The following morning.

“You sure this trip is gonna be worth it?” Jian could not help but ask one last time. After all, according to what Zhenqiang had told them, they would be more or less gone from their house for a week. That amount of time was enough for people to stumble across their humble abode and steal all of their belongings, especially since they hadn’t built any walls yet. Sure, there was the wooden fence surrounding their field, but that was to ward off stray animals from entering their farm.

“Trust me. Everything’s gonna be fine,” Zhenqiang reassured him before looking at Qin, who was looking at her with slight nervousness. With that, she clasped her hands around Qin’s before saying once more, “I swear on the Mirror Heart Pact, everything’s going to be fine here.”

Hearing that, Qin somewhat calmed down yet still couldn’t shake off the feeling that something could still happen to their place while they were gone. Nevertheless, the three of them left the house as they headed to the nearest town before buying a carriage that would take them closer to the place Zhenqiang mentioned.

…

As the light clopping of the horse’s hooves in front of them gradually became background noise, Jian and Qin could not help but take in their surroundings, making them wonder how long it had been since they had last experienced something like this. With that in mind, the nervousness the two felt before the trip started gradually disappeared as thoughts of the techniques they could possibly obtain from the place Zhenqiang mentioned surfaced in their mind instead.

“Where’s this place anyway?” Jian could not help but ask, unfurling a map the couple had bought sometime before settling down at the plains. On it was the rough layout of the kingdom they were currently in, as well as the major cities that surrounded the kingdom.

Looking at the rough map Jian brought for a bit, Zhenqiang eventually pointed at a spot that was situated southeast. “We’ll find it in Wudao City. Well, to be more specific, it’s not exactly located within the city, but a few kilometers outside the city’s walls. Nevertheless, the martial techniques they sell are said to be next to none compared to other places that sell martial techniques.”

“How are you so certain of that, Lady Guang?” Qin could not help but ask in response, to which Zhenqiang only lightly smiled. “Well, that’s because I bought all my martial techniques there.”

Hearing that, Jian and Qin could not help but tilt their heads in confusion. From what they could sense, the aura Zhenqiang was emanating could be attributed to those at the later stages of the Essence Gathering Realm at best. Since one could only start cultivating martial techniques at the Essence Condensing Realm, the two of them could not help but find her words odd.

However, rather than tell the two why she would buy such techniques at the Essence Gathering Realm, she instead kept smiling, much to the couple’s dismay.

Other than that, the journey of the trio had gone smoothly for the most part, only experiencing a mishap near Wudao City when a small group of bandits ambushed them. Fortunately, with the cultivation of the strongest among them only at the Peak Stage of the Body Refinement Realm, the cultivation of the couple was enough to scare away the bandits without the three having to do anything.

…

“We’ve finally arrived,” Zhenqiang said as she looked out of the carriage, prompting the other two to look out as the sight in front slightly overwhelmed them. Although Jian and Qin were the esteemed son and daughter of their respective clans, the largest settlement they had entered so far were large towns. Compared to Wudao City, the large towns they had gone to in the past seemed tiny.

From afar, one could clearly see the hustle and bustle of the city as everyone seemed to move through the streets with a goal in mind, making the couple look like country bumpkins when they looked at their surroundings with their mouths agape.

Seeing their reactions, Zhenqiang could not help but giggle as she, too, was the same as the couple back when she had first set foot in a city. However, knowing better than to show their inexperience, she told the two to keep their heads in the carriage as they eventually stopped in front of an inn.

After paying for the carriage and booking their rooms for the night, the three of them strolled out of the city to head to the place Zhenqiang mentioned, which she told them during the journey was called the Tianshen Martial Pagoda.

“I feel so out of place here,” Jian could not help but say as they made their way to the pagoda. In response to his words, Qin could not help but nod in agreement.

Seeing that, Zhenqiang could only shrug her shoulders. “There’s nothing you can do about it other than to visit cities more often. I had to visit at least five cities before I could shake off the feeling that I was out of place.”

“Do we really belong here?” Qin could not help but ask soon after, to which Zhenqiang asked back, “Why do you say that?”

“Well, you know… other than not having set foot in a city before, I’m pretty sure we don’t have the…” Qin trailed off before she could finish her words, thinking that Zhenqiang got the hint.

