Bing Li slowly rubbed the teacup in her hand, her thumb tracing the smooth, cool porcelain of the rim in a repetitive, rhythmic circle. She seemed to be weighing her words carefully before committing to the next step. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.
"Ran Xi Daoyou, how much time did you buy?"
"This Lord gave him enough spirit stones to stay here for three days. After three days, Dengyun Tower will definitely come to collect him."
Yunxi told the truth, her voice calm and steady as she provided the facts of the exchange.
Bing Li thought it over, her eyes narrowing slightly as she considered the implications. Then she said, "This Lord wants his cultivation, and his soul will be searched too. Of course, if your information is wrong, then Young Master Jin Xiu's life will be yours to pay for."
She would never do a losing deal; for her, every interaction was a cold calculation of profit and loss.
"Of course. But this Lord already said it, the information has to be shared."
"Fine."
"Then we will sign a new contract."
Yunxi didn't hesitate to bring up the requirement. This was a transaction to begin with, so she naturally had to protect her own interests.
Bing Li immediately nodded in agreement. At this moment, she was the very image of a qualified information broker. The two sides re-signed the contract, the spiritual energy within the document pulsing with a faint light as the terms were locked. Once it took effect, Yunxi waved her hand and opened the barrier. She carried Li Li as she stepped into the room first, with Dian Dian hidden on Li Li following along through the threshold.
After Yunxi left earlier, Jin Xiu had been feeling restless. His right eyelid kept twitching badly, a persistent spasm that wouldn't subside. So when she entered the room, he immediately stood up. The chair scraped against the floor as he moved. He said in a low voice, "Xi Yun Zūnshàng."
The next moment, he saw Bing Li enter right behind her, and his expression subtly changed as he took in the presence of the broker.
Yunxi didn't give him a chance to speak or ask questions. She smiled and said, "Young Master Jin Xiu, when this Lord stepped out just now, I happened to run into Bing Li Daoyou. She also really likes your qin music, so she followed along to listen to your performance. Why don't you play a piece for us?"
As she spoke, she naturally sat down in the main seat. Bing Li's expression darkened slightly at the casual command. When she spoke, his tone carried a strange edge.
"Young Master Jin Xiu, I heard from Dengyun Tower's disciples that you were in seclusion to break through your bottleneck. How did your seclusion end up here?"
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Jin Xiu's face, his skin turning a faint shade of red. His lowered gaze was full of caution as he said in a deep voice, "Bing Li Daoyou, you should understand that I had no choice."
He didn't finish the rest of his sentence, but everyone present understood the meaning behind his words.
"Hmph. Isn't it just because you think this Lord didn't pay enough spirit stones? What, did this Xi Yun Daoyou give you a satisfying price? You really couldn't wait, could you?"
The insult in Bing Li's words was obvious. Yunxi simply watched the show from her seat, even speaking as if by accident to add to the tension.
"Bing Li Daoyou, that's not quite right. This kind of thing is always mutual. This Lord paid a whole storage ring of top grade spirit stones for his time. If you want to win Young Master Jin Xiu's favor, how can you be stingy with spirit stones?"
"Tsk tsk. Trash like him is only worth ten thousand top grade spirit stones. That's already this Lord being generous because of his cultivation level. Otherwise, I wouldn't waste spirit stones like that on someone like him."
Young Master Jin Xiu's face flushed red with humiliation at the blunt valuation. He swept his sleeve with a sharp motion, put away the ancient qin, then cupped his hands toward Yunxi.
"Xi Yun Zūnshàng, please forgive Jin Xiu's rudeness. I will return to Dengyun Tower first. The spirit stones will be repaid double later."
With that, he turned on his heel to leave the room.
Yunxi's expression turned cold, the warmth vanishing from her almond eyes. She raised her hand and pulled him back with a burst of spiritual energy, slamming him hard into the chair. In the next instant, a sealing rune was struck into his body, its light sinking into his skin. Jin Xiu's face changed drastically. He tried to resist the binding, only to find that he couldn't mobilize any spiritual power at all. Terror finally filled his eyes as he looked between Yunxi and Bing Li.
At this moment, both women wore cold expressions. Especially Bing Li; there wasn't the slightest trace of bitterness from being spurned. She flipped her wrist and took out a purple gourd, pointing the narrow neck at Jin Xiu as he began forming intricate hand seals.
