“Yes. These two Spiritual Bones ate up our entire savings. Now, we can’t afford to pay a Yin Spiritual Practitioner to help us carve Runes on them,” Liu Tian’er said pitifully.
Since Spiritual Gophers could escape by rapidly burrowing into the ground, they were extremely difficult to catch. Acquiring these two Spiritual Bones had cost almost everything the sisters had.
“I still have one thousand Contribution Points. If you need Contribution Points, I can borrow yours first. Since these Spiritual Bones are really great quality, you should let a Yin Spiritual Practitioner help you smith them into proper weapons,” Yun Jiuge said.
The Yin Spiritual Practitioner was a branch of the Weaponsmith profession. Their expertise was in creating different varieties of Wicked Runes. Most of the Weaponsmiths in the Black Magic and Devilish Sects were Yin Spiritual Practitioners.
If a person wished to become a Yin Spiritual Practitioner, they must not only possess the innate ability to smith weapons, but also have the money to learn how to create Runes. Large Sects usually had to spend a large number of resources to groom one Yin Spiritual Practitioner successfully.
The Yin Corpse Sect had its own Weapon Refinery Department, which consisted of twelve Yin Spiritual Practitioners.
Four Rank Five Yin Spiritual Practitioners were assigned to provide their services to the Secondary Disciples.
The remaining Yin Spiritual Practitioners mainly forged weapons for disciples from the lower hierarchy. Still, their prices were exorbitant. If a disciple wanted to inscribe a rune on their weapon, then they needed to pay five hundred Contribution Points.
If a Secondary Disciples wanted to own a set of superb Bone Spurs, they needed to save up for a long time.
“Even if you lend us one thousand Contribution Points, it still won’t be enough,” the Liu Sisters replied. They shook their heads miserably.
If they went to the Weapon Refinery Department to have their Spiritual Bones forged into weapons, they would need to shell out at least four thousand Contribution Points.
That was too expensive for them. They simply could not afford it.
“Then, what are you planning to do?” Yun Jiuge believed that the Liu Sisters would not come to see her only to whine about their problems.
“Senior Yun Jiu, can you ask your Esteemed Thousand-year-old Corpse to help us smith the Spiritual Bones into weapons?” Liu Tian’er inquired cautiously.
The Yin Qi from the thousand-year-old Corpse was extremely powerful. If the thousand-year-old Corpse blew some of its Yin Qi into the Spiritual Bones, their quality would improve considerably.
Then, even if there were no Runes inscribed in the Spiritual Bones, they would still develop maximum attacking power.
“Ask him yourself!” Yun Jiuge immediately scowled.
Zi Shang was such a jerk. He had forced her to perform Dual Cultivation for three days and three nights. Although she had increased her cultivation level, she’d been forced to endure Zi Shang’s inhuman torture.
Yun Jiuge could not even close her legs right now. The thought of Dual Cultivation made her blood run cold. She did not feel like speaking to that psychopath at all.
“Senior Yun Jiu, if you do not want to help us, just tell us directly. There is no need to beat around the bush,” Liu Mei’er responded dejectedly.
Although this thousand-year-old Corpse was extremely powerful, it was not capable of communicating with humans. It was represented entirely by its Master’s attitude.
“That’s right. I am caught between a rock and a hard place. Neither of you can understand the extent of his lunacy. If you want to beg him for assistance, you might as well plead with the Yin Spiritual Practitioners to help you for free.” Yun Jiuge took the opportunity to complain about Zi Shang.
It was not that she wanted to make life difficult for the Liu Sisters on purpose.
On the contrary, the only thing about Zi Shang that was not a sham was his thousand-year-old perversion.
He only emanated Yin Qi from his body so that he could pretend to be a powerful thousand-year-old Corpse. Therefore, he had no reason to help the Liu Sisters smith their Spiritual Bones into weapons.
“We have been presumptuous,” said the Liu Sisters, smiling awkwardly.
Although they were disappointed, they did not dare to complain to Senior Yun Jiu. Instead, they were afraid that he would be cross with them, so they apologized profusely with embarrassed smiles. In a way, they looked quite adorable.
At first, Yun Jiuge took her anger out on them. However, when she saw them asking for forgiveness, she felt terrible about it and said, “Why don’t you leave these two Spiritual Bones here for a while? Let me find a way to help you.”
She still needed to use the Liu Sisters as a pawn to take down Su Junqing, so it was only fair that she provided them some perks, as necessary.
Furthermore, helping them improve their capabilities would benefit her as well.
