Chapter 13: The Price of Information

In that instant, a cluster of spirit energy tentacles immediately surged forth from behind Luo Bingli.

In this world, the reason two female cultivators could procreate and dual cultivate was precisely because of the widespread practice of this particular technique.

The spirit energy, transformed into tentacles, could not only integrate with one’s own life force but also inject one’s life force into another’s body.

Thus, two women successfully brought a child into existence.

Incidentally, this very technique was also invented by the old pervert, the Empress of Joyful Union.

And so, throughout the entire night, the room was filled with the delightful sounds of young women.

“Have you remembered?”

“I haven’t yet! Ah!”

“Have you remembered?”

“Sister, spare me! I’ve remembered a few!”

“Only a few? No rush, no rush!”

“Sister, Sister, I’m going to break! Sister, please stop and spare your little sister! Your little sister has remembered everything!”

“Really?”

“Really!”

“Then quickly put the information of those few people into this empty jade slip.”

“Alright, Sister, these are all the Ye-surnamed girls I’ve ever encountered. Sister, please let me down! Your little sister knows her mistake!”

“No, no, no, how could I let you down? You’ve provided such precious information, I must reward you properly!”

“Ah! No… don’t…”

“Hehehe…”

****

The next morning, Luo Bingli let out a weary sigh.

She wasn’t sure if it was due to resistance or something else, but subduing this ‘fairy’ had cost Luo Bingli more effort than usual.

Nevertheless, the outcome was favorable. According to Bai Rusui’s description, she had delivered items to a total of six girls surnamed Ye.

Ye Wan.

Ye Ningxuan.

Ye Jingling.

Ye Hanyan.

Ye Shihuai.

Ye Qingzi.

Among them, Ye Wan and Ye Shihuai, just from their appearances in the images, exuded an ethereal beauty.

While still a distance from the peerless beauty rankings, it had to be said that these two were genuine beauties. They were vastly different from the early descriptions of Ye Xiaozi in the plot, so Luo Bingli immediately temporarily ruled them out.

Furthermore, Ye Jingling appeared to be only eleven or twelve years old. In the plot, Ye Xiaozi was around fifteen, so the somewhat childish-looking Ye Jingling was also temporarily eliminated by Luo Bingli.

Now, after layers of screening, only three girls remained: Ye Ningxuan, Ye Hanyan, and Ye Qingzi.

Which one could it be?

However, for some reason, Luo Bingli always felt Ye Qingzi’s appearance was somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t quite recall the specifics. After all, while Ye Qingzi’s name was impressive—meaning ‘alluring posture’—she was, admittedly, only considered pretty.

If she were to dress up a bit, she might barely qualify as a minor beauty. Not to mention compared to Luo Bingli and Bai Rusui, she was still a long way from Ye Wan and Ye Shihuai.

As someone who valued looks, Luo Bingli naturally didn’t pay much attention to girls with ordinary appearances.

Shaking her head, Luo Bingli decided to begin investigating the three of them.

After all, the current Bai Rusui, even if she could be taken out, was as limp as a puddle of mud. Rather than that, it would be better for Bai Rusui to rest properly until she was needed.

****

Luo Bingli had the addresses for all three girls. Therefore, this time, Luo Bingli did not bring her lackey, Wang Qiu’er, but instead planned to conceal herself…

Well, ever since she put on *that* outfit, the skill of ‘concealment’ had become useless to Luo Bingli.

It could be said that wherever Luo Bingli walked, the entire crowd’s gaze would shift because of her presence.

At this moment, Luo Bingli was undoubtedly the focal point of the Hundred Flowers Palace, a moving scenic attraction, a walking immortal landscape.

So, forget about hiding. Even if Luo Bingli were to crawl along a wall, eavesdropping, people would likely assume she was striking a pose due to the special effects of her dress.

Fortunately, heaven seemed to be helping Luo Bingli. For some unknown reason, all three girls were recuperating at home.

****

Qiu Ju, or Autumn Residence, was ostensibly housing for menial disciples. However, even menial disciples needed spirit energy to break through, so strictly speaking, Qiu Ju was built upon a spirit mountain.

It was merely a low-grade spirit mountain, only rated as a fourth-tier low-grade.

Although a fourth-tier spirit mountain could support cultivators in the early Nascent Soul stage, Qiu Ju Mountain was actually home to over fifty thousand cultivators in the Qi Condensation stage year-round.

While Qi Condensation stage cultivators were vastly inferior to those in the Nascent Soul stage, tens of thousands of Qi Condensation disciples, dozens of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, and a few Core Formation stage overseers essentially monopolized all the spirit energy on the entire mountain.

Moreover, the Hundred Flowers Palace was not lacking this mere fourth-tier spirit mountain; after all, the Hundred Flowers Palace possessed four other spirit mountains identical to Qiu Ju, used to house menial disciples.

Of course, tens of thousands of disciples could not possibly live in the same village. Therefore, a dormitory cluster would be established near each active spirit energy node on the spirit mountain to support the cultivation of the surrounding disciples.

Qiu Ju had about thirty such active spirit energy nodes. The menial disciples were distributed among these thirty active nodes. In other words, the entire Qiu Ju could be divided into more than thirty villages, all composed of women.

For these newly initiated disciples, after entering the sect and becoming menial disciples, they had two choices.

Firstly, the Hundred Flowers Palace was not strict with menial disciples during their first three years. They wouldn’t even interfere if one continuously cultivated, and for these three years, even the cafeteria meals were free, as the three-year ‘novice period’ was not just for show.

However, once three years passed, if one failed to complete menial disciple tasks, they would be expelled from the sect at best, or at worst, treated as a ‘benefit’ and assigned to disciples and elders of the Hundred Flowers Palace.

After entering the Hundred Flowers Palace, new disciples who successfully guided Qi into their bodies naturally became cultivators. However, Qi Condensation Layer One was different from Layers Two or Three, let alone Layers Four or Five.

Some individuals possessed astonishing talent. After entering the Hundred Flowers Palace as menial disciples, they focused solely on cultivation every day. After three years, their cultivation directly reached Qi Condensation Layer Six. Subsequently, performing sect missions became twice as effective, and they achieved Foundation Establishment in just over a decade.

Others, whose cultivation breakthroughs were less significant, would cultivate at night and work during the day. Through this method, relying on the spirit mountain and spirit stones, their cultivation also slowly improved.

Therefore, from the very beginning, one had to choose: either commit fully to cultivation, or balance work and rest.

There was no right or wrong method, only different choices!

However, for those with good talent, cultivating directly until the three-year novice protection period ended was the optimal choice.

Luo Bingli also believed these few individuals were resting at home because they understood their own cultivation talents.