Sun Shenglai stared at that stretch of cliff face, as if he meant to glare a few flowers into blooming from the bare gaps between the vines. “I don’t believe it. Junior Sister, if I remember correctly, among the spiritual cultivators currently alive, the oldest is one hundred and ninety-two, but she’s already a biological money printer lying in an ICU earning retirement funds for her descendants. I absolutely refuse to believe she can live past two hundred.”
He pointed toward the location locked onto as the site of the ruins. “And now you’re telling me there might be an old cultivator over fifteen hundred years old inside those ruins?”
Hearing him spell it out so clearly, even President Du beside them was startled. He hurriedly asked, “Th-then can this plot of land still be developed? More than fifteen hundred years old and still not dead… doesn’t that mean he’s outrageously powerful? How much would I have to pay him before he might move?”
Meng Qingtong stared at the enlarged and clarified spiritual-energy patterns on the screen, gave a soft “wow,” and said, “Senior Brother, you definitely couldn’t bear to throw much spiritual energy in just now. In reality… the starting age of these ruins is more than fifteen hundred.”
“Huh?” Sun Shenglai’s eyes went wide. “Then how much is it?”
“Eighteen hundred. And that’s the current upper limit of this phone. It can’t survey anything beyond eighteen hundred. So it’s at least eighteen hundred years.” Meng Qingtong let out a long breath. Joy shimmered in her clear eyes as she smiled and said, “Now this… this is a big commission.”
President Du said instinctively, “My commission has nothing to do with whatever’s inside the ruins, right? My requirement is just to handle the ruins according to the Protection Association’s regulations. Once they pass inspection, I’ll pay the balance according to the agreement. As for the old demon… the old senior cultivator inside, that’s a separate matter.”
Meng Qingtong waved a hand. “Relax, relax. If this really isn’t a surveying error, then no matter what we find inside, I can give you a discount. At least twenty percent off to start. Consider it my payment for borrowing your good luck.”
Seeing her eager expression, Sun Shenglai said nervously, “Junior Sister…”
Meng Qingtong cut him off. “Senior Brother, I don’t really like titles like upperclassman or senior. They always feel unlike what we spiritual cultivators would use.”
Sun Shenglai had no choice but to change his wording. “Fine, fine, Junior Sister Meng. Don’t you think these ruins might not be something the two of us can handle?”
Meng Qingtong nodded. “That’s right.”
“Whew…” He let out a breath of relief. “Then use my phone and report this directly. Even if the Protection Association doesn’t send anyone, the Spiritual Security Bureau has to contribute some manpower, right?”
“These ruins really aren’t something the two of us will handle,” Meng Qingtong said as she opened her backpack and began picking through it, taking out one spiritual talisman after another along with boxes and pouches of spiritual art materials. “This is my commission. What does it have to do with you, Senior Brother? When I can swallow a meal myself, I don’t have the habit of shoveling half of it into someone else’s bowl.”
Sun Shenglai froze. “Junior Sister, if your perception isn’t wrong, then inside these ruins… there may be a terrifying spiritual cultivator over eighteen hundred years old in seclusion!”
“So?”
“So isn’t that extremely dangerous?!”
“Why? That’s a spiritual cultivator, a spiritual arts practitioner like us, not some evil demon with claws and fangs that can’t be reasoned with.” She curled her lip. “Still, with a cave abode this ancient, I really do have to be careful. If I damage even a little of it, even if the cave abode’s owner is magnanimous enough not to beat me up, the leaders of the Protection Association will probably knock me on the head. Ah… right, President Du, you should hurry up and decide whether you want to sign the commission. You’re in a hurry to start work, and I’m in a hurry to start work too. Time is money, my friend.”
Hearing her deliberately mimic a line from an online game at the end, Sun Shenglai couldn’t help laughing, and his tense mood immediately relaxed. He squeezed his aching right shoulder hard and looked at President Du. “Boss, I’m just a spiritual cultivation affairs assistant, so I’m not responsible for haggling, right?”