However, rather than frowning, Zhenqiang instead laughed at those words, telling the two, “If only you two knew how much money you’ve saved up from selling Spirit Slag.”

“Eh? What do you mean?” Jian asked in response, to which she replied with a light smile, “You’ll find out once we get there.”

…

A couple of hours later, the sight of a large pagoda greeted the vision of the three as they could not help but stare at it. From what they could see at the moment, they quickly understood why such a place was situated a few kilometers away from the city. Just the ground floor of the pagoda alone already took up a great portion of the surrounding land. Other than that, the upper floors of the pagoda seemed to extend far beyond the skies, giving off the feeling that it seemed to connect with heaven and earth.

Looking at the wooden plaque above the entrance that had the words “Tianshen Martial Pagoda” exquisitely carved on it, the three were quickly greeted by the sight of a plethora of people that could be split into two categories: those that were trying to buy techniques, and those that were selling the techniques.

While the couple was slightly overwhelmed by the sight in front of them, a green-robed man in his early thirties approached the trio before giving them a light bow. “Welcome to the Tianshen Martial Pagoda, my surname is Duan, and I’ll be your attendant today. How can I help our esteemed guests?”

In response to the question, Zhenqiang brought out her badge from the Mirror Heart Sect before saying, “We would like to scan through the martial techniques available for those at the Essence Condensing Realm.”

Noticing the golden badge she brought out, the attendant’s pupils shrunk in surprise for a bit before his gaze returned to normal soon after. With a light nod, he replied, “Certainly. Follow me.”

As they followed the attendant from behind, the couple could not help but look at Zhenqiang as they obviously noticed the slight surprise on the attendant’s face when she showed him her sect badge. With that in mind, Jian asked her in a whisper, “Do those from the Mirror Heart Sect get bonuses or something like that?”

“Since we’re one of the top sects in the kingdom, the badge allows us to obtain preferential treatment in any martial pagoda or treasure pavilion we enter,” Zhenqiang replied back in a whisper. “In fact, there’s a chance we might even get a discount.”

Finally understanding the reason for the shock on the attendant’s face, the couple could not help but think that joining a sect was useful. With that in mind, the two of them could not help but ponder over whether it would be better for them to join a sect or not while they headed to another portion of the pagoda.

…

“We’ve arrived,” the attendant named Duan said after walking for a while. “In front of you are all the martial techniques at Low Mortal grade available in our pagoda.”

“Low Mortal grade?” Jian could not help but ask as he had never heard of the term before.

Hearing that, the attendant asked, “Has sir not heard of the technique grading system yet?”

Shaking his head in response, the attendant explained, “As we all know, techniques are necessary for cultivation if we want to reach higher realms or exert a greater level of power. With that, a grading system has been devised that corresponds to each cultivation above Essence Gathering. There are two major grades, with each grade being split into three minor grades. Mortal and Spirit are the two major grades, and Low, Intermediate, and High being the three minor grades.”

“If a martial or cultivation technique is said to be at Low Mortal grade, then that technique is made for those at the Essence Condensing Realm. Intermediate Mortal grade corresponds to those at Nascent Foundation, High Mortal grade corresponds to those at Nascent Core, and so on and so forth,” the attendant concluded, expanding the bank of knowledge the couple had when it came to martial techniques.

Pondering in silence for a bit, Jian then asked, “Are there any martial techniques at Low Mortal grade that could unleash power at the Intermediate Mortal grade?”

Hearing that, Zhenqiang and the attendant could not help but lightly smile as the latter nodded. “If that’s what sir wants to buy, then we shall need to head to the second floor.”

Nodding in response to the man’s words, the three eventually made their way to the second floor as they followed behind the attendant.

…

While the trio were browsing through the techniques on the second floor of the pagoda, a young man was nonchalantly waltzing through the higher floors of the pagoda without a care in the world when suddenly, his heart started to beat loudly, prompting a solemn expression to appear on his face not long after.

Taking in a few deep breaths to calm himself down, his heart continued to beat loudly, only stopping once it had thumped nine times. Noting this down, the man could not help but lightly smile soon after.

“After being gone for so long, I’ve finally found you again...”

“My fiance.”