The next whole day.
Chen Mu, apart from eating and resting as usual, spent all his time reciting the Soul Locking Curse.
By evening, his proficiency had increased to 792 points.
“The subsequent Curse Commands can still be shortened. Overall, it should definitely be done within ten days,” Chen Mu let out a sigh of relief.
“Second Rank should be usable,” Chen Mu guessed.
The Qian Shan Daoist from before could only control one ghost paper man. The Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse was probably Second Rank.
The opponent’s Soul Locking Curse was estimated to be at Second Rank as well. It might even only be First Rank.
The Qian Shan Daoist did not have the proficiency cheat.
“Perhaps he just used it to refine ghosts and enhance the paper man’s power,” Chen Mu considered a possibility.
A Second Rank Soul Locking Curse was not necessarily able to successfully absorb the Three Treasures Essence.
“Need to give it a try,” Chen Mu thought deeply.
…
After a short rest, Chen Mu went to the kitchen to prepare the meal.
As his cooking skills improved, making meals became more and more effortless.
In each round, black pottery dish, various ingredients washed and chopped cleanly were placed.
Added scallions and garlic to stir-fry until fragrant.
Chen Mu picked up a plate of leafy greens and poured it into the hot wok. Instantly, a piece of data flashed through his mind: “The main dish weighs about a pound and five taels.”
After stir-frying for a while and waiting for the leaves to soften, he reached into the brown pottery jar and pinched out snowy white salt grains: “Hmm, a qian of salt, just right.”
“Old Man Jie seems to prefer a stronger taste,” Chen Mu looked toward the salt jar.
“Forget it, he’s just freeloading, why should I accommodate him?!” Chen Mu huffed twice, stir-frying with a sizzling sound, evenly distributing the salt and other ingredients, and then swiftly dished it out of the wok.
“At worst, I’ll add half a salted duck egg for him.”
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In the clean white porcelain dish, the verdant vegetables looked as though they were freshly picked.
The rich aroma spread, Chen Mu sniffed carefully, discerning the proportions of various ingredients. He nodded with satisfaction: “Practicing the Shape Cultivation Technique often really has its benefits.”
Although not in armor, his fine control over his body was unrivaled.
This allowed him to precisely control the proportions of main ingredients and seasonings when cooking.
The meals he made were complete in color, fragrance, and taste.
…
By the time he served up six dishes and one soup, three meat and three vegetarian on the dining table, Jie Jia had been waiting in the pavilion for a while.
“This is unlike you,” Chen Mu said, surprised at the sight of Jie Jia.
The man used to time his arrival perfectly for mealtimes. Why come so early today?
Jie Jia didn’t speak, just silently handed Chen Mu two hundred tael silver notes.
Chen Mu looked at him in surprise.
It was very rare to see return money from this miser.
“Are Blue Medicine Pills that easy to sell?” Chen Mu realized. Just yesterday, he gave Jie Jia twenty-five Blue Medicine Pills. To think all of them were sold already?!
“You can make more,” Jie Jia said calmly.
Chen Mu’s mouth curved up in a smile, “Fifty-fifty split!”
Jie Jia raised his eyelids slightly, his bright yellow eyes fixating on Chen Mu.
Chen Mu was unfazed. He took a leafy green with his chopsticks, crunched it in his mouth, raised his eyebrows proudly, and said, “I, Chen Mu, hold the core technology!”
The advantage is with me!
“Forty-six,” Jie Jia stated lightly.
Chen Mu was internally satisfied as they previously had a seventy-thirty split.
But after a thought, Chen Mu still spoke up to negotiate, “Still fifty-fifty, but I don’t want money. You can offset the sum with Zuming Talismans.”
“Deal!” Jie Jia said crisply.
Chen Mu: “…”
I have a feeling I got tricked.
“You can’t calculate based on two thousand eight hundred taels for me, you have to give me a discount, calculate it at two thousand five hundred taels a piece,” Chen Mu, not content, quickly bargained.
“No problem,” Jie Jia’s mouth slightly curved, as he used his chopsticks to pick up a nail-sized, oily salted egg yolk, savoring it slowly and enjoying every bit.
Chen Mu: “…”
That agreeable?
I lost out!
I definitely took a loss in this deal!
