Zou Shuming could be considered a man of his word. Sure enough, on the mountain path afterward, he obediently followed behind Zhang Xiaohua. Well, in truth, even if he had wanted to overtake him, he could not.

Thus, amid the tense anticipation of Elder Lei and the dozen or so disciples from the Herb Division and Pill Division, Zhang Xiaohua in front and Zou Shuming behind raced one after the other to the summit. Seeing Zou Shuming lagging behind, all the disciples shouted loudly: “Go! Go!”

Unfortunately, when Zou Shuming heard these cheers of encouragement, the expression on his face became rather strange. Zhang Xiaohua, on the other hand, seemed filled with hot-blooded excitement. Exerting force with his feet, he sprinted swiftly to the finish!

When they saw Zhang Xiaohua arrive first, the cries of “Go!” immediately ceased. Even when Zhang Xiaohua spread his arms and gestured to the crowd, nobody paid him any attention. At that moment, Zou Shuming also arrived. He cupped his fists toward everyone and said: “Junior brothers, I truly owe you all an apology. I have failed your expectations. In this Qinggong contest, I was indeed defeated by Junior Brother Ren. I ask all of you to bear witness.”

The faces of the crowd darkened. One disciple standing close to Elder Lei muttered softly: “Great Vajra’s Qinggong is the best on Tianmu Peak. Could it be that he reached some agreement with Ren Xiaoyao halfway up the mountain? Were the benefits we offered Great Vajra too little?”

Though his voice was quiet, the mountaintop was silent enough that everyone could hear clearly. Several people’s eyes lit up, clearly sharing the same suspicion. Elder Lei also nodded slightly and looked toward Zou Shuming.

Zou Shuming gave a bitter smile and said loudly: “I, Zou Shuming, swear here and now that I made no transaction whatsoever with Junior Brother Ren. This competition was completely fair. My Qinggong truly is inferior to his.”

Listening beside him, Zhang Xiaohua secretly laughed.

Indeed, Zou Shuming was telling the truth. Although Zhang Xiaohua had saved him earlier and Zou Shuming had promised to let Zhang Xiaohua take the lead, the wagers of over a thousand disciples were involved. Zou Shuming did not dare give up too obviously. During the latter part of the climb, he initially pursued Zhang Xiaohua using eighty percent of his ability. When he found he could not catch up, he raised it to ninety percent. In the end, he pushed himself to his full strength, yet still failed to gain even half a step on Zhang Xiaohua. Therefore, what Zou Shuming said now was indeed the actual situation.

Hearing Zou Shuming swear an oath, Elder Lei could no longer remain silent. Smiling, he said: “Martial Nephew Zou’s words are a bit too serious. The disciples chose you as their representative precisely because they trusted your Qinggong and trusted your character. Since you arrived after Martial Nephew Ren, then this Qinggong contest was naturally won by Martial Nephew Ren. Very well, let us go down the mountain. I imagine those below are already waiting anxiously.”

Indeed, they were waiting anxiously.

The disciples of Tuodan Hall on Tianmu Peak had all gathered at the gambling arena, eagerly awaiting the return of Elder Lei and the dozen representatives. Yet when they saw the representatives from afar subtly shaking their heads, their hearts instantly sank.

Human nature was a curious thing. Although the wagers these Tuodan Hall disciples had placed were not small, they certainly were not large either. Compared to the losses suffered by the three Vajras, their own stakes were no more than tiny sesame seeds. Logically speaking, they should not have cared so much.

Yet when they thought about how all these people were going to lose to Zhang Xiaohua, and how Zhang Xiaohua would suddenly acquire such an enormous quantity of medicinal pills, their hearts felt unbalanced. They did not want to part with even a single pill. That was why they had invited Great Vajra Zou Shuming to challenge Zhang Xiaohua on their behalf, hoping to reduce their losses of pills.

The result was exactly the opposite. Not only did they fail to gain anything, but they also ended up losing even more, adding another twenty percent on top.

