So, You're the One Who Bought the Hen with Spirit Crystals, You Fool...

Seeing Mrs. Xiao-Zheng take a sip of chicken soup, Zheng Gongming nervously watched his wife. During this period, Mrs. Xiao-Zheng had also tried to consume some "delicacies," but every time it entered her mouth, it would be ejected intact within moments.

"Hmm?" Mrs. Xiao-Zheng held a mouthful of chicken soup, feeling a taste she had never experienced before stimulating her tongue. Swallowing it down, she didn't experience any nausea. She was still a bit unsure, so she gestured for her daughter to help her with more.

As she took the second sip, she not only didn't feel nauseous but also felt an urge to continue eating.

"How, how do you feel, Madam?" Zheng Gongming asked anxiously, his heart filled with hope.

"It's delicious!" Mrs. Xiao-Zheng had already taken the spoon from her daughter and was scooping the soup herself.

"It works!" Zheng Yueting and her father exchanged glances, both reading surprise in each other's eyes.

Mrs. Xiao-Zheng's appetite opened up, and she gulped down the chicken soup, occasionally even swallowing a few pieces of chicken. This long-lost hunger excited her immensely.

Due to her long-term lack of food, Mrs. Xiao-Zheng's stomach had shrunk, and after drinking half a bowl of soup, she already felt full. She didn't dare to drink more and regretfully wiped her mouth with a silk handkerchief, looking at the remaining soup with lingering desire.

"How do you feel, Madam?" Zheng Gongming asked with concern.

"I’ve never known that there’s such delicious food in this world!" Mrs. Xiao-Zheng looked at Zheng Gongming affectionately. "My lord, it seems I can accompany you for a few more years."

"Great, great!" Zheng Gongming was so excited he couldn't even speak properly, tightly holding Mrs. Xiao-Zheng's hand.

"My lord, it's all thanks to Yueting this time," Mrs. Xiao-Zheng smiled gently. Although still a bit emaciated, she exuded a certain charm.

"Haha, that's right. It’s truly a bless that we have such a good daughter," Zheng Gongming cherished his daughter and felt even more pleased with her now. "Yueting, what reward do you want? As long as I have it, I'll satisfy your wishes."

"Dad, there's nothing your daughter lacks, but Mom's health still needs to rely on this 'Miracle Elixir'. This time, that master from the Drifting Petal Palace gave me some for Liu Qiqi’s sake. We can't keep taking his benefit for free, or else people might say that we don't have manners."

"True, if people from the Drifting Petal Palace cures your mother's illness, I'll show them my gratitude!" Zheng Gongming readily agreed. "But what exactly is this 'Miracle Elixir'? It has such a miraculous effect?"

"Dad, there's still half a bowl of chicken soup. Would you like to taste some?" Zheng Yueting quickly grasped the opportunity and encouraged him.

"All right, I'd like to see what's so special about this chicken soup that can defeat an eating disorder," Zheng Gongming's appetite was stimulated by Zheng Yueting's words. He didn't hesitate to take the spoon and scoop up a spoonful to taste.

As the soup reached his tongue, Zheng Gongming's eyes lit up.

There is such a delicious food in the world! I wonder if the food I've eaten before was pigswill?

He continued to feed himself spoon after spoon, unable to stop.

Soon, he had finished the half-bowl of chicken soup. As a cultivator, his appetite was naturally better than that of an ordinary person. He enjoyed the soup thoroughly, even finished all the remainder in the bowl.

Looking at the empty bowl, the leader of the Golden Knife Sect wiped his mouth and had an expression of lingering regret. He turned to look at Zheng Yueting with pleading eyes.

"Dad, this is all we have for now. We don't know when we'll have more in the future. We should save it for Mom," Zheng Yueting said, pointing to the packet of salt in her hand, with a wry smile.

"Ah, what a 'Miracle Elixir'! After tasting such delicious food, how can we go on living?" Zheng Gongming frowned, feeling distressed. He made eye contact with Mrs. Xiao-Zheng, and both of them seemed to read each other's thoughts.

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After having made the salt with great effort, it was all given to the two beautiful ladies. At dinner time, Zhong Wen once again felt utterly dejected.

Having tasted the chicken soup at noon and now experiencing dinner, it seemed even more difficult to swallow by comparison. He regretted not saving some for himself.

He glanced at Lin Xiaodie sitting across from him and noticed that the little girl wasn't in a much better state.

"Zhong Wen, do you still have any 'Miracle Elixir'?" The little girl looked at Zhong Wen with a pitiful expression.

