By this time, the morning mist had fully dissipated. Gu An and Yun Xiuyan sat down in the pavilion. The spiritual energy from the nearby spirit spring eye spread along with the water vapor. Taking a deep breath, he felt his spiritual power abundant and his mind at ease.

"This spirit spring eye is the only one on my Yun family's second-grade lower-tier spirit vein. My third uncle gave it to me." Yun Xiuyan saw Gu An's eyes constantly drifting toward the spirit spring eye and, somewhat helplessly, explained.

This junior brother, the moment they met, was already talking about spirit stones and such. Now, seeing the spirit spring eye, he couldn't look away. She wondered what he was thinking.

Gu An snapped back to reality at this point and withdrew his gaze, feeling a bit embarrassed inside: "Why can't I walk past good things without stopping- Ah, it's all because of poverty. I still need to earn more spirit stones!"

His storage bag vibrated lightly. Thirteen bags of spirit rice flew out first, followed closely by a jade jar. Upon closer inspection, one could see that compared to when Lin Luping had handed them over, the thirteenth bag of spirit rice was nearly half empty, and the Red Maple Spirit Sap in the jade jar had also decreased by a layer.

Since they had passed through his hands, it was only normal for him to skim a little off the top, right! Besides, the extra portion was originally the Lin Clan's tribute to him. How pedantic would he have to be to hand it all over-

"Senior Sister, this is the Lin Clan's Spirit Tax for this year: one thousand two hundred and sixty jin of Golden Cloud Rice, and four and a half jin of Red Maple Spirit Sap. Please check it."

Yun Xiuyan picked up a handful of Golden Cloud Rice and took a quick look, seeing that the quality was good, then opened the Red Maple Spirit Sap to inspect it. She nodded in satisfaction. Her jade-like face, which had remained unchanged, finally showed a faint smile as her red lips parted slightly.

"This junior brother is quite honest. There's much more than the Sect estimated. Not like those Senior Brothers of yours, who would bite off a chunk of flesh if they could."

Upon hearing this, Gu An's heart ached. These parasites were too shameless!!

"Are the Senior Brothers that bold- I only skim a little oil, but they're directly eating the meat."

"I've suffered from being too honest. I must learn my lesson next year."

Yun Xiuyan, naturally unaware of Gu An's thoughts, continued: "But being too honest isn't necessarily a good thing either. Hmm, the Red Maple Spirit Sap is too little. Senior Sister needs to use some too. I'll take one bag of Golden Cloud Rice."

With that, one bag of Golden Cloud Rice flew back in front of Gu An.

Gu An blinked, his mind momentarily confused.

Just how honest did he appear in Yun Xiuyan's eyes, that she would voluntarily give him a kickback-

How ruthless must those Senior Brothers be!!

And also, didn't the Sect have any objections-

Why hadn't anyone told him!

Dark!

Too dark!

Gu An felt as if the world was shrouded in pitch-black darkness, with only himself remaining unstained by the mud.

Little did he know that in Yun Xiuyan's view, this junior brother was also strange. He clearly seemed obsessed with spirit stones, yet he wasn't tempted by the Spirit Tax.

How could she know that Gu An had already tampered with the goods, but his vision was too low, and he had skimmed too little, so she hadn't even noticed.

Although he had been in this world for fifteen years and some of his concepts had changed, Gu An was still influenced by his previous life. His cognition hadn't fully transformed and couldn't keep up with the times.

Simply put, Gu An's moral standards were still too high!!!

Barely resisting the temptation, Gu An cupped his hands toward Yun Xiuyan and said cautiously, "Senior Sister, is this appropriate- Won't the Sect investigate-"

Yun Xiuyan's expression remained unchanged as she said, "Relax. The Sect doesn't interfere. Even my master said it's fine."

"Then I thank Senior Sister for your kindness. Junior Brother will reluctantly accept." Gu An felt reassured, as if he had taken a calming pill.

After all, if even True Person Qingxiao said it was fine, then it truly was fine.

Yun Xiuyan scattered the Golden Cloud Rice in her hand to the Purple Cloud Goose, causing it to frolic joyfully.

