The figure seated across from the man was none other than the painter Liu Qingyan, who had not been chosen and had left Lin Manor.
At this moment, Liu Qingyan hung his head, looking utterly ill at ease.
Upon hearing the man's words, he hesitated for a moment before extending a trembling hand to grasp the teacup. The tea nearly sloshed out. Just as he raised it to his lips, the man spoke again.
"You took five of my Primordial Spirit Treasures and said you would definitely be chosen by Lin Manor to paint for the young masters there. But now... that youth was chosen instead, and you still have the nerve to drink tea in front of me?"
The man drank the tea from his cup and said, seeming amused yet cold.
Liu Qingyan pursed his lips and froze. Drinking the tea was awkward; not drinking it was awkward too.
Setting down the teacup, Liu Qingyan said helplessly, "This old man could do nothing about it..."
"If it had been ordinary painting, with this old man's decades of mastery, I naturally could have won with ease. But that youth used an unorthodox style of painting that happened to strike Madam Hua's weak spot, so he was selected. This old man... is depressed as well."
"I do not want to hear any of that. I only look at results," the man said. "Now, I will give you two choices. First, you took five of my Primordial Spirit Treasures and failed to get the job done. Return five hundred of them now."
Liu Qingyan shuddered all over at those words. "Five hundred Primordial Spirit Treasures? How could I possibly produce that?!"
After finishing his tea, the man set the cup on the table and shook his head. "What does it have to do with me whether you can produce them? We agreed from the start: you took the money and handled the job. If you succeeded, everyone was happy. If you failed, you returned it multiplied."
"This is not multiplied—this is a hundredfold!" Liu Qingyan looked as miserable as if he had eaten shit.
"I am merely acting on someone else's behalf. These Primordial Spirit Treasures were provided by Young Master Qin of Qin Manor... You dare renege? Go on, show me."
The man spoke blandly.
At once, terror spread through Liu Qingyan's body. For some reason, cold sweat began to pour from his forehead.
Qin Manor was the residence of Great Zhao's prime minister. Within Lin'an, there was no one who did not know of it.
Liu Qingyan had long heard of Young Master Qin of Qin Manor as well. He was an existence far beyond Liu Qingyan's reach!
And since he was beyond reach, he was naturally someone Liu Qingyan could not afford to offend.
"Y-Young Master Qin... h-how..." Liu Qingyan was so shocked that even his speech became unclear.
He might have dared to put on airs in Lin Manor, because Lin Manor had served with loyalty and righteousness for generations and was famously easy to deal with. But before Qin Manor, he did not dare act rashly—especially not before Young Master Qin, whose mercurial moods were known throughout Lin'an Prefecture.
"Many matters are of grave importance. You do not need to know."
"The second choice requires no repayment, but you will need to do some work for me."
The man's fingers lightly tapped the tabletop. The crisp sound echoed through the carriage, making Liu Qingyan increasingly nervous.
"Please say it. If this old man can do it, I will certainly give it my all!" Liu Qingyan hurriedly said.
"You monopolized the painting business of the girls on the flower boats, and your earnings can be called overflowing basins and brimming bowls. I also know that you have raised quite a few thugs specifically to deal with painters who threaten your business."
"So..."
"Because you were not chosen by Lin Manor, you became jealous and bore a grudge. You sent thugs to break this young painter's hands, leaving him unable to paint."
The sound of fingertips striking the tabletop abruptly stopped.
The man looked at Liu Qingyan and spoke calmly, his voice devoid of the slightest ripple.
As though having someone break the youth's hands were as ordinary as snapping two dead branches.
Yet upon hearing this, Liu Qingyan seemed like a deflated balloon and let out a long breath.
An Le walked through the bustling streets in a rather cheerful mood. After all, this trip had brought him quite a harvest.
When he returned to the inn, the waiter looked somewhat surprised upon seeing An Le. After all, few people taken away by Black Office constables returned unscathed.
"Young Master An, you're all right?"
The waiter hurried over and asked.
An Le smiled. "I sit upright and walk straight. What could happen to me? Prepare some fine wine and dishes, then bring them to my room."
"Right away!" The waiter's face blossomed with enthusiasm.
Back in his room, An Le found the inn chamber rather small, even somewhat cramped. After all, the silver he earned from selling paintings was nowhere near enough to rent a fine, spacious room.
