Lin Jin’s near–Heaven-tier Earth artifact, the Wind-Running Bracelet, was one of Mo Yuzi’s treasured possessions—and even that had only been lent out reluctantly. Yet Hua Nanzhi, the extravagantly wealthy young mistress of Chixia City, casually pulled out a Heaven-tier artifact just to deal with him.
The suppression between artifact tiers was absolute. Realizing escape was impossible, Lin Jin tried a different approach.
He turned and bowed respectfully.
“Miss Hua, it’s been a full month. Why chase me so relentlessly? I truly have nothing special about me. I’m not worth such effort.”
“Who says you’re not special?!” Hua Nanzhi snapped.
“You coward! You’re timid and hypocritical! In today’s class quiz, you got another top-grade A+! I really don’t understand—what exactly did I lose to you?!”
Thinking of it made her furious. She attended every lecture and learned the same material, yet Lin Jin always ranked above her.
“…”
Lin Jin was internally screaming.
What did you lose to?
You lost to twelve years of exam hell, note-taking, rote memorization, and standardized-test survival instincts!
But when he heard the second half of her words, inspiration struck.
Straightening up, he asked,
“So, Miss Hua doesn’t accept my top-grade score?”
“Exactly!” she said, chin lifted.
“Good!”
Lin Jin clapped his hands and stood tall.
“There’s an old saying in my hometown: Where you fall is where you rise. Since you object to the written test, let’s not fight. Let’s compete in knowledge!”
Hua Nanzhi felt a sudden sense of unease, as though Lin Jin had drawn a circle and was waiting for her to jump in.
But as the proud young mistress of Chixia City, she feared nothing. She sheathed her blade to show sincerity.
“Fine. Say it—how do we compete?”
Suppressing a smile, Lin Jin coughed and said solemnly:
“To be fair, Han Ao will set the questions. One point per question. If you answer correctly, I’ll obey you from now on—east if you say east, to the martial arena if you command it. But if you lose, you can no longer trouble me or force me into competitions. Deal?”
After a brief hesitation, Hua Nanzhi nodded decisively.
“Deal!”
Seeing how smoothly things went, Lin Jin felt his storage pouch and came up with another idea.
“Since the mood’s right… how about we add a wager?”
“Sure. Name it,” Hua Nanzhi said generously.
After some internal struggle, Lin Jin boldly held up five fingers.
“Five taels of silver!”
For a moment, he thought he saw disdain flash in her eyes.
“Five taels of silver? I give beggars more than that. I don’t know why you want gold and silver in the cultivation world, but if you win, I’ll give you fifty taels of gold!”
F–fifty taels of gold?!
Lin Jin was instantly filled with fighting spirit.
“Deal! Brother Han, set the questions!”
Han Ao, who’d been playing dead on the sidelines, was suddenly called out.
What am I supposed to ask??
But after exchanging a look with Lin Jin, he understood.
Clearing his throat, he thought for a moment and said:
“First question: A cultivator flies across the sky on a sword. He has four hundred spirit stones in his storage pouch. One falls out. How many remain?”
“Three hundred ninety-nine!”
Hua Nanzhi answered instantly, shooting Lin Jin a glance.
“Is that even a hard question? I could do that at five!”
“Impressive, Miss Hua! Next question,” Han Ao continued.
“How many steps does it take to put a Jade-Eyed Hound into a storage pouch?”
Hearing the familiar question, Lin Jin shouted Brother Han understands me! internally and blurted out:
“Three! Open the pouch, put in the hound, close the pouch!”
“Correct! Third question: how many steps to put a Nether-Silver Cat into a storage pouch?”
“Three!” Hua Nanzhi replied confidently.
“Wrong! Lin Jin?”
“Four steps!” Lin Jin said with folded arms.
“Open the pouch, take out the Jade-Eyed Hound, put in the Nether-Silver Cat, close the pouch!”
“That’s ridiculous!” Hua Nanzhi protested.
“The pouch is huge—why would you need to take anything out?!”
“These are brain teasers,” Han Ao soothed.
“You can’t use common sense. Just answer according to the question.”
“Lin Jin scores another point! Next: Lord Mingzhu holds a birthday banquet. All the monsters attend. Who didn’t go?”
“That’s impossible!” Hua Nanzhi exclaimed.
“There are countless monsters!”
Lin Jin patted her shoulder gravely.
“The Nether-Silver Cat didn’t go.”
“Why?!”
“Because it’s in the cultivator’s storage pouch.”
“…You!”
She swallowed her anger, grudgingly admitting the logic.
“Next question,” Han Ao said.
“A mortal crosses Ghost-Wailing Cliff, filled with demons and ghosts, yet survives unharmed. Why?”
“That’s nonsense!” Hua Nanzhi snapped.
“Even cultivators can’t survive that place!”
“Of course it’s possible,” Lin Jin said, barely holding back laughter.
“Because all the demons went to Mingzhu Heaven for the birthday banquet!”
“Correct! Final question: After crossing Ghost-Wailing Cliff, the mortal still dies. Why?”
Hua Nanzhi hesitated.
“Because… the banquet ended and the demons came back?”
“No,” Lin Jin said solemnly.
“A spirit stone fell from the sky and hit him. He died on the spot.”
Feigning sorrow, Lin Jin quickly straightened and bowed deeply.
“Many thanks, Miss Hua, for your generous sponsorship of fifty taels of gold!”
“???”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152