The three Vajras were even more depressed. Their twenty percent amounted to ten taels of gold. However, since even Great Vajra had failed, they naturally were no match either. Losing twenty percent was still better than having their losses doubled!

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua emerge victorious once again, the looks with which Chen Fengxiao and Wu Zhouxu regarded him were completely different.

“Is this… still the newcomer whom I was plotting to swindle out of his money a few days ago?”

“Is this… still the Herb Division disciple I thought I could keep under my control?”

Elder Lei immediately announced the result of the competition. This time, there was not much commotion from the crowd. After all, they had already accepted the outcome in their hearts.

At that moment, a disciple from the Pill Division suddenly shouted:

“Junior Brother Ren, I heard yesterday that you allowed the Herb Division disciples to use medicinal herbs in place of medicinal pills, and that you were even exchanging your pills for their herbs. By doing this, aren’t you discriminating against us Pill Division disciples? We demand the same treatment as the Herb Division!”

With a loud uproar, everyone began shouting:

“We’re all disciples of Tuodan Hall! Why should the Herb Division and Pill Division be treated differently?”

“We demand fairness!”

“We demand equal treatment!”

When Zhang Xiaohua heard this, he was overjoyed. What is this? People are lining up to give me things and are even arguing over unequal treatment?

He was about to speak when Chen Fengxiao loudly said: “Junior brothers, don’t be anxious. I also heard Junior Brother Ren say this yesterday. However, he never said that Pill Division disciples would not receive the same privilege. It was simply because only Junior Brother Bai was present at the time, so he was asked to notify the Herb Division disciples. As for the Pill Division disciples, they are also disciples of our Tuodan Hall. We all come from the same root—how could they be left out? Isn’t that right, Junior Brother Ren?”

Chen Fengxiao shot Zhang Xiaohua a meaningful glance, signaling him to help cover the lie.

Yet this had been Zhang Xiaohua’s intention all along, so there was no need for any cover-up. Without changing expression or skipping a beat, he replied: “What Boss Chen says is absolutely correct. I had originally intended to notify all the brothers of Tianmu Peak. It’s just that I had only recently arrived here and was completely unfamiliar with everything, so I could only ask Senior Brother Bai to inform the Herb Division. Since everyone has brought it up, after you return, please gather whatever medicinal herbs you have. Oh, that’s right—the herbs already cultivated on Tianmu Peak need not be brought to me. I can gather those myself when I have the time!”

“Hahaha!” The crowd burst into laughter.

Several Pill Division disciples shouted loudly: “Don’t worry, Junior Brother Ren. Over the years, the Herb Division has lost plenty of medicinal herbs to our Pill Division. Forget ten-year-old herbs—even twenty-year-old and thirty-year-old ones are plentiful. The only thing we worry about is whether you’ll have enough pills!”

“Senior Brother speaks the truth. Exchanging herbs for pills is already a losing business for me. Naturally, I will be the one setting the exchange rates. Of course, they won’t exceed the rates used previously. Senior Brother Bai Huan and Senior Brother Qiu Weicheng will help handle the arrangements. Oh, right. Although I’ve won quite a large number of pills this time, there are also many senior brothers who wish to exchange herbs. That does make things somewhat difficult.”

As he spoke, Zhang Xiaohua scratched his head. Some of the sharper disciples immediately glanced around cautiously after hearing this. Then they quietly began slipping away. Once a few people left, those behind quickly caught on as well and took off running.

That single movement set off a chain reaction. In an instant, everyone understood the situation. Who would continue wasting time standing around here?

