Longevity: Starting From Getting Down The Mountain And Marrying A Wife

Four days later.

Yù Qīngyáo returned to the city smoothly and prepared to go home to change her clothes before going to the Zhong residence.

On her way back, she kept imagining a scene in her mind - throwing the package in front of Zhong Yan, putting her hands on her hips, pointing at her nose, and arrogantly saying, "Zhong Yan, bring the spirit stones to this lady!"

The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved and bitter she felt.

She went to the market and watched the bustling cultivators coming and going to make purchases. She didn't even have enough spirit stones to buy spirit rice, so she could only stare blankly.

It's all because of that Zhong Yan!

Otherwise, how could she refuse to make a living and deplete her savings?

"Zhong Yan!"

"One day, I will ride on your head!"

Yù Qīngyáo walked angrily in the alley, and suddenly her footsteps paused. There was a young man standing at the entrance of her own courtyard, a servant from the Zhong residence.

"I have seen Senior Yù!" Zhong Xiaozhong bowed respectfully.

Yù Qīngyáo's heart skipped a beat. This person was in charge of monitoring her every move. Fortunately, she didn't run away!

On the day she left the Zhong residence, she kept thinking about leaving with the spirit stones, and it seemed highly feasible, but she didn't have the courage to do it.

"Come inside and talk."

Yù Qīngyáo opened the door.

Zhong Xiaozhong stopped in the courtyard and took off the cloth bag hanging from his waist, offering it to her with both hands.

"Senior Yù, this is what my master asked me to deliver to you. He also said that if you have free time, you can take on some outside tasks."

Yù Qīngyáo glanced at the cloth bag with her divine sense. Inside were fifteen low-grade spirit stones, exactly one year's salary, neither too much nor too little.

Suddenly, she shamelessly threw away her anger towards Zhong Yan and took the cloth bag with a smile. "Thank... your master for me."

She almost slipped up and called him "Zhong Yan" again.

Then, she took out another package from her storage bag. "Fellow Daoist from the market heard that your master has had a daughter and married a beautiful concubine. He is too busy with official duties to personally congratulate him, so these are the gifts he sent..."

"Thank you, Senior Yù. I will report this to my master."

After Zhong Xiaozhong left, Yù Qīngyáo returned to her room and opened her storage bag. She looked and touched it for a long time. It had been a long time since she had accumulated so many spirit stones at once.

Whether it was escorting goods or hunting demonic beasts for herbs, she usually received one or two spirit stones at a time, and she could count on one hand the number of times she received more than three. The expensive ones, she didn't have the courage to take on.

"It's barely enough. I'll go to the Cheng residence later to exchange for a few bottles of Qi Condensation Pills."

"I can take on the work myself... but I shouldn't go too far, in case 'Hundan Zhong' can't find someone to help me when I need it!"

"Hmph, I should have become a guest of the Yang Mansion!"

Muttering to herself, Yu Qingyao boiled some hot water and happily took a bath.

After getting dressed and preparing to go out, she heard a woman shouting outside the courtyard.

Curious, she walked over and opened the courtyard door to see Jiang Ping coming with two maidservants. There was a box on the ground, containing silk fabrics and other items, with a carriage parked nearby.

"I have seen Fairy Yu, I hope I'm not disturbing your cultivation by coming uninvited?"

"How could that be? Madam Zhong, please come in!"

Yu Qingyao was puzzled, leading the three of them into the house, and then hurriedly made tea.

Jiang Ping looked around the hall, took out a storage bag from his waist, and handed it over. "Fairy Yu, no need to rush, this is a small holiday gift. I hope you won't dislike it."

Yu Qingyao swept her divine sense over it, her eyes widened. Inside were a stack of talismans, a large bag of spiritual rice, and various herbs, spiritual fruits, and demon beast meat.

"Fairy Yu?"

"Oh!" Yu Qingyao snapped back to reality and hurriedly asked, "Is this... sent by Fellow Daoist Zhong?"

