Li Yunxian listened to the shop assistant’s words and her expression relaxed, a little dazed: “Have you often encountered things like this before?”
If she weren’t very experienced, most people wouldn’t be able to blurt out words like that so directly.
The shop assistant didn’t quite understand which kind of “thing” Li Yunxian was referring to.
She thought Li Yunxian was startled by the scene before her.
After all, the shop assistant had never dealt with Li Yunxian before, and most of what she knew came from all sorts of comments online.
According to those words, Li Yunxian was basically a naive and sincere philanthropist.
It sounded fake. Honestly, at first, the shop assistant didn’t believe there could be such a person in the world.
In the interstellar era, she’d seen all sorts of personas constructed on the internet.
Especially back then, when the Sheng family brought out Li Yunxian’s initial offerings— the Rejuvenation Pill and the Spirit-Returning Pill— just hearing the advertisement almost made people want to smash up the Sheng family’s shop.
Their planet, Qingxing, was in the throes of a beast tide, who knew how many had died, and now there were scammers risking their lives for money, treating Qingxing as a playground for some interstellar joke.
How could there possibly be a pill that, once swallowed, immediately healed injuries and restored spiritual energy?
And sold at such a low price!
It was clearly disaster profiteering, some bastard looking to grab a windfall and run.
But then the Sheng family announced on the spot that people could use it first and pay only if it worked.
That was the first time this shop assistant—along with most of Qingxing—had heard the name Li Yunxian.
At the time, she didn’t pay much attention, mostly feeling grateful to the Sheng family.
Then, Li Yunxian’s name started cropping up more and more, and the things they got their hands on, the ones that let them survive, increased by the day.
Ah!
And they were cheap.
Unbelievably cheap.
They could buy as much as they wanted and not feel any regret.
It wasn’t because people in Qingxing were rich; even a few or a dozen starcoins was something to think about.
Rather, their incomes had increased.
Originally, only those materials useful for making magical tools were valuable, so everyone hunted the few types of valuable exotic beasts.
Everyone hoped that, by risking life and limb, they could finally get a matching cash reward.
But there were only a few valuable beasts. Most people either weren’t lucky or strong enough, so they could only hunt the worthless ones.
Some could only do support jobs, picking up scraps others discarded for a bit of loose change.
Let alone cultivation resources—most could barely scrape by.
But the things Li Yunxian provided required all sorts of materials.
Even the scraps that were hard to sell could now be exchanged for money.
Even weeds with a bit of spiritual energy by the roadside, if you pulled up a handful, could be traded for a starcoin or two.
Though the beast tide crisis still loomed, there was this inexplicable feeling that life was getting better.
At that time, the promotional ads authorized by Li Yunxian were everywhere.
Online discussions were all about what Li Yunxian was doing in .
The shop assistant saw a message someone had casually posted.
“Since Little Teacher Li appeared, even training in feels more interesting.”
After reading it, the shop assistant was struck by the realization that things really had improved around her since Li Yunxian appeared.
When facing the beast tide, it wasn’t just human lives being thrown at the problem; most of the people around her had come back alive.
So many had survived.
They even figured out how to use these new “cheap goods” to cause greater harm, and to cross levels to slay exotic beasts.
The endless, seemingly unending beast tide no longer seemed like a crisis, but a never-depleting resource pool.
Walking down the street, the shop assistant could even see smiles on people’s faces.
At this point, the shop assistant still didn’t believe the Li Yunxian praised so extravagantly online was entirely real, without any embellishment.
But who cared?
People in peril needed a holy, bright, positive image to maintain hope in their hearts.
Then, just when life seemed to be getting better and better, the shop assistant was injured.
Her meridians were damaged, her acupoints ruptured; she could no longer go to the front lines.
She was crippled, her income cut off.
She wasn’t young anymore, and she had elderly parents who’d never stepped onto the path of cultivation to care for.
Treatment would cost a fortune, far more than she could afford.
At that time, it felt like the sky had fallen.
Then the owner of this shop heard what had happened and joyfully came to find her.
Since you can’t go to the front lines, and you’re only injured, but still have cultivation—such a rare talent.
