By the time Jiang Xu leisurely ambled toward the ’old spot,’ Nie Mengyun was already waiting there impatiently.

Usually, it was Jiang Xu who would hurry over anxiously, while Nie Mengyun would typically saunter in half an hour late.

But the tables had turned.

This time, it was Nie Mengyun who had dropped everything and rushed over the moment she got the news. As for him, Jiang Xu, he was a full hour late.

Nie Mengyun was overjoyed when she saw Jiang Xu from afar. She hurried toward him, then slowed her pace as she got closer, adopting a coy, girlish demeanor. It was incredibly fake, but there was nothing to be done—the original owner of this body fell for it every time.

Nie Mengyun had intended to act coy and play hard to get, but when she saw Jiang Xu’s pale face and stooped figure, she was instantly alarmed.

"Brother Jiang, what happened to you?!"

"COUGH, COUGH!" After a few heavy coughs, a pained expression appeared on Jiang Xu’s bloodless face.

"My foundation wasn’t solid enough, but I tried to force a breakthrough. As a result, my veins were damaged. It’s a blessing from the heavens that I even survived!"

"How could this happen!"

Nie Mengyun’s composure finally broke. She rushed forward and demanded:

"What about my Spirit Stones?!"

A trace of guilt appeared amidst Jiang Xu’s pained expression.

"I used them to buy a Nourishing Essence Pill. It was only thanks to the pill’s effects that I managed to survive."

Nie Mengyun looked as if she’d been struck by lightning. She staggered back a few steps and collapsed to the ground, oblivious to the dirt and grime, with only one thought echoing in her mind:

’It’s gone. It’s all gone. Five Spirit Stones, then twenty Spirit Stones... a total of twenty-five. I’ve lost twenty-five Spirit Stones!!!’

But even in her agony, Nie Mengyun retained a sliver of rationality.

Pushing herself up with one hand, she got to her feet without bothering to brush the dust off her bottom. She once again stood before Jiang Xu, her eyes filled with scrutiny.

"You’ve met with a calamity, Brother Jiang, and I am so heartbroken. As it happens, I know a little about pulse diagnosis. Why don’t you let me take a look?"

Without giving Jiang Xu a chance to refuse, her right hand shot out like lightning and grabbed his wrist. Immediately after, she sent a thread of pure Magical Power into his body to investigate.

"Ah! It’s actually real!"

The next moment, Nie Mengyun fell into complete despair.

Seeing Nie Mengyun look for all the world like her parents had just died, Jiang Xu maintained a tragic and miserable expression, but inwardly, he was already laughing his head off.

’You didn’t expect that, did you!’

Jiang Xu had anticipated something like this would happen.

His injury was real!

Although his Cangmu Skill had reached the Skilled Level, healing his veins still required time.

Jiang Xu’s veins were indeed still damaged, and the condition was perfectly consistent with an injury that was severe but not fatal.

No matter how clever Nie Mengyun thought she was, she would never guess the real reason behind it all.

’Hmph. This is just the appetizer. The main course is yet to come.’

’It’s your own damn fault for messing with me!’

Seeing Nie Mengyun still standing there with a vacant look in her eyes, Jiang Xu took a step forward. His expression was conflicted. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then stopped, appearing to have something difficult and embarrassing to say.

"Mengmeng..."

When Nie Mengyun’s vacant eyes turned toward him, Jiang Xu’s gaze flickered away, as if he was too guilty to meet her eyes.

But soon, his gaze hardened with resolve, and he looked straight at Nie Mengyun.

"I know I’ve failed your expectations and wasted your Spirit Stones. What’s done is done. But it’s not like there’s no way to fix this!"

Focus returned to Nie Mengyun’s eyes.

"This vein damage wasn’t entirely without benefit. My bottleneck has already dissipated. As long as my veins heal, I can definitely break through directly to the Qi Cultivation Third Layer and still become an Outer Disciple."

The light returned to Nie Mengyun’s eyes.

"But a Vein Repair Pill costs six Spirit Stones..."

The focus and light vanished from Nie Mengyun’s eyes once again.

"Don’t worry, I’ll give you everything—both those twenty Spirit Stones and my future monthly stipend!"

But no matter what promises Jiang Xu made, no matter how grand a future he painted, Nie Mengyun remained unmoved.

’No way. She can’t even come up with six Spirit Stones?’

