CHAPTER 12: Got It By My Own Ability!

The one-legged man’s voice was cold and impatient.

“Is it her?”

With those words, the blade pressed even tighter against Yu Youyou’s back, the chill intensifying.

The underling behind her made some hesitant gestures before finally answering hesitantly, “Seems like not… I remember the shorty was only about as tall as the blade, but this one is half a head taller.”

Yu Youyou: “…”

So you guys are using the blade as a height reference?

“It either is or it isn’t—no ‘seems like’!” The one-legged man no longer carried the arrogance he had shown in the ring a few months ago. His exposed hair was disheveled like a pile of straw, with even two bald patches.

The underling panicked and quickly confirmed, “No, that shorty healer wasn’t this tall!”

“Then get lost!” The one-legged man spat in Yu Youyou’s direction. She swiftly lifted her leg to dodge.

Luckily, as soon as those words left his mouth, the massive blade finally moved away from Yu Youyou. A strong force pushed her backward, releasing her.

But Yu Youyou didn’t leave—there was something she had to clarify.

“The ‘shorty healer’ you’re talking about… that wouldn’t happen to be me, would it?”

As soon as she spoke, the one-legged man suddenly snapped his head toward her. In a near-miraculous display, he leaped on a single leg to land right in front of her.

He steadied himself—

And then, without warning—

Thud!

He dropped to his knees.

His voice trembled with uncontrollable joy.

“Master, please save me!”

“…” That was way too fast of a face change.

Yu Youyou quickly heard the whole story from him.

He had gone to find that so-called Master Shen Kun to reattach his leg. Not only had he spent a total of three thousand spirit stones, but the leg hadn’t even been reattached properly.

“The pain was secondary—what cultivator is afraid of pain? He said that in seven days, I wouldn’t feel any pain and could walk normally again.” The one-legged man gritted his teeth. “The problem is, after just two days, I realized my leg didn’t hurt anymore.”

Yu Youyou was puzzled. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“It’s not just that it doesn’t hurt—my whole damn leg was completely numb! A stray dog even bit off a chunk of flesh, and I didn’t notice!”

“After seven days, I went back to find Shen Kun, only to discover he had already gotten word and fled ahead of time.”

At this point, the one-legged man’s voice was almost choked with emotion.

That day, he had dragged his mangled, dog-bitten leg back to the black market—only to run into his now fully-recovered, two-handed companion. That guy’s strength had been restored, and he had gone on a ten-match winning streak, earning over three thousand spirit stones.

“He won a full three thousand spirit stones! Meanwhile, I got scammed out of three thousand—that means I lost six thousand!”

Truly, a gambler’s way of thinking.

The one-legged man clung to the hem of Yu Youyou’s black robe, clutching it desperately.

“Master, only you can save my leg!”

But Yu Youyou wasn’t planning to take this job. The Pill Cauldron Sect had held several minor exams recently, and she hadn’t been to the black market for months.

Which meant… that dog-bitten, rotting leg had long lost its vitality—it was probably putrid and crawling with maggots by now.

It was beyond saving.

To her surprise, upon hearing this, the one-legged man suddenly lifted his head and hastily pulled out a ring.

“It’s not rotten, and there are no maggots! I kept it well-preserved!”

Yu Youyou could only think of one possibility.

“…You didn’t, by any chance, cure it like a ham, did you?”

The one-legged man almost cursed out loud, but when he remembered he was still kneeling, he swallowed it down.

He shifted his posture, kneeling even more earnestly.

“Master, I won’t hide it from you—I got lucky a few years back and acquired a magical treasure that keeps fresh food from spoiling for an entire year. In my desperation, I stored my leg in it, and when I checked a few days later, the flesh was still alive.”

Yu Youyou’s interest was piqued.

The jade ring on the one-legged man’s finger glowed, and in an instant, a mangled, gnawed-up leg appeared before them.

She examined it closely. Though it looked absolutely dreadful… it was indeed still usable.

“Master, let’s reattach it now!” The one-legged man eagerly pulled out one hundred spirit stones and offered them up, staring at Yu Youyou with hopeful eyes.

Yu Youyou, however, remained still. She didn’t even glance at the spirit stone. “A hundred spirit stones? That’s just the starting price.”

Du Jiao’s heart sank instantly.

Rogue cultivators without sects or affiliations had their own survival rules. They understood what it meant to be flexible.

That’s why when they had the upper hand, they acted as if they ruled the world, offending everyone they could. But when they were the ones in need, they wouldn’t hesitate to kneel and play the pity card.

Hearing the tone of this short healer, he knew immediately—she was about to raise the price.

Though the mask blocked divine sense from probing her cultivation level, his experienced eyes could tell just from her reaction… she was weak.

If things didn’t work out, he could just capture her and force her to reattach his leg! Killing wasn’t allowed in the black market, but if he dragged her outside, wouldn’t that problem be solved?

Du Jiao’s voice carried a hint of coldness as he made one last concession. “Of course. Once my leg is healed, I’ll pay another one thousand spirit stones.”

Unexpectedly, Yu Youyou let out a soft, disdainful laugh. “Spirit stones? You underestimate me. We healers can sell a single pill at an auction for tens of thousands. Do you really think I’d care about a few spirit stones?”

Though she only had three spirit stones left in her money pouch, that didn’t stop her from putting on airs.

Du Jiao fell silent. He wasn’t a healer, so he didn’t know the inside workings of their trade, but he had heard that Shen Gun was incredibly wealthy, covered head to toe in high-grade treasures.

“I help people for the sake of saving lives and healing the world!” Yu Youyou said in a righteous tone before lazily adding, “But I do charge a little spirit stones or take interesting treasures—just so the patient doesn’t feel guilty.”

