To Gain Something, Something Must Be Given Up
After seeing Sang Ying off, the tour leader turned around and went back to the backyard of the All Under Heaven Pavilion to meet his master after watching her disappear around the street corner.
At this moment, Jimo Qing changed into another set of clothes. Although it was still blue, it was much more gorgeous than the previous one.
Seeing this, the team leader sighed again, "Why should you, Master, humiliate yourself by wearing such clothes just to test Mara Gate? In fact, even without this charade, if you wanted, our people could always find out the information."
Jimo Qing was a person who was particular about the finest food and the most exquisite dishes. Even though he could endure the hardship of forging swords, he couldn't stand food and clothing that were not refined in the slightest.
But for the show at the city gate today, he still put on the robes he used to look down on, in order to deliberately lower the guard of those outer disciples.
However, this performance still had value; at least it allowed Jimo Qing to probe Mara Gate's ulterior motives.
If even a lowly outer disciple dares to openly make things difficult for the Jimo Household, then one can already imagine how arrogant the rest of the Mara Gate must be.
"People respect a person's clothes before they respect them. If I don't dress simply, how can those outer disciples think we're easy to bully?" Jimo Qing said.
The team leader's lips twitched upon hearing this. The blue robe cost one Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone to make, yet in their young master's words, it was described as "dressed simply."
He breathed a sigh of relief, gaining a new understanding of the extravagant lifestyle of the direct descendants of the Jimo Household.
"Where is that female cultivator who came with us?" Jimo Qing suddenly asked.
The team leader had originally intended to mention Sang Ying to him, so he immediately said, "After that female cultivator entered the city with us, she took her leave and left, seemingly without any intention of currying favor with us."
Jimo Qing nodded; he had recognized Sang Ying as the one who had seized Floating River from the very beginning.
Floating River was the best sword he had ever forged. He once felt that no one in the world was worthy of the Floating River, since even he, the swordsmith, looked down on that sword.
In the blink of an eye, Floating River obediently threw himself into the arms of an unknown female cultivator.
However, upon seeing her now, Jimo Qing had come to understand Floating River somewhat. In his eyes, Sang Ying was less a sword cultivator and more a peerless sword in herself.
Compared to her, even Floating River paled in comparison.
So he wasn't surprised at all that Floating River had decided to visit Sang Ying's "connections," and even thought that such things would probably happen frequently in the future.
However, what truly made Jimo Qing care so much about Sang Ying was not just the Floating River Sword, but also the ten -Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Lotus that saved Madam Jimo's life!
Initially, Jimo Qing only intended to settle the karmic debt between the two of them, which is why he ordered someone to accept the Ice Lotus. Who could have imagined that such a small act would provide a glimmer of hope for the matriarch of the family, whose cultivation had stagnated for many years due to the poison barrier?
In that case, the debt their family owes Sang Ying will not be easily repaid.
"Send some people to keep an eye on her from a distance, make sure she doesn't notice, and don't interfere with her. This girl has a bright future ahead of her; we should only befriend her, not make her our enemy!" Jimo Qing said this with a serious expression, and the team leader knew the importance of the matter as soon as he saw his expression.
He immediately nodded in agreement, and at the same time, he firmly memorized the name Sang Ying.
The team leader had no doubt that Jimo Qing's judgment was wrong, after all, his eldest son, like their family head, had an extremely accurate eye for people.
Since he said this woman has a bright future, then this person is bound to achieve great things!
As the two were chatting, someone came to report that the two outer disciples had succumbed to torture and died.
After hearing this, Jimo Qing waved his hand and ordered them to leave, completely disregarding the two outer disciples.
Perhaps because she has rented courtyards so many times, Sang Ying has now become quite experienced in renting them out.
Because of the Dragon-Slaying Grand Assembly, Yao Zhou's main city suddenly became a place that everyone in the entire Immortal Spirit Realm flocked to, and as a result, the house prices there have risen considerably compared to before.
Fortunately, Sang Ying didn't care about the location; instead, she chose a secluded little courtyard in a very remote location, so the rent was still within her budget.