—I’m opening a branch and need staff, those damn authorized shops have stolen everyone who can work! My life is so hard—
The shop assistant was bewildered to find herself with this branch job.
After a month, her salary and commissions weren’t much lower than what she earned fighting the beast tide.
She stayed on this commercial street and got to know the other shop assistants there.
And from them, she learned many stories.
Some of them had interacted with Li Yunxian in .
—Those who got shop jobs at first were all not strong enough for the front lines, so they trained more in .
Some met the boss when opening their shop, and heard how he got authorization.
Turns out, the things described online, while exaggerated, were mostly true.
These cheap, useful things were stipulated in the contract from the beginning.
So… Li Yunxian really was as “naive” as the online rumors said.
Yet, she—and they—really did survive thanks to Li Yunxian’s “naivety.”
The shop assistant felt this more deeply, sooner than most.
As the beast tide ended and people of Qingxing recovered from crisis, they started to care about other things, and— learned about these stories.
So when the capital, half destroyed by the beast tide, needed to be rebuilt, everyone tacitly chose to rebuild Qingxing’s Yinhai, as it was designed in .
This was their city of hope.
And it was built by Li Yunxian; they thought, surely she would like it.
Maybe one day, that person who always appeared only in , the one who had perhaps unintentionally saved them, would, on a whim, decide to appear in reality.
Maybe she would even come to Qingxing for a look?
Many didn’t say it aloud, but in their hearts, many hoped so.
Then, Li Yunxian really appeared.
And then, on their turf, Li Yunxian was attacked.
The shop assistant smiled.
“Not often. Before, Qingxing had the beast tide, right? We all trained our reflexes back then. Whenever something strange happens, we think it’s more beasts showing up.”
“That’s how we used to fight the beasts—it worked well, so now we’re all experts at it.”
The shop assistant was explaining why everyone slapped the body cultivator just now.
Li Yunxian shook her head, clarifying, “Did people ever get attacked before?”
This time, it was the shop assistant’s turn to freeze.
She hadn’t expected Li Yunxian’s first reaction to this scene to be concern for whether others had also encountered such things.
Suddenly, she understood why so many online spoke of Li Yunxian in such exaggerated terms.
Maybe because of those rumors, she had a positive bias towards Li Yunxian, and now, she just wanted to scream and share this online.
But as a service worker, the shop assistant steadied herself and replied,
“We haven’t had that happen in Qingxing, but other places have.”
“When the new replaces the old, there’s always conflict.”
“Many say that if you can find the attacker, it’s not a big deal, but if you can’t, that’s when it’s serious.”
Qingxing’s beast tide was fierce—no one had the mind for other drama.
Many shopkeepers even donated their stock and went to the front lines themselves.
This was their home.
But on other planets, disasters—especially the strange, weird ones—cropped up just like in .
Nothing worked better than Li Yunxian’s talismans.
Those saved not just Qingxing, but other places too—just not at the planetary scale yet.
And even on planets that hadn’t suffered calamities yet, people wondered:
What if disaster struck here someday?
Could their previously worthless supplies let them live better too?
In the end, everyone made the same choice.
Everyone wanted to survive.
Those who were eliminated voiced their resentment, and did angry things.
—I’ve been dragged from the clouds, so why can you take my place and live so well!
With so many in the interstellar world, there would always be some who’d lose reason and go for mutual destruction.
But anyone trying to force everyone back to hard days would just be torn apart by the crowd—and by body cultivators like before.
The interstellar world was far more free and savage than Shenzhou.
Yet, faced with “pure good” Li Yunxian, the shop assistant used much softer, gentler words when recounting these things.
But Li Yunxian understood.
She was silent for a few seconds, and then spoke a few names.
“Cao Xiaofan, Dai Ning’an, Xue Tianyou… were they attacked?”
These were friends of Li Yunxian in who hadn’t logged in for a long time.
All had been authorized by her before.
The shop assistant fell silent.
Hearing Li Yunxian’s words, no more needed to be said; she understood what those names meant.
She was just a shop assistant; though she’d learned much online about Li Yunxian, and about conflicts on other planets, she hadn’t paid attention to the people involved.
“I don’t know about the others, but I remember Xue Tianyou. She passed away.” The shop assistant spoke to Li Yunxian with a trace of apology.