President Du cleared his throat, mentally prepared himself to raise the payment appropriately in order to improve their relationship, and piled on a flowerlike smile. Very warmly, he said, “Sister Qingtong is so capable. Name your price. As long as it’s reasonable, I’ll transfer the full amount to you today. You just need to let my people enter the site and begin work within ten days. What do you think?”
Meng Qingtong sat on her backpack and arranged the things she had taken out in neat rows. She tapped away on the calculator on her phone screen, then looked at the number and said, “Twenty percent off… mm, that means multiplying by zero point eight, right?”
President Du froze for a moment, privately wondering whether Dongding Second Academy didn’t teach general education classes, but said aloud, “Ah, right, right, right.”
“One hundred and sixty thousand.” She looked toward the location of the ruins and, with her back to President Du, made a money-counting gesture. “That’s the commission fee. In addition, the spiritual talismans and array materials I consume must be reimbursed in full. You can have Senior Brother Sun check the market price. I won’t ask you for a single cent more.”
“Hiss—” President Du drew in a long breath through his teeth, his local accent slipping out with it. “Girl, that quote of yours is way too expensive, ain’t it? So if not for the discount, you’d be making two hundred thousand off me for this one job? Your senior brother’s wages for half a year are about that much.”
Meng Qingtong raised her hand and first held up her index finger. “First, there are very few spiritual arts practitioners willing to accept commissions other than evil-demon subjugation, and even fewer with qualifications for ruins exploration. Do you know how much money I spent back then just to get this lousy certificate? If you don’t hire me, then you’ll have to keep waiting for some other willing spiritual arts practitioner to come. In any case, Senior Brother Sun doesn’t have the ability.”
Then she raised a second finger. “Second, you heard it just now too. These ruins are very possibly not true ruins, but the cave abode of a very powerful spiritual cultivator in seclusion. I’m very interested in a person like that. My guess is, there aren’t many spiritual arts practitioners as foolishly bold as I am. Just look at Senior Brother Sun—he has absolutely no intention of exploring it. If you hire someone else, I doubt it’ll be that easy.”
“As for third…” She curled the third finger she had just extended back together with the first, leaving only the second finger waving behind her. “You don’t have to pay a deposit. You can see the results first and pay afterward. Anyway, I play with talismans and arrays, so I’m not afraid of black-hearted bosses like you defaulting on debts. If I want to do something, I can easily create an alibi, and the Spiritual Security Bureau won’t be able to catch me by the tail either.”
Sun Shenglai burst out laughing and hurriedly said, “All right, Junior Sister, stop scaring and coaxing my boss for fun. Just say it directly. Why did you name this price?”
Meng Qingtong pinched a spiritual talisman and slowly rubbed it with the pad of her finger, smiling as she said, “Because… I want to go in today. Since I can shorten a ten-day deadline to one day, it isn’t excessive for me to ask for a little more compensation, right?”
“Today?” President Du’s eyes lit up. In this era of rapid development across spiritual arts, technology, and spiritual technology, the construction industry had long since undergone earth-shaking changes. But no matter how it changed, construction was always better started a day earlier. In particular, the development of this little mountaintop involved mountain terrain renovation, and the rental fees alone for the special equipment on standby nearby already amounted to tens of thousands per day.
He immediately slapped his thigh and said with a broad grin, “If you can really open up the ruins today, even if the Association can’t come inspect it until tomorrow, I don’t need your discount. Two hundred thousand. I won’t short you a single cent, and I’ll transfer it on the spot! If you only accept cash, I’ll have my driver go back to the city and withdraw it for you right now!”
Meng Qingtong took a deep breath, and the proud curve beneath her slender neck visibly rose and fell with it. “Good. Bring me the commission form. Sign your name first. I’ll look at it when I’m done.”
After saying that, she walked toward the cliff face where the edge of the gentle slope grew steep. Carrying a pouch, she reached inside and pinched up some blended powder, then bent down and began setting up an array.
