This change in Bai Rou made Li Yan a little surprised for a moment. He thought to himself, 'What's wrong with Senior Sister now? I was just thinking she's become bolder than before. How did she get so flustered and at a loss after just a couple of compliments?'
"No... no, that..." Bai Rou said a few words, but in the end, she couldn't explain herself, which puzzled Li Yan even more.
In her fluster, Bai Rou suddenly seemed to remember something. She reached out her fair hand and patted her waist. Then, with her face slightly turned away, not daring to look at Li Yan, she gently pushed the thing in her hand through the air.
"Junior Brother, this is the artifact refining material that Sun Guoshu found. Besides a second-rank Ice Cloud Feather, there are also a few auxiliary materials from your list. They are all here."
Li Yan reached out and took the flying Storage Pouch . After a brief probe with his Divine Sense , it was indeed as Bai Rou had said. Besides the Ice Cloud Feather, there were four other auxiliary materials.
Li Yan already had a very high-grade Ice Cloud Feather, so he no longer needed this one. But he wanted the other auxiliary materials here.
This Ice Cloud Feather could be used as a spare in the future. Seeing that Bai Rou seemed unwilling to talk more about her puppet, Li Yan of course would not be so annoying. So he took the opportunity to ask, "Senior Sister, how many Spirit Stones for these materials?"
Hearing that Li Yan was no longer continuing the previous topic, Bai Rou finally turned her face slightly forward and raised her beautiful eyes to look at him.
"Junior Brother must have spent a lot on this trip out. We can talk about the Spirit Stones later."
Hearing this, Li Yan smiled slightly. He was not short of Spirit Stones now, so why would he care about this? After some thought, he took out a Storage Pouch. After a quick scan with his Divine Sense, he felt it was alright and with a gentle push, the Storage Pouch was in front of Bai Rou.
At the same time, he said with a smile, "What is Senior Sister Bai saying? It is already a kindness for you to have paid in advance. After so long, it is already my fault. How can I still default on the debt?
There are about fifty thousand Spirit Stones here. Counting the auxiliary materials, it should be about right. I hope Senior Sister will not refuse on the grounds that it is too little."
Bai Rou originally didn't want to accept it. She felt that it was not easy for Li Yan to return after training alone outside, so he must be short on Spirit Stones.
But hearing Li Yan's words, she was stunned. She thought she had misheard in her shyness.
Although Bai Rou's cultivation had greatly increased now, her heart was still as simple as ever. She had never thought of killing people and robbing them, and had never thought of ways to obtain Spirit Stones other than through transactions.
With a slight glance, she saw Li Yan casually take one of the storage pouches from his waist, without a care in the world. This gave Bai Rou a fright.
It should be known that the disciples of her Four Symbols Peak and Lord Lao Peak were already considered the disciples who could earn the most Spirit Stones in the Malevolent Spirit Sect . They could sell formations, mechanical puppets, and medicinal pills.
But even so, Bai Rou herself probably couldn't earn thirty thousand Spirit Stones in a year. After deducting the cost of buying medicinal pills and artifact refining materials, there was basically not much left.
The amount she had paid for Li Yan was what she had accumulated over many years. Although it was not all of it, it had indeed used up more than half.
In a daze, Bai Rou subconsciously reached out and took the Storage Pouch. After a casual scan with her Divine Sense, Bai Rou's heart shook violently. The number of Spirit Stones inside was not fifty thousand as Li Yan had said, but fifty-six thousand three hundred to be exact.
If she had counted them one by one, Bai Rou might have thought she had miscounted, but a cultivator's Divine Sense would never make a mistake on such a small matter.
In her shock, she now stared straight at Li Yan. "This... this... so many Spirit Stones. Junior Brother, did you rob a Golden Core cultivator?"
She had said this subconsciously.
Hearing this, Li Yan touched his nose in embarrassment. There were indeed some Spirit Stones from a Golden Core cultivator in there. So he gave a dry cough.
"Cough, I just obtained a few rather precious spirit plants and sold them at the market to get some Spirit Stones. It's not as exaggerated as you say, Senior Sister."
Hearing this, Bai Rou scanned Li Yan with her beautiful, doubtful eyes. "What kind of heavenly material and earthly treasure could sell for so many Spirit Stones? Oh, right, Junior Brother, are you sure you don't want to pay me back later?"
Bai Rou felt she had asked too much. Seeing Li Yan's casual manner just now, he must still have many Spirit Stones on him. This already touched on Li Yan's privacy. She felt she had been too rash and quickly changed the subject.
She actually did need a lot of Spirit Stones. Refining puppets cost much more than other cultivators. Ever since she had paid for Li Yan, her daily expenses had become a bit tight.
Although she saw Li Yan's nonchalant attitude, she still asked one more time.
"I still have some here. It's certainly enough. Just take it, Senior Sister," Li Yan said with a smile.
"Did Sun Guoshu not explain to you, Junior Brother? I only paid about thirty thousand Spirit Stones. I can't take the rest."
Seeing that Li Yan insisted on giving it, Bai Rou no longer refused and said seriously.
"Oh, Senior Sister has misunderstood. If I have to go out on business again, maybe Sun Guoshu will find something else. How can I let you pay in advance every time? The rest can be considered as me leaving it with you for now.
Of course, you can also use these Spirit Stones as you wish, Senior Sister. Finding materials is not a matter of a day or two. Please don't refuse, otherwise I won't be able to ask for your help next time."
Li Yan knew that Bai Rou would not accept the extra Spirit Stones, so he found an excuse.
He was back now, so why would he need Bai Rou to pay for anything?
Bai Rou didn't have as many thoughts as Li Yan. After some thought, she felt it made sense. She had already paid for Li Yan twice. Li Yan would sometimes disappear for at least a few months, and this time he had disappeared for more than two years.
