"Should I buy Min'er something? She'd probably show excellent talent in tomorrow's test, and Qingyun Sect would take her seriously. That was cause for celebration. I ought to buy her something to celebrate." Ling Tian suddenly remembered that he had an appointment at Qingyun Peak tomorrow.
"But what should I buy? I've never bought anything before, let alone a gift for a girl." Ling Tian blushed, then looked lost.
"Um, Mother, I want to celebrate something for a girl. What would be a good thing to buy?" Ling Tian's face reddened slightly as he asked Humei.
"Hee-hee, Tian'er's all grown up." Suddenly, a sweet female voice rang out in Ling Tian's mind.
"Huh? Who's speaking? Is—is that you, Mother?" Ling Tian's heart jolted. He looked uncertainly at Humei, since his mother had never spoken to him like this before.
"Of course it's me, silly Tian'er. You've formed your spiritual sense, so naturally you can communicate with your thoughts." Humei's voice rang in Ling Tian's mind, playfully chiding him with a hint of reproach.
"Then why have you never spoken to me through spiritual sense before, Mother?" Ling Tian asked in astonishment.
"That's because you're silly! I thought you'd realize you could communicate with your thoughts once you formed your spiritual sense. Who knew that after all this time, you still wouldn't use it to talk to me? Your mother's heartbroken. Boo-hoo." As she spoke, she even pretended to cry.
"Uh, I was used to hearing you speak like this, so I forgot." Ling Tian stood there dumbfounded and scratched his head sheepishly. But he soon recovered and added, "Still, this is much more convenient. We can communicate with our thoughts. Hee-hee."
"Are you thinking of buying something to win over that little girlfriend of yours? Tsk-tsk, so young, and already full of schemes." Humei didn't dwell on the matter for long before teasing Ling Tian instead.
"N-no, I'm not! I just want to congratulate her." Ling Tian blushed and hurried to explain.
"Oho, look at you, saying one thing while meaning another. All right, I'll take you to buy her something." Seeing Ling Tian's face grow redder and redder, Humei stopped teasing him.
"Mm, thank you, Mother. You're the best." Ling Tian put on a wheedling voice.
"All right, all right. Let's go." Humei's eyes were full of affection as she urged Ling Tian along. Then they went to a jewelry shop.
Inside, Ling Tian saw the dazzling array of jewelry and picked up one piece after another. Every item was beautiful and finely made, and for a while he couldn't decide which one to buy.
"Mother, there's so much here. Which one should I get?" Ling Tian was overwhelmed by the choices. Thankfully, Humei was with him, so he hurriedly asked her through their mental link.
"Alas, no. These are all too ordinary," Humei said to Ling Tian, clearly disappointed.
"These aren't good enough? They're all quite pretty!" Ling Tian looked at her in surprise.
"Cultivators don't care for these mundane things. Have the shopkeeper make something for you instead. You have a few fine gemstones in your Storage Ring, as it happens," Humei explained.
"Oh. Then what should I have made?" Ling Tian asked.
"A pair of earrings. You have two fine Green Jade Stones. They can gather spiritual energy and steady the mind, bringing calm and composure. They can even help resist the intrusion of the Inner Demon, making cultivation twice as effective. And since the two stones are identical, they'll be perfect for earrings." Humei explained her reasoning, then used her thoughts to show Ling Tian what sort of design the earrings should have.
"Mm, good. But I think they'd be even better shaped like butterflies. Hua Min'er is at Qingdie Peak, where butterflies fill the mountains. They'll suit her perfectly." Ling Tian offered a suggestion.
"Mm, excellent, excellent. You've got a pretty sharp head on those young shoulders. But we should make them like this, this way, so they look light and lively." Humei couldn't help praising him, then refined his idea into a perfect design.
Ling Tian and Humei discussed it for a while before settling on the final design.
"Mm, that's it." Ling Tian made the final decision.
Their discussion had seemed to take a long time, but since Ling Tian and Humei communicated through their thoughts, though it felt like ages to them, barely an instant had passed in the outside world.
"Little brother, see anything you like? What can I get for you?" Seeing Ling Tian's extraordinary bearing, the shopkeeper greeted him politely.
"I wonder if you could make something to order," Ling Tian asked.
"Certainly. What would you like made, and what sort of design do you have in mind?" The shopkeeper got straight to the point.
Ling Tian took out two translucent green stones and some strange metal and handed them to the shopkeeper. He asked him to set the two stones, then described the final design that he and Humei had discussed. The shopkeeper listened closely, occasionally making a few notes.
"When do you think you can finish them, sir? I need them urgently. Here's the fee." Once they had finished discussing the details, Ling Tian took out a large ingot of silver and handed it to the shopkeeper.
"If you're in a hurry, little brother, I can start right away. They should be ready by this afternoon." The shopkeeper took the silver, barely able to contain his delight, though he quickly composed himself.
"This afternoon? Well, there's no other choice. This afternoon it is." Ling Tian thought it over. If he picked them up in the afternoon, he'd probably get back late and have to travel at night. But that wasn't a big deal, so he agreed.
"Make yourself at home, little brother. I need to get to work." The shopkeeper began working. He had never seen stones so beautiful and knew he had to handle them with care. Besides, crafting a masterpiece was the dream of every jewelry maker.
"Then I won't disturb you, sir. I'll take my leave." Ling Tian left the jewelry shop and headed to the blacksmith's, since the appointed time had come.
