The city where Chen Yachong and He Wu resided was Meteorite City, a well-known major city in Yun Province. Its city lord was a Body Integration stage cultivator.

When Lu Yang and his companions eventually located Chen Yachong, they coincidentally encountered He Wu, who had also come to find him.

“Chen Yachong, let me tell you, don’t imagine that hitting you twice makes this matter disappear,” He Wu declared. “You owe me both the principal of one million spirit stones and twenty thousand in interest!”

Inside the luxurious mansion, He Wu confronted Chen Yachong. Behind him, several sharp swords floated in the air, emitting a menacing chill.

He Wu was also a sword cultivator.

“Gentlemen, if you please, may I interject?” Fang Jin asked, landing in the courtyard and immediately drawing the wary attention of both He Wu and Chen Yachong.

“Who are you?!”

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

Upon hearing Fang Jin’s introduction, He Wu’s pupils contracted. “Isn’t he just a Nascent Soul early stage cultivator? Would the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect really dispatch a Body Integration stage expert like Fang Jin?” he thought in disbelief.

He was even more dumbfounded when he saw Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou standing behind Fang Jin.

“You—you’re Lu Tianjiao!” He Wu exclaimed excitedly. “I saw you at the Sword Inquiring Grand Ceremony at the Sword Pavilion!”

Lu Yang’s performance at the Sword Inquiring Grand Ceremony had instantly made him the aspirational goal for all sword cultivators.

“Ah, it’s Daoist He Wu,” Lu Yang said, feigning recognition. In truth, with thousands of sword cultivators attending the Sword Inquiring Grand Ceremony, it was impossible for him to remember them all.

“And you must be Daoist Chen Yachong?”

“That’s right.”

Knowing the identities of Lu Yang and his companions, both He Wu and Chen Yachong immediately shed their Nascent Soul stage arrogance.

“Daoist Chen, I’ve heard you borrowed money and haven’t repaid it. Is that true?” Lu Yang asked, stepping forward. He had roughly devised a solution on their way here.

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

Lu Yang nodded with a faint smile, indicating his understanding, then turned to He Wu. “Daoist He Wu,” he inquired, “if Daoist Chen Yachong repays the money, will he be spared the beating?”

“Of course.”

“No money is not an issue. Daoist Chen Yachong, you must be aware that our Dao-Seeking Sect produces Forgetful Elixir annually, and it sells exceptionally well, with demand far outstripping supply.”

“The primary challenge with Forgetful Elixir at present is its insufficient production.”

“To be frank, Forgetful Elixir is refined from a cultivator’s blood. Daoist Chen Yachong simply needs to return to our sect with me, regularly take medicine, and allow us to draw blood. In less than ten years, he’ll have earned a million spirit stones.”

“Naturally, the bloodletting might be a bit painful, but given Daoist Chen Yachong’s perseverance, I’m sure he can endure it.”

Fang Jin stared at Lu Yang in shock. “Is that how Forgetful Elixir is made?” he wondered. “That doesn’t sound like a legitimate method!”

He then glanced at Meng Jingzhou’s expression, which was completely nonchalant, clearly suggesting he saw nothing wrong with the method.

“Junior Brother Meng, isn’t there something a little problematic with your method of producing Forgetful Elixir?” Fang Jin secretly transmitted to Meng Jingzhou.

“Not at all,” Meng Jingzhou replied. “Look, we’ve been using this method for years. Senior Brother Fang, you haven’t heard anyone accuse our Dao-Seeking Sect of being inhumane, have you? That simply means everyone involved is doing so voluntarily.”

Fang Jin’s expression became odd. “Is this how you two have always convinced people?”

“No, no, no, please wait!” Chen Yachong cried, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead at Lu Yang’s proposition. He quickly insisted he did have the money.

“Where is it then?”

