Respecting You as a True Man

The Shuiyue Sect specialized in formations, with expertise in illusion formations and a knack for breaking formations. It was a sect with tremendous potential in the underground trade of vocational transitions.

Because she was not skilled at fighting, Pang Miaosong's match with Lu Bei centered on formations, sparing them a brutal exchange of flesh-on-flesh blows.

That had been Pang Miaosong's intention. In front of everyone, she did not want Lu Bei getting close.

She would suffer for it.

In every sense of the word.

Lu Bei did not understand much about breaking formations. Even with the Formation Breaking Compass and the incantation, he did not have much confidence. Fortunately, Heaven rewarded good deeds. He firmly suppressed Pang Miaosong in cultivation, and under the guidance of the Formation Breaking Compass, he broke through forcefully, drawing his blade to carve a path out of the illusion formation.

Before Lu Bei could spout some idiom, Pang Miaosong decisively stepped down from the arena. Expressionless and silent, she admitted defeat and ended this thoroughly unremarkable contest.

The four helpers Ding Lei had found had either lost or forfeited, two each. Lu Bei had won all four battles, and he reached toward his spoils.

No spoils?

Impossible. The organizers were not that sort of people.

At a side hall of the Emei Sect, Ding Lei sat dejectedly with his head bowed. Lu Bei swept his gaze across the four sect leaders, rubbed his hands, and said, "We're not familiar with each other, so I'll skip the pleasantries. The four of you backed Sect Leader Ding, relying on superior numbers to bully the outnumbered. Lu Bei will pinch his nose and accept it. As the saying goes, courtesy demands reciprocity. All four of you have fallen and admitted defeat in succession, so now it's time for Lu Bei to abuse his strength and force you into submission through martial power."

"Sect Leader Lu, you misunder—"

"Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, Lu Bei knows clearly, and all of you know it in your hearts as well."

Lu Bei raised a hand and interrupted him directly. His tone softened slightly as he said, "The four of you can rest assured. Lu Bei isn't an unreasonable man. The grudges between you and me are far less serious than the grudge between Sect Leader Ding and me. I don't want much either. Each sect's Spirit Bamboo allotment for the next three months will belong to Sanqing Peak... Hmm, Hanyue Sect can forget it. Sect Master Du suits my taste. I respect you as a true man. Today, we became friends through fighting, so consider Hanyue Sect's three-month Spirit Bamboo allotment a meeting gift."

"Lu—"

"Those who disagree, step forward. The arena hasn't been dismantled yet."

Lu Bei swept his gaze over them with disdain. "Today, either you beat Lu Bei to death, or Lu Bei beats you to death."

"How outrageous! Why are you excluding my Hanyue Sect? Who do you think you're looking down on?"

"..." x5

"Bring me paper and a brush!"

Just as silence descended over the arena, Du Jinglan slammed down a large hand and, ignoring the frantic looks the other sect leaders kept giving him, cheerfully wrote out an IOU.

"..." x3

Pang Miaosong and the other two sect leaders' faces immediately darkened. They seriously suspected that Du Jinglan only looked straightforward on the surface but was actually scheming. He must have accepted benefits from Lu Bei before coming and was throwing the match on purpose.

"Master Du, what magnanimity! I'm impressed!"

Lu Bei flung out a furious thumbs-up. Just as he had been watching the deadlock fail to break, an assist had been delivered right to his face. If he had not known that he and Du Jinglan had never met before, he would have suspected that this man was an undercover agent he had planted.

Damn it, we have a traitor among us!

Pang Miaosong and the other two sect leaders gritted their teeth and wrote out their IOUs. In their hearts, they cursed Lu Bei and Du Jinglan until their ancestors were dragged into it—Du Jinglan in particular, whose entire family genealogy was practically dug up and insulted.

For a moment, Du Jinglan became the greatest enemy. Lu Bei had certainly gone too far, but he had been an outsider from the start. The damage he caused was nothing compared to Du Jinglan, one of their own, turning traitor and stabbing them in the back.

Ding Lei's expression was complicated. When he saw the four outside reinforcements write out their IOUs one after another, his sorrow inexplicably eased quite a bit.

Once again, facts proved that listening to love songs when sad was useless. Only watching someone else suffer could ease the pain.

Spirit Bamboo was one of the main sources of income for the eight peaks of Nine Bamboo Mountain apart from Sanqing Peak. Losing it for three months at once meant tightening their belts for three months. Thinking of this, all the sect leaders wore dreadful expressions.

"Sect Leader Lu, if there's no other business, we'll take our leave first," Lin Hong said as he rose.

They were in the Emei Sect, yet he had ignored its sect leader, Ding Lei. Clearly, he had already blacklisted this pit.

"Four sect leaders, wait a moment. I do have something to say, and it's very important."

Lu Bei accepted the four IOUs. His arrogant expression vanished in an instant, and he let out a quiet sigh. "You may not know this, but it isn't that Lu Bei wants to make things difficult for your sects. I truly have no choice. I didn't want things to turn out this way either."

Yes, I believe you.

I believe your nonsense!

The sect leaders rolled their eyes. Ding Lei rolled his the hardest. He could only blame his own poor eyesight for failing to see through Lu Bei. When Lu Bei had knocked down the Emei Sect disciples one by one that night, he had not held back even once. He had been grinning as happily as could be.

