Who Would Complain About Having Too Many Spirit Stones?

Eleven full moons hung from the vault of heaven, while the first sliver of a waning moon appeared.

"Take care, junior brothers and sisters."

Zhu Yu stood smiling, watching the immortal seedlings whose heads had been crammed full of knowledge depart into the distance. Then he turned to Liang Kuan, who was grinning from ear to ear, and Xiang Sui, whose brows brimmed with delight, and pointed upstairs.

"Split it?"

"Split it!"

Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan exchanged a glance and nodded heavily.

The three of them immediately climbed the stairs with beaming smiles and returned to their rented room on the third floor. On the small wooden table lay two hundred and forty smooth Spirit Stones, along with a small pile of jade-like wood, all radiating bewitching light.

Zhu Yu picked up a Spirit Stone and sighed from the bottom of his heart. "No wonder The Society goes to such lengths to rope people in. Education really is profitable..."

In merely three hours, they had earned one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones!

That meant over three thousand Spirit Stones a month and over forty thousand a year! If they taught more newly recruited disciples, that number would only grow even larger.

"Indeed..."

Though Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan had heard the word "education" for the first time, that did not stop them from understanding what it meant. They nodded along with broad smiles.

Liang Kuan happily counted out his own twenty-four Low-grade Spirit Stones and remarked, "And this is only with twenty people. It would be even better if we could teach more."

He held a ten-percent share. Twenty-four Spirit Stones were neither much nor little to him. After all, he had not spent much effort, but naturally, more would be better.

Xiang Sui counted out his own ninety-six Spirit Stones. Hearing this, he instinctively looked at Zhu Yu and hesitated before asking:

"What do you think, Junior Brother Zhu? Should we stay at twenty people, or add a few more?"

Who would complain about having too many Spirit Stones?

The more they earned, the broader and smoother their immortal path would become.

Yet neither of them asked whether they should increase the teaching hours. Qi Refining was different from before. Zhu Yu being able to spare three hours was already quite good; any more might delay his cultivation.

They could not lose the big picture for a small gain.

Zhu Yu gathered the remaining one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones into the inner pocket of his sleeve. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"Then let's add another ten people..."

It was not that he could not teach more people. Rather, a tall tree caught the wind. Though Xiang Sui had said he would handle everything else, The Society had existed for nearly a hundred years and was not easy to deal with.

Zhu Yu did not want to spend every day guarding against thieves and delay his cultivation.

Thirty people was neither too many nor too few. Among nearly a thousand newly recruited disciples, they would be utterly inconspicuous, and the Spirit Stones they earned would be enough for now.

"Good."

At this, the delight in Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan's eyes deepened, and they nodded repeatedly in agreement.

After exchanging a few idle remarks,

they agreed on tomorrow's lesson time and prepared to leave.

Both of them had joined a spirit ground, so they were no longer as carefree as before.

Once outside the house,

they chatted briefly before going their separate ways.

Thinking of Little Black and what was needed to cultivate the Wood Spirit Flower, Zhu Yu did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he entered the Market and wandered around.

By the time he left the Market,

there was a large bundle on Little Black's back.

"Let's go..."

Zhu Yu lightly tapped the ground with his toes and flew onto Little Black's back. He sat cross-legged, patted its shell, and used his Divine Sense to guide it toward the Starry Corridor.

It had to be said,

Little Black's six legs looked slender, but it truly ran fast. In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, it had reached the Starry Corridor.

This time, Zhu Yu did not happen to run into Mu Ruo again.

He checked the spot where he had prepared the medicinal liquid for the Fierce Tiger Corpse Seed and confirmed it was still there. Then he plucked some Starry Wood branches and leaves, dug up more than a dozen Glowworm Flowers and Snake Thread Grasses, and returned to the Underworld Grounds on Little Black without lingering.

Not much time passed.

When he returned to his own courtyard,

two waning moons flickered in and out of sight beneath the dim gray heavens.

Zhu Yu flipped down to the ground, patted Little Black's head, lifted the bundle, and headed straight for the kitchen.

Crack, crack...

Along with the sound of chopping vegetables, wisps of cooking smoke rose.

Before long,

Zhu Yu came out of the kitchen carrying a wooden basin filled with minced meat mixed from Starry Wood Leaves, the meat of a first-rank low-grade demon beast, the Wind Wolf, Glowworm Flowers, and Snake Thread Grass.

Without waiting for him to call, Little Black, which had been lying by the door, seemed to catch the scent. It spread its six long legs and ran over, lowering its head to rub against his leg.

"Squeak, squeak..."

"Haha, you're hungry, aren't you? Hurry and eat..."

Zhu Yu chuckled as he rubbed Little Black's rough head and set down the wooden basin.

"Squeak, squeak..."

A burst of joyful intent flowed from Little Black. It lowered its head, and its two large incisors opened and closed as the minced meat visibly dwindled.

