Reciprocity

"Teacher, should we make a move?" a disciple asked Elder Sun after helping him sober up.

Elder Sun poured himself soup and shook his head, "No, don't do anything to him for now. Let's figure him out first before deciding.

"There's something about this kid, and I still can't figure out how he survived that deadly situation last time. We need to investigate further.

"Either Jian Yuejie hid some intel from us, or this kid tricked Jian Yuejie. In any case, he's not simple. We have to get to the bottom of this.

"Don't make reckless moves before understanding your enemy."

"Yes, Teacher!" the disciple responded.

Just then, the disciple who had escorted Qin Ran back to his room returned. He came over and told Elder Sun, "That Yan Yi will probably not be easy to buy over."

"What did you offer him?" Elder Sun asked calmly.

"A mid-grade Qi Gathering Pellet," the disciple answered truthfully.

"Not bad, a reasonable offer," Elder Sun nodded. "Looks like he's already been bought over by Elder Qin...but no need to worry.

"The Dao Sword Sect disciples are all destitute fellows with no experience. Give him a mid-grade Qi Gathering Pellet this time, an advanced Break Barrier Pellet next time, and then an extreme-grade Pellet Condensing Pellet sometime later. He will betray Qin Ran sooner or later."

"But..." the disciple hesitated, "This Elder Qin looks hard to deal with. I reckon it won't even take two times before he finds out. Yan Yi would be in danger then."

Elder Sun looked at him with an insincere smile and asked, "What does his danger have to do with us?"

Hearing this, the two disciples were taken aback. They felt somewhat sorry for Yan Yi and silently mourned for him.

If Yan Yi accepted the benefits, Elder Qin would eventually find out, and he would die for sure. If he didn't accept them, Elder Qin would still find out. Would he believe Yan Yi then... He was doomed to die either way.

As long as Zhican Valley made a move on him, he was already on the path to destruction.

At this moment, Yan Yi's situation was somewhat similar to Qin Ran's - the contest between the powerful Dao Sword Sect and Zhican Valley ultimately fell upon Qin Ran, while the contest between Qin Ran and Elder Sun finally fell upon Yan Yi.

However, Yan Yi's situation was even worse. Qin Ran could flee at any time, but Yan Yi didn't even have that capability.

The next day, Qin Ran woke up and sat up in bed. In his groggy state, he saw someone sitting cross-legged under the window sill at the foot of the bed. He looked closely - it was Yan Yi.

Yan Yi was in very poor condition with bloodshot eyes and a pale complexion. He sat on the floor, staring intently at a spot next to Qin Ran.

Qin Ran frowned and looked to his side to see a porcelain bottle on the bedside table. He reached out and grabbed it. Opening it up, he saw seven mid-grade Qi Gathering Pellets inside.

What kind of person was he? Just putting himself in Yan Yi's shoes, he instantly understood the situation.

"Wow..." he couldn't help but exclaim.

His spy plan hadn't even crossed the Yangtze River, but his opponent was already trying to capture his pawn... What next, his general?

Qin Ran shook his head. He got out of bed, popped one Qi Gathering Pellet into his mouth, and chewed it like candy as he walked to the window.

He looked out at Zhican Valley's morning scenery through the wooden window. The morning light shone through the mist in the valley, illuminating the dewdrops and reflecting a rainbow of colors. The glistening dewdrops slid off the tender leaves and fell. He sighed, "Just a few mid-grade Qi Gathering Pellets reduced you to this state. How will you withstand extreme-grade Pellet Condensing Pellets in the future?"

"Chief..." Yan Yi stood up from the floor, wanting to confess to Qin Ran about what had happened last night.

"No need to say more!" Qin Ran turned to look at him with a smile and said, "It's already impressive that you didn't directly accept these Qi Gathering Pellets. Putting myself in your shoes, I wouldn't have been able to resist such temptation. You have earned my admiration!"

He patted Yan Yi on the shoulder and said, "You endured the test. Your state of mind and mental state have risen tremendously. That is much more useful than these pills. Relying on pills for cultivation has always been a last resort."

Yan Yi looked at Qin Ran. He opened his mouth wanting to say something, but he knew Qin Ran already understood everything, so there was no need to explain.

"Chief..."

Qin Ran shook his head and looked back out the window, "Actually, these Qi Gathering Pellets don't taste as good as my homemade candies. I'll send you some when we return to the sect. Much more delicious."

This gave Yan Yi an epiphany. That's right - what kind of character was Chief Qin? Following Chief Qin, what resources would he not enjoy? Pills? Chief Qin was the number one pill master of Dao Sword Sect!

"Mm!" He nodded vigorously.

"Get ready, we're just getting started today!" Qin Ran put the rest of the Qi Gathering Pellets into his Universe Bag.

After washing up and tidying themselves, the two headed out the door. Under Qin Ran's lead, they went straight towards Zhican Valley's...cafeteria.

Soon, they arrived at the dining area. With Qin Ran's elder status, he retrieved the best food available and brought Yan Yi to an empty table to sit down.

As he ate, Qin Ran kept looking around, seemingly searching for someone.

"Chief, who are you looking for?" Yan Yi asked.

Qin Ran brought his gaze back and said, "An interesting person."

Noticing Yan Yi wasn't eating, just sitting there, he asked, "Why aren't you eating?"

"I wasn't hungry after you ate, Chief..." Yan Yi said, embarrassed.

"It's not poisoned," Qin Ran laughed. "They probably don't plan to make a move this time...so it's safe now."

"Oh..." Yan Yi laughed and started eating as well.

"Hey! Why aren't you dead yet?!" Just then, a familiar voice came from the side.

Qin Ran was alerted. He turned to look - it was the scruffy, skinny man he was searching for.

"Luckily not dead yet!" he laughed and quickly waved the man over, "Come, sit!"

The man sat down casually and looked Qin Ran up and down with confusion, "How are you still so weak and feeble-looking?"

"Born this way, can't change it," Qin Ran said. He then asked the man, "How may I address you, Brother?"

"Just call me Nangong Xin," the sloppy man answered, not standing on ceremony as he directly grabbed food from Qin Ran's table and started eating.

"Brother Nangong!" Knowing he was still under Elder Sun's surveillance, Qin Ran didn't bother with pleasantries. He directly took out a booklet and handed it to Nangong Xin, saying, "I have considerable understanding regarding meridians, acupoints, medicinal properties and effects. Please provide me some pointers."

As soon as Nangong Xin heard this, he stopped eating. Hurriedly taking the booklet, he flipped it open eagerly.

At first glance, his eyes clearly lit up, filled with a terrifying desire...a desire for knowledge.

"You! It's you again!" Before he could even flip the page, Elder Sun had arrived, pointing at Nangong Xin and scolding, "No sense of propriety! Here again!"

Nangong Xin was indeed afraid of Elder Sun. Just hearing his voice made him instinctively hunch his shoulders. Not daring to even look at Elder Sun, he grabbed the food on the table and ran away holding it.

"Sorry for the disturbance, Elder." After chasing Nangong Xin away, Elder Sun hurriedly apologized to Qin Ran, "Has the Elder been bothered?"

"Haha..." Qin Ran was in an excellent mood and replied, "No bother."

He added, "Please help me bring some more food, Elder. I'm still not full."

Elder Sun ordered his disciples to bring Qin Ran more food, but his eyes held flickering uncertainty. He didn't know what had happened, but something felt off.

Yan Yi looked at Qin Ran, then Elder Sun, and finally back at Nangong Xin's retreating figure. He knew something was up with that booklet.