My brother is so cunning

Chapter 2: The Weird Brother's Weird Agreement
“Forget it… Even if I have no hope of attaining enlightenment and die of old age in the mountains, I, He Lingyun, will never give up my dignity and use my innocent body to exchange for the foundation of enlightenment!”

The girl clenched her fists and whispered word by word, as if she was taking an oath or motivating herself.

The female monk turned around and resolutely walked in the opposite direction of the cave gate - even if she had wasted hundreds of years practicing without any progress, she was unwilling to give up the last bit of perseverance in her heart, and was unwilling to break the bottom line of being a crane because of the difficulties in front of her. The path of practice is long and difficult, and she should not compromise, there is still poetry and distant places...

"Fellow Taoist, please stay!"

Just after taking a few steps, he heard a shout from behind. He didn't know what was going on, but after hearing this, He Lingyun felt as if he was under a spell and could not take any further steps. He turned around in a daze and headed towards the direction where the shout came from.

A human man in a moon-white gown appeared at the gate of the cave at some point. The human cultivator was thin and had an ordinary appearance. The only difference was that he was different from the current cultivators who had long hair tied into a bun. He had a head of messy hair that was neither too long nor too long.

This human cultivator did not show any spiritual fluctuations. He Lingyun secretly used the Qi-gazing technique to look at him and found that he had no signs of spiritual practice at all, as if he was just an ordinary person.

What made He Lingyun even more unhappy was that this human cultivator did not have any of the transcendental temperament of a cultivator. Instead, he reeked of alcohol, and his eyes were blurry and turbid, as if his body had been hollowed out by alcohol and sex. He was extremely decadent and depraved. There was even saliva at the corners of his mouth that had not been wiped clean, and he looked dirty and sloppy.

"It's quite mysterious. I didn't expect this mantra to be so effective in attracting customers..."

The human cultivator muttered quietly and grinned, forcing out a seemingly attentive smile, waving his hand and saying, "Daoyou, since you are here, why don't you come into the store and take a look? Our store has high-quality products, affordable prices, and first-class service. Don't miss it if you pass by. It will be your loss if you miss it... Sister, can you tell me more?"

He wanted to turn around and leave, but he didn't expect the host to come out to greet him. He Lingyun couldn't just leave without saying a word, which would be impolite, so he could only bow his head and say, "I... I don't want to buy anything."

"Since you're here, it doesn't matter if you don't want to buy anything. Just come in and take a look... I have a lot of new and unique things that you can't find in the entire cultivation world. Maybe you'll be tempted to buy them after taking a look."

The human man said in a gentle and persuasive way, "For example, the flying sword film coating service can greatly improve the flying sword's wear resistance by coating it with a layer of nano-grade diamond sand. Even if it collides with other swords, it will not easily get scratched. Or, a layer of tempered crystal film as thin as a cicada's wing can be applied to improve the flying sword's impact resistance. It will not be easily shattered when it collides with heavy weapons. The film will be the first thing to be broken..."

After hearing this sales pitch, He Lingyun actually felt excited and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. If he had attached the "tempered crystal film" that the human man mentioned to the flying sword, his flying sword would not have been destroyed by the Western monks and he would not have fallen into the current predicament.

"For example, our store has opened a fashion counter specifically for female cultivators. We have made bold innovations and modifications to the styles of traditional feather robes and introduced a variety of fashionable clothing. The defensive capabilities of these new clothing, shoes and hats are the same as those of traditional feather robes, but the degree of exposure... ahem... the degree of beauty is much higher. If a beautiful fairy like you wears them, you will definitely be the most beautiful in the cultivation world and your name will be passed down through the ages..."

He Lingyun, who was originally slightly tempted, suddenly became alert after hearing the subsequent sales pitch. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the human man who was talking nonstop. The more he looked at him, the more he felt something was wrong.

"No need!"

The female monk interrupted loudly, "Those who cultivate immortality have pure hearts and few desires. How can they be in the mood to pursue beauty and ugliness? I just happened to pass by here. I hope you will not continue to pester me. The kind of feathered Taoist robes that are immoral and corrupt are not worn by monks with pure hearts. I also advise you not to sell such corrupt things anymore. Please be careful!"

The human man shrugged and shut his mouth tactfully. He was obviously used to being rejected when trying to sell something. He naturally made a gesture of invitation and said calmly, "Even if the deal fails, there is still righteousness. If you are not interested, I will not waste your time. I respectfully send you off and wish you a smooth practice and early enlightenment."

