Cultivation Is Money-Grabbing C33

Chapter 33: Skilled in Being Tricked and Misjudging Others

“Looking at it now, is that Di Xing guy the strongest among the front-rank competitors?” Xu Xianxing analyzed. “I thought it would be that Shi-something guy.”

“You’re calling him ‘Junior Brother’?” Lian Mu said, then remembered that Xu Xianxing had joined the sect a few years earlier. “…Right, you entered before us.”

Xu Xianxing grinned at the two of them. “You’re both my junior disciples—Lian Mu and Bai Li Que.”

Bai Li Que didn’t bother arguing over such a trivial title. “I heard that all the front-rank competitors are quite strong. Aside from Lian Mu, they probably all have the potential to enter the apprenticeship seats.”

Xu Xianxing looked at Di Xing from a distance and pondered for a moment. “Is he friends with Shi Qingxiong?”

The other two turned to look and saw Di Xing walking toward the already eliminated Shi Qingxiong. The two bumped shoulders, but Shi Qingxiong’s expression was clearly irritated.

Sensing eyes on them, Di Xing and Shi Qingxiong looked over.

“…”

For a moment, five pairs of eyes met across the distance in awkward silence.

Shi Qingxiong clenched his jaw. His face still bore two red slap marks. Beside him, Di Xing patted his shoulder, still looking insufferably arrogant.

Di Xing’s gaze swept over Lian Mu with a clear look of disdain, followed by a cold, ambiguous sneer.

Lian Mu: “…”

So arrogant? Her hands were itching.

The surrounding disciples also noticed this exchange. They pretended not to care on the surface but were inwardly chanting: Fight! Fight!

At this point, Di Xing had won his match faster than anyone else in the hundred rounds. Many people also knew that he was a dual spiritual root cultivator, just like Senior Sister Luo—a highly talented sword cultivator.

He had ranked second in the entrance trials, just behind Bai Li Que, who had slain a Flame Beast. Shi Qingxiong had ranked fifth. The two were close friends but shared the same flaw—excessive arrogance.

Shi Qingxiong was openly disdainful, while Di Xing was the silent type who looked down on others. Before their senior disciples, they maintained some humility. But among their peers, their arrogance was unbearable, treating the other new disciples as beneath them and even openly insulting them multiple times.

After what had just happened—Lian Mu publicly slapping Shi Qingxiong—there was no way this could be ignored.

Everyone eagerly anticipated a showdown between Lian Mu and Di Xing. If they didn’t draw each other in the competition, they could always settle it privately.

Xu Xianxing, noticing Di Xing’s look, remarked to Lian Mu, “His eyes are begging for a beating.”

Lian Mu: “Maybe he was just born cross-eyed.”

“That checks out.” Xu Xianxing turned to Bai Li Que. “I heard he ranked second in the entrance trials. You were first, right? Have you ever beaten him up?”

Bai Li Que: “…I don’t know him. I don’t bother remembering those ranked below me. From childhood to now, I’ve always been first. I never keep track of the ones I defeat.”

He had barely remembered Shi Qingxiong—only noticing him when the guy kept staring at him after Lian Mu’s fight.

Xu Xianxing thought about it and agreed. As a Heaven-Spiritual-Root talisman cultivator, Bai Li Que could probably deal with Di Xing with a flick of his fingers. Why would he remember someone he defeated in an instant?

But whether they would actually face each other still depended on Lian Mu’s luck in the next round.

Lian Mu suddenly said, “I hope I don’t run into him.”

Her voice wasn’t low, and everyone around heard her.

“……”

Was this a sign of fear?

People speculated.

Xu Xianxing fully agreed and nodded.

Bai Li Que didn’t quite understand them but didn’t say much, so he simply followed along and nodded.

The surrounding people were even more confused: “?”

Even two Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators thought Lian Mu couldn’t beat Di Xing?

Luo Qianxue was also nearby and happened to hear this. She fell silent: “……”

Although she had already realized the previous misunderstanding, by the time she found out, the declaration of battle had already been issued.

Now she was hesitating—should she just take it back and accept the punishment? If Lian Mu couldn’t even defeat Di Xing, wouldn’t it seem like she was deliberately bullying the weak if they ended up fighting?

Luo Qianxue glanced at Lian Mu again. The other party’s expression was calm, and instead of showing any fear, she was staring straight at Di Xing. This made Luo Qianxue suspect that she might have imagined what she just heard.

The second half of the night had dozens more matches, but Lian Mu wasn’t interested in watching. She was a bit bored and wanted to return to Qingzhu Courtyard.

The matches were expected to last until the Chou hour (1–3 AM), but the second round of matches was scheduled for early the next morning. It wasn’t convenient to travel from Qianling Peak, so Xu Xianxing asked Lian Mu if he could crash at her place for the night.

“You don’t have a bamboo house on Yasui Peak?” Lian Mu asked.

Xu Xianxing thought for a moment, his expression blanking out for a second: “…I forgot where it is.”

Ever since he joined the sect, he had been staying at Qianling Peak almost every day and never returned to his bamboo house on Yasui Peak. He had long forgotten its location.

Lian Mu: “…Let’s go.”

Bai Li Que, knowing the special relationship between the two, didn’t want to intrude and was about to leave when Xu Xianxing called out, “You’re not watching the matches? Don’t you love watching sword cultivators spar?”

Bai Li Que: “I can come early tomorrow.”

In truth, he didn’t stay on Yasui Peak often either.

Lian Mu: “Oh, so you Artifact Refiners, Talisman Cultivators, and Alchemy Cultivators all have your own houses on your respective peaks, but we Sword Cultivators have to run back and forth.”