“You would sell it for two thousand five hundred taels? You’ll lose out big time!” Chen Mu complained bitterly with jealousy.
“It won’t be a loss,” Jie Jia said indifferently, “It’s just a little cost price.”
“What do you mean?” Chen Mu was completely baffled.
“`
“What that means is, the Zuming Talisman is drawn by me,” Jie Jia’s bright yellow eyes slightly moved, filled with a smile as he glanced sideways at Chen Mu: “I, too, have mastered the core technology.”
Chen Mu: “…”
…
The next day, Chen Mu slept until daybreak, feeling light in body and mind.
He lay in bed for a while longer before getting up to tidy his room.
His main task was to collect the Zuming Talismans scattered around the room.
As usual, there were four on the walls.
One on each of the two windows.
Two on the ceiling beams, and two on the floor.
He slipped the ten Zuming Talismans into his pocket and then bent down to fetch one from under his bed to keep close to his body.
Then he walked out of the room leisurely, ready to wash up and have breakfast.
Hearing that Jie Jia could draw talismans, Chen Mu nagged and hassled him last night, even threatening not to wash his hands after cooking, and finally got fifteen Zuming Talismans on credit from Jie Jia.
“It’s just three to four months of extra work,” Chen Mu had no psychological burden.
He needed only half an hour each day to refine twenty-five to thirty Blue Medicine Pills.
Each pill could bring him ten to twelve liang of silver. That’s nearly ten thousand liang a month.
With fifteen Zuming Talismans, he would be able to repay his debt in three to four months.
“Now there’s no need to rush the casting of Soul Locking Curse,” Chen Mu sipped warm soy milk, leisurely thinking to himself.
He had truly not anticipated the Blue Medicine Pills selling so well.
Jie Jia, that money-grubber, even dared to give him credit.
Safe at last…
…
On the Luo River, a fifty-meter merchant ship smoothly passed through the inspection at the checkpoint and drifted into Nanyang Prefecture once again.
The ship docked at the small wharf in Cihui Fang on the southern bank.
A group of laborers in brown short vests climbed aboard to unload the cargo.
In the midst of this, a few people in grey clothes disembarked and quietly disappeared among the crowd on the wharf.
In the afternoon, the laborers loaded new goods onto the ship, and the grey-clothed individuals quietly boarded again.
The merchant ship left the small wharf, slowly drifting towards the outskirts of the city.
The square-faced middle-aged man still sat cross-legged on the bow deck.
“Big brother, your prediction was spot-on, Shangguan Ji has started to trouble the Zhang Family,” said the round-faced man with a hint of excitement.
The square-faced middle-aged man playfully tossed a peanut into his mouth: “The grudge between the Shangguan Family and the Zhang Family dates back to the previous generation.”
“With just a little guidance from us, conflict is sure to arise.”
“Let’s go, we leave the city immediately to meet with the demonic Tu Shan.”
The round-faced man said with concern: “Tu Shan is odd and ruthless, I’m afraid that seeking him out might be dangerous…”
The square-faced middle-aged man smiled faintly: “Everyone has their own desires. As long as we know what he wants, there is nothing we can’t discuss.”
“The Zhang Family is weak; we need to find them some assistance.”
“A battle where forces are evenly matched is worth watching.”
…
In Lin Heng Fang, at the Chen Residence.
Chen Mu woke up naturally from his sleep.
After breakfast, he spent half an hour refining Blue Medicine Pills.
Each batch could yield about twenty-five to thirty pills, just enough for Jie Jia to sell in a day.
Then, he started to practice the White Jade Toad Shape Cultivation Technique.
With seventeen Zuming Talismans in his pocket, Chen Mu’s sense of security greatly increased.
Since the need for the Soul Locking Curse wasn’t as urgent, he picked up the Shape Cultivation Technique again.
“After all, perfume is just perfume.”
“Without insecticide, even a fly swatter will do.”
At the moment, he only knew that Soul Strength could touch Ghosts.
He would set aside time in the afternoon to cast the Soul Locking Curse.
“I wonder what the effect of a higher-level Soul Locking Curse would be.”
“If only it could give me full control over the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse.”
The current Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse was easy to release but hard to withdraw.
If it encountered flesh and could not consume it completely, intense cravings to devour would continuously assault Chen Mu’s brain.
And once started, it’s impossible to stop.
“`