The light of the rising sun cast its resplendent rays over the roof of the Carefree House. Tang Jie was fast asleep until the pounding on his door woke him up.

Wei Tianchong was knocking at his gate as he frantically shouted, “Tang Jie, open the door!”

He very reluctantly opened his eyes and saw the little tiger lying on his body and licking him like a dog.

“Alright, alright, Bao’er, be a good boy and stop messing around.” Tang Jie patted the tiger and had him go and play with Yiyi. He then casually stood up and opened the door for Wei Tianchong.

“What are you coming here so early for?”

“‘Early’? It’s already the Si Period (9-11 am)!” Wei Tianchong shouted. “Did you just get up?”

Tang Jie turned to look at the hourglass on the table and found that it really was the Si Period. He couldn’t but shake his head and smile bitterly. “Truly, a day without danger makes a person’s mind relax. That was a really good sleep.”

Since he had started cultivating, it had been a long time since he had a period like last night, where he did nothing except just sleep.

He had returned from the Valley of No Return last night.

After the battle in the Ice Cave, since there had been a few more days until the day of departure, Tang Jie had spent some more time in the valley. This was partially to gather resources to hand to the sect—he had to hand over something or else find himself in a very difficult spot. It was also to prepare for Wei Tianchong’s departure.

After learning the lesson from last time, after Tang Jie succeeded, Wei Tianchong immediately applied to leave the valley, returning to the academy before the others. As he didn’t have the Red Lotus, nobody stopped him, instead scouring the valley for Tang Jie.

Once the last day arrived, Tang Jie finally left the valley. The moment he emerged, he mounted the little tiger and flew off toward Basking Moon Academy.

Those students who had wanted to intercept him midway had forgotten that Tang Jie could fly, and those who could fly couldn’t catch up to the lightning tiger. They could only watch him fly off, becoming utterly dejected.

After handing the Red Lotus to Wei Tianchong, Tang Jie had gone back and flopped into his bed, sleeping all the way until now, when Wei Tianchong knocked on his door.

“So what? Did you turn in the Red Lotus?” Tang Jie asked.

“Haha, naturally. You should have seen the look on Esteemed Master Nan’s face. He was practically green,” Wei Tianchong chuckled.

He understood by now that the person who hoped that he wouldn’t succeed was none other than Spirit Master Nan.

He had wanted to turn it in last night, but Nan Baicheng had said that it was too late and refused to see him. But alas, it didn’t matter how long he delayed. The first thing Wei Tianchong did this morning was to rush to Nan Baicheng’s door and turn in the Red Lotus.

In the face of this situation, no matter how unwilling Nan Baicheng was, he had to accept it.

“That’s good, so why have you come to bother me?” Tang Jie glared.

This was a rare day off he had given himself, and he was very unhappy that Wei Tianchong had disturbed it.

Wei Tianchong scratched his head. “Well, uh, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What was it?”

“After the mission was finished, Esteemed Master Nan pulled me to the side and had a talk with me.”

“‘A talk’? What did he say?” Tang Jie was startled, and then he instantly realized. “Was he advising you to give up on the True Inheritor spot?”

“Yes.” Wei Tianchong nodded.

“What did he promise you?” Tang Jie said, starting to grow nervous.

“Thirty thousand coins,” Wei Tianchong replied.

Even for a Spirit Master, thirty thousand coins was rather generous.

Tang Jie grabbed Wei Tianchong’s shoulder and shouted, “Don’t tell me you agreed!”

He hadn’t gone through such great pains to get the True Inheritor spot for Wei Tianchong to sell out the mission for some spirit coins.

He was truly somewhat worried that Wei Tianchong had agreed to Nan Baicheng’s request. Even though Wei Tianchong didn’t say anything about it, Tang Jie found it easy to imagine that Nan Baicheng had also sprinkled in some threats and benefits with his promise of thirty thousand coins.

For example: “If you don’t agree with me, I can guarantee that you won’t succeed and that you will ultimately end up with nothing; and if you agree, you will immediately gain thirty thousand spirit coins and a good relationship with this Spirit Master.”

Attempts at bribery were always mixtures of threats and benefits, but so long as they were used on the right person, they would usually succeed.

For someone of Wei Tianchong’s personality to falter under Nan Baicheng’s threats wouldn’t be strange at all, and Tang Jie grew frantic just thinking about it.

Wei Tianchong softly smiled. “In the past, I really might have been intimidated by him.”

“You’re saying…” Tang Jie was startled.

Wei Tianchong sternly said, “I came to tell you about this. I’ve decided to complete the True Inheritor mission no matter what, regardless of what methods our enemies use!”

“You refused?” Tang Jie didn’t dare to believe his ears. When had this guy become so resolved?

“Yes, I refused,” Wei Tianchong replied. “In the battle at the Ice Cave, rather than helping you, I was only a burden, forcing you to come back for me when you could have run. Tang Jie, while I’m your young master, I know that you’re doing your best for my sake! You’ve placed your life on the line for this mission, so I don’t have the right to give up on it.”

“You…” Tang Jie was utterly amazed. He had come out to save Wei Tianchong because the situation was dire and it had been needed, little knowing of the immense psychological impact his actions had had on Wei Tianchong and Cai Junyang. Only when he heard these words from Wei Tianchong’s mouth did he truly understand.

Wei Tianchong went on, “I came over to tell you this. That Nan Baicheng threatened me, saying that if I didn’t agree, he would make me fail in the third mission. I confess that I really was rather afraid, and I really did want to agree to him for a moment. But I thought about it, wondering: what would you do if you were in my place?”

