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Beneficiary
If I brought them to the Land of Enlightenment and they were willing to offer payment, then it clearly wasn't a mutually beneficial deal where both you and I would profit. It was one where I was being designated to take the loss. But now the situation was obvious: if I refused their trade, Qingcheng Ruoxue and Wan Songxiao would join forces. So this loss was mine to swallow.
Wan Songxiao had quite a big mouth too, directly exposing the matter of imparting the Dao. Most likely, he had escaped on his own after receiving the Dao before, and when he later brought his disciples and followers there, he could no longer find the Land of Enlightenment. So he had gone and spilled the matter to Qingcheng Ruoxue!
As for what Qingcheng Ruoxue was thinking, I wasn't entirely sure. But according to my understanding of her, she never did anything without profit to be gained. And once she decided to act, she would always use her full strength, even resorting to any means necessary to achieve her goal. After clashing with her several times, I had learned that her methods were often needles hidden in cotton: seemingly gentle gestures that, in truth, left a bloody gash with a casual sweep of the hand!
Therefore, the more she seemed to be letting people lower their guard, the more cautious they ought to be!
"As for payment, how about Golden Cores? At the Land of Enlightenment, the Dao one hears varies from person to person. Some hear it and immediately ascend as immortals in broad daylight, while others hear it for years without making the slightest progress. So why don't we set the price in Golden Cores? I heard that the Ancient God Carrier consumes an enormous amount of resources.