"Truly?" Wei Zhao turned to look at Ling Tianyou.

"Mm. The Taishé Island Trial here is unlike any of the other trials, great or small, in the Taigu Alliance—it has never been open to outsiders. Only a very few know of it. The quota is limited, and transfers are strictly one-to-one. Once a quota that was originally yours has been transferred away, even if only temporarily, you are no longer qualified to enter the Taishé Island Trial until it is returned. My Thousand Blades Sect has only two—mine and my master's. But this time my master has been injured and gone into seclusion to recover, so his quota can be given to Brother Lin to use. Only..." Here Ling Tianyou glanced at Bing Wushuang, somewhat at a loss.

From the very beginning, Bing Wushuang's presence had been beyond anything he expected—and he had never imagined that Wei Zhao would treat Bing Wushuang as no outsider at all and simply drag him along like this, leaving Ling Tianyou too embarrassed even to raise an objection.

Given Ling Tianyou's position, an extra three hundred entry spirit jades on its own would have been nothing worth mentioning—a considerable sum, to be sure, but not beyond what the Thousand Blades Sect's foundations could bear. The crux lay in the entry qualification: the entire Thousand Blades Sect had only two, and surely he could not just do a good turn thoroughly and let Wei Zhao and Bing Wushuang go in while he, Ling Tianyou, obligingly stepped aside?

"In that case, I'll head back to the Middle Island first." Bing Wushuang was not an unreasonable man. Even looking at the matter from Wei Zhao's standpoint, he could not allow things to grow too strained; and though the spirit-consciousness fruit was indeed coveted, now that he was following Wei Zhao, he scarcely held it in his heart—after all, Wei Zhao had casually given him a Nascent Soul-concentrating golden pill, and that alone was comparable to a spirit-consciousness fruit.

"Thank you for your understanding, Brother Bing..." Ling Tianyou was visibly moved at these words. As a prodigy of the same tier, he knew full well how rare it was for Bing Wushuang to say such a thing. Even if the other was doing it for Wei Zhao's sake, from where he stood he could not but accept the favor.

"Heh, Young Sect Master Ling, having you as a friend must be the accumulated misfortune of eighteen generations of one's ancestors! Coming all the way to Taishé Island only to be sent packing in disgrace—and I hear this Bing Wushuang is a Nascent Soul old monster now. My, what a big face you have!" Wei Yidao seized the chance to sow discord.

Though the Snow Sword Sect and the Thousand Blades Sect were not at open war, there had never been much friendship between them either. Seeing Bing Wushuang suddenly standing alongside Ling Tianyou, he and Lin Zhen had, frankly, been a little uneasy—and a moment like this was, of course, the perfect time to stick in the knife.

In the Taigu minor jianghu, a Nascent Soul old monster carried a special meaning. As the highest fighting force of their respective sects, their every word and deed represented not only themselves but the sect behind them. If Bing Wushuang were truly turned away at the door today, the one disgraced would not be him alone, but the whole of the Snow Sword Sect.

To onlookers, Bing Wushuang had plainly been played for a fool by Ling Tianyou.

Ling Tianyou felt thoroughly ashamed. Had he known it would come to this, he should have spoken plainly back on the Middle Island; then they would never have sunk into such an awkward pass. Now they were stuck atop a tiger's back, and with Wei Yidao and the others needling him like this, even if Bing Wushuang wished to be understanding, he no longer could.

"In that case, let Brother Lin and Brother Bing go in this time. There will be other chances anyway—I'll come again next time." Ling Tianyou finally ground out through clenched teeth. It was the only way left; otherwise, forcing Bing Wushuang into an embarrassed retreat would turn a good deed into a bad one—earning no gratitude, only a grudge.

"That works well enough." Yu Hou nodded at this. From where he stood, there was no question of opening a back door for Ling Tianyou; so long as the rules of the Taishé Island Trial were not broken, nothing else mattered to him.

"Oh my, self-sacrifice for others—Young Sect Master Ling's moral awareness is really quite lofty!" Wei Yidao gloated.

Ling Tianyou said nothing on the surface, but his face was dark as still water. No one in his place could have been happy about such a thing—especially with a rival standing right there, endlessly sneering. That he could hold his fury in check at all spoke well of his temper.

Staying on would only invite more needling, so Ling Tianyou made at once to leave—but Wei Zhao reached out and stopped him: "Brother Ling, you need not go."

"Hm?" Ling Tianyou frowned and could not help glancing at Bing Wushuang. Did Wei Zhao mean for Bing Wushuang to leave?

Bing Wushuang, for his part, was sensible enough. He had never set much store by this affair to begin with, so he nodded to Wei Zhao and turned to go—and was likewise stopped by Wei Zhao.

"Brother Lin, you want to withdraw? That won't do!" Ling Tianyou cut in hastily. His chief purpose this time had been to repay Wei Zhao's life-saving grace; if it ended with Wei Zhao withdrawing, what in the world would be the point?

"I won't. You're overthinking it, Brother Ling." Wei Zhao smiled faintly and turned to Yu Hou. "Steward Yu, you can see that the three of us have come all this way. Sending any one of us off would be inappropriate. There must be some way to settle this matter, no?"

"What do you mean? If you have something to say, sir, say it plainly." Yu Hou narrowed his eyes.

"Since Taishé Island holds this trial, and since it is a trial that charges an entry fee, there must be room for negotiation. So—I wish to buy an entry qualification," Wei Zhao said bluntly.

"Buy an entry qualification?" Everyone present was struck dumb. All knew that Taishé Island Trial qualifications could only be inherited or transferred; this was the first time anyone had openly proposed to buy one.

"What sort of pipe dream is this? Do you really think a few spirit jades let you do anything you please? Even wanting to buy an entry qualification? Dreaming in broad daylight, are you?" Wei Yidao bared his teeth in a cold laugh.

Nor was he alone—everyone else present wore a look of mockery as well. The qualifications for the Taishé Island Trial were precious precisely because they were scarce; that scarcity was what set these people above the rest. If just anyone could buy one at will, what preciousness would there be left in it?

Everyone fully expected Yu Hou to refuse outright—or even to teach this presumptuous fellow a lesson—but instead they heard him say slowly, "That would be very expensive."

Very expensive—read another way, that meant it could be bought, only at a steep price, certainly not at the paltry rate of three hundred spirit jades.

"I understand." Wei Zhao nodded. This had been within his expectations all along. Since the Taishé Island Trial charged entry spirit jades, that meant it was, to some degree, much like a merchant's business—one might treat it as a scenic spot that charged admission, only this particular spot was special in being a strictly private, members-only affair.

Business was business. However special and rigorous the rules might be, with enough spirit jades a way could ultimately be found. Money makes the devil turn the mill—on the field of business, that saying had always been an irrefutable truth. (To be continued.)