Qiao Xue'er

Soul Coins were uniformly issued by a power on the continent known as Spirit Prison. Every Soul Coin bore Spirit Prison's distinctive mark, eliminating the risk of counterfeiting and imitation.

Soul Coins were all round. One side was engraved with a crossed blade and sword, with a book beneath them, symbolizing mastery of both literary and martial arts. The reverse bore a lotus background, inscribed with characters such as "Copper," "Silver," "Gold," and "Jade" to distinguish their denominations.

Lu Feng did not stand on ceremony with Jiang Ruoyun. After accepting the Soul Coins she gave him, he estimated there were roughly seven or eight hundred Copper Soul Coins—more than enough to buy a bow and arrows.

Although few people on the market used bows, that did not mean bows were expensive. On the contrary, they were considerably cheaper than ordinary blades and swords, with a market price of only around a hundred Copper Soul Coins.

"Use the rest to get yourself a few new sets of clothes. Then put away the one you're wearing, wash it clean, and return it to me," Jiang Ruoyun said, giving Lu Feng a glance. The clothes he wore had once belonged to her father, and they were the only presentable set of men's clothing she could find.

Lu Feng smiled knowingly. Looking at the outdated style of his clothes, he seemed to understand their significance.

By the time the two arrived at the tea house, the "Sister Qiao" Jiang Ruoyun had mentioned was already waiting there.

The woman appeared more mature than Jiang Ruoyun. Dressed in a gauzy silk skirt, she sat quietly, the exposed skin along her sides smooth and delicate as jade cream. Her figure was graceful, supple, and slender. Her long hair, soft and smooth as satin, cascaded silently over her jade-like shoulders, its ends curling slightly in gentle waves. Her finely arched brows, eyes tender as water, perfectly shaped nose, and rosy lips all radiated an intellectual, gentle beauty.

"Sister Qiao, sorry to keep you waiting," Jiang Ruoyun said with a bright smile, sounding rather affectionate.

"And this is?" Qiao Xue'er asked, turning her eyes slightly to examine Lu Feng.

"His name is Lu Feng. I saved him by chance," Jiang Ruoyun said softly as she stepped closer. Seeing the suspicious scrutiny on Qiao Xue'er's face, she knew Qiao Xue'er was worried that this Lu Feng of unknown origin might harm her. She quietly explained, "Don't worry, Sister Qiao. I secretly bound him with a contract array."

Qiao Xue'er froze for a moment, then smiled with pursed lips. Some of the concern between her brows faded. She turned to Lu Feng and said seriously, "Ruo Yun is my dearest sister. I do not want her to suffer any harm. In the future, please protect her well."

Her words were deeply sincere. Though Lu Feng was a slave, there was not the slightest commanding tone in her voice. Instead, there was a trace of entreaty, which made Lu Feng regard her more favorably.

Lu Feng smiled and promised, "Naturally. A life-saving kindness must be repaid with a gushing spring. Besides, with the contract array in place, if anything happens to Miss Jiang, I will be implicated as well. By sentiment and by reason, I will protect her with my life."

"Just call me Ruo Yun. You don't need to call me Young Miss every other breath," Jiang Ruoyun corrected him with a smile.

Yet Qiao Xue'er understood that Jiang Ruoyun's status was now far beneath what it had once been. Though she was still nominally the young miss of Jiang Manor, in truth, no one treated her as one anymore.

"All right, all right. Let's order some morning tea and discuss the matter of your lodging. I'm about to be driven out," Jiang Ruoyun said pitifully as she summoned a shop assistant and casually ordered some breakfast.

"Your Second Grandfather again, isn't it? He's already so old, yet he still insists on making things difficult for you!" Qiao Xue'er said indignantly.

The Second Grandfather she spoke of was Jiang Manor's Second Manor Lord, Jiang Aotian. He was usually locked in open rivalry with the First Manor Lord, Jiang Batian. Since one man's kin was the other's enemy, that rivalry had gradually turned into deliberate harassment of Jiang Ruoyun. In this incident of forcing her from her room, if he had not supported and silently approved it from behind the scenes, how would Jiang Caiyun, Jiang Ren, and the others have dared act so brazenly?

"This is a world that values strength. I became weak myself—who can I blame?" Jiang Ruoyun said helplessly. Though she found Jiang Manor's conduct hard to stomach, since she lacked the power to change it, moving out might be a relatively good thing.

"I found a few places for you to stay..." Qiao Xue'er hesitated before looking at Jiang Ruoyun. "But the rent for those places is rather expensive. While I can support you for a year or half, that is not a long-term solution."

As the young miss of Jiang Manor, Jiang Ruoyun was entitled to receive funds from the manor each month. But as her strength declined, the manor gradually withheld much of her money. Now, she received only one thousand Copper Soul Coins from Jiang Manor each month.

Even including her past savings, Jiang Ruoyun had no more than ten thousand Copper Soul Coins to her name. After all, her living expenses over the years had consumed quite a lot.

Jiang Ruoyun asked awkwardly, "Then the rent is roughly...?"

"Even the cheapest ones cost two or three thousand Copper Soul Coins a month," Qiao Xue'er said reluctantly.

Qiao Manor made its living by selling and renting out houses and inns. Since even Qiao Xue'er quoted such a price, it was clearly already an extremely low rate in Azure Dragon Town.

Hearing this, Jiang Ruoyun silently calculated. If she lived frugally, she could manage for a few months, but what would she do after those months passed?

"Is there nothing cheaper?" Jiang Ruoyun's voice unconsciously lowered, making her look rather pitiful.

