Jin rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Whatever.”

  He secured the money pouch and his eyes accidentally glanced at Lu Zheng’s sword.

  Lu Zheng frowned and smacked his head. He thought. I almost forgot to smear it with dirt!

  In fact, the surface was already smeared with dirt. Unfortunately, it still revealed some of the parts of the scabbard, making it obviously still eye-catchy.

  Lu Zheng glanced at Jin’s eyes, sparkling in excitement.

  He grumbled. “Don’t you ever take this. Just so you know, I’ll die for this one.”

  Jin was taken aback and he guffawed.

  He said, “How can you say that? Also, how are you sure you can fully utilize it as you have not entered the Master rank yet?”

  Lu Zheng’s eyebrows furrowed even more.

  He replied, “You won’t know. But ever since I have gotten this sword, my proficiency in executing the stances and techniques has been superb. If it was not for this, I would not have…”

  Lu Zheng did not dare to continue his words. Although, at present, almost everyone was still sleeping, he could not dare to be careless.

  Jin grinned at him and chuckled. “Do you think I’m that greedy?”

  Yes. Lu Zheng wanted to say out loud, but could only growl.

  Jin had an idea or two about Lu Zheng’s thoughts but did not pursue it.

  He leaned forward and whispered to Lu Zheng, “What I wanted to do with that sword is to help you color it. Don’t worry, I’ll use the beet juice. It’ll last almost a day, but it will only last several hours if you keep basking it in the sun or wash it with water.

  I’ll use a little cornstarch to thicken it, either, making your disguise more convincing.”

  Jin paused and continued with a grin, “I assume you can leave this city before the sun has risen, right?”

  Lu Zheng turned around and estimated how many hours left before the morning arrived.

  At most, there are only four hours. He contemplated. Can I still go to the Crimson Lantern Pavilion and kill Xing Dia? I don’t think it’s worth it at the moment.

  With the help of the Ocean’s Heart Qi Technique, he has now achieved a near perfect calm state. He was not easily driven by emotion alone, considering his decisions by weighing the pros and cons.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  His eyes flashed with killing intent. I guess I'll let him live longer for now. I have to grow stronger, so I can sweep them all at once.

  Lu Zheng turned around and finally decided to hand the scabbard to Jin.

  However, since he had not trusted him, he unsheathed the sword and kept it in his grasp, letting Jin receive the scabbard from him.

  Jin, on the other hand, had his eyes glued on the surface of the sword.

  He mumbled. “It’s just beautiful. Is that what the Legendary rank weapon looks like?”

  Lu Zheng grinned. “Yeah, yeah. Beautiful, right? But this is mine.”

  Jin glanced at him and rolled his eyes. He turned around and began to search for the beet juice to smear Lu Zheng’s scabbard.

  He said, “Well, at least, I’m not like you, who have to constantly worry about someone snatching those treasures from you.”

  Lu Zheng chuckled in response. Suddenly, reality began to kick in and he simply shook his head.

  He mumbled. “I have already traversed this path. At the very least, they don’t know about me yet.”

  Jin finally found the beet juice and began to smear it using his right palm on the scabbard, dyeing it with all red.

  He said, “Soon, they will be. What you can do by then is to continue deceiving them—that you are stronger but have become stronger since then. Repeat the cycle and you’ll be invincible.”

  Lu Zheng stared at his back and nodded.

  After Jin was finished dyeing the scabbard, he let it rest by leaning it into the wall, litting the liquid drop to the floor.

  He turned around and said to Lu Zheng, “Of course, don’t go overboard. Know your limits.”

  Suddenly, his eyes landed on Lu Zheng’s necklace and smiled meaningfully.

  Lu Zheng rolled his eyes and was already aware of his thoughts. He did not hesitate to pull it out of his neck and handed it to Jin.

  Jin laughed out loud as he accepted it.

  He then turned around and dyed it with beet juice as he said, “You should know, this necklace is always worn by your Clan Head. Obviously, they will be able to recognize it at once glance. We gotta do whatever it takes to fool them.”

  He hung the necklace on a protruding wood, atop was a bottle of wine. He turned around and smiled at Lu Zheng.

  He said, “You are wise to trust me.”

  Lu Zheng smiled. “Yeah, thank you.”

  Suddenly, their conversation was broken by the sudden noise rattling behind them—in the door.

  Lu Zheng froze but he hastily pressed his sword with his legs.

  However, Jin said, “Give it to me. Its handle is still colored blue. It’s still obvious.”

  Lu Zheng did not hesitate to hand it to him swiftly, as fast as he could.

  After Jin accepted it, he turned around and saw five external members in the entrance, hurrying to take the stairs above.

  His heart skipped a beat.

  Suddenly, one of the external members landed their gaze on him and they were a bit surprised.

  He then instructed his fellow external members and they soon walked towards him at a hurried pace.

  Jin’s voice echoed behind him. “Calm down. Relax. Deceive them, still.”

  Lu Zheng did not hesitate to perform the Ocean’s Heart Qi breathing technique, calming his nerves and breathing.

  As soon as the external members arrived in front of him, they lined themselves up and cupped their fists while bowing.

  The external members in the center, who led the group earlier, spoke, “Greetings, Senior. May I ask if the other seniors and our fellow external members are still on the second floor? Senior Xing Da tasked us to inform them that a powerful, possibly internal member of the Azure Tide Clan, appeared.

  He instructed us that they must take care of it immediately.”