You're a Bit Poor, So I'll Just Borrow 1.05 Billion

Jiang Lingsu nodded. Only then did Qiong Yunting leave, thoroughly satisfied. Atop the pavilion, only Qi Yuan and Jiang Lingsu remained once more. Jiang Lingsu blinked. "Eldest Senior Brother, do you know she isn't my sister now?" Qi Yuan assumed a thoughtful expression. "She's our creditor." "Huh? Are you really short on money?" Jiang Lingsu asked in a daze. "A tiny hundred-million bit," Qi Yuan replied. "Why didn't you say so earlier? Are these enough?" Jiang Lingsu pulled out a storage pouch and offered it to Qi Yuan. Thinking of something, she rummaged around her person again and produced four more storage pouches. Finally, she even gritted her teeth and pulled a pink storage pouch from her bodice. "These six storage pouches contain all my spirit stones. Whether it's enough or not, I'll lend them to you!" Jiang Lingsu said earnestly. Seeing this, Qi Yuan felt a slight touch of warmth in his heart. His rich-lady junior sister was as kindhearted as ever. Back when Qi Yuan was still weak, she had rained gold coins, spirit stones, and cultivation techniques upon him. "Well, it probably isn't enough. You should keep this money, Junior Sister," Qi Yuan said, unconsciously placing a hand on Jiang Lingsu's head and ruffling her hair. "Not enough? What are you buying that requires so much money?" A thought struck Jiang Lingsu, and a flicker of disappointment crossed her heart. She moved to pull her private stash back. She had forgotten that the Senior Brother of today was no longer the Senior Brother of the past. This private stash she had saved for so many years was utterly negligible to him. Just then, Qi Yuan placed his hand over Jiang Lingsu's soft, tender hand, stopping her from pulling the pink storage pouch back. "Junior Sister, I don't want to owe money. Owing debts feels awful—whenever I see a creditor, all I want to do is run. "How about this: don't lend me these spirit stones, invest them in me instead? How does that sound? "In this game of mine, the real estate industry is extraordinarily lucrative—a true sunrise industry. "Why don't you use these spirit stones to invest in buying a plot of land with me? Once I build the Netherworld, how about I reserve a plot for you to build a house?" Qi Yuan spoke words that were nearly impossible to comprehend. Jiang Lingsu, however, seemed to ponder them quite seriously. At that moment, Jiang Qian, the manager of the Jiang family's businesses, halted her footsteps. Hearing Qi Yuan's words, a helpless expression could not help but well up in her eyes. "Young Miss, investing in houses and acquiring land deeds in Yuntian City is not very wise," Jiang Qian could not resist reminding her. In her heart, her opinion of Qi Yuan sank a few notches further. Still, he was the Young Miss's Eldest Senior Brother, so she could not say much. Although she could not see through Qi Yuan's cultivation, on the merits of that face alone, marrying into the Jiang family as a matrilocal son-in-law would be more than enough. Jiang Lingsu glanced back at Jiang Qian. "This lady is investing in Eldest Senior Brother, not in any Yuntian City! I trust Eldest Senior Brother!" As she spoke, she pushed the pink storage pouch into Qi Yuan's hands. "Save me a good spot!" "Don't worry!" Qi Yuan patted his chest, giving his word. Seeing this, Jiang Qian said no more on the matter. She spoke softly, "Young Miss, word has arrived that the Eccentric Painter will return tomorrow." "Mm, good! Senior Brother and I will go look for her tomorrow!" Jiang Lingsu was quite pleased. She could still be of help to her senior brother. Just then, Jiang Lingsu thought of something and casually asked, "I heard our Jiang family's businesses here have run into some difficulties?" A flicker of worry flitted through Jiang Qian's eyes, but she replied gently, "Young Miss, I will handle these matters. You need only focus on your cultivation with peace of mind. Once your strength is great enough, no problem will remain a problem." Jiang Qian felt considerable envy toward Jiang Lingsu. The Young Miss belonged to the Jiang family's main lineage, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, enjoying abundant cultivation resources. Moreover, the Young Miss possessed exceptional cultivation talent, qualifying her to view the Jiang family's supreme treasure and have her talent enhanced by it. Jiang Qian, on the other hand, hailed from a branch lineage. Without formidable talent or exceptionally striking looks, making significant progress on the path of immortal cultivation was virtually impossible for her. People like her were typically sent out to manage various businesses, earning spirit stones and resources for the cultivation of the Jiang