Whiling Away the Time with You

"Phew..."

He had met his cultivation goal for the day.

Chen Shu was exhausted and exhilarated.

Feeling the abundant spiritual power in his Spirit Sea, he fought through his fatigue, took out the Crystal, and poured roughly 94% of his spiritual power into it, leaving himself just 6%.

With its spiritual power depleted, his Spirit Sea was already showing signs of contracting, and it had suffered slight damage. When it recovered, it would undergo a kind of "over-repair," like a muscle—and come back a tiny bit stronger. That would help improve the quality of his spiritual power, which in turn would help him break through the Spirit Lock when he advanced.

It was an old method—

Thousands of years ago, people had begun emptying their spiritual power to aid cultivation, calling it the Depletion Method.

A little cultivation trick, really.

Later, people discovered that emptying their spiritual power completely was not such a good idea. It could badly damage the Spirit Sea and make recovery difficult.

While the Spirit Sea was completely drained, it would also draw spiritual power from elsewhere in the body. The small amounts scattered through the limbs and bones would flow back into it, and the body, long strengthened by spiritual power and accustomed to it, would suddenly lose that support and become extremely weak. In severe cases, it could even develop symptoms resembling a milder form of Spirit Decline Syndrome, damaging bodily functions.

Not only was it unpleasant, but it also required time to recover.

That only delayed cultivation.

So later generations experimented and found the sweet spot with the best payoff. It varied from person to person, but generally meant leaving around 5% to 10% of one's spiritual power.

The principle remained the same in modern times, though the technique had evolved.

There were more scientific formulas for calculating how much spiritual power each person should retain, and specialized devices to absorb it. No one had to keep casting spells like a fool anymore.

Chen Shu, however, had always used the Crystal.

The Crystal stored a peculiar energy that seemed remarkably high-level. That energy replenished itself automatically, while using the Crystal to teleport consumed some of it. The Crystal also accepted all the spiritual power Chen Shu poured into it, but that power vanished without a ripple, as though it did nothing at all to recharge it.

"Sigh..."

Chen Shu let out a sigh.

He was cultivating far too quickly. At this rate, it would not be long before he had to buy another potion.

This time, it would be a mid-tier advancement aid potion.

It cost about the same as a potion for breaking through from Second Tier to Third Tier. But when breaking through to mid-tier, a potion could no longer decide the outcome; it could only provide a decent boost—which meant he would have to buy another if he failed the first time.

Good heavens.

He could not earn money fast enough to keep up with his cultivation.

How troubling.

Time to sleep.

He woke the next day feeling refreshed.

After washing up, Chen Shu glanced into the kitchen. The dishes had been washed. Only after asking Jiang Lai did he learn that Jiang Lai had not done them—Meng Chunqiu had.

Honestly—

Those hands of Brother Meng's were meant to sweep ink across paper and write immortal lines. How could he use them for something like this?

Saved me a lot of work!

Chen Shu went out in high spirits.

One in the afternoon.

In Ning Qing's little courtyard.

They had already eaten lunch, but they still sat on opposite sides of the long dining table. Ning Qing stretched out her hand for Chen Shu to hold.

Her hand was soft and smooth.

Apply cuticle softener;

push back the cuticles with a steel tool;

trim;

wipe with a cleansing pad;

buff with a file;

clean and buff the nail surface with a sponge buffer;

wipe clean;

That was more or less the prep work done. Chen Shu blew gently on her hand, held her fingers, and gave them a light squeeze.

Oh, so soft.

Ning Qing watched him in silence.

That step was clearly unnecessary. He just wanted to play with her hand, yet he did it so naturally, as though it belonged in the process.

Apply a thin coat of base gel;

set the adjustable Illumination Spell to long-wave ultraviolet light and shine it on the nails for about a minute.

Apply strengthening gel;

shine the light for another minute.

Only then did he begin applying the colored gel.

