Have Some Tea!

Storage artifacts were the most precious magical artifacts in the early stages of the spiritual energy tide—bar none!

Even the Fu family's information network had first learned the name "storage artifact" through a noble of Great Xia who held a title.

That noble had accidentally discovered a storage artifact in his family treasury, containing several cubic meters of space.

That very night, the noble had taken his legitimate son to Tower-Ascending Temple, one of Great Xia's most renowned Taoist temples.

Tower-Ascending Temple had once been a reclusive great sect that had endured for ten thousand years, passed down from the flourishing age of cultivation ten millennia ago to the present day.

The noble had presented the storage artifact to an elder of Tower-Ascending Temple, ultimately allowing his legitimate son to successfully enter that elder's tutelage. From the moment he joined, he became a high-status inner disciple, qualified to cultivate within a blessed land.

This matter alone was enough to prove just how precious storage artifacts were.

The words Fu Hua had wanted to use to refuse were shoved straight back down his throat by the item Shen Yuan had tossed over.

He wanted to curry favor with Shen Yuan so that he could reap benefits in the future, or perhaps gain Shen Yuan's protection.

And the storage artifact Shen Yuan had thrown out now was enough to crush every other temptation.

Moreover, Shen Yuan had been willing to produce something so precious precisely because he wanted to define this as a transaction and did not wish to owe any so-called favor. If Fu Hua refused again, he would be failing to appreciate the favor shown to him.

Fu Hua's guess was largely correct. Shen Yuan did not wish to owe favors, but there was one thing Fu Hua had failed to realize: the seemingly precious storage artifact was nothing much to Shen Yuan.

As long as he had a spiritual object capable of housing an opened space, Shen Yuan, who possessed the Pot-Heaven Divine Ability, could casually create one with nothing more than a bit of time.

Previously, however, he had lacked a channel through which to acquire spiritual objects. At most, he could make temporary spatial tools to serve as spatial grenades.

Now that he had an opportunity for a trade, Shen Yuan naturally wanted to use the Fu family to gather some spiritual objects. The little compensation he had offered was merely a trivial detail.

The car entered the alley Shen Yuan knew so well and slowly came to a stop before the courtyard.

When he stepped out of the car, the courtyard that had previously been attacked by demons had already undergone repairs. The damaged outer walls and collapsed gate had all been restored to look brand-new.

The sunken ground and stone bricks inside the courtyard had been repaired, and even the wooden corridor had been renovated, with its rotten and broken portions removed.

As Shen Yuan stepped into the courtyard, the green vines winding around the corridor and the lush jujube tree swayed gently without wind, as though welcoming his return.

"Mr. Shen, my father has transferred this courtyard to you. All the contract procedures have already been handled for you.

"If anything comes up later, please feel free to give orders!"

Fu Hua watched Shen Yuan's expression. Only after confirming that Shen Yuan did not dislike their unauthorized repairs did he take the initiative to leave the courtyard.

Fu Hua had long been eager to return, wishing he could fly back immediately and report the transaction he had reached with Shen Yuan to Old Master Fu.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Fu family would gain unprecedented, enormous benefits from this trade. It might even allow them to soar to the heavens in a single step and seize the initiative in this age of cultivation.

As the roar of the car faded into the distance, Shen Yuan walked over to the stone table beneath the jujube tree.

When renovating the courtyard, the Fu family had done their best to preserve its original appearance, so this old stone table had been kept as well.

Yet two boxes of black and white stone game pieces had appeared atop the table. Combined with the crisscrossing lines carved into its surface, it looked even more like a Go board.

Shen Yuan picked up a black piece. Not understanding Go, he casually placed it at the tengen point, then turned and pushed open the door to the room.

The moment he entered, Shen Yuan paused slightly. In the living room facing the courtyard sat a massive gray canvas bag.

Walking over, Shen Yuan opened the huge package and found it packed neatly with all kinds of snacks, drinks, and even two boxes of rather high-end tea.

At the very bottom of those things lay a crumpled sheet of paper covered in writing.

"I wanted to sneak over and give you a surprise, but sadly, when I got here, I found you weren't home, so I slipped in using the spare key I had made before.

"You did pretty well this time. At least when I cleaned your room for you, I didn't find anything weird. Still, considering your age, I don't know whether I should be happy or disappointed.

"I still have one day of vacation left, and I need to go shopping with my girlfriends, so I won't wait for you to come home.

"These are all things you used to love eating, so remember to eat more.

"I also secretly brought those two boxes of tea from Dad's cabinet. Even if you don't drink them, don't just throw them away. Remember to sell them on Xianyu—they're worth a lot of money!"

At the bottom of the note was a simply drawn smiling face. But after being squeezed beneath all those things, the paper had become wrinkled, making that already ugly smile look even uglier.

A slight warmth rose in Shen Yuan's heart as he carefully put away the crumpled note.

There was no need to say it—this had to be Shen Yu's doing.

Shen Yu's salary was not high, and with her personality, there was no way she would ask her family for money to buy things for Shen Yuan.

The tea she had supposedly stolen from home was merely an excuse to put Shen Yuan at ease. She could only have saved up to buy these things herself.

As for rushing back to go shopping with her girlfriends, that was clearly just something she had made up to fool Shen Yuan. After buying all this with her salary, she would have trouble even supporting herself. Based on what Shen Yuan knew of her, there was a high chance she had gone back early to take odd jobs and earn living expenses.

Thinking of this, Shen Yuan could not help letting out a soft sigh.

With Shen Yuan's current abilities, helping Shen Yu escape her present predicament would take no more than a word to the Fu family.

But with Shen Yu's stubborn temperament, if she found out, she definitely would not accept it. She had abandoned her family's support to struggle on her own, all because she wanted to prove herself.

"Since that's the case, I can only have Fu Hua quietly arrange for someone to look after her."

Shen Yu's concern seemed to pull Shen Yuan out of the absorbed cultivation he had immersed himself in over the past two days while comprehending the Earthly Baleful Sword Art.

The more he experienced the growth cultivation brought, and the transcendent power beyond mortal limits bestowed by divine abilities, the more Shen Yuan yearned for the great path of immortality, wishing to glimpse what truly lay at the end of cultivation.

It seemed that only Shen Yu's existence could remind Shen Yuan, if only a little, that he was still within the mortal world.

He could ignore the changing tides of Great Xia, sit back and watch dynasties rise and fall, but in the end, he could not remain indifferent to everything.

"Perhaps leaving myself one thread of attachment isn't such a bad thing."

Shen Yuan gently shook his head, took out a box of tea and a tea set from the package, and leisurely walked toward the stone table.

No cultivation today. Have some tea!

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