Elder Ping was not pleased with this, but as she looked to the audience who were watching her every move, she couldn’t back out.

She now realised that she had been outsmarted by a 10-year-old.

Every preparation she had made had been countered, almost like Hei knew what she was thinking.

“Fine. It doesn’t matter how many merit points you earn. As a man, you will spend them all in no time.”

Elder Ping had this one thing to reassure her. Even if Hei took a few thousand merit points, he would spend them within the week.

Hei smiled.

“Who said they were for me?”

“What?”

Hei pointed to Jingfei.

“You will be paying Senior Sister Jingfei. Please tell the honourable Elder Ping how many merit points you have, Senior Sister Jingfei.”

“Mm.”

Jingfei bowed slightly and turned to Elder Ping.

“This junior currently has 35,000 merit points in her identity jade.”

“What?!”

Not only was Elder Ping shocked, but the other elders and the audience were also stunned.

How was Jingfei able to amass so many merit points, while also preparing for the formation duel?

Hei spoke up.

“Then in accordance with the conditions of our agreement, you are to pay 350,000 merit points.”

Elder Ping only looked at Hei with a pale face before walking over to Jingfei.

After she checked her identity jade, she stumbled a few steps backwards.

“This… This, it’s too much! How do you expect me to-”

She was cut off.

“Oh? Could it be that the respectable Elder Ping refuses to honour her agreements? Was this the way the Radiant Jade Sect conducted itself?”

Elder Ping could feel a stinging sensation on the side of her face as she saw the way the audience was looking at her. They too were doubting the integrity of the elders.

Everyone already knew the stakes of the competition. Why had Elder Ping accepted if she was unable to suffer a loss?

Hei took the opportunity to provoke the situation further.

He took out a manual from his storage space and presented it to the audience.

“This is the very same manual that allowed Senior Sister Jingfei to advance to a one-star array master. I was prepared to accept my loss in this fair competition.”

He turned over to Elder Ping.

“I wonder, were you also prepared? Or were you just trying to rob an innocent junior?”

Hearing these words, Elder Ping and the other elders were angered, but seeing the critical gazes of the audience, there was nothing they could do.

Elder Ping could only pay the price unwillingly.

She took her identity token and transferred 350,000 merit points over to Jingfei.

This left her with a paltry 10,000 merit points.

After getting Jingfei’s confirmation, Hei clapped his hands with a smile on his face.

“I knew the Radiant Jade Sect was fair and just. I do hope we can compete again someday, Elder Ping.”

He took his leave and Jingfei followed him.

From the audience, Bai, Mei, Fang Ren and Qiuyue also followed.

The rest of the audience started discussing the event.

“Wow. 350,000 merit points, just like that.”

“And did you see how Sister Mei jumped onto the stage when The Dark-Skinned Con Man called?”

“He introduced himself as Shao Hei. Do you think he is related to The Sisters Shao?”

“It looks like it.”

“Those surnamed Shao are interesting.”

“My surname is Xiao, does that count?”

“Never mind that. It looks like if one wants to become an array master, the formation hall may not be the best choice.”

“Isn’t that a shame? It looks like they will need to choose another name.”

Hearing these words, the elders' faces turned red.

If they were to be perfectly honest, it was true. Both in ease of learning and outcome, Hei’s method was superior to the method the sect had developed over hundreds of years.

But the problem was, their method was the widely agreed method. Where exactly had Hei found such unorthodox teachings? This was what they hoped to find out when they tried to obtain his techniques.

As they left the venue, Hei turned to Bai and Mei.

“The Sisters Shao?”

Both looked to the ground and remained silent, so Qiuyue stepped in.

“You don’t know? These two have been going around, breaking several records. They managed to amass a lot of merit points.”

Qiuyue spoke as Jingfei was transferring her share into her identity jade.

“They may even have more than I do.”

Hei turned to his sisters.

“What did I tell you about being low key? You shouldn’t make a spectacle like that.”

Hearing these words, both Bai and Mei stopped walking.

It wasn’t just them. Hei was the only one who continued walking after he spoke these words.

When he turned around, he saw Bai, Mei, Fang Ren, Jingfei and Qiuyue, all pointing to the venue they had just left.

Hei realised what they were saying.

“Cough. That wasn’t me. It was Jingfei…”

After speaking these words, Hei realised something else.

‘Bai, Mei, Fang Ren, Jingfei and Qiuyue… All girls… This…’

Hei noticed that without Tianlan, the dynamic had drastically changed. It was almost as if…

‘No. Fang Ren and Qiuyue are just Bai’s friends. Mei and Bai are both my sisters. It should be okay, right?’

That was what Hei was thinking.

If he classified Qiuyue and Fang Ren as additions, add-ons if you will, of Bai, then they were all one person. They were his sister. And so was Mei, even though that situation was complicated.

‘Mm. It shouldn’t count, right?’

At this point, the five started walking again. They noticed Hei wasn’t speaking.

That was because Hei was very distracted right now. He had decided to get a second opinion.

[Hey, Onyx.]

[Mm?]

[Take a look at these young ladies. What do you see?]

[These five right here?]

[Yes.]

Onyx turned his body to Hei and then back to the five.

[They’re your women, right?]

[What?!]

[Mm. Obviously, you intend to have some fun during your youth. Is there anything else?]

[But two of them are my sisters.]

[One of them is your sister.]

[But…]

[Why is this such a big deal? I also had a group like this in my younger days.]

[Do you think I want to be like you?]

Onyx ignored Hei as he continued his story. He was now reminiscing about the past.

[And the odd thing was, I didn’t particularly try to start relationships with them. They just sort of appeared.]

[That’s the main character aura.]