"The situation at Sanqing Peak—Sect Leader Ding has probably already told all of you. A guest surnamed Zhu came to visit..."

Lu Bei tilted his head forty-five degrees and gazed at the ceiling. "It all began three months ago. Back then, I was still a young man. I had just gone to Dasheng Pass, thinking everyone there was a good person... The Zhu Family Trading Company had long coveted Nine Bamboo Mountain's Spirit Bamboo... I suffered for being young and lacking caution... They caught me by the handle... Everything I'm doing now is out of helplessness."

"Sect Leader Lu, could you make yourself clearer? You keep speaking in fragments. What exactly are you saying?"

"The Zhu Family Trading Company wants to cooperate with the sect leaders. Because of my identity as the sect leader of the Feather Transformation Sect, they treated me as the breakthrough point..."

Lu Bei kept it brief. "For these three months, to show their sincerity, the Zhu Family Trading Company will add twenty percent to the previous transaction amount for each sect. After three months, no matter how much the SITONG Trading Company offers, the Zhu Family Trading Company will offer no less."

"This isn't a matter of money. Business depends on trust. We've already accepted the deposit from the SITONG Trading Company, so how could we go back on our word? Besides, the Spirit Bamboo ultimately flows to Dasheng Pass. If we offend the Huangji Sect because of a problem at the source, the SITONG Trading Company would only need to say one word, and all of us would be unable to bear the consequences."

"You don't need to worry. The Zhu family will handle the SITONG Trading Company. As for the Huangji Sect, Prefect Zhu of Dongqi Commandery and Steward Lin of Dasheng Pass are close friends. If this deal doesn't go through, that would be what offends them instead... Heh, that's all I'll say. You should understand." Lu Bei gave them an ambiguous reply. Some matters were better left unspoken; he hoped the sect leaders would figure them out themselves.

As for whether they figured it out correctly, that was none of his concern.

"As for the IOUs in my hands, none of you need to worry about them. What belongs to you belongs to you. You'll receive exactly what you're owed. Lu Bei won't take a single coin."

Lu Bei puffed out his chest. "The rumor that Lu Bei loves money more than life is pure nonsense. The Zhu Family Trading Company will contact you each month regarding the transactions. The accounts will be settled face-to-face, and I won't touch a single cent."

"Are you serious?!" Ding Lei's hand trembled violently as he held his teacup, resonating with the porcelain.

"With Lu Bei's reputation now, even if I give you my guarantee, you won't believe me, so I'll dispense with the empty words."

Lu Bei smiled faintly. "Time will prove everything. The transaction date is only a few days away. By then, whether Lu Bei's words are true or false will naturally be crystal clear."

The sect leaders gathered together and whispered. When they looked at Lu Bei again, their gazes were entirely different. Their former disgust had vanished, replaced by extraordinary warmth. They spoke of the Nine Bamboo faction sharing one breath and one fate, and kept expressing their deepest apologies, saying that they had been wrong to misunderstand Lu Bei.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Sect Leader Ding is excluded."

Lu Bei looked at Ding Lei, whose body was still resonating, and grinned. "Sect Leader Ding's night raid on Sanqing Peak is unrelated to the business. It's purely a private grudge between the two of us. The territory that must be ceded and the compensation that must be paid cannot be short by a single coin."

"Sound reasoning. Sect Leader Ding was in the wrong first!" Liu Ao shook his head and sighed.

"Using superior numbers to bully the outnumbered was indeed improper. Sect Leader Ding, forgive us for standing on the side of reason." Lin Hong nodded in agreement.

Ding Lei's eyes bulged. He looked around and discovered that Du Jinglan was an undercover agent, while Liu Ao and Lin Hong were fence-sitters. Even Pang Miaosong, who had lost face, remained silent.

He did not have a single teammate!

"Hahaha, I was joking. Don't take it seriously, Sect Leader Ding. Lu Bei was simply unable to swallow the anger from the night you brought people to ambush me. Nine Bamboo Mountain is one family, after all. I merely returned the favor and completed my revenge. How could I truly demand the deed to Emei Mountain, a hundred thousand taels, and the Spirit Bamboo business?"

Lu Bei gave a carefree laugh, then pulled an IOU from his robes and solemnly placed it in Ding Lei's hand. "I was only tormenting you repeatedly because I couldn't let go of my anger. Now my thoughts are clear. I hope Sect Leader Ding can give Lu Bei a way down and let us put this grudge behind us."

"Hissssss—"

Looking at the IOU he had written with his own hands, Ding Lei's eyes reddened. After tearing it to pieces, he grabbed Lu Bei's hand. "My worthy brother... No, Brother Lu, I offended you repeatedly before. Your little punishment was only right. Today... I'm not good with words. If you don't object, I'm willing to become sworn brothers with you today, in the manner of the eight formal bows."

Tsk, he really thinks he can eat a free lunch!

"No rush. We can discuss becoming sworn brothers another day. I suddenly remembered that since I've returned the IOU, our business dispute is settled."

Lu Bei pointed at the scraps scattered across the floor. "Sorry for the trouble, Sect Leader Ding, but write another one. Three months will do."

Ding Lei: "..."

This man was thick-skinned, black-hearted, and possessed exceptional cultivation aptitude to boot. He was bound to achieve great things in the future. It was truly regrettable that he had failed to seize the opportunity today to become sworn brothers with him and latch onto such a powerful backer.