You're Setting Me Up

The members of the three sects were adamant!

They wanted none of the remaining spirit liquid. The Vast Heaven Sect could have it all.

Chu Xinghe was almost in tears. I went to all that trouble to save you, and this is how you two-faced traitors repay me?

"How could that be? You came here with missions too. If you can't get the rest of the spirit liquid, surely you'll be severely punished when you return!" Seeing that a gentle approach hadn't worked, Chu Xinghe could only take a harder line.

The teams from each sect surely had missions of their own, and they would be punished if they returned without completing them. Sure enough, as soon as he mentioned punishment, hesitation appeared on many faces.

That's right! To avoid punishment, let's split it evenly, shall we? I'll shoulder all the punishment myself.

But Chu Xinghe had barely been happy for a second before Fan Sheng spoke. "Senior Brother Xinghe, our sect did indeed give us a task this time. But if the Vast Heaven Sect hadn't rescued us, even I, Fan Sheng, wouldn't have escaped with my life. Who cares about spirit liquid then? Senior Brother Xinghe, you risked your life to save us, and afterward you were even willing to let all of us absorb the spirit liquid. If we dared take the rest now, could we still call ourselves human? Senior Brother Xinghe, please say no more!"

"If we really took the spirit liquid, we'd be heartless and disloyal. Senior Brother Xinghe, you can't set us up like that!"

Fan Sheng's words had everyone nodding inwardly.

Everyone except Chu Xinghe... I'm setting you up? You're setting me up!

Chu Xinghe wanted to try a little harder, but he had no chance. The members of the three sects had already helped the Vast Heaven Sect collect all the remaining spirit liquid and handed it to the "lucky general" Ma Liang, who stood beside Chu Xinghe!

Afraid of making a mistake, the three sects checked everything carefully several times. Only after making certain that every last drop of spirit liquid had been given to the Vast Heaven Sect did they finally relax.

Once the spirit liquid had all been taken, the exit to the Spirit Grotto opened.

Everyone except Chu Xinghe emerged from the Spirit Grotto in high spirits.

"Senior Brother Xinghe, the Star Moon Sect is closest to here. Why don't you come back with us? After this trip to the Spirit Grotto, the sect master and elders will surely thank you properly!"

Guo Qizhen extended a warm invitation, but Chu Xinghe flatly refused!

You've got to be kidding. Although one more matter is better than one less, if that extra matter is the Star Moon Sect thanking the Vast Heaven Sect, I'd damn well rather not go!

Though somewhat disappointed by Chu Xinghe's refusal, Guo Qizhen still marveled that Senior Brother Xinghe was indeed a man indifferent to fame and fortune.

This time, Senior Brother Xinghe had led the Vast Heaven Sect to save everyone from danger and had willingly given up the spirit liquid to them all. What a tremendous kindness that was! It was easy to imagine that if Chu Xinghe brought the Vast Heaven Sect to the Star Moon Sect, the Star Moon Sect would certainly thank them lavishly. What a glorious chance to shine!

Yet Senior Brother Xinghe had turned it down with a simple declaration that he had sect orders to carry out and dared not disobey them.

Senior Brother Xinghe was utterly unmoved by such a chance to distinguish himself. Guo Qizhen truly admired him from the bottom of his heart.

"Senior Brother Xinghe, I, Fan Sheng, don't know how to express my thanks, but I'll remember your kindness. If you ever need anything, Senior Brother Xinghe, just say the word. Even if I have to travel thousands upon thousands of miles, I, Fan Sheng, will not shrink from death!"

"Senior Brother Xinghe, you're one of the people I, Sun Xueheng, admire most in my life. If you ever need anything in the future, please be sure to let me, your junior brother, know."

Fan Sheng and Sun Xueheng came to bid Chu Xinghe farewell. After all that had happened in the Spirit Grotto, they had to hurry back and report the whole affair to their sects at once.

Chu Xinghe cupped his fists and said goodbye to everyone in turn.

But back at the Vast Heaven Sect, the old men gathered before the Haotian Mirror were dumbfounded by what they saw!

"What happened in there? They're..."

The Haotian Mirror could use certain secret arts to show Chu Xinghe and the others' movements, but once they entered the Spirit Grotto, it could no longer show them clearly.

Thus, the old men had no idea what had happened inside the Spirit Grotto.

But they distinctly remembered that the three sects and the Vast Heaven Sect had been at daggers drawn when they went in. How had everyone's attitude toward Chu Xinghe and the Vast Heaven Sect taken such a complete turn in so short a time?

So what exactly had happened inside?

"I've already sent someone to wait at the Star Moon Sect. As soon as Guo Qizhen returns, we'll get word."

The grand elder had thought things through.

After bidding farewell to the three sects, Chu Xinghe led the hundred-person group toward Yu City. All along the way, the "lucky general" Ma Liang swaggered about, swinging his storage ring!

"Heh heh heh... junior brothers and sisters, we're taking all the spirit liquid back this time. Though what's left isn't as good as absorbing it directly, once it passes through the skillful hands of our senior brothers at Spirit Crane Palace, it can all be turned into Marrow-Cleansing Pills. With this much spirit liquid, every newly admitted disciple should be able to get a Marrow-Cleansing Pill this time, right?"

"More than that. There'll be some left over! I did the calculations. With the seventy percent Senior Brother Xinghe mentioned, everyone could get one pill. Now that it's all ours, there'll be some left over!"

"When Senior Brother Xinghe made that military pledge for seventy percent, I'm telling you, I nearly pissed myself. Now it looks like Senior Brother Xinghe aimed too low. He should've said ninety percent!"