When he arrived at the blacksmith's shop, the blacksmith uncle was still making iron pellets. Seeing Ling Tian, he stopped working and hurried over to greet him. "You're here, little brother."
"Mm. How many have you made, Uncle?" Ling Tian asked, concerned. This would be one of his major trump cards in the future, so the more, the better.
"I'm ashamed to say that even working day and night, we've only made about two thousand. I hope you're satisfied, little brother. If you're not, I can return your money." The blacksmith uncle looked embarrassed. He knew that making so few iron pellets for one ingot of silver had cost Ling Tian a fair bit.
"More than two thousand!? That's a lot! It's plenty, plenty. You can use the rest of the money to buy yourself some wine." Ling Tian had thought he'd be lucky to get a few hundred, so he was delighted to receive several times that many. The blacksmith uncle must have worked straight through the past two days without resting.
"Heh-heh, as long as you're satisfied, little brother. Here are your pellets. Ah, I'm old and no use anymore. I can't stay up late. Just two days and one night, and I'm worn out. I'm going to rest now. Make yourself at home." He handed Ling Tian a large sack filled with perfectly round iron pellets about the size of cat's-eye stones. He yawned repeatedly, looking exhausted. After handing over the sack, he went to rest in the back of the blacksmith's shop.
Ling Tian took the sack and casually weighed one of the iron pellets in his hand, pleased with it. Then he tossed it into his Storage Ring. Seeing the blacksmith uncle head off to rest, exhausted, he felt grateful for a while before turning to leave. He went back to the inn to wait for the earrings to be finished, so he could pick them up and head home.
Time always seemed to pass slowly while waiting.
Ling Tian ordered some food at the inn and ate it slowly. It felt as if a long time had passed, but when he looked at the sky, barely a quarter of an hour had gone by.
"Tian'er, just relax and eat something. Look how impatient you are." Humei's voice sounded in Ling Tian's mind, tinged with both amusement and reproach.
"Mother, do you think earrings are a good gift for a girl?" Ling Tian felt uneasy and couldn't help asking his mother again.
"Heh, Tian'er, you've asked me that dozens of times already. I'm getting tired of hearing it. I've told you that I designed them myself, so there's no way anyone wouldn't like them." Humei was at her wit's end. She'd heard the same question so many times that her ears were practically growing calluses.
"Heh-heh, sorry, Mother. I'm just worried. It's my first time giving a girl a present." Ling Tian chuckled sheepishly.
Humei simply rolled her eyes at him and ignored him. Ling Tian had no choice but to keep fidgeting on his own.
And so, as Ling Tian waited anxiously, the afternoon finally came. He hurried to his feet, called to Humei, and rushed out toward the jewelry shop.
"Tian'er, slow down, slow down. It's only just afternoon. Why are you in such a hurry?" Humei chided him gently.
Ling Tian blushed but still made an excuse. "Mother, I'm afraid it'll get late, and then we won't be able to get back to Qingyou Peak before dark. We'll have to sleep outside again."
Humei rolled her eyes. How could she not know Ling Tian was making excuses? He had a little house as a magical treasure—why would he worry about sleeping outside? But she didn't call him on it and followed him to the jewelry shop.
"Shopkeeper, are the earrings I ordered ready?" Ling Tian couldn't help asking as soon as he entered the shop.
"Shh, little brother, keep your voice down. The master's working on them right now. They'll be done soon. Why don't you rest over there for a bit?" An apprentice hurried over and motioned for Ling Tian to lower his voice. Then he pointed to the room inside, showing that the shopkeeper was working intently in there and shouldn't be disturbed.
Ling Tian nodded, a little embarrassed, then went over to rest.
This time, Ling Tian could practically feel time crawling forward like a snail. He grew so anxious his heart felt ready to catch fire. But the hammering inside the room hadn't stopped, and Ling Tian knew there was no point in rushing the work.
"If you knew how to forge artifacts, it wouldn't take this long. With a burst of Alchemy Fire, what metal couldn't you melt? With your mind guiding it, you could shape the molten metal however you wanted, then let it set into whatever design you liked. It wouldn't be so troublesome." Humei's voice appeared in Ling Tian's mind.
"Can artifact forging be used to make little ornaments like these?" Ling Tian asked in surprise.
"Of course. Weapons, musical instruments, wine vessels—anything can be made. Alchemy Fire can melt not only metal but jade, and even wood. Then, with a thought, you can shape it however you want." Humei patiently explained, apparently trying to help him pass the time.
"How amazing! I'll have to take a good look at books on artifact forging someday. Father gave me a book about it, but I only glanced at it and lost interest. I had no idea artifact forging was so much fun." Lingyun had given Ling Tian a book that covered artifact forging, but since Ling Tian hadn't been interested, he had only skimmed it.
"Your father was right. Every path has its own way, and when you delve deeply into one, you'll discover something new. You must never look down on any craft. Besides, cultivators have long lives. If you don't learn more things to enjoy, life will grow dull and tasteless." Humei patiently advised Ling Tian, as if she were bidding farewell to a son setting out on a long journey. It left Ling Tian feeling rather strange.
"Tian'er will always stay by Father and Mother's side. I'll be able to learn from you both as much as I want." Though Ling Tian felt his mother was acting strangely, he didn't think much of it. He simply took it as a mother's love for her child.
"Alas, we want to stay with you forever too, but we..." Humei thought sadly, making sure Ling Tian couldn't hear her.
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