The goose swallowed the spirit rice in two gulps, then ran over to rub against Yun Xiuyan's feet, clearly not full.

But Yun Xiuyan remained completely unmoved, determined to starve this foolish bird a little. Didn't it see there was a guest present! If it wasn't going to earn her face, it could at least stop embarrassing her.

Seeing its owner ignore it, the Purple Cloud Goose stopped its useless efforts and walked away coldly.

It knew very well when it could get food!

Turning to look at Gu An, it remembered this human who had fed it Spirit Fish. A wisp of subtle spiritual power was injected into the storage bag, and a familiar Purple Cloud Goose egg floated before Gu An's eyes.

Gu An found it both amusing and frustrating. Was it here to trade for Spirit Fish again- What a polite and well-mannered Spirit Beast!

He glanced at Senior Sister Yun Xiuyan and saw that she was also somewhat startled but didn't stop it. Instead, she spoke up, "Since she's willing to give it to you, Junior Brother, just accept it."

Hearing this, Gu An shook his head and explained, "Senior Sister, this Spirit Goose isn't giving it to me."

With that, he took four Black Spirit Fish from his spirit beast bag, tossed them to the Purple Cloud Goose, and put away the goose egg.

Yun Xiuyan's long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and her heart grew more distressed. This foolish bird, how many times had it gone mad today-!

She had lost all face!!

Should she teach this junior brother a lesson, to prevent him from spreading rumors outside-

Gu An saw Senior Sister's narrow eyes fixed on him, unaware that dangerous thoughts had already arisen in her mind. He smiled and said, "Senior Sister, you may not know this, but when this Purple Cloud Goose delivered letters before, I treated it to some Spirit Fish. It was polite enough to give me a Purple Cloud Goose egg as a return gift."

"It's fine. As long as you're both willing." Somehow, Gu An felt that Senior Sister's tone had grown colder. "By the way, Junior Brother, do you have any more Spirit Fish- I'd like to purchase some."

"Yes, I do." Gu An nodded eagerly like a chick pecking at rice, overjoyed. Wasn't this like a pillow arriving just when he was feeling sleepy-

"Let Senior Sister know, Junior Brother still has fifty-nine Black Spirit Fish. One spirit stone per fish."

Yun Xiuyan nodded slightly. "That's quite cheap. Give them all to me."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Gu An's eyes sparkling as he quickly took the remaining fifty-nine Black Spirit Fish from his spirit beast bag, afraid she might change her mind.

Yun Xiuyan naturally wouldn't go back on her word, as the price was indeed quite good, perfect for feeding that foolish bird.

"This is fifty-nine spirit stones, plus one year's salary. You previously drew half a year in advance, so thirty-six remain, along with the two Jade Spirit Fruits I promised you earlier. I'll give them all to you now."

A pile of spirit stones and two fruits flew out of the storage bag. Gu An caught them steadily and put them into his own storage bag.

Gu An was very happy. After all, shiny spirit stones always lifted one's spirits, not to mention the two free Spirit Fruits.

"Thank you, Senior Sister." Gu An cupped his hands forward. This thanks was truly sincere.

Whoever gave him spirit stones was his good friend!

He was already very poor. There were only two spirit stones left in his storage bag, leftovers from his previous visit to the Treasure Gathering Tower. He had been reluctant to use them, saving them for emergencies.

"By the way, there will be a small gathering of fellow disciples here in three days. If you're interested, you can come." Seeing Gu An's sincere thanks, Yun Xiuyan couldn't help but offer a hint.

Of course, it might also be because she saw that Gu An had just gained a new batch of spirit stones that she extended the invitation.

Regardless, Gu An was quite interested in this small gathering of fellow disciples. He asked, "Didn't Senior Sister say it would be after the fifteenth-"

"That's the Yun Kingdom trading gathering, open to the various families and Rogue Cultivators of Yun Kingdom. This small gathering of fellow disciples is only for Qingyuan Sect disciples." Yun Xiuyan explained.

"Junior Brother will definitely come!"

Gu An understood and agreed, then took his leave.