Chapter 9: The Clever Trade

                            

After recognizing her own ability, Yun Wan currently had two important things to do: first, to strengthen her body and increase her cultivation; second, to make money.

Making money was the top priority.

Although Yu Wuya had not taken away all her belongings, she had taken two‑thirds of them, and the remaining one‑third was not enough to support Yun Wan’s journey to the Kunlun Sect.

Yun Wan had studied the matter carefully.

In the cultivation world, the way monks made money was very simple. Ordinary low‑level cultivators would take on easy work to earn spirit stones and cover daily expenses. Most of the buyers were Dan cultivators, who would temper the spirit stones into sword‑casting stones, and eventually these sword‑casting stones would all fall into the hands of the Sword Sect, who were foolish and had little money.

Yun Wan’s cultivation was low, and she did not consider taking over such jobs. It was not realistic for her and Xie Tingyun to go mining. After thinking about it, she set her sights on the glass mirror.

Liulijing had thousands of tasks every day, and the difficulty of the tasks varied in size. According to her observation, they were all commissioned by retail investors behind them, and there was no sect control.

She quickly came up with a new idea. Yun Wan first used her own glass mirror to receive fifteen assignments of varying difficulty, and then used Xie Tingyun’s glass mirror to repost five of the assigned tasks, and the last thing to do was to patiently wait for monks to come to take the orders.

Xie Tingyun silently looked at the mission content on the glass mirror: [After killing the Qiongshan monster, obtain the demon pill, reward: fifty high‑grade spirit stones.]

That was right. The original task reward of one hundred spirit stones had been changed by Yun Wan to fifty and spread out. If a monk really took the order, she would be able to earn fifty net without having to do anything.

In addition to this order, there was also an escort of the grandmother home; killing chickens for the two dogs next door; different types of mourning and other assignments, and the remuneration of these assignments had all been doubled by Yun Wan.

“It doesn’t work,” Xie Tingyun said.

Any monk with a bit of brain would not accept such a low‑priced order.

Xie Tingyun felt that Yun Wan’s little cleverness was useless in the right place. Instead of taking these small paths, it was better to hurry down. If not, he would work harder to take a few jobs on the glass mirror, which was better than the two of them sitting here.

“If you want spirit stones, I’ll go to Lingshan tomorrow to dig some up.”

There was a small spiritual mountain five hundred miles away. Although his sword was not useful, he was very active in digging spirit stones.

Yun Wan glanced at him. “Whether it works or not, won’t you know later?”

Xie Tingyun shook his head helplessly, leaned against the tree to meditate, and no longer bothered to talk.

They were still in the mountains and forests. The forest was secluded, the mountain trees that were neither tall nor short shaded the scorching sun, the river gurgled, lined with the breeze and drunken sunlight. The picture was quiet and peaceful.

Until noon, no one came.

Xie Tingyun, who had been meditating quietly, suddenly got up, sighed, and left with his sword.

Yun Wan hurriedly called: “Where are you going?”

He did not look back. “Make an assignment.”

Yun Wan had received a total of fifteen orders for a period of seven days, and if no one received them, they would face double compensation. Obviously, they did not have that much money.

Yun Wan was about to stop him when a man came with a sword.

The person who came was a young man, with a strong figure and an ordinary chivalrous suit. This dress had obviously been worn for a long time, and the pattern on the cuffs had long been damaged.

He shook his hair and asked, “Is there an assignment?”

Xie Tingyun stopped suddenly, his eyes surprised.

Yun Wan did not miss the man’s expression, suppressed her smile, and took a few steps forward. “I did it.”

The young man took out the glass mirror and looked at her with eager eyes. “It is said that the first one to receive a gift is true?”

Gift?

Xie Tingyun then remembered that Yun Wan had marked a line of small characters under each list: [All assignees who meet the requirements have gifts.]

Yun Wan nodded. “Yes.”

The young man looked expectant. “What is it? Can I take a look?”

“Yes.” Yun Wan slipped out a clear crystal from the storage bag.

Crystals were not too valuable, and the cost was not worth jade. But they were beautiful, with a variety of colors and very clear materials, and the girls in the city liked to use such things as decorations. In addition to girls who loved beauty, sword cultivators also liked them very much. Even if they had no money, this kind of low‑priced stone could meet their needs for dressing up their wives’ swords.

Unfortunately, the young man was a sword cultivator who walked the rivers and lakes with his righteousness.

His eyes lit up, and his words became excited. “I will pick it up. As long as I take it, can I give it to you?”

He had been in the Dao for fifty years, and his wife’s sword did not even have a decent box, let alone this beautiful decorative gadget.

The young man was extremely excited and could not wait to get the crystal.

Unexpectedly, Yun Wan shook her head and said, “But you don’t quite meet the requirements.”

The young man was stunned, and Xie Tingyun also glanced at her.

Yun Wan said, “Only those who complete five assignments with me can get gifts. You can’t get them if you only take one.”

The youth: “!!”

Xie Tingyun: “?”

Yun Wan followed the temptation. “My assignments here are on the same route. If you receive multiple assignments, I will give you another thirty spirit stones, and then give this small thing after completion. If it is completed in advance, I will give you another spar.” Saying this, Yun Wan took out another red crystal, one red and one green, complementing each other.

Also, there was such a good thing?!

Who could resist this!!

The young man was about to jump up excitedly. “I’ll pick it up, I’ll take it, and all your assignments will be sent to me, and I’ll take them now.”

Xie Tingyun: “……”

Yun Wan smiled slyly at him, and assigned him the tasks that had not yet been released in her hand. “It’s all here, you can take them.”

