Qian Gongyu heard it and almost wanted to become a family offering herself. The conditions were so favorable that she truly could not think of a reason to refuse. Although she was a little reluctant, she still prayed inwardly that Jiang Shi would agree quickly. Once this opportunity was gone, it would never come back!
"If I agree to become a family offering..." Jiang Shi did not refuse. Instead, she asked, "Will the five tokens be given to me immediately?"
Qun Yushu shook his head. "Of course not. They'll be given according to your years of service—one per year, with all five delivered after five years."
"Then forget it. Please leave." Jiang Shi turned and walked back.
"Wait. If the five tokens were given to you immediately, would you agree to become my family's offering?"
Jiang Shi turned back and glanced at him. There was neither joy nor anticipation in her voice. "Yes."
Qun Yushu stared at her for a long while before suddenly giving a helpless laugh. "You're the first person like this I've ever met."
He took a jade pendant from his robes and handed it to Jiang Shi. "Let's make this a trade instead. If you can tell me every ability this jade pendant possesses, I'll give it to you."
Shang Xin Lei, Jie Yuanshao, Jie Zilong, and the others had gleaming eyes, but none of them spoke. They watched from the side as Jiang Shi accepted the jade pendant. Qian Gongyu vaguely realized that something was wrong and desperately tried to signal Jiang Shi with her eyes to refuse, but Jiang Shi did not look at her at all.
"The first ability is Protective Spirit Shield. It requires three points of spirit power to activate. Once activated, it creates three shields that can block any three attacks. The shields can last only three seconds, and they can be used again after fifteen seconds."
"The second ability is Explosive Spirit Shield. If Guardian Jade Pendant is activated again while Protective Spirit Shield is on cooldown, it will create an Explosive Spirit Shield that damages the attacker. Both abilities can be used again after sixty seconds."
Qun Yushu listened intently. Only after Jiang Shi finished did he ask, "What does 'second' mean?"
"About the length of one breath."
"I understand." Qun Yushu nodded. "Thank you. This jade pendant is yours."
With that, Qun Yushu said his farewells and turned to leave. Not only did he leave himself, he also drove away the other guests. Before Chen Lincuan left, he gave Jiang Shi a deep look. After calling over two guards and giving them a few instructions, the two guards stood watch outside the Qian Family carriage.
Once the irrelevant people had left, Jiang Shi continued practicing her saber as if nothing had happened.
"Jiang Shi, you..." Shang Xin Lei did not know what to say. "You just jumped straight into such a huge trap..."
"Talking is useless." Jie Zilong interrupted her. "Fourth Young Miss, please have the Shang Family make up its mind before the day after tomorrow. I'll also hurry to contact my family."
"What happened? What happened?" Qian Gongyu looked utterly bewildered. "Why do all of you seem even more nervous than before?"
"Because the situation has become more serious. This is no longer merely a minor matter involving the Wandering Star Forest." Shang Xin Lei looked at Jiang Shi, her expression extraordinarily complicated. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed..."
"That someone in this world could actually discern the abilities of a token at a single glance!"
"Why is Jiang Shi so weak?!"
The first thing Qun Yushu did after sitting down was complain. He picked up the wine jug and gulped down a large mouthful. Wine spilled out and soaked his chest, but he paid it no attention as he poured out his grievances to Chen Lincuan. "It would be fine if she were at least a Second Rank Herald, but she just entered the first rank. What am I supposed to do? What can I do?"
"Young Master Qun, I'm not one of your lackeys. I don't make a habit of playing the straight man for you." Chen Lincuan walked to the cabinet and took out a Glass Wine Bottle. He poured the blood-red wine into the Luminous Cup. "Get to the point. Spit it out."
As a Chen Family Elder and a Third Rank Herald, Chen Lincuan had no need to care about Qun Yushu's feelings. The reason Qun Yushu had led the conversation at the banquet was that the two families had tacitly agreed to work together against the Jie Family and the Shang Family. It did not mean that the Chen Family was subordinate to the Qun Family. Among the Seven Great Noble Classes of the Upper Three Ranks, there was only cooperation, never a relationship of master and servant.
Qun Yushu was not angered. He spread his hands and said, "It's not as if someone like Jiang Shi has never appeared before. Take the Demon Subduing Herald from two hundred years ago. She was a Fourth Rank Foundation Builder who roamed the world before later going to the Outer Domain, but she once had dealings with the Qun Family. According to the clan records, the Demon Subduing Herald disguised herself thoroughly every time she contacted the Qun Family. Not only did she possess tokens that prevented divination, she also limited their transactions to token appraisals. No matter how much the Qun Family offered, she refused to help explore secret realms."
"The Demon Subduing Herald guarded herself flawlessly, so the Qun Family could only treat her with courtesy. That way, everyone stayed on good terms. Even if they failed to establish a relationship, they would at least avoid becoming enemies."
