Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 96

In the end, after a friendly discussion, Shang Dangge still made a deal that was far from profitable, or rather, a total loss, adding a reverse achievement to her career as a black-hearted merchant. Not only did she have to give a gift, but she also personally answered Li Jin’an’s strange questions without taking a single spiritual stone.
It was important to know that information was, to some extent, a commodity, especially secret information which could sell for sky-high prices, such as the opening times of secret realms that appeared only once in a thousand years. Indeed, cultivators who bought such information, entered these realms, and plundered treasures often didn’t earn as much as Shang Dangge did from selling the information itself. And Shang Dangge didn’t even need to personally conduct such transactions; at most, she would just ask a question at the end. All the laziness she indulged in and the ill-gotten gains she amassed in the past were now being repaid twofold.
After Li Jin’an taught Shang Dangge how to be a black-hearted merchant, she also taught her another lesson: in the face of absolute power, even the most black-hearted merchant was nothing more than a dish on the table.
“Who exactly were the evil cultivators who took advantage of the vulnerability to murder the young disciples of Futu Valley? Did Futu Valley not pursue them?”
Li Jin’an found it very strange. Even if Futu Valley was cowardly, and later their Grand Elder could defect to become Lan Ci’s subordinate, it was still once one of the Nine Great Immortal Sects and currently a first-rate sect. It shouldn’t have absolutely no backbone, allowing evil cultivators to kill people and trample on their dignity! If such a thing happened to the Sword Sect, and the Sword Sect Master failed to handle it, they would probably be immediately overthrown. Don’t be fooled by the fact that these sword cultivators, who are usually bored to death, don’t want to be the sect master. But if the sect master fails to protect the Sword Sect’s prestige and interests, they would be the first to be unhappy. They would fight among themselves, immediately elect a temporary sect master, and then lead a mighty charge.
As Li Jin’an spoke, she unconsciously leaned against Xie Huaixue, her eyes lazy as she let Xie Huaixue feed her spiritual fruits.
Xie Huaixue didn’t use a shred of spiritual energy, her expression solemn, as if she were performing a task of utmost importance to the entire cultivation world. Her fair fingers peeled a juicy fruit and brought it to Li Jin’an’s lips. Li Jin’an lowered her head and took the spiritual fruit into her mouth, then diligently peeled another for Xie Huaixue.
You feed me, I feed you—it was very sweet.
The three single, elderly cultivators opposite them watched with expressions of utter despair. They truly couldn’t understand what was so delicious or so special about feeding a spiritual fruit. Golden Core cultivators could already abstain from grains, not feel hunger, maintain their vitality, and move like normal people, or even surpass them, allowing the true energy within their bodies to flow smoothly and generate vitality. Didn’t they understand?!
Shang Dangge, who was about to answer her question, suddenly felt superfluous. She glanced sideways and saw that Jiang Fengmian and Jie Yunjin, one human and one snake, both had twisted expressions and vacant eyes. She didn’t even need to look to know her own expression was identical to theirs. She deeply felt that Li Jin’an had called them over for no serious reason at all; it was purely to show off her companion and display her affection while coincidentally listening to some gossip, otherwise it would seem too dry.
“At that time, the elders of Futu Valley who were on the battlefield rushed back and swiftly retaliated against all the evil cultivators with lightning speed, then ordered the matter to be sealed.”
It was indeed sealed, but not completely. Even Jie Yunjin, an unofficial outside observer of the cultivation world, knew about it. “What’s the use of even digging up the evil cultivators’ ancestral graves? The dead disciples won’t come back. After all, it’s not glorious, so sealing the news was inevitable.”
Shang Dangge frowned slightly. “That’s true. However, Futuo Domain is very secretive about this matter, and Futu Valley never announced which evil cultivation force committed the deed.”
The cultivation world had righteous immortal sects, but also countless evil cultivators hidden in the shadows, constantly causing trouble and committing heinous, unforgivable bloody crimes. Although not many evil cultivators formed significant forces, they could still be categorized into factions and sects.
Li Jin’an found it interesting. “Even you don’t know which evil cultivators massacred the Futu Valley disciples?”
As the Domain Lord of Commercial Domain and the current head of the Shang family, all information collected by the Shang business houses across the Lancang Continent passed through Shang Dangge’s hands. She couldn’t be said to know everything under heaven, but she was ninety percent accurate.
Shang Dangge didn’t make a definitive statement. “It’s been a long time. I’ll help you look into it when I get back.”
Li Jin’an nodded, then asked, “Do you know Ming Xuan of Futu Valley?”
“That person is Futu Valley’s Grand Elder.”
“Hmm.” Seeing Shang Dangge say those ten words and then fall silent, Li Jin’an took a deep breath and forced a smile, “And? Continue speaking!”
Shang Dangge shook her head. “Rather than saying I don’t have a deep impression of this person, it’s more accurate to say I don’t have much of an impression of the entire Futuo Domain and Futu Valley. But Futuo Domain is by the sea, and Futu Valley rose to prominence by doing merman business. How could I not have a deep impression of such a unique business?!”
As a true merchant, how could she not covet such an exclusive, monopolizable business? But the fact was, she only had a shallow impression of it, and had never even considered turning someone else’s exclusive business into her own. Was this right? Clearly not! If it was about why Futu Valley didn’t heavily suppress evil cultivators, she might not have found anything wrong. But if it was about her not coveting Futu Valley’s merman business and not wanting to replace them, she immediately scoffed and reasonably grew suspicious. This clearly violated her professional ethics!
“Who is the current Valley Master of Futu Valley? Do any of you know?” Li Jin’an found that Shang Dangge knew nothing, so she had to throw the question to everyone.