“So you don’t need spirit stones. You want a treasure instead?” Du Jiao understood.

Yu Youyou glanced at the large saber, feigning interest. “That blade looks decent…”

“No way!” Du Jiao rejected her outright. “My saber is as important as my wife! I don’t have a wife, so I only have my saber—I can’t give it to you!”

Yu Youyou had expected his refusal. Clicking her tongue, she turned her gaze to the ring on his finger and said with feigned reluctance, “Then this thing will do.”

Du Jiao hesitated. “This is a mid-grade treasure…”

Yu Youyou never lied—she merely explained things logically.

And so, she began her reasoning once again.

“It’s just a slightly novel storage ring. Sure, it keeps your leg fresh, but do you really think you’ll get your leg cut off again by that guy?”

“Of course not! That bastard only got lucky last time!” Du Jiao gritted his teeth.

“Exactly. This thing won’t enhance your cultivation or save your life—it’s useless to you. But a fully healed leg? That’s different. Maybe you can even win ten consecutive matches in the arena like that guy… No, twenty!”

That last sentence worked like a charm.

Du Jiao had an epiphany and immediately stopped hesitating. He swiftly removed the ring.

“You’re right, Master! I was blinded by my obsession!” This time, his gratitude was genuine. “Master, you truly are a great person!”

Yu Youyou didn’t blush at the compliment. She couldn’t help but marvel at how simple-minded cultivators were—black market folks weren’t even as cunning as kids in the post-apocalyptic world.

Still, she wasn’t completely heartless. While reattaching his leg, she threw in a free pain-relieving pill.

Du Jiao was shocked. “This pill is incredible! You’re literally cutting into my flesh, but I don’t feel a thing!”

The effect was too potent—it was even better than the pills Shen Gun sold for two hundred spirit stones apiece. That meant this pill had to be even more valuable, yet this Master had simply given it away…

The difference between them was clear.

“Master!”

This time, Du Jiao truly called her “Master” from the bottom of his heart.

He thumped his chest heavily. “If you ever run into trouble in the black market, come find me, Ba Dao! I’ll do anything for you—murder, arson, you name it—as long as the price is right!”

If only he hadn’t said that last part, Yu Youyou might have actually praised him as a true man.

After reattaching his leg, Yu Youyou originally planned to head to the arena to look for more business. But before she could, Ba Dao’s subordinates had unknowingly surrounded her.

Her heart tensed—were these guys planning to take the ring back?

As the atmosphere grew heavy, one of the underlings spoke up.

“Master, that pill you gave Boss Ba Dao… could you sell me two of them?”

So they were after the pain-relief pills.

Yu Youyou wasn’t too keen on selling. She had recently improved the formula, adding two rare spirit herbs that were quite expensive, costing over twenty spirit stones in total. That meant the pill’s base cost alone was two spirit stones per piece.

She definitely wanted to keep such a good thing for herself.

“This pill is precious—”

Before she could finish, the underling quickly handed over a pouch of spirit stones. “I understand, Master! I overheard at the arena before. Here’s one hundred spirit stones!”

The others immediately followed suit. In the next moment, Yu Youyou’s arms were full of spirit stones.

“……”

For the first time, Yu Youyou felt she might have overcharged a little. She asked in confusion, “This pill is expensive. You’re not even injured—what do you need it for?”

“To make money at the arena, of course!” The group quickly reached a consensus. “If we take this pill, we won’t feel pain. That means we’ll be stronger than our opponents! We’re bound to win hundreds, even thousands of spirit stones—this hundred-spirit-stone price is a bargain!”

Great. So every fighter in the black market arena was a gambling addict.

…

Watching the gamblers happily carry Ba Dao away after buying their pills, Yu Youyou found a quiet corner to examine the treasure she had… earned.

For someone like Ba Dao, this item was indeed useless—no different from a low-grade storage ring that could be bought for a hundred spirit stones.

But what he didn’t know was that for a healer, this was practically a divine artifact.

Many medicinal herbs needed to be kept fresh. Take Silver Mark Grass, for example—Yu Youyou had only managed to keep it fresh by growing it in the Pill Cauldron Sect’s barren courtyard, where the soil was infused with spiritual energy. Without such an environment, the herb would lose its freshness, and its medicinal properties would degrade significantly.

Although spiritual treasures couldn’t be used without spiritual energy, they could still be bound by a drop of blood. Now, the ring had adjusted its size to fit perfectly on her pinky finger.

She raised her hand to the light for a closer look.

A touch of warm jade-like color now adorned her pale and delicate little finger, making her entire hand appear more attractive. This was the first time she had ever associated the word “beautiful” with her own body.

Yu Youyou was in a great mood—she now had eight hundred spirit stones on her! Happiness was directly proportional to weight.

Now that she was practically rich, how could she not indulge herself a little?

To her left was the Flower Wine Alley of the black market. Even from afar, she could smell the sweet and intoxicating mix of fragrance powder and liquor.

If she wasn’t mistaken, among the many beautiful female cultivators, there were also a few young demon clan men dressed in loose white robes. Their fluffy tails lightly swept the ground, their faintly pink-tinted ears quivered slightly, and their upturned eyes and subtly curved lips exuded a seductive allure.

To her right was the Treasure Alley, where all kinds of magical artifacts, talismans, and weapons shimmered with radiance, intermingled with ornate dresses and accessories that sparkled like the stars in the sky.

Yu Youyou didn’t hesitate for long—she decisively walked to the left.

And then… bypassed Flower Wine Alley entirely, heading straight for the medicinal herb section next door.

Of course, buying medicine to stay alive was the priority. Besides, she was still just a child—what was she doing thinking about young demon men!