Big Brother Living Off His Wife Really Smelled Sweet!

Of the two remaining boxes, one contained a tiny pearl when opened.

The other held something Yue Shuo recognized as well.

"Spirit Stones..."

Yue Shuo counted them. There were fifty Spirit Stones.

If he had not possessed the technique to cultivate and ripen Gathering Spirit Grass, these fifty Spirit Stones would probably have taken him one or two years to save up.

For an ordinary Prospective Disciple,

that was how long they would have to work to earn them.

"Big Brother..."

Yue Shuo's heart was deeply moved.

He recognized it as well.

The other pearl was a Tier-One Spirit Pearl.

After reaching Qi Refining Level One,

it was a First-Tier Magical Artifact that could be refined and carried on one's person to increase cultivation speed, an auxiliary cultivation tool.

It was perfect for him right now.

Spirit-Drawing Incense could also produce a faint Spirit-Gathering effect, but it was mainly used to calm the mind, enter meditation, and assist with Spirit Induction.

If he had had this when he first arrived,

then surely... uh, it seemed he had achieved Spirit-Drawing Entry on his first try anyway...

With complicated feelings, Yue Shuo put the items back into their boxes.

He returned them to his spatial artifact.

Only the Spirit Pearl remained outside.

Yue Shuo tucked the spatial artifact close to his body. He did not touch the Spirit Stones for now; he could simply take them out when he needed them.

First, he refined the Spirit Pearl.

After refining it,

he could sense the Spirit Pearl continuously absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy, faintly but without end.

It seemed to filter it as it absorbed it.

Perfect. He had not started cultivating today yet. Just as he had been preparing to enter meditation, the flying Azure Feather had interrupted him.

Reading the letter and handling everything afterward had taken a little more time.

Glancing outside the Spirit Field at Azure Feather resting quietly atop a large tree, Yue Shuo began cultivating with the Spirit Pearl on him.

He cultivated the Thousand Waves Formula.

Calm the mind, enter meditation, draw in spirit energy, refine!

He had long since become thoroughly familiar with all four steps.

Yet today, something seemed slightly different.

The Spirit Induction and refinement stages were easier than usual.

After completing one round of cultivation,

Yue Shuo opened his eyes and immediately checked the timing artifact. He discovered that this cultivation session had taken only a little over forty minutes.

A full third less time!

The time needed for one cultivation session had shortened.

To others, that might only mean they had more free time.

But for Yue Shuo,

it meant the amount of Divine Sense available to him had increased once again.

Though it had only risen a little.

Continue cultivating!

Yue Shuo was brimming with enthusiasm for cultivation at that moment.

As for his big brother and sister-in-law, and his parents' situation, he did not dwell on them for now. There was no use in overthinking them anyway.

However, after he stopped following five rounds of cultivation,

he still gave it some thought.

Could he obtain the escape technique and alchemy furnace he wanted through his big brother and sister-in-law?

But the latter was quite valuable, wasn't it?

Yue Shuo was delighted to receive the gifts, but he also considered how to repay them. He had never been someone who only liked taking advantage.

"If I have an escape technique and a defensive technique, I'll be confident enough to trade at the black market myself..."

"Of course, an Escape Talisman or Defensive Talisman would work just as well!"

Yue Shuo thought for a while, then recalled the contents of his big brother's letter.

His big brother had said

that he could contact them through the Azure Spirit Bird.

But judging from how Azure Spirit Bird had delivered the letter earlier, Yue Shuo felt that method was not entirely reliable. Yet he wanted escape and defensive techniques far too badly.

"Should I endure a little longer and visit the External Affairs Pavilion on the first of next month?"

If he could obtain those things through the Qin Clan,

there would be no need to risk contacting his big brother and sister-in-law.

Of course, it was necessary to let them know he was safe as well.

How should he report that he was safe?

He would need to think it over.

Yue Shuo first restored his Divine Sense for a while. Once it reached twenty-six points, he began cultivating again, completing five rounds in succession.

Only after finishing did he check the changes in his cultivation.

Previously, he had restrained himself from looking.

Logically speaking,

before obtaining the Spirit Pearl Magical Artifact, his cultivation efficiency had been 2.4. Ten rounds of cultivation would grant him 24 points of cultivation.

Before cultivating,

his cultivation had been:

[Cultivation: 62.8/1000 (+2.4)]

Now...

Yue Shuo looked inward at the panel, at the cultivation entry.

[Cultivation: 92.8/1000 (+3 per session)]

Ten rounds of cultivation had granted him 30 points of cultivation, while his cultivation efficiency had visibly risen by 0.6!

"Sure enough, cultivation requires land, companions, wealth, and methods!"

