Chapter 31: The Gifts of the Twin Empresses (1)

Moving through the sky, each riding her own flying treasure, Ji Yue turned toward her twin sister with a small smile.

"So, did you give him that bracelet?"

"Huh? What bracelet are you talking about?"

Ji Yan acted oblivious, and Ji Yue couldn’t help but chuckle at her reaction. She knew her sister well enough to see through the act immediately, but she didn’t bother exposing her.

"Anyway, we are going out of the sect again, right?" Ji Yan asked, clearly trying to change the topic.

Ji Yue nodded. "Yes. It’s not like we can deal with Han Wuchang right now. Let’s find a quiet place outside the sect and enter seclusion for a while. We can leave things here for Luo Yunjin to handle."

For a brief moment, her gaze drifted to the side, toward the deeper part of the inner sect where the Sect Master resided. A cold gleam flashed through her eyes before she turned her attention forward again, where the teleportation array they had just passed through was already visible in the distance.

Once again, the twins left the sect.

-----

Back on Gu Yuan’s side, he moved through the hall toward his room, intending to have a quiet moment to himself and sort through the gains from his first trip outside the sect. However, before he could reach his destination, he came across a female disciple.

She carried a sharp and stern air that immediately reminded him of Luo Yunjin, his master, and Gu Yuan quickly figured out who she was.

"Greetings, Senior Sister."

"Oh? You know you have a senior sister?" The first and only disciple under Elder Luo Yunjin before Gu Yuan came, scoffed as she continued, "I thought you didn’t, considering it’s already been more than three years since you came here."

"It’s not like that, Senior Sister. I was in seclusion and only just came out."

"Seclusion is no excuse for forgetting your respect. Even if you cultivate behind closed doors, you should still remember your senior."

She continued reprimanding him, yet Gu Yuan sensed no real hostility in her tone. Rather, she seemed more like someone who had been waiting for an opportunity to complain after being ignored for years.

He couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

Since she had brought it up, he might as well make things right.

His spiritual sense entered one of the storage treasures on him, the one he had taken from the female disciple during their previous encounter. After looking through the items inside, he found a jade pendant and took it out before extending it toward her.

"I know this can’t make up for three years of neglect, but I hope this small token can at least show my sincerity."

She glanced at the jade pendant before accepting it. Her expression softened slightly as she looked back at him.

"You really don’t have to compensate me for something like this. Just remember to greet your senior sister next time."

"Of course."

The exchange quickly became more relaxed after that. Gu Yuan learned that her name was Bai Yuning and that she was already at the third stage of the Golden Core Realm. Before they parted, she even told him that if anyone in the sect tried to cause trouble for him, he could come to her.

After thanking her, Gu Yuan finally continued toward his room.

Did she really want a junior brother that badly?

He wondered about it for a moment before shaking his head. For now, it was time to look through the gains from his first trip outside the sect. It wasn’t too late to interact with his enthusiastic senior sister later.

Once he returned to his room, Gu Yuan took out two boxes, a bracelet, and two rings and spread them out in front of him. The two boxes and the bracelet were the dowry given to him by the twins, while the rings were the storage treasures he had obtained from the cultivators he killed.

He went through the loot from his battles first.

The Golden Core cultivator’s storage ring contained some Spirit Stones, a collection of pills, several talismans, and various other cultivation materials.

The storage treasure belonging to the Foundation Establishment woman contained roughly the same things, although there were a few more items specifically meant for women.

Gu Yuan felt a little regretful when he failed to find any cultivation technique suitable for him among them, but the disappointment was fleeting. There was no reason to dwell on it when he still had other things to examine.

Instead, his attention fell on something more important.

Talismans.

Both cultivators had possessed quite a few of them, and among those talismans were several that could have posed a threat to him. Yet, despite possessing such items, neither of them had managed to use them during the battle.

Gu Yuan now understood that, theoretically, talismans could compensate for what a cultivator lacked. However, there was a prerequisite for that.

They had to be capable of using them.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful the talisman was, it was nothing more than a worthless piece of paper in their hands.

Regardless of that, Gu Yuan still decided to keep several types of talismans for himself. They could prove useful in the future, and he certainly wasn’t going to complain about having a few more methods to protect himself.

Moving on, he counted the Spirit Stones he had obtained.

Twenty-four High Grade Spirit Stones and six hundred and ninety Middle Grade Spirit Stones.

Seeing the numbers, Gu Yuan couldn’t help but think about just how wealthy Wang Ling had been. She had only been a Qi Refinement cultivator, yet she had possessed ten High Grade Spirit Stones.

Compared to her, these two cultivators were practically poor.

Gu Yuan then sorted through the pills, setting aside those that were beneficial to cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He had never relied on pills during his cultivation before, mainly because his lack of wealth. But that was no longer a problem.

He had money now.