Preparations

"Don't cry, little girl. And you, senior brother sect leader, really! You're the dignified head of a sect. Why bully a little girl?"

Back at Yuan Jin's courtyard, Dong Wanxi's heart ached for Mo'er. She hurried to wipe the tearstains from the girl's face and change her outer clothes.

The two little ones gathered around, watching curiously with wide eyes. Dong Ningxin had always been the feistier of the sisters, but this was the first time in all her years since joining the household that she had spoken harshly to Kang Dabao.

"Ningxin!" Yuan Jin barked, his face dark.

"All right, all right. I didn't want to do it either. Who knew Huo Ying was so watertight? I only wanted a little something extra to make her angry. Who would've thought she'd actually give me the girl? She's a seedling with a Spirit Root, yet Huo Ying was really willing to part with her."

Kang Dabao looked as though he'd swallowed something only to spit it back out. That woman was far too formidable at doing business. She was so formidable that he'd given up even thinking about bringing out the White Bone Sword to offset the price. If he'd taken it out, she would have carved a slice off him.

"If nothing else, let her start cultivating with Yundao and Anle. A False Spirit Root. No wonder she was willing to give her up."

Jiang Qing took out the Spirit-Testing Ruler and shook his head.

"A False Spirit Root?" Kang Dabao gave a bitter laugh. With talent like that, and without the surname Han, who knew whether the girl could reach Middle Qi Refinement even if she cultivated diligently until she was ninety?

Dong Ningxin was about to say more, but Dong Wanxi saw Yuan Jin's displeased expression and tugged at her sister's sleeve, stopping her from speaking.

"A False Spirit Root is still a Spirit Root, isn't it? There are only two or three kittens in the household these days. Even if she only reaches the First Layer of Qi Refining, she can tend the spirit fields on the mountain and be a crop cultivator. That shouldn't be a problem.

"Second brother, just raise her as a daughter. She's sensible too, so I expect she can help your two wives with some of the work."

Kang Dabao settled the matter with those words, and the three brothers put the little affair out of their minds.

Mo'er's eyes were still brimming with tears, and the Dong sisters couldn't bear to see her like that.

It made sense, when they thought about it. She was a girl barely in her teens, yet she'd been handed over like a free extra thrown in with a purchase. Anyone who heard about it would pity her.

"When you have time, ask Huo Ying whether the girl's close family are safe and sound at the Illusory Sword Alliance's encampment. If they are, ask her to send them over as well.

"She probably comes from a mortal family with no backing. If they had even a little standing, that woman wouldn't have given her away without batting an eye. There's no reason for her to make things difficult over this, either. It's just a matter of a few hundred mortals one way or another, so it shouldn't be hard to arrange."

The little girl's eyes made Kang Dabao's face burn a little. He turned sideways and gave Yuan Jin those instructions.

As soon as he finished, he turned back and added, "If that woman asks for Spirit Stones, forget it. Don't even think about it!"

Yuan Jin nodded his agreement.

Mo'er was old enough to understand things. After hearing Kang Dabao's arrangements, she sensed that he and the others weren't bad people. With the Dong sisters comforting her all the while, her beadlike tears gradually stopped, though she still sniffled now and then.

Once Kang Dabao had made the arrangements, Yuan Jin told the Dong sisters to take the children away. The three brothers then sat down together to discuss serious matters.

"Have you settled it with the eldest He brother's people? When are you leaving?" Kang Dabao asked with concern.

"The morning of the eighth day from now, at the Wondrous Cloud Pavilion. I'll be going with the second He brother." Jiang Qing grew a little excited as he spoke.

"Why do those He brothers both like conducting serious business there? Neither of them acts like a respectable man." Kang Dabao took a sip of the cold tea Dong Ningxin had brought earlier and spoke disdainfully.