Land referred to spiritual land, a cultivation environment rich in spiritual energy.

Companions referred to fellow cultivators who could exchange insights and improve together. Yue Shuo's earlier guidance to Zou and Tian fit this category.

Wealth referred to cultivation resources.

Methods referred to cultivation techniques and knowledge.

In other words, things like the escape techniques and defensive techniques Yue Shuo currently lacked could all be classified under "methods"!

Of course, alchemy techniques, Talisman Crafting skill books, and the like

also fell under "methods"!

"At present, I have no spiritual land. Fortunately, I have a Spirit Field with a Spirit-Gathering Array..." Just as Yue Shuo thought of the Spirit Field, a flash of insight suddenly struck him.

"Wait! It seems I've been cultivating inside the Spirit Field for several days!"

When he cultivated in the Spirit Field, his cultivation efficiency had not increased. He only cultivated slightly faster.

So,

he had assumed that cultivating within the Spirit Field had no effect on the consumption of the Spirit Field Formation.

But...

"Even if the Spirit Field Formation's defenses are not strong, it can still defend against birds, insects, and small animals from outside..."

The spiritual energy within the Spirit Field was abundant, naturally making it easier to attract such creatures.

To prevent harmful creatures from affecting the Spirit Field's crops,

the Spirit Field Formation had long possessed targeted suppression and defenses against them. Other than people with formation tokens, ordinary people could not enter the Spirit Field at all.

"So the Spirit Field Formation has been consuming quite a bit because of my cultivation?"

Yue Shuo thought of why Azure Feather had been able to fly in.

He immediately took out the formation token, infused it with Spell Power, and carefully sensed it.

He tried adjusting the formation's obscuring mist of light.

He discovered that it had slowed down.

"The Spirit Field Formation has indeed been affected. But now that I have Spirit Stones, the question is how to replenish the Spirit Stones?"

Yue Shuo's emotions fluctuated slightly.

"Common sense, common sense! Cultivation truly isn't something that can be managed by merely reading a few cultivation manuals!"

He felt that even if he did not delve deeply into the path of formations in the future,

he still needed to grasp some of the most fundamental knowledge.

"Ten Spirit Stones can sustain the cultivation of Gathering Spirit Grass for a year."

"And now, as long as I don't keep cultivating in the Spirit Field, it should still hold out for several days."

Between writing to ask his big brother and going to the External Affairs Pavilion on the first of next month,

Yue Shuo still chose the latter.

It was not that he did not trust his big brother. Rather, he had to reduce as much as possible the chance of his big brother and sister-in-law attracting attention.

"Clearly, Sister-in-law did not begin cultivating through the Qin Clan's Ascension Assembly..."

Whether his sister-in-law had stumbled upon an immortal opportunity or had been taken in as a disciple and taught cultivation techniques,

Yue Shuo felt the former was more likely after analyzing the matter.

Of course, it was also possible that his father had left something behind at home, and his sister-in-law had discovered it due to possessing a Spiritual Root after marrying in.

But that possibility was unlikely.

He had possessed a Spiritual Root for so long, and he had lived at home for all those years.

Yue Shuo no longer fretted over gains and losses.

He patiently calculated again whether, after obtaining the Spirit Pearl Magical Artifact, his Divine Sense recovery had improved.

He restored his Divine Sense in the Spirit Field and waited for Gu Jiu to return.

Gu Jiu's face was full of joy.

It seemed he had not been beaten up during this trip out.

Through Gu Jiu's sale of the Foundational Talisman set of three, Yue Shuo obtained a bottle of Grain-Repelling Pills and one thousand sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper.

There were naturally corresponding Talisman Ink materials as well.

However, the latter were not worth much.

"So much?"

One bottle of Grain-Repelling Pills contained five pills and cost three Spirit Stones. One hundred sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper cost one or two taels of gold, so a thousand sheets were worth about one Spirit Stone.

Along with some Talisman Ink materials,

that came to four Spirit Stones.

It was slightly higher than the three Spirit Stones he had expected to sell them for.

Especially when Gu Jiu presented another Spirit Stone.

"They sold for over five Spirit Stones?"

"It was four Spirit Stones. This Spirit Stone is a deposit given to you by Shopkeeper Tao... Please listen to my explanation!"

Of course, Gu Jiu did not dare make the decision to accept an order on his young master's behalf.

"Shopkeeper Tao said that if you are unwilling to accept the order, this Spirit Stone will still be given to you as a gift of respect..."

Yue Shuo was now truly indifferent toward one or two Spirit Stones.

His brother and sister-in-law had generously given him fifty!

Big Brother living off his wife really smelled sweet!

"Who is this Shopkeeper Tao?"