“Then what do you want?” Shen Jinge asked calmly.
Luo Xing raised one finger. “A promise.”
“A promise?”
“Yes.”
Shen Jinge looked puzzled, her brow slightly furrowing. “What kind of promise?”
“Since it’s a life-saving grace, naturally it should be a life-saving promise.” Luo Xing smiled. “Since Fellow Daoist Shen said that a life-saving grace is heavier than a mountain, then the repayment should also be in the same manner.”
“That is, I save your life, and you save mine.”
Hearing Luo Xing’s words, Shen Jinge frowned and fell into thought.
Although what he said made sense, she couldn’t wait that long…
Shen Jinge shook her head slightly. “While your words are reasonable, I cannot wait that long.”
She was always someone who kept her word and finished things on the day they were started. Whatever she said she would do, she did immediately.
For example, that day when her master told her to go train at the Absolute Ice Ridge. She set off that very afternoon.
Another example was repaying a favor. While recuperating at the Chilian Pavilion, the debt of gratitude weighed on her heart like a splinter in her finger—not painful, but itchy and uncomfortable.
Whenever she thought about owing someone a favor, she grew so frustrated that she couldn’t cultivate.
So she didn’t want to drag it out, nor did she want to wait. She just wanted to repay the debt.
But Luo Xing’s method… there was nothing to save him from right now. The time span was too large, and he wasn’t in any immediate danger of death.
“Just because there isn’t one now doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future,” Luo Xing reasoned. “Otherwise, drop this matter. Since Fairy Shen wants to repay the favor, then do it my way. Just because there isn’t one now doesn’t mean there won’t be later.”
Shen Jinge’s earlier stubbornness had made Luo Xing laugh helplessly, but now…
The roles had reversed!
Now it was Luo Xing’s persistence that left Shen Jinge in a dilemma!
What was this move called?
It was called “striking the enemy with their own methods”!
Since Shen Jinge’s skewed worldview had made things difficult for him, he would use a normal worldview to make things difficult for her!
And just as Luo Xing had thought, his insistence had thrown Shen Jinge into conflict.
On one hand, she felt Luo Xing’s reasoning was sound and had to be convinced. On the other hand, she didn’t want to wait around every day for Luo Xing to be in mortal danger so she could go save him. And whether she could even save him was another matter…
“Are you still worried, Fellow Daoist Shen?”
“Yes.”
Shen Jinge couldn’t lie and didn’t know how to be subtle. She spoke her concerns directly.
“If I keep this debt of gratitude hanging over my heart, it will affect my state of mind and hinder my cultivation,” Shen Jinge said, frowning. “Moreover, if you encounter danger and I cannot arrive in time, or if my strength is insufficient to save you, then what?”
Ye Li, who had been observing closely, sneered inwardly.
‘My disciple? She thinks she can save him?’
‘If I can’t save him, what makes her think she can?’
Hearing Shen Jinge’s words, a satisfied smile curled at the corner of Luo Xing’s lips.
Plan successful!
“Fellow Daoist Shen is mistaken.” Luo Xing clasped his hands behind his back, feigning profundity. “We are both cultivators. You should know that time and years are the purest proof of a cultivator’s path.”
Shen Jinge frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
Luo Xing said, “Fellow Daoist Shen, you are currently at the Nascent Soul Realm. You must have gone into seclusion before, right?”
Shen Jinge nodded. “Indeed.”
The last time she went into seclusion was when she was breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm. She had been in seclusion for about a month.
“Seclusion and cultivation are the norm for cultivators,” Luo Xing continued. “You say you cannot wait that long, that it will affect your cultivation state of mind. But have you considered that if you can’t even wait this short time, how will you handle future seclusions?”
Then he looked at Ye Li. “Master, how long was your last seclusion?”
“One hundred and sixty-five years,” Ye Li replied coolly. “It was when I was breaking through to the late Mahayana Stage.”
Luo Xing nodded, then turned to Wen Zhuo. “Martial Flame Immortal, how long was your last seclusion?”
Wen Zhuo had roughly guessed Luo Xing’s intentions by now. She knew her plan was likely ruined, but she still answered truthfully. “Ninety-two years. Breaking through… to the late Integration Realm.”
Well, she had lied a little…
Her last seclusion had been one hundred and thirty-two years, aiming for the Mahayana Stage, but she failed, so she didn’t count it.
After getting answers from the two high-level cultivators, Luo Xing looked back at Shen Jinge. “Fellow Daoist Shen, look—whether it’s your master or mine, their seclusion periods range from over ninety years to over a hundred years. If you can’t even wait this short time, then what’s the point of cultivating?”
Before Shen Jinge could respond, he added in a deeper tone, “Isn’t waiting also a form of cultivation?”
Waiting is also cultivation…
Shen Jinge’s eyes lit up at his words, as if a technique she had never understood suddenly came alive and burrowed into her mind.
“Furthermore…” Luo Xing then smiled. “Nothing is set in stone. All things are subject to change. Maybe tomorrow I’ll run into a vicious evil cultivator, and you’ll happen to be able to defeat him. Then you can repay the debt, right?”
Shen Jinge lowered her eyes in thought, then asked, “But what if I’m not in time to save you, or if I’m not strong enough to save you?”
If Luo Xing died, then the debt she owed would never be repaid in this lifetime.
Hearing Shen Jinge’s words, the stone that had been hanging in Luo Xing’s heart finally hit the ground…
She finally took the bait!
“Life and death are fated. Wealth and honor are in heaven’s hands. If it’s my fate to have this calamity, then you can’t be blamed.” Luo Xing pretended to be magnanimous, waving his hand. “As for being too weak to save me… you’re not forgetting that you have a master, are you?”
Wen Zhuo, who had been angrily biting her nails off to the side, was startled.
Who?
Me?
“You mean…” Shen Jinge’s mind was straightforward, but she could still grasp his meaning. “If it comes to that, let my master save you?”
Luo Xing: “Exactly.”
Shen Jinge: “Unacceptable.”
“Oh?” Luo Xing pretended to be puzzled. “Why?”
Shen Jinge said bluntly, “I am the one who owes you a debt of gratitude. Logically speaking, my master should not have to repay it. You saved me, and I am the one who owes the favor.”
“Wrong.” Luo Xing shook his head, feigning profundity. “You’re wrong again, Fellow Daoist Shen.”
“I won’t go into other principles. Fellow Daoist Shen, I’ll ask you just once.”
“If one day your master encounters danger and is saved by a passing cultivator, how would you treat that cultivator?”
“Naturally, I would be immensely grateful, and then…”
“Stop. That’s enough.”
Luo Xing didn’t give Shen Jinge a chance to continue. “You see, since you yourself know to be grateful to your master’s savior, then put yourself in her shoes. Should your master lend me a hand because I saved your life?”
He paused, then added, “Or perhaps you don’t truly see your master as your master, but just an ordinary cultivator, which is why you need to separate things so clearly?”
Ultimate Technique: First, put the blame on them, then strike!
This was the old-timers’ method. Could she handle it?
Shen Jinge lifted her head and looked at Wen Zhuo. Her mind involuntarily recalled the memories of her and her master together…
After a long silence, Shen Jinge sighed and made a deep bow to Luo Xing.
“Fellow Daoist Luo, Jinge has learned a lesson.”
“Your words are worth more than ten years of cultivation.” Shen Jinge admitted.