“Hanlai Peak is mostly competition arenas—there’s not enough space. You Sword Cultivators fly around all day. Why would you mind a little distance?”

Lian Mu: “I still can’t ride a sword yet.”

Fortune hadn’t adapted to her yet.

Xu Xianxing turned to Bai Li Que and said, “Why don’t you just stay at her place too? Running back and forth is a hassle.”

Bai Li Que: “You two… are staying the night together. What am I supposed to do?”

“Join the fun,” Lian Mu said. “We can figure out something to do at night.”

She had piled up a ton of questions about artifact refining and needed someone to answer them.

Bai Li Que wasn’t an Artifact Refiner, but more people meant a livelier atmosphere.

Bai Li Que was stunned. “Join… the fun?”

His worldview was completely shaken. With his narrow understanding of such things, he couldn’t figure out why for a long time.

After being dazed for a while, half his face turned red as he said, “I don’t have that kind of fetish.”

As soon as he said this, both Lian Mu and Xu Xianxing were taken aback.

Lian Mu: “How did ‘fetish’ even come into this?”

Xu Xianxing was also confused: “?”

Bai Li Que: “Aren’t you two Dao companions? If you’re spending the night together, wouldn’t it be inappropriate for an outsider like me to be there?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Xianxing immediately realized the misunderstanding but couldn’t help laughing. “Pfft—Hahaha! Me and her, Dao companions? Don’t curse me. She’s a Sword Cultivator—she could kick a frail Artifact Refiner like me to death.”

An Artifact Refiner could pair with anyone as a Dao companion—except Sword Cultivators and Body Cultivators. The refined and scholarly nature of Artifact Refiners inherently clashed with the violent tendencies of Sword Cultivators and Body Cultivators.

Lian Mu also shook her head. “Tsk tsk, Bai Li Que, I didn’t expect you to have such an active imagination.”

Bai Li Que: “I really thought you two were… My apologies.”

He had only ever seen Xu Xianxing being particularly close to Lian Mu, and he treated her especially well, so he had instinctively assumed… Clearly, his thoughts were impure.

Bai Li Que began reflecting on himself.

“Are you coming or not?” Lian Mu placed a hand on Xu Xianxing’s shoulder. “If not, we’re leaving without you.”

Bai Li Que: “…I’ll go.”

The three of them hit it off and spent the night at Lian Mu’s bamboo house.

Of course, while Lian Mu and Xu Xianxing sat around the table discussing things, Bai Li Que couldn’t fall asleep and ended up joining them to “join the fun.”

For some reason, even though Bai Li Que barely spoke, he inexplicably felt at ease. He listened intently, with no trace of drowsiness.

This was unlike any relationship he had experienced before. It felt like as long as he was sitting there, even without saying a word, he naturally became part of the group.

That night, he finally witnessed just how talkative Xu Xianxing could be. Once he started speaking, he didn’t stop. He blurted out whatever came to mind without any filter.

Lian Mu could keep up with him too—no matter what nonsense he spouted, she could respond without missing a beat.

Bai Li Que had to admit, he was a little envious of Xu Xianxing for having such a close friend with whom he could talk freely about anything.

Bai Li Que came from an esteemed family. In his life, aside from his parents, he had never had anyone he could truly confide in—let alone a friend like Xu Xianxing and Lian Mu, with whom he could openly vent.

As dawn approached, Lian Mu finally finished asking all the questions she had accumulated, her eyelids drooping from exhaustion. Xu Xianxing wasn’t much better—he had stayed up until he was barely coherent.

Despite that, his mouth hadn’t stopped moving. He even started teasing Bai Li Que. “Lian Mu, don’t be fooled by Bai Li Que’s serious appearance—he’s actually more cunning than anyone. He’s got a very special fetish, and it involves—”

Bai Li Que immediately shoved a pastry from the table into his mouth. “Enough.”

Lian Mu, already half-asleep, muttered casually, “What kind of fetish? Getting tricked while keeping his mouth shut? Or being good at misunderstanding others?”

Xu Xianxing burst into laughter, rolling onto the floor. “That’s true—he’s got both! People from noble families always act reserved, and to maintain a magnanimous image, they even smile and forgive when they’re wronged. If it were me, even if I couldn’t curse them out publicly, I’d at least go home and stab a hundred little voodoo dolls.”

Lian Mu couldn’t hold on anymore. She got up to find a bed, but before leaving, she patted Bai Li Que’s shoulder. “You’re just not wicked enough. Don’t be too proper all the time—be a little shameless like him, and life will be easier.”

She pointed at the half-conscious Xu Xianxing lying on the floor. Xu Xianxing muttered in protest, “I learned from you…”

Lian Mu collapsed onto the bed and immediately fell asleep.

Bai Li Que looked at the two of them—one on the bed, one knocked out on the floor—and fell silent.

He knew they were just talking nonsense in their exhausted state.

Of course, one should act properly. Doing wicked things was absolutely unacceptable—his family had taught him that since childhood.

But seeing how at ease Lian Mu and Xu Xianxing were…

Just as Bai Li Que had a strange thought, the morning bell of Yasui Peak rang.

They only had an hour to rest, yet these two had just passed out. What was he supposed to do?

“……”

Bai Li Que remained expressionless as he finally realized why Lian Mu and Xu Xianxing had insisted on dragging him along—it turned out they needed him to be their living alarm clock.

He had been tricked again.

Yet, he didn’t feel particularly angry. Unconsciously, he had already started considering these two as friends.

With no other choice, Bai Li Que resigned himself to being a human timekeeper.

However, this time, he wouldn’t let them off so easily. When the time came, he was definitely going to give each of them a good kick.