Swearing an Oath

These two had some dealings with him before. Although he hadn't grown taller back then, his appearance hadn't changed much.

When Lin Xiao heard that Yuan Qing had been expelled from the sect, he didn't think too much about it. He just thought that he only needed to do a good job of disguising himself when he went to the Talisman Master Assembly.

But now that Yuan Qing is to be taken along and contact his sect is necessary, the only option is to have him Heavenly Mandate Oath to guarantee his safety.

Yuan Qing never expected that this was what he was asking for.

After all, a year had passed, and in his view, Lin Xiao had saved him and his fellow disciples who were trapped. There was no need for him to be so careful or secretive about it, was there?

But he didn't ask any more questions, nor did he intend to think about it too much; this was the savior who had unconditionally saved his life twice.

With Lin Xiao's help, he immediately got out of bed, stood straight on the ground, raised his right hand and squeezed out a drop of Essence Blood from his index finger. Then he placed the index finger with the drop of Essence Blood on his forehead and began to make the Heavenly Mandate Oath as Lin Xiao had asked.

He had already lost too much of his Essence Blood, and had barely managed to recover a little over the past few days. But after squeezing out this last drop, his face turned deathly pale again.

"I, Yuan Qing, hereby swear..."

It was the first time Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu had ever seen someone make Heavenly Mandate Oath, and they stared at him intently, observing every detail.

What if they need it later?

As he uttered his vow word by word, the drop of Essence Blood on his hand transformed into a pale red mist that gathered on his forehead, gradually forming a round bead.

"... If you disobey this order, may you be punished by Heaven and destroyed by Earth."

After Yuan Qing finished speaking, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu saw that the drop of Essence Blood on his finger had completely turned into a small, bright red bead that floated in front of Yuan Qing's forehead. Then they saw him pick up the blood bead and swallow it in one gulp.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu suddenly realized what was happening.

So, you have to swallow this bead formed from the vow?

The two of them had just gained some new insights and said with satisfaction:

"Then wait here for a while, we'll go buy you another boat ticket."

As they spoke, the two were about to go out and buy him another boat ticket.

"Fellow Daoists, please wait a moment!" Yuan Qing quickly said.

The two stopped and looked at him with puzzled expressions.

Yuan Qing quickly took out a very delicate little blue pouch from his belt, then took out a pile of Spirit Stone and placed them on the table, saying to them:

"This is all the Spirit Stone I have on me. As I said before, I'm covering all the travel expenses for this journey. This isn't just polite talk; I hope you two fellow cultivators will accept it."

There weren't many Spirit Stone on the table, but Lin Xiao could tell that many of them were different from the ordinary Spirit Stone they usually used, and the Spiritual Qi they contained seemed to be much, much richer.

He immediately thought, "Could this be some kind of mid-grade or Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone?"

Seeing that Lin Xiao was about to say something, Yuan Qing quickly added:

"Fellow Daoist Lin, please don't refuse. I have been saved by you many times, and I am deeply grateful. This amount of Spirit Stone is far from enough to repay your kindness. Please consider it a small token of my appreciation..."

Lin Xiao:... No, I didn't. You should come with us and pay the money.

Lin Xiao, who hadn't intended to refuse, heard him say this and, who had originally wanted to ask if these Spirit Stone were the legendary mid-grade or Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone, could only shut his mouth, silently nod, and then sweep the Spirit Stone on the table into his pocket.

Sorry to ask, I'll just use the system to verify it myself later.

Jiang Youfu didn't notice anything unusual about the Spirit Stone; he just glanced at them and saw that there didn't seem to be many, so he didn't say anything.

Seeing Lin Xiao accept the Spirit Stone, Yuan Qing felt a little relieved. Due to exhaustion, he staggered back two steps and sat on the edge of the bed, weakly smiling at the two of them:

"I really... I'm troubling you two fellow cultivators..."

Jiang Youfu tugged at Lin Xiao's sleeve and said to him:

"You should get some rest. We'll bring you something nice to eat later."

After saying that, she pulled Lin Xiao out the door.

Once the two had left the inn and were walking on the main road, Jiang Youfu transmitted his voice to Lin Xiao as they walked:

"Brother Xiao, how about I find a place to cook him something to eat later? We can just say we bought it outside, otherwise, seeing how weak he looks, I'm really worried something might happen to him on the way."

Upon hearing this, and considering Yuan Qing's health, going out like this would indeed be troublesome and attract attention, so Lin Xiao said:

"Okay, we'll just tell him we bought it from a street vendor."

Although they still had some pills refined by Sun Yigao on them, they couldn't give them all to him. What if they needed them later?

It's best to keep some of what you can, and you can use Spirit Cuisine instead.

Lin Xiao knew that Jiang Youfu had brought two Storage Bag with him this time. One bag contained various snacks that his grandmother had prepared for him, as well as his three-piece set of spiritual chef's supplies. The other Storage Bag was full of ingredients.

His monthly Spirit Stone stipend only took up a very small corner of his Storage Bag.

The two quickly bought their boat tickets.

Then, he ran to a remote, desolate area outside the city to set up a stove, pot, and fire. After confirming that there was no one within Ten-Li, Lin Xiao set up Isolation Formation around the area, and Jiang Youfu began to cook seriously.

He certainly made more than one for Yuan Qing.

Instead, I cooked a whole pot of it.

Liao Pantu also came out of the Soul-Nourishing Pendant for a stroll.

After the meal was ready, the three of them enjoyed a hearty meal by the simple earthen stove. After cleaning up their belongings and removing any traces of their presence, they returned to Yuanling City with the last remaining portion of Spirit Cuisine.

Lin Xiao also took the time to appraise those Spirit Stone.

Most of them were Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, totaling fifty, while the remaining ten or so were ordinary Spirit Stone.

On the way back to the inn, Lin Xiao transmitted his voice to Liao Pantu:

"Senior, how many ordinary spirit Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Spirit Stone for?"

Liao Pantu also knew about Yuan Qing giving him Spirit Stone before, so when asked about it, he replied:

"The ordinary Spirit Stone you mentioned are actually called Low-Grade Spirit Stone in the Immortal Cultivation Realm. Generally, when people talk about Spirit Stone, unless they specifically mention that they are mid-grade or Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone, they are tacitly referring to Low-Grade Spirit Stone."

Actually, there is no precise exchange value between the two; it all depends on how much the person is willing to exchange. However, it is generally around one hundred, and the difference will not be too far off. However, this does not mean that the Spiritual Qi energy contained in Mid-Grade Spirit Stone is one hundred times that of an ordinary Spirit Stone; in fact, it is only about fifty times.

However, the Spiritual Qi of Mid-Grade Spirit Stone is much gentler than that of ordinary Spirit Stone Spirit Stone, making them easier to absorb and refine. Therefore, using Mid-Grade Spirit Stone for cultivation results in significantly less waste of Spiritual Qi compared to using ordinary Spirit Stone.

Liao Pantu was always quite patient in answering questions, and he explained things to Lin Xiao carefully.