I Cultivate Longevity in the Cultivation Realm-Chapter 44: Auntie’s Smile

"I didn’t say anything."

Chen Qingfeng waved his hand and then said, "Here are forty-seven lower-grade spirit stones for you. Take them."

Then, with a flip of his hand, a pile of lower-grade spirit stones appeared.

"Thank you, Steward Chen."

Zhou Changwang hurriedly cupped his hands and replied, then carefully took the spirit stones and put them in a small cloth bag.

He dared not use a storage bag in front of others.

It only invited prying eyes.

"Changwang, you’ve really grown up."

Watching Chen Qingfeng leave, Zhou Qiankun couldn’t help but speak.

He had listened to Zhou Changwang’s conversation with Steward Chen the whole time and witnessed him skillfully handing over the spirit stones. In his heart, he felt that his son had grown up and truly didn’t need him to worry anymore.

"Yes, I should have grown up long ago."

Zhou Changwang also sighed.

The growth of a young man, isn’t it precisely when he becomes smooth and cunning?

And he, after enduring society’s beatings, had long become as smooth as a ball.

A round of harvesting, finally completed.

Although selling everything to the Spirit Plant Hall was a bit of a loss, some things cannot be considered short-term gains and losses only.

Just like earlier, if he hadn’t first shown goodwill, the other party wouldn’t have specially mentioned the final sentence.

"Has the outskirts of the marketplace been unstable recently?"

Zhou Changwang frowned.

He stayed in his spirit field every day, and when he returned home, he didn’t step outside. He really wasn’t aware of the surrounding conditions.

"Recently, there indeed have been some oddities around.

A lot of mysterious people have appeared. Near our home alone, two households have moved in. One even moved into the former room of Fang Yu and his wife. One family appears to be two brothers, but they don’t look alike. When I greeted them last time, they were cold and indifferent, their accent wasn’t right either, they probably moved in from elsewhere. The other household looks like a couple, but no matter how I see it, they don’t seem like a couple..."

Zhou Qiankun’s face also grew solemn.

Fengming Dock Marketplace has existed for hundreds of years, with people continually coming and slowly gathering.

But situations like this, where people suddenly appear in large numbers and settle on the outskirts, are extremely rare.

"In any case, better safe than sorry.

Try not to go out these days."

Zhou Changwang said, then greeted the surrounding spirit farmers and hurried home.

Along the way, he deliberately scrutinized his surroundings.

Indeed, he noticed many unfamiliar faces, some people’s clothing styles were even different.

Yet, with so many people, the outskirts of the marketplace seemed livelier, and he even saw some people setting up stalls selling daily necessities.

He couldn’t tell if they were bold because of high skills or had sharp foresight.

At least, he didn’t dare to do so.

Returning home, he intentionally glanced in the direction where Qian Xiaoyue lived.

Among everyone he knew, she was the most keenly perceptive to the surrounding atmosphere.

Especially since she mastered the Listening Technique, a divine marvelous technique, often casting it to listen to the surroundings. With two mysterious families moving nearby, she surely paid attention.

Unfortunately, the other party was tight-lipped and hadn’t returned yet.

"However, her habit of eavesdropping indeed needs guarding against.

Looks like I should find an opportunity to learn the Sound Insulation Technique.

After all, this spell is cheap, and almost everyone in the Independent Cultivator Marketplace knows it."

Zhou Changwang mused to himself, keeping it in mind.

He had many secrets and naturally didn’t want them to be discovered.

...

At noon, after eating spirit rice, Zhou Changwang sat to the side, feeling a bit lost.

Normally, he spent almost the entire day in the spirit field. While taking care of the field, he also practiced magic.

Now that the spirit rice in the field was all harvested, he really didn’t know what to do for a while.

"I still need to cultivate.

The outskirts of the marketplace are becoming dangerous; sitting around and waiting for death is not an option.

I must enhance my survival means.

Also, I need to move.

Move into the marketplace’s inner city.

Rent inside the inner city is expensive, even the most ordinary house costs seven or eight lower-grade spirit stones monthly, and the more expensive ones can be dozens or hundreds.

But safety is invaluable."

Zhou Changwang’s sense of crisis soared.

He quickly entered his room.

First, he checked the three spirit seeds.

They were growing well, but the resources inside were depleting quickly.

He estimated that in five or six days at most, the spirit stone powder inside would be exhausted.

The spirit stone powder is money after all.

Then, he skillfully used the Fertilization Technique.

Immediately, the three spirit seeds grew a bit taller at a visible speed, and over time, continued to grow slowly.

However, the depletion rate of the spirit stone powder also increased significantly.

Originally, it could last five or six days, but now only four or five days were left.

"These spirit seeds need to be transplanted into a proper spirit field, otherwise I can’t afford this consumption."

Zhou Changwang’s mouth twitched a bit, no longer bearing to watch.

Then he began practicing spells over and over.

Geng Metal Finger, Fireball Technique.

When he exhausted his spiritual power, he relied on the Five Elements Technique to automatically circulate, slowly restoring the spiritual power in his body, while he took out the three Basic Talisman Chapter books to study, occasionally referring to a jade scroll with talisman-making notes recorded on it to practice his familiarity.

Once he felt it was about right,

he took out talisman paper, a talisman pen, and spirit talisman blood ink to practice talisman making.

Once, twice, three times...

He tried repeatedly and failed repeatedly.

Fortunately, he maintained a positive mindset and constantly summarized his experiences. After each mistake, he contemplated his shortcomings.

Comparing it to the records in the talisman-making notes, his progress was swift.

A spirit talisman slowly took shape under his writing.

"Miss Qian has returned."

Just then, Zhou Changwang heard his father’s voice coming from the courtyard.

He was momentarily distracted, his pen tip trembled, and his spiritual power immediately became erratic.

Poof!

The talisman paper spontaneously combusted, turning directly into ashes.

"Failed again.

But today is much better than yesterday.

Yesterday I failed after drawing at most two rune structures.

Today there were two more, reaching the fourth one, and I even have ideas for drawing the fifth rune structure."

Zhou Changwang sighed lightly, not thinking that this failure was due to his father speaking.

Because he was fully aware that even without his father’s voice, he wouldn’t have finished the fourth rune structure before failing.

Drawing talismans was never a simple task.

Then he put away the talisman pen and other items, and finally went out.

He planned to find Qian Xiaoyue to ask about the recent influx of unfamiliar cultivators; after the last incident, they had developed a bit of camaraderie.

He believed that if she knew something, she probably wouldn’t keep it from him.

At this time, Qian Xiaoyue had clearly entered her house.

He walked straight to the door and knocked.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, what brings you here?"

Upon seeing Zhou Changwang, Qian Xiaoyue first cautiously glanced around before asking.

"Why don’t we talk inside?"

Zhou Changwang smiled awkwardly, realizing that coming straight to her door might have been inappropriate.

Especially when he vaguely noticed his father standing at the doorway with an auntie-like smile.