By nightfall on Seven Stars Peak, Qin Xiao still had not left his room.
Yun Man had initially found a random room and began cultivating with the Spirit Stones Qin Xiao had given her. However, now that the night had darkened, Yun Man grew somewhat curious, so she got up and came to the door of Qin Xiao’s room.
“Master, it’s dark already. Do you have time to talk?”
Yun Man pondered for a moment, then knocked on Qin Xiao’s door.
“Oh! I was so focused on studying Body Refinement that I completely forgot about my disciple.”
Hearing the knock, Qin Xiao only then remembered that he had forgotten about his disciple.
“My dear disciple, I lost track of time cultivating. Come in.”
Qin Xiao adjusted his sitting posture and allowed Yun Man to enter.
From the time of formally acknowledging him as master at noon until now, Qin Xiao had spent seven hours researching in his room. Not leaving the room for so long inevitably made Yun Man suspicious. What kind of master paid no attention to anything after accepting a disciple? Could it be that she had been deceived?
“This master is clearly a mortal, yet he talks about cultivation. Something is most likely off.”
Although Yun Man addressed him as master, doubts also arose in her heart.
“Master, the sky is dark. Why not light the lamp?”
Inside, Yun Man found the room pitch black. She gathered spiritual qi around her eyes so she could see.
The entire room was also extremely simple. Apart from a bed, there was only a small wooden table. The Spirit Stone lamp on the table contained no Spirit Stones.
“I’ve had my eyes closed while cultivating and forgot the lamp. Light it for me, will you?”
Qin Xiao now had to put on the appearance of a lofty expert. He wouldn’t personally attend to these minor tasks.
“Disciple obeys.”
Yun Man took out a Spirit Stone and inserted it into the Spirit Stone lamp. Instantly, the entire room brightened. Although not as bright as daytime, everything was now visible.
“Could it be that Master has no Spirit Stones left? Even lighting the lamp requires me to provide one? Perhaps he only had those five thousand Spirit Stones on him and gave them all to me? Just to trick me into joining Seven Stars Peak? But what’s the point? If he can’t provide resources, after a month I can naturally join another peak, right?”
Qin Xiao’s actions did not make Yun Man think he was a lofty expert. Instead, she felt he was a penniless pauper, hence her face full of confusion.
“You know I can’t cultivate, so I can’t tell what realm you’re in. Tell me honestly, and I can give you the resources you need.”
Qin Xiao naturally saw Yun Man’s confusion, so he planned to bring something out. Otherwise, this disciple might run away.
Seven hours. His Spirit Stones increased by two per second. One hour was seventy-two hundred. In seven hours, he already had over fifty thousand. He was definitely not short on money. As for Spirit Liquid, one drop per minute meant over four hundred drops had been produced. Although he had spent fourteen drops on Body Refinement, he still had over four hundred drops left.
“I’m at late Foundation Establishment, Master. Qi Refining pills hardly help me now. Do you have any Foundation Establishment pills?”
Hearing Qin Xiao’s words, Yun Man dispelled her doubts. However, she wasn’t sure if Qin Xiao could provide Foundation Establishment stage Pills for her cultivation. Relying purely on Spirit Stones wasn’t slow, but if supplemented with Pills, it would be faster.
“Late-stage Foundation Establishment?”
Qin Xiao never imagined this disciple actually had late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation. What a huge bargain!
“That’s right. Do you have any pills I can use, Master?”
Yun Man stared straight at Qin Xiao, wanting to see from his expression whether he was deceiving her.
“I don’t have any pills for Foundation Establishment cultivation.”
“As expected, there’s nothing on Seven Stars Peak. I’ve been deceived.”
As soon as Qin Xiao spoke, Yun Man’s expression immediately turned ugly. In her heart, she cried out that she had been deceived.
“But how long would it take you to refine and absorb a drop of Spirit Liquid?”
Before Yun Man could speak, Qin Xiao hurriedly added.
“What? Spirit Liquid? You’re not joking, Master? Do you have some?”
Hearing Qin Xiao mention Spirit Liquid, Yun Man immediately became interested. Spirit Liquid was far superior to any Pill. Not only was the Spiritual Qi pure, but it also had no side effects. It was truly the most perfect cultivation resource, and it wasn’t limited by level.
“Just tell me how long you need for one drop first. I’ll consider the rest.”
