9. A complete victory in this round.

Immortal Qingyan felt a headache coming on. He had originally intended to simply offer a few words of guidance to his three newly accepted disciples, hand them each two books to study, and then tell them to come find him only if they had questions.

Who would have thought that a morning stroll around the sect would reveal that the grove outside his courtyard had vanished?

Yesterday, things had been quite lively. Cui Huai and Fu Qin, his two new disciples, had been scrambling to prune the trees, and he had felt quite gratified, believing they were working together to improve the sect.

Little did he know that these two had gone straight for the roots and wiped the place clean!

When he summoned the culprits, they both stood their ground with an air of self-righteousness.

Cui Huai argued, "The surrounding wild trees were stealing nutrients from the Huagai tree. I was merely clearing them out."

Fu Qin sneered, "To call a noble tree like the phoenix tree 'wild' shows just how blind you are, Junior Sister."

"I am not as 'refined' as you, Senior Brother, who knew the Huagai tree was my pride and joy, yet shamelessly manipulated me into leaving so you could chop it down out of spite."

"The phoenix tree is to me what the Huagai is to you. I was simply returning the favor—an eye for an eye."

"And during our duel, you broke the only chair in my room. All things considered, I am the one who suffered the greater loss."

...

The incessant bickering truly opened Immortal Qingyan’s eyes. On the day he took them on as disciples, both had been as silent as clams, aloof, proud, and sparing with their words. Yet here they were, arguing back and forth in front of him over a few trees.

He had come to hold them accountable, but instead, he found himself acting as a mediator: "Stop! Enough! You chopped down my trees and ended up infuriating each other. Shouldn't I be the one who is angry?"

Both disciples showed him enough respect to offer a sincere apology, but Immortal Qingyan knew better. They were only apologizing because they had destroyed his grove; there was absolutely no reconciliation between them. Once they were out of his sight, they would surely start fighting again.

Harmony and mutual growth among disciples were the foundations of a flourishing sect.

Immortal Qingyan issued a decree: "Since you two destroyed my trees, you must compensate me. Do you have any spirit stones?"

Fu Qin agreed readily. "Whatever you require, Master, I shall pay." His words were filled with effortless wealth.

Cui Huai, however, was in a state of dire poverty. Despite her meager finances, her spending habits were far ahead of her means; the small amount of currency she had received from the system had long since been squandered.

Cui Huai had no money, but she certainly had no shame. "Since Senior Brother is so wealthy, why not cover my share as well?"

Fu Qin rolled up his sleeves and scoffed, "Junior Sister, I am wealthy, not insane. Our relationship is nowhere near the level of lending money. In fact, I would rather throw my spirit stones away than lend them to you."

The Junior Sister thought to herself: *How detestable. He’s flaunting his wealth again.*

Watching these two disciples, who seemed ready to brawl at any moment, Immortal Qingyan—who was usually obsessed with money—decided that perhaps wealth could take a backseat this time. Restoring the relationship between them was clearly the more urgent task.

Having realized this, he changed his tune immediately. "Fellow disciples should support one another. Since Ah Huai has no money, Fu Qin, as her senior brother, how could you just pay your share and walk away? Let’s do this: I don't want your spirit stones anymore. You can just pay me back in trees."

Cui Huai was perplexed. Even back when she was the Exalted Sword Sovereign Lingye, she couldn't have brought those chopped trees back to life.

"Expecting you to restore the fallen trees is a fool’s errand, but you can plant a new grove. Only by building something with your own hands will you learn to cherish it. I poured much effort into this grove myself for it to grow so lush."

In truth, he had done no such thing; he had simply stuck the saplings in the ground and never looked at them again. Their current state was entirely the result of their own natural resilience.

Both agreed. Although Cui Huai had never planted trees before, she held no particular grudge against planting a Huagai tree. Fu Qin, meanwhile, was already planning how to nurture his own phoenix trees—this would be a forest that belonged solely to him.

However, one last remark from Immortal Qingyan made them unhappy again: "To make amends, you must plant the same species of trees you destroyed. Don't think you can fool me; I will be checking on you from time to time."

Facing their discontent, Immortal Qingyan simply said, "Spend these next few days focusing on planting. There is no rush to cultivate; a few days' delay won't matter. It is time you worked on your character."

***

Cui Huai and Fu Qin went to the market at the foot of the mountain to buy saplings. Naturally, Fu Qin paid for them with his spirit stones.

"Let’s be clear: these five hundred spirit stones are a loan. Remember to pay me back," Fu Qin reminded her. To him, this was a trivial amount of money, but the thought of being taken advantage of by the detestable Cui Huai made his skin crawl.

In truth, he hadn't wanted to lend the money at all, but when he saw Cui Huai trying to salvage half-dead phoenix saplings from the vendor’s trash pile, he couldn't help but intervene.

Cui Huai, of course, had done it on purpose.

They had walked in silence until they reached the seedling vendor. Looking at the various saplings laid out on a clean piece of cloth, the vendor called out enthusiastically, "Come take a look, you two! My family has been planting trees for generations. When it comes to the quality of these saplings, no one dares to claim second place!"

Fu Qin went about his own selection, completely ignoring Cui Huai. He knew she had no money, but what was that to him? Let the annoying Junior Sister figure it out herself. If she asked him nicely, he might consider lending her a little with his usual magnanimity.

The penniless Cui Huai soon let the "big spender" Fu Qin know exactly how it concerned him.

Ignoring the neatly arranged, vibrant saplings on the display, she rummaged through the pile of refuse behind the vendor, pulling out a few scraps that were slightly less "trashy" than the others.

"Vendor, these phoenix saplings look like they're dying. Could you give them to me for free? Just throw them in as a bonus for my Senior Brother’s purchase. He’s very wealthy—you can charge him extra, you’ll still make a profit."

Fu Qin had never seen such a shameless person in his life!

He had spent too much time in the valley and was indeed lacking in worldly experience; he truly couldn't think of how to deal with this thick-skinned Junior Sister in the moment.

First, he wanted the phoenix trees to be healthy; he didn't want Cui Huai planting saplings that might be dead or dying at any second.

Second, it seemed he had no way to shake off this Junior Sister with his current cultivation, so perhaps if she owed him a debt, his influence over her would increase?

After self-soothing and rationalizing, Fu Qin decided to take a step back. He chose suitable saplings and bought all the tools the vendor raved about—pruning shears, nutrient solutions, and the like. Once the full payment was settled, Cui Huai’s hands were overflowing, while Fu Qin placed his own items into his storage ring, leaving his hands empty.

This was Fu Qin’s final stand of dignity. If he were to be the only one suffering the losses, wouldn't that make him look like a total pushover?

Fu Qin immediately proved that in front of Cui Huai, he was indeed a pushover.

Cui Huai’s hands, which were capable of unleashing earth-shattering sword techniques, couldn't seem to hold a bundle of saplings properly, frequently dragging them on the ground. Fu Qin watched, his brow furrowed like a small mountain.

After enduring it for a moment, Fu Qin took a deep breath and, filled with resentment, begrudgingly helped his Junior Sister.

Cui Huai thanked him with a smile, "Senior Brother is truly warm-hearted—lending me money and helping me carry things, too."

Although she had held a high position for many years, she had grown up on the streets. If a lone girl in her world had tried to remain aloof and proud, she would have died long ago. She hadn't thrown a tantrum or played the rogue in a long time and was a bit rusty, but now that she was down on her luck, she realized that those instincts were etched into her bones and were not hard to pick back up.

As for Fu Qin, who clearly lived a pampered life and held himself in such high regard—he would need to practice for a few hundred years before he could hope to best her!