Second Time

Chapter 69 - Shopping Trip

It took Cai Fei a full six years to comprehend the four Soul Dao techniques, even with devoting most of her free time to them. Half of that time was spent exclusively on the Soul Clone technique. Souls outside of a body, clone or not, would gradually evaporate, so Cai Fei needed to find a vessel for it.

"Yue, I'm going to head out for a while."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I want to prepare a surprise for you."

"Oh? I see." Shao Yue nodded. "Then, take Liezhu with you for protection."

"Sure."

"Also, see if you can figure out why she dislikes me while you're at it."

Cai Fei pursed her lips. "I don't think she dislikes you. I think she just acts that way so that you don't push things too far with her. She's not into you romantically or anything, but she does seem to see you as a friend."

"Oh?" Shao Yue smiled. "Then, I'll trust your judgement and relax a bit. Enjoy your trip."

"Ah, er, could I have some spending money?"

Shao Yue giggled and transferred a hundred high-grade spirit stones and several thousand mid-grade into Cai Fei's storage ring. "That should cover pretty much anything."

"Thank you!"

They shared a kiss, then parted. Cai Fei informed Qi Lifen about her departure, then called for Liezhu and set off.

"So, where are we going?" Liezhu asked.

"The Central Qilin Pavilion," Cai Fei replied. "I have some things I want to buy."

Liezhu deflated. "I have to be your bodyguard for a shopping trip?"

"We'll be able to go to the Heavenly Realm floor this time, so you might be able to find something good," Cai Fei replied. "If I have enough leftover after buying my things, I'll buy it for you."

"Hmph. We'll see." Liezhu crossed her arms and glanced over. "So, what are you looking to buy?"

Cai Fei explained her plans.

"Huh. That's kind of weird, but thoughtful, and should work."

Cai Fei smiled. "Good."

As they journeyed, everywhere they stayed treated them with extreme respect and gave them favourable treatment. After a few times, Cai Fei finally asked about it as they settled into an inn room.

"Why is everyone being nice to us? It's like they're scared. Neither of us have open meridians, they shouldn't be able to see our cultivation."

Liezhu regarded Cai Fei with a bewildered expression, then pointed at the jade token hanging from Cai Fei's waist. "We're both wearing tokens identifying us as high-ranking members of the Immortal Steel Sect. Artifacts that hide cultivation do exist, so it's not too strange. To everyone else, if we're not in the Heavenly Realm, we're at least in the later stages of Spiritual Manifestation."

Cai Fei examined the token. "Oh, so that's what this is for."

"... Yes."

Cai Fei had only ever considered it as being part of her uniform and hadn't thought about what it represented.

Liezhu sat down on the bed. "After seeing it, people will either treat us kindly, or start planning on how to rob us. If they want to rob us, well." She grinned. "We'll get some extra spending money."

"There's no helping it if they want to throw their lives away."

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, nobody attacked them during the journey. They safely arrived at the Central Qilin Pavilion and ascended to the fourth floor, where only Heavenly Realm cultivators could be.