Finally realized From the very beginning, you couldn't even see through my cultivation level.

Su Jiu returned to her room and walked to the desk, subtly flipping over the sheet of paper filled with writing—her plans now hidden beneath the blank side. She casually placed an inkstone on top to weigh it down before sitting on the edge of her bed, eyeing Su Ji as he followed her inside.

"Speak. What brings you here?"

Su Ji grinned, plopping onto the chair opposite her and pouring himself a cup of water without invitation. "Can’t I just visit my junior sister for no reason?"

Su Jiu didn’t even lift her eyelids.

"You could. But you wouldn’t."

Su Ji: "…"

Upon reflection, he really was the type to only show up when he needed something.

Well, no point pretending then.

"Junior Sister, ever heard of [Hundred-Tempered Heavenly Silkworm Thread]?"

Su Jiu finally looked up, a flicker of surprise in her eyes.

"Where did you see that?"

Given Su Ji’s pitifully limited knowledge, if a new term came out of his mouth, it was almost certainly something he’d stumbled upon recently.

"Saw it at the market. The seller was asking for five thousand low-grade spirit stones. I countered with five—nearly gave the guy a stroke."

Su Ji wore a smug expression.

"He said it hadn’t sold in half a year. I figure that thing’s worth a few hundred low-grade stones at most. If I let him stew for a few days, he’ll be begging me to take it off his hands."

Su Jiu listened quietly, her expression growing increasingly peculiar.

When he finished, she spoke softly, almost ominously.

"Hundred-Tempered Heavenly Silkworm Thread is harvested from the Heavenly Mountain Snow Silkworms of the far north’s bitter wastelands. These silkworms spin only once in their lifetime—and die immediately after."

"The silk is extraordinarily resilient. It must be tempered in the toxic flames of the Earth’s Core for a hundred days to purge impurities before it can be shaped."

"If woven into soft armor, even a Golden Core cultivator’s lifebound treasure might struggle to pierce it."

She paused, watching Su Ji’s face stiffen by the second.

"Five hundred years ago, a single set of Hundred-Tempered Heavenly Silkworm Armor surfaced. It sparked a bloody fight between three Golden Core Perfection cultivators before finally being auctioned off for thirty thousand high-grade spirit stones."

Su Ji’s confusion was perfectly timed. "High-grade?"

"Ten low-grade stones for one mid-grade. Ten mid-grade for one high-grade."

"Senior Brother, how many low-grade stones do you think that amounts to?"

Su Ji’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

Had he… just missed out on a fortune?

No!

Not yet!

He shot to his feet. "Dammit! Junior Sister, lend me some stones—I need to go grab that bargain!"

Su Jiu rolled her eyes. "Relax."

"A treasure like that? If it’s been sitting unsold for half a year, no one else recognized it either. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have waited for you."

Su Ji considered this. True.

But he still couldn’t shake his unease.

"Still, we can’t be careless! What if someone else with my level of insight shows up?"

Su Jiu nearly laughed at his shamelessness.

"Senior Brother, you call that insight?"

"You tried to haggle over a millennium-old ginseng like it was a radish."

Su Ji’s face reddened, but he doubled down. "Haggling’s all about starting low. Suppress before you elevate."

Su Jiu couldn’t be bothered to argue.

Su Ji frowned. "But why would the seller leave such a treasure out in the open? And only ask for five thousand low-grade stones?"

Su Jiu’s delicate brows furrowed in thought.

"There must be a catch."

After a moment, she understood. "Ah. It’s the quantity."

Su Ji replied, "About half a fist-sized bundle."

Su Jiu shook her head. "That explains it. Far too little."

She elaborated patiently: "Refining Hundred-Tempered Heavenly Silkworm Thread is extremely difficult, and the yield is minuscule. The amount you described wouldn’t even come close to crafting a full inner armor. Even as supplementary material for another artifact, it’d be insufficient."

"So it’s stuck in an awkward spot—too expensive for ordinary disciples to afford, yet too scant for inner sect elders with real resources to bother with. Why buy vinegar if you’re not making dumplings?"

"Not worth eating, but a shame to discard."