Chen Shu chose a translucent shade and applied two thin coats, curing each under ultraviolet light. Then he took out a bottle of painting gel and used a fine liner brush to gradually draw a bare tree on one of Ning Qing's nails.

This was the part that took skill.

Ning Qing let him fuss over her nails. She raised her eyes slightly and looked at his face.

Chen Shu was quieter than usual, as though he had even softened his breathing. Concentration filled his face, as if he were painstakingly crafting a work of art.

Before long, the bare tree took shape.

A tiny painting seemed to have appeared on her nail: a tree reflected on the clear surface of a lake, standing quietly alone.

"Heh!"

Judging by the way he studied it, he seemed pleased with the result too.

Only then did he relax a little and start talking again. With some surprise, he said, "Hey, your heart didn't stir today! Hm? Isn't a guy doing your nails charming enough?"

Ning Qing, naturally, said nothing.

"Or has your heart already stirred, but since it can't happen a third time, you're pretending not to say anything?

"Oh, I get it..."

He talked to himself, thoroughly absorbed in it. "Looks like you really have found the right way to deal with me..."

As he spoke, he applied a top coat to the nail.

"What should I paint on this nail?

"How about a poop?

"No answer means yes.

"Great, you agreed.

"Tsk, tsk. I never knew you liked that sort of thing.

"Then I'll get started!"

Not a ripple stirred in Ning Qing's heart.

He really did paint a poop on the index finger of her left hand. He even made it vivid, with three wisps of steam curling upward.

Ning Qing still let him do as he pleased.

On the next nail, Chen Shu again used painting gel, this time drawing a simple pattern of hills. With the milky-white gel, they looked like overlapping snowcapped mountains.

He attached an ornament to another nail.

He again used translucent colored gel as a base, though in a different shade. Then he casually layered on a few strokes of glitter polish filled with tiny stars. Once the base color was done, he carefully picked up a crystal butterfly ornament he had bought online with tweezers and fixed it in place with rhinestone glue.

For the last nail, he made the wrinkled texture that was so popular lately and painted a little daisy. It had a lovely three-dimensional look, and a row of tiny pearls made it especially pretty.

He had only learned it from an online tutorial the week before.

Ning Qing had propped her chin on her hand.

The process was terribly involved. It required many tools, a great deal of time, and plenty of patience and focus. If she had been doing it herself, she would never have wanted to spend her time on it. She had no interest at all in whether her nails looked pretty and did not even like growing them long.

But Chen Shu was willing to spend time on it. He was willing to decorate her in all sorts of strange, flashy ways, and he seemed to enjoy it.

As it happened, she was happy to spend time with Chen Shu.

That interested her too.

Chen Shu was utterly captivating like this.

Before they knew it, the afternoon was half gone.

Chen Shu was on the final step, applying nourishing oil to moisturize her skin.

"Done!"

Chen Shu lifted Ning Qing's hand and had her spread her fingers. Looking at the beautiful nails, he felt a swell of accomplishment.

He squeezed her fingers again—

They seemed even softer than before!

Ning Qing looked at them a few more times. Just as she was about to pull her hand back, Chen Shu stopped her.

"Let me take a picture."

So Ning Qing stayed still.

Chen Shu raised his phone and aimed it at her hand. He tried several angles, arranged her hand in different poses, and snapped a string of photos.

Ning Qing's hands were beautiful. Her fingers were long and elegant, her skin smooth—she could have been a hand model. They were lovely to hold, and they looked gorgeous in photographs too.

"Beautiful!"

Chen Shu did not forget to add, "Of course, that's because my work is so good."

Ning Qing withdrew her hand from his and held it up, studying it carefully.

Mostly the index finger...

If I weren't cultivating the Stillheart Way, I'd definitely hit him.

Before putting away the many tools and polishes, Chen Shu took another photo to show just how much work the process had taken.

Then he opened the Ancient Cultivator group chat.

Greens and Cocoa: What are you all doing?