She almost slipped up again. She had to be careful next time. Hundan Zhong's reputation as a fierce ape was well-known, and it was not good to provoke him.

Jiang Ping shook his head and smiled, "My husband doesn't bother with these worldly matters. The holiday gifts sent to the various immortals in the city are arranged by me."

Yu Qingyao understood. She had heard that the Zhong Mansion would send gifts to some cultivators during festivals. She hadn't received any before because she didn't have any connections. Last time she went to the Zhong Mansion, Jiang Ping sent these things over.

But what connection did she have with Zhong Yan? Naturally, she didn't dare to accept them. She pursed her lips and pushed them back, saying, "Madam Zhong should still ask your husband about this."

Jiang Ping deliberately blinked and pretended to be stunned for a moment, then smiled, "No need, I have the final say in these matters. But Fairy Yu, you have to return the storage bag to me."

Spiritual fruits, demon beast meat, and other items had to be stored in a storage bag to preserve their spiritual energy, but it was not possible to give a storage bag every time as a gift.

Yu Qingyao looked at Jiang Ping's face and hesitated for a moment before moving the things out and placing them on the table. She cupped her hands and said, "In that case, thank you, Madam Zhong!"

"Fairy Yu, you're too polite!"

Jiang Ping kept a low profile and continued with a smile, "Last time we had a pleasant conversation, and I felt a connection with Fairy Yu. If you have time, may I visit you again?"

"Of course, Madam Zhong is welcome anytime!"

"Thank you, Fairy Yu. I won't disturb your cultivation any longer. I still have to visit the Liu Mansion."

Jiang Ping bowed and led the maidservants away.

Yu Qingyao saw them off at the gate and watched the carriage disappear before returning to the hall.

She carefully counted and estimated the value of all the items, which amounted to almost a year's salary.

It's too extravagant. Every family is sending so much. How wealthy must the Zhong family be?

A Qi Refining fourth-level cultivator!

Are talisman masters really making more money than alchemists?

But when she thought about the scene where Zhong Yan casually took out two thousand spirit stones last time, causing her body to tremble and unable to speak, she felt that these things were nothing.

Looking at the pile of items, Yu Qingyao's mood became extremely complicated. It was actually all arranged by a mortal wife for these cultivators to use precious resources.

Coincidentally, she encountered another concubine from the Zhong family named Xia He, who led a maid to deliver gifts and then left.

It was also a box containing ordinary cloth and goods.

But on the table were only three talismans and a few pieces of demon beast meat, worth less than three spirit stones.

"Could it be because of my high cultivation level that they gave me more..." Yu Qingyao speculated to herself.

"Yu Fellow Daoist, welcome! I apologize for not coming to greet you!" Cheng Youliang, a Qi Refining fourth-level cultivator, repeatedly bowed and smiled when he saw her looking at the items on the table. "Zhong Fellow Daoist is truly generous. He never fails to send gifts during festivals and holidays, which makes me feel embarrassed."

Yu Qingyao nodded and smiled, "Yes, I just received them. With him sending gifts to every family, it's quite an expense for a year."

Cheng Youliang blinked his eyes and immediately understood the probing in her words. He knew that Yu Qingyao had not received any gifts before.

"I asked about it. Not every family receives gifts. Only those with a good relationship and decent cultivation level receive them. It's not about favoring one over the other. If I weren't an alchemist, I'm afraid I wouldn't have caught his attention. With Zhong Fellow Daoist's income as a high-level talisman master, these things are just a small part, worth investing in..."

After a pause, he continued, "Yu Fellow Daoist, you've been cultivating in seclusion at home every day, so you probably don't know. Zhong Fellow Daoist is going to be appointed as a subordinate mage in Qingyang. It's likely that there will be an edict after the New Year. Zhong Yan is only at the Qi Refining fourth level, which is a bit inadequate for a subordinate mage. He needs to make preparations in advance."

Yu Qingyao was stunned, "He's going to be a subordinate mage? Who said that?"