The junior brothers and sisters chatted happily, laughter ringing out in waves. Their mood on the way back was completely different from when they had set out.

Chu Xinghe smiled along with them, but only he knew the bitterness in his heart...

How had this damned trip to the Spirit Grotto ended up like this?

Chu Xinghe couldn't understand... How could I lose after deliberately arriving late? How could I lose after returning to the city on the spot? How could I lose after choosing the opposite path?

How did I lose?

Damn it, other people rack their brains hunting for treasure and come back empty-handed. I tried my hardest to avoid everything that might have treasure, but I still got the whole damn lot. What the hell?

But now that things had come to this, there was nothing Chu Xinghe could do except feel bitter.

The group spent a day traveling to Yu City.

Meanwhile, back at the Vast Heaven Sect, Sect Master Gu Mingchao, the grand elder, and the chief elders of the other palaces were all in Haotian Palace, staring in disbelief at the Vast Heaven Sect disciple before the Haotian Mirror. He had just returned from the Star Moon Sect with the news for them!

"Say that again..." the grand elder said, somewhat dazed. None of the others objected.

"Yes... according to the news from the Star Moon Sect, the hundred-person group led by Junior Brother Xinghe was the last to enter the Spirit Grotto. Junior Brother Xinghe and the others must have discovered some special mechanism, because they went straight to the second level."

"Afterward, Junior Brother Xinghe didn't use his lead to take the spirit liquid ahead of the others. Instead, he explored the second level, drew a map, and shared it with the three sects. Then, at a fork in the road, Junior Brother Xinghe let the three sects choose the inner city, where treasure was most likely to be found, while he chose the outer city."

"The three sects encountered monsters in the inner city and were surrounded and attacked, while the spirit liquid appeared in the outer city. Junior Brother Xinghe and his group could have left them to die and claimed the spirit liquid for themselves, but they didn't. Instead, he led the Vast Heaven Sect to their aid. Junior Brother Xinghe used his flying sword to slay countless monsters and ultimately rescued everyone from the three sects. He also said that the Vast Heaven Sect's word was as weighty as nine tripods: having promised to take only enough for a hundred people, they would not claim a fraction more. He gave the spirit liquid to the three sects."

"After that, the three sects absorbed the spirit liquid, but gave all that remained to the Vast Heaven Sect..."

The disciple repeated the news he had gathered, and Haotian Palace remained silent.

The grand elder waved a hand, signaling that the disciple could leave.

After the disciple departed, Sect Master Gu Mingchao spoke. "This child..."

Though he said only those words, the admiration in Gu Mingchao's eyes was impossible to conceal.

The other elders nodded one after another. The grand elder stroked his recently regrown beard, his face crinkling into a chrysanthemum-like smile.

The trip to the Spirit Grotto had appeared to be a joint venture by the four sects, but everyone knew that the three sects were somewhat hostile to the Vast Heaven Sect. After all, Chu Xinghe had accidentally bought up the Shen Spirit Herb and seized them by the throat, forcing them to reluctantly surrender a hundred places.

That had been clear from the moment they entered.

It had been a foregone conclusion that the three sects would target the Vast Heaven Sect, so the Vast Heaven Sect's leaders had all worried about whether Chu Xinghe could handle himself inside.

They feared the three sects might scheme against him and leave him with nothing to show for the trip.

But now that they knew what had happened inside, they were truly astonished.

What shocked them most was not how Chu Xinghe had found the mechanism, nor his good luck in choosing the right path. It was that when the three sects faced their gravest danger, Chu Xinghe had chosen neither to stand by nor to throw stones at those who had fallen into a well. Instead, he had led the Vast Heaven Sect disciples to their aid without hesitation.

What magnanimity! What bearing!

Only such magnanimity and bearing were worthy of the supreme throne of the number one sect under heaven!

The three sects could isolate the Vast Heaven Sect, but the Vast Heaven Sect, as number one under heaven, would never stand by and ignore anyone.

Chu Xinghe's choice and his magnanimity had utterly won over the three sects. That was why, when they said their farewells, every one of them had looked at Chu Xinghe with guilt and respect!

"This child... has done far better than the best outcome I imagined." Gu Mingchao could not help but marvel. The best outcome he had initially envisioned was for Chu Xinghe to lead the team to the spirit liquid and, as he had said, secure the remaining seventy percent.

But now Chu Xinghe had not only obtained everything that remained, he had even earned the respect of the three sects' finest disciples of this generation. If Gu Mingchao had to score his trip to the Spirit Grotto, he would give Chu Xinghe ninety-nine points. He withheld the last point for fear the child might become arrogant.

But this child... he was so composed. Would he really become arrogant?

"Grand Elder, Xinghe has rendered a great service to the sect this time. All the remaining spirit liquid will need to be refined into Marrow-Cleansing Pills by your Spirit Crane Palace." Gu Mingchao was overjoyed.

"Rest assured, Sect Master. Leave it to Spirit Crane Palace!" The grand elder stood tall, chest out. This time, Chu Xinghe had truly brought honor to the Vast Heaven Sect and to his Spirit Crane Palace.

Although Chu Xinghe was not a disciple of the chief elders of the other palaces, he had obtained so much spirit liquid that every one of their newly admitted disciples was entitled to a Marrow-Cleansing Pill. That was a tremendous blessing too, and delight shone on all their faces.

Everyone was happy except Chu Xinghe...

Chu Xinghe stood in Yu City. This trip to the Spirit Grotto had been far too damn depressing, and what was the best way to vent his frustration?

Shopping, of course!

Chu Xinghe looked at the spirit stones in his storage ring and made up his mind. He had to squander every last one!