An opportunity to exchange medicinal herbs for medicinal pills was something Tianmu Peak had never seen before. Who knew if, after this village, there would ever be another inn? If they missed this chance, there might never be another one.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Xiaohua was truly dumbfounded; he had seriously underestimated the value of medicinal pills. Within the Incense-Spreading Sect, they were essentially the equivalent of gold and silver, while medicinal herbs? Well, they were merely medicinal herbs. However, on Tianmu Peak, or rather throughout the entire Incense-Spreading Sect, one of the things in greatest abundance was precisely medicinal herbs, so Zhang Xiaohua exchanging medicinal pills for medicinal herbs was no different from using gold and silver in the mortal world to buy straw—who would not be delighted by such a bargain?

Chen Fengxiao and Wu Zhouxu looked at the disciples dispersing in all directions and could not help but smile bitterly. To tell the truth, if Zhang Xiaohua had possessed any pills that caught their interest, even they would have wanted to make exchanges—who did not like taking advantage of a good deal? Chen Fengxiao glanced at the sky and said with a smile, “Little Brother, shouldn’t you hurry back? Before long, there will be many disciples looking for you, and you’ll need to make arrangements for them.”

Zhang Xiaohua scratched his head and said, “I really didn’t expect these senior brothers to be so enthusiastic. It seems the threshold of that little courtyard won’t survive this.”

“Hahaha!” Wu Zhouxu also burst into laughter. He was the biggest loser in this round of gambling matches and had been feeling rather depressed all along, but Zhang Xiaohua’s playful remark immediately lifted his spirits, so he tugged at Chen Fengxiao’s sleeve and said, “Come on, Boss Chen, let’s go support Junior Brother Ren. Otherwise, although his martial arts are formidable, if this crowd of junior brothers rushes him all at once, even if Junior Brother Ren had three heads and six arms, he wouldn’t be able to handle them all.”

Chen Fengxiao nodded and said, “I was thinking the same thing. Let’s go and lend him a hand.”

Zhang Xiaohua was overjoyed and cupped his fists, saying, “Many thanks to the two Bosses.”

Wu Zhouxu replied, “It’s nothing. Although they’re called the Pill Division and the Herb Division, we’re all disciples of Tuodan Hall.”

With that, Qiu Weicheng led the way, and the four of them returned to the small courtyard where Zhang Xiaohua was temporarily staying.

Sure enough, before long, the disciples came flooding in, surrounding the courtyard gate so densely that not even water could pass through. Fortunately, with the two Chiefs maintaining order, no trouble arose. The disciples formed a long queue and entered one after another, while Bai Huan sat in the courtyard holding the gambling records and, according to the names of the disciples in line, compared the pills listed in the records with the medicinal herbs they brought. At first Zhang Xiaohua stood there opening each jade box and taking a look, but later he discovered that when it came to exchanging herbs for pills, the disciples were far more experienced than he was, and the herbs they brought matched the value of the wagered pills very appropriately, so aside from herbs of exceptionally great age or herbs whose names were unknown, which he would personally inspect, Bai Huan handled everything else for him.

Even so, the line remained extremely long, and later, following Chen Fengxiao’s suggestion, they selected more than a dozen older and steadier disciples from among those who had already settled their wagers, gave them several sheets of records from Bai Huan, and had them help process the exchanges.

Many hands make light work, and they remained busy until evening, when the full moon hung high overhead, before finally completing the collection of all the wagers owed to Zhang Xiaohua by the disciples. By that time, the courtyard was piled with jade boxes in mounds like small hills, a sight that astonished even Chen Fengxiao and Wu Zhouxu.

When the last disciple handed over his jade box and Bai Huan crossed the disciple’s name off the sheet of paper, he finally let out a long breath, glanced at the medicinal herbs inside the jade box, placed it onto one of the piles, then raised his head and said to Zhang Xiaohua, whose eyes had long since curved into crescents from smiling, “Junior Brother Ren, this pile consists entirely of ten-year medicinal herbs. The exact types haven’t been separated, so you’ll have to sort them yourself later.”

Then he pointed to two other piles and said, “These are herbs between twenty and thirty years old, and that smaller pile over there contains herbs over forty years old, as well as herbs whose names are unknown. You should take a look at them.”