After experiencing the baptism of salt, the little girl's taste greatly improved. She looked at the dishes prepared by Mrs. Wang without any appetite.

"Xiaodie, endure it for today. I'll go out and find some ingredients tonight, and I'll make another pot tomorrow." Zhong Wen shook his head, deciding to visit the Medicine King Valley again tonight.

"Okay." Hearing that the meal might improve tomorrow, the little girl's spirits lifted slightly, and she silently took a bite of her food.

After dinner, Zhong Wen leaned over the table and studied the Great Qian characters for a while.

As it approached the evening, there was no longer the sound of Liu Qiqi practicing sword in the courtyard. Zhong Wen quietly left the compound and headed toward the direction of the Medicine King Valley.

The current Zhong Wen, with his "Cloud-Soaring Immortal Steps" and humming a little song of Riding My Beloved Little Motorcycle, moved like a phantom through the mountains and forests, extremely agile in his actions.

Compared to the early morning, he felt that his spiritual power had recovered somewhat, making his journey much easier.

In less than two-quarters of an hour, he once again arrived at the stone wall entrance of the Medicine King Valley.

Familiar with the path, he quickly arrived at the "Library."

This time, Zhong Wen came prepared with a clear purpose and went straight for the "spirit rune" category of books, reaching out to touch them.

Due to his knowledge of pharmacology and alchemy, Zhong Wen had wanted to attempt alchemy in the afternoon but found himself lacking the necessary alchemical fire despite having a top-quality alchemical furnace. The Medicine King Valley used a special kind of spirit rune to ignite their alchemical fires, and Zhong Wen had no knowledge of spirit runes, so he could only watch helplessly.

Luckily, with the "Xinhua Scripture Repository" as his cheat tool, collecting some books on spirit runes and studying how to draw them should not be difficult for him.

"Found the 'spirit rune' category book Basic spirit runes Volume 1. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

"Found the 'spirit rune' category book Basic spirit runes Volume 2. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

"Found the 'spirit rune' category book Flame Rune Compendium Volume 2. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

...

"After recording 100 'spirit rune' category books, please draw lots for a reward: 1. spirit rune Pen Making Guide; 2. Great Qian Beauty Ranking; 3. Lethal Sword."

"Congratulations! You have won the reward: spirit rune Pen Making Guide!"

Not bad! The reward was just in time. It was like being given a pillow when he was sleepy. Zhong Wen was quite satisfied with it.

The Medicine King Valley's research on spirit runes was very limited, mainly serving alchemy and the cultivation of medicinal plants. Therefore, this category of books amounted to only a little over a hundred volumes. After Zhong Wen had recorded the knowledge of spirit runes, he still felt somewhat unsatisfied and turned his attention to the core category of Medicine King Valley's books: Medicine.

At a glance, he saw that the Medicine category of books was further divided into subcategories such as "Medical Principles," "Pathology," "Pharmacology," "Nurturing," and "Acupuncture," totaling nearly a thousand volumes of books with diverse topics that made his head spin.

"I'll take them all!" Finally, with determination, he made up his mind.

"Found the 'Medical' category book One Thousand Discussions on Cold Damage. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

"Found the 'Medical' category book Soul-Seeking Needle Techniques. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

"Found the 'Medical' category book The Poison Classic. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

"Found the 'Medical' category book The Divine Medicine Tome. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

"Found the 'Medical' category book One Thousand Cases of Dissecting Brain. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

"Found the 'Medical' category book One Hundred Cases of Dissecting Body. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

"Found the 'Medical' category book Discussion on Meridians. Would you like to collect it? Yes/No."

...

Even though he had cultivated the Longevity Technique, by the time Zhong Wen had collected all the medical books, he was exhausted. Fortunately, the small text he had been longing for finally appeared on the bookshelf panel:

"Collected 100 medical books, please draw for a reward: 1. Complete Guide to Animal Languages; 2. Three Hundred Tang Poems; 3. Sleight of Hand Mastery."

"Congratulations, you have received the reward: Complete Guide to Animal Languages!"

Zhong Wen: "..."

What’s the use of learning the beast languages? Am I not a human?...

Fortunately, this time he had collected a lot of books, and another line of small text appeared before him:

"Collected 500 medical books, please draw for a reward: 1. Great Qian Bilingual Dictionary; 2. Story King; 3. Sleight of Hand Mastery."

"Congratulations, you have received the reward: Sleight of Hand Mastery!"

"Collected 1,000 books, please draw for a reward: 1. Supreme Profound Yin Art; 2. Flick of the Finger Technique; 3. Flower Shifting and Jade Receiving.

