Li Yingling received the answer she was hoping for, and her expression relaxed slightly as she headed toward the fourth floor.
For some reason, the thrill of getting discounts was truly addictive.
It was just that it had to be the Treasure Pavilion—the higher-tier establishment. Ordinary shops mostly only required showing a Yuyang discount card.
The Treasure Pavilion alone demanded the additional presentation of Xuanqing Heavenly Sect and Heavenly Derivation Sect discount cards.
But the discounts were gratifying, at least.
Li Yingling stepped onto the fourth floor. Compared to the third floor, which still had a few Nascent Soul cultivators browsing, the fourth floor had only a single cultivator silently selecting items, not even turning around at the sound of her arrival.
The shopkeeper stood at attention. "Honored guest may browse at your leisure."
"If nothing catches your fancy or if you seek something specific, you may summon me. I will stay by your side until you find an item to your satisfaction."
"Much obliged." Li Yingling gave a slight nod and stepped forward, her gaze falling upon the various precious items protected behind layers of ritual arrays.
Truth be told, when it came to what her master liked, Li Yingling wasn't entirely sure how to choose.
Her master always wore a gentle smile every day, never rushed or flustered—though occasionally his words could be infuriating. But even when teased in return, it never truly felt embarrassing.
In his free time, he was either refining pills or wandering about aimlessly. He didn't pursue fine clothing or seek after magical treasures and artifacts.
The things ordinary cultivators craved, her master always seemed rather indifferent toward.
For example, the top-grade spirit treasure longsword in Li Yingling's possession—her master had given it away without a second thought, with remarkable generosity.
He used to occasionally visit the pleasure houses, but it seemed he truly only went to listen to music and chat.
Later, after Senior Sister Xie took up permanent residence in the sect, her master stopped going to the pleasure houses altogether.
Li Yingling actually knew that no matter what she gave, her master would be happy. But she, Li Yingling, had to do things the best way possible.
She had to give him something that would truly make his eyes light up.
Besides, she had already made bold claims. If she gave something thoughtless, Li Yingling herself could never live down the shame.
Given her master's temperament... what would he actually like?
Li Yingling slowed her pace, her gaze scanning the precious materials and magical treasures before her.
Suddenly, she seemed to recall something. She turned to the shopkeeper standing by the door:
"Shopkeeper, I remember there's something made from dream gold—or some such name."
The shopkeeper hurried over. "The honored guest must be referring to the Suspended Dream Bell?"
"Something like that. Could you bring it out for me to see?" Li Yingling nodded slightly in response.
If it was this item, then her lazy master would definitely love it.
——————
Heavenly Derivation Sect, Heavenly Derivation Peak Main Hall.
Only three people were currently in the hall—Chu Xingchen, Yan Yun, and Bai Xuanling.
Lu Xuan, for reasons unknown, was absent from this meeting—the one person who would ordinarily never miss one.
Chu Xingchen gently held his teacup, his gaze lifting to observe Bai Xuanling sitting across from him.
Just as Chu Xingchen had guessed, half a month after Li Xingtian's breakthrough, his expression had started growing somewhat awkward. Sometimes he would open his mouth as if to say something, only to swallow his words before they could emerge.
Chu Xingchen understood the situation at a glance.
After a realm breakthrough, there was always a period of consolidation. During this time, mere bitter cultivation was inefficient—after all, one had not yet fully mastered their current power.
Most cultivators would choose to venture out and gain experience during this period. On one hand, it broadened their horizons; on the other, it tempered their abilities and laid the groundwork for the future.
After all, tempering oneself at this stage was the best use of time.
Li Xingtian was fundamentally the roaming type. Keeping him cooped up in the sect and wasting prime opportunities for field experience would probably make him rather uncomfortable.
It was just that running off immediately after a breakthrough, especially when Chu Xingchen had also enhanced his aptitude, made it feel a bit like freeloading off his master.
Chu Xingchen, however, took the initiative to tell Li Xingtian to get lost and go roam—telling him to temper himself well, as he would need to become a pillar of the sect in the future.
Having dealt with Li Xingtian's matter, Chu Xingchen now had to attend to his own affairs.
Lu Xuan had sent a letter some time ago, inviting Chu Xingchen to visit the Heavenly Derivation Sect at his earliest convenience.
At this moment, Bai Xuanling sat with her eyes half-closed, looking utterly listless as she lounged in her chair, her left hand gently tapping the table.
"Shouldn't you still be in secluded recovery?" Chu Xingchen set down his teacup. "Is it really fine to come out of seclusion so abruptly?"
Bai Xuanling let out a mild yawn and straightened up, though she still appeared supremely languid:
"I've been lying down for years—what could possibly happen? Even the worst injuries back then didn't keep me bedridden this long."
Chu Xingchen frowned slightly. "You don't exactly look like nothing's wrong."
Bai Xuanling didn't answer that. This kid always caught the details—the more she explained, the more troublesome it would be. She shifted her gaze to Yan Yun beside them and said:
"Didn't you say the sect master prepared something? Show him."
Yan Yun gave a slight nod, then retrieved from her spatial ring a box plastered with over a dozen talismans—nearly covering the entire surface. Each talisman emanated waves of powerful spiritual energy fluctuations.
Without question, these were all high-tier suppression talismans—and all just to suppress a single box.
Yan Yun formed hand seals, and wisps of spiritual energy drifted into the box. One by one, the talismans floated upward, and moments later, the pitch-black box was revealed.
"Wait..." Chu Xingchen suddenly spoke up.
Both Yan Yun and Bai Xuanling turned to look at him.
Chu Xingchen cleared his throat and asked, "After you open this box, am I going to end up running everywhere because of whatever's inside—through fire and flood?"
"That depends on whether you care." Yan Yun rested her hand on the box. "After all, if you don't want to do it, no one can force you. But if you do want to, you'll probably complain I opened it too late."
Chu Xingchen let out a light sigh. "Open it."
Yan Yun said nothing and opened the box.
Before Chu Xingchen's eyes could focus, an extremely bizarre and instinctively repulsive strange energy surged forth from within.
Bai Xuanling clearly disliked this energy too, raising a hand to block it out.
Yan Yun turned the box toward him.
Inside the box was a slightly blackened prism-shaped crystal.
Chu Xingchen recognized what it was at a glance and frowned slightly:
"A corrupted and twisted rule? But it looks like a test specimen—this rule doesn't seem like the real thing..."
"Is it an imitation? How is that even possible?"
Yan Yun nodded lightly. "More or less. The Heavenly Dao's principles—what you call rules—can to some extent be made corporeal, though the conditions are quite demanding."
"True principles, however, cannot be twisted or corrupted."
"But this merely refracts a principle without possessing its uniqueness, so it can be warped. It's like a flower painted on canvas—no matter how lifelike, it can still be altered by the brush."
"That said, to achieve even this level... is actually quite remarkable."
"As for what purpose this research serves, both the Heavenly Derivation Sect and the Xuanqing Heavenly Sect have made predictions and conducted experiments, but there are no concrete results yet."
"In the worst-case scenario, their ultimate goal is to corrupt the principles themselves, ultimately leading to the onset of collapse."
"This object was discovered in the Eastern Divine Continent. Perhaps the spread of these things has already far exceeded our imagination, and the consequences may be far more terrifying than we can fathom."
"Over thousands of years, we are not the only ones advancing."
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