84: Chapter 84 Cuckoo

In an elegantly furnished room, Du Juan sat peacefully at a desk, clutching a Jade Slip and fully absorbed in the knowledge of an appraiser contained within.

As one of only two Managers on the first floor of the Four Seas Commerce League's West Sea City shop, she had few daily tasks to handle personally; her main duty was to preside there, ensuring the shop's normal operation.

Du Juan was already 120 years old, and the years had meticulously sculpted her face into the charming demeanor of a mature older sister, yet regrettably, her Cultivation remained stagnant at Mid Stage Foundation Establishment.

Although her own Aptitude was quite good, possessing some potential to achieve Golden Core, she was unfortunately limited in the Cultivation resources she could obtain.

If the current situation continued, her desire to successfully Breakthrough to the Golden Core Realm in this life would likely remain an unattainable luxury.

Because of this, Du Juan had no choice but to meticulously adjust her Cultivation plan.

She fully utilized every night to diligently Cultivate, attempting to enhance her strength as much as possible with limited resources.

During the day, when she had leisure, she would fully immerse herself in the deep study of various Cultivation World knowledge, striving to increase her understanding and knowledge of various Materials and Spirit Medicine.

She intended to become an excellent appraiser as a side profession.

In her opinion, if she could achieve this goal, she could often visit the bustling places where Loose Cultivators set up stalls.

Perhaps in an inadvertent moment, relying on her increasingly refined discernment and luck, she could successfully pick up overlooked treasures, purchasing precious Spirit Medicine or miraculous Spiritual Artifacts and Magic Treasures at extremely low prices from those Loose Cultivators who did not recognize their worth.

In this way, her Cultivation resources might be effectively supplemented and improved.

Just as Du Juan was immersed in the ocean of knowledge, a crisp knock on the door suddenly sounded.

She stirred her Divine Sense slightly and instantly clearly sensed that it was her niece, Du Xiaoyue, who had arrived.

Du Xiaoyue walked in with light steps, her face beaming with a smile as bright as the warm spring sun, excitedly entering her aunt's room.

“Auntie, I have incredibly great news that I can't wait to tell you, hehe!”

Du Xiaoyue said excitedly and loudly.

“Didn't I tell you before? When we're in the shop, you should call me Manager Du, otherwise, others might gossip, which would have a bad impact on both of us.

Looking at your radiant face, what kind of incredibly great news is it?”

Du Juan merely glanced at Du Xiaoyue out of the corner of her eye before quickly refocusing her attention on the Jade Slip in her hand.

“Haha, Auntie, today I received a very generous big client! The quantity and amount of items he purchased are truly too vast, and my authority is simply insufficient to handle such a significant matter, so I must ask you to step in.

And there's even more surprising news: I've gotten married! Hehe!”

Du Xiaoyue said, her eyebrows dancing with excitement.

“What?!”

Upon hearing this news, Du Juan felt as if she had been struck by a bolt from the blue, instantly leaping up from her seat.

The trace of calm and composure that had been on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a look of shock and disbelief.

She widened her eyes, staring fixedly at Du Xiaoyue, and asked word by word:

“You said you got married? Who is it? Which Family's Young Master is he?

What is his Cultivation? When did you two start dating? Why am I completely unaware of this matter?”

“Uh, Auntie, please don't be so agitated; you're scaring me.

Actually, I also feel that all of this happened very suddenly.

It's Junior Martial Uncle Senior Uncle Qingmu, the Outer Sect Disciple from White Cloud City whom you mentioned some time ago, the one who had a stroke of luck, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator whom the Chu Family promised to guarantee his promotion to Golden Core!”

Seeing her aunt's extremely odd expression, Du Xiaoyue couldn't help but feel a little flustered and quickly blurted out all of Senior Uncle Qingmu's detailed information.

“Senior Uncle Qingmu, Senior Uncle Qingmu, so you're talking about him!

How did you two even meet? Why have I never heard about this?

Your marriage is the most important event in your life; how could you make such a decision without consulting me?

You should know that most men rely on sweet words to deceive girls.

Can you be sure he genuinely likes you, and isn't just coveting your primordial Yin, wanting to drain your Cultivation?

I've seen far too many such ugly situations in the Cultivation World.

