The eldest princess cared nothing for the little bit of gold he had earned, which actually made Su Mu rather happy.
It seemed outsiders would not covet this little bit of money he had. If even the eldest princess did not covet it, outsiders probably would not either.
Even if they did, they would have to get past the eldest princess first.
But then Su Mu turned his attention back to the first piece of calligraphy.
The first piece of calligraphy possessed complete Righteous Qi and could help withstand Heavenly Tribulation. Even Golden Core cultivators coveted it somewhat.
In that case, just how much was this calligraphy worth? Even now, Su Mu still had no idea.
Xiao Wu opened her mouth, wanting to take Su Mu down a peg, but remembering that he had, after all, produced a six-inch piece of calligraphy before, she closed it again.
"It would be worth about thirteen thousand Spirit Stones."
"Thirteen thousand Spirit Stones? How much is that?"
Su Mu was rather confused. His understanding of this world's currency values was still hazy, and he had yet to get a thorough grasp of them.
Hearing this, Xiao Wu was also briefly bewildered. After some thought, she said, "Generally speaking, a hundred gold can be exchanged for one Spirit Stone, but practically no one would exchange Spirit Stones for gold, so the exchange rate would be somewhat higher."
Then that meant roughly over a million gold?
A six-inch piece of calligraphy was worth over a million gold, and possibly far more than he had expected.
At these words, Su Mu's heart immediately stirred. If he could take that million gold back to Earth, he felt his parents would basically have nothing to worry about for the rest of their lives.
Su Mu steadied himself. "Then would these ten-odd thousand Spirit Stones stir up people's greed?"
Xiao Wu was rather speechless. "Of course they would. After all, even Golden Core Stage cultivators want that calligraphy. Even exchanged for Spirit Stones, it would still have the same value. Do you think no one would covet it?"
Hearing this, Su Mu immediately felt rather embarrassed. That had indeed been a foolish question.
"But don't worry. If you can produce this six-inch calligraphy, you can sell it to the eldest princess. With the eldest princess giving you these Spirit Stones, outsiders naturally wouldn't dare entertain such thoughts."
"And if you can produce six-inch calligraphy again, you will carry more weight with the eldest princess. Naturally, she won't let outsiders lay a hand on you."
Xiao Wu said this softly, then looked Su Mu up and down with her lovely eyes.
Having heard this much, she felt something rather strange.
It was as though Su Mu possessed this ability but was afraid of others setting their sights on him.
That made her offer Su Mu a word of reassurance.
Hearing this, Su Mu thought for a moment, then nodded.
"I want to compose another piece of calligraphy. Which of you will help me?"
"I will!"
At these words, Xiao Lian was the first to speak, flying with incomparable lightness to the desk as she did.
She was a woman from a painting to begin with, steeped in the influence of countless works of calligraphy. She was extremely fond of such things, so she seemed rather impatient now.
Su Mu did not refuse. Seeing that she had dipped the brush in ink and was waiting with it in hand, he began to recite.
"At Mingqing, the dawn assembly summoned all officials; the J unrong immortal ensemble descended through the layered skies."
Listening to his recitation, Xiao Lian lightly moved her delicate hand, wielding the brush in midair to write elegant characters. Then she watched the words before her gradually begin to change, as though Righteous Qi were continuously gathering.
At this moment, Xiao Wu could not help taking a small step back as well. A thought stirred in her mind; she wanted to see whether Su Mu could truly produce another six-inch piece of calligraphy.
"Now I stand alone within the balmy breeze, yet hear the gathered immortals play the Nine Shao."
As he recited this, Xiao Lian continued writing, while Su Mu retreated again and again until he reached the doorway, suppressed by the Righteous Qi that had suddenly surged forth, not daring to raise his head to look.
Experiencing this, Su Mu felt utterly helpless. How could the difference between one person and another be so great?
Wasn't Xiao Lian aligned with yin, no matter how you looked at it? Yet she wasn't afraid of this Righteous Qi at all, and even seemed rather close to it, while I was so miserable I couldn't even approach.
Sensing the Righteous Qi surging ahead, Su Mu stood far away.
"How is it? How many inches?"
Su Mu asked, hoping to get an answer from the two of them.
But neither Xiao Wu nor Xiao Lian spoke. They merely stared at the calligraphy before them with peculiar looks in their eyes.
"It really is six inches again."
Xiao Wu found it rather unbelievable. Just what was Su Mu's background?
Not much time had passed since he had produced the previous six-inch piece of calligraphy, and now he had effortlessly produced another?
If such calligraphy could be produced so easily, the number of Nascent Soul cultivators in Great Liang would surely multiply several times over!
At this moment, Xiao Lian's small face also held a trace of shock. She knew that Su Mu had produced a six-inch piece of calligraphy before.
The problem was, this fellow could not even read. How did six-inch calligraphy seem to come to him as easily as plucking something with his fingers?
"Say something, you two?"
Su Mu was rather puzzled. Why were neither of them making a sound?
"Six-inch calligraphy. Very good."
Just then, a cool voice rang out. Su Mu felt a gentle breeze pass before him, carrying a faint hint of fragrance.
Looking again, he discovered that the eldest princess had arrived.
After glancing at the calligraphy before her, an inscrutable look appeared in the eldest princess's eyes as well.
"How about I give you thirteen thousand Spirit Stones in exchange for this calligraphy?"
"All right."
Hearing this, Su Mu agreed directly, without the slightest hesitation.
At this, the eldest princess's eyes curved slightly, as though she were smiling. With a wave of her slender hand, the calligraphy vanished.
Then the eldest princess rummaged around for a moment and tossed Su Mu a small bag. It looked a little like a burlap sack, but was only the size of a palm.
"So this is a Storage Bag?"
Su Mu looked at the little bag curiously.
"That's right. Storage Bags are rather expensive. I'll give you a discount and charge you three thousand Spirit Stones. There are still ten thousand Spirit Stones inside."
As she spoke, the eldest princess showed Su Mu how to open the Storage Bag. The thing was actually probably worth four thousand Spirit Stones, but she did not fuss over that much.
After trying it out, Su Mu immediately began playing with it endlessly, like someone who had just gotten a new toy.
"By the way, from today onward, you must take extra care when you go out. You've produced two six-inch pieces of calligraphy in succession. There certainly won't be any shortage of people wanting to make your acquaintance."
The eldest princess mentioned this, then left.
Su Mu put the few Spirit Stones and the gold in his room into the Storage Bag together, his face filled with delight.
Although this Storage Bag had cost him three thousand Spirit Stones, having it made things much more convenient. In the future, he could put anything he had inside without anyone noticing. All in all, it was still worth it.
"I never expected you really could produce six-inch calligraphy again."
Beside him, Xiao Wu looked Su Mu over, then spoke.
Xiao Lian also floated lightly over to Su Mu's side, circled him once, and nodded gently, her expression likewise carrying a trace of puzzlement.