The Long Journey to Immortality

"Is this the senior sister who wanted to buy the cat?"

Han Lu secretly guessed what was going on, then stepped forward to greet her, saying, "Senior Sister, good morning! Are you here to buy the Tanuki Demon?"

"Good morning, you must be Junior Sister Han," the female cultivator greeted.

"Yes, Senior Sister," Han Lu returned the greeting, lifted the restrictions on the courtyard, and said, "Senior Sister, let's go inside and talk."

Chapter Fifty-Six: Shui Bingxin

In terms of interpersonal skills, Han Lu is far superior to Feng Bailu and Zhan Yujun.

Upon entering the room, she first took out the fine tea that Wen Erya had given her and brewed a pot of hot tea for her senior sister, whose name she did not yet know, and placed it on the table before starting to talk about serious matters.

"May I ask your name, Senior Sister?"

“Shui Bingxin, you can call me Senior Sister Shui or Second Senior Sister, it’s fine.”

Shui Bingxin was a disciple accepted by Piaomiaozi in the first year after he became a Golden Core Elder.

Including Wen Erya and Han Lu, Piaomiaozi has a total of twenty-three disciples.

Among them, there are five inner disciples and eighteen nominal disciples. As for the closed-door disciples, since Piaomiaozi still has nearly five hundred years of lifespan, there are not any closed-door disciples to pass on his mantle yet.

Shui Bingxin, in terms of both cultivation and seniority, deserves to be called Second Senior Sister by the other disciples under Piaomiaozi.

When she spoke again, Han Lu remembered something. "Second Senior Sister, let's not waste time with small talk. Let me bring you the cat first."

Upon hearing this, Shui Bingxin praised, "That's a good idea. Let's take a look at the cat first."

Han Lu went upstairs, picked up the fat cat that had been taking up a corner of her room, and without saying a word, put the fat cat into Shui Bingxin's arms.

Shui Bingxin is indeed a cat lover, and has probably been virtually raising cats for many years. This fat cat is clearly Han Lu's spirit pet, but when it's in Shui Bingxin's arms, it doesn't make a fuss at all. It's being stroked comfortably by Shui Bingxin's hands, its eyes are half-closed, and it rubs its big head against the softest part of Shui Bingxin's arms, meowing obediently.

Seeing the joy on Shui Bingxin's face, Han Lu guessed that the deal was done.

After teasing the fat cat in her arms for a while, Shui Bingxin looked satisfied, as if she had gotten what she wanted.

Holding the cat, she thanked her, "Junior Sister Han, thank you very much."

"Although the raccoon demon's cultivation level is not high, it is considered a relatively rare and uncommon demon beast in the Zhengyi Mountains."

"Although I've always wanted an adorable tanuki spirit, every time I hear someone is selling tanuki spirits, they're already sold out before I even get there."

"You've fulfilled a long-held wish of mine this time."

Shui Bingxin's statement was somewhat exaggerated, but not by too much.

"Are there any other cats? I'd like to take a look and pick a good one." Shui Bingxin wasn't short of money, so naturally she hoped to raise a raccoon demon that best suited her taste.

Han Lu said, "My friend and I caught six in total, and this one has the best-looking fur and is the cutest."

"I have another one with me, it's skinny and sickly, and it doesn't fetch a good price. I really like it, so I'm thinking of keeping it for myself."

Upon hearing this, Shui Bingxin nodded and said, "Since Junior Sister likes it, then I won't take what belongs to her. I'll take this raccoon demon."

Then Shui Bingxin asked, "Junior Sister Han, how many spirit stones are you selling this cat for?"

By proactively bringing up money, Shui Bingxin still knows how to handle people.

"Originally, I wanted to give this cat to my master, but he said he didn't like raccoon demons, so he recommended my second senior sister as the buyer," Han Lu said. "Unfortunately, this business is a partnership, so I can't make decisions on my own. Otherwise, I would definitely have given this fat cat to my senior sister."