Sun Shenglai followed her over and said worriedly from the side, “Junior Sister, President Du isn’t a spiritual cultivator. He doesn’t understand. But I do. You’re young. No matter how strong your talent is, your accumulation is limited in the end. To cut a cave abode from over eighteen hundred years ago out of a hill like this while keeping it completely intact isn’t just a matter of finding the entrance. Can your spiritual power hold up? If it gets to the point where you have to consume spirit stones, then the losses will outweigh the gains.”
Meng Qingtong rolled her eyes with no regard for her image. “Spirit stones are meant for researching spiritual patterns and contributing to the development of the world. Using them to top up mana is what you call a criminal waste.”
She continued lowering her head to set things up, occasionally lifting it to take a look, taking out her phone and activating spiritual patterns to photograph and confirm the angle and distance. Under her breath, she muttered, “Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I dare say that for this job, let alone Dongding City, in the entire Dongding Region, among the spiritual arts practitioners willing to accept it, you won’t find anyone who can do it better than me.”
Her movements paused slightly, and her tone once again carried the self-mockery from before. “After all, not many spiritual cultivators need to rack their brains and risk their lives to make money like I do.”
Sun Shenglai looked at the beads of sweat at her temples and said softly, “Actually, as long as you wanted to, you could have been living very well long ago.”
“Spare me.” Meng Qingtong clapped her hands and moved to another place to continue setting up the array, her tone sounding much lighter. “The city keeps getting bigger, and houses near the city center keep getting more expensive. If you’re going to advise me to rent for the rest of my life, then shut up early. No matter what, I’m going to save enough for a down payment before graduation… Who told us we don’t have anyone else’s pockets to help pay for it?”
“You know that’s not what I meant. When Teacher Liu helped you solicit commissions in the graduates’ group last time, she mentioned your situation. You keep throwing the bulk of your income into the bottomless pit of the orphanage. How could you possibly live well?”
“You make it sound like I’m really poor.” Meng Qingtong smiled faintly, got up to calculate for a while, then took a talisman back to the spiritual array from earlier. “I’m just scared of being poor, that’s all. I’ve never saved on money that should be spent. Of the talisman and array materials sold at internal discount prices at our academy, I’ve personally bought at least twenty-five percent of the highest-grade ones. My expenses for one semester are almost enough to buy your boss’s car.”
“But you still dress like this and ride that broken bike up the slope and mountain to save time. You can’t even bear to take a taxi.”
She gave a derisive laugh. “Senior Brother, the taxi down there dared to ask me for two hundred and fifty for just this little mountain road. Do I look like a two-hundred-and-fifty idiot to you? As for clothes… knowing I’d be entering the mountain to work today, if I wore a little skirt here and it got snagged and torn, I’d be the one whose heart ached.”
Sun Shenglai hesitated for a moment, then said, “Junior Sister, I still don’t understand. You’re clearly so small… mm… so frugal, and you’re so short on cash. When you enrolled back then, why did you choose spiritual talismans, the most expensive major, as your main cultivation path? You even minored in spiritual arrays. As far as I know, many rich second generations can’t afford to sustain this kind of cultivation route.”
“There are a lot of reasons. I’m too lazy to explain them one by one.” She carefully pasted the only talisman left in her hand onto the final empty corner of the spiritual array, then stood up and stretched her waist. “Senior Brother, since you’ve already made up your mind to return to a normal life, get involved in less of this side’s nonsense. Otherwise, one day, when your blood gets hot and you can’t hold yourself back, you’ll run to the front lines and face evil demons again.”
Her bright eyes shifted, her gaze sweeping over Sun Shenglai’s right shoulder, which he was trying hard to keep at an angle that still looked somewhat unnatural. Her tone softened a little. “That Du guy doesn’t seem like a good boss. If I meet someone more suitable one day, I’ll introduce you to a new job.”
Sun Shenglai smiled wryly and said, “President Du actually isn’t a bad person. He just didn’t get much schooling.”