Your parents passed away long ago, and I painstakingly raised you; you know the hardships and difficulties involved.

Now, only the two of us lonely women are left in our Du Family, relying on each other, so you must tell me all about this matter, and I must first find someone to thoroughly investigate his background!”

After making an effort to calm herself down, Du Juan still decided to try to approach Du Xiaoyue with a gentle attitude, intending to slowly ask for a clear understanding of the whole story.

“Junior Martial Uncle Senior Uncle Qingmu and I met by chance two years ago.

At that time, he came to our shop to buy things, and my first impression of him was that he was especially gentle; he was the most benevolent Foundation Establishment Cultivator I had ever met, besides you, Auntie.

When I saw that he had already reached the Foundation Establishment Stage but was still wearing ordinary Magical Artifacts, I felt it was a bit inappropriate.

So, I recommended the two Lei Sha Pearls from the storeroom to him.

Today, he specifically came to tell me that those two Lei Sha Pearls saved his life at a critical moment.

He came here this time, on one hand, to deal with some Materials, and on the other hand, specifically to express his gratitude to me, and he even said he would give me a Foundation Establishment Pill as a form of repayment!”

Du Xiaoyue's face beamed with a happy smile as she vividly described the detailed process of how she and Senior Uncle Qingmu met and came to know each other.

“Oh? The Lei Sha Pearls saved his life; this should be closely related to the series of events that happened with the Chu Family this time.

However, judging from his actions, this person can indeed be considered a man of character, actually taking the trouble to come and thank you, and even wanting to give you such a precious Foundation Establishment Pill, hehe.

But I still don't quite understand, how did you so easily decide to marry him?

Didn't you say he was going to give you a Foundation Establishment Pill? Where is that Foundation Establishment Pill now? Let me see it!”

Hearing Du Xiaoyue's description of Senior Uncle Qingmu, Du Juan also couldn't help but acknowledge Senior Uncle Qingmu's character, feeling that he was at least a grateful person.

“Junior Martial Uncle hasn't given me the Foundation Establishment Pill yet! He said...”

“What? He hasn't given you the Foundation Establishment Pill yet?

Hmph! I knew it; everything he said must have been to deceive you; there's not a single good man out there.

Let me tell you, back when your aunt was young, those Senior Brothers who pursued me were all the cream of the crop among Inner Sect Disciples, I...”

“Stop, Auntie, my ears are practically calloused from hearing your love stories; I can recite them backward.

Just let me finish talking first! But before that, you need to open the soundproof Restriction in the room.”

Du Xiaoyue really couldn't stand her aunt starting to tell her old, tired, melodramatic stories again; she had been forced to listen to them countless times since she was little.

In her opinion, the fact that she hadn't found a suitable Dao Companion for so many years was, to some extent, negatively influenced by her aunt's stories.

Du Juan huffed displeasedly, angrily activating the soundproof Restriction in the room,

“Alright, then speak; I want to see what new tricks you can come up with.

I'm an experienced person; men are all smooth talkers; their goal is to trick you, and once they get tired of you, they'll unhesitatingly pursue those new Junior Sisters!”

“Hehe! Auntie, don't be angry, come sit down and have some tea to calm down.”

So, Du Xiaoyue recounted everything about Wang Bin asking her to buy Pregnancy Pills and his desire to develop his Family.

“What? You said that Senior Uncle Qingmu already has four Dao Companions, and you're still willingly going to follow him? Are you confused?

Has Cultivation ruined your brain? Compared to this, those Senior Brothers who pursued me before were truly rare good men!

No, I absolutely will not agree to this marriage, hmph!”

Du Juan was both exasperated and amused by her niece's actions; she felt that this Senior Uncle Qingmu was simply overestimating himself, actually presuming to develop a Family and casually taking a few Mortals with Five Spiritual Roots as Dao Companions.

She secretly blamed herself, thinking it was her fault for protecting this silly niece too well, to the extent that she was so easily deceived by a man's sweet words, even willing to marry such a man.

Thankfully, she found out in time; it seems there's no need for her to continue refining her niece's temperament. The immediate priority is to take out some resources from her own savings to help her successfully Foundation Establishment.

Xiaoyue is already fifty years old; perhaps it's because she was too eager to Foundation Establishment that she was so easily deceived by men!