family's main lineage. Naturally, she harbored immense envy toward the Young Miss, who possessed both outstanding beauty and extraordinary talent. Were Jiang Qian to be granted just one of the three—the Young Miss's beauty, talent, or birthright—her life would be completely different. Having delivered her report, Jiang Qian walked out of the pavilion, a hint of envy lingering in her eyes. If only she had been born into the main lineage. Then she could choose what she liked, just like the Young Miss; keeping a handsome vase around would not be bad either. Soon, she cast these thoughts aside, eager to return and attend to the Jiang family's businesses in the city. Right at that moment, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed. "Manager Jiang, what a coincidence to run into you here." Before Jiang Qian appeared a rat-faced man dressed in a blood-red robe, holding a folding fan, looking utterly ostentatious and pompous. Seeing the newcomer, Jiang Qian's brows knitted slightly. "Young Master Feng." The man before her was named Feng Ruohan. It was a decent name, but his reputation was atrocious—a notorious playboy of Yuntian City. However, the Feng family was a prominent clan in Yuntian City and even Helan Continent, possessing strength far more profound than that of the Jiang family. Feng Ruohan's red robe was naturally a copycat tribute to the legendary Blood-Robed Sword God. Snapping his folding fan shut, he spoke: "I've heard that the young miss of the Jiang Clan's main lineage is as fair as a celestial being. I wonder if I might be fortunate enough to meet her?" "That matter must first be asked of the Young Miss." "Manager Jiang, you are merely a member of a branch lineage in the Jiang family. In this lifetime, you likely have no hope of advancement." Feng Ruohan suddenly sighed with emotion. "What do you mean, Young Master Feng?" Jiang Qian frowned, vigilance rising in her heart. "Very simple. This young master wishes to make a deal with you." A smile played on Feng Ruohan's face. "I have long admired Miss Jiang and wish to form a marriage alliance with the Jiang Clan. However, my appearance is somewhat unsightly, and Miss Jiang is accompanied by a handsome senior brother. "Therefore, I hope to enlist your help in pouring this vial of medicinal liquid into Miss Jiang's drink. "Once she consumes it, she will fall deeply in love with this young master, and the Jiang family will never detect it. "Don't you dearly wish to cooperate with our Feng family? As long as you help this young master this once, the Feng family will immediately assist you and resolve your crisis. "This young master will also vigorously support you from behind the scenes to help you rise. In this lifetime, you will no longer be confined to being a petty manager, and may even have hopes of aspiring to the Divine Infant realm. "Well? Is this young master's sincerity sufficient?" Feng Ruohan stared directly into Jiang Qian's eyes. Jiang Qian's face turned deathly pale. Her fingers were already prepared to crush a teleportation talisman. "I apologize, Young Master Feng, but such a joke is not funny." The expression on Feng Ruohan's face froze. "Do you mean... you wish to refuse?" Murderous intent welled in his eyes. Before coming, he had already laid down a formation here. Since Jiang Qian had heard his scheme and refused to comply, there was only one path left for her: death. Once Jiang Qian was dead, he would take his time dealing with Jiang Lingsu. He pulled his lips back into a cruel, wretched grin. "Don't worry. Your corpse, I will only play with for a single day." Jiang Qian's face drained of all color, for her teleportation talisman had lost all effect at this very moment. Yet right then, a flash of red light suddenly streaked across the sky. A fine red line appeared across Feng Ruohan's neck. In an instant, his head parted from his shoulders, leaving behind a mirror-smooth cut. His body crashed heavily to the ground. A faint, indifferent voice laced with killing intent drifted over. "As expected, staying at home is much better. You don't run into so much disgusting garbage. "Sigh, the moral conduct of the immortal cultivation world is simply too deplorable." A handsome man draped in a blood-red robe appeared, carrying a touch of helplessness in his words. Seeing the newcomer, Jiang Qian's eyes widened. "Young Master Qi!" She never imagined that the person who saved her would be Qi Yuan. Such strength... was he a Divine Infant? Her heart suddenly seized with tension. Young Master Qi had killed Feng Ruohan. The skies of Yuntian City... were about to change. "Young Master Qi, he is a young master of Yuntian City's Feng family, the local tyrant here! Please take the Young Miss and leave this place