Chapter 438: I'm Not Rich Either

"I may have earned a little money, but I'm not wealthy; try to ask for less!" Wei Yuning wanted to laugh but couldn't.

Xu Lian was both nervous and excited; he extended a finger, his expression wrestled for a long time, then said, "One thousand high-quality spirit stones per month, okay?" Worried that Wei Yuning would refuse, he quickly added, "I know that's a lot, but here those spirit stones can only buy Wang Mazhi's pancakes; his family is still decent, and the meat in the pancakes is real beast meat!"

"Fine, okay!" Wei Yuning patted himself, then suddenly remembered that the last three hundred immortal stones in his storage ring had been given to Luo Yi and others to purchase a gem-collecting artifact.

He had originally intended to borrow them from Cheng Xin the monk, but upon thinking, he gave up.

While Xu Lian stared in amazement, Wei Yuning pulled out handful after handful of low-quality spirit stones from his body; these stones were collected when he did business at Keli Peak, and because he never had a chance to use them, they had accumulated in several small Qi bags.

"Senior Xu Lian, is that enough?" The low-quality spirit stones before him had already piled into a half-person-high mound, Wei Yuning listened.

Xu Lian's nose twitched with sourness, tears streamed down, and he said, "Qing Mo, you just arrived at Green Forest Guard City, right?"

Wei Yuning nodded.

"I'll just take a little; you keep the rest!" Xu Lian sighed, "Your cultivation isn't low, but it's really hard to stay here!"

Wei Yuning smiled and waved his hand, "Elder Xu Lian, you misunderstand; these are your pocket money. I, representing the Jiuyun Peak Yunyin Sect, set your monthly salary at two low-quality immortal stones for now; when circumstances improve, we'll adjust upward."

After speaking, he glanced at Cheng Xin the monk, who rummaged in his bosom and produced six low-quality immortal stones.

Wei Yuning immediately took them, handed them to Xu Lian, and said, "I did a small business over at Gemstone Lake; I have some monthly income, so life is fine!"

Xu Lian looked at the immortal stones in his hand as if dreaming; after Wei Yuning walked away, he finally realized that he had now become rich.

"Tonight, I'll eat ten—no, twenty pancakes!" Xu Lian declared fiercely.

That night, Wei Yuning re-entered the Life Space Ring.

Qing Hu remained unconscious.

Wei Yuning had a good impression of Qing Hu; he was steady, generous, and loyal. He had even intervened before to deal with the Yun Dragon of the Shenwu Gate, and he got along well with Qing Wu, so even if he had become a White Shadow Clan member, Wei Yuning had no intention of killing him.

He led Qing Hu to one side of the Silent Void within the Life Space Ring and slapped him awake.

After a moment of confusion, Qing Hu instantly regained consciousness. Seeing Wei Yuning before him, he was extremely astonished.

Wei Yuning, without waiting for questions, briefly explained the situation and finally gave Qing Hu a choice: stay in the Silent Void on Bi Yi Island.

Upon learning that Qing He was the actual leader of the Silent Void on Bi Yi Island, Qing Hu accepted without hesitation.

Wei Yuning breathed a sigh of relief; if Qing Hu hadn't agreed, things would have been very difficult for him.

Like many clear-headed cultivators, Wei Yuning also understood clearly that whether it's the White Hair Clan, the White Shadow Clan, or hybrids, their threat to the realm of living beings is no less than that of the Demon Clan or the Abyss Clan; although they have so far only polluted the spirit beast world and a few marginal minor worlds, they have already drawn sufficient vigilance, otherwise the Great Luo Golden Immortal of the Celestial Realm wouldn't have specially gifted Star Grass to the spirit beast world.

Yet the emergence of the White Shadow Clan is hard to prevent, and the Silent Void on Bi Yi Island is too domineering to eradicate; therefore, he can now only rely on the White Shadow Clan to manage itself, though this is not an ideal strategy.

What he disliked even more was that, as the source of the Silent Void, the Evil Infant, even though its divine consciousness had vanished, its body remained immortal, continuously emitting evil energy into the Life Ring space; fortunately, he had modified Abyss Vines to turn the drawback into benefit, otherwise he would have had to abandon this treasure.

Since Qing Hu did not object, Wei Yuning immediately contacted Shen Gui.

First, he had Shen Gui deliver a message to Mei Xuan, relaying Xu Lian's words: before reaching the Golden Core stage, the sect's secret realm no longer accepts newcomers.

While waiting, he had Shen Gui send Qing Hu directly to Qing He's side.

This response was extremely fast; shortly after Qing Hu was sent in, before Wei Yuning could leave, Shen Gui sent someone out.

This time it was Qing Wu.

"Junior Brother Yuning, you... you've returned to your original form!" he exclaimed with delight upon first seeing Wei Yuning.

"Senior Brother, why did you come out?" Wei Yuning asked curiously.

"What, you're disappointed, right? Which girl are you hoping to see—Headmistress Yi Xuan, Junior Sister Qing Ling, or that beautiful Star Swallow girl?" Qing Wu teased.

Wei Yuning saw his expression unlike usual, unusually excited; after a close look, he exclaimed with surprise, "Senior Brother, how is that possible? You've actually reached the Golden Core stage!"

Qing Wu's eyes were full of joy, but he said grudgingly, "How can you become an Earth Immortal while I can't even reach the Golden Core stage?"

"Junior Brother, you're wrong; Senior Brother Qing Wu's talent is outstanding, it was bound to happen!" Wei Yuning quickly laughed.

Hearing this, Qing Wu sighed first, then said, "Junior Brother Qing Mo, I've actually heard those words before. Since I began cultivating, the elders of the sect have all praised my talent, even saying I'm better than Hong Yun, Qing He and others, but my spiritual root is a rare Qi type, lacking a proper Daoist method to guide me, so I have to forge my own path."

"All these years there was no progress; who could have imagined that after Bi Yi Island lost its sunlight, the mist of the Yunyin Sect grew thicker, and now the entire peak top is shrouded in thin fog, forcing me to traverse the fog daily, which suddenly enlightened me! This Qi-type Dao is extraordinarily subtle, its cultivation method differs greatly from other spiritual roots; I sense that soon I will advance to the Nascent Soul stage!"

Wei Yuning sincerely felt happy for Qing Wu, yet he was still puzzled by his sudden appearance.

"Senior Brother, you didn't come to meet me just to show off, did you?"

Qing Wu chuckled and shook his head, "Of course not, Junior Brother Qing Mo; now I have no doubts about my Daoist direction, but on Bi Yi Island there's likely no further progress, so I intend to go to the outside world."

Wei Yuning hesitated briefly and asked, "Did you receive Shen Gui's message?"

"Yes, I received it!"

"Do you know how Elder Xu Lian is now?" Wei Yuning asked.

"He's stationed in Green Forest Guard City, living carefree alone; what else could he be like?" Qing Wu replied oddly.

"He's about to starve to death!" Wei Yuning recounted in detail the outside situation, then asked, "Before you go out, have you decided what you'll do?"

Qing Wu listened, stunned; although he knew Wei Yuning had earned a little money, relying on his junior brother for a living outside wasn't what he wanted.