“Nian’er, don’t go easy on this demon beast!”
Chen Juenian pulled the bowstring taut and shot an arrow, killing the lone wolf charging at him.
The wolf was only at the Qi Refining stage.
Using the Sealed Dust Bow to kill it felt like using a cannon to swat a mosquito.
“Nian’er is amazing!”
“This is just a Qi Refining stage wolf, Mother…”
Even if Chen Juenian had a thick face, he couldn’t calmly accept Xuanyuan Jiong’s praise.
“This is Nian’er’s first time hunting a demon beast. What’s wrong with Mommy praising you?”
Not knowing how to respond to Xuanyuan Jiong, Chen Juenian walked over to the wolf’s corpse, pulled out the spiritual energy arrow from its vital spot, and faked an awkward motion as he dug out its inner core.
“So, Mother truly wants Nian’er to go on a training journey to that secret realm you mentioned half a year from now?”
“Of course. Now that Nian’er has some skill, it’s only right for you to see the world outside! But Mommy will always be by your side, protecting you.”
Now that they were away from the Xuanyuan Clan, Xuanyuan Jiong no longer had to follow those rotten rules.
She would never let her child be chased by demon beasts all night like she had been back then, nearly dying in the end.
After all, even a small scratch on Chen Juenian’s body was enough to make her upset for a long time.
“Alright, Mother. Let’s go to the next place. This wolf meat doesn’t even look appetizing, so let’s skip it.”
“Mm.”
—
With the Hundred Arms Art and the Sealed Dust Bow backing him up, Chen Juenian was practically a one-sided crushing force against the demon beasts in this forest.
The strongest beast they had encountered on this trip was only a Foundation Establishment stage demon snake.
Though it could twist and dodge flexibly, in front of the Sealed Dust Bow—which was akin to an anti-materiel weapon—it could only end up as snake dust.
“Nian’er, let’s go to Linlang Pavilion now and trade all of today’s harvest for Spirit Stones.”
Even now, Xuanyuan Jiong still believed there were many things Chen Juenian didn’t understand.
Chen Juenian, of course, knew the purpose behind everything she did—it was all to teach him how to survive in this cruel world.
So he didn’t say anything; whatever she told him to do, he did.
“Linlang Pavilion won’t buy a single Qi Refining beast inner core. They require at least two. Two Qi Refining beast inner cores can be exchanged for one Spirit Stone. As for that demon snake Nian’er killed, if we could extract its inner core… one Foundation Establishment beast inner core can also be exchanged for one Spirit Stone. See? Nian’er doesn’t think earning Spirit Stones is that hard now, does he?”
This exchange rate was actually fairly reasonable.
Both Spirit Stones and beast inner cores could provide spiritual energy as a source, and the spiritual energy contained in one Spirit Stone was exactly equal to that of two Qi Refining beast inner cores.
But since Linlang Pavilion was a merchant guild, they certainly wouldn’t make a trade with no profit.
So in reality, the value of two Qi Refining beast inner cores was slightly higher than one Spirit Stone.
After all, beast inner cores could also be used as auxiliary materials for alchemy and other purposes.
The merchant guild got the inner cores, the cultivator got the Spirit Stones.
With both sides willing, this exchange gradually became a rule.
A rule set by Linlang Pavilion.
In the past, the exchange rate between beast inner cores and Spirit Stones varied from place to place.
But the emergence of Linlang Pavilion directly exposed many shady merchant guilds for what they were…
‘Actually, I didn’t expect Mu Chunxiang would do so well in the end…’
‘If only she hadn’t done that in the end—’
‘…that would have been nice.’
Entering Linlang Pavilion, Chen Juenian followed Xuanyuan Jiong through the formalities and exchanged the day’s inner cores for a total of seventeen Spirit Stones.
“This is Nian’er’s first real earnings through your own hard work! As a reward, Mommy will give you some extra Spirit Stones!”
“Thank you, Mother.”
If she hadn’t mentioned it, Chen Juenian would have almost forgotten.
Last time, he spent a million Spirit Stones on heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Now he still had three million Spirit Stones on him.
Maybe that was Chen Juenian’s real first real earnings.
Since he had given up hope on the meridian-widening immortal elixir, Chen Juenian now needed to think about how to properly handle these Spirit Stones he couldn’t spend.
To him, Spirit Stones were just a number.
Taking the last immortal elixir he refined as an example, if he hadn’t eaten it and instead chose to sell it all to Linlang Pavilion at the risk of exposure, he could have turned that cold one million into a cold six million.
That was the greatest power of the Mystic Gate.
For cultivators who didn’t understand the Mystic Gate, those heavenly materials and earthly treasures would either be swallowed raw, or they’d spend Spirit Stones to ask someone else to refine them into more effective pills, or sell them to Linlang Pavilion for Spirit Stones.
But cultivators who understood the Mystic Gate could turn Spirit Stones into even more Spirit Stones.
However, the Mystic Gate was not that easy to learn.
Even the Spirit Gathering Array Chen Juenian had set up was enough to make most formation masters look up to it in awe for the rest of their lives.
Let alone his Mind-Only Alchemy Cauldron and Charcoal Fire Alchemy—these were things ordinary humans could never accomplish.
“Does Mother want anything?”
After leaving Linlang Pavilion, Chen Juenian suddenly turned to ask Xuanyuan Jiong.
Xuanyuan Jiong had been staring at him the whole time.
When their eyes met, she only smiled faintly.
“A Nian’er who will always love Mommy.”
“That’s something I already have—it doesn’t count.”
“Then… dessert made by Nian’er himself.”
“…”
“Please, Nian’er~! Mommy really wants to eat it!”
“Alright. Nian’er will make some for Mother once we’re back.”
Chen Juenian shouldn’t have asked Xuanyuan Jiong in the first place.
In her eyes, he himself was probably the best gift.
He definitely wouldn’t get anything useful by asking.
A gift…
Last time, Chen Juenian had entrusted Linlang Pavilion to send a peerless martial skill.
So naturally, he could use Linlang Pavilion to send his mother more useful things.
But many problems came with it.
For example, he had to give her things he himself couldn’t use but were very helpful to Xuanyuan Jiong.
Otherwise, if she received something useful to him, she would definitely force it back on him.
Given the current situation, even if he took the initiative to kiss her once more, it was unlikely she would change her mind like last time.
—
“Nian’er…”
“What’s wrong, Mother? Is this pastry not good?”
Xuanyuan Jiong quickly shook her head.
“Of course it’s delicious! Mommy is just very curious… Nian’er clearly has a Gold Spiritual Root… so why can you use spiritual fire?”
Upon hearing this, Chen Juenian was clearly taken aback.
‘Spiritual fire?’
Because in the past he could freely use spiritual fire, Chen Juenian had subconsciously assumed that using spiritual fire was just a perfectly normal thing.
Last time, he used charcoal fire to make pastries.
This time, on a whim, he revealed his spiritual fire in front of Xuanyuan Jiong and made some small cookies with it—and as a result, Xuanyuan Jiong had pointed out a fact he had overlooked.
He had a Gold Spiritual Root.
A Gold Spiritual Root represented unyielding firmness—in plain terms, it meant greater strength and more endurance.
Other than that, it seemed to have no special effects.
And to use spiritual fire, one must have a Fire Spirit Root.