Mortal: I am the young sect master of the Thousand Illusions Sect

Chapter 76 Soap Opera and Qin Lian

The next morning, before the morning mist had dissipated, the mountains were bathed in the glow of dawn.

Qin Zhou stood solemnly outside the cave dwelling rented by Su Mixin on the forty-eighth floor of the sacred mountain.

Before long, the spiritual light of the cave's protective barrier trembled slightly, and the heavy doors slowly opened to both sides. Su Mixin walked out slowly, her expression calm.

"Senior." Qin Zhou immediately bowed respectfully.

"Let's go, show me around Tianxing City," Su Mixin instructed calmly.

"Yes, this junior will definitely let senior figure out the layout of the city!" Qin Zhou quickly replied and then led the way.

This visit lasted for a full seven days.

Qin Zhou had spent many years in Tianxing City. Although his cultivation level was low, he knew every street, alley, shop, and building in the vast city by heart.

On the first and second days, the two explored the upscale streets of Tianxing City.

The spiritual energy here is rich and abundant, with crisscrossing suspended jade walkways, flowing streams winding around the pavilions, and most of the buildings being exquisite and well-organized.

The street is lined with the most prestigious merchants, alchemy shops, artifact stores, and talisman buildings in Tianxing City, mainly catering to Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators.

In the following days, Qin Zhou led Su Mixin to ordinary bustling city streets.

This is the most prosperous and bustling core commercial area of ​​Tianxing City, and also the most active trading area in the entire city.

The densely packed buildings and shops stretched as far as the eye could see, with stalls of all kinds lining the streets. Elixirs, magical artifacts...

The store had everything imaginable: ores, magical materials, jade slips for transferring skills, and miscellaneous items.

Scattered cultivators, lone cultivators, and traveling merchants from all over the world gathered here, creating a bustling atmosphere filled with the sounds of bargaining, hawking, and the clinking of magical artifacts.

The cultivators here are of diverse levels, with Foundation Establishment cultivators being the majority, but also quite a few low-level cultivators who regularly stay here to train and hunt for treasures.

Mortals are everywhere, either setting up stalls to sell worldly food, spiritual fruits and tea, or running errands for cultivators, managing shops and doing odd jobs, or repairing buildings and walkways. They are completely integrated into the daily life of the cultivator city, making a living by serving cultivators and taking on odd jobs. There is a clear hierarchy, but the city is bustling with activity.

For seven whole days, Su Mixin followed Qin Zhou to thoroughly understand the streets, alleys, markets, residential areas, commercial districts, rules and regulations of Tianxing City.

He already had a complete and clear understanding of this magnificent city, the first in the chaotic star sea.

This place is bustling with commerce, abundant with spiritual energy, and orderly. The Star Palace governs the entire territory, and there are no sects or families fighting for control. It is far more stable and prosperous than other places, making it an excellent place to settle down for a long time.

As she traveled, Su Mixin became more and more certain of her thoughts.

The seven-day trip came to an end, the setting sun dipped below the vast sea, and its afterglow spread across the layered mountain city.

Su Mixin stood on the suspended jade walkway, gazing at the endless bustling market below. She turned to Qin Zhou, who had remained respectful and dutiful to the side, and slowly said, "I have roughly figured out the whole city. Thank you for your hard work today."

As soon as she finished speaking, Su Mixin flicked her finger, and a simple, low-level storage bag flew out into the air, steadily heading towards Qin Zhou.

The bag contained the agreed-upon full payment, enough to cover Qin Zhou's earnings over several years of hard work in Tianxing City.

To Su Mixin's surprise, Qin Zhou did not reach out to take it.

He suddenly lowered his body and knelt down, his knees hitting the smooth stone surface of the jade platform with a loud thud.

The boy's already thin back sternly straightened, his head pressed firmly against the ground, his voice choked and hoarse, his eyes instantly reddening, tears streaming down his gaunt face: "Senior! This junior doesn't want any reward! Please, please save my sister, I beg you!"

This act of kneeling and crying instantly drew the attention of many passing cultivators and ordinary people.

