An City, Pear Blossom Lane, Snow Garment Pavilion.
Today, this place was extraordinarily lively, as prices for numerous types of magical garments had been uniformly reduced.
Many women had come upon hearing the news, ready to take advantage of the price drop to buy a few pieces they had long admired.
“Today, the Mist Water Hundred Flowers Dress, the Cloud Mist Gauze Robe, the White Jade Flower Gauze Cloth, the Green Lotus Cloud Pattern Overdress… all on clearance!”
“The new prices are all marked on the wooden plaques; you may all have a look.”
Gazing at the swarming crowd, a woman wearing the uniform of Snow Garment Pavilion smiled slightly before speaking.
As her voice faded, many women revealed expressions of excitement and all surged inside.
“Heavens! The Cloud Mist Gauze Robe is only 350 Spirit Stones today.”
“And this White Jade Flower Gauze Cloth doesn’t even cost 300 Spirit Stones.”
Although these were only the most common magical garments with simple Calming Mind Concentrating Spirit Array Patterns inscribed within, they were immensely popular.
For ordinary female cultivators, while the utility of a magical garment was important, its beauty was of equal importance.
Unfortunately, aside from the Spirit Stones used for cultivation, their remaining stones were simply not enough.
Therefore, upon learning that Snow Garment Pavilion had a batch of magical garments on sale, many female cultivators could no longer suppress their restless, eager hearts.
“After today, a large number of Moonlit Pavilion’s regular customers will surely flood in.”
“Within a few days, once they’ve grown accustomed to buying magical garments at our Snow Garment Pavilion, they naturally won’t go back.”
Inside a chamber on the second floor of Snow Garment Pavilion, a sharp-featured woman wore an extremely smug expression.
She was none other than the Workshop Master of Snow Garment Pavilion, Rong Qian!
In Rong Qian’s view, this price reduction strategy, barring any unforeseen circumstances, would steal at least half of Moonlit Pavilion’s customers.
Supported by the Spirit Stones exchanged for secret realm treasures, Snow Garment Pavilion’s strength would gradually grow, eventually swallowing the Purple Cloud Sect whole.
Today was the first step of this annexation plan.
“Workshop Master, your foresight is truly a blessing for our sect.”
An Elder of Snow Garment Pavilion, who had been waiting nearby, quickly offered words of flattery.
He then turned to look at Moonlit Pavilion opposite them, his face full of ridicule: “I want to see what countermeasure Moonlit Pavilion can come up with.”
“It would be best if they also lowered their prices like our sect, but I fear Purple Cloud Sect lacks the foundation for that.”
Just as the two were feeling smug, the doors of Moonlit Pavilion swung open.
“Click… clack… click!”
Two tall, beautiful women appeared, one dressed in a noble red cheongsam, the other in pure white. Their long, shapely legs were wrapped in skin-toned stockings, and their delicate feet were adorned with high heels.
With each step they swayed, the cheongsams swaying along with them, fully displaying the women’s curvaceous figures and their alluring, elegant charm.
That kind of grace and elegance truly made it difficult for anyone to look away.
“What kind of magical garment is this? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Within the venue, Moonlit Pavilion’s customers were all stunned.
The moment those two women appeared, their gazes were irresistibly and firmly captured.
Compared to all the magical garments they had seen before, the one before their eyes was undoubtedly the most beautiful.
It was beautiful in a noble and magnificent way, beautiful in its alluring and varied charm, like the one flower among a hundred blossoms that outshone the entire garden.
At this very moment, four words welled up in their hearts: Desire, I Want!
“Gulp!”
The gazes of many male cultivators who had accompanied them were fixed on the two women, their eyes burning with heat, unable to look away.
Those clicking sounds of high heels striking the ground stirred a sense of excitement within them for some unknown reason.
Finally, a female cultivator could not help but voice her question:
“May I ask, Miss Yue, Miss Chan, what is the name of the attire you are wearing? Is it for sale?”
“Yes! I’ve never seen such beautiful clothing before.”
“And those unique shoes; they seem incredibly suited to this kind of form-fitting long robe.”
“Miss Chan, Miss Yue, are you also wearing something on your legs? It looks as thin as cicada wings and truly lovely.”
Seeing everyone’s curiosity piqued, Liu Chan and Liu Yue exchanged a glance, a beautiful curve appearing at the corners of their mouths.
“This magical garment we are wearing is called a cheongsam; the shoes are called high heels, and what’s on our legs are stockings. The three pieces form a complete set.”
“This set of three magical garments has quite a profound origin.”
Reaching this point, the two women tacitly paused and did not continue.
Just like a storyteller in a tea house who stops right after stirring everyone’s interest.
That feeling was like being forced to interrupt the act of Dual Cultivation with one’s Dao Companion—utterly unbearable.
“Miss Yue, Miss Chan, please don’t keep us in suspense any longer. Just what is its origin?”
“Yes! Tell us quickly; you’ve completely drawn out our curiosity.”
The regular customers inside Moonlit Pavilion hurriedly urged.
As women, they were inevitably curious about beautiful things, and even cultivators could not avoid this.
Liu Yue and Liu Chan knew the time was ripe, so they sighed lightly and began to speak:
“The prototype of the cheongsam, high heels, and stockings was created by an ancient artifact refiner for his wife…”
This artifact refiner had been deeply in love with his wife, Madam Qi. However, due to a tragic event, Madam Qi perished like a fading flower.
He had once made a promise to create a magical garment for his wife that was unique in the world and surpassed all others in beauty.
For this promise, he confined himself to his refining chamber day after day, year after year.
As time flew by and the world changed, the artifact refiner spent over a hundred years and finally refined this type of magical garment.
To commemorate his deceased wife, he named the garment after her surname, calling it a “Qi Pao” (cheongsam). He even refined matching shoes and stockings for it—the high heels and stockings.
On the day of its completion, having fulfilled his promise to his wife, the refiner could no longer bear the pain of longing. He jumped into the furnace with those three items.
“And after countless ages had passed, we chanced upon the blueprints for this magical garment’s prototype, allowing it to see the light of day once more.”
After finishing the story, Liu Chan and Liu Yue sighed with deep feeling, exclaiming: “Ask the world, what is love, that it binds life and death together?”
“So that’s it. To fulfill a promise to his wife, he did not hesitate to spend over a century of his life.”
“The day his promise was completed was the day he reunited with his wife.”
“Ask the world, what is love, that it binds life and death together!”
Upon hearing such a moving story, the venue fell exceptionally silent; one could hear a pin drop.
Many female cultivators were already in tears, unable to help but sob quietly.
In the cruel world of cultivation, the term “husband and wife” had long been forgotten; there were only Dao Companions.
Yet whether husband and wife or Dao Companions, unions born purely from mutual affection were exceedingly rare. Most were for the sake of cultivation, or even merely a union of benefits.
“Husband and wife are like birds of the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly apart” was the true reflection in most partners’ hearts.
So upon hearing this story, everyone present seemed to rediscover the selves they had been before forgetting their original aspirations.
Not for immortality, not for profit, but only to spend a long life together with the one they loved!
