“Rise. There is no need for such formality.” Shen Qingci raised her hand, her tone carrying a natural hint of benevolence, perfectly embodying the demeanor of someone who had been the eldest daughter of a prestigious family for over a decade.
“Yes.”
Shen Hanzhou stood up at her word.
Shen Qingci looked away in satisfaction. Last night, she had already taken out most of the mid-grade spirit stones from the system space. With a slight lift of her right wrist, she guided her spiritual energy to support a pile of lustrous spirit stones, letting them land on the table. She chin-nodded toward Shen Hanzhou. “Put them in your storage ring. Today's expenses will come from this.”
In the cultivation world, people judged a book by its cover—or rather, a cultivator by their robes.
The most prosperous market town at the foot of the Azure Cloud Sect was called Dengxian Market. It was only the start of the Hour of the Dragon, but the streets were already bustling with people. Shen Qingci led Shen Hanzhou straight toward a three-story pavilion deep within the market, where a plaque bore three gold-leafed characters: “Yunshang Pavilion.”
This was information she had filtered from the original host's memories yesterday. Yunshang Pavilion specialized in the business of magical robes and garments. It was said that an inner sect elder of the Azure Cloud Sect backed it, so even members of the imperial family had to be exceptionally polite when visiting.
As soon as they stepped through the door, a shop assistant at the Qi Refining stage came forward to greet them. His gaze swept over Shen Qingci's faded, old magical robe, and his smile faded slightly. “Fellow Daoist, the first floor is the ready-to-wear section. The magical robes are all...”
“Call your manager,” Shen Qingci interrupted him.
The assistant was taken aback. Just as he was about to say something else, a middle-aged manager with a three-pointed beard stepped out from behind the counter. Qian Sihai first glanced at Shen Qingci's old robe, then at her exquisite yet aloof face, and his heart skipped a beat.
Though this young lady was dressed poorly, the innate nobility exuding from her entire being could not be faked. She looked like the eldest daughter of some great family out for experiential training. When his divine sense swept toward Shen Hanzhou behind her, his pupils suddenly contracted.
With his Early-stage Golden Core vision, he actually couldn't see through the cultivation of the woman in the dark green robe.
This meant that she was at least at the Late-stage Golden Core realm or higher.
It seemed she was a Dao Protector sent by the family to escort the young lady. No wonder this girl acted with such confidence.
Qian Sihai immediately plastered a warm smile across his face. Pushing the shop assistant aside, he personally came forward to welcome them. “I am Qian Sihai, the manager of Yunshang Pavilion. I did not know such distinguished guests were arriving and failed to welcome you properly. Please forgive me.”
Shen Qingci slightly raised her eyes but did not utter a word. Beside her, Shen Hanzhou took a step forward and said in a cold voice, “Our young lady has just arrived in the Southern Region and needs a few decent outfits. Bring out your finest treasures.”
Shen Qingci didn't even look at the manager. Her fingertips casually toyed with the plain jade buckle at her waist. Her divine sense swept over the shop-protecting spiritual robes displayed near the stairs, but she didn't even have the interest to spare them a second glance.
Qian Sihai's heart tightened.
This tone, this demeanor—it was absolutely not an act.
He quickly bowed and led the two of them toward the private room on the third floor, while whispering instructions to the assistant to brew the finest spiritual tea.
Shen Hanzhou followed half a step behind Shen Qingci, her pace neither fast nor slow, her posture neither servile nor overbearing. Her conduct made Qian Sihai even more convinced of his judgment—this woman in dark green was at least a Nascent Soul cultivator.
A young woman who could command such respect from a Nascent Soul cultivator must have an extraordinary background.
Inside the private room on the third floor, Qian Sihai personally brought out three sets of magical robes.
The first set was moon-white with silver-threaded flowing cloud patterns, woven from thousand-year ice-silkworm silk. It was cool to the touch and came with dust-repelling and mind-clearing enchantments, capable of blocking divine sense probes from anyone below the Golden Core stage.
Shen Qingci lightly brushed her hand over the fabric, neither accepting nor rejecting it, gesturing for the next one.
The second set was mysterious black, embroidered with dark gold lightning beast patterns. The material consisted of soft armor plates tanned from the wing membranes of a Tier 4 demon beast, the Lightning Bat, seamlessly stitched together.
