Heavenly River Water Mansion, at the edge of the Jia Character District.
Chen Mu stood in front of a white jade archway as tall as a five-story building.
The pillars of the archway were carved with exotic beasts amidst cloud patterns, and the top was inscribed with four big characters—Jinzhu Dojo.
Through the gates of the archway, one could see neat rows of exquisite two-story wooden buildings close to the edge near the archway.
Further inside were red walls and green tiles belonging to sprawling gardens and separate courtyards.
At the very back was a square-shaped complex of connected buildings, resembling a dynasty’s imperial palace of the mortal world.
Chen Mu’s spirit sank into the Primordial Talisman, and he activated a unique perspective.
He then saw that the entire Jia Character District seemed to be enshrouded in a transparent bubble.
Threads and strands of Earth Spirit Vital Energy, like swimming fish, hurried from all directions into the bubble.
Chen Mu blinked and withdrew his unique perspective, and the Jiazi District returned to being that neat and pretty place, but without anything peculiar about it.
“Jinzhu Dojo’s outer wooden buildings, ten White Jade Coins per person per day, are you going?” a tall, thin middle-aged man in his forties, with long black sideburns and an expressionless face, said.
“Let me have a look first,” Chen Mu shook his head.
The middle-aged man said indifferently, “If you’re not going, don’t block the way.”
Hey! Such a snob! Who does he think he is looking down on?
Believe it or not, I could crush you with thirty thousand White Jade Coins!
Chen Mu glared fiercely at the other man. Before he could open his mouth to speak, a streak of light flew across the sky.
A small cloth bag thudded onto the long table in front of the middle-aged man.
“Jia Number Eleven, one year,” a voice came from mid-air, and then, without showing one’s face, the speaker flew into the depths of the Jia Character District and disappeared.
The middle-aged man who had been indifferent just a moment ago immediately started bowing and scraping toward the direction where the light had disappeared.
Once the streak of light was gone, the middle-aged man straightened up and resumed his impassive face.
He then overturned the cloth bag, pouring out a small pile of Red Jade Money.
He glanced at Chen Mu briefly, then nonchalantly counted the coins one by one.
Red Jade Money?
That had to be at least fifty or sixty coins, didn’t it?!
Chen Mu couldn’t help but be astounded.
The other’s rent for one year was double all his savings.
Such a damn rich fella!
Reluctantly looking at the Red Jade on the table, Chen Mu turned around and left.
The concentration of Vital Energy on the outskirts was equivalent to that of the Exquisite Jade Plate, but how could it be as convenient as the Exquisite Jade Plate?
With such steep fees, what a lousy dojo. I don’t want it!
…
In an inn near the Gengzi District’s Number Nine Tongtian Tower.
Chen Mu toyed with a White Jade Coin in his hand.
Through the Primordial Talisman, he drew in threads and strands of Vital Energy into his body.
Before long, the silver star points on the White Jade Coin dimmed, the Earth Spirit Vital Energy within having been drained.
“It’s far inferior to the Exquisite Jade Plate,” Chen Mu assessed privately.
“Seems like the Exquisite Jade Plate does more than just release the Vital Energy within White Jade Coins,” Chen Mu realized.
It could consume Earth Spirit Vital Energy and, through a special talisman, produce Vital Energy, much like a portable Earth Vein Spiritual Spring.
“What a treasure!”
“It’s a shame that it’s so easily discovered by others,” Chen Mu shook his head.
Lately, holed up in the inn, focused solely on improving his Five Elements Vital Energy Talisman proficiency, his Mana recovery rate started to lag.
The Earth Spirit Vital Energy diffused in the air of the Heavenly River Water Mansion was insufficient to support high-intensity cultivation.
He had originally planned to stay at the Jinzhu Dojo for a while. But the consumption was too high; it wasn’t worth it.
“I need to find a way to use the Exquisite Jade Plate,” Chen Mu pondered to himself.
…
Five days later.
Inside Chen Mu’s room.
A wooden lattice screen divided the room in half.
One side was the bedroom and the other was the sitting room.
The square table originally in the sitting room had been moved by Chen Mu to the corner.
In the center of the sitting room was a massive wooden tub, large enough for four people to sit in at once.
Inside the big tub, there was a smaller tub, and the space between the two was filled with dark brown soil. Web-like Hidden Qi Vines protruded from the surface of the soil.
Enjoy more content from empire
Chen Mu placed the Exquisite Jade Plate into the wooden tub and embedded White Jade Coins into it.
Then he covered it with a similarly constructed wooden lid, filled with soil and Hidden Qi Vines.
He closed his eyes, then opened them, looking through the special perspective that allowed him to see Vital Energy.
He watched as slender Earth Spirit Element Vital Energy emerged abruptly from the void, collecting aimlessly within a semispherical space with a three-meter diameter.
Once it reached a certain concentration, some of it would begin to dissipate outwards.
