517: Chapter 517 Owe a Favor

Su Ming was silent.

In the Cultivation World, favor debts were the hardest to repay.

And this kind of "blank favor" without even a defined scope was ridiculously expensive.

Because you didn't know what you would be asked to do in the future—it might be to go die, it might be to act as a scapegoat, or it might even involve the interests of the entire Cloud Hidden Sect.

Lin Yu floated twice in the xuantian ring.

"This old schemer is setting you up."

Lin Yu's voice resonated in the Sea of Consciousness, carrying a rare weight, "People from the Tianji Pavilion are best at planting nails in the Karma lines of destiny.

He doesn't want payment now because he has calculated that your future value is far greater than a ten-thousand-year void azure stone marrow."

Su Ming did not respond to Lin Yu immediately.

He lowered his head, watching the specks of dust in the cracks of the stone bricks.

If he didn't agree, the hidden injury to his dao foundation could never be repaired, and he would be stuck at the Foundation Establishment Stage for life.

The Great Dao of longevity would be severed here.

Agreeing meant mortgaging his future to an unfathomable Soul Transformation old monster.

Su Ming closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He had no other choice but to agree.

He raised his head again and met Perfected Xuanming's gaze.

"This Junior agrees."

The simple four words carried the weight of a thousand jun.

Perfected Xuanming nodded with satisfaction, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to smooth out.

Qingfeng and Mingyue were listening on the side, their lips moving as if they wanted to say something but stopped.

They knew their Master too well—their Master's favors were never easy to repay.

Of those Seniors who owed their Master a favor, which one didn't end up losing a layer of skin?

Perfected Xuanming patted the dust off his knees and was about to stand up.

Qingfeng suddenly stepped forward and knelt down with a thud.

"Master."

Qingfeng's voice was a bit tight, but he still braced himself and spoke, "Can we... can we also go to Central Province?"

Perfected Xuanming's movement to stand up stopped.

He turned his head, his deep eyes looking at Qingfeng, then shifted his gaze to Mingyue, who had also knelt down beside him.

Mingyue lowered her head, her hands tightly clutching the hem of her daoist robe, and whispered: "Disciple... this Disciple also wants to go and see the world."

Su Ming sat to the side, not interjecting.

This was a matter between Master and Disciples; as an outsider, saying one extra word might be taboo.

Perfected Xuanming's gaze swept back and forth between the two Disciples.

He didn't get angry, nor did he immediately refuse.

In those deep-set eye sockets, a flash of extremely complicated emotion flickered.

After a moment of silence.

"Fine."

Perfected Xuanming finally nodded, his voice still hoarse, "Follow along."

Qingfeng and Mingyue suddenly raised their heads, their eyes bursting with unhidden ecstasy.

"Thank you, Master!"

The two kowtowed heavily.

Perfected Xuanming waved his hand, signaling them to get up.

"Go back and pack your things."

Perfected Xuanming looked at Su Ming, "Gather at the mountain gate tomorrow morning."

Su Ming stood up and bowed respectfully: "This Junior will take his leave."

Walking out of the path filled with hidden Formations and returning to the Star Gazing Cliff Immortal Cave, it was already evening.

Su Ming closed the heavy stone door and activated the Immortal Cave's defensive Formation.

Ying jumped down from his shoulder, landed back in the grass nest in the corner, and used its beak to preen its damp black feathers.

Su Ming walked to the stone bed and sat down cross-legged.

"Master."

A wisp of dark blue flowing light floated out from the xuantian ring, and Lin Yu's soul body slowly solidified in the center of the stone room.

There were no lights in the stone room, and the faint light emitted by Lin Yu's soul body became the only source of light here.

"You accepted that blank favor too quickly."

Lin Yu didn't tease as usual; he hovered in the Void Realm, hands tucked into his sleeves, his luster three points dimmer than usual.

Su Ming looked at that dim soul body, knowing this was his Master worrying.

"This Disciple had no choice."

Su Ming's voice was very soft, "If the dao foundation is not repaired, there is no hope for Core Formation."

"I know you had no choice."

Lin Yu sighed, "I'm just worried that once you enter the schemes of those charlatans from the Tianji Pavilion, it will be very difficult to get out unscathed.

And I feel like this guy isn't necessarily going just for your business."

Su Ming's heart tightened.

"Are you saying, Master, that Perfected Xuanming's trip is not just to help me get medicine?"

"What do you think?"

Lin Yu sneered, "Would an old fox who hides in the back mountain all day and dares not meet people travel all this way back to his superstitious old home just for the favor of a Foundation Establishment Disciple he has never met?

This old thing is definitely using your excuse to calculate his own affairs."

Su Ming's eyes darkened.

"Whatever he is calculating."

Su Ming's fingers tapped lightly on his knees, "My bottom line is to obtain the ten-thousand-year void azure stone marrow.

If it exceeds my ability, I will use the great teleportation talisman without hesitation."

Lin Yu's soul body brightened slightly.

"It's good that you can think like that."

Su Ming nodded, took out a small jade bottle from his Storage Pouch, poured out some powder with silver specks, and sprinkled it into Ying's feeding trough.

That was the stardust powder given by Second Senior Brother Qin Yi.

Ying immediately poked its head out and started pecking happily.

"Rest early."

Lin Yu glanced at the young bird eating, "That place, Central Province, is far more complicated than the Northern Territory."

With a flash of light, Lin Yu returned to the ring.

Su Ming closed his eyes and began to circulate the Ruoshui Art.

...

The next morning.

In front of the Cloud Hidden Sect mountain gate, the morning mist had not yet been completely dispelled by the rising sun.

A layer of fine water droplets condensed on the blue-gray stone slabs.

Su Ming arrived early.

He had changed into a set of unremarkable gray casual clothes.

The material was the most common Qingxuan cloth, which wouldn't make anyone look twice even if worn in a mortal marketplace.

Ying stood on his right shoulder.

This little guy was unusually spirited today; its black, shiny feathers were meticulously groomed, and its golden pupils were like two cold stars in the morning mist, scanning the surroundings vigilantly.

Not far away, a burst of light footsteps approached.

Qingfeng and Mingyue were carrying bulging travel bags, running over.

Both had also changed into ordinary green robes, but the undisguised excitement on their faces made them look like young Masters from a noble family going down the mountain for the first time.

"Su Ming!"

Qingfeng waved from afar.

Su Ming nodded slightly in response.

Immediately after, a gray afterimage appeared before the three of them without warning.

There was no sound of breaking air, no fluctuation of spiritual power, as if it had naturally grown out of the mist.

Perfected Xuanming stood with his hands behind his back, still the same withered and thin appearance as yesterday.

He looked at Su Ming's inconspicuous gray clothes, and a satisfied look flashed in his eyes.

"Everyone is here."

Perfected Xuanming's hoarse voice dispersed in the mist.

He didn't say a word of nonsense, reached out his right hand from his wide sleeves, and threw it into the air.

A palm-sized ebony flying boat flew out of his hand.

The flying boat grew in the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a spiritual boat about three zhang long, capable of accommodating five or six people.

The hull was dark green, without the gorgeous streamlines and dazzling spiritual light shields of ordinary high-grade flying boats.

It floated quietly in the air three feet off the ground, like a huge piece of rotten wood.

Su Ming's gaze was instantly attracted to the surface of the hull.

His Late Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Sense instinctively spread out.

The Formation intuition honed in the Secret Realm Ancient Path over the past half year allowed him to see the extraordinary nature of this flying boat at a glance.