I, Yao Chen, Am Nothing but a Clown

"Kid, you're not about to cry, are you?" Noticing the change in Xiao Yan's expression, Chu Xiao looked at him with teasing eyes.

"Of course not!" Xiao Yan felt his face grow a little hot and immediately shook his head in protest.

His eyes shifted, and he suddenly rubbed his hands together. Somewhat embarrassed, he said, "Then... my dear cousin, could you lend me some money?"

Old Yao: .

Chu Xiao: ?

Borrowing money from him right away—was he planning to buy the ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Liquid?

"Money isn't a woman. Calling it a loan just makes us sound distant. How much do you want?" Chu Xiao smiled generously. With a flick of his wrist, he took a hundred Gold Coins from his Storage Ring. "Is this enough?"

"It's a little short." Holding up two fingers, Xiao Yan asked awkwardly, "Could you give me five hundred Gold Coins?"

According to Old Yao, five hundred Gold Coins were enough to purchase the ingredients for one batch of Foundation Establishment Liquid.

He planned to test its effects first. If it worked well, he would find a way to borrow more money from his parents or Chu Xiao, then refine several more batches and sell them at a high price, creating a cycle of profit.

Or he could find an excuse to cooperate directly with the family. Chu Xiao's words rebuking Nalan Yanran in the hall today had struck home. The family had spent resources raising him; if he had the ability, he ought to repay them in some way. Otherwise, how would he be any different from an ungrateful wretch?

"Five hundred Gold Coins?" Chu Xiao snapped his fingers, and two purple cards appeared between them.

These were cards that only a Da Dou Shi or a force on the Xiao Family's level could obtain at most trading houses in the Jia Ma Empire. Each card could draw three thousand Gold Coins.

Watching Xiao Yan's eyes light up at the sight, Chu Xiao knowingly asked, "If you really need it, I can give you five thousand Gold Coins. But you aren't even a Dou Zhe yet. What do you need so much money for?"

The local Little Yan Zi had been strictly controlled by his aunt since childhood. Though he had been somewhat arrogant during his genius days, he had none of those playboy young masters' bad habits and little spare money on him. Given his awkward standing in the Xiao Family now, there were only three people he could ask for money.

Xun Er was not among them. If Xiao Yan had to rank them, she might even come last in the entire Xiao Family.

Ever since they were young, the two had fought over the right to claim him as their cousin, leaving their relationship quite cold. It could even be said that they did not get along.

If not for their fear of making things difficult for him in the middle, and because Xiao Yan had been deeply depressed these past three years, their relationship might have worsened further. It would not have been impossible for them to come to blows.

By then, it would have turned into Xun Er beating up Little Yan Zi one-sidedly.

"Cousin, I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone for now." Xiao Yan leaned close to Chu Xiao, looking mysterious. Yet his tightly clenched hands betrayed his true feelings—he was actually very nervous.

Chu Xiao pretended not to notice and nodded slightly. "Don't worry. You know me. As long as it doesn't violate my principles, I keep my mouth shut. Sometimes I even cover for you."

These so-called principles were highly flexible, and he held the final right of interpretation.

But Xiao Yan clearly trusted him deeply. Ignoring Old Yao's warning in his ear, he said, "I met a mysterious person who might be an alchemist. He said he could solve my inability to cultivate, but he wants me to take him as my master."

"I don't want to turn all this into a transaction. I want to use my own money to buy the ingredients. If he can truly refine pills that will help me recover, then I'll take him as my master."

At this point, Xiao Yan paused before continuing, "That person is stronger than my mother. He definitely isn't trying to deceive me. There would be no need."

Not a single word of this was false. He had merely held some things back.

Chu Xiao knew everything. He had not asked Xiao Yan for an answer, merely gone through the motions. Otherwise, it would have seemed too strange.

"Something that good?" Chu Xiao's eyes lit up. He immediately placed the two purple cards in Xiao Yan's hands. "Use this money without hesitation. If that alchemist can truly help you restore your talent, he'll be the benefactor of our entire Xiao Family."

"If he truly is an alchemist, being able to take him as your master will be a blessing for you and the entire Xiao Family."

This unconditional trust deeply moved Xiao Yan again. His Adam's apple bobbed as he asked, "Cousin, you don't suspect that I'm trying to cheat you out of money?"

"Would you cheat me out of money?" Chu Xiao asked in return.

"Of course not." Xiao Yan answered without the slightest hesitation. "I would never cheat you over anything."

"Then that settles it." Chu Xiao naturally hooked an arm around Xiao Yan's neck and headed with him toward Xiao Zhan's residence. "Today is your brother's eighteenth birthday. If your cultivation can recover, that'll be a double blessing. You'd better eat more later."

"No, it'll be a triple blessing." Xiao Yan's ears reddened.

Old Yao nodded in satisfaction. Taking this old man as his master was another blessing.

"Triple blessing?" Chu Xiao raised a brow.

"And breaking off the engagement with Nalan Yanran." Xiao Yan said seriously, "Isn't it a joyous thing to have nothing to do with a woman like that?"

Old Yao's smile froze inside the ring: ?

I thought it was taking me as master!

"You're right!" Chu Xiao gave him a thumbs-up. "Three years from today, you'll go to the Misty Cloud Sect and defeat her. That'll make it an even greater joy."

"I definitely will!" Xiao Yan's tone was firm.

The two chatted and laughed as they walked onward.

Chu Xiao did not rush to use his Copy-binding opportunity, because Little Yan Zi did not seem to have a Copy.

But he could not rule out the possibility that he was simply good at pretending, and Yao Chen also needed to be tested.

With that thought, he willed it and began writing in the Diary.

It now seemed highly likely that I had been reborn!

The Women, busy with their own affairs: !

The moment Chu Xiao updated its contents, the Diary alerted them within their Sea of Consciousness.

However, they could freely choose whether to enable or disable these alerts.

And when they encountered danger, update notifications would not appear.

"Has he finished testing someone?"

The Women all stopped their minor tasks and stared at the Diary Copy.

In the next instant, their guesses were confirmed.

Little Yan Zi really is short on money. He even came to borrow some from me. Next, he should be buying ingredients to refine Foundation Establishment Liquid.

During the Dou Qi stage, the body's meridians are extremely fragile, so cultivation cannot rely on external aids such as pills to accelerate progress. Otherwise, when the Dou Qi in the body gradually grows stronger in the future, the meridians will be unable to withstand the increasingly powerful impact of Dou Qi, resulting in ruptured meridians and death.

But that claim only applies to minor factions and remote places like the Jia Ma Empire. In the eyes of major powers, such restrictions do not exist. There are still quite a few external aids on the Dou Qi Continent that can relatively gently speed up cultivation during the Dou Qi stage. Rank 2 Pills like Foundation Establishment Liquid are one example. I need to verify this.

If this really happens, then the other matters are most likely true as well. That would mean I really have been reborn.

The Women: ?

That's it? Nothing more?

One guess was worth writing down? Why not explain the other matters in greater detail?

Still, quite a few people found the information they wanted in it.

"As expected, he's in the Jia Ma Empire."

Xiao Yi Xian, Medusa, Yun Yun, and the other women in the Jia Ma Empire were not surprised.

Because they were there as well, they naturally assumed that Chu Xiao was also there.

Unfortunately, the information about his location and identity was still not specific enough.

"Why didn't he write more?"