He Lingyun turned around and raised her legs to leave, but then she thought that if she just left, she would have no resources for cultivation for the next fifty years. The path of cultivation is like rowing against the current, if you don't move forward you will fall behind. In this vicious cycle, there is no hope of achieving enlightenment. She really couldn't take this step into the abyss.

After hesitating for a long time, He Lingyun bit his lip, turned back to the human man, carefully took out a flying sword that was broken into several pieces from his bag, and said coldly: "Can this sword be repaired?"

The human man's eyes lit up, and he ignored her inconsistency. He took out a pair of strange single-piece crystal eye masks from his arms, put them on, carefully examined the damaged flying sword for a long time, and shook his head and said:

"If it was just a sword fight where a sharp object hit it and it was broken, it could be repaired. But this sword seems to have been destroyed by a Buddha treasure blessed by Buddha's power. The spiritual energy channels inside it have been shattered by the impact of Buddha's power. Even if the broken ends are welded, it will only have a shape and cannot be controlled."

Seeing He Lingyun's disappointment, the human man continued patiently: "If this sword has commemorative significance to the fairy, it must be repaired. The cost of repair is at least four times that of buying a new flying sword. It is better to spend less spirit stones to buy a new sword. Does the fairy have to spend a lot of money to repair it?"

He Lingyun frowned and asked tentatively, "How much is the cheapest flying sword you have?"

The human man blurted out very skillfully, "A low-level spiritual weapon-level flying sword costs 1,500 low-grade spiritual stones, but the store is out of stock right now. It takes three days to make, but not including materials, the cost is only 500 low-grade spiritual stones. This is the lowest price in the entire cultivation world. Many large sects offer standard flying swords to inner disciples at a higher price."

He Lingyun had previously concealed his identity and sneaked into the market where independent cultivators gathered to inquire about the price of flying swords. After all, he had never seen the real thing, and let alone the quality, just judging from the price, what the human man said was true. It was indeed a low price that was hard to find in the world of cultivation.

The price of a low-level flying sword in a cultivation market run by an independent cultivator usually starts at three thousand low-grade spirit stones. Even if one provides the materials by themselves, the cost of the sword will be one thousand spirit stones.

It was impossible to say that she was not tempted. If she had 1,500 spirit stones on hand, she would probably pay for it on the spot.

It was a pity that after searching through her bag, she could only find about a hundred low-grade spirit stones, which was already all her fortune.

The disciples of Lishan Immortal Sect cannot leave the mountain gate freely to collect resources like the disciples of Chan Sect, Human Sect and Western Sect. Their only source of income is the monthly spirit stones issued by the sect.

He Lingyun's monthly allowance was considered high, but it was only fifty low-grade spirit stones a month, which was barely enough to maintain the daily spiritual energy consumption of his heavenly spiritual roots. Even if he used them sparingly, he could only save a dozen spirit stones at most each month. If he continued to deduct what was needed for cultivation, his heavenly spiritual roots would not be nourished, his body would suffer damage, and over time his realm might fall.

This is not the time of the Conferred Gods when spiritual energy was at its peak. The spiritual energy in various states of the world is gradually drying up, and immortals cannot just live on wind and dew and draw huge amounts of spiritual energy directly from the void to practice and improve. In a sense, spiritual stones are like food for cultivators. Cultivators can go without food or drink, but they must always maintain spiritual nourishment.

The higher the grade of the spiritual roots, the more spiritual energy is needed on a daily basis. People with poor spiritual roots can still maintain their spiritual energy by simply absorbing spiritual energy from nature, but people with natural spiritual roots like He Lingyun must refine spirit stones during practice to increase their spiritual energy intake.

If she were to work in a wealthy sect, a genius like He Lingyun would naturally thrive in it, with her cultivation progressing by leaps and bounds. If she consumed large amounts of spirit stones every day, she would be able to transcend tribulations and ascend to immortality within a hundred years. However, she happened to be an egg-laying cultivator, and she also happened to be a remnant of the Jiejiao sect. Her poverty and destitution made her talent suffer, and her spiritual roots would devour her flesh and blood if they could not consume the spirit stones.

If you save spirit stones slowly, you can save ten spirit stones a month, and it will take more than ten years to save fifteen hundred spirit stones, which is not enough for the sect competition next month. Once you lose the competition and rank last, the monthly allowance of fifty spirit stones will be deducted, and you will not be able to save any money.

Without a flying sword, he couldn't save up spirit stones, and without spirit stones, he couldn't buy a flying sword. When He Lingyun thought of this unsolvable vicious cycle, he couldn't help but frown and look worried. All of this was once again seen by the human man.