Qin Xiao didn’t directly say how much he had. Instead, he first wanted to hear Yun Man’s answer, because he didn’t know how much Spirit Liquid these cultivators consumed. Giving too much or too little wouldn’t be good.
Based on his own Body Refinement speed, he could refine one drop in half an hour. If refining non-stop all day, he would only need forty-eight drops a day. However, the cultivation system was ultimately different from his own, hence Qin Xiao asked this way.
“If I put all my effort into it, I can refine a drop completely in a day. Why do you ask, Master?”
Yun Man naturally knew the preciousness of Spirit Liquid. However, she still hoped Qin Xiao would tell her he had some and would give it to her.
“One drop per day?”
Qin Xiao was a bit surprised. He needed one drop every half hour for Body Refinement, yet Yun Man, with her Heavenly Spirit Root, took a whole day to refine one drop. Could it be that his Body Refinement technique was some top-tier method?
“I don’t ask for much, Master. Three drops a month would be enough. Or even two, if that’s not possible.”
Seeing Qin Xiao remained silent, Yun Man thought her request was excessive and hurriedly added.
If she truly obtained Spirit Liquid, she wouldn’t foolishly use it for regular cultivation. She would save it for breakthrough moments. With Spirit Liquid, she had even more confidence in her breakthrough.
“What’s this? Am I that stingy? You’re my only disciple. If I gave you just three drops a month, the other peaks would think Seven Stars Peak couldn’t afford more! One drop a day. Just cultivate as hard as you can, and leave the rest to me.”
Hearing Yun Man’s request for only two drops, Qin Xiao immediately spoke out sharply. Who does she think I am? I, Qin Xiao, am not the same Qin Xiao from three years ago.
“What? One drop per day?”
Yun Man felt her head couldn’t quite process this. Although the market price for Spirit Liquid was said to be one thousand Spirit Stones per drop, that was just talk. Who would exchange Spirit Liquid for Spirit Stones? Even ten thousand Spirit Stones per drop might not buy it. Yet her mortal master was saying one drop per day?
“Here are seven drops of Spirit Liquid. Use them to cultivate, and I’ll give you another seven in a week. I’ll also give you the five hundred thousand spirit stones I promised then. Is that all right?”
After some consideration, Qin Xiao only took out seven drops. It wasn’t that he was stingy, but he couldn’t give too much at once. Otherwise, if this disciple ran off with the Spirit Liquid, the loss would be huge.
As for Spirit Stones, he could give them now too, but he could only give fifty thousand first, because that’s all he had. That’s why he needed to delay until seven days later. Now, he could increase by one hundred seventy thousand per day. In seven days, he would have over one million two hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
“Thank you, Master! Spirit Liquid is enough. I wouldn’t dare ask for spirit stones as well.”
Yun Man checked the small bottle Qin Xiao handed over. After confirming it was truly Spirit Liquid, she hurriedly knelt in thanks.
It wasn’t that she lacked Spirit Stones. On the contrary, she was very lacking. However, compared to Spirit Liquid, forget five hundred thousand Spirit Stones, even five million, or fifty million Spirit Stones couldn’t compare to one drop of Spirit Liquid per day.
“Get up. I’ll give you what I promised. Stay loyal to me, and there’ll be plenty more to come.”
Qin Xiao wasn’t short of spirit stones now. He just needed time: they had to accumulate one second at a time.
“I swear to be loyal to you alone for the rest of my life, Master.”
Yun Man also understood that what Qin Xiao needed now was her declaration of allegiance. That’s why he only gave seven drops. She also knew that someone who could casually take out seven drops of Spirit Liquid was definitely not as simple as he appeared on the surface. So she gambled and immediately declared her loyalty.
“Excellent. You may go and cultivate for now. Come find me again in seven days.”
Receiving Yun Man’s declaration of loyalty, Qin Xiao was very satisfied. Since there was nothing else, he let her return to cultivate. He also needed to continue comprehending Body Refinement.
“Your disciple takes leave.”
Yun Man was completely reassured. She had found a tremendous opportunity, and revenge was within reach. She had to hurry back and cultivate in seclusion.
Seven days was not long. Neither master nor disciple went out during that time; both were cultivating in seclusion. Seven Stars Peak was unusually quiet.
However, at this moment, a group of disciples from other peaks were gathered together at the mountain’s base, heading towards Seven Stars Peak. The birds and beasts in the mountain forest scattered, fearing to offend this group of furious disciples.