Sword cultivators were always exceptionally sharp and prideful.
Beneath the towering gate, the disciples on duty all wore the same cold expression, with faint contempt curling at the corners of their mouths.
“Not accepting.”
“Not accepting.”
“Not accepting… get lost!”
“Not accepted! What’s a pauper doing here?”
Blow after blow left Pei Min feeling utterly defeated.
Even though his heart was strong and his willpower far exceeded that of his peers, it was still difficult for him to hold back the urge to cry and sob.
The gap between dreams and reality was far larger than he had imagined… These so-called cultivators from the major sects wouldn’t even give him a chance to show himself.
He had many unique insights into the Sword Dao, but no one cared about them.
All they cared about were Pei Min’s talent, cultivation base, wealth, and background.
“Don’t lose heart. There are thousands of sword cultivator sects in the world. If this one doesn’t want you, there will always be another that will.”
Jiang Ke’er patted his shoulder to comfort him, then continued rustling as she organized a large stack of receipts in her hands, muttering under her breath:
“Tianyun Sword Sect owes 30 million… Lingshang Sword Sect owes 20 million… Yongshan Sword Sect owes 25 million…”
The list of sword cultivator sects she had told Pei Min about earlier—the places he dreamed of in his fantasies—had all been recorded, not one spared.
[You have received 50,000 Villain Points from Pei Min.]
In his entire life, Pei Min had never seen such a shameless person!
Her level of shamelessness had even surpassed his imagination!
‘How naive was I? At first, I actually thought she brought me to register at these sword sects out of kindness?’
‘But in the end… she was just rubbing salt in my wounds to make a huge profit!’
“Hey! Constable Wu, we meet again!”
Jiang Ke’er waved at Constable Wu with practiced ease.
Constable Wu’s expression was numb.
This was the seventh time he had seen Jiang Ke’er tonight.
Ever since they parted ways the first time, Jiang Ke’er had filed another six cases—at the gates of six different sword sects.
It was already dark, but Jiang Ke’er was still tirelessly going door-to-door for “justice.”
“How much is this ‘heirloom’ worth this time?” Constable Wu glanced at the pile of crystal shards on the ground and asked with familiarity.
Jiang Ke’er looked at the scale of the sect in front of her, thought for a moment, and said, “25 million.”
The sect leader beside her had collapsed on the ground, already crying so hard he couldn’t speak.
“Make sure to send it to the Jingfeng Village Blacksmith Shop after you’ve raised it,” Jiang Ke’er said, adding a new IOU entry to the paper with a flourish.
“Where do you get so many heirlooms?” Pei Min glared at Jiang Ke’er angrily.
“Kids shouldn’t talk so much. Let’s go! Next one!” Jiang Ke’er urged.
“I don’t want to be used by you anymore!” Pei Min’s pent-up negative emotions finally erupted. “You’re a jerk!”
“You don’t want to be a sword cultivator anymore?” Jiang Ke’er asked in surprise.
“…I do.” Pei Min said in a small, aggrieved voice.
“You want to be a sword cultivator, and I want to make money. Our goals don’t conflict,” Jiang Ke’er said earnestly, trying to comfort him. “Besides, these guys clearly looked down on you. I taught them a lesson. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”
“Then give me a cut of the money.”
“No way!”
[You have received 10,000 Villain Points from Pei Min.]
This was the hardest part for Pei Min to accept.
Although he strongly disapproved of Jiang Ke’er’s low-quality extortion tactics, what made him even more upset was her absolute refusal to share even a penny.
If Jiang Ke’er had just spared a fraction of tonight’s earnings for him, he wouldn’t have had to run all over the place just for tuition.
And all that money was made through him…
“Kid, get this straight! Even without you, I could still make this money!” Jiang Ke’er hugged the stack of IOUs tightly, glaring at Pei Min warily, as if afraid he might snatch them.
“Sigh…”
Pei Min sighed and scratched his head frantically.
How could there be such a terrible person in this world?
It was almost the perfect opposite of Jiang Ke’er!
The greater Jiang Ke’er was, the more shameless this person became!
“Hurry up, hurry up. Once the news spreads, we won’t be able to make any more money.” Jiang Ke’er urged.
Pei Min’s head ached terribly.
Being rejected over and over by the sword cultivator sects tormented him endlessly.
But the troublesome girl beside him was overjoyed, rubbing salt into his wounds like crazy.
This was the most mentally devastating day of his life.
Still, if even one sword cultivator sect would accept him, his nightmare would be over.
Not only would he officially step onto the path of the Sword Dao and inch closer to the legendary Jiang Ke’er bit by bit, but he could also completely shake off this jerk behind him!
‘Hahaha—’
‘Just imagining a life like that is exciting!’
“Alright, let’s go.”
It was precisely this hope for the future that made Pei Min pull himself together again and again, gathering the courage to head to the next sword sect.
They quickly ran down the mountain.
The flying sword driver had been waiting at the foot of the mountain for a long time.
He didn’t know what had happened up on the mountain, but Jiang Ke’er was the most generous customer he had met this year—she had already flown across a small part of Dongsheng Shenzhou on his flying sword.
“Fasten your seatbelt!” the flying sword driver reminded them enthusiastically.
“Whoosh—”
The flying sword shot across the night sky at incredible speed, reaching the next destination in just a few minutes.
Jiang Ke’er pulled Pei Min off the flying sword and hurried toward the sect’s mountain gate.
Cultivators didn’t need to sleep, so the place was still open for business at night.
Without Jiang Ke’er leading him, Pei Min spotted the registration desk at the foot of the mountain gate on his own.
However, the other party also saw Pei Min and Jiang Ke’er.
The sword cultivator at the registration desk changed expression, frantically pulled out a photo, and compared it with Pei Min and Jiang Ke’er.
Then he stiffened suddenly.
“Close the gate! Pei Min is here!!!”
Boom, boom, boom—
The sound of doors slamming shut echoed continuously.
Even the registration desk hurriedly pulled down the blinds, hung up a “Closed” sign, locked the door… and even turned off the lights swiftly.
“…”
Pei Min stared blankly at the scene before him.
An entire mountain sect of cultivators was actually afraid of a mere Dual Polarity Stage cultivator like him, treating him as if he were a plague.
“Shameless thieves! You’ll never ruin our Xiaoshan Sword Sect! Your schemes won’t succeed again!”
“…”
Pei Min felt like crying but had no tears.
“Wait, everyone, this has nothing to do with me. I just want to become a disciple…”
“Become a disciple? Dream on!” an angry voice shouted from inside the registration desk.
“Pei Min, right? You’re already completely infamous!”
“Huh?” Pei Min’s mind buzzed.
The cultivator inside continued to curse:
“You’ve become the public enemy of all sword sects in Shenzhou!”
“Your name will be forever engraved on the blacklist of the sword cultivator world!”
“No sword cultivator sect in all of Shenzhou will ever let you join! Get lost! Your path as a sword cultivator is over!”