Chen Yachong and He Wu were currently in Yuntie[1] City, a famous large city in Yun Province. The city lord was a Fusion cultivator.

When Lu Yang’s group found Chen Yachong, they ran into He Wu, who had also come looking for him.

“Chen Yachong, I’m telling you, don’t think a couple of beatings will settle this. The principal of one million spirit stones and the two hundred thousand in interest must all be repaid!”

Inside the luxurious residence, He Wu blocked Chen Yachong’s path. Behind him, a sword hovered in the air, radiating chilliness.

He Wu was also a sword cultivator.

“Wait a moment, would you allow me to interject?” Fang Jin landed in the courtyard, eliciting wary looks from He Wu and Chen Yachong.

“Who are you?!”

“Fang Jin of the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect.”

Upon hearing Fang Jin’s self-introduction, He Wu’s pupils constricted sharply. Am I not only at the Divine Transfiguration Stage? Why would the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect send a Fusion cultivator like Fang Jin?!

Seeing Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou behind Fang Jin, he froze completely.

“Y-you are Prodigy Lu!” He Wu exclaimed excitedly. “I saw you at the Sword-Seeking Ceremony at the Sword Tower!”

Lu Yang’s performance at the Sword-Seeking Ceremony had made him the figure all sword cultivators aspired to become.

“So it’s Fellow Daoist He Wu,” said Lu Yang, pretending to recognize him. In truth, with thousands of sword cultivators having participated in the Sword-Seeking Ceremony, how could he remember them all?

“Then you must be Fellow Daoist Chen Yachong?”

“Yes.”

Aware of everyone’s identity in Lu Yang’s group, He Wu and Chen Yachong set aside their pride as Divine Transfiguration cultivators.

“Fellow Daoist Chen, I heard you borrowed money and didn’t repay it. Is that true?” Lu Yang stepped forward to ask. On the way here, he had roughly devised a solution.

“It’s true, but I really don’t have the money right now.”

Lu Yang nodded with a smile, expressing understanding. He then asked He Wu, “Fellow Daoist He Wu, if Fellow Daoist Chen Yachong repays the money, does it mean he no longer needs to be beaten?”

“Of course.”

“Having no money is not a problem. Fellow Daoist Chen Yachong should know that our Dao-Seeking Sect produces Emotion-Forgetting Pills every year, and the sales are decent; supply can’t keep up with the demand.

“The biggest issue with the Emotion-Forgetting Pill is insufficient production output.

“Truth to be told, the Emotion-Forgetting Pill is refined using cultivators’ blood. If Fellow Daoist Chen Yachong comes back to our sect with me, takes the medicine regularly, and undergoes bloodletting, he’ll earn enough to cover a million spirit stones within ten years.

“Naturally, the bloodletting might be a bit painful, but with Fellow Daoist Chen Yachong’s fortitude, he should be able to endure it.”

Fang Jin stared at Lu Yang in shock. So this is how the Emotion-Forgetting Pill is made? This doesn’t sound like a proper method!

He then observed Meng Jingzhou, who looked indifferent. He clearly doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with this method!

“Junior Brother Meng, isn’t there something problematic about your method of producing the Emotion-Forgetting Pill?” Fang Jin secretly transmitted an auditory message to Meng Jingzhou.

“There’s no problem. We’ve been using this method for a few years now. Have you heard of anyone coming forward to accuse our Dao-Seeking Sect of being inhumane? This proves that everyone is doing it voluntarily.”

Fang Jin’s expression grew peculiar. Have you two always persuaded people like this?

Chen Yachong broke out in a cold sweat and hastily declared that he had money. “No, no, no, please don’t. I’m just temporarily short on money.”

“Where’s the money?”

“Uh, I invested it with Zhao Tianyi. He said he had a way to make money with a thirty percent annual return. The term hasn’t matured yet, so I can’t withdraw the money. Once it’s due, I can repay He Wu the principal plus interest.”

Zhao Tianyi, a Divine Transfiguration cultivator, was the sect leader and founder of the Tianyi Sect, a third-class sect in Yuntian City.

“How about this? I’ll give you this map as collateral. I guarantee I’ll repay the money!” Chen Yachong produced a piece of jade silk on which several symbols were drawn.

He Wu commented disdainfully, “Who wants this useless map? Do you think I don’t know you bought this useless map at an auction? It’s been hundreds of years, and you still haven’t found the other two pieces.”

“What if you get lucky?” Chen Yachong said sheepishly.

“Can I have a look?”

Curious, Lu Yang took the jade silk map. It was very crude, making it impossible to tell what region it depicted.

Fang Jin was knowledgeable about maps. He craned his neck to examine it. “It looks like a map from the early Great Qian era. There are probably three pieces in total. Only when the three pieces are combined do they form the complete map.

“How many spirit stones for this map? I’ll buy it.” Fang Jin was fond of archaic maps, and this one from the early Great Qian era was especially rare.

“If you like it, I’ll just give it to you.” Chen Yachong had no attachment to the map. He had only been at the Foundation Establishment Stage when he acquired it from a Foundation Establishment-tier auction a few hundred years ago. How many spirit stones could it be worth? I might as well do him a favor.

Fang Jin carefully stowed the jade silk map away, determined to help Chen Yachong resolve his problem. At the very least, if Chen Yachong ends up getting sent to the Dao-Seeking Sect for bloodletting, I’ll ask Junior Brother Lu to be gentler so that he won’t feel pain.