Li Yunxian listened, recalling meeting Xue Tianyou in the interview room.
She had dressed as well as she could and told Li Yunxian about her best qualities.
“She promised me that with a name like Tianyou (Heaven-Blessed), the heavens would watch over her, and that with my authorization she’d surely make money.”
“Her last message to me was that she’d succeeded.”
Li Yunxian didn’t reply to messages much, but she’d always at least glanced at the latest message under each friend’s name.
She remembered them all.
After speaking, Li Yunxian gave the shop assistant a grateful smile.
She knew the other had worked hard to tell her all she knew.
Just as she was about to say her farewells, someone walked into the shop.
“Don’t worry, for everyone who’s had trouble, our Li Clan Chamber of Commerce will help take care of their families.” The newcomer had clearly heard Li Yunxian’s last words and spoke up.
As he spoke, he looked over Li Yunxian to confirm she wasn’t hurt, then let out a small sigh of relief.
Hearing this, Li Yunxian said, “Stop randomly naming things after me all the time!!” Li Yunxian said, exasperated.
The newcomer grinned and pretended not to hear her, clearly planning to do it again next time.
From the familiar air, it was obvious that their relationship was close.
Duan Qiu and the others recalled what Li Yunxian had said yesterday, looked at this person, and…
“You’re Sheng Yu?” Duan Qiu asked for confirmation.
At that, Sheng Yu beamed.
The boss’s companions know me!!
Boss introduced me to them!!
I matter to the boss!!
“Yes, I’m Sheng Yu. Nice to meet you!” Sheng Yu greeted Duan Qiu and the others very politely.
Then she cheerfully skipped over to Li Yunxian’s side, “See, I got here faster than that useless Ying Wenhe!”
But just as she finished, Sheng Yu suddenly sensed something, looking at Li Yunxian in shock.
Next moment, she shrieked, “Boss, how are you already at Foundation Establishment mid-stage!!”
When she’d met Li Yunxian, she was at Foundation Establishment mid-stage, and Sheng Yu still was now.
The contrast was just too much.
Li Yunxian wordlessly knocked Sheng Yu on the head, telling her to behave.
Sheng Yu squeaked and clutched her head, then habitually and obediently leaned close to Li Yunxian, regaining some composure and picking up the earlier topic.
“This is nothing you need to worry about, Boss.”
“It was lucky you authorized so many people at once back then—everyone became allies by default, so they could quickly take root everywhere.”
“That’s why so few people ran into trouble.”
When the Sheng family first got the Rejuvenation and Spirit-Returning Pills, they also had plenty of trouble.
In other places, they couldn’t even open shops.
It was only after settling in Qingxing that they stabilized.
Later, the so-called Li Clan Chamber of Commerce was put together by a few small families led by the Shengs.
Li Yunxian authorized a bunch of people, which united them and let them survive the attacks from the old powers.
It helped tremendously.
Back then, nobody expected it to turn out this way.
***
After finishing, Sheng Yu didn’t offer any words of comfort to Li Yunxian; she was just stating a fact.
From her understanding of Li Yunxian, she didn’t think the boss needed comforting.
Those unfamiliar with Li Yunxian, going by rumor, called her “naive and purely good.”
But Sheng Yu knew how clear-eyed and clear-hearted Li Yunxian was, and how well she understood the world.
People assumed everyone who understood the world would act shrewdly.
After speaking, Sheng Yu hugged Li Yunxian’s arm, complaining affectionately, “That person really had no sense. I was going to give you a surprise, you know.”
“Never mind, no more fussing—Boss, come see the gift I’ve prepared for you!”
As her words fell, Sheng Yu deftly whisked Li Yunxian away.
Watching Li Yunxian’s figure disappear at the shop entrance, Duan Qiu and the others:
Wait, weren’t they supposed to follow Li Yunxian for her protection? Not only did the people of Qingxing step in first, even their job of accompanying her while shopping was stolen?!
Looking at the items they’d received from Li Yunxian, everyone’s hearts sank.
No, no!!
They didn’t want to owe such a huge debt!!
Cause and effect—by the time you finish cultivating, everything must be accounted for and repaid!!
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