Mortal: Starting in a chaotic starry sea, I can upgrade everything.

Want to get something for nothing?

Jiang Yu sneered inwardly and reached out to take back the storage bag from Zhou Yuan's hand.

From the moment he entered the Myriad Sounds Sect and encountered the illusion, to the woman's frequent use of seductive arts during their conversation, he began to suspect that she had ulterior motives.

When the person offered to deliver the spirit stones later, he refused without hesitation.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait."

Zhou Yuan's heart tightened, and she forced a smile before quickly stopping him.

Seeing Jiang Yu's gaze sweep over her, she felt somewhat reassured.

He glanced at Zhuo Ruting, who stood beside him with her head bowed and her face pale.

Finally, she spoke, offering the suggestion she had been weighing for so long: "The Miaoyin Sect truly cannot come up with those 80,000 spirit stones right now. Could you perhaps grant us some time?"

Huh? How did it become 80,000 again?!

The turn of events came too quickly, and Jiang Yu was caught off guard.

Before he could refuse, Zhou Yuan changed the subject and gently pushed Zhuo Ruting.

Her tone was full of sincerity, yet concealed a hint of calculation: "I wish to offer my disciple, Ru Ting, to you, young master, to serve you. I only ask that you grant my request. I will repay the 80,000 spirit stones later. What do you say, young master?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent.

Zhuo Ruting's body trembled violently, and her hands, hanging at her sides, gripped the hem of her skirt tightly.

Her cheeks were drained of color, but she dared not resist in the slightest, only silently lowering her head and letting others do as they pleased.

Jiang Yu's eyes were deep and he remained lost in thought for a long time.

So that's how the 80,000 came about.

Oh, that's not surprising.

This tactic of using female disciples to win over male cultivators is a long-standing tradition of the Miaoyin Sect.

However, a female disciple in the Qi Refining stage is worth 20,000 spirit stones!

Jiang Yu could only say... Miaoyin Sect knows how to do business.

However… it’s said that Zhuo Ruting’s aloof demeanor is somewhat similar to Nangong Wan’s, I wonder if that’s true… cough cough, I’m getting off topic.

Jiang Yu's gaze swept lightly over Zhuo Ruting's slender figure, then turned to Zhou Yuan, who looked anxious, and fell into deep thought.

The fingertips tapped lightly on the wooden table.

He quickly calculated in his mind what kind of change had occurred to the Miaoyin Sect, that they couldn't come up with 100,000 spirit stones.

Finally, his gaze fell directly on Zhou Yuan's face, and he raised an eyebrow slightly: "Sect Leader Zhou, has something happened to your sect that you can't even come up with a mere 100,000 spirit stones?"

As he spoke, his expression carried a hint of scrutiny.

Zhou Yuan then gave a slow, bitter smile, a smile full of bitterness and exhaustion.

She raised her hand to rub her temples, as if making a final struggle, before finally slumping her shoulders and speaking in a hoarse voice:

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, to be honest..."

She looked up at Jiang Yu, her eyes filled with a deep sense of helplessness, and said, word by word, "Our sect is currently facing a temporary shortage of spirit stones."

"Why?" Jiang Yu continued to press.

Zhou Yuan's beautiful eyes were filled with sorrow as she said, "I'm sure you've heard about the matter of Kui Xing Island, fellow Daoist."

"Before my husband passed away, he was the mainstay of the sect's business. But misfortune never comes singly. News came from Kui Xing Island that he had been assassinated, taking most of the sect's assets with him, and his body was never found... Now, Miao Yin Sect is struggling to make ends meet."

"Her husband is dead, leaving behind a widow and her children, and the entire sect. I'm afraid their inheritance will be coveted by outsiders."

Jiang Yu murmured to himself.

This time he didn't detect any seductive arts, so it seems the other party wasn't lying.

Does that make me sound like a bad person?

"Ahem, Madam, please accept my condolences."

Jiang Yu looked at the sorrowful woman and felt somewhat embarrassed.

He remembered that for a period of time after Wang Heng's death, Miaoyinmen did not collapse, and it must have flourished again after Zhou Yuan's efforts to govern it.

Unfortunately, this beautiful sect leader was ambushed and killed by Wu Chou of Jiyin Island during a cargo transport mission.