This place was originally a suspended walkway in the middle level of a bustling airspace, with a constant flow of people. Several inquisitive and curious gazes were cast over and landed on the two of them, and the faint whispers of whispers could be heard.

Su Mixin frowned immediately, a hint of impatience rising in her heart.

He has always been cold and indifferent, and he detests this kind of behavior of soliciting sympathy in public, which is almost a form of moral blackmail.

In the world of spiritual practice, everyone accepts their fate and reaps what they sow; there is no compassion that gives away things arbitrarily.

Normally, if he encountered someone so persistent in public, he would have already turned away and left, too lazy to waste a single word.

But upon further reflection, during these seven days together, Qin Zhou had always been respectful, dutiful, and responsible, providing meticulous and thorough guidance without ever showing the slightest slackness, flattery, or overstepping of boundaries, and had steadily helped him understand the intricacies and rules of the entire Tianxing City.

Considering the kindness shown to her during those seven days of hard work, Su Mixin suppressed her resentment and finally gained a little more patience.

"With so many people around, what kind of behavior is this?" Su Mixin's tone was icy, tinged with displeasure, as she calmly ordered, "Come with me."

After saying that, he stopped looking and turned to walk straight towards an elegant three-story restaurant next to the plank road.

The restaurant is filled with spiritual energy, and its customers are mostly mid-level cultivators; it is quiet and orderly.

Qin Zhou hurriedly got up in a disheveled state, hastily wiping away the tears on his face, desperately suppressing the panic and hope in his heart, lowering his head, and following closely behind Su Mixin, not daring to linger for even a moment.

Su Mixin casually selected the most secluded private room on the top floor, and with a wave of her hand, set up a simple soundproof barrier to isolate all external sounds and prying eyes.

Once the door was closed and no one was around, leaving only the two of them facing each other in the private room, Su Mixin sat down at the pear wood table, looked up at the bowed and hesitant young man in front of her, and said in a calm tone, "Speak, what exactly happened? Tell me everything from beginning to end."

Qin Zhou felt a lump in his throat, and with his eyes red, he forced back his surging emotions and recounted the whole story in fits and starts.

He and his sister Qin Lian were originally the offspring of local cultivators in Tianxing City. Both of their parents were late-stage Qi Refining cultivators who made a living in Tianxing City for many years. Although they were not extremely wealthy, they were able to protect the two siblings and ensure their peaceful cultivation.

When Qin Zhou was young, his parents went on an adventure at sea with others, and were never heard from again. They perished in the dangerous open sea and never returned.

Overnight, Qin Lian, who was only sixteen years old and just at the early stage of Qi Refining, was left to rely on Qin Zhou, who was still young and had not yet started cultivating.

Unfortunately, both siblings possessed inferior spiritual roots and were destined for a life of hardship.

The elder sister, Qin Lian, has the worst four-attribute pseudo-spiritual root, resulting in a snail-paced cultivation speed and a lifetime of little progress.

Qin Zhou was slightly better off, possessing a common true spiritual root with three attributes. However, without resources, guidance, or cultivation techniques, his path of cultivation was still extremely difficult.

Without their parents' protection, the two lost all means of livelihood.

Qin Lian's cultivation level was low, and he had no skills in alchemy, weapon crafting, or talisman making, making it difficult for him to gain a foothold in Tianxing City, where cultivators were concentrated.

To survive, the siblings had no choice but to move to the lower-class streets where cultivators and mortals lived together. They barely managed to make ends meet by doing odd jobs and taking on trivial tasks, leading a very frugal and impoverished life.

Qin Lian's cultivation has been stagnant at the mid-stage of Qi Refining for many years, unable to make any progress. Qin Zhou began cultivating at the age of ten or so, drawing Qi into his body, but he has also been stuck at the first level of Qi Refining for many years, unable to break through.

Two years ago, the brother and sister, already in dire straits, encountered a terrible disaster.

An elderly Foundation Establishment cultivator happened to encounter Qin Lian. Seeing that she was beautiful and gentle, he wanted to take her as his concubine.