Still ignoring Hei, Onyx continued his story.

[Another thing. I had this one girl who started off as an enemy. She would try to kill me at every chance, but then one day, she suddenly changed her mind and started following me around. I would see her everywhere I went.]

[Enemies become love interests. Seen it plenty of times.]

[You would think I would hate her or something. I think I had even said the words ‘We don’t have to be enemies, but we will never be friends’.]

[This!]

Hei remembered saying the same words about Fang Lian.

Onyx continued to ignore him.

[But you know what? The very next time I saw her, we collaborated to obtain an inheritance and basically became best friends. Funny how that works huh?]

[It’s not funny. It means you have no resolve.]

[Then there was this other time. An older woman this time.]

[I don’t think I care though…]

[We ended up seeking an inheritance, as one does. But when we got there, the bugger was booby-trapped. The old yin and yang. Come to find out, we had to ‘dual cultivate’ if you know what I mean. Otherwise, we would both die.]

[Yeah. I’ve seen this one too. I call it the Medusa-type situation.]

[So, I did what I had to do. I wanted to keep living and all, but do you know what?]

[Pineapple.]

At this point, Hei realised that Onyx wasn’t listening to a word he said.

[The crazy chick tried to kill me! What kind of nonsense is that? She was only alive because of what I did, but because of what I did, she wanted to take my life. Unbelievable.]

[She probably told you she would rather die, right?]

[She even told me she would rather have died! Crazy as can be.]

[To be fair, some people-]

[But you know what? That very same girl ended up falling in love with me. And what did I do about the fact that she tried to kill me?]

[Absolutely nothing.]

[Absolutely nothing! I mean, the girl was still freakishly attractive. I’m telling you, these two, this Jingfei and Qiuyue? Nothing on her.]

[Give them some time.]

[Hmm. You know what? Give them a few years and they’ll probably get there. You lucky dog.]

[No, I don’t wa-]

[That reminds me of this time I was a lucky dog.]

[Just great.]

[Grandpa in the ring had told me to go on a journey, so I was out on a mountain, doing my training. I run into this super rare treasure, but problem is, it’s guarded by a powerful beast.]

[Enter Senior Sister.]

[Then this senior sister came out of nowhere, evenly matched with the beast. I take advantage of the opportunity to take the treasure, but on my way out, the beast discovers me.]

[Saved by the senior sister.]

[I don’t know what exactly happened, but it looked like the senior sister noticed the distraction and launched her final attack, causing me to be thrown far away, escaping danger.]

[Reunion.]

[To my surprise, I stumbled across her a few days later. She was badly injured, so I took her to the cave I was staying in and nursed her wounds. I tell you, some of the best days of my life. But one day, she just disappeared. Didn’t leave a note or anything. I was pretty sad about that.]

[Reunion pt2.]

[But then, by a stroke of luck, she showed up at the sect tournament, and we were together since. But then I had to leave her behind as I explored the outer boundary.]

[So, can we get back to my-]

[You don’t even want to get me started on the whole 'broken engagement' fiasco. It’s a long story.]

[Sigh.]

[Hm? Were you saying something?]

[Just curious. How many wives did you end up with?]

[Wives…]

All of a sudden, Onyx’s mood darkened.

[Sigh. To tell you the truth, that was all someone else’s story. I’m the sappy ‘one true love’ kind of guy.]

[Oh? How did that work out for you?]

Hei was now slightly interested. The previous stories were all too common.

[Everything was magical. That was until the fire nation attacked.]

[Fire nation? Are you serious?]

[Mm. That’s what Rubie calls her minions. I have no idea why.]

[OK, Onyx. That’s enough of your story, don’t you think? I was telling you that this isn’t that kind of thing, OK?]

[You mean these girls?]

[Yes.]

[Who are you trying to prove it to? Do you think I care about your girl problems?]

[... Then, why did you tell me all of that nonsense?]

[No reason in particular.]

[…]

Hei decided that he was done speaking with Onyx.

It was at this moment that he realised he now had two human sleeves.

“Oh, are you with us again, Brother?”

“Mm. We were worried about you, Darling.”

“It’s Hei.”

“He’s back.”

-Hahaha.

“So, what did I miss?”

They hadn’t walked very far, so it wouldn’t be much, but Hei was still interested.

Before anyone answered, Hei felt a cold chill.

“Brother. Who is Senior Sister Qiuyue to you?”

“That’s right, Darling. I would also like to know.”

Bai and Mei were looking at Hei with smiles on their faces, but he knew that they weren’t happy right now.

They hadn’t failed to notice the new addition of Qiuyue. And looking at Jingfei and Qiuyue, who were both beautiful older women, they couldn’t help questioning their brother’s motives.

The others also noticed the tense atmosphere. Especially Qiuyue, whose name had been mentioned.

‘Why do I feel like I have been caught doing something bad?’

Hei imagined this was what his father felt like whenever his mother asked why the garbage hadn’t been taken out yet.

“It-It’s Hei. And Senior Sister Qiuyue is someone I met at the formation hall.”

Bai responded.

“Is she another maid?”

“Sigh. Senior Sister Qiuyue has eyes but has failed to recognise Mount Tai. She still doesn’t realise that being my maid is the best decision she can make.”

Bai raised a brow and turned to Qiuyue.

“Is it true? Brother offered to take you as his maid, but you refused?”

Qiuyue was surprised by Bai’s tone. It was as if her refusal was the most perplexing thing in the world.

“It’s true.”

The cold atmosphere that Bai and Mei had caused, disappeared at this moment.

They both looked to each other with blank expressions.

Mei spoke first.

“So, she’s just stupid.”

“Mm. And they said it was Senior Sister Jingfei whose comprehension was lacking.”