Chapter 21: Can't Play Anymore

Xu Youran became anxious and pleaded, "Siling, please don't do this. Xiao Fan has worked so hard, and he's finally making some progress in martial arts. Please don't hurt his pride."

Seeing Xu Youran defend Jiang Fan so fiercely, Chen Siling increasingly felt that if she didn't break them up soon, she would lose her chance. She nodded and said, "Don't worry, I won't insult him. I just want to have a frank discussion with him about your future. If he's a responsible man, he'll know what to choose."

Tap, tap, tap—Steady footsteps approached. Guided by a maid, Jiang Fan arrived at the backyard he had visited earlier. This time, however, he was stopped by the maid before he could enter.

"Only female family members are allowed in the backyard. Young Master, please wait here for the young lady's instructions."

Jiang Fan paused, bewildered. How had he managed to enter just moments ago?

"Are you Jiang Fan? Youran's fiancé?"

From behind the wall, he heard a familiar voice—it was Chen Siling's. Her aggressive tone made Jiang Fan rub his nose. How could this girl have two sides to her? When she faced him as the Soul Master, she was quite docile, but in this new role, she was quite fierce.

"Yes, that's me," Jiang Fan replied, writing a note and tossing it over the wall.

Chen Siling had a servant retrieve the note, then glanced at it before saying, "I'm Youran's good friend, and I have a few questions for you. Please answer them truthfully. First, are you marrying Youran because you genuinely love her, or are you trying to curry favor with the Xu family and live off their wealth?"

"Uh—a freeloader?"

Xu Youran's eyes pleaded with Chen Siling not to embarrass Jiang Fan in this way. Jiang Fan was currently penniless, completely reliant on the Xu family for support. If people called him a freeloader, he had no way to refute it.

Chen Siling, with sharp eyes, felt confident that her first question alone would make Jiang Fan squirm with shame. To her surprise, several crisp banknotes flew over the courtyard wall. Chen Siling froze, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. Five banknotes lay on the ground, each for ten thousand taels, adding up to a total of fifty thousand! And they were from the same money changer as the banknotes she had given to the Soul Master.

Xu Youran was also astonished. "Xiao Fan, where did you get so much money?" Fifty thousand taels was not a sum Jiang Fan could possibly possess.

Jiang Fan simply smiled and tossed another note over. "Miss Chen, you may ask your second question now." With fifty thousand taels, they could live comfortably. The accusation of him being a freeloader had been disproven.

Chen Siling was momentarily stunned. How could someone who had been dependent on others for ten years have so much money? She had intended to dissuade Jiang Fan, but instead, he had quite cleverly outmaneuvered her.

Slightly annoyed, she asked, "Even if you have some savings, can you truly protect Youran? Our Lone Boat City is relatively peaceful, but the outside world is merciless, where the strong prey on the weak. Are you certain you can protect her?" A beauty like Xu Youran would always be coveted, no matter where she went. Without strength, he couldn't protect her. Chen Siling believed that someone like Jiang Fan, who lacked cultivation, was utterly unqualified to protect her. In fact, he would only become a burden to her.

When silence followed, Chen Siling mistakenly assumed she had hit a nerve. She declared self-righteously, "If you truly love Xu Youran, then let her go. You can't protect her…"

Her words were cut short. The wall separating them suddenly cracked with a loud *crunch*! A huge hole was punched through the middle, revealing the lower half of Jiang Fan's body. Chen Siling immediately sensed Jiang Fan's cultivation level and gasped in surprise, "Seventh-level Qi Refining?" At his age, such a cultivation level made him a top-tier master in Lone Boat City!

She blinked hard, then turned to Xu Youran in disbelief. "Didn't you say he had no spiritual roots?"

Xu Youran gave a wry smile. "Perhaps he's been secretly cultivating all this time, and we just didn't know."

Chen Siling was dumbfounded. What infuriated her was Jiang Fan's provocative toss of another note. "Anything else you want to ask?"

Chen Siling gritted her teeth slightly. "This fellow is getting too smug! So what if you have some cultivation? What can you truly offer Youran? If she marries into a powerful, affluent family, she'll gain endless resources and access to various cultivation techniques. Can you provide any of that?"

She was certain this was the Achilles' heel for someone like Jiang Fan, who lacked a powerful background. Jiang Fan might have a bit of money and some cultivation, but abundant resources and superior cultivation techniques were the cornerstones of wealthy and powerful families. These were things a poor young man could never possibly acquire.

A long silence followed from his side, then she faintly heard a tearing sound. She assumed Jiang Fan was so enraged that he was destructively venting his frustration. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. If it weren't absolutely necessary, she wouldn't want to hurt anyone without cause. So, her tone softened slightly, and she said earnestly, "Jiang Fan, I'm not intentionally targeting you. It's just that Youran's life has been so difficult. I hope you can let go and allow her to marry someone truly suitable. If you agree to relinquish the engagement, I'm willing to offer you some high-grade Qi Cultivation Elixir as compensation. Would that be acceptable?"

Still, there was no sound from his side. After a moment, a small bundle was tossed over the wall. Chen Siling, puzzled, had the maid pick it up and unwrap it in front of Xu Youran. Five bottles of high-grade Qi Cultivation Elixir were clearly visible.

"High-grade Qi Cultivation Elixir? Where did you get these?" Chen Siling's face was etched with shock. High-grade Qi Cultivation Elixir was an exclusive product of the Chen family, limited to one bottle per person. It was impossible for anyone to acquire five bottles at once! Had he hired people to buy them all up?

"This fellow actually has some money after all." Chen Siling had to admit she had underestimated Jiang Fan's financial resources. "But these five bottles aren't much, are they?" Chen Siling said, then noticed an unnamed cultivation manual with a torn cover at the bottom of the bundle. Was this what he had been tearing earlier?

Chen Siling picked it up with a bewildered expression. "You're not going to tell me this is a cultivation technique, are you?" But the moment Chen Siling opened it to the first page, she shot up from her chair, her beautiful eyes wide with shock.

"A High-Grade Yellow-tier cultivation technique!!!" she gasped, uttering in disbelief. In Lone Boat City, even the most powerful families could only cultivate up to a Mid-Grade Yellow-tier technique at best! Yet Jiang Fan had given Xu Youran a High-Grade Yellow-tier cultivation technique! This was a top-tier resource that no affluent family could possibly provide!

Just then, Jiang Fan's note flew over again. "Anything else you want to ask?"

Chen Siling, who had intended to dissuade Jiang Fan, had instead been thoroughly taught a lesson by him. As a young lady of her status, when had Chen Siling ever endured such humiliation? With a slight grit of her teeth, she snatched up the treasured sword from the table and roared, "Get over here! I'd like to see if you can still act so smug in front of me!"

Xu Youran, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, tugged at Chen Siling's sleeve. "Siling, let's just drop it. We had agreed to simply talk. How had it escalated to a fight? Are you backing down now?"

Chen Siling retorted angrily, "Don't stop me! I *will* teach him a lesson today!"

As her furious gaze sharpened, a tall, upright figure in green robes slowly emerged through the moon gate. Jiang Fan's face immediately registered in her eyes. With just one glance, Chen Siling froze in place, as if struck by lightning.