"There is one more place. It only costs fifteen hundred Copper Soul Coins a month, but..." Qiao Xue'er said hesitantly.

"But what?" Jiang Ruoyun asked excitedly.

"Someone died in that detached residence. The homeowner's son fell into the water well and drowned. He found it inauspicious, so he rented it out cheaply," Qiao Xue'er explained. Naturally, she did not want Jiang Ruoyun moving into such an unlucky house.

"Then I'll take that one," Jiang Ruoyun decided without the slightest hesitation.

"If you're short of money, I have plenty here. Let's find a better house..." Qiao Xue'er urged.

"Sister Qiao, I'll stay in this one. It can save quite a bit of money. Someone died there—that's all. What is there to be afraid of?" Jiang Ruoyun said happily.

Lu Feng quietly listened to their conversation. He had not expected Jiang Ruoyun's circumstances to be so strained, yet she had still casually given him nearly seven hundred Copper Soul Coins. He could not help but feel moved. Though there were some Soul Coins in the Kirin Ring, there were too few to change the current situation. He could not help regretting that he had not kept some back then, giving them all to Old Bai in exchange for array materials.

Qiao Xue'er helplessly agreed. "Since you insist, I'll help you get in touch with them. Once it's settled, I'll let you know when you can move in."

Jiang Ruoyun took sixty Silver Soul Coins from her Storage Ring, equivalent to six thousand Copper Soul Coins, and handed them to Qiao Xue'er. "Sister Qiao, help me rent it for... four months first. I'll make up the later rent in a few days."

Qiao Xue'er accepted them. Knowing Jiang Ruoyun's temperament and character well, she knew there was no refusing her. Even if she wanted to help, she absolutely could not openly assist her financially.

After the three had a simple breakfast, Lu Feng rose and left, leaving the two women behind to continue chatting about household matters.

After leaving Gathering Fragrance Garden, Lu Feng first went to a weapon shop. There was no need to buy a bow; he only needed to take the Netherworld Bow from the Kirin Ring. Though the Netherworld Bow was somewhat exquisite and peculiar in appearance, it was not too different from other bows on the market.

Lu Feng's main reason for visiting the weapon shop was to buy arrows. A bow without arrows was useless, after all. Yet when he arrived, he discovered that the shop did not have many arrows in stock—barely over a hundred in total.

After some haggling, Lu Feng bought them for two Copper Soul Coins each, spending a little over two hundred Copper Soul Coins in all.

After Lu Feng had gone far away, the shop owner looked at the spot where the arrows had originally been displayed and beamed. "Who would have thought someone would want this batch of arrows during the hunting off-season?"

Lu Feng smiled as well. This batch of arrows might not have seemed particularly useful in others' eyes, but to him, they were fairly well made. The arrowheads, shafts, and fletching fit together seamlessly. They absolutely counted as a fine batch of arrows.

Though the arrows in the Kirin Ring were somewhat monotonous in style, they were certainly enough for the time being. Once he had more funds in the future, he could have some special arrows made. After all, different arrows served different purposes.

Lu Feng had been asking about Azure Dragon Town in the weapon shop. From one of the clerks, he learned that there was an Azure Dragon Statue in the center of town, which aroused his curiosity.

After leaving the weapon shop, Lu Feng arrived at the center of town. Vendors filled the perimeter of the circular square in a ring, while stone stools separated the flow of people in the middle. Inside the stone stools stood a dark-gray Azure Dragon Statue, lifelike in every detail, yet lacking a trace of spiritual aura. Lu Feng could not sense even the slightest dragon aura from it.

No matter how he looked at it, it was merely an ordinary structure.

Finding nothing, Lu Feng could only give up for the moment. He left the square and casually bought some clothes. With his last four or five hundred Soul Coins remaining, he planned to purchase some array materials. After asking around, he headed toward an array shop called Array Core As You Wish.

Before he even entered the shop, a clerk enthusiastically ran out to greet him. Seeing the fawning looks in their eyes, Lu Feng could not help smiling. He knew they must have misunderstood. Though his outfit was old, it had not lost its elegance. Anyone unaware of the truth would surely think he came from a wealthy household.

Lu Feng had no need to explain, nor did he wish to ruin such enthusiasm with an explanation.

"Our shop has two floors. The first floor sells ordinary array materials, which likely won't catch your eye. Please follow me to the second floor. The array materials there are much more precious."

One of the Shop Assistants enthusiastically introduced the store, eager to pull Lu Feng upstairs to the expensive section.

Lu Feng waved his hand and looked around. He discovered that Array Core As You Wish was arranged in an orderly fashion. The first floor was divided into nine sections, each with a different sign displaying a different price range.

The price signs showed that all array materials on the first floor cost less than one thousand Copper Soul Coins. These nine sections divided that range into nine tiers, from low to high. Since the first floor held materials below a thousand, the second floor clearly contained materials above a thousand. With Lu Feng's current funds, he naturally could not afford them.

Ignoring the shop assistant's enthusiasm, Lu Feng walked on his own toward the section marked "Below One Hundred Copper Soul Coins." Ahead were sections for two hundred, three hundred, all the way up to nine hundred.

After looking around, Lu Feng gained some understanding of the first floor. Just as the shop assistant had said, the array materials here were utterly ordinary—nothing more than rough pine stones, obsidian stones, green jade, and the like. There were also beast cores from some relatively weak first-rank spirit beasts.

Seeing Lu Feng remain on the first floor, the two Shop Assistants could not help looking down on him as they spoke quietly.

"Dressed so splendidly, yet he's all show and no substance."

"Looks like he isn't some gullible fat sheep after all..."