Since the Myriad Sounds Sect will not disappear, then...

These monster materials won't be given away for nothing. It's not unreasonable to hand them over to the Miaoyin Sect first, as a way of establishing a good relationship in advance.

In the future, there will be suitable places in Tianxing City to sell materials and treasures, and to gather information.

"Sect Leader Zhou, I can do without the spirit stones for now, but..."

Jiang Yu couldn't immediately state his conditions, and his tone became slightly hesitant.

"But, Fellow Daoist Jiang, you want a disciple, right?"

Zhou Yuan, who had been sorrowful, suddenly smiled, then smiled with relief, like a flower in full bloom, exuding a mature and beautiful aura.

This fellow Daoist Jiang looks very young, and is in the stage of being quick-witted and full of youthful infatuation.

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Ruting became nervous. She had been terrified when she heard that her master was going to give her away, thinking that if anyone was to be given away, it should be that little bitch Fan Jingmei, not her!

But now... let's take a closer look—

This Senior Jiang is quite good-looking and his cultivation level is also good, at the peak of Foundation Establishment.

She felt that her master's idea... wasn't entirely unacceptable.

After hesitating for a while, Jiang Yu finally decided to speak: "Sect Leader Zhou, I don't need the person for now. Instead, give me a top-tier dual cultivation technique from the Miaoyin Sect."

"Dual cultivation technique?"

Zhou Yuan was slightly taken aback. This Fellow Daoist Jiang looked like a very serious person; she hadn't expected him to also need...

After hesitating for a moment, she took out a magic manual from her storage bag.

"This is the cultivation method practiced by the successive sect leaders of my Wonderful Sound Sect. It is very effective for cultivators to break through bottlenecks, but unfortunately it is severely incomplete and only records the content before the formation of the core."

"If Fellow Daoist Jiang finds it useful, I will give it to you for free."

Jiang Yu took the manual. Whether it was incomplete or not was not a big problem for him; he could upgrade it with spirit stones.

But it has to be top-notch!

"The Yin-Yang Harmony Technique." Jiang Yu murmured as he glanced at the name, flipping through the book in front of Zhou Yuan and Zhuo Ruting.

What he saw almost blinded him.

Is this a dual cultivation technique?!

The book contains some profound explanations of Yin and Yang, which can be said to contain some of the ultimate truths of the universe.

Even more importantly, there are even pictures of sexual positions!

For example, leg stretching allows for more efficient circulation of spiritual energy; head-on confrontation maximizes the fusion of spiritual energy; stabbing from behind... all sorts of novel techniques.

It was worth it, absolutely worth it!

It can only be said that this Yin-Yang Harmony Manual is definitely among the top-tier!

Its value to Jiang Yu also exceeds 100,000 spirit stones!

He flipped to the last page, which happened to be about what happened after he formed his core, and then it ended there.

He closed the book, but his gaze couldn't help but sweep over the beautiful woman in the purple dress in front of him, and he thought about the contents of the book.

Such a voluptuous beauty, combined with the poses described in the book... cough cough.

It can only be said that the death of Wang Heng was both a blessing and a curse.

Seeing that Zhou Yuan seemed to have noticed, Jiang Yu immediately said, "Ahem, thank you, Sect Leader Zhou. I am very satisfied with this cultivation technique."

He accepted the teachings with lingering satisfaction, thinking to himself that he would study them carefully when he got back.

"I'm glad Fellow Daoist Jiang is satisfied."

Zhou Yuan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and fearing he might change his mind, she quickly smiled and said:

"Please rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jiang, my Miaoyin Sect will definitely offer 100,000 spirit stones within three years."

"Okay..." Jiang Yu was quite satisfied with the trip, so he said goodbye and left.

After the only man at the scene left.

Zhuo Ruting finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Master, since we've already given him the cultivation technique, why are we still giving him 100,000 spirit stones?"

"What, you think that's too much?" Zhou Yuan said with a half-smile, then continued, "If you stay with him, you can indeed only pay back 80,000."

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Ruting quickly lowered her head and said, "This disciple dares not. This disciple only wishes to stay in Miaoyin Sect and accompany Master."

"I just feel that the cultivation technique is too precious, and Master is suffering too much of a loss."