"The second He brother isn't quite up to his elder brother's mark. Keep nurturing the Seven Luminaries Heart-Slaying Sword and familiarize yourself with it. Don't bring it out at ordinary times. Unless you have to, keep using your old Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword, then catch people off guard when it matters. A first-tier supreme-grade flying sword might tempt more than just highway robbers."

Yuan Jin added his own warning from the side.

"I understand," Jiang Qing said, nodding repeatedly. Kang Dabao and Yuan Jin exchanged a glance and both shook their heads. They were genuinely afraid someone would sell their junior brother and he'd be none the wiser.

Still, the Chongming Sect and the He Household had some old ties. The eldest He brother's birth mother was the younger sister of the three brothers' master's wife.

They had seen a good deal of one another in their youth, and the eldest He brother had a reasonably good reputation in the surrounding area. He could look after Jiang Qing to some extent, which gave Kang Dabao a little peace of mind.

Looking again at the things they had bought for Jiang Qing, he felt much more reassured. Life was good when there were Spirit Stones to spend.

A first-tier middle-grade Treasure Light Mirror, combining offense and defense, no worse than the fourth Liu brother's Golden Armor Round Shield;

A first-tier middle-grade White Cloud Robe, which could release the first-tier middle-grade Cloud Concealment Technique seven times in ten days. It also bore two restrictions, "Light Cloud" and "Swift Movement," letting its wearer both hide and run;

A first-tier middle-grade Fire Spirit Pendant, which boosted fire-element Law Techniques of first-tier middle-grade and below by five percent. At a critical moment, it could also form a Bright Fire Shield to protect its wearer.

On top of that were the first-tier supreme-grade Seven Luminaries Heart-Slaying Sword, three bottles of first-tier middle-grade Rejuvenation Pills, half a bottle of first-tier superior-grade Meridian Protection Pills, forty defensive talismans, twenty offensive talismans, and two gourds of Green Grain Spirit Wine.

That set of equipment couldn't compare with what the little bastards of true Foundation Establishment cultivators had, but it was probably no worse than what a core disciple of a Foundation Establishment sect possessed.

For instance, Shen Tu, the Foundation Establishment seed from Zi Maple Valley whom they had encountered last time, might not have been as well equipped as Jiang Qing.

It was said that among the great sects whose names were inscribed in purple seal script in the Great Wei Immortal Dynasty's golden register, those of the sword cultivator lineage prized absolute devotion to the way of the sword.

As the saying went, if the sword lived, its wielder lived. During cultivation, they would never touch any Law Artifact other than a flying sword.

Even the flying swords they used generally bore no other Law Techniques. They considered such things insincere and impure.

But the Chongming Sect was a small household that could afford no such refinements. If he'd had a few more Spirit Stones to spare, Kang Dabao would have wanted to outfit Jiang Qing with first-tier socks as well.

After buying all this, Kang Dabao had fewer than five hundred Spirit Stones left. He simply handed them all to Yuan Jin and told him to buy a few things for himself too. His second junior brother had lived a hard life for so many years; it hadn't been easy for any of them.

As for himself, Gu Laoliu had kept the Army-Breaking Hammer Daoist Wu brought out in his Storage Bag the whole time and never had the chance to use it. Kang Dabao could take advantage of that.

The Mountain-Splitting Hammer he'd used before was only a somewhat decent piece of equipment, and he hadn't refined it into his bonded Law Artifact. It wasn't worth mourning.

Though the fourth Liu brother's little golden shield was only first-tier middle-grade, it had two quite practical restrictions: "Rock" and "Golden Light."

It hadn't suffered any major damage in the fierce battle, either, so it was just right for him to use now.

The only problem was that the fourth Liu brother had blood-refined it into his bonded Law Artifact. With Kang Dabao's methods, wearing away that soul imprint would probably take nearly half a year. Until then, he likely wouldn't be able to wield it smoothly.

These past years, his cultivation had been stuck at a bottleneck, unable to advance, so he had immersed himself in commerce and indeed neglected his cultivation somewhat.

As a result, his fighting skills had not only failed to improve over the years but had even shown signs of declining.