This was Lin'an, where every inch of land was worth an inch of gold.
Sitting in a chair, he poured himself a cup of cold water and drained it in one gulp. Then An Le took out the money pouch Madam Hua had given him. Inside were ten Primordial Spirit Treasures as a deposit.
He took one out and placed it in his palm. The Primordial Spirit Treasure was not large and looked somewhat like a copper coin, but it possessed a glaze-like sheen. After Entering Stillness, An Le could even sense a trace of spiritual energy contained within it.
Holding the treasure in hand, An Le examined it closely. It was said that Primordial Spirit Treasures contained special formations, with every treasure marked by a serial number and source, making them difficult to forge.
Ten Primordial Spirit Treasures were worth three thousand taels. Getting rich overnight described An Le perfectly.
Lin Manor truly deserved to be a military noble house. It was indeed incomparably wealthy.
However, the higher the price, the more it showed how much Madam Hua valued this painting. An Le did not dare be careless with his subsequent work either.
Putting away the money pouch, An Le took out two cultivation manuals.
His gaze fell upon the "Five Animal Body Tempering Technique." Though this body-tempering method was inferior in rank to the "Sword Waterfall Diagram," it was still quite advanced.
An Le had obtained such a method entirely because of Madam Hua's favor. One painting had won her heart, and she had been willing to trade a thousand gold for it.
An Le did not immediately read the "Five Animal Body Tempering Technique." Instead, he closed his eyes and entered Entering Stillness, steadying his mind.
Having stepped into Entering Stillness in the Spirit Refining Realm, An Le felt as though his soul itself had grown stronger. His emotions were calm, as if he possessed inexhaustible energy, and even his mind had become much clearer.
No wonder non-cultivators found it difficult to enter the ranks of Jia Bang Jinshi. Compared to them, cultivators refined their spirits, possessed excellent mental vigor, thought faster, and found studying easier, giving them a greater advantage over non-cultivators.
After Entering Stillness, he contemplated the Sword Waterfall Diagram. On its first page was only a single sword, yet it seemed to stretch across his sea of consciousness.
He contemplated that sword spanning his sea of consciousness to strengthen his mind and strive to enter the Second Spirit Refining Realm.
Before long, someone knocked on the door.
An Le slowly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam like sword-light flashed through them—it was the lingering aftereffect of contemplation.
When he opened the door, it was the waiter bringing his food.
Four fine dishes, along with wine and meat.
The waiter held a tray, his face full of smiles. "Young Master An, about the cost of the meal..."
An Le took out a Primordial Spirit Treasure and handed it to him. "Exchange this Primordial Spirit Treasure for silver, and deduct the meal cost from it."
A Primordial Spirit Treasure?!
The waiter stood dumbfounded. Staring at that glaze-like treasure, he sucked in a sharp breath.
One treasure could be exchanged for three hundred taels of silver!
What exactly had this guest gone off to do?
Yesterday, he had nearly been unable to pay his room fee, yet today he had produced a Primordial Spirit Treasure. What had he sold?
Was it related to that Black Office constable?
A thought stirred in the waiter's heart, and he immediately became respectful. He reverently accepted the Primordial Spirit Treasure and hurried away, rushing to find the innkeeper and exchange it for silver.
An Le closed the door and began eating and drinking. Body-tempering martial arts cultivated the physique, so naturally one needed to eat and drink one's fill to have strength.
Just as he finished the wine and dishes, the door was knocked upon again. An Le opened it to find the innkeeper standing there with the waiter.
"Young Master An, this is the silver exchanged from your Primordial Spirit Treasure." The innkeeper was broad-minded and round-bodied, his face full of smiles as he respectfully handed the silver to An Le.
An Le accepted it with a smile. "Thank you for the trouble, Innkeeper."
"If Young Master An has any needs in the future, please feel free to instruct us." The innkeeper was exceedingly polite. These days, anyone who could produce Primordial Spirit Treasures was a high official or noble.
An Le smiled and nodded. The innkeeper then had the waiter clear away the bowls and chopsticks before closing the door and respectfully leaving.
Back in the room, An Le's heart remained as still as water. Wealth could bolster one's courage and confidence; it was the same in any world.
After confirming that no one would disturb him, he took out the "Five Animal Body Tempering Technique."
An Le let out a breath. His eyes shone brightly with anticipation for the martial path as he slowly opened it.
Before you continue