immediately, Young Master Qi; I will stay behind to handle the aftermath!" Jiang Qian was indeed a manager who oversaw regional affairs—she remained remarkably calm, prioritizing the interests of the main lineage above all else. Qi Yuan smiled. "I'll leave after I see the Eccentric Painter." With that, his figure vanished into thin air, leaving Jiang Qian standing alone, her expression shifting continuously. "No, I cannot let the Feng family discover so quickly that Feng Ruohan died at our Jiang Clan's hands. Otherwise, none of us will be able to leave. Sigh... Young Master Qi was too rash; he shouldn't have delivered a fatal blow!" Jiang Qian sighed with emotion, but since the deed was done, there was nothing she could do. ... "Senior Brother, hurry up and get ready. We're heading to the Divine Infant Banquet. Huh, where did you just go?" Jiang Lingsu sat before a vanity, glancing at Qi Yuan from the corner of her eye. Qi Yuan actually found Jiang Lingsu's makeup routine quite baffling. She was already naturally breathtaking with exquisite skin; she had absolutely no need for cosmetics. On the other hand, the women on the Arch Star lacked natural perfection—take Wu Qi, for instance—so putting on makeup truly elevated their appearance by an entire tier in the eyes of ordinary people. "I went and killed someone, and while I was at it, unleashed the Ten Slaughters Tyrant Fist to wipe out a clan to clean up the moral conduct of the cultivation world. The atmosphere in this Yuntian City is simply too foul," Qi Yuan said casually. The Ten Slaughters Tyrant Fist was not a Dao technique, but a martial art. What surprised Qi Yuan was that the martial path was indeed peculiar. According to records, when immortal path experts of the Yang God realm traveled to certain extraordinary domains, their cultivation would drop by a tier. Likewise, when cultivators of those extraordinary domains' cultivation systems at the Yang God realm entered the immortal cultivation world, their cultivation would also drop by a tier. Yet Qi Yuan, as a Myriad Dao Martial God, suffered no such restriction, retaining the martial combat strength of a Martial God—which was to say, a Yang God. "Oh, killing bad guys." Jiang Lingsu was completely accustomed to such things. "Senior Brother, hurry and look, how does my makeup look?" "Better without it," Qi Yuan evaluated objectively. Jiang Lingsu shot Qi Yuan a glare. "This lady must completely overshadow Qiong Yunting!" "Why make things hard for a bro?" Qi Yuan chuckled. "What? Bro?" Jiang Lingsu paused for a moment, then caught Qi Yuan's meaning and covered her mouth in laughter. "Senior Brother, you really have a way with words. Later at the Divine Infant Banquet, since you're so eloquent, speak up more!" Jiang Lingsu suddenly remembered that her senior brother's tongue was far more venomous than hers. "I have social anxiety. When the time comes, I'll just find a spot to sit and eat melon." "Ah?" Hearing this, Jiang Lingsu pondered briefly. "I'll keep you company." ... In Yunzhong City, the Divine Infant Banquet was bustling with excitement. Not only had many young cultivators appeared, but older-generation cultivators also arrived in droves. All the major factions of Yunzhong City and the rest of Helan Continent sent representatives. The star of this Divine Infant Banquet was Wang Yunteng, the young master of the Wang Clan. Rumor had it that at his birth, a celestial fragrance filled the air, and a white deer arrived to bestow spiritual liquid upon him. Wang Yunteng was also regarded as the future hope of the Wang family. "Sigh, Wang Yunteng is the same age as me, yet now he has become a Divine Infant, no longer on the same level as us." "With such a qilin prodigy emerging from the Wang family, they may enjoy a thousand years of fortune!" "I heard the Wang family is hosting this Divine Infant Banquet to make an important announcement!" "What important announcement?" "Supposedly, it's related to the legendary Blood-Robed Sword God!" "*Hiss*, a Yin God expert!" The visiting guests showered ceaseless flattery. Wang Yunteng had his arm around Qiong Yunting, his expression arrogant. Regarding his arrogance, the cultivators present found it entirely understandable. Young people being a bit haughty was completely normal. Qiong Yunting's eyes had been sweeping through the guests, and the moment she spotted a familiar figure, she immediately went over to greet them. "Little Sister, you're finally here! You kept your elder sister waiting so long. "Everyone, this is Miss Jiang Lingsu of the Jiang Clan, and also my dear bosom friend!" Qiong Yunting announced joyfully. "Someone from the Jiang family? Wang Yunteng's prestige is formidable indeed—to think someone from the Jiang family