Sect Master Chen was waiting for Yi Lin.
The man hadn't moved an inch since Yi Lin left. He stood by the main gate, pacing back and forth, wearing a groove into the stone pavement.
When he saw Yi Lin, his head snapped up, his eyes burning with an intensity that could probably ignite dry wood.
"You!" Chen barked, striding forward. "Did you get it? Did the… supplier deliver?"
Yi Lin slid off the horse, his legs wobbling like jelly.
"Success!" he gasped, patting his pouch. "Two units! Fresh from the… uh… oven! Pure, high-grade, dimensionally-converged goodness!"
Chen's face lit up with a terrifying mixture of relief and greed. He reached into his robe and pulled out two heavy pouches of gold, prepared in advance.
"Give them to me," Chen demanded, his hand trembling. "I can feel the bottleneck loosening just thinking about it. Give me both."
Yi Lin grinned. This was it. Thirty gold coins total. He was going to be the richest man in the—
Ding!
The sound was in his skull. A bright red warning box slammed into his vision, completely blocking his view of the Sect Master's eager face.
[System Alert!]
[To ensure fair market distribution and prevent energetic overload in primitive species, the Host is forbidden from selling more than ONE (1) Slime Crystal to the same customer within a 24-hour solar cycle.]
Yi Lin's grin froze.
"What?" he whispered.
"What do you mean, 'what'?" Chen asked, stepping closer. He held out the gold. "Here is the money. Give me the crystals."
Yi Lin stared at the red screen. It wouldn't go away.
"System," Yi Lin hissed in his mind. "You have got to be kidding me. You bureaucratic demon! He's right there! He has the money! Just let me sell it!"
[Rules are rules, Host. We are running a respectable Ranch, not a back-alley drug deal. One per customer. Come back tomorrow.]
"Tomorrow?!" Yi Lin screamed internally. "He looks like he's going to eat my face today!"
"Boy," Chen's voice dropped an octave. The air around him began to vibrate. "Why are you staring at the air? Hand. Them. Over."
Yi Lin swallowed hard. His throat clicked. He looked at the Sect Master, then at the gold, then at the red screen. He was screwed. If he told the Sect Master "Computer says no," he was dead. If he refused to sell, he was dead.
He had to stall.
"Sect Master," Yi Lin said, his voice cracking into a high-pitched squeak. He cleared his throat. "Sect Master… there is a… a complication."
Chen's eyes narrowed. The pressure in the courtyard dropped. The horse, sensing the mood, wisely trotted away, leaving Yi Lin alone in the blast zone.
"Complication?" Chen repeated slowly.
"Yes! You see…" Yi Lin's brain spun like a hamster wheel on fire. "The crystals! They are… too fresh! Yes! They are hot! If you touch them now, without letting them… cure… for twenty-four hours, the energy will… curdle! It will turn your meridians into spaghetti!"
It was the stupidest lie he had ever told. Chen stared at him. He looked at Yi Lin's sweating face. He looked at the pouch where the crystals were hidden.
"You are lying," Chen said flatly.
"I am not!" Yi Lin lied. "I am looking out for your safety! My supplier was very specific! 'One day to cool, or the cultivator looks like a fool!' It's an old saying!"
Chen didn't buy it. Not for a second. To him, this looked like a shakedown. It looked like the mortal disciple realized exactly how desperate the Sect Master was and was trying to play games to jack up the price, or worse, was mocking him.
"You think this is funny?" Chen whispered. He took a step forward, and the stone tile under his foot cracked.
"You think my cultivation is a joke? You think you can dangle hope in front of me and then snatch it away?"
"No! I swear—"
"I do not have patience for games, Yi Lin," Chen said, his voice cold. "I will not kill you, because you are the only link to the supplier. But I will not let you run off with my future, either."
Before Yi Lin could react, Chen moved. It was a blur.
Yi Lin felt a rush of wind, and then the world spun.
Ten minutes later.
Yi Lin was tied to the 'Pillar of Reflection' in the center of the sect's main plaza.
It was a thick, wooden pole usually reserved for disciples who broke minor rules, like stealing extra buns or peeking into the female dorms.
Now, it was hosting the Sect's most confusing VIP.
Thick hemp ropes bound his torso and legs to the wood. His arms were tied, but thankfully, his hands were left somewhat free in his lap, though he couldn't reach the knots behind him.
"You will stay here," Chen announced to the gathered crowd of confused disciples. "Until dawn. You will reflect on the importance of honesty and punctuality. When the sun rises, if the crystals are 'cured', you will give them to me. If not… we will see."
With a swirl of his robes, the Sect Master stormed off to his cultivation cave to sulk/meditate aggressively.
"Great," Yi Lin muttered, resting his head against the hard wood. "Just great. I have a fortune in my pocket, a System that hates me, and now I'm a lawn ornament."
The disciples whispered and pointed as they walked past.
"Is that the latrine cleaner?"
"Why did the Sect Master tie him up personally?"
"I heard he stole the Sect Master's favorite underwear."
"No, I heard he tried to sell the Sect Master a cursed rock."
Night fell. The crowd dispersed. The temperature dropped.
"I'm going to freeze to death," Yi Lin chattered, his teeth clicking. "Forget soul annihilation. I'm going to die of hypothermia because of a stupid anti-monopoly law. I bet Jeff Bezos doesn't have to deal with this."
Three hours passed. The moon was high and full, casting long, spooky shadows across the empty plaza.
Footsteps approached. Not the heavy stomp of the Sect Master, but light, precise steps.
Yi Lin opened one eye. Standing in front of him, illuminated by the moonlight like an avenging spirit, was Chen Yue.
The eldest daughter.
