Chapter 3
Yun Che had been badly injured in his battle with the celestial demon. Until his spiritual power recovered completely, he couldn’t open his storage pouch.
To help him recover faster, I took him back to the sect.
My youngest junior brother looked at me, then at the unconscious man on my back.
His expression changed several times.
“Senior Sister, you’ve picked up some man of unknown origins.”
“We’re finished. It’s all over.”
“Our sect’s had a good run, but this is the end.”
I frowned. “He’s different.”
My junior brother paused and fell silent.
After a while, he said ominously, “Who is he? ‘He’s diiifferent.’”
“He’s…”
Who was he again?
Shit. I’d forgotten.
After struggling for a long time, I could only say, “He’s Thirty Million.”
My junior brother stared. “What?”
I left Thirty Million soaking in the spirit spring and went out.
My spirit sword couldn’t have been more thoroughly dead.
But I thought there might still be a chance to save it.
Didn’t they say being loved made you grow flesh and blood like crazy?
I loved it so much.
I hoped it would show me a little of that crazy growth.
I went down the mountain to find materials for repairing it.
By the time I returned to the sect, a month had passed.
The elder who repaired spirit swords inspected my wreck, his brows furrowed like mountain ridges.
“What have you been doing with this sword? It’s tainted with demonic energy even I can’t remove.”
I looked solemn. “Saving the world.”
“What? Speak sense!”
Oh.
“Killing a celestial demon.”
The elder smacked me on the head. “I said speak sense!”
“Do you even know what a celestial demon is? And you claim you killed one!”
“Celestial demons are the highest order of demon. You, killing a celestial demon?”
Fuck. I told you, and you didn’t believe me!
The elder’s words echoed in my mind as I walked back to my cave dwelling.
I’d thought Thirty Million was merely a genius sword cultivator.
Now it seemed he was probably someone extraordinary.
Wonderful.
Then he could definitely afford thirty million.
For some reason, though, the closer I got to my dwelling, the thinner the spiritual energy became.
When my dwelling finally came into view,
I discovered a crowd standing outside it.
My junior brother spotted me from a distance and hurried to pull me aside. He gave a long sigh. “Senior Sister, you’ve caused trouble!”
My heart sank.
“That man you brought back has sucked up all the spiritual energy within ten li. Even the spirit spring’s dried up.”
“The sect leader says the loss will be deducted from your stipend.”
“Finished?” I asked. “Then leave. You’re getting in the way of my suicide.”
He sighed again. “Don’t die yet, Senior Sister. There’s something worse.”
“Demonic energy’s leaking out of your dwelling. The sect leader and the elders want to investigate, but they can’t get in.”
“Senior Sister, you didn’t bring home a demon, did you?”
I suddenly remembered the chaos of the battlefield that day, with only Thirty Million left there.
He’d said the demon was dead.
But what if the sword cultivator who used Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Source had been killed by the demon?
What if the survivor was actually the celestial demon?
He’d never denied being a celestial demon… My hands began to shake.
Suddenly, a deafening crash came from inside my dwelling. The entire cave collapsed, and a figure wreathed in towering demonic energy emerged through the billowing dust.
The elders’ faces grew grave as they drew their swords.
Hmm. Where would be a good place to bury me?
Then another sword cry rang out. The demonic energy, thick enough to seem viscous, abruptly dispersed, leaving only pure, resonant spiritual energy between heaven and earth.
The figure in the dust slowly came into view.
Sword-sharp brows, star-bright eyes, and immaculate white robes. A spirit sword that seemed a divine weapon circled him, gently stirring the hems of his robes and the tips of his hair. With his sleeves floating around him, he looked every inch an immortal.
The elders and sect leader dropped to their knees with a thud. “We pay our respects, Exalted Immortal!”
My mind went blank, and I knelt too.
Only once I was down did I realize something was wrong.
I was his creditor. Why was I kneeling?
Were debtors really the masters, and lenders the ones who had to grovel?
Yun Che walked over and stopped before me, his expression serene and otherworldly.
Suddenly, a bronze immortal sword appeared in his left hand. “Young friend, was the immortal sword you lost this ancient bronze sword?”
A silver immortal sword appeared in his right. “Or this mithril sword?”
Seeing my stunned expression, he smiled faintly. Another immortal sword appeared directly before him. “Or perhaps this black-gold sword?”
I gave a hollow laugh. “What I lost was thirty million.”
Yun Che sighed and reluctantly said, “Very well, then.”
“I’ll give you thirty million.”
He made a heart with his hands. “Ten million wishes for your health, ten million for your happiness, and ten million for a blessed life!”
The entire sect fell utterly silent.
After a moment’s silence, I suddenly erupted, waving my broken sword like a madwoman and howling with grief and rage. “You bastard! I’ll kill you!”
Fragments rained from the broken blade as I swung it.
All traces of immortal dignity gone, Yun Che shrieked and backed away.
The sect leader and elders gasped in horror and rushed forward to restrain me.
They pulled me to the ground. I planted my hands in the dirt and tried desperately to crawl toward him.
The scene was absolute chaos.
My crazed appearance scared Yun Che so badly that his face went white. “I’ll pay! I’ll pay you, all right?”
I jabbed my sword at him again. “What do you mean, ‘all right’?”
“Watch your tone!”
“And don’t forget what you owe for the spiritual energy within ten li of here!”
“…I thought I’d been rescued,” Yun Che said. “Turns out I’d been sold.”