"Yesterday, when we went to the Yang family to have a drink and talk about the matter of being a guest official, Yang Fellow Daoist revealed it. Zhong Yan and Bai Siyuan will be subordinate mages together. It's estimated that there will be an edict in the capital city after the New Year. Zhong Yan is only at the Qi Refining fourth level, which is a bit inadequate for a subordinate mage, so he needs to make preparations in advance."

Yu Qingyao suddenly realized something from this information.

She had learned from Bai Siyuan that Zhong Yan came from the Fire Cloud Sect. Now it seemed that he had a powerful background to rely on. Otherwise, how could he be appointed as a subordinate mage? It also explained why there were so many spirit stones and why he could hire a high-level Qi Refining expert.

After a while, Yu Qingyao reacted to the word "guest official" in the other party's words and asked, "Cheng Fellow Daoist, have you decided to become a guest official in the Yang family? How much is the salary?"

Cheng Youliang nodded and said, "Twenty-two pieces a year. The main reason is that Yang Yanqing promised to provide materials for me to refine pills. And if I open a shop in Qingyang City in the future, the pill store will give me thirty percent of the profits."

Twenty-two... Yu Qingyao murmured in her heart. It was five pieces higher than what was offered to her, and there were so many additional benefits. She couldn't help but feel a bit dissatisfied, even though she was just a low-level alchemist with low cultivation.

If Zhong Yan were here and knew what she was thinking at the moment, he would probably sneer and say, "Just look at what kind of useless person you are."

Yang Yanqing openly expressed her disdain for Yu Qingyao and invited her to join purely because she was at the Qi Refining sixth level, which could boost the number of people in the team and intimidate others.

The conditions offered by the other party start at fifty spiritual stones per year, with other business being distributed according to labor. After the talisman shop is opened, materials will be provided, and the profits will be split fifty-fifty.

However, all of this is based on the foundation of having cooperated with a mage who has killed followers, having a certain understanding of him, and having the destruction of the Xue Mansion as a reference.

Otherwise, a first-order talisman master at the fourth level of Qi Refining would not be worth this price.

But let's get back to the point.

Cheng Youliang looked at Yu Qingyao's face and smiled, saying, "Fellow Daoist, the income from those odd jobs is too low. It would be better for you to join the Yang family with me. With your conditions, the treatment will not be low. The Yang family is now in high spirits. Although I don't know the key to it, anyone with discerning eyes can see that the Yang family's rise is a sure thing..."

Yu Qingyao shook her head slightly. "I'm not good at socializing. I'm used to being alone."

Cheng Youliang didn't persuade her any further. "Fellow Daoist Yu, how many Qi Condensation Pills do you need this time? I have prepared them all for you."

Only by buying pills would the other party come to her door.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Cheng."

Yu Qingyao took out five spiritual stones and handed them over.

Before long, she left Cheng's residence, with more doubts in her heart.

All the gifts received by various families were the same, but she had received so many. Did Jiang Ping make a mistake, or was it intentional by Zhong Yan?

"Could it be that this idiot Zhong is trying to pursue me in every possible way?"

At the thought of this, Yu Qingyao's heartbeat accelerated, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

She clearly remembered that when Zhong Yan first came to her door, it was to marry her as his Dao companion.

However, she hadn't realized that she no longer despised Zhong Yan's cultivation level as much as before.

Joking aside, even with a low cultivation level, he had the ability to destroy the Xue Mansion.

...

The Zhong Mansion.

As soon as Xia He returned home, she ran to the study and pouted, "He lost!"

"It seems that Yu Qingyao really did as you said. Before I even left the mansion, she went to Cheng's residence!"

Zhong Yan smiled. "If you lose, you have to accept punishment. Tonight, we'll watch the show."

They had sent so many resources, but they deliberately didn't include any pills. Yu Qingyao didn't have any spiritual stones to buy Qi Condensation Pills in the market, so she could only go to Cheng's residence.

Taking into account time, distance, and other factors, it would naturally be a big difference without any surprises.

As for borrowing from someone else?

According to the information, Yu Qingyao had never borrowed from anyone in Qingyang City for so many years.