"Could it be..."

The man narrowed his eyes, looked at He Lingyun seriously, and asked tentatively: "Daoyou, are you a disciple of the Lishan Immortal Sect?"

"How did you know?" He Ling was surprised when he heard this: "My cultivation is much higher than yours, how could you tell my whereabouts at a glance?"

"A female cultivator like you, who has a beautiful appearance and temperament, and whose cultivation is outstanding among her peers, would not be short of spirit stones if she came from a famous sect like Chanjiao or Renjiao. She would even have countless lickers around her who want to pay for her. Why would she worry about a few thousand low-grade spirit stones?"

The human man curled his lips and said, "In the entire cultivation world, only the female disciples of the Lishan Immortal Sect, the last stronghold of our Jiejiao, are in such a miserable state!"

He Lingyun sighed slightly, and seemed to agree with what he said. He lowered his head and said no more.

"My name is Wen Rui, from the lineage of the Golden Spirit Holy Mother, the son of Grand Master Wen Zhong. I became a disciple of Jiejiao in the sixth year of Emperor Xin of the Great Yin Dynasty. Due to my limited talent, my cultivation is a little low, but I entered the sect earlier than any third-generation disciple of the Lishan Immortal Sect. So I will shamelessly call you Junior Sister."

Recognizing He Lingyun's identity as a Jiejiao disciple, the human cultivator put away his previous professional and attentive smile, and his tone became more sincere and friendly: "My fellow apprentice sister, you and I are both descendants of Jiejiao, why should we be so formal? Just admit that you have no money. My shop has set up a Lishan counter. We can go through another set of procedures and get the flying sword without spending a single spirit stone."

As he spoke, the male cultivator who called himself Wen Rui narrowed his eyes and carefully looked He Lingyun up and down again. His eyes were extremely aggressive, and his gaze swept across her face and body. To put it nicely, he was being lustful, but to put it bluntly, it was as if he was inspecting the goods.

He Lingyun subconsciously protected his chest with his hands and shrank back, but then he thought that he had already formed a golden elixir, and the other party seemed to have not even broken through the Qi Refining Stage, so there was no need to be afraid. He immediately became angry and scolded: "You traitor, relying on a few spirit stones, you seduce the female disciples of the Lishan Immortal Sect to satisfy your evil desires. You are such a filthy person, wishful thinking, and shameless! I will not sacrifice myself for you for a flying sword!"

Wen Rui was stunned and said in astonishment: "Where did you get this from? There must be some misunderstanding..."

"Hmph, don't think that I am a transformed crane and I don't understand the evil thoughts of you despicable humans. There's something wrong with the way you look at me!" He Lingyun said coldly: "The way you look at me, it's clear that you are greedy for my body!"

"Take a look at the words on this jade slip first, and then I'll explain it to you in detail. Things are definitely not what you think!"

Wen Rui waved his hands repeatedly, and hurriedly took out a jade slip from his arms to show He Lingyun. He Lingyun thought that his secret had been exposed and was trying to kill him by surprise, so he quickly cast the Tiangang Curse to protect himself, but the expected attack did not come.

He Lingyun looked at the jade slip, and saw that it was densely engraved with many gold characters, and the title on the top line was "Body Donation Consent Form"

"Please be patient and listen to my explanation. It is true that I covet your body, but what I value is simply its scientific research value."

Shaking the jade slip, the man said solemnly, "As long as you sign this donation consent form, you can exchange what you need for it in my shop on the spot, and you can even directly exchange it for a certain amount of spiritual stones. The condition is that after you die, you agree to let me perform physiological dissection, organ observation, tissue sampling and testing, cell microstructure analysis, gene sequence analysis and other scientific research experiments on your body to study the catalytic effect of spiritual energy on biological cell growth and division and the impact of genetic variation and evolution."

He Lingyun was stunned and opened her mouth but couldn't say a word. It wasn't because she realized it was a misunderstanding and was speechless, but many of the words the man said were beyond her cognitive ability, and she simply didn't understand what the other person was talking about.

What is scientific research?

What is Anatomy?

What is a Cell?

What are genes?

These words had never been seen in any of the secret books of the Jiejiao that He Lingyun had studied, nor had he ever heard them from other people, as if they did not belong to this era at all.

Why would he be willing to exchange treasures and spiritual stones for the body of a cultivator?

What benefit could he get from doing "scientific research", "dissection", "testing" and "analysis" on his own body?
A series of questions swirled in He Lingyun's mind. For a moment, his thoughts were disconnected and he stood there blankly, unable to speak.

(End of this chapter)