The Sweet Taste of Big Brother Living Off His Wife!

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 did not possess the technique to plant and hasten the growth of Gathering Spirit Grass, he would probably need to save for one or two years to amass these fifty Spirit Stones.

For an ordinary Prospective Disciple,

that was how long they would have to earn money.

"Big Brother..."

Yue Shuo was deeply moved.

He recognized it too.

The other pearl was a Tier-One Spirit Pearl.

After reaching Qi Refining Level One,

it was a Tier-One auxiliary artifact that, once refined and carried close to the body, could increase one's cultivation speed.

It was perfect for his current needs.

Spirit-Drawing Incense could also provide a faint spirit-gathering effect, but it was mainly used to help one calm the mind, enter meditation, and draw in spirit energy.

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 against his body. He did not touch the Spirit Stones for now; he could take them out whenever he needed them.

He refined the Spirit Pearl first.

After refining it,

he could sense the Spirit Pearl continuously and faintly drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy.

It seemed to absorb and filter it.

Perfect. He had not begun cultivating today yet, and Azure Feather had interrupted him just as he was about to enter meditation.

Reading the letter and dealing with what followed had taken a little more time.

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

He cultivated the Thousand Waves Formula.

Calming his mind, entering meditation, drawing in spirit energy, refining it!

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

Yet today, something seemed slightly different.

The step of drawing in spirit energy and refining it was easier than usual.

After completing one cultivation session,

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

It was a full third less time!

The time required for a cultivation session had shortened.

To others, that might only mean having more free time.

But to Yue Shuo,

it meant that the amount of Divine Sense he could use had increased again.

Though it had only increased a little.

Continue cultivating!

At this moment, Yue Shuo's passion for cultivation burned high.

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

However, after stopping following five rounds of cultivation,

he still gave the matter some thought.

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

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

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

"If I have a movement technique and a defensive technique, I'll have the confidence to trade in the black market myself..."

"Of course, movement talismans or Defensive Talismans would work just as well!"

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

His older brother had said before

that they could be contacted through the Azure Spirit Bird.

But judging from the way Azure Feather had delivered the letter before, Yue Shuo felt that it was not very reliable. Still, he wanted a movement technique and defensive technique 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 older brother and sister-in-law.

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

As for how to report that he was safe,

he would need to think it over.

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

Only after cultivation ended did he check the change in his cultivation.

Previously, he had held himself back from looking.

Logically speaking,

before obtaining the Spirit Pearl 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, and 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 with whom one could exchange insights and improve together. Yue Shuo's previous guidance for Zou and Tian fit this category.

Wealth referred to cultivation resources.

Methods referred to cultivation techniques and knowledge.

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

Of course, alchemy arts and Talisman Crafting skill books

also fell under "methods"!

"Right now, I have no spiritual land. Fortunately, I have a Spirit Field with a Spirit-Gathering Array..." Yue Shuo had just thought of the Spirit Field when a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him.

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

When he cultivated in the Spirit Field, his cultivation efficiency had not increased; only his cultivation speed had become a little faster.

Therefore,

he had assumed that cultivating in the Spirit Field would not affect the consumption of the Spirit Field Formation.

But...

"Even if the Spirit Field Formation's defenses aren't strong, it still has defensive power against birds, insects, and small animals from outside..."

The Spirit Field was rich in spiritual energy and naturally attracted such living 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 those holding formation tokens, even ordinary people could not enter the Spirit Field.

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

Thinking of how Azure Feather had managed to fly in,

Yue Shuo immediately took out the formation token, poured spiritual power into it, and carefully sensed it.

He tried adjusting the concealing mist of the formation.

He found 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 them."

Yue Shuo's emotions stirred slightly.

"Common sense, common sense! As expected, cultivation isn't something one can manage just by 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 master some of the most basic knowledge.

"Ten Spirit Stones can support the planting of Gathering Spirit Grass for one year."

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

Between writing a letter to ask his older brother and waiting until the first of next month to visit the External Affairs Pavilion,

Yue Shuo chose the latter.

It was not that he did not trust his older brother. He simply had to reduce the possibility of his older brother and sister-in-law drawing attention as much as possible.

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

Whether his sister-in-law had begun cultivating by stumbling upon an immortal opportunity, or by being accepted as someone's disciple and taught cultivation techniques,

Yue Shuo felt, after analyzing it, that the former was more likely.

Of course, it was also possible that his father had left something behind at home, and his sister-in-law had discovered it after marrying into the family because she possessed a Spiritual Root.

But that possibility was unlikely.

Yue Shuo no longer fretted over gains and losses.

He patiently calculated again whether, after acquiring the Spirit Pearl artifact, the recovery rate of his Divine Sense had increased.

He recovered his Divine Sense inside the Spirit Field while waiting for Gu Jiu to return.

Gu Jiu returned with delight written all over his face.

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

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

Naturally, there were also the corresponding Talisman Ink materials.

But the latter were not worth much.

"So much?"

A 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 one thousand sheets cost around one Spirit Stone.

Adding some Talisman Ink materials,

that came to four Spirit Stones.

It was slightly higher than the three Spirit Stones he had expected to receive.

Especially when Gu Jiu presented another Spirit Stone.

"Did they sell for more than five Spirit Stones?"

"It was four Spirit Stones. This Spirit Stone is a deposit given to you by Shopkeeper Tao... Please hear this servant out!"

Naturally, Gu Jiu did not dare to accept an order on his young master's behalf without permission.

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

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

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

It was so sweet for Big Brother to live off his wife!

"Who is this Shopkeeper Tao?"