The Sword!

Chu Huai Xu looked at the spoon lying in his bowl, soaking in the broth among the four little wontons he hadn't finished.

Han Shuangjiang sat ramrod straight, her expression solemn and her eyes appraising him.

The brothel where she'd grown up was called Red Sleeves Beckon, one of the most high-end establishments in Mirror Kingdom's imperial capital.

From childhood, she'd been taught by the "Madam" and influenced by the "big sisters."

Over the years, she'd seen the sisters deceive men—and be deceived by them.

Since ancient times, countless romantic stories had been written about love blossoming in brothels.

In the capital, there really were sisters who'd been bought out and freed from that cage.

Some went on to live well, while others simply traded one cage for another.

All in all, living with the man they loved was a luxury for women like them.

The "Madam" had often warned them: whenever a man said he wanted to build a life with you, be on your guard.

Some of the sisters even saved up enough silver to buy their own freedom, then threw themselves into the arms of the men they desired.

The "Madam" always tried to stop them.

If she couldn't, she'd sneer and say, "You think he really likes you? He just doesn't want to pay to sleep with you!"

—"Getting it for free."

Truth be told, the "Madam" had been right about some of them.

Once the novelty wore off and the men grew tired of sleeping with them, they'd come to their senses and despise them for their past.

Perhaps it was also a way for the men to keep the sisters under their thumb.

But there really were sincere people in this world.

Some people were perfectly happy to turn a public bus into private property.

As long as even one such example existed, plenty of sisters blinded by love would follow in their footsteps.

Han Shuangjiang had never imagined that one day a man would look at her and say he wanted to build a life with her.

More importantly, they'd only met for the first time last night.

She believed love at first sight truly existed.

But, generally speaking, she wasn't a sentimental person.

Red Sleeves Beckon and the Joyful Sect—places like these constantly reminded her that she had to control her own fate. She couldn't count on finding a man to entrust her life to.

On the Borrowed Sword Forum, players had joked that the four World Protagonists in this game appealed to almost everyone.

Han Shuangjiang was the Great Female Lead, focused entirely on her career. Romance could get lost!

The two protagonists over in West Continent Moon Kingdom were a man and a woman, and they had a romance that burned bright and sweet enough to drive the shipping fans wild.

As for Xu Ziqing, he didn't seem to do much at all. His looks and bearing alone were enough to make the fujoshi scream.

"Who cares if you're the bottom? I say you're the bottom! Stand next to a man, and there's no way I'll believe you're just friends!"

—Prejudice was a mountain in Chengdu.

After successfully joining the Dao Sect, Han Shuangjiang had felt that she could start taking control of her life, one step at a time. She finally had something to look forward to.

Then Chu Huai Xu pulled a stunt like this.

—Man, listen to what you're saying!

You've gone too far after just one meal. You're being way too forward.

But when she looked at his face in the morning light, she silently crossed out the word "way."

The Fox Face across from them heard Han Shuangjiang say she was done eating, then saw the obvious misunderstanding on her face. He spoke up:

"Heh. So self-important. What a turnoff."

The cold-faced girl had never heard those words before and didn't know what they meant.

But his expression and tone made her feel deeply uncomfortable.

Chu Huai Xu tapped his fingertips lightly against the table, then leaned forward, moving as close to her as he could before lowering his voice.

"Get this straight: the Sixth Elder personally brought us up the mountain."

Han Shuangjiang frowned. "So what?"

What, was this some kind of match made in heaven?

"Look around at all these Registered Disciples and Outer Sect Disciples. Do you think anyone else gets this kind of treatment?" Chu Huai Xu said quietly, glancing around.

"What are you trying to say?" Han Shuangjiang was beginning to listen.

"So don't you think cultivation should be our top priority? We should raise our cultivation as soon as possible." He stared hard at her.

The cold-faced girl frowned even more deeply.

Strangely enough, that serious expression only made her more alluring.

The more she wore that look, the more Chu Huai Xu wanted to wound her. He cut straight to the point. "But you don't have much silver, do you?"

Han Shuangjiang clenched her teeth, but had no way to refute him.

Only then did she realize that perhaps he'd seen through her predicament the moment they met outside the dining hall.

Chu Huai Xu stopped looking at her and called out, "Senior Brother! The bill!"