"No, if you really want to give it to me, I won't accept it," Shui Bingxin placed the cat on the table. "How can a senior sister take a junior sister's things? Besides, the quality of this raccoon demon is such that it would be worth five spirit stones, no, ten spirit stones, if sold outside."

Ten spirit stones can be exchanged for a low-grade seventh-rank magic item.

Hearing this, Han Lu simply went along with Shui Bingxin's suggestion and offered, "How about I sell it to you for ten spirit stones, Senior Sister?"

"Deal." Shui Bingxin didn't bother to haggle and simply counted out ten spirit stones from her storage bag and placed them on the table.

Upon seeing the glittering object appear before its eyes, the fat cat pounced on the spirit stone, treating it like a toy.

Seeing this, Shui Bingxin picked up the fat cat again, snatched the food from its mouth, and pried the spirit stone out from between its two paws.

With ten spirit stones in hand, the deal was considered complete.

Han Lu symbolically counted the number of spirit stones, and only after confirming that there were no errors did she put them away.

"Alright, Second Senior Sister, this cat is yours now."

The two exchanged a few more words. First, Han Lu released the fat cat from its control, and then Shui Bingxin chanted an incantation to take the raccoon demon, which she had just bought for ten spirit stones, as her spirit pet.

Even Han Lu, a Daoist disciple, could easily control this fat cat, so Shui Bingxin, a cultivator in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, naturally had no problem at all.

After taking the fat cat as her spirit pet, Shui Bingxin issued a few more commands and played with the fat cat for a while in front of Han Lu, which was a simple way of expressing her satisfaction with the transaction.

Seeing this, Han Lu also brought out A Xiao and, under the pretext of asking for advice on raising cats, took the initiative to get close to Shui Bingxin.

Shui Bingxin had indeed been pondering this matter for some time. Looking at the thin cat in Han Lu's arms, she felt very sorry for it and talked a lot more, mostly instructing her junior sister Han Lu on how to raise the raccoon demon A Xiao to be "black and fat".

Han Lu listened attentively, occasionally chiming in with a few words. Although the two senior and junior sisters had only known each other for a quarter of an hour, they got along very well over the matter of the raccoon demon.

Taking this opportunity, Han Lu occasionally changed the subject, curiously inquiring about the Piaomiaozi lineage from Shui Bingxin.

Every female cultivator likes to gossip about these kinds of things, let alone show off their seniority in front of their junior sister. Although Shui Bingxin is not the kind of person with a strong sense of vanity, she is still willing to talk to Han Lu about Piaomiaozi and Han Lu's senior brothers and sisters.

With Shui Bingxin, an insider, Han Lu knew more about Piaomiaozi.

"It is said that Master cultivated for a full ninety-nine years before achieving a sixth-grade golden core and advancing to the Golden Core realm."

"I've occasionally heard some of the senior brothers in the late Foundation Establishment stage of the sect mention that Master's talent wasn't particularly high, but he had quite a few opportunities."

"When Master was still in the late Foundation Establishment stage, he accidentally met a Golden Core cultivator from Xuan Yang Valley. It is said that this Golden Core cultivator provided considerable assistance to Master before Master formed his Golden Core."

"Therefore, Master would visit Xuan Yang Valley every ten years to visit friends."

……

"The other senior brothers and sisters?"

"My senior brother, Li Haoqiong, started learning the sect an hour earlier than me, and his talent is also the highest among the earliest batch of disciples to join our master's sect."

"But because their cultivation time is still short, their cultivation level is the same as mine, still in the early stage of Foundation Establishment."

"However, it is said that Senior Brother Li has already reached the threshold of Qi Sea liquefaction, and he may become a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator tomorrow."

"Tsk tsk, if one can become a cultivator who has reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage before the age of forty, then Senior Brother Li would definitely be considered a genius cultivator."

Shui Bingxin only briefly introduced a few of the other senior brothers and sisters she knew.

She wasn't the type to visit other people's homes, so she didn't know all her junior brothers and sisters.

Finally, Shui Bingxin asked Han Lu a few questions about Wen Erya's situation.

