room, I will return to the deacon.”

“Ahem… don’t be angry, Fellow Daoist Wang. It’s just a habit of the trade.”

The old woman wasn’t truly scared by his threat, but she wiped the sleazy grin off her face and adopted a more professional demeanor.

Soon, they arrived at Building Bing.

They ascended the steep wooden stairs, step by step.

Along the way, they passed several cultivators with profound, heavy auras. These men looked like walking threats. Even those whose cultivation bases didn’t seem particularly high shimmered with the light of magical artifacts.

Clearly, anyone who could afford to live in the Wood Tower Dwelling amidst the chaos of the sect transition had deep pockets and a solid foundation.

They reached the sixth floor.

Before Wang Ba had even taken three steps down the hallway, a wave of cloying, mixed perfumes assaulted his nose.

From behind the thin walls of certain rooms, faint, rhythmic moans and the wet sounds of intimacy drifted into the corridor.

Wang Ba’s face darkened instantly. He shot a sharp glare at the old woman.

She raised her hands defensively. “This wasn’t my arrangement! You rented too late. The quiet rooms were snatched up ages ago. This is all that’s left.”

She leaned in, lowering her voice. “Unless… Fellow Daoist would like to consider a roommate?”

Wang Ba paused.

Cohabitation wasn’t a dealbreaker in itself. He was renting the Wood Tower Dwelling solely for the superior Spiritual Qi to aid his cultivation. He wouldn’t be exposing any secrets like the Pot or his lifespan ability here.

And saving Spirit Stones was always a priority.

As for the female cultivator… that was irrelevant. He could ignore a person.

The main issue was the noise pollution in this hallway. It was hardly conducive to meditation.

Seeing Wang Ba waver, the old woman struck while the iron was hot. “There are two vacancies in Building Bing right now. Why don’t we take a look?”

Without waiting for an answer, she practically dragged Wang Ba down the stairs.

The old woman knocked on a door.

A moment later, it swung open to reveal a female cultivator with soft, delicate features.

When she saw the old woman and Wang Ba standing behind her, her eyes lit up like lanterns.

“Mother Long! You’re here!”

“Aye! This is Fellow Daoist Wang. He’s looking for a room that catches his eye…” the old woman introduced with a matchmaking grin.

The female cultivator’s gaze shifted to Wang Ba, turning predatory in its intensity.

Wang Ba maintained a polite, plastic smile. He asked a few perfunctory questions about the layout and then promptly exited, dragging the old woman with him.

“Fellow Daoist Wang, you aren’t satisfied?” The old woman looked genuinely puzzled. “Fellow Daoist Qiao is one of the beauties of the Wood Tower Dwelling. You won’t find many better-looking than her.”

Wang Ba shook his head slightly, offering no explanation.

It was precisely because she was too beautiful that he wanted nothing to do with her.

While there were ascetic cultivators, those who indulged in desires of the flesh were far more common. Especially here, in the Heavenly Gate Sect—a demonic sect that didn’t preach suppression of desire.

A beautiful woman in a place like this was a magnet for trouble. Jealous lovers, entangled histories, drama.

He preferred to avoid the mess entirely.

The old woman didn’t understand his logic, but she didn’t let it stop her. She dragged him to the next potential match.

But the moment the door opened, both the occupant and Wang Ba froze.

“Fellow Daoist Xu?!”

“F-Fellow Daoist Wang?”

The woman inside was dressed in plain white mourning robes. Her face was etched with sorrow, yet she still carried the mature, ripe charm of a married woman.

It was Xu Shi—Chen Mian’s Dao Companion.

Recognizing Wang Ba, a chaotic mix of shock, shame, and panic flashed through Xu Shi’s eyes.

“You… why are you here?”

The old woman was a shrewd human spirit. She instantly clocked the recognition between them. Her wrinkled face crinkled into an ecstatic smile.

“You’re acquaintances? Even better!”

She clapped her hands. “Fellow Daoist Wang, how about it? Why not live with Lady Xu?”

“Mother Long, I…” Xu Shi turned her head away, her face burning with humiliation.

Wang Ba stood there, the awkwardness thick enough to choke on. He didn’t say a word. He simply cupped his hands in a stiff farewell and turned to leave.

“Hey! Fellow Daoist Wang, don’t go!”

Seeing her commission walking away, the old woman’s face turned ugly. she spun on Xu Shi, her voice dripping with venom.

“Lady Xu! Do you want a tenant or not? You know each other—isn’t that perfect?”

“I… my late husband had… disagreements with him,” Xu Shi whispered, biting her lip until it turned white.

“Isn’t that even better?!” The old woman shrieked, exasperated. “The wife of a former enemy, now submitting to him under one roof? Don’t you think that would make Fellow Daoist Wang desire you even more? You aren’t some innocent maiden; don’t you understand what men like?”

“You think it’s easy to find a decent roommate?” The old woman scolded, pointing a bony finger at her. “Wealthy cultivators won’t look at a widow like you. And those without money? They’d rather spend two Spirit Stones on those bone-sucking little sluts down the hall!”

“I finally dragged a reliable one here, and you give him the cold shoulder!”

“Fine! I’m done with you! Just wait until your lease expires and you get kicked back to that damp Stone Cave Dwelling!”

“Mother Long, I… I’ll go get him back…”

Xu Shi burst into tears, weeping like a pear blossom bathed in rain. She stumbled out of the room, chasing down the hallway.

