17 Chapter 12 Fire Dates_1

"Master Xu, would you mind showing me the Alchemy Furnace?" asked Su Qing.

"Of course!"

Xu Mu removed the Alchemy Furnace from his storage bag and handed it to the her.

Su Qing held it in her hands and looked it over, her eyes revealing delight.

If the furnace were of a higher grade, she might need to consider it further. But the Alchemy Furnace in front of her is only of lower-tier rank one, the most suitable for beginners.

She quickly decided she wanted to purchase it.

"To be frank, my young brother is currently studying Alchemy, and I've been thinking about buying him an Alchemy Furnace as a gift. I'm not sure what price you would ask for this furnace, Master Xu?"

"I purchased it for a hundred and ten Lower-grade Spirit Stones," Xu Mu replied. "But as you've just pointed out, prices have surged recently!"

"..."

Su Qing was momentarily taken aback, a bitter smile appearing on her face.

Goodness, she had unwittingly cornered herself.

"Master Xu, it's true that prices have soared recently, but only Alchemists can use Alchemy Furnaces, so the price hasn't risen that much!" Su Qing said with a wry smile.

"I'm not very clear on that. How about you suggest a price, Su Qing?"

Xu Mu appeared calm.

But with Xu Mu saying so, it made it hard for Su Qing.

If she offered too high, she would fret. If she offered too low, she was afraid of offending Xu Mu, fearing that he might not come to her when selling his pills in the future.

After some hesitation, she gritted her teeth and said: "One hundred and thirty spirit stones, what do you think? Although this price is not the highest, it is definitely not low. If you don't trust me, you can ask around!"

"Well, let's go with your price!"

After some consideration, Xu Mu agreed.

The price she offered was definitely not the highest, but it was certainly much higher than what he would get if he sold it to a shop.

The Alchemy Furnace was not easy to accommodate, and his was a second-hand one that had been used for a long time. Being able to sell it so quickly, and for a hundred and thirty spirit stones, was beyond his expectations.

"Thank you, Master Xu. Let me ask a friend to come over and take a look, and then we can make the transaction!"

Seeing Xu Mu agree, Su Qing was also very happy.

But it was a deal, after all, of more than a hundred spirit stones, and Su Qing was very cautious.

"No problem!"

Xu Mu nodded in agreement.

After Su Qing found a familiar Alchemist to verify the Alchemy Furnace and confirmed there was no problem, she took out a hundred and thirty spirit stones to hand them to Xu Mu.

Upon leaving the pharmacy, Xu Mu was in high spirits.

He finally understood why so many people liked to make a fortune in times of war.

Instead of immediately going to the market to buy Monster Beast meat and Spirit Rice, Xu Mu continued on to the center of marketplace and stopped at a store called Zhen Bao Pavilion.

He planned to buy a set of Formations for his home.

That way when he went out, he wouldn't come home worried and have to take precautions.

But upon inquiring about the price, he frowned.

"Eighty Lower-grade Spirit Stones? Why did it rise so much? I remember before they sold it at most for fifty Lower-grade Spirit Stones!"

"Dear customer, we at Zhen Bao Pavilion have been open for many years and have never cheated anyone. This is currently the market price. If you don't buy now, the price will probably be even higher in the future!" The shop assistant said gleefully.

Upon recalling what Su Qing said, Xu Mu couldn't help but feel a bit sour.

Indeed, it was retribution!

In the end, he bit the bullet and bought it!

The reason Formations are cheaper than Magic Artifacts is because there is a limit on the number of uses. Once that limit is reached, they are immediately discarded.

At the same time, the use of Formations requires Spirit Stones.

General cultivators can't afford it nor are they willing to use it.

If it were not for the safety of his wife, he would have preferred to buy several high tier amulets.

But of course, he still needed to purchase amulets!

The high-tier amulet cost ten Lower-grade Spirit Stones each, and he bought three.

One for himself, one for his wife, and one for his daughter.

Just as he was about to leave after buying everything, he noticed some rare fruits on the shelves and couldn't help but halt his steps.

