How did that servant disciple end up here?

Seeing how suddenly nimble the fellow had become, Chun Xiaobai tilted his head curiously.

A familiar, delicate little face came into view.

"Huh! That face, that figure... why did she look so familiar?"

Junior Sister Bai, across from him, happened to look at Chun Xiaobai as well, and she too found him familiar.

Damn, wasn't she the girl who brought me into the sect the day before yesterday?

Bai Jin'er recognized him too. Wasn't he that shifty-eyed Odd-Job Disciple from the day before yesterday?

He... how did he end up here?

Seeing the confusion in her eyes, Chun Xiaobai's heart jolted. Shit, my cover's about to blow!

Without a second thought, he hurriedly turned his head the other way, pretending not to recognize her.

"You! Turn around!" Bai Jin'er's voice held a trace of startled suspicion.

"Junior Sister Bai, don't be rude," Fang Yuan hurriedly smoothed things over. "This is Senior Brother Chun, who just joined us."

"Senior Brother Chun?!"

Bai Jin'er blinked her large eyes, stunned.

He... he was a senior brother?

She knew Fang Yuan's temperament. He only befriended senior brothers stronger than himself.

He was a genuine seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator himself, and judging by his tone...

Could this Odd-Job Disciple actually be a senior brother at the eighth layer of Qi Refining?

No!

This fellow only came up the mountain the day before yesterday. How could his cultivation have risen so quickly, shooting straight up to the eighth layer of Qi Refining?

"Senior Brother Fang! Don't let this fellow fool you! He's just a ser-"

"A what?"

Before she could finish, Chun Xiaobai sat bolt upright and barked, eyes wide, "How can a little girl like you be so rude? You come right up and call this Great King scum?"

His sudden bellow was full of vigor and positively reeked of a bandit's swagger.

Bai Jin'er jumped at his shout, forcibly swallowing the words on the tip of her tongue.

Fang Yuan hadn't expected Senior Brother Chun to have such an explosive temper either. He hurriedly stepped between them and said with an apologetic smile:

"Please calm down, Senior Brother Chun! Junior Sister Bai is young and doesn't know better. That wasn't what she meant."

"Not knowing better doesn't mean she can insult people!" Chun Xiaobai sat there with his neck stiff, utterly self-righteous, glaring at Bai Jin'er like a fighting cock.

"You're lucky this Great King has a good temper. Anyone else would have thrown you out already!"

Bai Jin'er froze, her eyes darting between Chun Xiaobai and Fang Yuan before doubts began stirring in her mind.

Was this fellow... really that servant disciple?

Reason told her it was unlikely.

After all, this was the Outer Sect's Merit Transmission Hall, where sect rules were strict. What servant disciple would have the gall to come here and impersonate an Outer Sect disciple?

Besides, Senior Brother Fang never clung to a thigh unless it was a powerful one.

How could an Odd-Job Disciple without even a trace of spiritual power transform into the "Senior Brother Chun" whom Senior Brother Fang addressed so respectfully?

Their earlier argument had drawn everyone's attention. Bai Jin'er couldn't keep making a fuss, so she suppressed her doubts and sat down beside Chun Xiaobai in a huff.

Propping up her chin, she tilted her head and stared intently at Chun Xiaobai's profile with her large eyes, as though trying to spot a flaw in his disguise.

Although she found none, the more she thought about it, the more suspicious she felt.

If you don't know me, why did you get so angry just now?

What was that if not a guilty conscience?

No, no, there was definitely something wrong with this fellow!

But if something was wrong, how had he come here so openly?

And how had he gotten Senior Brother Fang to call him senior brother?

Bai Jin'er felt as though her brain couldn't keep up, like it had turned into a lump of paste.

Unwilling to give up, she asked tentatively, "Um... Senior Brother Chun, when did you join the sect? Why have I never seen you before?"

Beside her, Fang Yuan's flabby belly jiggled as something suddenly occurred to him. His little eyes narrowed, and he cheerfully explained on Chun Xiaobai's behalf.

"Junior Sister Bai, Senior Brother Chun only joined yesterday. You might have met him before while you were out recruiting disciples. Perhaps that's why he looks familiar."

