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He was truly too proficient, so proficient that Ning Ning couldn't help but ask, "Do you often do these things at home?"

"I only learned them after coming to the mountains."

Lin Xun gave an embarrassed smile. "My Master told me that this is a mandatory course for a Sword Cultivator."

He had only just arrived here, and look at what they had forced the poor child to become.

Ning Ning couldn't help but pose a soul-searching question: "If it's so hard for us to earn money, why is it so easy for others to earn ours?"

"Little Senior Sister," Lin Xun, who was huffing and puffing while helping her move a bookshelf, paused at the sound of her voice. After a moment of hesitation, he continued, "I have a friend who taught me some ways to be frugal—this is just what my friend does, I, I haven't tried them myself!"

Feeling Ning Ning's direct gaze, the Little White Dragon became a bit flustered, his breathing turning erratic. "It's roughly... if your sect uniform is damaged, there's no need to buy a new one. You just need to find a piece of white cloth, cut it to size, and then use gold paint to draw the cloud patterns on it."

Ning Ning looked at his sleeves with a horrified expression.

The dark gold patterns were crooked and shaky, like the handwriting of someone with Parkinson's. Where a dragon should have been embroidered, there was instead a bizarre, baring-fanged mud loach with feet larger than its head.

"Also," Lin Xun added with his head bowed, "rainwater on a rainy day must not be wasted. You can collect it and boil it for a bath; it's cleaner than water from the pond. You can also save the rinds after eating watermelon or pumpkin and stir-fry them for your next meal. That way, you get an extra dish."

Ning Ning was stunned.

Ning Ning really wanted to ask him: Is this "friend" you speak of actually yourself?

But that question was too hurtful. To preserve the little prince's self-esteem, she held back and didn't say it.

When Heaven is about to place a great burden on a man, it first pains his heart and mind, exhausts his muscles and bones, and starves his body.

Is this what the number one Sword Sect in the world is like?

It seems while other sects teach spells and sword techniques, only the Xuanxu Sect is uniquely refined. If they published textbooks, they would probably look like this:

Compulsory Course I: Self-Cultivation of a Poor Man.

Compulsory Course II: Housework and Postpartum Care for Mother Geese.

Compulsory Course III: <My Mushroom-Stealing Friend—A Few Tips on Pilfering Vegetables When You Are Penniless>.

Incredible. It's basically a guide to leveling up as a pauper.

"Oh, that's right, Little Senior Sister."

Seeing her face grow even paler, Lin Xun assumed Ning Ning still hadn't recovered from the reality of their bankruptcy. He stepped toward her cautiously and pulled a glowing, brilliant white orb from his chest. "I didn't bring much wealth when I left the East Sea, and this Night-Shining Pearl is the only thing that could barely be considered valuable. If you don't mind, please take it and exchange it for some Spirit Stones."

He didn't just "not bring much wealth."

Lin Xun had left home completely penniless, simply because his Master had told him that a Sword Immortal never restricts themselves to worldly possessions.

He later discovered that his Master himself had once eaten stir-fried melon rinds and had even developed a brand-new dish called "Falling Petals and Fragrant Essence."

It was just stir-fried petals and tree leaves.

This Night-Shining Pearl was the only valuable item he possessed. He should have kept it safe, but...

The naive Little White Dragon gathered his courage, stole a lightning-fast glance at Ning Ning's deathly pale face, and made a resolution in his heart.

Since they were fellow disciples, they ought to help one another. If his worldly possessions could exchange for the Junior Sister's will to keep living, sacrificing this pearl was nothing.

He was a man who stood tall and proud! At worst, he could go back to drinking dew and eating leaves. If the Junior Sister were to lose her mind, her entire life would be ruined!

Ning Ning felt complicated.

In the original novel, Lin Xun was indeed written as a guileless, soft-hearted "little white lotus." Whenever he encountered injustice, even if he were blushing crimson and stuttering, he would still step up to uphold righteousness.

A reader once pointed out with sharp insight that the author designed him with this personality solely to highlight the protagonist Pei Ji's decisiveness, coldness, and ruthlessness.

To be honest, when viewing the novel from a god's-eye perspective, Ning Ning had also felt that this little prince was overly sentimental, but now that she was the one being pitied by him—

He is just a little angel, boo-hoo! Even though he's so poor himself, he actually took out his last asset to give to her! So what if I'm double-standard-ing? Lin Xun is just too good!

"No, no, I don't need it."

Ning Ning hurriedly waved her hands. "Don't you not have many Spirit Stones left either?"

She spoke vaguely, intentionally omitting the parts about Lin Xun eating melon rinds and collecting rainwater to protect the little boy's simple, fragile self-esteem.

Unexpectedly, the silly son of the landlord chuckled. "It's okay. Last time, the Senior Sister took me to the Wanjian Sect to steal a lot of melons. There are enough rinds to last for several—"

Before he could finish, Lin Xun halted.

He had high self-esteem and was easily embarrassed. He had previously hidden his identity, lying that those things were done by "a friend." Now, this sentence...

Wasn't he carelessly declaring that the friend was actually himself?

Heat surged upward. His jade-white face was instantly veiled in a crimson hue, spreading like an ink blot that grew darker and thicker until his entire face was bright red.

So, so embarrassing.

He had wanted to leave a good impression in front of the Junior Sister.

He had never been good at communicating with others since he was young. Whenever he had run into the Junior Sister before, he had been too shy to speak. Today, hearing unusual noises in her room, he had entered the courtyard without a second thought, never imagining he would make such a fool of himself.

Lin Xun stammered, his mind going completely blank. In a daze, he suddenly heard Ning Ning's voice, the tone no different from before: "The melons you brought back are enough to last for days? How many did you and the Senior Sister steal? Did the Wanjian Sect not catch you?"

Did she hear him wrong?

He had said "melon rinds."

He felt anxious, yet the Junior Sister's expression was as calm as usual. It seemed she really hadn't heard him clearly and hadn't associated him with "that friend."

Lin Xun pursed his lips and smiled, the flush on his ears receding slightly. "Quite a few. Would the Junior Sister like to hear about us stealing the melons?"

Ning Ning: "Tell me."