Su Ji’s eyes widened in realization.

So that was it.

And here he’d thought his acting had fooled the vendor.

"Then, Junior Sister, what do you think it’s actually worth?"

Su Jiu held up four slender fingers.

"If you find a desperate buyer, five thousand low-grade stones might work. But I’d say four thousand is fair—a small bargain."

Is that so?

Then if the seller had dropped to thirty-five hundred…

Should he buy it and flip it for four?

"Senior Brother."

Su Jiu’s voice cut through his scheming.

"Be a dear and fetch that for me."

"That Hundred-Tempered Heavenly Silkworm Thread happens to have… special uses for me."

Su Ji immediately perked up.

Now we’re talking business!

Without hesitation, he thrust out his palm, all professionalism.

"Fine. Give me thirty-six hundred low-grade stones."

"With the three hundred I’ve got, I’ll negotiate hard. Should seal the deal."

Su Jiu shot him a look. "I only have three hundred left on me."

Su Ji: "???"

This generous?

She was splitting her entire six-hundred-stone savings evenly with him?

And he’d been planning to skim an extra hundred?

He felt like scum.

What a monster!

Next time, he’d only embezzle fifty. For dignity’s sake.

Then Su Jiu walked to her cabinet.

From a small wooden box, she retrieved a withered, shriveled blade of grass.

"I can’t spare that many stones. Take this and ask if he’ll trade."

Su Ji took it curiously. "What is it?"

"The shed husk of a Frostbloom Herb. I picked it up on a whim, but its hundred-millennium lifespan had expired—its true spirit extinguished. Otherwise, its value could’ve brought calamity upon the entire Love-Longing Sect…"

"Now? If we’re lucky, it might barter for something decent."

"Alright, I’ll try."

……

Soon, Su Ji returned to the market.

From a distance, he spotted a small crowd gathered around the vendor’s stall.

He sprinted over, shoving through the onlookers.

The seller was mid-pitch, enthusiastically hawking a flying sword to a group of outer sect disciples.

The wooden box containing the silkworm thread was nowhere in sight—stashed away.

Su Ji cleared his throat and swaggered forward.

"Boss. I’m back."

The vendor turned, his enthusiasm evaporating the moment he saw Su Ji.

"Oh."

He barely glanced up, resuming his spiel to the disciples.

"Gentlemen, observe! This ‘Azure Edge Sword’ is an ancestral relic from antiquity—"

"See the aura? It’s slain great demons!"

Su Ji feigned curiosity. "Last time, your ‘demon-slaying dagger’ shattered on contact. Recycling material now?"

The disciples exchanged glances and walked off.

The vendor nearly choked on rage. "Don’t slap a man when he’s selling, don’t expose a man’s lies! If you’re not buying, don’t ruin my business!"

Unfazed, Su Ji just grinned.

"Boss, my friend says that bundle of tattered silk you’ve got isn’t half bad."

"How about you pay me five hundred low-grade spirit stones to take it off your hands?"

The stall owner nearly choked on his anger, grinding out the words through clenched teeth: "Are you insane, or am I? I sell you a treasure, and then pay you five hundred spirit stones on top? Get lost."

Su Ji shook his head, feigning regret. "What a shame. I was hoping we could talk business."

"There’s nothing to talk about with you."

Su Ji snapped his fingers.

A miniature black fire dragon coiled around his fingertip three times before dissipating into nothingness. "Well? Can we talk now?"

The stall owner scoffed. "So what? Any Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator can pull off a spirit energy manifestation trick. That doesn’t scare—"

"Wait… You’re… Qi Refining eighth layer?"

Su Ji smirked, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "Finally noticed, huh? Truth is, you couldn’t even see through my cultivation level from the start."

The stall owner felt an oppressive weight, as if a python were coiling around his chest, squeezing the breath from his lungs…

Then, stubbornly, he unleashed his divine sense, probing with everything he had.

No matter how hard he strained to perceive Su Ji’s true cultivation…

Every single pulse of his divine sense echoed back the same answer—Qi Refining eighth layer…

He actually…

Couldn’t see through it at all…?