The young man was afraid that such a good job would be robbed, so he accepted them all cleanly with a few dings, and the corners of his mouth showed uncontrollable joy. “Then I’ll do the tasks and make sure they are completed before dawn!”

After saying this, the young man summoned a long sword and soared into the sky.

As soon as the young man left, two more sword cultivators followed, and Yun Wan repeated the trick, successfully spreading all fifteen orders in her hand.

At this time, Xie Tingyun’s eyes looking at her had changed.

He remembered that half a month ago, in order to return to Cangwu Palace, he had used a glass mirror. At that time he had no cultivation, and he did not dare to accept assignments of fighting and killing, so he could only take the escort alone, and Yun Wan had been his first mission target.

If he had known that she would do the same, he would not have had to walk down such a high mountain for seven days.

Yun Wan leaned over and bumped his shoulder. “How about it, do you want to learn?”

Xie Tingyun did not answer, hiding his emotions again.

“Then do you want to know how I did it?”

Xie Tingyun’s eyes flashed. “Just say what you want.”

Truly a dead duck with a hard mouth.

Yun Wan explained: “According to my observation, most of the sword cultivators in Liuli are accepting assignments. A sword cultivator has to receive more than a dozen assignments a day, never looking at the price, almost giving money. You can imagine how shabby and poor sword cultivators are. Generally, rich monks naturally look down on me as petty profit, but sword cultivators are different. In order to raise swords and make a living, poor people are willing to do anything. If you give more benefits, they will be more active.”

Xie Tingyun frowned. “I’m not.”

Yun Wan: “Oh.”

Xie Tingyun was even more dissatisfied, and defended in an aggravated tone: “I am very rich. Wait for me to come back to……”

“Stop.” Yun Wan covered his mouth. “I know you are the lord of Cangwu Palace, Suiyuan, okay, don’t say it.” If she continued to pretend, her embarrassing phobia would be punished again.

Her palm carried a faint aroma, and Xie Tingyun could easily sense the pulse beneath her skin without even parting his lips. In that instant, his breath caught, and the ink‑black pupils framed by long lashes did not blink. The air between them grew sticky and ambiguous.

Yun Wan hurriedly withdrew her hand, picked up a wicker branch from the ground, and toyed with it as though nothing had happened.

Xie Tingyun clenched his fists, coughed softly, and quickly dispelled the chaotic thoughts entangled in his consciousness. He drew a handkerchief from his robes, picked up his sword, and wiped it quietly.

Heaven forbid—this was the first time the peerless sword had ever been treated in such a way.

Not comfortable.

The sword spirit released a sharp burst of sword qi, striking fiercely against his hand and neck.

—Don’t be lazy.

The voice of the sword spirit reverberated through his sea of consciousness.

Xie Tingyun paused, stopped, and found his gaze uncontrollably drawn back to Yun Wan.

As the sun melted into gold, she squatted in the twilight, wearing a light pink gown, her hair tied in a low ponytail. Yun Wan was admiring the sunset over the river, her silhouette hazy, and even her ordinary face seemed gentle against the backdrop of the fading light.

Xie Tingyun stared at her in a daze until she rose to do something else, and only then did he look away, uncomfortable.

One hour later.

The young swordsman returned, having completed five assignments.

Yun Wan had not expected him to be so punctual. She rewarded him generously, then asked, “Dare I ask your name? I will come to you again when I have tasks later.”

The young man clasped his fists and revealed a row of snow‑white teeth. “My surname is Li Xuanyou. If you have any difficulties, you may come to me at any time.”

Li Xuanyou?

Why did this name sound so familiar?

Yun Wan pondered for a moment, then tugged at his sleeve. “Wait—have you eaten?”

Li Xuanyou scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. “I’m not afraid of the girl’s laughter, but I haven’t eaten for three days.”

Immortal cultivators did not require much food intake, but it was not entirely unnecessary. Although going without food for three days would not damage cultivation, it would still cause hunger and weaken physical strength.

Hearing this, Yun Wan did not hesitate. She handed him the leftover fruit from her baggage and pushed him toward the campfire. “Sit and eat first, then leave after eating.”

As a poor sword cultivator wandering the rivers and lakes, this was the first time he had received such treatment.

Li Xuanyou felt flattered, thanking her repeatedly as he ate the fruit.

Only Xie Tingyun knew there must be some hidden motive.

Sure enough, the next moment Yun Wan secretly took out the glass mirror, and the public screen was frantically flooded with messages:

[Is there anyone to pick up the escort?] [Is anyone going to find Wu Zonglin together!! We divide the treasures equally!] [My senior brother’s name is Li Xuanyou, a disciple of the Sword Sect. He went down the mountain three days ago and there has been no news.] [Your senior brother was captured by a monster, stop looking for him already. Annoying, day after day.] [Get out! My senior brother is very important to me! How can you destroy the bond between brothers?] [OMG!! Everyone come see—the sword cultivator is actually lecturing about brotherhood!] [Brotherhood, my foot! If he hadn’t stolen the tempering stone I dug up, would I be searching for him now? Spending so much money to find Li Xuanyou…]

In the midst of the chatter, Yun Wan remembered that on the first day, someone had been searching everywhere for Li Xuanyou. She had never expected that Li Xuanyou was right here by her side.

“What are you doing?”

Xie Tingyun could not stand it any longer. He leaned closer and asked softly.

Yun Wan glanced at Li Xuanyou, who was nibbling fruit by the bonfire, and whispered in his ear, “This person’s junior brother has been looking for him. I checked—the bounty is fifty spirit stones.”

Xie Tingyun’s silence was heavy. Are you even human…?

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