Engrave

By the time Qin Huaian and Wang Baole reached the city, it was already evening. The city was called Eternal Peace City, the prefectural capital of Eternal Peace Prefecture in the Qi Kingdom.

The two walked along Eternal Peace City's main thoroughfare. The city was quite prosperous; though evening had fallen, the cries of street vendors still rang out without end.

"Fatty, let's find an inn and settle in first. We've been living out in the wilderness for so long—it's time to get a good night's rest."

"Yeah, and have a proper meal too. Ever since we went mining, we haven't eaten well. I've even gotten thinner."

Qin Huaian turned to scrutinize Wang Baole's round face. He couldn't see where the guy had lost any flesh.

"Young masters, come in and sit awhile~"

"This humble girl is skilled in song and dance. Come in, and let me sing a tune for you, young master~"

At that moment, several scantily clad girls gathered around them, greeting them in sweet, warbling voices.

Qin Huaian looked up. Before them stood a rather lavish three-story building, with a signboard above its entrance bearing the three words: House of Delight.

It was Qin Huaian's first time seeing such an ancient-style brothel, and he could not help glancing inside a few times. Within, everything glittered with extravagance, and the place was bursting with activity.

Seeing this spectacle, Wang Baole somehow suddenly recalled the Great Jin Customs Record. His face instantly reddened. "No, no, we're just passing by."

"This young master looks terribly unfamiliar to me. Is this your first visit? Come, let this humble girl serve you properly~"

"Brother Qin..." Wang Baole looked at Qin Huaian with embarrassment written across his face.

Qin Huaian had seen women dressed even more scantily than these girls in his previous life. Without changing expression, he pushed them aside and led the little fatty through the area. Qin Huaian was no upright gentleman, but he had no interest in a place like this either.

After walking a little farther, they spotted a moderately sized inn. The two entered, and a waiter came up to greet them.

"Will you be dining, or staying the night, honored guests?"

"Prepare two superior rooms for us, and bring us a table of your best signature dishes."

"Right away! Please have a seat, you two. The food will be here shortly." The waiter led them to a table on the first floor, then hurried off toward the kitchen.

Before long, a lavish spread of dishes was brought out. Though it could not compare to the grand feasts of Qin Huaian's previous life, complete in color, aroma, and flavor, it was more than satisfying for the two of them after so many days stranded in the wilderness.

The two devoured the food like a whirlwind sweeping away fallen clouds, quickly polishing off most of the tableful of dishes.

Then Qin Huaian suddenly thought of a question. "Fatty, do you have any worldly currency on you?"

"No. After arriving at the cultivation market, there was basically no use for worldly money. It was inconvenient to carry around, so I don't have any ordinary coins now."

"Brother Qin, you don't have any either? Why don't we give them spirit stones? One spirit stone can exchange for at least ten taels of gold—enough to eat and stay here for years."

Qin Huaian called over the innkeeper and handed him a low-grade spirit stone.

The innkeeper had seen all manner of travelers from north to south and knew good goods when he saw them. Upon seeing Qin Huaian hand over a spirit stone, he hurriedly said, "This is far too valuable. We can't make change for it."

"No need for change. Just make sure no one disturbs our rest tonight."

"Yes, yes! Young master, please go upstairs. We'll close up right away." The innkeeper said delightedly.

The two each entered their own room. Qin Huaian sat cross-legged on the bed, pondering the path of cultivation ahead.

Returning to the mine vein was probably impossible. The beast tide had likely already destroyed it. Besides, he was now at the fifth level of Qi Refinement; going back to mine would draw the attention of others.

He still had over 2,400 low-grade spirit stones left, along with nearly ten thousand jin of Red Copper Ore and one piece of refined red copper in the seed space.

If he converted it all into spirit stones, it would probably amount to around ten thousand low-grade spirit stones.

At his current rate of cultivation expenditure, it likely would not last long. He still had to keep earning spirit stones.

The date for sect recruitment should not be far off. If he could enter a major sect, there should be more avenues and opportunities to earn spirit stones.

Before then, he would have to make money on his own. Hunting demon beasts in the Million Mountains was too dangerous. He already had a cheat—why take such risks? He had to think of another way.

Qin Huaian took several books he had obtained from the cultivator in the tree hollow out of his storage pouch and laid them before him.

"If I can learn alchemy, that should be a very good way to make money," Qin Huaian thought.

He stored the other books in the seed space and was just about to pick up the thick Alchemy Basics to begin studying it when a mechanical voice sounded in his mind:

"Unknown books Everlasting Spring Art and Great Jin Customs Record detected. Record them?"

What the hell was recording? Qin Huaian was briefly puzzled, but understanding soon dawned on him.

It turned out that if books stored in the seed space were ones he had not read himself or had failed to memorize, the seed space could record their contents into the mirror body's mind. In turn, the knowledge contained in those books could be synchronized into Qin Huaian's mind.

Of course, this could only input the contents. Whether he could understand them depended on Qin Huaian's aptitude. For example, after inputting a cultivation art, he would merely remember its contents—it did not mean he had learned the art. But if it was knowledge-based material, such as descriptions of spirit herbs' appearances and functions, Qin Huaian could commit it deeply to memory.

There had been no prompt when he put the Azure Splendor Art inside before. It was probably because he had already memorized the Azure Splendor Art.

"So it has this function? Doesn't that mean I now have a photographic memory? No, it's even better than that. As long as I put something into the space, I can remember it without even looking at it." Qin Huaian thought happily.

"Record!" Qin Huaian silently commanded.

Qin Huaian felt the contents of the Everlasting Spring Art suddenly appear in his mind, as though he had already finished reading the cultivation art and committed it deeply to memory.

Naturally, the Great Jin Customs Record was also deeply imprinted in his mind, but that was a matter best left unmentioned for now.

Qin Huaian also placed Alchemy Basics into the seed space. Through the recording function, he instantly memorized the contents recorded in Alchemy Basics.

The first half of Alchemy Basics mainly introduced the appearances, habitats, effects, and preliminary processing methods of various common spirit medicines.

The latter half recorded several pill formulas. These formulas not only listed the spirit medicines required to refine the pills, but also detailed the refining techniques, control of heat, and precautions to take during alchemy.

Of course, possessing detailed steps for pill refinement did not mean one could refine pills. To successfully refine medicinal pills and become an alchemist, one also needed talent for alchemy and experience accumulated through attempt after attempt.

Alchemy demanded extremely precise control over the heat and exact timing when adding ingredients. All of it had to be built up through countless practices and piles upon piles of spirit herbs.

As long as one successfully refined a first-grade pill, one would be considered a first-grade alchemist.

The mirror body could deduce pill formulas, so he would begin with the most commonly used pills, those in greatest demand among Qi Refinement cultivators.

"Deduce the Qi Recovery Pill."

[Consume 100 spirit stones. The mirror body can deduce the Qi Recovery Pill to beginner level. Time required: 6 hours. Consuming 200 spirit stones can halve the time required.]

"Consume 100 spirit stones to deduce it."