Damn, these options are a bit fancy!

Looking at the three spiritual techniques that appeared in the last draw, Zhong Wen was deeply moved. It seemed that the rewards for reaching the total number of books were much better than those for reaching the category total. It was nothing like the last draw, what was that "Story King" for?

Zhong Wen felt stifled just thinking about it, so he quickly composed himself and silently thought, "Draw."

"Congratulations, you have received the reward: Flower Shifting and Jade Receiving!"

Zhong Wen: "..."

Finally, they've let me be a person again...

Zhong Wen was quite satisfied with this reward. Among the collected books, there was now a thick "Complete Guide to Animal Languages" in the "Miscellaneous Studies" category, and in the "Diamond Grade Spiritual Techniques" category, there was now "Sleight of Hand Mastery."

What made him overjoyed, however, was the last book, the "Starry Spirit Grade Spiritual Technique" called Flower Shifting and Jade Receiving.

Without wasting any time, Zhong Wen spent a few seconds flipping through the two spiritual technique books, then looked up to the sky and sighed with emotion.

His techniques, were really getting more and more crooked!

It turned out that “Sleight of Hand Mastery” is an extremely brilliant stealing technique, passed down from the ancient times of the first divine thief Yun Kongkong. He was unrivaled in the world of stealing, who had been stealing from all the major sects, without a single miss. His one last theft was stealing an underwear from a female cultivator of Spirit Sovereign Realm, who chased him down and slaughtered him into pieces in rage.

Zhong Wen didn't know how awesome Starry Spirit Grade was, but as the pinnacle technique of the top sect known in his era, the Flower Arrangement Palace, it could allow practitioners to freely transfer spiritual energy. When mastered, it could even directly return the enemy's attacks. Zhong Wen felt that he had hit the jackpot this time, and he was elated.

After all, he hadn't closed his eyes all night, and he didn't dare to stay up all night again. He estimated that it was nearly midnight when he stopped and hurried to the edge of the saltwater lake. He took out the alchemy furnace from his ring and began to fill it with lake water.

Even though he already possessed the knowledge of a Grandmaster Alchemist, the top-tier alchemical furnace in his hand had not yet seen the shadow of any herbs. It was just a tool for holding water.

Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut couldn't describe Zhong Wen's extravagance—he was practically using a cannon to shoot mosquitoes. But Zhong Wen was oblivious to it. After filling the alchemy furnace, he still felt unsatisfied and took out the clay jar he had bought during the day to continue filling it with water.

As he was busy filling the water, Zhong Wen suddenly felt that the flow of spiritual energy within his body had increased significantly. His dantian had once again given him the sensation of swelling, and his body felt slightly warm.

Having experienced this once before, Zhong Wen immediately placed the jar aside, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to focus on operating the Longevity Technique.

In no time, the sensation of swelling slowly subsided, and another half-circle appeared within his dantian.

He knew that he had just broken through to the second realm.

So, upgrading is so simple!

Zhong Wen thought happily. He picked up the jar next to him again, filled it with lake water, and threw it into the ring space. Then, he turned and left.

That night, he slept incredibly soundly...

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A nimble figure appeared above a row of buildings to the north of Fufeng City. Their black attire blended seamlessly with the night, making them almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Soon, the person in black stood before the most luxurious mansion in the entire row of buildings. Bathed in the moonlight, one could faintly see the plaque above the mansion's entrance bearing the three characters "Bliss Gang."

"At last, the day has come, Duan Changhong. I will make you pay with your blood!"

The person in black murmured to themselves, then leaped onto the high wall of the mansion. They effortlessly glided into the courtyard, making not a single sound...

*****************************************************************

"Morning!"

Before dawn, with a cheerful smile, Zhong Wen greeted Liu Qiqi who was practicing her morning exercises.

Liu Qiqi nodded, her gaze drifting, not daring to look at him directly.

"Miss Liu, how can I get to Fufeng City? I want to go to the city to buy some things from the merchant shops," Zhong Wen inquired.

After flipping through the "Spirit Rune" books he had collected during the night, he had completely mastered the technique of drawing the Elixir Flame Spirit Rune and was thinking of buying some materials to try making his own Elixir Flame.

Upon hearing the words "merchant shops," Liu Qiqi's hand trembled, almost dropping her longsword.

Did he find out?

Liu Qiqi's thoughts were in turmoil, and she momentarily forgot to answer.

"Miss Liu?" Zhong Wen asked again when he noticed her distraction.