“Not bad… That standard is a bit too low.” Her brows lifted slightly. She reached out, spreading her thumb and forefinger, then backed up to her backpack. Between the three arranged spiritual arrays and the target location, she gestured for a few seconds, then pointed to the side. “For safety’s sake, let’s move over there. If the landslide deviates from my estimate, we won’t all get buried alive together.”
President Du did not understand at all. Completely baffled, he walked over to Sun Shenglai and asked in a low voice, “She’s done just like that? It’s only been a little over ten minutes. Isn’t that way too fast?”
Sun Shenglai took the signed commission form and said with some dissatisfaction, “The skill behind spiritual talismans and spiritual arrays isn’t displayed in front of people. They’re efficient when used, but the preparation beforehand takes far more time.”
Still, he was also very curious. What was Junior Sister planning to do by drawing three slightly altered defensive spiritual arrays?
Thinking that President Du was a layman, he simply asked aloud, “Junior Sister, these three great arrays are all defensive types, right? Are you going to rely on them to open the mountain?”
Meng Qingtong nodded. “Haven’t you noticed? No matter which branch of spiritual arts it is, when the same amount of spiritual power is invested, the defensive side is always stronger.”
Sun Shenglai froze, then fell into thought. “Now that you mention it… that does seem to be the case.”
“Exactly. So I’ve always been thinking: since a shield is harder, why can’t we just use the shield to cut?” She snapped her fingers crisply, then suddenly raised her voice. The fluctuation of spiritual power swiftly carried along with her clear voice. “Copper Walls and Iron Ramparts!”
As she called out the array’s name, dazzling spiritual light immediately rose from the three array diagrams.
But she did not command the arrays to activate. Instead, she swiftly continued chanting their names: “Flowing Light—open!”
Twelve Flowing Light Talismans lit up at the same time, wrapping around the array diagrams that had fused into one due to activation.
Immediately afterward, her hands danced in unison. Relying on dazzlingly complex movements, she used the Flowing Light Talismans to send the three Copper Walls and Iron Ramparts arrays, already in a triggered state, into the soil and stone of the mountain peak.
Whether spiritual talismans or spiritual arrays, after activation, the truly effective portion was formed from spiritual power. The talisman paper and array diagrams were physical objects, but the effects of the spiritual talismans and arrays were not. Naturally, they could pass through the mountain and enter directly within.
Never having imagined that spiritual arts could be operated like this, Sun Shenglai was dumbstruck. From another angle, he grasped just how much of a genius this little junior sister was.
Immediately afterward, an even more astonishing scene appeared before him.
“Rise!”
With the command to activate the arrays, the array eyes of the three Copper Walls and Iron Ramparts arrays moved at the same time. The dazzling light was concealed within the mountain, but the three enormous shields constructed from spiritual power, relying on their formidable physical defensive capability, forcibly cut and broke out from within the rock wall, like three blunt knives emerging from a cake.
Earth and stone tumbled down. Mountain rock slid. Amid the rumbling, dust and mist rose everywhere.
Through meticulous calculation and precise control, relying only on three Class-B mid-level defensive spiritual arrays, Meng Qingtong easily—so easily it could even be called effortless—cut away three sides of the peak, preserved the central portion of the mountaintop that contained the ruins’ reaction, and accurately destroyed the protection around the cave entrance.
She cheerfully hummed a recently popular ancient-style song, picked up her backpack, and ran toward that cave entrance. When cutting, she had deliberately left this side as a gentle slope.
Sun Shenglai suspected that if she were given enough time and materials, she might even have cut out a set of steps to climb up with.
Forming a hand seal, he released a blade of wind spirit to blow away the drifting dust and smoke, then quickly chased after her, wanting to see what exactly the inside of that thousand-year-old cave abode looked like.
At that moment, Meng Qingtong, who had nearly reached the cave entrance, suddenly stopped.
She turned her head slightly, her expression three parts surprised and seven parts bewildered, and looked toward the empty sky on that side.
Then, in a voice only she herself could hear, she murmured, “Just now… was someone watching me?”