Grandma Always Says: Thinking about how to make money /chin in hand

Unknown Person: I'm so bored. No one will talk to me! What are you doing, Junior Sister Greens?

Greens and Cocoa: Just finished doing some nails.

Greens and Cocoa: [Image]

He sent the last photo he had taken, of the tools, but did not send a picture of the finished nails.

Grandma Always Says: I can't make heads or tails of it /yawn

Unknown Person: Such refined tastes, Junior Sister Greens! /thumbs-up

Grandma Always Says: Group leader, group leader, mighty group leader, got any good ways to make money? Something easy that brings in big money. Share one with me.

Greens and Cocoa: There are plenty in the criminal code.

Unknown Person: Junior Sister Greens, you're so funny! /thumbs-up

Chen Shu's mouth twitched.

This guy is something else...

Greens and Cocoa: Thank you for the compliment, Senior Brother Nameless /shy

Unknown Person: You're welcome! /smile

"..."

Even Chen Shu, who was usually so quick with words, had no idea how to reply.

Just then, the group leader appeared.

Righteous Vital Energy: Yes.

Grandma Always Says: Let's hear it, let's hear it.

Righteous Vital Energy: Are you short on money? What do you need it for?

Grandma Always Says: How could I not be? I'm really short on money lately. I found a source and want to buy detailed information about the Royal Court, but it's so expensive.

Righteous Vital Energy: Royal Court.

Grandma Always Says: Oh, same thing. That's how the input method typed it. Don't fuss over the details—hurry up and help me make money.

Righteous Vital Energy: That's none of my concern.

Grandma Always Says: Fine, I'm about to advance and need to stockpile a bunch of advancement potions. It'll probably take me several tries to succeed. I'm desperately short on money, so hurry up and help me make some.

Chen Shu watched silently from behind his phone screen.

Righteous Vital Energy: Call me big brother.

Would that really work?

Chen Shu could not hold back.

Greens and Cocoa: I want in too, I want in too.

Righteous Vital Energy: Call me big brother.

Greens and Cocoa: Big brother.

Having an alternate identity was great. He felt no embarrassment at all.

Righteous Vital Energy has invited you to a private chat.

Accept / Decline

Chen Shu tapped Accept without hesitation.

He was immediately taken to a separate chat window, unlike the way ordinary messaging apps worked.

Righteous Vital Energy: Azure Boat Spirit Energy.

Righteous Vital Energy: Buy this stock as soon as you can. Decide for yourself when to sell. You can't lose money; how much you make depends on your own ability.

Righteous Vital Energy left the private chat.

Chen Shu stared at the two messages, stunned for a moment, then left the chat too.

Grandma Always Says: But I asked first!

Grandma Always Says: Big brother!

Grandma Always Says: Big brother!?

Grandma Always Says: Big shot!!

Righteous Vital Energy and Greens and Cocoa ended their private chat.

Righteous Vital Energy invited Grandma Always Says to a private chat.

Chen Shu stared at the notification, taken aback again. So whenever anyone in the group had a private chat, everyone got notified?

That kind of design was pretty rare.

While he was at it, he looked up the stock.

Azure Boat Spirit Energy mainly operated in the spirit energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, and artificial spirit crystal sectors. Its main business was producing and supplying spirit energy, though it also researched and manufactured artificial spirit crystals. Its market capitalization was modest because it favored extracting spirit energy from nature in a more environmentally friendly way. That approach was a bit unconventional, cost slightly more, and left it at a competitive disadvantage.

After looking it up, he returned to the Ancient Cultivator group.

Righteous Vital Energy and Grandma Always Says ended their private chat.

Grandma Always Says: You're a real friend.

Grandma Always Says: If even one of these five stocks makes me a fortune, I'll be grateful beyond words.

Greens and Cocoa: ?

Greens and Cocoa: Five stocks?

Was it too late for me to start calling you big shot?