In the end, he gritted his teeth, spent twenty Lower-grade Spirit Stones, and bought a pound of Fire Dates!

Were it his choice, he definitely would not have bought it for himself.

Although these rare fruits are expensive, the Spiritual Power they contain might not even match that of standard Spirit Rice.

However, for his wife to taste something different and nourish her body, he felt it was worth it.

After leaving Zhen Bao Pavilion, Xu Mu went to the market and exchanged most of his remaining Spirit Stones for Spirit Rice and Beast Meat.

Due to the current situation, the prices of Spirit Rice and Monster Beast meat had risen considerably.

Xu Mu sighed once again.

How harsh the world is!

Even though he is a cultivator, he still has to constantly worry about food and fuel.

Sigh!

After purchasing the essentials, he wandered around in the marketplace and at a small stall, he managed to find an ordinary-grade black iron sword.

Of course, it's not entirely made of black iron, only a small amount of it was used. It had no inscribed formations, probably a practice work of an artifact refiner.

It might not be much use in a fight with other cultivators, but it would be suitable for practicing swordsmanship.

Once he had bought the black iron sword, he paused no more. With his Light Body Skill activated, he hurried home.

As he entered the alley where his house was located, an uneasy feeling rose within him.

He swiftly turned his head and saw the Lee brothers peeking at him through a crack in a door.

Are these freaks still not giving up?

Do I look that easy to bully?

Xu Mu cast a cold glance at them, but ignored them and knocked on his own door.

Bang! Bang!

"My lord!"

Ye Yingying opened the door from inside, her fair and cute face filled with joy.

"Hmm!"

Xu Mu stroked the silky strands of her hair and stepped inside.

As he shut the door, he cast another glance at the Lee brothers' residence.

The door was already shut tight!

I've got to find a way to deal with these two creeps!

Xu Mu would not allow any potential danger to threaten his wife and child.

Having locked the door, he took Ye Yingying's hand and returned to their room. Xu Mu took a wooden box out, inside it were fiery red dates, the size of quail eggs.

"Look what I bought for you!"

"Fire Dates!!"

Ye Yingying was shocked, surprised, and couldn't believe it.

She only remembered her father buying them once when she was a child. More than ten years had passed, she had almost forgotten their taste.

"My lord, where did you get such a valuable thing?"

Even though their life had improved quite a bit recently, fire dates, a type of spiritual fruit, was too extravagant. She couldn't believe that her lord was willing to buy them.

It's the fear of poverty!

"Of course, I bought it with Spirit Stones. I began producing Qi Gathering Pills recently and earned quite a few Spirit Stones, so I thought about buying some for you to taste! I remember you once said that you loved fire dates the most!"

"I, I just said it casually! Why don't you return it! It's too expensive!"

Ye Yingying carefully picked one up, looking at it over and over, but didn't dare to eat.

"Behave!"

Xu Mu pinched her rosy cheeks.

"Oh!"

Ye Yingying swallowed hard, then placed it into her tiny mouth slowly, gently chewing it and then spat out the seed, swallowing the fruit.

"My lord, this date is so sweet!"

Ye Yingying licked her lips, her eyes fixed on the remaining fire dates, not willing to look away.

"Stop looking! If you want to eat, just eat!"

Xu Mu playfully nudged her small nose, laughing as he spoke.

This wife of his was simply too adorable!

"Can I? How about we save them for tomorrow?"

"No worries! Just eat! We'll buy more after you finishe them!"

"Well, okay then! I'll just have one more, only one more! My lord, you should have some too!"

"Okay!"

Both of them ate one each. After that, Ye Yingying put the fire dates away, saying she would save them for the next day. Xu Mu didn't object.

The atmosphere was just right for a loving couple moment when Little Ling'er started crying again from the side.

"Why does this little devil always choose the wrong timing!"

A bitter smile spread across Xu Mu's face.

He had been holding back for months already.

Leaving his wife to soothe their child, Xu Mu went to the storeroom. He took out the fasting pill, planning to enhance his Thunderbolt Sword Skill first.