She paid two months' rent, even though she might not be able to stay there that long, but renting for a longer period would be safer to avoid attracting attention.
The man who rented her the courtyard was an old man with a bad temper. He appeared to be only at the Foundation Establishment Realm, but he had an old face, white eyebrows, and white hair, and seemed to have little time left to live.
The old man had many rules, the most important of which was that Sang Ying was not allowed to bring people here to fight.
"Every blade of grass and every tree is Spirit Stone. If you damage them, I'll demand Spirit Stone from you!" the old man said calculatingly. Before leaving, he reminded Sang Ying, "Don't go out at night unless absolutely necessary. The Mara Gate doesn't care if you're good or bad; if they catch you, they'll demand Spirit Stone from you!"
Sang Ying appreciated his kindness, thanked him, and then saw him to the door.
Silence fell again. Sang Ying tossed Jiang Zhuoxue and Gu Shu onto the stone table in the courtyard—she preferred renting houses with courtyards. She then tossed over a few spirit fruits and began setting up the array.
This main city is far from peaceful, much worse than Golden Sea City. So Sang Ying carefully set up dozens of layers of formations, not hoping to stop all the invaders, but only hoping that they would have a chance to escape before they broke in.
Jiang Zhuoxue, who was standing to the side, was munching on the spiritual fruit she had snatched from Green Vine when she casually started talking to Sang Ying about the leader of the Mara Gate.
"That man's surname was Qi. He was originally just an outer disciple of a small sect in the Immortal Spirit Realm, but for some unknown fortuitous opportunity, he mastered a unique Cultivation Method. This Cultivation Method his cultivation to increase rapidly, but it wasn't like the demonic techniques that would harm him. With this Cultivation Method, that man surnamed Qi rose to prominence quickly."
"After defeating the sect leader who originally occupied Yao Zhou, he directly took over the sect and changed its name to Mara, thus becoming a major force that suddenly appeared in the Immortal Spirit Realm."
"This person later frantically recruited disciples, regardless of their status or aptitude. It seemed that as long as one entered his Mara Gate, one could freely practice any Cultivation Method."
Upon hearing this, Sang Ying frowned.
Jiang Zhuoxue suddenly changed the subject. "But that Cultivation Method is not without its flaws. It is said that the Gate Master Qi originally had a daughter who was exceptionally talented and had already reached the threshold of the Spirit Transformation stage before she was even a hundred years old."
"But because of cultivating that strange Mara Cultivation Method, the woman died silently before reaching the Spirit Transformation Stage. Everyone initially thought she was murdered, but after investigation, they discovered that she had inexplicably contracted a terrible disease and suddenly passed away."
By this point, Jiang Zhuoxue had already eaten most of the spirit fruit.
Sang Ying placed the last Spirit Stone and slowly stood up. "That's probably not a Cultivation Method, but an array, isn't it?"
Jiang Zhuoxue's eyes lit up, and her gaze towards Sang Ying softened even more. "Why would you say that?"
"Nothing in this world comes for free. The higher the level of any cultivation Cultivation Method, the higher the threshold it sets. If cultivation were so easily obtained, cultivators wouldn't be fighting tooth and nail for these Cultivation Resources."
That's why Sang Ying was so certain that what Gate Master Qi had in his hands, whether it was an array or not, was definitely not a Cultivation Method!
At this very moment, Gate Master Qi, whom the two were discussing, was also coldly observing the great formation beneath the sect, a hint of barely perceptible worry in his eyes.
"Are you sure this method can give a person Spirit Root?" Gate Master Qi turned to look at the young woman beside him, who was wrapped in a black cloth. Her pretty profile was covered with strange demonic patterns, which ruined her delicate beauty.
The woman smiled upon hearing this, "How could I dare to deceive the sect leader? If the sect leader is willing, he can easily find someone to test whether or not they can develop Spirit Root!"
Gate Master Qi remained silent, but the woman knew that this man must have already come to believe her.
However, what the woman didn't tell him was that while it was true that one could be born with Spirit Root, there was always a trade-off in this world. When mortals gained Spirit Root, they would naturally lose something even more important.
The woman touched her face and said nothing more.