“Sir, may I ask what you’re looking for?”
Since this was a high-end shop, there was no cliché of looking down on a customer just because he wore tattered clothes.
Although the attitude of the clerk toward Lin Wuming was inevitably different from the way he greeted obviously wealthy customers, he was still quite polite.
“Hmm.”
Lin Wuming nodded, skipped all small talk, and got straight to the point:
“I’m here to buy a spirit stone…”
As he spoke, he pulled out a small gold ingot, causing the clerk to look at him in surprise.
…
After buying a single spirit stone, Lin Wuming turned and left.
Inside the shop, a young girl was staring at his back with interest.
Blinking, she looked at the robed young woman next to her and said,
“Miss, that poor boy is kind of interesting. Dressed in rags, yet he can afford a spirit stone? I bet he stole that money from somewhere.”
The girl she called “Miss” wore a light green daoist robe with a sword strapped to her back.
Her aura was ethereal and refined, like a lotus untouched by dust.
Upon hearing that, she glanced at Lin Wuming and replied…
“Why make baseless assumptions without knowing the truth? And even if it is ill-gotten wealth, the fact that he came to buy a spirit stone instead of indulging in worldly pleasures shows he has foresight.”
“Is that so…”
The maidservant tapped her lips and nodded vaguely in understanding.
“At least more foresight than you, silly girl…”
The robed young woman smiled gently, teasing her.
“Miss!”
The maid immediately pouted in protest.
“Alright, enough joking—we’re still in someone else’s shop.”
The robed girl waved her hand and reminded seriously…
“Don’t forget, we came to the Jade Stone Pavilion for a reason.”
“Oh, right…”
The maid seemed to suddenly remember and nodded.
“But Miss, what do you plan to buy as a gift… for your future husband?”
“That…”
The robed girl’s expression became a little awkward.
Her brows furrowed, and the confidence she had just moments ago faded, replaced by a hint of gloom.
“I’m not sure… Ever since I joined my sect, I’ve devoted myself to cultivation. I don’t even know what he likes. And besides…”
Her hand brushed across her chest without meaning to, her face clouded with sorrow.
“Miss… are you thinking about that letter again?”
“Do you think… he truly doesn’t like me? If that’s the case…”
She bit her lip. If he genuinely didn’t want her, she couldn’t force it either.
If her fellow disciples saw her like this now, they would surely be shocked.
“Don’t think too much, Miss…”
The maid quickly comforted her….
“You come from a good background, and now you’re a disciple of the number one sect in the world, the Hall of Grand Void. You’re beautiful and elegant. What reason would your fiancé have not to like you? That letter… there must be another reason.”
The robed girl nodded and said….
“That’s exactly why I came to Luoshui City. I must get to the bottom of this. If someone is threatening him behind the scenes…”
A cold glint flickered in her eyes.
A wave of powerful spiritual pressure instantly swept across the entire Jade Stone Pavilion, suffocating everyone present.
“Miss…”
The maid’s voice pulled her back to calmness.
Her expression softened.
“Alright, alright. Like you said, let’s not overthink it for now. The most important thing is to pick the right gift…”
After all, it was their first meeting—a proper gift was a must.
The two resumed browsing the shop, carefully selecting a present.
The atmosphere gradually became more relaxed.
“Speaking of which…”
As they browsed, they continued chatting casually.
The robed girl remembered something and teasingly said….
“He’s my fiancé—so why did you call him Master just now?”
“I—I…”
The maid froze, and her face turned bright red in an instant.
She stammered, unable to say a word.
The other customers in the shop were quietly watching the two girls, feeling as though they were witnessing celestial beings from the heavens—unreachable yet dazzlingly beautiful.
They dared not approach, yet couldn’t look away.
As they listened to the two chatting, envy and jealousy surged in their hearts.
Just who in Luoshui City had the luck to be engaged to that fairy?
***
After buying the spirit stone, Lin Wuming hurried back to the inn.
Seeing that his junior sister was still quietly sitting on the bed, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
Then he said coldly…
“I’ve been busy all day, and you just sit here doing nothing. Useless waste.”
He Hanying’s expression stiffened slightly, but her heart remained calm.
She had already decided that her senior brother was deliberately tempering her, so she no longer felt any resentment—if anything, she felt sorrow for him.
Someone so kind, having to say such cruel things… it must be incredibly painful for him.
Lin Wuming didn’t say another word after that.
Or rather, he didn’t dare face her.
Instead, he sat down cross-legged, holding in his hand the spirit stone he had spent nearly all his money on.
Recalling the qi circulation pattern from the Foundation-Nurturing Technique, he began cultivating again.
This time, he clearly sensed a vast amount of spiritual energy, far beyond anything the herbs had contained.
As he activated the technique, the massive flow of spiritual energy began rapidly circulating through his body, following the designated path.
His absorption rate was not only fast—it was faster than before.
Lin Wuming grew excited and immersed himself in cultivation.
The first stage of cultivation was Body Tempering, also known in the mortal realm as the Postnatal Realm.
Its purpose was to refine the body using spiritual energy—strengthening muscles and bones, reinforcing the organs, and gradually granting superhuman strength.
Cultivators at this level hadn’t truly entered the world of spiritual cultivation yet, as they lacked an internal reservoir of spiritual power.
Thus, in combat, they still fought using martial techniques like ordinary people.
Of course, their martial prowess was anything but ordinary.
A Body Tempering expert could wield strength equal to a thousand pounds, lift cauldrons, smash rocks, and take on tigers and wolves barehanded.
Lin Wuming now began guiding the spiritual energy to temper his body.
However, he quickly noticed something strange.
Normally, body tempering proceeded from the outside in—first limbs and muscles, then internal organs.
But when Lin Wuming followed the instructions from the Foundation-Nurturing Technique, the flow was completely reversed: it began from the inside out.
Spiritual energy directly flooded into his organs.
A wave of clarity swept through his body as turbid energy was expelled, leaving him refreshed and reborn.
The spiritual energy in the spirit stone drained at an alarming rate.
Meanwhile, Lin Wuming could feel the energy that had soaked into his organs beginning to move outward toward his muscles and limbs…
So, its a power fantasy disguising itself as a crapsack world, and I’ll be eating it up