“It’s a failure,” Chen Mu frowned.
He quickly understood.
The Exquisite Jade Plate itself did not produce Earth Spirit Vital Energy; it was as if it was summoning Spiritual Vitality.
The half-sphere area with a diameter of three meters was its zone of influence.
Within this area, Earth Spirit Vital Energy could emerge at any location.
A bathtub with a diameter of one meter and eighty centimeters was definitely not capable of complete concealment.
“Make a huge wooden tub with a three-meter diameter?” Chen Mu shook his head.
Such a large volume was inconvenient to carry and it would be better to dig a cellar underground.
Chen Mu stroked his chin, pondering.
“The best thing to do would be to create something foldable, easy to shape, and convenient to carry.”
…
Three more days.
Inside Chen Mu’s room, in the living area.
The square table remained honestly in the corner of the room.
The large wooden tub was next to it, becoming a real bathtub, fulfilling its original purpose.
And in the middle of the living room, two bubble-like, semi-transparent thin bowls were nested together.
They were the swim bladders of an Exotic Beast called Ying Fish, which he had specially purchased for their soft yet durable texture. They were the materials used to make the bubble-shaped elevators in the Tongtian Tower.
Between the two swim bladders was a layer filled with a light green solution, in which a network of Hidden Qi Vines crawled.
A tuft of black smoke floated inside the transparent bowl, maintaining a three-meter diameter hemisphere and holding up the flaccid transparent bubble.
“It’s a success this time!” Chen Mu stood on the perimeter, watching carefully with a special perspective.
After absorbing a small amount of Earth Spirit Vital Energy.
A faint ripple appeared on the vines, interconnected, spread, and eventually enveloped the interior Earth Spirit Vital Energy, subsequently restraining and concealing it.
“If it continues to gather like this, wouldn’t it be possible to create a dojo with extremely high Vital Energy concentration!” Chen Mu suddenly thought.
He stared closely at the double-layered hemisphere and realized indeed no Vital Energy was escaping, but also that the concentration inside wasn’t increasing unlimitedly.
“The Exquisite Jade Plate itself has a limit.” Chen Mu understood abruptly.
“If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter since it doesn’t affect my current practice.”
“With this foldable Ying Fish swim bladder shielding device, the compact portable Linglong Jade Plate dojo is now complete.”
Chen Mu called up the grey wall.
Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique: 2593/10000/First Rank;
“With Mana restoration unrestrained, I can gain experience even faster.”
He immediately opened the entrance, reserved beforehand, like lifting the flap of a tent, and crawled into the portable version of the Linglong Path dojo.
He sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, muttering scriptures with closed eyes, and continually rebuilt Vital Energy Talismans within the Jade Seed.
…
As usual in the evening, Chen Mu appeared in the inn’s ground floor lobby.
“The usual for you?” asked the grey-clothed waiter familiarly.
Seeing Chen Mu nod, he turned to enter the kitchen and, before long, brought him a pot of tea and a plate of roasted pine nuts.
Chen Mu smiled his thanks, then leisurely drank tea and cracked pine nuts, invariably fitting his ears with the Truthful Listening Technique, and began quietly gathering rumors.
But not long after he started listening, the United Heart Rope above his head trembled slightly.
“Shang Huan?” Chen Mu realized.
The fatty had already contacted him about the drunken bait matter before.
Now he not only convinced Mo Wuzhou but had also contacted Liang Yi, and he’d even prepared the storefront and customer network.
Contacting him again was for the recipe.
“He’s quite efficient.”
Chen Mu immediately transmitted the formula he had specifically organized and modified over the past few days to Shang Huan.
The effects had been appropriately diminished to avoid trouble.
At the same time, he made the materials and processes cheaper and simpler, suitable for mass production.
“Let’s see how the fatty handles it.” Chen Mu shook his head and let it be.
After listening to some rumors about the Heavenly River Water Mansion.
He hastily finished dinner, then returned to his room to continue grinding for experience.
…
With money in hand, paying rent was no concern.
Chen Mu spent all day inside the inn, not stepping out the front door or the second door.
Eating, practicing, and eavesdropping on information, half a month quickly passed.
In the ground floor lobby of the inn, Chen Mu pinched open a pine nut and tossed it into his mouth, calling up the grey wall to take a close look.
Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique: 15/10000/Second Rank;
“Although it’s only First Rank, it’s enough. I can split my efforts into practicing the Five Grains Talisman.”
Insight comprehension came along with Proficiency.
The Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique at First Rank Perfection now possessed the ability to extract essences.
As long as he learned the Five Grains Talisman, he could specifically extract the essence of grains.
His relationship with the Fasting Pill was not shallow.
Initially, he had successively modified three versions of the Bigu Pill.
Now, he was finally starting to officially decode the secret technique for crafting the Fasting Pill, and Chen Mu couldn’t wait to try.
“I’ll start practicing the Five Grains Talisman tonight!”