"Besides the Demon Subduing Herald, the Qun Family has existed for several centuries and encountered quite a few prodigies. Some were like the Demon Subduing Herald and only contacted the Great Noble Families after gaining the power to protect themselves. Others had nothing but their talent and gladly accepted the Qun Family's careful cultivation, becoming pillars of the family as external elders."
"Then has anyone ever possessed both talent and weakness while refusing the recruitment of the noble families?"
"There have. And there have been many, many such people." Qun Yushu tilted the wine jug and drank the last drop. Rubbing his temples, he said, "Most of the demonic cultivators still at large today are people like that—self-important and proud, preferring death to submission."
"Preferring death to submission? I'd call it holding out for a better price." Chen Lincuan shook his head. "I saw it from the moment she refused to attend the banquet. She deliberately created difficulties to force us to lower our heads first. Once even we lowered our heads and showed goodwill, the Jie Family and the Shang Family would naturally feel threatened. They would certainly offer better treatment to win Jiang Shi over."
"Now that I think about it, this woman truly handled every step perfectly. She first made a stunning impression in the Wandering Star Forest. Even if she hadn't been in the same team as people from the Jie Family and the Shang Family, she would still have come into contact with those two families first. By the time we received the news and arrived, we had to pass through the Jie Family and Shang Family before doing anything else, unknowingly helping Jiang Shi keep an eye on them as well. Without spending the slightest effort—or even engaging in much maneuvering—she used the struggle among our families to maximize her own gains. She looks reckless and ignorant, but in truth, she's extremely calculating."
Seeing Chen Lincuan praise Jiang Shi so highly, Qun Yushu repeatedly shook his head. By the end, he could not help clutching his stomach and roaring with laughter.
"It seems Young Master Qun has a different opinion." Chen Lincuan spoke coldly. "Do you think a beauty would never harbor wicked intentions? Is the story widely circulated in Jiangnan about Young Master Qun being tricked out of one hundred thousand spirit jades by a courtesan false?"
"No, no, I'm very egalitarian. I hit men and women equally. Why would I think women couldn't be wicked?" Qun Yushu finally managed to stop laughing. "I also saw that Jiang Shi isn't a good person, but her wickedness isn't as complicated as you imagine."
"Just now, she specifically asked whether becoming a family offering meant receiving the five tokens immediately. She refused my invitation only after receiving a negative answer."
Chen Lincuan froze slightly. This weathered middle-aged man revealed an expression of disbelief. "Could she be trying to..."
"Probably. This is also my first time meeting someone so awful that she's almost honest." Qun Yushu could not help laughing again. "If she could get the five tokens... no, even if she could get just one, she would have agreed to become a Qun Family offering without the slightest hesitation! Just like when I proposed the jade pendant appraisal trade—she agreed immediately to get the pendant! As long as she can obtain a token, she doesn't care about any consequences at all, nor does she intend to fulfill any responsibilities!"
"So she's merely an ignorant village girl with a short-sighted view." Chen Lincuan's eyes were full of contempt. "There's no need to waste effort on her. The Jie Family and the Shang Family will certainly take her under their command. It would be more practical to negotiate directly with them."
"Let's hope so. When negotiating with the Jie Family and the Shang Family, those old stubborn men in my family will at least be more cautious." Qun Yushu let out a long sigh. "I'm only afraid Jiang Shi will refuse the Jie Family and the Shang Family, arousing the greed of my uncles... I don't want to deal with her in a way that would look too bad."
"If such an opportunity truly arises, you needn't act. My Chen Family is willing to do it for you." Chen Lincuan opened the carriage door and gestured for him to leave. "I'm not afraid of offending an ignorant village girl."
Qun Yushu shrugged, patted his backside, and left. Before going, he even took one of Chen Lincuan's bottles of wine. Once outside, he glanced toward the Qian Family carriage. Although it was very far away, he could still vaguely make out the figure practicing with a saber.
"Short-sighted?" Qun Yushu murmured.
To ruin her own reputation for the sake of a few tokens and care nothing for her long-term interests—she truly was short-sighted.
But the problem was that when she learned she could not obtain the tokens immediately, she had been able to abandon the position of Qun Family offering, a position that could guarantee a lifetime of food and clothing, without the slightest hesitation. Rather than calling that short-sightedness, it would be more accurate to say she simply did not care.
She did not care about fine clothes and rich food.
She did not care about the height or lowliness of her status.
She did not care about breaking promises or betraying her word.
She did not care about life or death.
She did not care about the future.
The only thing she cared about was the saber in her hand.
For some reason, a chill rose spontaneously in Qun Yushu's heart. His heart pounded powerfully, as if he were standing at the edge of a cliff, and he felt from the depths of his soul that he was in danger.
Please, Jie Family and Shang Family, be overbearing. He smiled bitterly inwardly. Whatever you do, don't give us the opportunity...
Before you continue