Promise

It is said that a man's knees are worth gold, and he does not kneel lightly. In his past life, he had never knelt before anyone, only kneeling and weeping silently before his deceased parents. In this life, he had only knelt before his master. What harm was there in kneeling again to fulfill a promise, especially since it was an old lady old enough to be his ancestor? There was nothing wrong with kneeling. Yue Qianchou shook his head and smiled bitterly, "This disciple asks Ninth Aunt for a favor. This matter is truly difficult to bring up, so I have no choice but to kneel and beg."

Grandma Ma Jiu opened her eyes, then drooped them again. She took a few steps with her cane, stared at him, and asked, "What is it that you have to kneel down and beg for?" The other two women were also looking at him.

Damn it! Do you think I like kneeling?! Yue Qianchou thought for a moment and said, "I want to ask Ninth Aunt for some spiritual herb seeds needed to refining Foundation Establishment Pill."

Yan Zixia and Lan Bingxue were stunned, thinking they had misheard. Asking for Foundation Establishment Pill was understandable, but asking for seeds meant they wanted to grow their own spiritual herbs and refine pills? There was no need for that! It would be much better to wait three years and get three Foundation Establishment Pills at once.

Grandma Ma Jiu had thought of everything they had thought of, and even more than they had.

"Stand up and speak first," Grandma Ma Jiu asked. "Do you want the seeds yourself or give them to someone else?" She was probably thinking that Yue Qianchou might have been sent by another sect. Yan Zixia was slightly startled; she had also considered this possibility. She knew that Yue Qianchou came from the Qingguang Sect.

Who enjoys kneeling before others? No one is born liking to be a slave. Yue Qianchou stood up and said, "It was my own choice."

Grandma Ma Jiu said calmly, "Grow your own spirit herbs?"

"Yes."

"You want to refine your own Foundation Establishment Pill?"

"Yes."

"To refine it for your own use?"

"Yes."

"I just don't understand. You could have obtained three Foundation Establishment Pills in three years, so why did you do this?" Grandma Ma Jiu turned to look at him and asked, "Can you tell me why?"

Yue Qianchou hesitated for a moment, then resolutely said, "A promise! For a promise, I can wait three years."

"I still don't understand. You've been in the Sang Cao Garden for so long, you should know that the main ingredients of the Foundation Establishment Pill are very difficult to grow. Even if you could grow them, even if I gave you the seeds, it would take three years to grow them. So, you might as well wait another three years. I don't know if I'm getting senile, but I can't figure this out. Yue Qianchou, can you explain this to me?" Grandma Ma Jiu gently tapped the ground with her cane.

Yue Qianchou paused, then shook his head and said, "This disciple cannot explain it clearly." He naturally could not tell her the secret of the golden pearl.

Grandma Ma Jiu said "Oh," took a few steps with her cane, stopped, and said, "You know the rules of Fu Xian Island: spiritual herbs and seeds must not be passed on to outsiders."

Yue Qianchou knew the rules, and just as he was feeling down, Grandma Ma Jiu said again, "Speaking of which, you are also a disciple of Fu Xian Island. Giving you the seed is not considered passing it on to outsiders. Giving the seed to a disciple to cultivate in private has never happened before... but I can give it to you."

Yue Qianchou was stunned, as were Yan Zixia and Lan Bingxue.

"The condition is that you must not pass on the seeds of Fu Xian Island to outsiders. If you do not follow this rule, I will absolutely not give you the seeds," Grandma Ma Jiu said with her back to him.

Yue Qianchou was overjoyed and quickly said, "This disciple will absolutely not pass the seed on to anyone." He hadn't expected that Grandma Ma Jiu would actually agree.

"Good, remember what you said today. If you dare to disobey, not only will I be breaking the rules of the sect, but you will also be breaking the rules. Even if you run to the ends of the earth, I will grind you to dust. Do you believe me?" Although Grandma Ma Jiu was old, her calm words carried an unquestionable confidence.

