Thirty-two days later, the number of hooded little ghosts grew from two to five.
Before they left, Zhou Fei called out to them. "Five fellow Daoists! Please, wait a moment."
He offered a storage bag and an invitation, his expression sincere.
"I caused much offense when we left Border City. In two days, there will be an exchange meet in Conghe City for Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators. If you have time, please accept this invitation."
Wen Xuan and the others remained silent.
Mu Chenze was quiet for a moment. He didn't look at the invitation, saying only, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, the matter of Border City is finished, and you have fulfilled your promise regarding the Shocking Thunder Platform. Once we leave Conghe City and the contract ends, we will be even."
With that, he patted Jun Luo on the shoulder. "Let's go."
Gu Ningyun said nothing.
She could see the change in Zhou Fei and that his apology was sincere.
But she didn't understand why. Was it because the second branch of the Zhou family had fallen, removing the sword hanging over his head and broadening his mind? Or did he have another scheme?
She couldn't figure it out, but like Mu Chenze, she had no desire to associate with him. After all, he had once plotted against their lives.
Seeing them leave without a backward glance, Zhou Fei's hand trembled as he clutched the bag and invitation before slowly pulling back.
Not every mistake can be rectified in time. Not every apology deserves forgiveness.
He knew he had gone too far before.
Zhou Fei felt deeply saddened, yet also somewhat relieved. Regardless of whether he succeeded, he had taken this step.
His brother's words echoed in his heart: "Fei'er, to cultivate the Dao, one must first cultivate the heart. You must remember this well."
"Yes, Brother."
No matter what, it was a good start.
...
The morning sun spilled through the clouds, gilding the entrance of the Zhou Manor.
Gu Ningyun and the others walked out of the gates and into the sunlight.
A sudden crosswind blew from nowhere, catching Gu Ningyun's hood and flipping it back.
Gu Ningyun: "!"
Shu Ziming: "!!"
Shen Banxi: "!!!"
Shu Ziming and Shen Banxi were the two Golden Core Perfected Persons arranged by the sect to secretly escort the five.
They had been waiting outside the Zhou Manor, never expecting to see such a sight.
"By the Xiaoyao Patriarch! It's only been two months—how did these five little ones end up like this?"
Shu Ziming's jaw nearly hit the floor. Thanks to that crosswind, he saw exactly what was under their hoods.
Shen Banxi rummaged through his storage ring. "Did you forget what happened when you broke through to the Golden Core stage a few years ago?"
Shu Ziming realized what happened. He chuckled and pulled out a recording stone.
Shen Banxi snatched it away. "Confiscated."
What if he filmed his future little junior sister like this?
"Hey, Senior Brother Shen, when did you become so overbearing?"
"Junior Brother Shu, you don't understand."
He had come here with a mission.
Shu Ziming snorted. "Who doesn't? Everyone who fought for this escort mission did so with the intention of poaching new disciples."
As he spoke, Shu Ziming glanced regretfully at Jiang Yao. He had originally planned to wait until Jiang Yao joined Artifact Peak as his junior brother before showing him this recording to tease him.
Alas, what a pity.
Indeed, although the inner sect advancement competition hadn't happened and he hadn't asked for Jiang Yao's thoughts, Shu Ziming already considered Jiang Yao a progeny disciple of Artifact Peak.
Shu Ziming grinned; he was just that confident!
"The situation at our Spirit-Attuning Peak is truly different," Shen Banxi said.
"Junior Brother Shu, though you are at Artifact Peak, as a fellow inner sect disciple, you should know. Both the sect's disciple jade tokens and the Spirit-Attuning Jade Tokens used throughout the cultivation world were invented by the patriarch of our Spirit-Attuning Peak. That is how our peak got its name. Currently, the Spirit-Attuning Jade Tokens sold by the Xiaoyao Chamber of Commerce are supplied by us."
"Conflict is constant in the cultivation world. Cultivators' jade tokens are inevitably damaged during battles or explorations, and every year, many children with spirit roots reach the age of six and enter the immortal gates. The demand for Spirit-Attuning Jade Tokens never drops."
"Unlike alchemy, arrays, talismans, or artifacts, Spirit-Attuning Jade Tokens are a monopoly throughout the cultivation world."
Shu Ziming raised an eyebrow. "Senior Brother, why don't you mention the massive amounts of spirit stones and sect contribution points that flow into your Spirit-Attuning Peak every year? Everyone in the Xiaoyao inner sect knows that Spirit-Attuning Peak is the wealthiest. Even though it's one of the seventy-two inner peaks, it's as famous as the Four Great Main Peaks."
"That fame is purely because the Sect Leader loves giving our Peak Master work to help share the administrative burden."
Shen Banxi waved it off. "Never mind that. My point is that the workload at Spirit-Attuning Peak is truly immense."
"Give me a break. If I hadn't worked at Spirit-Attuning Peak during my Foundation Establishment stage to earn contribution points, I might have actually believed you."
Shu Ziming smiled confidently. "Xiaoyao only holds a grand recruitment every ten years. At the start, there are only a few hundred formal disciples with single or dual spirit roots. But besides them, there are over ten thousand handyman disciples with multiple spirit roots. Though they cultivate slower and aren't assessed with the formal disciples, the Disciple Training Department holds separate advancement competitions for them based on their progress. In every batch, many handyman disciples save enough promotion points to pass the outer sect advancement competition and become formal disciples. When they eventually reach the inner sect, your Spirit-Attuning Peak takes in quite a few, doesn't it?"
Shu Ziming gave Shen Banxi a playful look. "Moreover, whenever you're too busy, Spirit-Attuning Peak posts missions to Artifact Peak, as well as the neighboring Array Peak and Talisman Peak, for us to help. No matter how much work there is, it can't be as exaggerated as you say. You know most of the artifacts in the Xiaoyao Chamber of Commerce are supplied by our Artifact Peak too."
"The tasks that can be delegated naturally aren't a problem," Shen Banxi said. "But you know the core that makes Spirit-Attuning Jade Tokens work is wind spirit energy."
"Most tasks are delegated, so the remaining core parts shouldn't be much, right? Even that's too much to handle?"
If this fellow hadn't already reached the Golden Core stage, Shen Banxi would have given him a rap on the head like he used to.
"I don't need to tell you how rare wind spirit roots are, do I?"
Seeing Shu Ziming nod, Shen Banxi continued, "Most tasks related to Spirit-Attuning Jade Tokens cannot be done without wind spirit energy. Those of you who take missions to help at Spirit-Attuning Peak undergo three days of training to learn some wind-attribute spells beforehand—you remember that, right?"
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