“Uh, I invested it with Zhao Tianyi,” Chen Yachong stammered. “He told me he has a lucrative scheme that yields a thirty percent return annually. It hasn’t matured yet, so I can’t retrieve the funds. Once the investment matures, I’ll be able to repay He Wu with both principal and interest.”

Zhao Tianyi was a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, and the founder and sect master of the Tianyi Sect, a third-grade sect in Meteorite City.

“How about this,” Chen Yachong suggested, pulling out a piece of jade silk inscribed with several symbols, “I’ll give you this map as collateral. I guarantee I’ll repay the money!”

He Wu scoffed, “Who wants this worthless map? Do you think I don’t know you bought this trash at an auction hundreds of years ago? You still haven’t found the other two pieces.”

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

“May I have a look?”

Lu Yang, curious, took the jade silk map. It was very simple, making it impossible to discern the location it depicted.

Fang Jin, being well-versed in maps, stretched his neck to examine it closely. “This appears to be a map from the early Great Qian Dynasty,” he assessed. “There should be three pieces in total; the true map is only revealed when all three are overlaid.”

“How many spirit stones for this map? I’ll buy it,” Fang Jin declared. He had a strong fondness for ancient maps, and a map from the early Great Qian Dynasty was particularly rare and appealing.

“If you like it, consider it a gift,” Chen Yachong offered. He had no attachment to the map; he had acquired it hundreds of years ago at a Foundation Establishment-level auction when he was still in that stage. It wasn’t worth many spirit stones, so gifting it seemed like a better use.

Fang Jin carefully put away the jade silk map, resolving that he would, by all means, help Chen Yachong resolve his current predicament.

If all else failed and Chen Yachong was indeed sent to the Dao-Seeking Sect for bloodletting, Fang Jin vowed to ask Junior Brother Lu to be gentle, ensuring Chen Yachong felt no pain.

“Zhao Tianyi? In that case, let’s go get the money from him.”

When the group of five grandly arrived at Zhao Tianyi’s residence, he was considerably startled, particularly upon seeing Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

These two were frequently depicted in popular tales as figures who punished evil and eliminated villains, striking fear into the hearts of wrongdoers.

After understanding their purpose, Zhao Tianyi breathed a sigh of relief. “So they’re just here for money…” he thought. Then, a new realization dawned: “Wait, being here for money isn’t a good thing either.”

“Junior Brother Chen,” Zhao Tianyi began, “it’s not that I’m unwilling to give you your spirit stones, but they’ve all been invested. The funds I currently possess are entirely allocated to maintaining the sect’s daily operations. Surely, you wouldn’t want my sect to collapse, would you?”

“If you’re not in a hurry, just wait a bit. The spirit stones will be retrievable soon, and that’s a twenty percent return, mind you.”

Chen Yachong interrupted Zhao Tianyi’s elaborate promises. “Wait a minute,” he retorted, “you told me before there would be a thirty percent return!”

Realizing his slip, Zhao Tianyi chuckled awkwardly. “Well, I was just afraid you wouldn’t invest if I understated the return,” he explained. “In any case, with a twenty percent return, you’ll still be making a profit, won’t you?”

Seeing Chen Yachong still scowling, Zhao Tianyi quickly added, “Oh, and also, this is a wooden box I brought back from the extreme north. It should contain something valuable, it just lacks a key. Consider it a token of my apology.”

Chen Yachong rolled his eyes, wondering what good a worthless wooden box would do him.

Seeing this, Lu Yang intervened to smooth things over. “Alright, alright,” he said, “Daoist Zhao meant well. Daoist Chen, please let this matter go.”

Out of deference to Lu Yang, Chen Yachong grunted a few times, signaling his reluctant acceptance.

Zhao Tianyi was overjoyed at this outcome and promptly presented the wooden box to Lu Yang.

“Who did you invest the money with?”

“Duan Qinghe. That fellow has many avenues for making money.”

Duan Qinghe was another Nascent Soul stage cultivator in Meteorite City. Chen Yachong wasn’t familiar with him, but Zhao Tianyi was.