This magical robe came with three uses of the Lightning Escape Art, allowing the wearer to instantly teleport a hundred zhang away in an emergency, and it also slightly boosted lightning-attribute spells. Qian Sihai's voice trembled slightly as he introduced it. This item had been kept at the bottom of their chest for over a decade. Even the crown prince of a certain dynasty in the Southern Region had come to look at it but ultimately passed, finding it too expensive.
Shen Qingci looked up and glanced at it, still noncommittal. “Is there anything else?”
Qian Sihai gritted his teeth, turned around, and retrieved a long sandalwood box from the innermost hidden cabinet. Opening the lid, a neatly folded dark green robe lay inside.
At first glance, it was so plain it bordered on bland.
But when Shen Qingci probed it with her divine sense, she discovered that the material was by no means ordinary. The threads carried a faint, starlike shimmer, woven from threads drawn from melted rare Star Sand mixed with Tier 5 Void Silkworm silk.
“This is our pavilion's grand treasure, named Starry Abyss. It comes with a Star-Shifting Array that can withstand a full-strength blow from a Nascent Soul cultivator, and it can also conceal the wearer's cultivation, making it impossible for anyone below the Golden Core stage to see through. It took a full ten years just to weave this magical robe.”
Qian Sihai showed a look of difficulty. “This piece is a non-sale item of our pavilion. It is not that I am unwilling to part with it, but our Pavilion Master specifically instructed back then that this robe is only to be gifted to a destined person and is absolutely not for sale to the public.”
Shen Qingci finally curled her lips.
“Not bad.”
Understanding the hint, Shen Hanzhou immediately retrieved spirit stones from her storage ring. One after another, mid-grade spirit stones were stacked on the table, piling into a small hill in moments. The spiritual energy was so dense it almost condensed into solid form, making the air in the entire private room feel a bit heavier.
Qian Sihai stared at the rising pile of mid-grade spirit stones on the table, his Adam's apple bobbing.
In all his years of living, this was the first time he had seen someone use mid-grade spirit stones like pocket change.
This amount of spirit stones was equivalent to three full years of Yunshang Pavilion's revenue. Even if the Pavilion Master found out, he would definitely not blame him for breaking the rules.
Moreover, the young lady before him had an unfathomable background. If they offended a great family, Yunshang Pavilion wouldn't end up well either.
He only hesitated for three breaths before immediately changing his tune, his face putting on an even warmer, flattering smile. “Ah, I was being too pedantic!”
“Only someone of the Eldest Miss's stature is worthy of this Starry Abyss robe. Non-sale or not, being able to catch the Eldest Miss's eye is its blessing.”
That Lightning Bat robe along with its matching boots and accessories, plus this Starry Abyss, Shen Qingci took them all.
When it came time to settle the bill, the spirit stones filled two whole tables.
Qian Sihai counted three times—a total of 18,900 mid-grade spirit stones.
This amount was more than enough to buy a Mystic-grade Mid-rank magical artifact. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator or a member of the imperial family might not have so many mid-grade spirit stones on them at any given time.
Yet the eldest miss before him didn't even bat an eye when paying, as if the amount spent was nothing more than some spare change she carried around.
Shen Qingci changed into the Starry Abyss robe and chose a hairband of the same color from the accessories to tie up her hair. She stood before a water mirror to look at herself. The person in the mirror had an aloof and noble temperament, with a natural air of grandeur that made her look like a completely different person from the pale little rogue cultivator of last night.
Before leaving, Shen Qingci took out a pair of blank communication jade slips and had Shen Hanzhou carve a twin communication array onto them. She kept one for herself and tossed the other to Qian Sihai. “If you get any good items in the future, remember to save them for me first.”
Qian Sihai caught the jade slip with both hands, his smile so wide his eyes narrowed into slits. He escorted them all the way out the door, not forgetting to bow repeatedly. “Take care, Eldest Miss! Please come back often!”
Only after those two figures disappeared around the street corner did he wipe the sweat from his forehead. Turning to the assistant, he said, “Pass down the word. From now on, whenever you see these two deities of wealth, lead them directly to the private room on the third floor.”
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