Tang Jie coldly said, “I would tell him, ‘What you want to do is your business, and what I want to do is mine. If you’ve got the skill, just go ahead and do what you can. I’ll take on everything you’ve got.'”

Wei Tianchong stuck out his tongue. “I didn’t speak as viciously as you, but I knew you wouldn’t agree. So, if it’s something you wouldn’t agree to, I wouldn’t agree to it either.”

“So you refused?”

“Right!” Wei Tianchong firmly said, patting his chest. “I might still be a little fearful and afraid, but if you give me time, I’ll definitely become like you. Tang Jie, I want everyone to know that I, Wei Tianchong, am not some good-for-nothing that has to be helped up the wall! If you’re willing to help me, then I must excel!”

He spoke with such force and power that Tang Jie felt his heart shake.

Looking at the determination on Wei Tianchong’s face, Tang Jie muttered, “Young Master, you’ve finally matured.”

There might be many more pitfalls in the future, but Wei Tianchong’s maturation gave Tang Jie confidence. One’s insides were key to one’s power, and a mature heart would always be better than some sort of rare talent.

The two of them spoke a little longer, and Tang Jie inquired as to how his cultivation was going and told him about some things to watch out for, after which Wei Tianchong left. Before leaving, Wei Tianchong gave Tang Jie a bag. “I almost forgot about this.”

“What is this?” Tang Jie asked as he looked at the bag. It was a silk bag that seemed to be holding something rather heavy.

Wei Tianchong didn’t answer directly, simply shooting Tang Jie a mysterious glance and saying, “My mother wanted me to give it to you. Take a look and you’ll know.”

He hastily ran off.

“The lady?” Tang Jie was baffled. Once Wei Tianchong was gone, he opened the bag and saw that there were ten whole spirit jades inside.

Ten thousand spirit coins?

Tang Jie was flabbergasted.

Even for the Wei Clan, ten thousand spirit coins was no small number. If this was a reward from Zheng Shufeng, then it was a little too much.

But after some thought, Tang Jie understood.

These ten thousand coins weren’t just meant as thanks for helping Wei Tianchong get the True Inheritor position, but also an attempt to keep him.

If one person could really help a clan’s disappointing young master attain the Great Dao, then that person had to have enormous potential.

Tang Jie had once said to Cai Junyang that the more he did for Wei Tianchong, the more investment he would receive, but he hadn’t expected to be proven right so quickly. It was just that the investor was still the Wei Clan. It appeared that Zheng Shufeng had an extremely high opinion of Tang Jie and wanted to tie him to the Wei Clan’s chariot. Even if there came a day when Tang Jie carried out his promise and gained his freedom, the affection that Zheng Shufeng had laid down with her deeds would mean that Tang Jie would not be able to ignore the Wei Estate.

Considering that the trial in the Valley of No Return had just ended and Zheng Shufeng could not possibly have received the word of his success there so quickly, these ten thousand coins were probably sent over after the first mission was completed—a sign of just how determined she was.

Zheng Shufeng had probably also arranged for the money to arrive at this time.

If the second mission had failed, the ten-thousand-coin reward might have shrunk to one thousand.

Only after the second mission was completed would all ten thousand coins end up in Tang Jie’s hands.

Two True Inheritor reserve spots meant that even if Wei Tianchong didn’t become True Person Changfeng’s disciple, his reputation alone would make the Wei Estate’s prestige rise. And with these ten thousand coins, Tang Jie could get even stronger so that he could do even better in the third mission.

It could be said that the Wei Clan was investing a lot in Wei Tianchong’s becoming a True Inheritor.

Thus, these ten thousand coins were to reward and recruit Tang Jie and also to increase their young master’s chances of success.

Tang Jie couldn’t help but smile at this sight. “One who has mastered the hearts of the people might be so weak that they can’t even truss a chicken, but they are still capable of controlling the world… The Wei Clan has a bright future with the lady at the helm!”

He decided to simply accept the money and take an account of how much he had made so far.

Tang Jie had reaped a rather rich harvest from the Valley of No Return, but he had spent most of it on strengthening his constitution, and little of it had been brought out of the valley. After the sect had taken its 30% cut, he basically had nothing left. In his Mustard Seed Bag were currently the fiend pellet from the Thunderbird King, the sprite core from the Frost Fairy, and that ice sword.

These were all extremely valuable items, with the Frost Fairy’s sprite core being the most valuable of all. Even though the Frost Fairy had used some of the sprite core’s power in battle, it still contained far more energy than the Thunderbird King’s fiend pellet. For the sake of these three things, Tang Jie had paid up almost everything else he had. As for the Iceflame Red Lotus, he didn’t have to pay “tax” on that, since it didn’t belong to him in the first place.

Tang Jie planned to give the sprite core to Yiyi. She was now at the peak of the lower grade, and after using the sprite core, she could probably enter the middle grade. The little tiger had come back from the Valley of No Return as a middle-grade, meaning that Yiyi was no match for him. She had been upset for quite some time, complaining that Tang Jie was biased.

With the sprite core, both of them would be at middle grade and would serve as powerful allies.

As for the fiend pellet, Tang Jie planned to sell it.

He urgently needed resources to improve himself and deal with the third mission, which would probably be even more difficult.

With this thought in mind, Tang Jie headed off to Spirit Platform Pavilion.