Jiang Fengmian, who had been silent, replied, “Cui Guangling. That brilliant and ambitious former Valley Master was his grandfather. I wonder if this is why he can still sit firmly in the Valley Master position despite his father’s mistaken decisions.”
Jie Yunjin let out a hiss, “This isn’t some mortal dynasty; why are they doing this hereditary succession thing? Even if no tragedy had occurred back then, it would have been normal for them to decline later.”
The sects in the cultivation world had always followed a master-disciple inheritance system, passing on the Dao lineage, will, and philosophy. For example, when Jingting Dao Lord took in Yun Liuguang six hundred years ago, the world would scrutinize her with the expectations of a Dao Sect Young Sect Master. Few sects relied on bloodline inheritance like cultivation families, and even cultivation families would change names or arrange marriages to recruit genius cultivators, as families were proud but not stupid.
Jiang Fengmian ignored the snake. She was now quite adept at ignoring these strange people and went straight to the point:
“My master used to be an elder responsible for the Dao Sect’s external affairs and had received people from Futu Valley. She once said that the people of Futu Valley looked abnormally silent and lifeless, with a gloomy feeling, but were otherwise indistinguishable from ordinary people. She thought this was a characteristic of Futu Valley, since it wouldn’t be good to rub salt in their wounds after what happened, so she didn’t ask further. After the evil cultivators’ rampage, Futu Valley stopped interacting with the cultivation world. In recent years, it’s been almost impossible to see Futu Valley cultivators traveling the Lancang Continent.”
“What’s wrong? Is there something amiss with Futu Valley?”
Li Jin’an rubbed her fingers, raised an eyebrow, and said with feigned profundity, “I’ve discovered something interesting.” In her opinion, if even the Grand Elder could defect to become Lan Ci’s lackey, Futu Valley’s problems must be significant. What exactly the problem was, she hadn’t figured out yet, but she would know once she did.
The two people and one snake opposite her just squinted at her, ignoring her pretense, letting her words fall flat. They weren’t interested at all, and even thought Li Jin’an looked like an unskilled charlatan, acting all mysterious.
“They looked at each other in dismay, and silence fell.
Li Jin’an looked at Xie Huaixue, feeling wronged, her beautiful, sharp phoenix eyes now appearing pitiful.
Regardless of how shocked and disgusted the three on the opposite side felt, Xie Huaixue slowly stroked Li Jin’an’s long hair as she responded, “Your Honor, what have you discovered?”
Oh, still ‘Your Honor’?
Is there anyone in the cultivation world who doesn’t know about your relationship by now?
It’s not like before, when you were fighting to the death and needed to be snarky. Do you need to be so pretentious?
Wait, no, even when these two were at loggerheads, Xie Huaixue was already pining for Li Jin’an, and she called her that even then.
In that sense, it can only be said that Xie Huaixue is deeply devoted.
Li Jin’an nestled against Xie Huaixue, raised their intertwined hands, and waved them around in front of the two people and one snake. “This is why I have a dao companion, and you don’t.”
Before the three of them could retort that they didn’t need dao companions, they heard Li Jin’an’s tone soften by three degrees as she spoke to Xie Huaixue.
“I did find a little something. I’ll tell you secretly after they leave.”
“…Are you kicking us out?” Jie Yunjin asked blankly.
Li Jin’an clapped her hands happily. “Congratulations, you guessed correctly.”
Too bad there’s no reward for guessing correctly.
They had thought they could get information about Futu Valley from the two people and one snake, but in the end, a Dao Sect Peak Master, a great demon, and a God of Fortune were completely useless. Although Li Jin’an already suspected Futu Valley, she still had to admit that these two people and one snake were useless, having displayed no proper worth at all. What they said was completely useless, and it all depended on her own conjecture.
They indeed didn’t want to see these two, but they didn’t want to be unceremoniously chased away either.
Shang Dangge, who was always called the “black-hearted merchant,” accurately commented, “A big shop bullies its customers.”
What could they do? The three of them combined were no match for the two on the opposite side; they could only swallow their anger and endure it.
Originally, even just Jijin Sword Sovereign was already troublesome enough. Who would have thought that Immortal Venerable Qingxiao would be there to openly take sides? Given Li Jin’an’s arrogant demeanor, how could one see her as wronged and pitiful?
“Look at you, being so petty. Can’t I even treat you to some wine?”
If Li Jin’an had offered to treat them to wine from the start, they definitely wouldn’t have been so easily moved as they were now. Only after being scorned did they truly appreciate the hard-won nature of this wine.
Jie Yunjin thought for a moment, then asked in alarm, “We’re not drinking wine that aids dual cultivation, are we?”
Li Jin’an gave her a subtle glance and answered decisively, “No.”
What wishful thinking. If anyone drinks it, it’ll be her and Xie Huaixue. What does it have to do with the three of them?
When young, she didn’t know the benefits of dual cultivation with a dao companion. The old Li Jin’an might have done something like that, but the current Li Jin’an wouldn’t bear to waste such good wine on the three of them.
…It seems they’ve been scorned again, but they couldn’t figure out how.
The two people and one snake drank as if they’d never had wine in their lives, picking up the wine jars and drinking as if every extra sip would make Li Jin’an’s heart ache.
After they left, Li Jin’an was about to joke with Xie Huaixue about how the three of them dared to spout nonsense and couldn’t even outdrink her alone. She turned around and saw Xie Huaixue, clad in white, standing gracefully by the window. Xie Huaixue turned her head to look at her, asking, “Your Honor, do you have something to tell me?”