But Wang Ba was long gone.

Wood Tower Dwelling, Management Office.

Wang Ba counted out twenty Spirit Stones and placed them on the desk.

In the end, he chose solitude. After slipping the deacon a few extra stones as a “tea fee,” he secured a private room on the second floor of Building Geng.

Money talked. The deacon’s indifferent attitude melted into something approaching friendliness.

“You were asking about that Xu Shi in Building Bing? Heh. She was screwed over by her husband, Chen Mian.”

The deacon counted the stones, chatting casually.

“A while back, Chen Mian went out with a team to hunt Eastern Sage Sect remnants. But apparently, he suddenly turned traitor in the middle of the fight. Luckily, a Left-Path cultivator stopped him in time, preventing any major losses.”

“But she’s the one paying the price now,” the deacon chuckled, shaking his head without a shred of sympathy. “Without Chen Mian, she can’t earn enough. Once her lease is up, she’ll be kicked out.”

“By the way, didn’t that broker, Granny Long, introduce you to a few pretty ones?” The deacon winked lewdly.

Wang Ba nodded along, smiling politely to mask his thoughts.

Internally, he sighed for Chen Mian.

If his deduction was correct, the “hero” who stopped Chen Mian’s “rebellion” was undoubtedly Jing Kuang.

The method was identical to the story Bu Chan and the others had told him. A team is formed, a target is hunted, and then the “outsider” is accused of betrayal and executed to split the loot fewer ways.

Chen Mian probably never imagined the patron he bragged about would stick a knife in his back.

No, Wang Ba corrected himself. He should have known. When he helped Jing Kuang murder his own sect brothers, he proved that loyalty was for sale.

He was blinded by greed, walking step by step into a trap Jing Kuang had woven long ago.

Now, not only was he dead, but his wife was implicated, forced to consider sleeping with strangers just to keep a roof over her head.

And the Heavenly Gate Sect? They knew. They had to know.

But they didn’t care.

They sat back and watched the weak devour each other. It was a naked display of the demonic philosophy: The weak are prey to the strong.

“I cannot relax. Not for a second.”

Wang Ba took a deep breath.

In the eyes of the sect, he was no different from Chen Mian. Just another piece of meat on the chopping block.

He returned to his new room in Building Geng.

It was even more cramped than the Stone Cave Dwelling, barely big enough for a bed and a meditation mat.

Wang Ba didn’t care. He sat down, adjusted his breathing, and began to cycle his Qi.

Immediately, his eyes snapped open in delight. The Spiritual Qi here justified the extortionate price of twenty stones a month.

It was dense. Roughly ten times the concentration of the cave.

“If this is the tower… I wonder how terrifying the Qi is in the Spirit Water Courtyard,” Wang Ba mused, allowing himself a moment of fantasy.

He quickly shook his head, clearing the distracting thoughts, and dove back into cultivation.

Evening.

Wang Ba returned to the chicken farm and summoned his four employees.

He reached into his storage bag and pulled out the mangled corpse of the Eastern Sage Sect disciple—the one Yu Changchun had given him to fake his mission completion.

“I obtained this by accident,” Wang Ba lied smoothly. “Discuss among yourselves. Who wants it, and what price are you willing to pay?”

Originally, he had planned to use this corpse to carefully cultivate loyalty, playing politics with the group.

But the encounter with Xu Shi and the news of Chen Mian’s death had been a cold bucket of water.

Life was fragile. Schemes were exhausting. He didn’t want to waste energy playing mind games.

Seeing the corpse, Bu Chan and the others gasped.

They looked at Wang Ba with a new level of gravity.

To produce proof of a kill so casually… whether he hunted it himself or bought it, this Senior Brother Wang was far deeper than he appeared.

The four huddled together, whispering urgently. Finally, they reached a consensus.

They would give the merit to the only combat-oriented cultivator among them—Shen Fu.

“Shen Fu is our shield,” Bu Chan explained, acting as the spokesperson. “If he survives, our chances of survival increase. We give this opportunity to him.”

Wang Ba felt a twinge of regret. He personally preferred Bu Chan; she was the most useful to his farming operations.

But he respected their autonomy. He nodded without comment.

Shen Fu stepped forward, his eyes red with emotion. He looked at his three companions, then turned to Wang Ba and dropped to one knee.

“Senior Brother Wang! For the next ten years, as long as you do not send me to a deliberate death, I will never refuse a command!”

“If I break this oath, may my Inner Demon devour my soul!”

Wang Ba was slightly moved. A Dao Heart Oath involving an Inner Demon was no joke. It was binding.

He nodded, accepting the pledge.

To him, the corpse was useless trash. At most, it was worth 10 merit points. Selling it on the black market was risky and difficult.

To exchange a piece of trash for ten years of loyalty from a combat cultivator? That was a profit margin he could appreciate.

Several days later.

The deadline for the first mandatory sect mission arrived.

Coincidentally, another timer reached zero.

In the coop, the four chicks that Alpha-Nine had hatched—the ones Wang Ba had invested his own Lifespan into—finally completed their accelerated maturity.

Wang Ba stood before the coop, staring at the four magnificent birds.

Beside them, a Spirit Light Talisman hovered in the air, glowing with an unmistakable, rich green light.

Wang Ba’s eyes shimmered with triumph.

“High Grade Spirit Poultry!”

“I finally did it.”