"Senior... you are my ultimate savior!"

Song Tianyu almost choked onto his tears, and kowtowed in front of Gu fan.

Without hesitation he banged his forehead against the solid floor three times in a profound and absolute respect to show his deepest gratitude before Gu Fan could even reach out to stop him.

"Please accept me as your formal disciple, Senior, because my life now belongs to you!" Song Tianyu pleaded while remaining firmly on his knees, but Gu Fan quickly shook his head and let out an amused chuckle.

"I am absolutely no senior of yours, and since I am actually even younger than you are, you definitely shouldn’t be calling me that or asking for my tutelage," Gu Fan corrected Song Tianyu casually waving his hand to dismiss the desperate disciple request.

"If you are not my senior, then I will call you my big brother, and I absolutely do not care if you try to say otherwise because my mind is completely made up!" Song Tianyu insisted stubbornly, and before Gu Fan could even utter a single word of protest, the Song Clan Young Master bit his thumb to draw a drop of bright red blood.

"I, Song Tianyu, swear a binding Soul Oath by my own blood and the Heavenly Dao right here and now!" Tianyu declared fiercely, smearing the blood across his forehead as the spiritual laws of the world briefly resonated with his heavy words.

"From this day forward, I acknowledge you as my sworn big brother, and if I ever betray you or forget this massive, heaven-defying debt, may the heavens strike me down with lightning and shatter my soul into a million pieces!"

"You...?" Gu Fan actually blinked in genuine surprise because even though he had personally written Song Tianyu’s instinctively noble and eager nature, watching the legendary genius act so incredibly gullible and innocent right in front of him was entirely baffling.

But this also made Gu Fan respect Song Tianyu even more, especially since Tianyu had actually been Gu Fan’s absolute favourite character to write back in his past life until he was forced to ruthlessly kill the young master off just to make the story more interesting and incite a massive, bloody war between the Gu Chen and the Heavenly Sect.

But even after all that, Song Tianyu was not done.

"No, a simple blood oath is absolutely not enough to repay a life-saving grace of this incredible magnitude!" Song Tianyu suddenly muttered frantically to himself while still kneeling on the wooden floor.

His eyes darted around the displays of the third floor

"What can I possibly give a supreme expert who likely already possesses the entire world? Spirit Crystals are far too insulting, and standard mortal wealth is completely meaningless to someone of his caliber... I need to offer him something truly worthy of his generosity!"

Eager to repay the massive life-saving debt, Tianyu suddenly scrambled up from the floor and aggressively grabbed the ’Earth-Shattering Bastion’ shield and the crimson-glowing ’Twin Blood-Lotus Sabers’ right off their display racks, forcefully shoving the high-grade artifacts directly into Gu Fan’s hands.

"Please, big brother, you must take these pathetic items as a token of my gratitude!" Song Tianyu pleaded desperately with his face dripping with heaven-shattering devotion, "I know this is nothing compared to the priceless foundation you just saved, so you can take whatever you want from this entire pavilion!"

Gu Fan smiled warmly beneath his mask and gently pushed the glowing, high-tier artifacts back toward the frantic genius, acting like an expert who completely disregarded material wealth as he placed a reassuring hand on Tianyu’s trembling shoulder.

"Calm down, little brother," Gu Fan said with a smooth, incredibly deep, and comforting tone, perfectly playing the role of the benevolent senior, "I did not share this profound secret with you just to extort you for some low-level loot or a few Spirit Stones, because true brotherhood cannot be bought or sold like cheap meat in a market."

And as he heard him, Song Tianyu stared at him with absolute awe, completely taken in by the masked man’s incredible generosity and righteous demeanour.

"I am currently walking a very long, and incredibly treacherous journey to the absolute pinnacle of the cultivation world."

"And the path to the very top is filled with backstabbing snakes," Gu Fan continued to lie flawlessly, staring deeply into Tianyu’s eyes to cement the emotional manipulation.

"I do not need fancy weapons, millions of Spirit Crystals or a Heavenly armour, Young master Tianyu, because what I truly need is a reliable, righteous brother by my side who I can trust with my back when the entire world turns against us."

Deeply moved to his absolute core by the profound sentiment, Song Tianyu felt a massive surge of brotherly affection swell in his chest, violently wiping the tears from his eyes as he fiercely pounded his fist over his own heart.

"I swear it, big brother!" Tianyu declared with righteous determination, "I will be the absolute best sworn brother you could ever ask for, and I will gladly shed my own blood and lay down my life for you against any enemy who dares to block your path!"

"Brother Song!" Gu Fan nodded approvingly, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

"But you absolutely must take these artifacts as a token of my goodwill, big brother, or my Dao heart will simply not be at peace knowing I gave you nothing in return for my life!" Song Tianyu stubbornly refused to back down on the gifts, aggressively shoving the heavy shield and the blood-draining sabres back into Gu Fan’s arms.

"Fine, I will accept these toys just to appease your stubborn heart, little brother," Gu Fan finally sighed and accepted them.

He tossed the Earth-Grade shield and the King-Tier sabres into his inventory.

Song Tianyu smiled happily seeing that his new sworn brother had finally accepted his meager offering.

"Brother, if you ever need absolutely anything else, you just have to let me know I will do anything you ask of me to do!" Song Tianyu added enthusiastically, as he eagerly awaited any opportunity to prove his worth to his new brother.

"Actually, there is indeed something you can use your influence to help me with right away," Gu Fan replied slowly, taking his time to think about it."

Song Tianyu’s ears instantly stood up in attention, and his eyes burned with eagerness as he looked at the masked man, ready to charge into a blazing fire if his new brother asked him to.

"Name it, big brother, and I will mobilize the entire Song Clan to get it done!" Tianyu promised aggressively, eagerly waiting for the command.

Gu Fan nodded as he looked out the window toward the chaotic streets of the bazaar.

"Brother Song Tianyu..."

"Can you get me a place to stay?"