The group then proceeded without delay to locate Duan Qinghe.

Duan Qinghe’s reaction mirrored Zhao Tianyi’s. Seeing such a formidable group, he initially assumed he had committed a serious offense that had even caught the attention of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

“Oh, so it’s about the million spirit stones Zhao Tianyi gave me,” Duan Qinghe said. “Why the rush? Don’t you want the ten percent return?”

“Ten percent?” Zhao Tianyi exclaimed. “You told me it would be a twenty percent return!”

Duan Qinghe scratched his head. “Well, I was afraid you wouldn’t give me the money if I understated the return,” he admitted. “Anyway, with a ten percent return, you’ll still be making a profit.”

“So, who did you invest the money with?!”

Duan Qinghe pointed to He Wu, who was standing at the back. “I lent it to He Wu. Doesn’t he offer one and a half percent interest on his loans? I figured when the money comes back, I’d keep half a percent and give you one percent.”

He Wu was speechless.

“Hold on, I still have the IOU here.”

From his storage ring, Duan Qinghe produced a piece of beast hide. Clearly written on it was a record of him lending money to He Wu, with an annual interest rate of one and a half percent.

“After all, a million spirit stones is no small amount, so I specifically used old beast hide acquired from the demonic domain to record it.”

Fang Jin rubbed his forehead in exasperation. “Everyone, stop talking,” he said. “Let me try to sort out this sequence of events.”

“He Wu is a money lender, charging an annual interest of twenty percent.”

“Duan Qinghe, seeking profit, told Zhao Tianyi to invest with him, claiming he could secure a twenty percent return for Zhao Tianyi, when in reality, it was only ten percent.”

“Zhao Tianyi told Chen Yachong that he could secure a thirty percent return for him, when in reality, it was only twenty percent.”

“Chen Yachong, seeking profit, borrowed money from He Wu at a twenty percent interest rate.”

Finally, Fang Jin could no longer contain his frustration and slammed the table in anger. “Can any of you manage to speak a single truth?!” he demanded.

Lu Yang pondered. It seemed only He Wu and Chen Yachong had spoken truthfully, but given Senior Brother Fang’s current anger, it was best not to point that out.

Meng Jingzhou also summarized the situation. “So,” he concluded, “Chen Yachong only needs to repay He Wu half a percent of the interest, which amounts to fifty thousand spirit stones?”

Fang Jin took out fifty thousand spirit stones and handed them to Chen Yachong, deciding to consider it payment for the map and just get the whole messy affair over with.

Over the years, Fang Jin had amassed a considerable amount of spirit stones from major undertakings by the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect, such as the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony and the Hanshui City incident. To him, fifty thousand spirit stones were a mere trifle.

With everyone squared away, Duan Qinghe’s beast hide IOU became useless, so he simply handed it over to Fang Jin, who had ultimately footed the bill.

Once the matter was settled, Fang Jin, Lu Yang, and Meng Jingzhou returned to the Mountain-Moving Sea-Filling Sect. Fang Jin couldn’t help but feel a mixture of amusement and exasperation at the absurdity of the situation.

“Senior Brother Fang,” Lu Yang consoled him, “sometimes luck can also resolve problems.”

Fang Jin considered this and agreed. Moreover, this trip hadn’t been entirely fruitless. He took out the jade silk map, treating it as a recovered antique. He just wondered when he would find the remaining pieces.

Suddenly, the jade silk map, the wooden box, and the beast hide began to vibrate, as if resonating with each other.

The wooden box opened, revealing another jade silk map inside.

The beast hide tore itself apart, and a third jade silk map emerged.

The three jade silk maps then overlapped, revealing the true and complete form of the map.

Fang Jin was utterly speechless.

What was happening? Hadn’t it been said that Chen Yachong had spent hundreds of years trying and failed to collect all the pieces?

When had his luck become so extraordinarily good?