The Liu Sisters were the only people in the Yin Corpse Sect whom she could trust.
“Senior Yun Jiu, thank you very much.” The Liu Sisters were delighted by her offer. They gave the Spiritual Bones to Yun Jiuge and took their leave.
The Liu Sisters returned to their room. Liu Tian’er asked her sister in a low voice, “Older Sister, why didn’t you let me ask Senior Yun Jiu about the secret technique behind his speedy cultivation?”
“Foolish girl! You did not notice the Esteemed Thousand-year-old Yin Corpse’s face just now. He was glowing with satisfaction,” Liu Mei’er shot back. She looked at her younger sister meaningfully as she gave her some food for thought.
Liu Tian’er got the hint immediately. Senior Yun Jiu had sold his body to progress his cultivation.
She swallowed automatically and said in a slightly scared voice, “Three days and three nights…”
“It is no easy feat to advance in cultivation so quickly.” In the past, Liu Mei’er had been slightly envious of Senior Yun Jiu’s luck. Now that she knew that he was also having a tough time, she reveled in his misfortune.
“Older Sister, we should also push ourselves. We should not let Senior Yun Jiu leave us behind,” Liu Tian’er said with a serious face.
The Liu Sisters and Yun Jiuge were just using each other to further their respective interests. If a significant disparity were to open up in their cultivation levels in the future, Senior Yun Jiu might abandon them.
“Yes, you are right.” Liu Tian’er nodded gravely. She said, “Let’s start cultivating now.”
“If Senior Yun Jiu progressed faster with Dual Cultivation, then we should perform Dual Cultivation as well!” Liu Tian’er exclaimed. She removed her clothes, revealing a smooth body with fair complexion. Her skin was as beautiful as white jade.
“Alright!” After that, Liu Mei’er also took off her clothes.
However, angry, dark red welts, streaks from flagellation, completely covered her fair-skinned body. It was a ghastly sight.
The words ‘Cheap Slave’ were branded on her left shoulder blade in small, blackish-red print. They had been seared into her skin by a branding iron and Wicked Blood Ink.
This kind of Slave Mark was permanent. Unless they killed the Imprinter and used his blood to erase it, they would never be able to remove the mark as long as Liu Mei’er lived.
Liu Tian’er’s eyes reddened slightly as she traced the humiliating Slave Mark on her older sister’s back with her slender fingers.
Every time she saw these welts, the hatred in her heart intensified.
In the past, their paternal uncle had claimed that he’d found them a new teacher. They’d never thought that he would sell them to the Wicked Patriarch for a quality Rank Three Spiritual Rhinoceros’s Bone.
The Wicked Patriarch was a psychopath and a pervert. He was extremely creative when it came to tormenting and humiliating the girls.
After he’d acquired the Liu Sisters from their paternal uncle, he’d started torturing Liu Mei’er. At first, he’d left Liu Tian’er alone.
The Wicked Patriarch had treated them as identical toys.
After he ruined Liu Mei’er, Liu Tian’er was supposed to take her place.
As Liu Tian’er had watched her older sister suffer, she’d racked her brain day and night, trying to think of a way for them to run away.
Liu Mei’er was also worried that her younger sister would be abused after her death and wanted to save her from this cruel fate.
Unfortunately, the Wicked Patriarch had imposed a constraint on them that prevented them from using their Spiritual Energy. Nor could they perform the Liu Clan’s special technique, the Wicked Paper Doll Technique.
After a time, Liu Tian’er had inadvertently discovered that she possessed a unique body. Because of this, they’d thought of a way to escape.
“If you hadn’t given me your Yin Core back then, you could be cultivating at a quicker pace right now,” Liu Mei’er said sadly. She had always thought that it was such a pity that Liu Tian’er had given away her Yin Core so that they could break free from the Wicked Patriarch. It was such a terrible waste.
“Older Sister, I have no regrets. I would rather give my Yin Core to you than those disgusting, slimy men,” Liu Tian’er replied and hugged her older sister’s naked body.
The Liu Sisters embraced each other quietly. Although they were naked, only the purest familial connection existed between them.
They were twins that had been with each other since birth.
The Liu Sisters had gone through thick and thin together. If one of them died, the other would follow.
“There, there. Let’s start cultivating now,” Liu Mei’er soothed. She released her younger sister and patted her head gently.
“Alright. This time, we will aim for the third stage of the Qi Refining Stage.” Liu Tian’er gave her sister a sweet smile before sitting cross-legged beside her sister to begin the cultivation.