She was wearing white training robes that seemed to glow in the dark. Her face was impassive, beautiful, and terrifyingly cold. She held her fan in one hand, tapping it rhythmically against her leg.
"You," she said. Her voice was clearer than the winter wind.
"Me," Yi Lin agreed weakly.
"If you came to make fun of me, take a number. The line starts at dawn."
Chen Yue didn't smile. She walked a slow circle around the pillar, inspecting him like he was a piece of furniture she was considering buying.
"My father has been acting... strange," she said, coming to a stop in front of him. "He gave you his sword. He carried vegetables for you. And now, he ties you up in the plaza like a prized pig, yet he refuses to let anyone else near you. He is protecting you, in his own twisted way."
She leaned in, her dark eyes boring into his. A faint mist of cold air formed around her.
"Why?" she asked. "What do you have, Yi Lin? What could a mortal possibly possess that would drive a Golden Core master to madness?"
Yi Lin looked at her. He saw the curiosity in her eyes. But he also saw something else—ambition.
She was a cultivator. She wanted power just as much as her father did.
And the System's red box was gone. The restriction was "One per customer."
Chen Yue... was a new customer.
A slow, shivering smile spread across Yi Lin's face.
"You want to know?" Yi Lin whispered, leaning his head forward as much as the ropes allowed. "It's not a secret. It's a business transaction."
Chen Yue arched a delicate eyebrow.
"Business?"
"Ten golden coins," Yi Lin said.
Chen Yue blinked. "Ten... golden coins?"
"That's the price," Yi Lin said, his voice gaining strength. "Ten gold coins. No haggling. No questions. You pay the fee, you get the answer. And trust me... the answer is shiny."
For a moment, he thought she might slap him. Or freeze him. A mortal demanding a fortune from a Foundation Establishment genius? It was unheard of.
But Chen Yue was smart. She had seen her father's face. She knew her father wasn't a fool. If he was willing to debase himself for this boy, there was a reason.
"Ten gold coins," she repeated. "That is half of my yearly allowance."
"Think of it as an investment," Yi Lin said.
"High risk, high reward."
Chen Yue stared at him for a long five seconds. Then, with a decisive motion, she reached into her sleeve. She pulled out a sleek, embroidered silk purse.
"Open your hand," she commanded.
Yi Lin wiggled his fingers. She poured the coins into his palm. They were cold from the night air, but heavy and real.
One, two... ten.
[Payment Received: 10 Golden Coins!]
[Mission Progress: 1/5 Crystals Sold.]
"Pleasure doing business with you," Yi Lin grinned.
"Now, reach into my pouch. The left side. But be gentle."
Chen Yue frowned, clearly disgusted by the idea of touching the latrine cleaner's belongings, but she did it. Her slender, cool fingers dipped into his worn sash and pulled out one of the Pink Slime Crystals.
It shimmered in the moonlight, the pink light dancing against her pale skin.
"A... stone?" She looked at it, unimpressed.
"This is what my father is crazy about? A pretty rock?"
"Not a rock," Yi Lin corrected. "Squeeze it. Just a little. Push your Qi into it. Just a drop."
Chen Yue looked skeptical. She held the crystal in her open palm. She closed her eyes and channeled a tiny thread of her Ice-attribute Qi into the object.
WOOSH!
There was no sound.
But suddenly, the wind in the plaza stopped.
Chen Yue's eyes snapped open. For a split second, they were glowing with a brilliant, swirling pink light.
The energy inside the crystal flooded into her meridians like a dam breaking. It was massive.
Her body involuntarily arched back. The air around her dropped twenty degrees in an instant. Frost began to creep across the stone pavement, spreading out from her feet in a rapid, crackling web.
"What... what is this?!" she gasped, her voice trembling.
She felt her cultivation base, which had been stuck at the peak of Foundation Establishment Level 5 for months, suddenly lurch forward.
The barrier was shattered like glass.
A shockwave of icy blue energy exploded outward, knocking the snow off the nearby roofs.
Level 6.
But it didn't stop there. The energy kept pouring in. Her Ice Aura, usually a thin mist, thickened into a swirling storm of snowflakes. The impurities in her body were being incinerated by the sheer volume of the Slime energy.
Yi Lin watched, eyes wide, as the terrifying Ice Queen leveled up right in front of him.
"Holy cow," he muttered, shivering as ice crystals formed on his eyebrows. "The System wasn't kidding. That stuff is potent."
After a full minute, the light faded. The crystal in her hand had turned into grey dust and crumbled away.
Chen Yue stood there, panting. Her skin was glowing with health. She looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them. The air around her fists crackled with power.
"I... I broke through," she whispered. "I advanced a whole level. In seconds. And my Ice Art... it evolved?"
She looked at the pile of grey dust.
"Ten gold coins," she murmured. "It was worth a thousand."
She looked back at Yi Lin, tied to the pole, shivering and covered in a thin layer of her frost.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice filled with a newfound, terrified respect. "You are not a latrine cleaner. No latrine cleaner carries the essence of the heavens in his pocket."
Yi Lin grinned, his teeth chattering violently.
"I'm just... a businessman," he stammered. "And... uh... Junior Sister? Could you maybe... untie me? Or at least... buy the other one tomorrow? I think your dad might kill me when he finds out you cut in line."
Chen Yue looked at the rope. With a flick of her finger, an icicle formed and sliced through the thick hemp as if it were butter.
Yi Lin slumped forward, catching himself before he hit the ground. He rubbed his wrists, trying to get the blood flowing.
"My father," Chen Yue said, a small, rare smile touching her lips, "is going to be furious."
She looked at Yi Lin, her eyes gleaming.
"Do you have more?"
Yi Lin patted his pouch, feeling the one remaining crystal.
"Supply is limited," he said, winking.
"But for my favorite customers? I can make it happen."