Given Grandma Ma Jiu's cultivation level, Yue Qianchou was confident she had the ability to kill others. He had the Golden Pearl, which contained a white fox with the same late Tribulation stage cultivation. No matter how confident Ma Jiugu was, it wouldn't matter.

There was absolutely no need for that. Yue Qianchou had never intended to give the seeds to anyone else. He immediately said solemnly, "Disciple Yue Qianchou swears to heaven that he will never pass the seeds on to anyone, or he will die a horrible death."

In the Cultivation World, the most taboo thing is to swear an oath. Cultivators are already doing things against the heavens, and breaking an oath often means fulfilling that oath. This is no joke.

"Don't agree too soon. There's something else I need you to agree to before I'll give you the seeds," Grandma Ma Jiu said, turning to him with a smile.

"Any more conditions?" Yue Qianchou frowned slightly, but still said respectfully, "Please speak, sir."

Grandma Ma Jiu glanced at Yan Zixia and slowly said, "Since you are a person who values promises, then I need a promise from you. As long as you agree to this promise, I can give you the spirit herb seeds immediately."

"A promise? What promise?" Yue Qianchou asked in astonishment. Yan Zixia and Lan Bingxue also looked at Grandma Ma Jiu, wondering what kind of promise she wanted.

Grandma Ma Jiu shook her head and said, "You must agree to my request first."

Yue Qianchou hesitated. How could he agree to such a thing so easily? What if you asked me to die, or it was something I couldn't possibly do? How could he possibly agree to that?

Knowing his concerns, Grandma Ma Jiu smiled and said, "This promise of mine is not difficult for you to fulfill, nor will it harm you. In fact, it will bring great benefits. Do you agree?"

"Uh..." He didn't believe in free lunches, but he couldn't resist the temptation of the spirit herb seeds, and timidly said, "If it's really as Ninth Aunt said, then disciple Yue Qianchou will naturally agree. Please tell me!" But in his heart, he added, "If it's something I can't do, don't blame me for going back on my word."

Grandma Ma Jiu laughed heartily, a rare occurrence for her. "Alright, since you've agreed, that's fine. I also believe you're a person who keeps your promises. As for what the promise is, we'll talk about it later. Perhaps there's no need to say it again in the future. When the time is right, I'll naturally tell you. Just remember that you owe me a promise."

Yan Zixia and Lan Bingxue exchanged bewildered glances, wondering what cryptic message the old woman was playing. Yue Qianchou, on the other hand, felt something was amiss, sensing that a grand conspiracy awaited him.

It was clear that Grandma Ma Jiu was very happy. She tapped her cane and said, "Lan girl, prepare ten seeds of each of the spiritual herbs needed to refining Foundation Establishment Pill for him. Go now."

"Yes." Lan Bingxue went to get the seeds, still full of questions.

"Thank you for the offering, Ninth Aunt." Yue Qianchou smiled awkwardly. Logically, he should be happy to have obtained what he had been dreaming of, but he just couldn't feel happy. He didn't know whether exchanging a promise for spirit herb seeds was a loss or a gain. For now, he could only take it one step at a time.

Not long after, Lan Bingxue brought the package, a small cloth bag, and handed it to Yue Qianchou, saying, "Open it and see if it's what you wanted."

Yue Qianchou stuffed the contents into the Storage Bag without hesitation and said with a smile, "No need. Elder Lan personally retrieved it, so how could it be wrong? This disciple thanks Elder Lan."

Lan Bingxue smiled gently and stood back beside Grandma Ma Jiu. She and Yan Zixia were both a little confused. First, they didn't know what Yue Qianchou wanted the seeds for. It seemed a bit unbelievable that he wanted to grow spiritual herbs. Moreover, Grandma Ma Jiu's promise was also puzzling.

After confirming that everything was alright, Yue Qianchou left the inner garden. When he came out, he saw Furong working, but without saying hello, he excitedly returned to the small house and disappeared without a trace.

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