“With all due respect, but it’s elder’s fault,” I replied, putting a calm smile on my face and raising my head high.

If I was going to bullshit my way out of the situation, then I could as well just go all in.

“Oh?” the elder smiled with an ambiguous look on his face. “And what do you mean by that?”

“Since you are not a son of a powerful clan nor do you possess a substantial wealth, your best bet is to keep hitting that pillar as you likely cannot afford spirit stones, not to speak about pills,” I said, paraphrasing what I remembered the man said back at the garden.

“I see,” the elder actually smiled. “So it’s my fault, then?” he asked, leaning his head over his shoulder.

“I’m sure elder is already aware that I do not see Mia, that girl from back at the garden, as just my slave. I just want to protect her,” I said, actually turning my bullshit into an honest response. “And according to elder’s words, I couldn’t afford to grow strong in the quickest way possible, something that is necessary for me if I want to keep protecting her,” I replied casually before stretching myself back in the extremely comfortable chair offered by the auction hall.

“So you are going to use that money for cultivation resources?” the elder asked, his smile twitching a little. “Why do you have so little trust in my advice to just keep training with the pillar?” he asked.

“Because I assumed this is not the best possible option,” I replied honestly. “Elder, are you aware of the circumstances surrounding the girl I’m trying to protect?” I asked.

“Enlighted me,” the elder requested.

“The person that scored just below me on the entrance exam was set on taking her as his plaything,” I replied, revealing what was the most important thing for me ever since I transmigrated to this world.

Now that I thought about this, everything that I have been doing since a long while ago was oriented around that fact.

From my attempts at growing stronger as soon as possible, through my wish to establish myself financially in this world, it was all just a means to achieve a goal.

The goal was to protect Mia from the bastard that wanted to defile her. Even if this feeling was initially powered just by my dislike of slavery in general, after more than two weeks spent in constant Mia’s company, I could no longer claim for the matter to be that simple.

“To be fair, from my point of view, you are not that different from him,” the elder said, his smile turning into an ironic smirk. “You claim that this young master wants her to be his sex slave… but are you really that much different?” he asked, looking me directly in the eyes.

“I believe my wish for you to help her advance is proof enough that we are not the same,” I replied, my tone turning colder.

I could take all kinds of insults without batting an eye. My experiences from the earth allowed me to thicken my skin to the point where all kinds of random insults would just slide down my mind, not affecting it at all.

But to compare me to someone taking advantage of the institution of slavery? To someone wishing to take advantage of a girl with such circumstances? To someone hoping to defile the beauty of Mia’s soul and body?

That wasn’t something that I could just let go of.

“Forget it, then,” the elder said, likely noticing the change in my expression. “Let me ask you something else, then,” he said, crossing his arms on his chest. “If you are going to spend your money on cultivation resources, would you like to buy them from me?”

To be fair, I didn’t expect this talk to suddenly take such a strange turn. Or was it strange? Maybe the elder planned for this situation to develop like that ever since he saw me standing on the podium in the main room of the auction hall!

“That depends on the price the elder is willing to offer,” I replied, turning my smile warm again.

“How does… four gold coins per stone sound like?” the elder asked, relaxing his face a little.

What, did he expect me to outright reject him? Or was he worried that his monetary investment couldn’t be turned into a resource investment?

“It sounds good,” I replied, nodding my head. “But before we strike a deal, I need to know one thing.”

Instead of revealing what I had in mind, I closed my eyes and took a few breaths to calm myself down.

Sure, the prospect of obtaining exactly what I wanted as quickly as I apparently could be great. But this was also the greatest problem of this situation. The greatest reason why I couldn’t just accept it as it was.

If anything, the life on earth taught me was that if something appeared too good to be true, it was most likely a scam or just an outright lie.

“Why are you willing to help me out so much?” I asked. “First the bid higher than what anyone would be willing to offer, then the extremely convenient and attractive exchange ratio of coins for stones…” I said before shaking my head. “It just doesn’t sit well with me to accept such great luck without questioning how real it is.”

“Is there something wrong with investing in a promising talent?” the elder asked, his eyes widening in shock. As to what shocked him, I could only guess.

“First,” he said, pulling his hand out and stretching out a single finger. “A thousand and five-hundred gold coins for something that can easily net ten gold coins of pure profit a day? That’s a great deal if you ask me,” the elder said.

And it was something I could actually agree with. Yet, this truth would be missed by everyone who just looked for a get-rich-quick scheme. After all, for people capable of pulling out fifteen hundred gold coins on a whim, a ten gold coins daily income wouldn’t be anything worth looking at.

“Secondly,” the elder straightened his second finger. “By crossing over the purification stage in just two weeks, you proved that you hold not only an immense talent but also a dedication to exploit it,” the elder said, openly praising me.

Then, he straightened out the rest of his fingers, making it seems as if he wanted me to high-five him.

“Then, for the third, fourth and fifth, I adore your morals,” he said, a wide smile appearing on his lips. “Not only you are willing to go to great lengths for a girl, not only you are doing it despite the girl being a slave that’s completely at the mercy of your whim. You are also willing to go against a powerhouse of our land to protect her,” the elder shouted.

He then pulled his hand back only to place it on his stomach as he started to laugh.

“If only all of the Skyladder disciples were like this, we wouldn’t have to worry about our sects falling into obscurity because of pointless squabbles amongst the upper echelons!”

For a moment, I could only sit down and listen to the elder’s words. I was forced to realize that this world wasn’t anywhere as simple as I expected it to be.

There was some kind of strife at the top of the sect? Well, that was only to be expected. Power was also the greatest factor behind the creation of conflicts. But for the entire sect to be falling into obscurity because of it?

Just how severe the problem had to be for the elder to say something like that openly, especially when I was nothing more but a lowly disciple?

“I can see that I already spoke too much,” the elder said, calming his laughter down and taking a few breaths to regain his inner peace. “For now, there is no use for you to bother with all of that. So, what do you say about our deal?”

“Do you even need to ask?” I asked, shaking my head while intentionally omitting the respectful form that I was using with that elder so far. “How stupid would I have to be to refuse?”