Number One Embarrassing Sister and Number Two Shifty-Eyed Sister were ultimately sentenced to the cruel punishment of washing dishes, mopping floors, and doing the laundry after dinner.
Xia Nuo, meanwhile, had gone to bed early and enjoyed a night of pleasant, comfortable, high-quality sleep.
Warm and soft—nothing beat the comfort of his own bed!
He had actually been quite tired today.
He had spent the entire morning training aboard the ship, then after returning home and reuniting with everyone, he had been busy running around the village all afternoon.
First, he rented two vacant houses in town and settled Mangba and the others in. After that, he discussed his plans in detail with Bellemere and received her full support.
Bellemere was only a little over thirty this year.
But she was already a typical member of the older generation who simply could not sit still.
If someone gave her tens of millions of Berries to retire, she would be so restless that she could barely sleep.
But turning the work she loved into a business—
Not only could she earn more money, she could also let more people taste the oranges she had personally cultivated and planted. The experience was completely different, and she was overjoyed.
She had immediately followed Xia Nuo out, excitedly leasing the large stretch of land adjoining the orange grove.
Once spring arrived next year, the orange grove could be expanded to roughly seven or eight times its current size.
Winter had officially arrived, but there was still plenty to do in the orange grove, such as post-harvest fertilizing, clearing and spraying, checking for overwintering pests and diseases, and deep-plowing the soil...
In previous years, Xia Nuo had handled most of this work, keeping busy for more than half a month from start to finish.
Now he no longer had to worry about any of it. He handed all those chores over to Mangba and the others and only needed to focus on cultivation.
Huff, huff...
On a winter morning, the temperature in Cocoyasi Village had dropped below zero. Fog shrouded the area, and every breath he exhaled formed a distinct cloud of white vapor.
Wearing only a thin shirt, Xia Nuo was running around the entire island to warm up.
As his physical abilities continued to improve, running in the orange grove had gradually ceased to be enough for him. He had simply switched to running around the entire island, maintaining a pace of roughly one and a half minutes per kilometer.
About an hour later, he completed four laps around the island—exactly forty kilometers—which counted as a simple warm-up.
After arriving at his private training ground, Xia Nuo used the wooden stakes to practice and consolidate his Shave for a while.
Then he opened the Iron Body Secret Manual in his inventory and began reading it carefully from the beginning.
After committing most of the main content to memory, Xia Nuo was just about to close the System Panel and begin practicing when he suddenly noticed, pleasantly surprised, that the marketplace had refreshed.
It was time for his second-favorite treasure-hunting blind box session!
But he could not let his freshly warmed-up body cool down.
So he simply supported himself with one hand and began doing handstand push-ups while browsing the marketplace interface floating before his retinas.
After going out to sea for a month and earning more than forty thousand points, he finally had another chance to spend them. He had been holding it in for far too long.
Buy, buy, buy!
[Good Dream High-Efficiency Sleep Pillow] [Type: Equipment] [Price: 600 points] [Description: Using this pillow grants highly efficient sleep, doubling sleep efficiency. The user may freely switch between dream and dreamless modes.] [Seller's Note: Sleep only four hours a day and remain full of energy. An essential luxury for blessed people.]
The very first item had Xia Nuo deeply tempted.
"Can it cut my sleeping time in half while also steadily improving my sleep quality?"
It was extremely practical.
As the saying went, why sleep long while alive? After death, there would be endless sleep.
If he had possessed this during high school, perhaps even Tsinghua and Peking University would have been reaching out to him. Now that he was accustomed to bitter cultivation every day, using it would mean he could squeeze out even more time to improve himself.
Six hundred points was a worthwhile price.
After pondering briefly, Xia Nuo chose to buy it.
He then mentally controlled the screen to scroll down and looked at the next item.
[Adjustable-Weight Training Suit (Pure Black)] [Type: Equipment] [Price: 800 points] [Description: This close-fitting athletic outfit appears ordinary, but its weight can be adjusted at will. The adjustment range is from 1 kg to 10 tons. The effect only applies while worn by the system host.] [Seller's Note: Know your own limits and adjust the weight carefully. There is a tragic precedent of a buyer crushing his lover into minced meat.]
The maximum weight could reach ten tons?
Xia Nuo's eyes brightened slightly.
He remembered how, back when he watched Dragon Ball, he had yearned for those seemingly light weights that could smash a hole in the ground once removed.
This item's effect was an upgraded version in every respect.
As long as he wore it during the day, even doing nothing would subject his body to high-intensity training. He could also benefit from the statue's enhancement effect.
Moreover.
The fact that its maximum weight could be adjusted to ten tons meant that this item would remain useful for quite a long time.
There was nothing to agonize over. Xia Nuo added it to his cart without hesitation.
[Homelander's Collection Milk Bottle Set] [Type: Miscellaneous] [Price: 950 points] [Description: Six bottles of milk hidden in the refrigerator of Homelander's bedroom. As the world's number-one superhero, Homelander would open them and smell them for a long time after returning from playing hero, yet he rarely had the heart to drink even a sip. These bottles of milk seemed to hold extraordinarily special commemorative significance for him.] [Seller's Note: Getting my hands on this means my infiltration skills have improved again... Wait, someone seems to be knocking on my window. I'll go take a look. Strange, I clearly live on the thirtieth floor.]
"Uh..."
Xia Nuo narrowed his eyes.
He naturally knew what was special about these six bottles of "milk."
In a sense, they really were limited-edition souvenirs. They could never be produced again, and every bottle drunk meant one fewer remained.
But spend several hundred points on this stuff?
Unless he had been possessed by Homelander, there was no way.
Hard pass. Next item!
[Infinite Red Bean Buns] [Type: Consumable] [Price: 900 points] [Description: After purchase, you will receive 100 servings of red bean buns with an unlimited shelf life. Each serving weighs 200 grams. Regardless of whether they are all eaten or how many are consumed, the inventory will be replenished to 100 servings every day.] [Seller's Note: Eating large quantities every day carries the risk of mental derangement and smearing feces on the walls.]
"This one..."
Xia Nuo switched to doing handstand push-ups with his left hand. With his right, he pinched his chin and seriously considered the matter.
The price seemed a little high, but in truth, it was well worth the cost.
A hundred red bean buns refreshed every day truly lived up to the name "Infinite." At the very least, it guaranteed that a big eater like him would never have to worry about starving to death.
He was not lacking food while at home, of course, but once he went to sea and sailed around everywhere, unexpected situations would inevitably arise.
Aside from the top experts standing at the pinnacle of the world, everyone else was ultimately rather fragile before nature. He had personally witnessed Zeff's ordeal not long ago.
He might as well buy it. He could consider it personal insurance.
It would actually be useful even now. He would not eat this for all three meals, but when he was busy cultivating at noon and too lazy to go home for lunch, it would be quite convenient to use this to make do on the spot.
The next few items were rather underwhelming. Xia Nuo skipped them after a glance and soon reached the second-to-last item among this month's refreshed tools.
The moment he saw the item's name, his attention was instantly drawn in.
[The Flesh Furnace Method, Part Two: Copper Head] [Type: Cultivation Secret Manual] [Price: 1,200 points] [Description: Practicing this Secret Manual will greatly strengthen your neck and everything above it. The Flesh Furnace Method focuses on excavating the treasures of the human body. It consists of five chapters, with Copper Head being the second. If all five Secret Manuals are mastered, the body's strength will receive an additional boost.] [Seller's Note: If Cheng Ge had known this that day, the kettle beside him would not have screamed so loudly.]