"Friend Mo You, isn't your sect's Mahayana inner elder afraid that the rogue cultivators of Floating Dust Ridge will seize the opportunities within the secret realm first, then flee without a trace?" the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar asked.
Mo You gave a scornful smile.
"What is there to worry about? Once they enter the secret realm, they need only block its exit. Could those rogue cultivators vanish into thin air?"
"Friend, you make a valid point."
As the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar spoke, he handed over a storage ring and added, "There are two hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones within. Consider them compensation for your assistance."
"Then this junior will accept without standing on ceremony."
With that, Mo You accepted the storage ring.
"Are you also interested in the Corpse Ancient Secret Realm, Fellow Daoist? Could it be that you know some secret within it?" Madam Jade Bone suddenly asked.
"I know nothing of that secret realm," the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar said. "I merely happened to hear of it, and the rogue cultivators of Floating Dust Ridge seem especially concerned with it, so I asked out of curiosity."
A faint, somewhat disdainful smile curled Madam Jade Bone's lips. Clearly, she did not believe what the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar had said.
But she did not press the matter further. Instead, she abruptly rose to her feet.
"Fellow Daoist Xing Chang, our previous agreement has been fulfilled. I have also settled a matter that weighed on my heart. Let us part here."
Then, she turned to Mo You.
"Husband, it is time for us to leave."
Mo You immediately dispelled the gray barrier and rose as well.
"You two have become Dao companions?" Song Wen hurriedly stood up too.
He had long guessed as much, so he was somewhat knowingly asking the obvious.
It seemed Madam Jade Bone