Burial Furnace

"It's you?" The female cultivator looked at Zhang Yuan with surprise.

Isn't this the old man in the Qi Refining stage who stopped her that day and asked her all sorts of questions? Does he own this crematorium?

"Hello, are you here to dispose of a body?" Zhang Yuan put down his book, stood up, and went to greet him.

"Yes." The female cultivator hesitated for a moment, but nodded nonetheless.

"Come with me." Zhang Yuan led her to the cremation hall and explained how to use the furnace.

The female cultivator didn't immediately take out the corpse. Instead, she stood there, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Um... we've met before, so it's quite a coincidence. Could you... give me a discount?"

"We've met before, but I don't even know your name. How dare you offer me a discount?"

Zhang Yuan showed no mercy.

He is currently in dire need of spirit stones.

He wanted to earn as much as possible and didn't want to give in easily.

"My name is Lu Muyao." The female cultivator was very shrewd and wanted to establish a relationship right away, so she immediately gave her name and then generously extended her hand to Zhang Yuan. "A core disciple of the Dengtian Sect, late Foundation Establishment stage, twenty-five years old this year."

"My name is Zhang Yuan, I am eighty years old, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Zhang Yuan gently took her hand.

Her hands were slender and long, and holding them felt like holding a piece of warm, smooth white jade.

She is very pure and her fragrance is very subtle.

No wonder I mistook her for a disciple of the Holy Maiden Sect last time—that holy aura is indeed very similar.

"Eighty years old?" A hint of surprise flashed in Lu Muyao's eyes. "Third level of Qi Refining?"

There was no sarcasm in her tone, only pure surprise.

An eighty-year-old at the third level of Qi Refining is considered to have very poor aptitude in the cultivation world.

But she quickly realized that her words were inappropriate and hurriedly added, "That's not what I meant..."

"It's alright." Zhang Yuan waved his hand, completely unconcerned. "I know my own talent."

Lu Muyao pursed her lips, took a step forward, and softened her voice: "Boss, can you give me a discount...?"

Her voice carried a hint of coquetry, with a slight upward inflection at the end, like a kitten's paw gently scratching at one's heart.

With those clear, watery eyes, she possesses a captivating charm that's hard to resist.

"You're a core disciple of the Ascending Heaven Sect, and you've already reached the late Foundation Establishment stage at such a young age. Your talent must be exceptional. You're not short of spirit stones, are you? Do you even offer discounts for disposing of corpses?"

Zhang Yuan touched his forehead, somewhat incredulous.

The core disciples of major sects are usually wealthy and powerful individuals.

With monthly spirit stones and pills distributed by the sect, and various mission rewards for going out for training, they certainly wouldn't be so poor as to have to haggle over cremation fees.

"If you knew how many corpses I had to deal with, and what level of corpses they were, you would understand."

Lu Muyao muttered to herself, of course not saying it aloud.

She then began to complain: "You're a cultivator too, you should understand how much spirit stones cultivation consumes. Even though I'm one of the core disciples of the Ascending Heaven Sect, I only have a monthly quota of one hundred mid-grade spirit stones, plus some low-level pills. That amount of spirit stones isn't even enough to buy a decent magic weapon, let alone for cultivation. I need to save spirit stones to prepare for advancing to the Golden Core stage. I've estimated it will take at least five years, maybe even ten..."

Her voice grew softer and softer, carrying a hint of helplessness and exhaustion.

Zhang Yuan gasped.

Holy crap, even core disciples of the Ascending Heaven Sect need to accumulate resources for ten years to advance to the Golden Core stage?

He had always thought that disciples of major sects had abundant cultivation resources and that breaking through to higher realms should be much easier for them than for independent cultivators like himself.

It now seems that the path to immortality is not easy for anyone.

Reaching the Golden Core stage requires an astronomical amount of resources, and even the core disciples of the Ascending Heaven Sect have to strive for it for many years.

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Bring out the bodies, let me see how many there are. If there are many, I can give you a discount."

"I can't show you the corpses." Lu Muyao shook her head, her tone resolute, "to avoid causing you any trouble. But I can tell you, there's more than one."

Zhang Yuan nodded in understanding.

Having worked in this industry for so long, he certainly understands.

Some guests don't want anyone to know who died or who killed them.

"I'll give you a 10% discount," he said after thinking for a moment.

"10% off?" Lu Muyao's eyes widened, and her voice rose eight octaves. "You're so stingy! 90% off!"

"Do you think I'm doing charity?" Zhang Yuan almost laughed in anger. This woman was going too far. "This is a large-scale formation. Activating it consumes a lot of spirit stones. There's practically no profit to be made. A 10% discount is basically no profit at all."

Lu Muyao was a little embarrassed and remained silent for a while before gritting her teeth and saying, "50% off."

"If it's half price, go somewhere else." Zhang Yuan didn't want to waste any more words with her and directly adopted a posture of seeing her off.

He realized that this woman was just trying to get a huge bargain.

But he's not a sucker.

50% off?

Keep dreaming.

"you……"

Lu Muyao was furious. Her chest heaved violently, she glared at Zhang Yuan, and turned to leave.

Her footsteps were heavy, thumping loudly on the floor, clearly indicating that she was genuinely angry.

Zhang Yuan didn't indulge her and didn't call out to her.

If the corpse is truly cremated using an array, and the price is reduced by half, then we'll lose a fortune.

Although he desperately needed spirit stones, he couldn't do a losing business, as that would easily arouse suspicion from others.

The door was pushed open and then slammed shut.

The footsteps faded into the distance and then stopped.

Zhang Yuan sat behind the counter, picked up his teacup, and slowly took a sip.

He is waiting.

That's how business works; whoever loses their composure first will lose.

He was certain that Lu Muyao would come back.

In the entire town of Qingmu, and even within a radius of thousands of miles, he was the only crematorium.

She could only buy cremation talismans.

But cremation talismans are more expensive.

Lu Muyao stood outside the door.

His face was full of hesitation, and his lips were pressed into a thin line.

A 10% discount might offer some profit, but not much.

He wanted to earn a lot of spirit stones from this deal, which would allow him to advance to the Golden Core stage a year earlier.

Becoming stronger sooner will make you much safer, more survivable, and less likely to perish.

She gritted her teeth and pushed the door open again, going inside.

She closed the door, came to Zhang Yuan, and then did something that left Zhang Yuan speechless—

She shyly clung to Zhang Yuan's arm, gently shaking it, and said in a coquettish tone, "Boss, how about a 50% discount? Please?"

Her voice was soft and sweet, with a hint of pleading, and paired with her big, watery eyes, it was simply irresistible.

Her body was very close, and I felt a soft touch on my arm, along with a delicate fragrance.

What the hell!

This is a core female disciple of the Ascending Heaven Sect!

She actually acted coquettishly just like the female cultivators of the Jade Maiden Sect?

Zhang Yuan was stunned as he felt the soft touch on his arm and breathed in the delicate fragrance.