“Zhao Tianyi? Then let’s go ask him for the money.”

When the five of them found Zhao Tianyi in full force, he was truly alarmed, especially upon seeing Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. These often appear in pingshu storytelling as heroes who punish evil, striking fear into the hearts of felons.

After understanding their purpose of visit, Zhao Tianyi breathed a sigh of relief. So they just want money... Wait, being asked for money isn’t exactly good news either.

“Brother Chen, it’s not that I’m unwilling to give you your spirit stones—they’ve all been invested. The spirit stones I have on hand are for maintaining my sect’s daily expenses. You wouldn’t want my sect to go under, would you?

“If you’re not in a hurry, just wait a while. The spirit stones can be withdrawn then. That’s a twenty percent return, you know.”

Chen Yachong interrupted Zhao Tianyi's sweet talk. “Wait a minute, you promised me a thirty percent return before!”

Zhao Tianyi realized he had misspoken and smiled awkwardly. “I was worried you wouldn’t invest if I offered a lower return. Anyway, with twenty percent, you’re still making a profit, right?”

Seeing that Chen Yachong’s expression was still stormy, Zhao Tianyi quickly added, “Oh, by the way, this is a wooden box I brought back from the Extreme North. It should contain good stuff, but it’s missing a key. Consider it my apology gift to you.”

Chen Yachong rolled his eyes. What use do I have for this shabby wooden box?

Lu Yang stepped in to mediate. “Alright, alright. Fellow Daoist Zhao means no harm. Fellow Daoist Chen, let’s consider this matter settled.”

Out of regard for Lu Yang, Chen Yachong snorted a few times and let it go.

Zhao Tianyi was delighted and gave the wooden box to Lu Yang.

“Who did you invest the money with?”

“Duan Qinghe. That fellow has many ways to make money.”

Duan Qinghe was also a Divine Transfiguration cultivator in Yuntie City. Though Chen Yachong wasn’t familiar with him, Zhao Tianyi was.

The group then hurried nonstop to find Duan Qinghe.

Duan Qinghe’s reaction was identical to Zhao Tianyi’s. Seeing such a large entourage, he thought he was in so much trouble that even Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had been alerted.

“So you want the one million spirit stones you gave me, Zhao Tianyi? Why the rush? Don’t you want that ten percent return anymore?”

“Ten percent? You promised me twenty percent!” Zhao Tianyi yelled.

Duan Qinghe scratched his head. “I was worried that if I offered a lower return, you wouldn’t give me the money. Anyway, you’re still making a profit with ten percent.”

“Then who did you invest the money with?!”

Duan Qinghe pointed to He Wu, who was standing right at the back. “I gave it to He Wu. Isn’t his loan rate fifteen percent? I thought that when the money comes back, I’ll keep five percent and give you ten.”

He Wu. “...”

“Wait a moment. I have a promissory note here, too.” Duan Qinghe pulled a piece of beast hide from his storage ring, on which was clearly written that he had lent the money to He Wu at an annual interest rate of fifteen percent. “After all, a million spirit stones is no small sum. I made a point of recording it on this old beast hide I bought from the Demon Region.”

Fang Jin pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “All of you, stop talking. Let me sort out the sequence.

“He Wu is a moneylender and charges an annual interest rate of twenty percent.

“To make money, Duan Qinghe told Zhao Tianyi that if he gave him the money, he could earn him twenty percent, but in reality, he could only earn ten percent.

“Zhao Tianyi told Chen Yachong that he could earn him thirty percent, but in reality, he could only earn twenty percent.

“To make money, Chen Yachong borrowed from He Wu at twenty percent interest.”

Finally, Fang Jin could no longer contain himself and slammed the table in fury. “Can any of you speak the truth for once?!”

Lu Yang mulled over it. It seems only He Wu and Chen Yachong have spoken truthfully. But since Senior Brother Fang is angry, there’s no need to mention that.

Meng Jingzhou also summarized the situation. “In other words, Chen Yachong only needs to repay He Wu five percent interest, which is fifty thousand spirit stones?”

Fang Jin produced fifty thousand spirit stones and handed them to Chen Yachong as payment for the map. Let’s just get this over and done with.

Over the past several years, the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect had handled major events like the Qing Province Grand Ceremony and Battle of Hanshui City, allowing Fang Jin to earn quite a considerable sum of spirit stones. Fifty thousand was just a drop in the bucket to him.

With the debt settled, the beast-hide promissory note was useless to Duan Qinghe, so he simply gave it to Fang Jin, who had ultimately provided the funds.

After the matter concluded, Fang Jin, Lu Yang, and Meng Jingzhou returned to the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect. Fang Jin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What kind of mess is this?

“Senior Brother Fang, sometimes luck can solve problems too,” Lu Yang consoled.

Fang Jin thought about it and agreed. The trip isn’t entirely without gains. He took out the jade silk map. I’ll treat it as recovering an old map. The only question is when I’ll find the remaining pieces.

Suddenly, the jade silk map, the wooden box, and the beast hide trembled, as if resonating.

The box opened, revealing another jade silk map inside.

The beast hide tore open, and a jade silk map flew out.

The three jade silk maps overlapped, revealing the true appearance of the complete map.

Fang Jin was speechless. What’s going on? Didn’t Chen Yachong spend centuries without collecting them all? Since when have I been this lucky?

1. “Yuntie” means meteoric iron. ☜