Getting to Know

The two of them had met only a few days ago, so there wasn’t much need for lengthy greetings.

Liu Chun casually chatted a bit before asking him:

“Yaoguang, do you know about the mortal realm?”

Upon hearing this, Su Yaoguang, while organizing the freshly hunted furs on the shelf, nodded and said:

“I’ve heard of it. My father mentioned it to me a few times, and occasionally some customers have come from the mortal realm.”

Liu Chun then said to him:

“Remember how I told you I’ve been staying with a friend? Well, actually, that friend is from the mortal realm.”

Hearing this, Su Yaoguang was a bit surprised. He turned his head, frowned slightly, and gave Liu Chun a disapproving look as he said:

“Why would you think of going there? I’ve heard that the spiritual energy in the mortal realm is extremely thin—it’s very hard for cultivators to make any progress there. If you’re having difficulties, just tell me. It’s not like I don’t have room for you here. Don’t keep trying not to trouble me, only to end up ruining your own cultivation path.”

Since Liu Chun had only mentioned that he had taken refuge with a friend, but had never said he had actually followed that friend back to the mortal realm, and in Su Yaoguang’s impression, the mortal realm was so far away that most ordinary cultivators didn’t even know which direction it was in, he didn’t think Liu Chun had already traveled to the mortal realm and come back within just this past year. He assumed Liu Chun had simply been wandering the cultivation world with that friend. Hence his reaction.

As he spoke, he picked up the bottles and jars stacked at his feet and carried them over to the shelf by the door to arrange them, then pulled out a large wooden board and wrote on it: 【Premium Talisman Ink and Beast Blood for Sale】.

He continued talking to Liu Chun:

“Besides, I’ve heard that the mortal realm is incredibly far from our cultivation world. If you go there, it won’t be easy to come back. Any cultivator in the mortal realm who has even a bit of skill practically fights tooth and nail to get to our cultivation world. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you and actually follow someone to that godforsaken place.”

Unlike Yuan Qing, who was only a little over ten years old, Su Yaoguang had lived for decades and ran a shop, meeting all kinds of people every day. So he had heard more rumors about the mortal realm and had a more concrete impression of it.

Seeing him say this, Liu Chun smiled helplessly and didn’t know how to explain at the moment, so he simply said:

“Don’t worry, I haven’t given up, and I won’t. Otherwise, why would I still have participated in the Talisman Masters’ Convention? I can’t explain all these things right now—maybe another time. But my friend really is a good person. As you know, he’s from the mortal realm, new here and unfamiliar with everything, and he wants to meet and get to know more cultivators in the cultivation world. I was thinking, since you’re not good at making friends and rarely get the chance, I could introduce the two of you. What do you think?”

As he spoke, watching his old friend continue to sort his goods without pausing, Liu Chun suddenly thought of how Lin Xiao had looked yesterday when he heard that the friend ran a small general store. A flash of insight struck him, and he added:

“Besides, he’s also in business. Who knows—maybe the two of you could even do some trade together in the future.”

Su Yaoguang usually had no interest in anything other than running the shop he had inherited from his father, ensuring his family’s livelihood, cultivating himself, and pushing his son to cultivate. He wasn’t interested in much else.

At first, when Liu Chun mentioned introducing a friend, he wasn’t really that keen, but he thought that since this person was Liu Chun’s lifesaver, it wouldn’t hurt to get to know him.

But now, hearing Liu Chun say they might be able to cooperate or do business someday, his hands paused for a moment. He turned to look at Liu Chun and said:

“Him, from the mortal realm—what kind of business could he possibly do?”

It wasn’t that he looked down on cultivators from the mortal realm, but the few he had dealt with were all dirt-poor. They only came to his shop because it was the smallest on the street and he sold the cheapest stuff. So he instinctively assumed that mortal realm cultivators probably had no wealth to speak of.

Liu Chun was momentarily at a loss for words.

He knew roughly about the sect’s plans, but obviously that wasn’t something he could share. So he carefully said to Su Yaoguang:

“He must have some foundation to be so confident. Besides… he’s my lifesaver, and I’ll probably be sticking with him from now on. Don’t you want to at least meet him?”

Su Yaoguang helplessly spread his hands and nodded:

“Fine, fine, I want to. Since you’re saying it like that, I definitely have to get to know this friend. Tell him to come by and see the place, too. That way, if he ever gets tired of dragging you around, he can just drop you off here.”

And so, after coming to an agreement with Su Yaoguang, Liu Chun went back to give Lin Xiao his answer.

Lin Xiao got the reply and didn’t waste any time. That very afternoon, he carefully disguised himself and followed Liu Chun to the Su’s Miscellaneous Goods Store, dragging Jiang Youfu along with him.

After all, it wasn’t like they were wandering around the streets randomly, and since Yuanling City had recovered its vitality, the few of them looking normal wouldn’t stand out too much.

When he saw the tiny shop, barely an arm’s span wide and only about four meters deep, with shelves packed full from floor to ceiling, Lin Xiao finally understood why Liu Chun called it a “small general store” and why it barely made enough to support the Su family.

But Lin Xiao felt no disdain for it.

Heck, when the Lingxian Sect first started, they only had a little thatched hut.

This shop was way better than their old shack.

Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu followed Liu Chun inside.

When they first met, Su Yaoguang was somewhat taken aback.

He scrutinized Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu carefully.

No matter how he judged them with his experienced eyes, he couldn’t find a hint of adulthood in either of their gazes. They were both genuinely teenagers, no doubt about it.

At most, the one in front had a more mature look in his eyes, a bit more thoughtful, but his actual age was definitely young.

And he couldn’t see their cultivation levels.

Could they really be cultivators from the mortal realm?

Su Yaoguang turned a puzzled look toward Liu Chun.

It wasn’t surprising that he was confused.

After all, the few cultivators he had met who had come from the mortal realm to the cultivation world were all at least at the Golden Core stage and were no longer young.

These two…

If they were native to the cultivation world and came from a heritage family that could provide items to conceal their cultivation, that would be more believable.

Liu Chun naturally knew his old friend’s sharp eye for people.

But he really couldn’t explain the situation of their young sect master and young elder. So he simply pretended not to notice Su Yaoguang’s questioning look and formally began introducing them to each other.