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"My Zhao Family has recently suffered a great calamity; at this moment, there is little wealth left in the household to offer as a reward for you, Immortal Master."

"In the spirit field, there are still over a hundred Purple Sun Vermilion Fruits that have yet to ripen. Once they mature, I shall have someone personally deliver them to the River-Facing Sect and hand them all over to you as compensation!"

"Patriarch Zhao, there is no need for such courtesy. I have gained quite a bit from this trip, and I have already taken what I am owed."

One hundred Purple Sun Vermilion Fruits could be sold for one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones at market price.

For Shen Mo, who required a massive amount of cultivation resources, this was a small fortune.

Yet, he did not accept this reward.

Shen Mo believed that by taking the Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit, he had already taken great advantage of the Zhao Family.

One should not be too greedy in life.

Though he could not be considered a great philanthropist, he still held to his own principles.

There are things one does, and things one does not do.

He would only take the portion of the reward he deemed appropriate.

River-Facing Sect, Outer Disciple Courtyard.

After returning, Shen Mo immediately brought the Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit to Chen An to verify its authenticity.

"Mm, not bad."

"It is exactly as described in the ancient texts; this is undoubtedly a Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit."

Chen An examined it carefully for a long while before cautiously returning the fruit to him. "You have truly encountered a heaven-sent opportunity this time!"

"With this fruit in hand, as long as you prepare diligently before breaking through to the Qi Gathering Realm, tempering your tendons, bones, and blood, you have a very high probability of condensing two dantian upon your breakthrough."

"By then, even among the inner disciples, you will be considered a prodigy."

Possessing two dantian in the Qi Gathering Realm meant that, provided he did not perish along the way, he would likely reach the Spirit Sea Realm in this lifetime.

If everything went smoothly, this fellow's future achievements would far surpass those of Chen An, an outer sect deacon who had wasted half a lifetime in the River-Facing Sect.

While feeling happy for him, Chen An could not help but feel a sense of emotion and envy.

Truly, what is destined to be yours will eventually come to you.

He thought back to when he was still in the Body Tempering Realm; if he had been aided by such a rare treasure to condense two dantian, his cultivation path over these past decades would surely have been much smoother.

Perhaps he would have already become an elder of the River-Facing Sect, standing prominent in the region.

If that were the case, he would not be at this age, still needing to risk his life in forbidden lands, fighting for a glimmer of hope to break through.

"Uncle Chen, rest assured. If one day I am fortunate enough to ascend to the higher tiers of the Immortal Path, I will certainly not forget your cultivation."

Shen Mo said sincerely.

When one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

This kid still has a bit of a conscience.

Chen An felt secretly moved by this.

He had not misjudged the person all these years.

However, he could not help but chide him: "Wait until that day actually comes. Your cultivation is only at the Body Tempering Realm right now—you are nothing but a beast of burden at the bottom of the cultivation world. Don't get carried away just because you've had a little luck."

After the reprimand, he couldn't help but instruct: "This fruit is not yet ripe; it requires sunlight, dew, and the nourishment of heaven and earth's spiritual energy. It cannot be kept in a Qiankun Pouch for long."

"When you take it home, you must find a hidden place to conceal it carefully. Remember, you must not let anyone discover it!"

He treated Shen Mo as his own, so naturally, he would not covet Shen Mo's opportunity.

But if others were to see such a rare treasure in the hands of an outer disciple with no background, it might not be the same.

This was like a three-year-old child walking through a busy market carrying gold; as long as it attracted attention, it would inevitably invite trouble.

Even fellow sect members might not hesitate to strike.

"Mm, I have noted it."

Shen Mo nodded.

In truth, he had always been cautious; even if Chen An had not instructed him, he would have found a way to mask the aura of the Purple Sun Spirit Fruit.

At night, Shen Mo prepared a meal and invited Chen An to join him.

The main ingredient was the back meat of the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python.

That beast had been nearly charred under the bombardment of his twenty Separating Fire Talismans.

Only the meat three inches beneath the skin remained tender and untouched by the flames, making it edible.

Adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, he had packed the meat into his Qiankun Pouch and brought it back.

"Your culinary skills are not bad at all; you're almost on par with the sect's spirit chefs."

Chen An devoured the python meat like a whirlwind and gave a very complimentary evaluation.

"It's passable, I suppose."

Shen Mo himself did not hold such a high opinion of it.

"Although the meat from the belly of this Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python is delicious, it lacks proper seasoning, so it always feels like something is missing."

He suddenly found himself longing for the barbecue of his past life.

In this world, there wasn't much in the way of fine cuisine—at least, not that Shen Mo had encountered so far.

Low-level cultivators lived precarious lives, and aside from those who specialized as spirit chefs, few had the heart to study the culinary arts.

As for those great cultivators, they had already reached the point of fasting and rarely bothered to cook meals.

Cultivators in the Qi Gathering Realm still required a meal every three days, but once they reached the Spirit Sea Realm, they achieved true fasting, able to sustain themselves on nothing but wind and dew.

Naturally, the variety of flavors in their food could not compare to the refinement of the industrial society from Shen Mo's past life.

"Dad, Mom, are you both doing well?"

His thoughts were incredibly erratic.

He had started by comparing the food of the two worlds, but as he pondered, his mind suddenly drifted to his parents and family in a world he could no longer reach, and a sense of melancholy washed over him.

In his memory, the people and events of his past life were becoming increasingly blurred.

When he had first transmigrated, he would think of them every single day.

Now, he could barely recall the faces of his parents.

"It's truly strange. It has only been three months since I transmigrated, so why does it feel like a lifetime ago?"

With his thoughts in turmoil, the meat lost its flavor. He swallowed a mouthful of snake meat and muttered, "I'll go to the market another day to see if I can find some seasonings to make a barbecue. It will be a small comfort to soothe my homesickness."

"Why the long face all of a sudden? What are you thinking about?"

Chen An's voice rang out, interrupting Shen Mo's wandering thoughts.

He snapped back to reality and, seeing Uncle Chen staring at him, gave a perfunctory excuse: "I was just wondering when I'll be able to enter the inner sect."

"This residence is truly too shabby compared to the cave dwellings of the inner sect disciples."

The area where the outer sect disciples of the River-Facing Sect lived was located in a corner on the far western side of River-Facing Mountain.

There, the sect had specifically constructed a dense cluster of buildings to house them.

Although these outer sect disciples all had their own independent houses, the rooms were cramped and nowhere near as grand as the cave dwellings of the inner sect.

Shen Mo had visited Uncle Chen's cave dwelling and had been envious for a long time.

That dwelling was a full fifteen zhang in circumference.

The pavilions and terraces inside were not only built with cinnabar-painted pillars and carved railings, but were also adorned with jade masonry.

Outside the dwelling, there was even a small Spirit Field where one could freely plant spirit herbs and spirit fruits.

The cliffside was perfect for alchemy and talisman crafting, offering a vast, serene view.

Most importantly, the cave dwellings of the inner sect disciples were all built within the spirit vein region of the River-Facing Sect.

The spiritual energy there was abundant, making cultivation twice as effective with half the effort.

In short, compared to the living environment of the outer sect disciples, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

"There's no need to be envious."

Chen An shook his head with a smile. "With your momentum, even if you slow down, you'll be promoted to the inner sect within a year or so."

"By then, you'll be able to choose a cave dwelling of your own."