"Oh... there's a Uncle Zhao who keeps a unicorn at the village entrance down the mountain. You can rent his unicorn-drawn cart, and you'll reach the city in about an hour," Liu Qiqi replied, finally coming to her senses.

"Thank you!"

Zhong Wen had already changed into the blue robe selected by Mrs. Wang. While the material might not be top-notch, the style was well-coordinated and reflected Mrs. Wang's refined feminine aesthetic. The only glaring issue was the dirty cloth bag on his back.

"Is there anything I should bring with me?"

Liu Qiqi shook her head and asked, "Are you leaving now?"

"Yes, I'll try to be back before lunch," Zhong Wen waved casually and walked toward the courtyard gate with the dirty bag on his back.

Watching Zhong Wen's departing figure, a worried expression appeared on Liu Qiqi's fair face.

Having broken through to the second level of the Human Wheels, Zhong Wen executed his "Cloud-Soaring Immortal Steps," making him significantly faster. He reached the village entrance in just two-quarters of an hour.

Uncle Zhao's house was located on the outskirts of the village, without any neighbors nearby, making it easy to recognize. Near the entrance, Zhong Wen could hear faint horse neighs coming from inside.

A middle-aged man in his forties, wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, was currently cleaning a black carriage. In the nearby stable, five unicorns were bowing their heads to eat hay, and one of the young unicorns was particularly lively, raising its head to look around every time it took a bite.

This was the first time Zhong Wen had seen a unicorn-like creature. They were very similar to horses he had seen in his previous life, except for the single horn on their heads. However, it didn't seem to imbue these creatures with much spiritual energy. Zhong Wen was disappointed at the legendary creatures like unicorns hoped to see .

"Uncle Zhao?"

"Oh, a fresh face. You're not from the local, are you?" Uncle Zhao was easygoing and somewhat presumptuous.

"Yes, I've only been here for two or three days," Zhong Wen replied. "I'd like to take your carriage to Fufeng City. How much is the fare?"

"One silver yuan for a one-way trip, two for a round trip," Uncle Zhao said. "But it's not worth it for just one passenger. I usually wait until there are four people before setting off."

Silver yuan again!

With a handful of Spirit Crystals, everyone was asking him for one silver yuan! Zhong Wen couldn't help but feel frustrated.

"Uncle Zhao, do you have a hundred silver yuan?" Zhong Wen pulled out a Spirit Crystal and said impressively, "Can you give me some change?"

"So, you are the f...guy who bought a chicken with a Spirit Crystal!" When he saw the Spirit Crystal, Uncle Zhao's eyes lit up as if he were about to drool.

Zhong Wen: "..."

He wanted to use the "One Yang Finger" on Uncle Zhao right now.

"One Spirit Crystal for a hundred silver yuan, are you gonna change with me or not?" Zhong Wen asked with a stern face.

"Sure, sure! You wait here; I'll get the money." Uncle Zhao hurried off, afraid that Zhong Wen would change his mind.

While theoretically a Spirit Crystal was worth a hundred silver yuan, no one would actually exchange a Spirit Crystal for silver yuan. The two were entirely different in value, but Uncle Zhao felt a psychological advantage when dealing with a young man who seemed to lack intelligence.

"What's this?" Zhong Wen asked, looking at a stack of paper handed over by Uncle Zhao.

"Don't you recognize silver notes?" Uncle Zhao looked at Zhong Wen in confusion, becoming even more convinced that this young man wasn't very bright.

Seeing Uncle Zhao's gaze, Zhong Wen felt his dignity had been severely undermined.

"I've never seen currency this cheap," Zhong Wen said with an air of arrogance.

Uncle Zhao: "..."

While they were busy hurting each other's feelings, Zhong Wen carefully examined the banknotes in his hand. After studying them for a while, Zhong Wen had to reluctantly acknowledge the truth: he was not only illiterate but also couldn't count.

Fortunately, this didn't prevent him from counting; there were a total of ten banknotes. He took one out and handed it back to Uncle Zhao.

"Here’s the money. Let’s go."

"Alright!"

Uncle Zhao not only got a Spirit Crystal but also made an extra profit in silver yuan, putting him in an extremely good mood. He hummed a tune and occasionally chatted with Zhong Wen during the journey.

The carriage bumped along the road, and Zhong Wen casually engaged in conversation, while he perusing the books in his mind with his eyes closed. The sun rose higher, the temperature gradually increased, but it wasn't too hot. There was a gentle breeze blowing, giving a pleasant feeling of riding in a car during a summer day.

After an hour, they reached the towering city gates of Fufeng City.