Bai Jin'er froze.

Could it really be that much of a coincidence?

She had only brought that shifty-eyed servant up the mountain the day before yesterday, and yesterday an identical "Senior Brother Chun" who had "joined yesterday" popped up?

Still unwilling to give up, she pressed, "Is Senior Brother Chun also from our Green Bamboo Peak?"

Fang Yuan nodded again, his face full of admiration. "That's right! Senior Brother Chun only came up the mountain yesterday, but he defeated Li Xuanfeng and took his cave dwelling. He's living right next door to me now."

"What?!"

Bai Jin'er couldn't help being shocked.

Li Xuanfeng?

He ranked among the top hundred of Green Bamboo Peak's thirty thousand disciples, had eighth-layer Qi Refining cultivation, and wielded wind blades with almost supernatural mastery. Yet this fellow had defeated him?

"H-how did he defeat him?" Bai Jin'er even began to stammer.

Clearly, the news had shaken her badly.

"Well..."

That question stumped Fang Yuan.

Yesterday, Chun Xiaobai had knocked him unconscious with a brick. By the time he woke up, the fight was already over, so he hadn't seen what actually happened at all.

But the cave dwelling's formation talisman had genuinely ended up in Chun Xiaobai's hands. There was no faking that.

To help this junior sister leave a good impression on Senior Brother Chun, and to conceal the embarrassment of having passed out, he confidently filled in the gaps himself.

"He probably defeated him in a single move. After all, Senior Brother Chun didn't have a scratch on him."

"A single move?!"

Bai Jin'er's lips parted slightly, and she froze completely.

Defeating Senior Brother Li, an eighth-layer Qi Refining cultivator, in a single move... didn't that mean this fellow was at... the ninth layer of Qi Refining?

Or even the peak of Qi Refining?!

This... this!

That terrifying disparity in strength swept away the last shred of doubt in her mind.

That Odd-Job Disciple had only just joined the sect. How could he possess such heaven-defying ability?

She hurriedly straightened up and apologized, her face full of apprehension. "Senior Brother Chun, I'm terribly sorry!"

"I failed to recognize you and mistook you for someone else. Please forgive me for offending you, Senior Brother!"

Chun Xiaobai discreetly shot the fatty beside him a grateful look, then waved his hand generously, adopting a forgiving expression.

"Those who act in ignorance bear no guilt."

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Bai Jin'er breathed a sigh of relief and cupped her hands, a weight lifted from her shoulders.

However, Chun Xiaobai knew perfectly well that this little girl had only been temporarily bluffed by the fatty's timely assistance.

Paper couldn't wrap up fire.

If she went to Servant Peak and made a few inquiries, there would be no hiding the fact that he had crippled Manager Wang Fan and fled.

Although that manager's crippling wouldn't stir up much of a storm in the Outer Sect, anyone determined enough to investigate would inevitably connect it to his disappearance, then follow the vine to the melon and find him.

I had to make this little girl abandon her suspicions about me!

After some thought, an idea stirred in Chun Xiaobai's mind, and he took out the little green bottle containing the Foundation Establishment Pill.

"Junior Sister, since your attitude is so sincere, this Great King... ahem, your senior brother isn't a petty man either."

"Take this as a first-meeting gift. I'll reward... give it to you."

As he spoke, he casually pressed the little green bottle into Bai Jin'er's palm.

Bai Jin'er took it instinctively. Looking down at the tiny lettering on the bottle, her pupils contracted, and her heart abruptly skipped a beat.

"F-foundation... Foundation Establishment Pill?!"

Her shout didn't startle Chun Xiaobai, but it gave the surrounding Qi Refining disciples quite a shock.

"What?! A Foundation Establishment Pill?"

That was the very pill whose scarcity barred countless Outer Sect disciples from advancing.

Within the sect, one had to spend ten thousand Merit Points and join a waiting list to obtain one, and the wait usually lasted at least three years.

Even on the Black Market outside, prices started at twenty thousand spirit stones.

And this senior brother had just given one away so casually?