Yunxi watched as the spiritual power inside Jin Xiu poured into the gourd like a breached flood, the energy visible as a shimmering stream. Jin Xiu roared in panic, "Stop it!"
Bing Li ignored him and continued absorbing his cultivation without pause.
Yunxi watched as Jin Xiu's cultivation dropped layer by layer, falling through the ranks before finally stopping at the Foundation Establishment stage. His appearance lost its former luster as well, with white frost creeping into his temples as his youthful vitality faded.
"Bing Li Daoyou, take it easy. Don't kill him," Yunxi reminded him at the right moment.
Bing Li nodded, his focus remaining on the task. "Don't worry. I know my limits."
Only then did he put away the purple gourd. His five fingers formed a claw and grabbed toward the area of Jin Xiu's dantian, pulling out the Nascent Soul that was on the verge of collapse.
Looking at the Yuányīng, which looked completely different from Young Master Jin Xiu's appearance, Bing Li confirmed that he had been possessed. As for whether this possessing soul was an evil cultivator, he still needed to search it thoroughly. There was no trace of evil aura on the Yuányīng yet, so he couldn't judge immediately.
Yunxi simply made a please gesture and quietly waited for the result of the investigation. She also wanted to see Bing Li's abilities first-hand.
Bing Li's divine sense turned into thin threads and entered the possessed Yuányīng. A quarter of an hour later, he withdrew his divine sense and turned his head to Yunxi.
"He is an evil cultivator."
Yunxi wasn't surprised at all by the revelation. She gently patted Li Li's head and said, "What does Bing Li Daoyou plan to do? Kill our way into Dengyun Tower? This Lord is willing to help with that."
Seeing Yunxi's eager expression, Bing Li rubbed his forehead, his fingers pressing against his skin as if to ward off a headache.
"For now, it's unclear whether Dengyun Tower's master knows that the tower's cash cow has already changed cores, or whether other disciples have been affected. We will talk after we figure all that out."
Yunxi looked at the dull-eyed Yuányīng hovering in the air. "Then what now? Young Master Jin Xiu is already crippled. How are you going to investigate? Even if you say he was possessed by an evil soul, what if Dengyun Tower's master refuses to admit it?"
Bing Li let out a cold laugh that didn't reach his eyes.
"Then it won't be up to him."
He opened a white porcelain bottle at his waist and flicked a tiny ice-blue insect, no bigger than a fingernail, into the Yuányīng. Moments later, the Yuányīng regained its clarity as the insect took hold. It cupped its hands toward Bing Li, then floated back into the dantian on its own.
When Young Master Jin Xiu opened his eyes again, he immediately cupped his hands toward Bing Li with a look of absolute submission.
"Master!"
Bing Li nodded and didn't avoid Yunxi at all as he directly ordered, "You have got one month. Find out everything about Dengyun Tower."
"Yes, Master."
"Alright. You can go."
"Yes."
Jin Xiu stood up at once and withdrew from the main hall, his movements efficient.
At that moment, Li Li's startled voice rang out in Yunxi's mind. "Zūnshàng, that was an Ice Soul Frost Cicada, also called a Puppet Bug. It's an extremely rare Gu insect."
Yunxi's eyes narrowed slightly as she sent a transmission back. "Li Li, keep an eye on things. Don't let Bing Li put that kind of bug on this Lord."
"Don't worry, Master. Li Li will watch her."
After speaking, Li Li turned her head. A glimmer of light flashed through her grape-like black eyes as she stared tightly at Bing Li.
At the same time, Yunxi also turned her head, looking at Bing Li with moist almond eyes. She was clearly waiting for an explanation about the bug.
Under the gaze of two pairs of eyes, Bing Li gave a light cough before speaking.
"Don't look at this Lord like that. I'm an information broker, after all. I have got my own channels for gathering information. Ran Xi Daoyou doesn't need to make such a fuss."
Yunxi smiled faintly, her expression unreadable. "That's true. This Lord is seeing a living Ice Soul Frost Cicada for the first time. Raising something like that can't be easy."
Bing Li laughed it off, waving a hand dismissively. "Just some trivial tricks, all to scrape together a bit of cultivation resources."
Yunxi shook her head slowly.
"Bing Li Daoyou, you're being too modest. How is this trivial? At the very least, Jin Xiu must have sensed your identity. That's why he kept his distance. Otherwise, how could he give up a fat sheep like you and turn his sights on me, a so called sucker with no background?"