The cultivator was old and ugly, and his aura was sinister and eerie, so much so that ordinary female cultivators would avoid him at all costs.

However, Qin Lian had long been driven to despair by the hardships of poverty. He thought that by relying on a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could completely escape the bitter life of struggling at the bottom and defy fate. He had a sudden change of heart and nodded in agreement.

Unexpectedly, on the eve of the wedding, a powerful figure who had a grudge against the old cultivator suddenly came to Qin Lian's door and specifically told her the truth.

The old man was no ordinary cultivator, but a Foundation Establishment cultivator who practiced the evil art of draining the life force of female cultivators. He had countless female cultivators on his hands, and countless women had their essence and yin energy drained by him, eventually dying from exhaustion.

Normal Foundation Establishment cultivators have extremely high standards and would look down on ordinary female cultivators like Qin Lian, who have pseudo-spiritual roots and low cultivation levels.

The old man insisted on taking Qin Lian as his concubine without being picky because he had made a deadly enemy, was severely injured, his cultivation level dropped, and his foundation was damaged. He was hiding in Tianxing City to avoid trouble and recuperate. He was unable to find a suitable furnace for his cultivation and could only settle for second best, setting his sights on Qin Lian, who had no background and was easily manipulated.

The enemy bluntly warned that if Qin Lian really entered the old man's mansion and became his concubine, she would surely be drained of her essence by the evil magic within three months, and die.

Upon learning the truth, Qin Lian was terrified and completely lost all desire to cling to the old demonic cultivator. She immediately and decisively broke off the engagement and resolutely rejected him.

However, demonic cultivators are ruthless and vindictive; how could a mere mid-stage Qi Refining female cultivator be so easily toyed with?

Is it a breach of contract and an excuse?

The old demonic cultivator, constrained by the strict laws of the Star Palace in Tianxing City, dared not openly kill or commit atrocities within the city, thus violating the Star Palace's prohibitions and incurring the suppression of the deacons. Therefore, he endured it in silence and secretly planted a sinister demonic technique on Qin Lian.

This technique is extremely vicious. It does not kill immediately, but it gnaws at the body's essence and blood day and night, depleting the body's vitality. As a result, the body gradually weakens, the essence and blood are continuously depleted, and medicine cannot cure the disease. The cultivation level keeps declining, and eventually the body slowly dies from exhaustion.

Over the past two years, Qin Lian has become increasingly weak and frail, his vital energy and blood depleted, and his body growing weaker day by day. He is no longer the same as before and can only barely keep going by relying on simple blood-replenishing herbs and low-grade essence and blood pills.

However, those cheap elixirs only treated the symptoms, not the root cause, and could not suppress the demonic secrets within their bodies. Instead, their family's wealth was completely depleted, and the siblings' lives became increasingly difficult.

In order to earn money for pills and protect his sister's life at all costs, the still young Qin Zhou had no choice but to grit his teeth and interrupt his cultivation, spending his days wandering around the teleportation hall, doing the lowest level of guiding work.

He harbored only one thought in his heart: the teleportation hall was frequented by high-level cultivators from all directions, and if he could encounter a kind-hearted powerful being, it would be his sister's only chance of survival.

Over the past seven days, guided by Su Mixin, his resolve has grown stronger.

Su Mixin possesses an extraordinary temperament and acts with composure, far surpassing ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators. Moreover, she is able to rent the most luxurious cave dwelling in the Holy Mountain of Tianxing City in one go.

He then guessed that the senior in front of him must be a Core Formation expert.

This was the only lifeline he had grasped during his two years of despair.

As he finished speaking, Qin Zhou's eyes turned bloodshot, and he knelt heavily on the ground again, his forehead pressed against the cold floor, his voice choked with sobs, carrying a resolute determination to burn his bridges.

"Senior! I know I've been presumptuous and shouldn't have bothered you with this matter! But my sister really won't last much longer! If you're willing to help, I'm willing to be your slave, follow you for life, and obey your every command! I'd even risk my life..."

"I would go through fire and water without a single complaint! I beg you, senior, have mercy and save my sister!"

>