Thinking it over carefully, if he had spent more time studying artifact-control techniques and the Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes, he might not have been in such a sorry state during that fierce battle the other day.

Even if the methods of the Four Ghosts of the Liu Household, Gu Laoliu, and the others were considered sharp compared to those of rogue cultivators of the same level in Cloud Horn Prefecture, they were, when all was said and done, merely followers of wild fox Zen. He really had brought some shame upon the dignity of sect cultivators.

He thought again, All these years, I've recited the tongue-twisting mnemonic for the Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes countless times, and I know by heart the Qi-circulation route passed down by the founding patriarch, yet I've never grasped it.

Only after experiencing the great terror of life and death not long ago had he barely crossed the threshold of that secret technique. So third brother wasn't wrong: sitting at home, he probably really couldn't become much of a sword cultivator.

"What was the second He brother's name again?"

Kang Dabao came out of his thoughts. For a moment, he couldn't remember the name of the little fatty who had often visited the sect as a child. It had been more than ten years since they'd been in touch, so that was only natural.

"He Degong." Yuan Jin's years in the city hadn't been spent in vain. He had taken charge of many of the Chongming Sect's social obligations, so he was much more familiar with these old acquaintances.

"Oh, I remember now." Kang Dabao nodded and continued, "Compared with his elder brother, He Dezong, his reputation is much weaker. All these years, even with the He Household behind him, he doesn't seem to have made much of a name for himself."

"He's no incompetent, though. He's helped the He Household manage its caravans these past years without making any mistakes. It's just that the eldest He brother is now the current head of the He Household, and he's already at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining before he's even forty. Ordinary people naturally can't compare with him."

Yuan Jin followed up on Kang Dabao's words.

"True," Kang Dabao agreed. Among the peers he knew well, He Dezong could be considered a crane standing among chickens.

No one knew how many Qi Refining rogue cultivators there were across the nearby prefectures, but those widely recognized as worthy of the words "hope of Foundation Establishment" barely numbered over a hundred.

When their master was still alive, he had often sighed over how fortunate his wife's brother-in-law was. From the look on his face, he'd have liked to snatch He Dezong away and raise him himself.

Kang Dabao felt no envy or resentment. After all, one of his few virtues was that he was quite willing to admit defeat.

"Brother He often came to the sect to discuss the Dao with me a couple of years ago, and I benefited greatly. But these past few years, there have been more bandits in Cold Crow Mountain who don't follow the rules. He said he needed to personally oversee the caravans carrying important goods, so he hasn't visited as often."

Jiang Qing also spoke of his dealings with He Dezong.

"Hmph." Kang Dabao and Yuan Jin both snorted inwardly.

Discuss the Dao? He was just trying to trick someone else's child while the adults weren't home.

It was just as well that Jiang Qing really was a fool. Who knew how many times the eldest He brother had swung his hoe, openly and in secret, yet he still hadn't noticed that the man was trying to dig away their corner?

Pah! What a load of horseshit about old family friends. Not a single one of them was any good!

"That's why I say it's a hard bowl of rice to eat. Those Spirit Stones are earned by risking your life." Kang Dabao couldn't break his habit of nagging and took the chance to caution Jiang Qing again.

"Senior brother, everything we have now was earned by you risking your life too," Jiang Qing said slowly after a moment's silence.

What Qi Refining Realm cultivator could bring back so many Spirit Stones from a legitimate business trip?

Jiang Qing and Yuan Jin hadn't pressed him, but how could they not know in their hearts what their senior brother had done? It had to have been a life-risking deal.

"You're talking nonsense." Hearing that, Kang Dabao hurriedly turned and went into the back courtyard, then roared harshly, "Yundao, Anle, why isn't the pork hock ready yet?!"

Today's update was a little late. I originally felt the plot was moving a little slowly and wanted to insert a couple of faster-paced chapters.

I wrote them, but after reading them several times, I wasn't satisfied, so I deleted them all again.