Chapter Sixty-Two: Brother Dao, Will You Still Not Invite Me In?

Su Jian was genial, then politely declined, “Unfortunately, it’s not a good time. To my shame, I must confess that I’m still struggling to make ends meet. If not for that, even maintaining my daily cultivation would be hard to sustain.”

He had no intention of inviting a wolf into his home.

This woman was up to no good; he saw through her at first glance—she was not a decent person. Perhaps she wasn’t even a woman at all, maybe a man in disguise.

The thought unsettled Su Jian, making him feel thoroughly uncomfortable.

Most likely, the other party had used some kind of soul transfer technique, or perhaps this body was completely controlled by her spiritual essence.

Shen Jingya’s gaze shifted. “Brother Daoist, you go ahead. I think your wife is certainly home. You wouldn’t mind if I met her, would you?”

Su Jian’s expression remained calm, with a smile still on his face, though his heart was anything but tranquil. The other’s fox tail was showing now, probing for Zhao Qianxue’s presence with clear intentions.

He sighed deeply. “Ah, I’m so poor that I can’t afford a Dao companion. I feel a kinship with you, little sister. If you recognize me as your elder brother, surely you wouldn’t let me keep living in poverty, struggling day by day?”

Shen Jingya: “...”

Silence fell.

Su Jian raised an eyebrow. This woman really had no sense of the situation.

If she didn’t want to give him spirit stones, she should just leave and not make things awkward for herself.

But to his surprise, Shen Jingya hesitated only briefly before taking out two hundred spirit stones from her storage ring.

“Brother Daoist, this is all the spirit stones I have...” She hadn’t finished speaking when Su Jian, without ceremony, took the stones from her hand.

Shen Jingya: “...”

If you’re unwilling to sacrifice, you can’t catch the wolf; she endured it.

Su Jian was surprised by her generosity—she seemed powerful indeed. Ordinary cultivators rarely had such wealth.

Cheerfully, Su Jian said, “I knew you were as beautiful as you are kind, unable to see your elder brother in distress.”

Shen Jingya spoke softly, “Then, brother, won’t you invite me in?”

Su Jian replied righteously, “Little sister, that’s where you’re wrong. Why do you keep calling me ‘Brother Daoist’? Isn’t that too formal? Or is it that you never truly saw me as your elder brother?”

Shen Jingya was angry inside, but kept her composure outwardly.

She called out sweetly, “Elder brother.”

---

“Well, little sister, let’s part ways for today. I need to look for ways to earn more spirit stones. We can talk later,” Su Jian said, his tone perfunctory.

Now he realized he might have been taken advantage of.

Damn!

Especially since the other party wasn’t even sure to be male or female.

And her cultivation was probably at the Spirit Transformation stage, or even above, and she was surely much older than him.

All things considered, he had indeed lost out.

Shen Jingya watched as he closed the courtyard door, wishing she could drag Su Jian back and give him a good thrashing.

But she still wore a faint smile, her gaze steady, quietly watching Su Jian.

She knew he was full of tricks.

In this first exchange, it seemed she’d been played by him.

When she didn’t reply, Su Jian continued, “Little sister, I won’t keep you any longer. I’ll visit your home when I have time.”

With that, he turned and left without looking back.

Shen Jingya: “...”

Watching Su Jian’s figure quickly disappear, Shen Jingya’s smile vanished instantly.

She wasn’t in a hurry to follow.

Sometimes, rushing only backfires.

She had already placed a restriction on the Vajra Ring; as long as Su Jian kept it with him, she could track his exact movements anytime, anywhere.

As for Longhu, that useless thing, she no longer cared about his fate.

A waste must be ready to be abandoned at any moment.

Besides, Longhu was now imprisoned in the Punishment Bureau. She could rescue him if she wanted, but that would risk alerting others.

The Jin Dynasty’s government was not as simple as it appeared.

Shen Jingya was glad she’d gone ahead last night, taking away Shen Jingya’s body early. Had she delayed, she’d have run into the Punishment Bureau.

At that moment.

Zhao Qianxue finally relaxed; she had been watching every movement outside.

She had caught the gist of Su Jian’s dealings with Shen Jingya.

---

She still didn’t know the true story, believing Shen Jingya to be the deceased wife of the shifty-eyed cultivator next door.

Recently, Zhao Qianxue had been busy with the shop; this was the first she’d heard about the neighbor’s demise.

But Su Jian’s behavior seemed odd.

They had agreed to go change residences today, but now Su Jian had left without a word. Clearly, things weren’t as simple as they appeared.

Zhao Qianxue thought for a moment, then dismissed the idea of chasing after him. She probably couldn’t help Su Jian anyway, and might even become a burden.

With this in mind, her desire to earn money for Su Jian grew stronger than ever.

...

After making sure he was alone, Su Jian decisively used the Great Teleportation Talisman, instantly crossing a hundred miles.

He surveyed the surroundings and found that the area was encircled by mountains on three sides, with a winding official road visible nearby.

Su Jian sighed, feeling irritated.

The fake Shen Jingya would certainly not give up monitoring him.

Simply put, she was Longhu’s replacement.

He promptly converted the two hundred spirit stones he’d just acquired, along with the dozens Zhao Qianxue had recently earned, all into spiritual energy points.

[Current remaining spiritual energy: 6350.]

Su Jian would have liked to keep those two hundred spirit stones to open a branch shop, but with danger looming, he had no better option.

[Shield Device: Created by a certain sixth-tier civilization. During interstellar exploration, this civilization encountered a cultivation civilization and suffered repeated defeats. Thus, this invention came about, able to block all detection from cultivators below the Ascension stage.]

[Unlock for 6000 spiritual energy?]

This was the collision of technology and cultivation... In truth, technology wasn’t as powerless before the Dao as it seemed.

A shield device appeared in Su Jian’s hand. From the description, it seemed very useful, though it looked quite power hungry.

Fortunately, he could exchange for it endlessly... Once it runs out of power, he’ll destroy it and take out a new one.

Even if the device is dead, he must prevent it from falling into others’ hands.

This was an upgraded version of the Breath-Restraining Talisman. He hadn’t gotten the best one before, which was a pity.

He hadn’t expected to clash with a cultivator above the Spirit Transformation stage so soon.

Still, it didn’t matter. Breath-concealing methods were cheap to unlock in the system.

The previous Breath-Restraining Talisman had cost only two thousand spiritual energy.

Su Jian no longer hesitated, and started heading toward Floating Cloud Mountain.