Seeing how happily it ate, Zhu Yu felt a little hungry as well. He turned back into the kitchen, cut off half a pound of the fresh Wind Wolf meat he had bought, paired it with some ordinary vegetables that contained no spiritual energy, and heated oil in a wok...

Half an hour passed.

After lunch, Zhu Yu casually cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, carried a small bundle upstairs, and went to the second floor.

He then mixed together the Spirit Soil, earth-element Spirit Spring, mixed soil, and Wood Spirit Stones he had bought from the Market, replacing the Wood Spirit Flower's old potting soil.

On the bed,

Zhu Yu checked the information on the Wood Spirit Flower placed on the table. Seeing nothing unusual, he let out a soft breath and silently calculated his assets.

Earlier, he had bought ten pounds of Wind Wolf meat from the Market. Because it tasted poor, one pound cost only one Spirit Stone, so he bought ten pounds.

Then there were the Spirit Soil and Spirit Spring. Replacing the potting soil once had cost nearly five Spirit Stones. Adding the one and a half Spirit Stones mixed into it, the total came to six and a half Spirit Stones.

And that soil would be enough for the Wood Spirit Flower to absorb for half a month.

After deducting the expenses from attending the feast, buying Corpse Seeds, and so on...

his Spirit Stone assets had now reached five hundred and fifty-eight Low-grade Spirit Stones!

Besides that,

he also had seven Soul Dispersing Pills and a shallow layer of Meditation Fluid.

"Things will slowly get better..."

Zhu Yu smiled and secretly set a small goal for himself.

In half a year, he would buy a high-grade defensive magic artifact or magic robe.

He had asked around at shops in the Market that sold magic artifacts.

A high-grade magic artifact cost roughly between ten thousand and thirty thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. The Spirit Stones he accumulated from teaching for half a year would be enough to buy one.

When the time came, if he entered a Demon Cave or Insect Nest, a high-grade magic artifact at his side, coupled with his Late Qi Refining cultivation, would allow him to easily escape even if he encountered a demon beast or Insect Beast comparable to Late Qi Refining.

After considering it for a while, Zhu Yu raised his hand and drew the jade jar from the mirror stand beside him into his palm. Looking at the scant amount of emerald-green liquid inside, he thought:

I wonder whether Senior Brother Xiang has refined more...

Without thinking further, he raised the jade jar and gulped down a large mouthful. Then he swallowed a Soul Dispersing Pill, closed his eyes, and immersed himself in meditation.

It was not that he did not want to switch to better pills for cultivation.

He had previously bought Mid-grade Spirit Nourishing Pills worth thirty Spirit Stones each. Their medicinal effect was mild, but they could not neutralize the toxins of Meditation Fluid. Their effectiveness was far inferior to the combined effects of a Soul Dispersing Pill and Meditation Fluid.

They cost more Spirit Stones, yet their effects were mediocre.

Even a fool knew which one to choose.

The next day.

The outlines of five full moons had just appeared in the sky.

On a small road in the Underworld Grounds, a millstone-sized insect raced along on its six legs, carrying a handsome youth toward the main road.

Perhaps because it was so early,

there were few pedestrians on the road, leaving Zhu Yu slightly disappointed.

Half an hour later.

Zhu Yu arrived at the rented house with Little Black as agreed. After briefly speaking with Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan, who were waiting at the entrance, he headed up to the third floor.

Time flowed like water.

Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

The classroom of thirty was just like the classroom of twenty. No mishaps occurred. The students arrived with anticipation and left with their arms full of knowledge.

Xiang Sui, who had been sitting in on the lesson the entire time, could clearly sense that Zhu Yu was perfectly at ease teaching thirty people. He gave Zhu Yu a deep look.

He could more or less guess what Zhu Yu was thinking.

Nothing more than worrying that a tall tree would catch the wind!

Xiang Sui wanted very much to say that, as an alchemist's disciple, he had some standing after all. Yet when the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back down.

Their relationship was good, but when personal safety was involved, it was better not to say too much. If something truly happened, they might end up becoming enemies...

"Ah, why is earning a few Spirit Stones so hard? The Society, just wait for me..."

Unaware of what Xiang Sui was thinking, Zhu Yu asked after they had divided the Spirit Stones:

"Senior Brother, do you have any Meditation Fluid left in stock? I would like to buy another jar."

"Hm?"

Xiang Sui and Liang Kuan were both stunned. The latter stared at Zhu Yu as though he had seen a ghost and asked in astonishment, "You drank all of it?"

Zhu Yu nodded slightly.

"Hiss..." Liang Kuan sucked in a cold breath and gave him a thumbs-up. "Junior Brother, you really are incredible!"

He knew all too well how severe Meditation Fluid's side effects were. Even now, he still had more than a dozen bottles sitting at home that he did not dare consume.

Xiang Sui shot him a glare, then looked at Zhu Yu. The smile on his face could not be contained as he nodded firmly.

"Yes!"

"To be honest, Junior Brother, after racking my brains for months, I have made some slight progress with the Meditation Fluid..."