He took the hundred taels of silver from his robes and set them on the table, showing off his wealth.

The man, who also wore a Registered Disciple Token, came over. "Whoa! Junior Brother, don't you have any small change?"

"Sorry, I don't. Sorry for the trouble, Senior Brother."

"Sure thing."

After paying, Chu Huai Xu looked at her again and said:

"To be honest, I only have this hundred taels on me. Well, now it's less than a hundred."

"My idea is that, for the time being, we ignore everything else and focus entirely on cultivation and studying. Let's see if we can reach the Aperture Opening Stage before our silver runs out."

"Once we reach the First Realm, we'll have more options."

Han Shuangjiang didn't understand. "But why do you want to bring me along?"

Of course, Chu Huai Xu wasn't going to tell her, Because I want to mooch off you.

Living and cultivating together would give them a better chance of obtaining the Dao Ancestor Inheritance together.

As it happened, a brothel-raised Top Courtesan candidate had plenty of theoretical knowledge about "how to trick men."

But her counterpart, Mr. Handsome, had plenty of practical experience in "how to trick women."

"I said earlier that we might be different from all the other Outer Sect disciples."

"We're two outsiders."

"There may only be two outsiders in the entire Outer Sect."

He glanced around, as if he had nothing in common with anything around them.

Han Shuangjiang lowered her eyes slightly. She felt that way too.

Chu Huai Xu looked at her and thought, Obviously, because we just got here!

We transferred in!

"The Sixth Elder brought us up the mountain together, and Steward Niu even arranged for us to live together. Do I really need to say more?" the Fox Face added.

Han Shuangjiang remained silent.

She remembered the "Madam's" admonitions to the sisters.

"You think men spend money on you for no reason?"

"They just want to get a key, then ram it into your copper lock."

The "Madam" was always crude but right.

Some sisters knew how to play their cards and didn't hand over the key the first time.

But some got carried away. After their locks had been opened a few times, their hearts were the ones that opened.

Others had no sense. After a golden key opened their lock a few times, they got a little gold dust on them and really thought they were a golden lock.

They started turning their noses up at ordinary men.

Chu Huai Xu had just mocked her, so Han Shuangjiang no longer thought this had anything to do with romance between a man and a woman. Still, she knew that gifts didn't come without reason, and neither did kindness.

She wasn't stupid, so she spoke first, trying to define the situation. "You want me to owe you a favor?"

Chu Huai Xu shrugged, looking carefree and indifferent. "If that's how you want to put it, sure."

"I'm not asking you to pay me back in silver later. We both know that much," he said frankly.

Then he began to justify himself. "I know it isn't much money, so time is tight. We need to break through as soon as possible."

At his words, and under Chu Huai Xu's gaze, Han Shuangjiang finally nodded.

Then he watched as she calmly picked up the spoon that had fallen into her bowl and ate all four of the remaining little wontons.

"They're too expensive to waste," she said, still hungry.

Morning light spilled over the road home as Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang walked side by side.

They barely spoke along the way.

He was thinking about where the Dao Ancestor Inheritance might be hidden.

The more practical-minded Han Shuangjiang wondered if it would be better to buy groceries and cook for herself. The prices here really were too high—even higher than in the Capital City.

She was already calculating the costs in her head, regretting that she hadn't eaten another serving of soup dumplings.

So expensive. It's really so expensive. The voice of a pauper kept repeating itself in her mind.

When they reached an open area, Chu Huai Xu looked up and saw Inquiry Peak wreathed in clouds and mist.

He didn't know where the Dao Ancestor Inheritance was hidden, but he vaguely remembered a few locations where Dao Sect players had uncovered inheritances. He'd seen them mentioned on the Forum.

But he only remembered a few, not all of them.

Damn, my memory still isn't good enough. Why didn't I get a cheat when I transmigrated, one that would burn every last detail of my past into my brain? Chu Huai Xu grumbled to himself.

Looking at Inquiry Peak, his thoughts began to wander again.

If Han Shuangjiang and he were both World Protagonists, why did she get two Dao Ancestor Inheritances, while Xu Ziqing, whose Script I'd taken, get none?

The reason was simple.

"Don't forget, the Dao Ancestor left behind a sword, too."

After the Dao Ancestor passed away, the strongest thing in the entire Xuanhuang Realm had never been any single person.

All these years later, it was still that sword.