"Here, let me give you another little gift."

Su Pei waved a delicate hand. The mist of blood left behind from the White Head Sword's slaying of the blood-bat suddenly swirled together, contracting until it formed a single, bright red orb.

The blood orb descended slowly from the sky, landing in front of Su Xuan.

"What is this?" Su Xuan asked, holding the orb in his palm and looking up at Su Pei, who stood upon the Fire Phoenix's back.

"Just feed it to your little pony."

Before she had even finished speaking, Su Pei drifted away, leaving only a fiery trail in the night sky.

Su Xuan muttered to himself, "That exhaust trail is surprisingly pretty!"

"Come on, Xiaobai. Time for a treat."

Su Xuan walked over to his horse and fed it the blood orb. Although Su Pei hadn't told him what it was, he knew it had to be something good. He had felt a distinct fluctuation in her cultivation as she condensed the orb, a clear sign that she had put some effort into it. Besides, he would know the result soon enough.

After the white horse consumed the blood orb, a muffled, thunderous roar echoed from within its body. Its entire frame trembled violently. At the same time, its wounds began to heal at a visible rate, the light in its eyes grew brighter, and its aura swelled with power...

It's as if it devoured the entire essence of the blood-bat! Its constitution and cultivation are soaring! This is an incredible stroke of fortune!

A long while later, the white horse threw its head back toward the night sky and let out a long cry—one laced with a hint of pain, but overwhelmingly filled with elation. It seemed to be celebrating its transformation and, perhaps, thanking Su Pei as well.

"Alright," Su Xuan said, patting the horse's back. "Let's go."

But to his great surprise, the white horse shook its head. With its horse body and crocodile head, the gesture looked quite awkward.

Su Xuan thought for a moment before understanding. It must be ashamed of its ugly appearance.

"You're that concerned about your looks?"

Su Xuan chuckled in spite of himself, taking out the Thousand Faces Stone to change the horse's crocodile snout back into that of a proper horse.

Only then did the white horse joyfully carry Su Xuan and take flight toward Hua Shui City.

It really has started to care about its image. The trip to the Yu Xian Sect made it realize that appearing as a handsome white horse made it quite popular—so much so that people even wanted to "hog" it for themselves...

Su Xuan commented, "If you get a chance, you can help me hook another mare."

The white horse: "..."

Due to the unexpected delay on the road, dawn was already breaking by the time Su Xuan reached Hua Shui City.

Instead of rushing straight to the Jiuding Sect, he descended directly into the courtyard of his mansion, planning to take a bath and change his clothes first.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE, RUSTLE.

The sound of sweeping filled the courtyard.

"Young Master, you're back!"

The person sweeping was Tang Fu, the man who had shared a death row cell with Su Xuan. He greeted him the moment he saw him. His daughter, Tang Shu, had already told him that Su Xuan was making him the steward of the estate. He was both flattered and thrilled. A steward ought to address his employer as 'Master,' but Su Xuan was so young that 'Young Master' slipped out instead.

"Old Tang, we're brothers in arms. Why are you being so polite?" Su Xuan joked, patting Tang Fu's shoulder. He then took the broom from his hand, tossed it aside, and continued, "Go hire a few quick, reliable young lads to help you out later."

"Heh heh," Tang Fu said, scratching his head with a smile. "I was idle anyway."

During the few days Su Xuan was at the Yu Xian Sect, Tang Fu had practically scrubbed the very earth of the courtyard until it was spotless. There was really no need to sweep today, but he was always looking for something to do for Su Xuan. His daughter, Tang Shu, was the same, having scrubbed the entire mansion inside and out several times over.

"Young Master! You're finally back! Please, come have breakfast!" Tang Shu called out, emerging from the kitchen with a voice full of respect and warmth.

Because Su Xuan hadn't said when he would return, she had prepared breakfast for him every single morning. Since he never showed, she didn't throw the food away, instead sharing it with her father for their meals.

"You're being too formal, too!" Su Xuan said, pretending to be stern. "The two of you need to stop being so polite, or I won't feel comfortable in my own home. Let me tell you, I have a mansion in the world below with a butler named Old Liu. That old codger is always scheming to get me to give *him* a raise, cough cough... Just, uh, don't learn from him on that front."

Tang Fu and his daughter shared a laugh, but their respect for Su Xuan didn't diminish in the slightest. If not for his rescue, the two of them would have met a miserable end.

"I need to take a bath first," Su Xuan said, walking toward his room. "At the Yu Xian Sect, I, ah, fell into a dung pit..."

Tang Fu, who had no idea what that was about, immediately turned to his daughter. "What are you waiting for? Quick, go prepare hot water for the Young Master!"

"Oh, right, right," Tang Shu stammered, her face blushing as she hurried off to boil the water.

A short while later, however, it was Su Xuan's turn to blush.

He was sitting in a large wooden tub, steam rising around him with only his head visible. Tang Shu stood beside him holding a clean towel, insisting on scrubbing his back. He'd never encountered a situation like this in the world below. This wasn't a sauna back at Lycar's, and he refused, no matter how much she insisted.

"Should I do it, then?"

Tang Fu's simple, good-natured face suddenly popped into view.

Su Xuan's mouth twitched. He was just about to relent when Tang Shu pushed her father out and shut the door.

SPLASH!

Listening to the sounds of water coming from Su Xuan's room, Tang Fu squatted on the steps outside the door, a sly, conspiratorial smile on his face.

He muttered to himself, "Daughter, this is as much as your father can help you..."

After bathing and changing into fresh clothes, Su Xuan enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast. He then tossed several tens of thousands of Xuan notes to the father-daughter pair before rubbing his belly, mounting his white horse, and flying off toward the Jiuding Sect.

Tang Fu and his daughter stared at the tens of thousands of Xuan notes with troubled expressions.

He told us to spend it all within seven days... How could we possibly spend all this? This is how the truly wealthy live... so extravagant!

They had no idea that Su Xuan had made out like a bandit during his trip to the Yu Xian Sect. Even he wasn't sure of the total value of his haul, but he estimated it would take him at least a year or two to spend it all.

Upon entering the Jiuding Sect and arriving at the Third Elder's courtyard, Su Xuan saw the sect's young pill attendant, Xiaoyun, squatting on the ground, poking at ants with a small twig.

"Xiaoyun, is the Third Elder in?" he asked.

"Young Master, you're here!" Xiaoyun exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "I've been waiting for two or three days. Did things not go well?"

"Uh..." Su Xuan thought for a moment before replying truthfully, "It didn't go very smoothly."

Hearing this, Xiaoyun's face fell. She began fidgeting with the hem of her clothes and said for some unknown reason, "Young Master, please come back tomorrow. The Third Elder is ill."

COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a fit of violent coughing erupted from inside the house.

Su Xuan asked, "Is the Third Elder very ill?"

Xiaoyun nodded gravely.

"Yes... so ill he's about to die."

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