Chapter 91: What's Senior Brother Cao Doing With All This Junk?
"Idea?"
The Free Sword King looked at Liu Yu'er in confusion. In his impression—
This junior of his had always been calm and thoughtful.
But today, something felt a bit off.
Liu Yu'er explained, "It's not exactly an idea. More like a guess I made after meeting with Elder Bing."
"Let's hear it."
The Free Sword King didn't expect to take the guess seriously, but since Yu'er brought it up, as her ancestor, he at least had to respond.
Liu Yu'er said, "I think Elder Bing is planning to learn from Chief Chu—she wants to adopt his method of training disciples and apply it to her own."
The Free Sword King was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Hahaha… Yu'er, that's a bold guess indeed. If Elder Bing heard that, she'd scold you for sure."
"Alright, don't say such things again. If you have time, go visit Elder Bing."
"She promised her disciples she'd return to teach, so she likely won't stay in the Miscellaneous Dao Institute for too long."
Liu Yu'er nodded slightly and didn't say more. After all, the gap between her and Elder Bing was far too great.
"Granddaughter takes her leave."
At the same time—
Cao Youqian returned to Wendao Academy, fully loaded.
He didn't head to the Miscellaneous Dao Institute right away, but instead went to the Alchemy Institute.
He currently had eighty-one jade slips in hand—still nineteen short of his target of one hundred techniques.
He knew his own comprehension and talent weren't anything extraordinary. These eighty-one techniques might not be enough to help him master fist intent or grasp the essence of fusion within Taiji.
So he decided to ask the Alchemy Institute to help him spread the word.
"Senior Brother Cao."
"Young Master Cao."
"Mhm."
Along the way, disciples from the Alchemy Institute greeted him one after another.
Unlike before, the way they looked at Cao Youqian now held a bit of reverence.
Cao Youqian knew they were wary of his strength.
After all, people only respect a man when he earns it with his fists.
The first person he sought out was his old nemesis, Cao Youde.
"Brother Qian, what brings you to me?"
As soon as Cao Youde saw him, he shivered instinctively. A single thought sprang into his mind—
'This guy isn't here to settle old scores, is he?'
'If he punches me, this skinny body won't hold up.'
Even though he was now a cultivator at the True Fate Realm, he had only awakened a Royal Body and wasn't good at fighting.
He was nowhere near the same league as someone like Cao Youqian.
Whatever request Cao Youqian had, if it spared him a beating, Cao Youde was ready to agree to anything.
Cao Youqian stared at him with a teasing look and smiled. "Brother De, I still prefer your arrogant, cocky face."
Cao Youde forced out a bitter smile. "Brother Qian, let's not joke like that. I was in the wrong back then, and I apologize now."
Seeing how cautious he was, Cao Youqian couldn't even be bothered to lecture him.
"Alright, I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want your help with something."
Phew…
Cao Youde let out a long breath of relief and asked cheerfully, "What is it, Brother Qian? As long as it's within my ability, I'll do it without a second thought!"
"Don't make it sound like I'm asking you to walk through fire or leap off a cliff."
Cao Youqian said with mild annoyance, "I want you to help me collect twenty fist or body-refining techniques that are priced between one and ten spirit stones each."
???
Cao Youde's forehead filled with question marks when he heard that.
He had imagined that one day, Cao Youqian might come looking for trouble.
Or maybe extort some spirit stones from him.
But this situation—was something he had never considered.
"This little errand won't trouble Brother De, right?"
Cao Youqian asked unhurriedly.
"It's nothing. Give me three days—within three days, I'll have twenty manuals ready for you."
Cao Youde then added, "By the way, Brother Qian, do you have any other requirements?"
Cao Youqian looked thoughtful and pulled out a pile of low-grade jade slips from his storage pouch.
"No need to collect any of these. Save us both the time and avoid duplicates."
"Brother Qian, do you mind if I take a look at what's inside the jade slips first?"
Cao Youde asked tentatively.
The latter nodded slightly, showing a nonchalant expression of indifference.
Cao Youde immediately injected his divine sense into the jade slips.
After browsing through all eighty-one of them, he was completely numb.
"Brother Qian… what the heck are you doing with all these trash-tier techniques?"
Cao Youqian smiled. "I want to put a bookshelf in my room. Planning to fill it with these manuals for decoration."
He wasn't stupid—of course he wouldn't tell the real reason.
Cao Youde didn't show any unusual reaction. He was already used to this kind of thing.
Brother Qian was still Brother Qian. Even if he had gotten stronger—and gone bald—his reckless, prodigal nature hadn't changed at all.
"Then… can I tell others that you're the buyer? That might make things easier."
"No problem. Once you've bought them, just tell me the cost in spirit stones, and I'll pay for them when we exchange."
Cao Youqian said casually.
"We're both direct descendants of the Cao family. Talking about money? Come on. I'll cover the spirit stones."
Cao Youde spoke with full confidence, like he and Cao Youqian were as close as brothers.
"Alright. I'll be staying in the Miscellaneous Dao Institute these days. Come find me once you're done collecting."
Cao Youqian said, then turned and left.
"Take care, Brother Qian."
Cao Youde watched his broad-shouldered figure disappear into the distance, and the heavy stone in his chest finally fell.
Turning to a few disciples nearby who were still stunned with fear, he barked,
"What are you all standing around for? Hurry and get to work like Brother Qian said!
Or do you want to personally test how hard his fists are?"
That snapped them out of it.
One of them said, "Senior Brother De, at the price Brother Qian mentioned, the manuals we'll be able to buy are mostly mundane techniques.
Where are we supposed to find that kind of thing in Wendao Academy?"
The others nodded in agreement.
Cao Youde scolded them, "Are you all idiots? Just because our academy doesn't have them doesn't mean the outer disciples don't.
They go out on missions, and some of them might have such things at home. Just gather from them.
As long as you say Brother Qian is buying, those guys will jump at the chance to curry favor."
Hearing that, the group's eyes lit up and they responded in unison, "Don't worry, Senior Brother De—we won't let you down!"
That very night, news that Cao Youqian was buying large quantities of low-grade mundane techniques spread like wildfire among the outer disciples of Wendao Academy.
Everyone was left wondering:
Why was Senior Brother Cao collecting all this junk?
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