’Didn’t she just get twenty Spirit Stones? This woman burns through Spirit Stones way too fast!’

Jiang Xu grumbled inwardly but changed his tune out loud.

"Actually, I might be able to borrow one or two from some other fellow cultivators. I’d only need four... no, three Spirit Stones."

"They’re gone. I’ve already spent all the Spirit Stones."

Nie Mengyun wasn’t lying. She had just bought a few Qi Replenishing Pills the day before yesterday, and all her Spirit Stones were gone.

Seeing this, Jiang Xu was out of options and could only ask tentatively:

"Well, how about you see if you have any friends or family? Maybe you can scrape some together?"

Nie Mengyun was so angry she almost couldn’t breathe.

’When I was asking you for Spirit Stones, I was too embarrassed to tell you to borrow from others. How can you have the nerve to say that to me!’

Seeing Nie Mengyun’s reaction, Jiang Xu sighed to himself.

’Looks like she’s really out of Spirit Stones.’

’Or even if she has some, she’s probably not going to cough them up.’

’Her stinginess is almost on par with my own.’

But while Plan A was now useless, thankfully, Jiang Xu still had Plan B!

After changing his strategy in his mind, Jiang Xu’s expression suddenly shifted. His eyes filled with resentment, and he pointed a trembling finger at Nie Mengyun, roaring furiously:

"Fine! Now I see things clearly!"

"To think you’re such a heartless woman! You won’t even help me with just a few Spirit Stones!"

"How ridiculous! My last five years of devotion to you have been nothing but a fool’s errand, completely pointless."

Nie Mengyun had never seen Jiang Xu so furious with her. For a moment, she was completely stunned.

"Let me run the numbers for you."

"Over the past five years, I’ve given you an average of two hundred catties of Spirit Rice and eight Spirit Stones every single year."

"That adds up to one thousand catties of Spirit Rice and forty Spirit Stones."

"Spirit Rice is ten catties to one Spirit Stone, so in total, that’s one hundred and forty Spirit Stones!"

"And now, when I just ask to borrow a mere three Spirit Stones, you refuse me so heartlessly! What do you take me for?!"

Hearing Jiang Xu’s furious tirade, Nie Mengyun’s mind went blank. Only after a long while did she say with a trembling voice:

"That was just... I just wanted to fulfill our vow to enter the Outer Sect together."

"I helped you fulfill your part, but are you helping me now?!"

Nie Mengyun was speechless.

"Just go. The bond between us is broken. We’ll go our separate ways. There’s nothing between us anymore!"

With that, Jiang Xu flicked his sleeve and left without a backward glance.

Leaving Nie Mengyun alone to stare at his retreating back, her thoughts a mystery.

...

"That was so difficult. I’m finally rid of her!"

Back in his main room, Jiang Xu finally let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed onto his bed.

"That woman is completely unreasonable. It forced me to use Plan B so early. I thought I could have squeezed a few more Spirit Stones out of her."

Jiang Xu’s Plan A had been to trick Nie Mengyun out of her Spirit Stones—whether by faking injury, misery, or illness—and get as many as he could. If that failed, he would switch to Plan B.

Plan B was to sever all ties with Nie Mengyun.

Because sooner or later, Jiang Xu would be promoted to an Outer Disciple. When that happened, if Nie Mengyun came asking for those twenty Spirit Stones, he couldn’t very well just hand them over, could he?

And if he refused, what if Nie Mengyun held a grudge against him from then on? He’d likely never have a moment’s peace.

But to just give her those twenty Spirit Stones...

That was out of the question. He had no intention of ever giving them to her.

So it was better to take this opportunity and just be done with her once and for all.

In truth, Jiang Xu despised her. Being with her was exhausting. It was better to break things off early and save himself the trouble, and he could even saddle her with a reputation for being heartless and disloyal.

Whether in the Cultivation World or the modern world, as long as you lacked the power to flip the table, you were bound by public opinion.

Even if the impact was smaller in the Cultivation World, it was still good if it caused her to suffer some consequences.

’With my current strength, I can only resort to these petty tricks. For now, the best plan is to focus on my Cultivation, build up my Skill Level, and just crush everyone with pure power. That’s the proper path.’

With that thought, Jiang Xu cleared his mind, entered a state of Meditation, and began a new round of Cultivation.