After drinking about half of the tea, Shui Bingxin stood up and took the initiative to say goodbye.

"Junior Sister Han, I have to go now," Shui Bingxin said, giving an address. "I live there. If you encounter any minor difficulties in your cultivation in the future, you can come here to find me. I should be able to help you."

Having gotten along well and taken advantage of Han Lu, Shui Bingxin was naturally willing to reciprocate and fulfill her responsibility as a senior sister by giving her junior sister, whose cultivation was still shallow, a little something in return.

After thanking her, Han Lu, carrying the cat, escorted Bingxin, who had brought water, all the way to the courtyard gate.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Wen Er Ya's Invitation

The next day, after the intensive training session, Han Lu deliberately took a longer route and waited for a while at Zhan Yujun's doorstep.

Upon seeing her partner arrive, Zhan Yujun, who had made money, finally learned some ways to treat guests.

After inviting Han Lu into his home and sitting down, they began to discuss serious matters.

Instead of mentioning money, Zhan Yujun started talking about her experience selling the raccoon demon over the past two days.

"I didn't know until I sold it that there are actually quite a few wealthy people in my sect."

"During this period of spirit stone shortage, quite a few people are still willing to spend spirit stones to buy a raccoon demon for fun."

"That afternoon, I was at the small market for about fifteen minutes when seven or eight people came up to ask about the price."

"Many people ask about it, and quite a few people buy it."

"The last good-quality raccoon demon was even bid on by three people, and it eventually sold for a full ten spirit stones."

"They really don't treat spirit stones like spirit stones."

After finishing her speech, Zhan Yujun sighed, "The gap between the rich and poor in this cultivation world is truly enormous."

Zhan Yujun's exclamation was reasonable and well-founded, and Han Lu, after her reincarnation, also quite agreed with it.

Some cultivators without any background can spend a month traveling for a single spirit stone.

Cultivators like Zhan Yujun, who have families behind them, only worry about things like spirit stones during these special times.

Han Lu and Wen Erya, who became "second-generation immortals" and "third-generation immortals" for various reasons, could use spirit stones and pills as external objects for daily cultivation. They could freely use spirit stones to drive spirit-gathering arrays and swallow pills to improve their cultivation.

The difference between these three levels of cultivators is enormous.

Zhan Yujun was lamenting the gap between the rich and the poor, while Han Lu was marveling at Zhan Yujun's business acumen.

She smiled and praised, "Zhan Yujun, you seem to be quite good at business. How many spirit stones did you end up selling those cats for?"

“I sold 28,” Zhan Yujun said, with a hint of boasting. “How many did you sell?”

Although she temporarily admitted that she was no match for Han Lu in terms of combat and cultivation, she still wanted to compete with Han Lu in other aspects.

"I sold 10," Han Lu said truthfully.

"No way," Zhan Yujun said, somewhat surprised, but she quickly understood the reason behind it and said no more. She simply said, "Alright, that'll do. Let's calculate the money."

"Distribute the spirit stones according to the previously agreed ratio," Zhan Yujun repeated what she had said a few days ago, "and make up the difference with Meridian Opening Pills."

The two placed the spirit stones they had earned on the table, piling them up in a heap.

Zhan Yujun actually took out a wooden abacus from her storage bag and began to tap it rapidly like an accountant.

"You can even use an abacus?" Han Lu was quite surprised.

“I helped with the family accounts when I was little, so I know a little bit about it,” Zhan Yujun said while tapping on the abacus. “How’s your sick cat? Have you taken it to the imperial veterinary clinic?”

"I've seen it," Han Lu told Zhan Yujun the rather comical conclusion reached by the veterinarian, "There's nothing wrong, she's just thin from starvation."

Zhan Yujun chuckled twice, amused by the conclusion.

A moment later, Zhan Yujun removed her hand from the abacus and obtained the result.

"As agreed, these twenty-one spirit stones are yours." Zhan Yuyun counted them twice before pushing a slightly larger amount of spirit stones in front of Han Lu.