traveled all the way from another continent to attend his Divine Infant Banquet!" "Does the Wang family's prestige even need saying? Which prominent family or sect in Helan Continent hasn't shown up?" "Speaking of which, it's rather strange. Why hasn't anyone from Yuntian City's Feng family arrived?" The Feng family was the preeminent faction in Yuntian City, and behind them stood Phoenix Palace, ranking among the top three powers in Helan Continent. Residing in the same city, the Feng family's congratulatory gifts should have arrived long ago by all rights, yet no one had shown up, which was truly odd. "The Feng family has always been proud. Isn't it only natural that they'd want to arrive as the grand finale?" The guests engaged in lively chatter. Qiong Yunting's attention, however, was focused entirely on Jiang Lingsu. After all, this was a rare opportunity for her to outshine Jiang Lingsu. "Little Sister's Dao companion is truly a talent of striking appearance. Who would have thought that a petty place like the Land of a Hundred Nations could produce a flood dragon!" The moment Qiong Yunting opened her mouth, her words reeked of green-tea passive-aggression. On the surface, she was praising Qi Yuan's talent, but in truth, she was disparaging his humble origins. Sure enough, upon hearing that Qi Yuan hailed from the Land of a Hundred Nations, the guests who had previously observed his striking appearance and considered befriending him all abandoned the idea. The Land of a Hundred Nations seemingly did not even possess a single Purple Mansion-tier power. Had it not been for the Palace of Light affair, they would never have even heard of the place. Hearing Qiong Yunting deliberately refer to her senior brother as her Dao companion, Jiang Lingsu blushed, but had no time to offer explanations. Instead, she flaunted proudly, "Elder Sister is right. My Eldest Senior Brother is a true dragon—he has made it onto the Eastern Lands Heavenly Pride Roll!" The Eastern Lands Heavenly Pride Roll was not something just anyone could enter; it represented the strongest batch of the younger generation across the Eastern Lands. "He's actually a prodigy on the Eastern Lands Heavenly Pride Roll?" "Qi Yuan... I don't seem to have heard of him." "It sounds somewhat familiar, but that person doesn't seem to be a young prodigy." On the Eastern Lands Heavenly Pride Roll, the strongest of the younger generation were only at the Divine Infant realm, while most were Origin Core. Hearing this, Qiong Yunting was slightly taken aback. She never imagined Jiang Lingsu had hidden this so deeply. To only reveal such crucial information now—all just to steal her spotlight! "Sigh, what a pity Yunteng was in secluded cultivation a few years ago. Otherwise, had he participated in the Eastern Lands Heavenly Pride Roll, securing a spot in the top three would have been no problem at all," Qiong Yunting remarked with feigned regret. Hearing this, Jiang Lingsu rolled her eyes endlessly in her heart. Under normal circumstances, she could not be bothered to compete with Qiong Yunting. However, slandering her senior brother was something she could never tolerate! Just as she was about to speak, Qi Yuan beside her spoke up: "Fairy Qiong, earlier today, didn't you say that if I attended the Divine Infant Banquet, you and Wang Yunteng would lend me some spirit stones to relieve my urgent need? "I won't beat around the bush then. The auspicious congratulations have been given—when does Fairy Qiong plan to produce the spirit stones?" Qi Yuan was very direct, cutting straight to the chase. He intended to take the money and leave immediately. Qiong Yunting froze, caught off guard that Qi Yuan would bring this up so bluntly. What thick skin! Was this really someone from the Eastern Lands Heavenly Pride Roll? "Your Jiang family's businesses in Yuntian City ran into some trouble, and Lingsu and I are like sisters. If there is a need, I will certainly help. I wonder how much you need to borrow? Your elder sister will do everything within her power to help you resolve the difficulty!" Qiong Yunting said with a poised smile, displaying great grace. The other cultivators all turned toward Qi Yuan with peculiar expressions. He came here to borrow money? "Mm... I calculated a bit. The Wang family's assets are worth about one billion spirit stones, and the Qiong family is worth fifty million. "To be honest, you're a bit poor, and your spirit stones are somewhat lacking. I won't make exorbitant demands then—I'll just borrow 1.05 billion spirit stones," Qi Yuan said calmly. The moment these words were uttered, quite a few people present sucked in a cold breath of air. This guy... was he borrowing spirit stones? He was clearly here to trash the place!