She also needed to buy artifact refining materials frequently and couldn't always ask Elder Chigong. Li Yan's excuse just now was of course correct.
Bai Rou then smiled sweetly. "Hmm, then I'll accept it for now."
Li Yan just smiled and said nothing.
Seeing Li Yan's nonchalant attitude—this was nearly sixty thousand Spirit Stones—Bai Rou couldn't help but be filled with curiosity. After some thought, under Li Yan's puzzled gaze, she hesitated, but finally wanted to know something about his journey.
So she mustered her courage and said, "Junior Brother, you know, I've never been on an adventure. I wonder... I wonder if you could briefly talk about your adventures.
Oh, even just the story of how you met Grandmaster is fine. This... of course, if it involves your privacy, then forget it. I... I'm just curious."
Li Yan couldn't help but find it funny. He knew the girl was simple, but he didn't expect her to be this simple. Even if Bai Rou had been on a long journey just once, she probably wouldn't have asked such a question. Wasn't this clearly making it difficult for others to answer?
Bai Rou obviously didn't want to inquire too much, for fear of angering Li Yan, so she used the excuse of asking about Shuang Qingqing.
People like Bai Rou who directly inquired about others' privacy were very rare in the cultivation world, and it was definitely a major taboo among cultivators.
Looking at Bai Rou, who had become restless again after speaking, Li Yan was reminded of his fourth sister at home. For a moment, his emotions stirred, and a faint sense of family affection arose.
Seeing that Li Yan hadn't spoken for a while after she finished, Bai Rou became even more uneasy and quickly stood up. "Junior Brother, I was rash just now. I... I'll take my leave now."
Li Yan had been thinking about his fourth sister, Li Xiaozhu , and how she would speak to him with such unguarded simplicity. He was suddenly brought back to his senses when he saw Bai Rou stand up. He quickly smiled and gestured for her to sit down.
"Oh, Senior Sister has misunderstood. When you mentioned adventures just now, I was just wondering where to start. After all, the adventure lasted for two years. I can't talk for two years, can I?"
Bai Rou, who had thought she was too rash, couldn't help but giggle when she heard Li Yan say he would talk for two years. Her laugh, which made her already stunning beauty even more so, for a moment filled the cave with a powerless spring beauty.
But then Bai Rou realized her impropriety and quickly forced her lips shut. She reached up and tucked a few strands of black hair behind her ear, her hand seeming to inadvertently shield half of her somewhat flushed cheek, and then sat down again.
Next, Li Yan cherry-picked some things he could talk about and recounted them to Bai Rou.
Bai Rou was as sharp as ice and snow. After listening for half an incense stick's time, all she heard were some scenic landscapes and interesting anecdotes Li Yan had experienced. Whenever it came to himself, this junior brother would just gloss over it.
Bai Rou was as sharp as ice and snow. She could actually sense the unusual from Li Yan's plain words, but she didn't press him on it at all. The local customs and traditions had also been an eye-opener for her.
However, Li Yan still recounted his encounter with Shuang Qingqing in relative detail. He figured Shuang Qingqing had also told Bai Rou a lot, and besides, they both knew the secret of the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape , so there was nothing else to hide.
Bai Rou just listened quietly. In fact, her heart had already begun to secretly compare the danger of the Flying Sand Grotto-Caves as described by Li Yan with what Shuang Qingqing had said. From this, she had already guessed that the experiences Li Yan had mentioned before were not as ordinary as they seemed.
Regarding the matter of the Flying Sand Grotto-Caves, Ancestor Shuang Qingqing's description was much more detailed than Li Yan's. Just the attack of the golden giants in the grotto-caves was something only a Golden Core cultivator could withstand.
It wasn't as Li Yan had said, that he had just luckily escaped for a moment and happened to meet the ancestor.
The ancestor said that the depth Li Yan had reached was where the Late-stage Golden Core golden giants were located. This already meant that Li Yan had dodged the attacks of the golden giants twice. No matter what method he used, it was definitely not something that could be achieved by luck and fortune.
Yet Li Yan had attributed everything to being too lucky. This already showed that Li Yan was deliberately hiding a secret.
Although Bai Rou knew that what Li Yan said was half-true, half-false, she still listened very attentively, her hand propping up her chin, listening quietly without interrupting, only occasionally revealing a pretty smile.
Seeing this, Li Yan's heart relaxed. Making up lies was also a very tiring thing. Although he was not deliberately deceiving Bai Rou, he had too many secrets that could not be revealed in the slightest. Otherwise, many things would be like a kite string, pulling out more and more.
After another short period of time, Li Yan felt he had nothing more to say and stopped with a smile. But how could he know that he had already exposed many problems in the matter of the Flying Sand Grotto-Caves?
Bai Rou nodded her pretty head and also gave a light laugh. "For you to be able to return this time, that Hua Siwang was of great help."
Li Yan also laughed out loud at this. Then he thought of something and asked.
"I asked Sun Guoshu just now, but he has only been transferred here recently and is not clear about many things at Windy Cool Mountain. So what is the situation here now? What kind of missions do we usually have to do?"
Li Yan was very concerned about this, but Wei Zhongran had other things to attend to before he could ask. Since Li Yan was going to stay here, he naturally had to have a clear idea so that he could respond accordingly.
Seeing Li Yan change the subject, Bai Rou didn't say more about his adventures. A rare cunning smile appeared in her heart.
But she still thought seriously about Li Yan's question before answering, "Windy Cool Mountain is about ten thousand li from the demon army. The demon army now has about twenty to thirty thousand troops..."
"An army of twenty to thirty thousand? Didn't Master say there were only about ten thousand?" Li Yan was shocked. How had the demon army's strength multiplied several times?