Chapter Twenty-Two: Young Master, you are so biased.

Ji Qingwan raised her hand, and with a flicker of spiritual light, two exquisite jade bottles flew steadily toward Lin Fan.

To his surprise, they were two bottles of Foundation-Consolidating Pills.

Lin Fan caught them with both hands. To other cultivators, these pills were rare and precious treasures. To him, however, they were somewhat redundant, as he did not rely on pills to cultivate or increase his spiritual power.

Still, these pills could be given to Bai Xiyue. Since that girl was essentially Su Xingyue’s informant, Lin Fan needed to find a way to win her favor—ideally, to bribe her.

He calculated this inwardly while keeping his expression indifferent. He bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you for your generosity, Senior!"

"Good disciple, I have just broken through and need to stabilize my cultivation," Ji Qingwan’s voice sounded again. "I will borrow your room for a couple of days. I shall return it to you once my cultivation is steady."

Su Xingyue bowed quickly and replied, "Yes, Master!"

"Very well, you may both withdraw," Ji Qingwan said coolly.

Lin Fan and Su Xingyue exited the room one after the other.

Inside the room, Ji Qingwan clenched her delicate fists and struck her own chest hard.

"Pah!"

She opened her red lips, and a pill flew out—the very same one she had swallowed earlier.

Ji Qingwan frowned deeply. "I feared this pill might have issues, so I wrapped it in my spiritual power, intending to refine it bit by bit. I never expected my cultivation to break through so inexplicably before I even began refining it."

She was filled with suspicion. The breakthrough had come too suddenly, too bizarrely.

"It seems my disciple is hiding some astonishing secrets from me. And that husband of hers—he hides his cultivation; he appears to be at the first level of Qi Refining, but he is actually at the ninth. By using the excuse of stabilizing my cultivation to stay here, I shall get to the bottom of how exactly I managed to break through," Ji Qingwan thought to herself.

...

Once outside the courtyard, Lin Fan deliberately slowed his pace to walk alongside Su Xingyue.

He sighed with a look of feigned grievance. "Sister, you’ve sold me out. You used my body to gain your own benefits."

Su Xingyue paused, turning to look at Lin Fan. A glint of craftiness flashed in her charming eyes. "Little brother, how can you say that? I already paid you. Over five hundred spirit stones and the secret technique reserved for core disciples of the Su family. Is that not enough?"

Her red lips parted, her voice laced with enchantment.

Lin Fan gave an awkward laugh. "It is my honor to assist you, Sister. But helping a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator break through to the Golden Core stage really took a toll on me. You don’t know, but I feel completely drained." As he spoke, he rubbed his waist, putting on a show of weakness.

Seeing this, a smile flickered in Su Xingyue's eyes. She took an exquisite jade bottle from her storage bag and handed it to him. "Take this as compensation."

Lin Fan took the bottle and opened it to find several crystal-clear pills inside—more Foundation-Consolidating Pills. They were truly useless to him, so he waved his hand quickly. "Sister, these pills can aid your own cultivation. You should keep them. The higher your cultivation, the better you can protect me, and the safer I shall be."

He paused, then shifted his tone. "If you must give me something, just give me some spirit stones!"

Su Xingyue couldn't help but giggle. Her laughter made her tremble with a graceful charm. "Little brother, you are truly adorable. A bottle of these pills could sell for over hundreds of spirit stones in the cultivation world. Since you want spirit stones, I shall give you some."

With a flash of light, a pile of about a hundred spirit stones appeared before Lin Fan. While the pills were worth far more, Lin Fan was trapped in the Su family estate and could not convert them into currency. It was much more practical to exchange them for longevity.

Lin Fan grabbed the stones and tucked them carefully into his robes. Su Xingyue watched his miserly behavior with amusement.

She blinked and said to Bai Xiyue, who was following them, "Xiyue, go and fetch a storage bag to deliver to the young master later."

"Yes, Master!" Bai Xiyue replied, her voice crisp and pleasant.

"Alright, I have matters to attend to. You may return to your quarters with Xiyue," Su Xingyue said. With a movement, she transformed into a streak of spiritual light and soared into the distance, vanishing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

A flicker of envy crossed Lin Fan's eyes. His current cultivation was only slightly weaker than Su Xingyue's, and he, too, was capable of flight. But to maintain his cover, he had to play the part of a weakling. He sighed inwardly; he had to increase his cultivation as soon as possible.

He returned to their courtyard with Bai Xiyue. Upon entering, he heard the sound of silver bells—Su Fei, Su Yun, and four other female cultivators were gathered together, chatting and laughing lively. Since their arrival, they had spent their time cultivating and playing together, bringing a sense of vitality to the cold, quiet courtyard.

Seeing Lin Fan return, they immediately surrounded him, asking questions all at once.

"Young Master, why did you go out today?" Su Fei asked with wide eyes, as Lin Fan had not stepped out once since they arrived.

"Your family head’s master has arrived and invited me over to take a look," Lin Fan said, seeing no reason to hide it. He smiled mysteriously and fumbled in his robes. "I went out and brought back something good for you all! Hold out your hands!"

The six women’s eyes lit up, and they obediently held out their fair wrists, faces filled with anticipation. Lin Fan pulled out the two jade bottles and shook them before their eyes.

Seeing the pills inside, the women gasped. "Young Master, are these Foundation-Consolidating Pills? I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen them before!" Su Yun rubbed her hands in excitement, her beautiful eyes sparkling. "With these, I think I can break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining very soon! You are so kind, Young Master!"

Su Fei, even more excited, threw herself at Lin Fan, hugging his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek. The soft sensation sent a ripple through Lin Fan’s heart. *This girl is becoming increasingly daring,* he thought.

Lin Fan laughed and began distributing the pills. With twenty pills in total, he gave two to each of the six women. After that, he still had eight left.

"Here are four for you," Lin Fan said, sliding four pills into the hand of Bai Xiyue, who had been staying by his side. "As for the remaining four, they will be kept as rewards for whoever performs best in the future!"

"Young Master, you are so biased, giving Sister Xiyue so many," the others teased.