Chapter 53

......

Over the next two days.

Wang Shouzhe and Longyan Laozu planned to stay in the courtyard of the tavern to cultivate.

Longyan Laozu had been tormented by the yin sha poison for fifty years and had long detested this state. The cultivation method was very simple, even ordinary wandering cultivators could understand it. After a brief contemplation, she began to attempt the transformation.

Wang Shouzhe was afraid of any accidents, so he decided to stay with her and could also receive guidance on his cultivation from Laozu. After advancing to the Lingtai Realm in the Zifu Academy, Longyan Laozu became a disciple of Ice Wave Senior. Despite her young age, she had cultivated to the mid-stage of the Lingtai Realm. Whether in talent or knowledge, she far surpassed Ming Sheng Laozu of the Lu family.

With just a few pointers, Wang Shouzhe felt enlightened, his thoughts surging.

However, the eldest maid, Wang Lici, was too young and couldn't stay at home. Wang Shouzhe arranged for the family guards to accompany her on a trip and gave her ten gold coins as pocket money to reward her recent diligence and careful service to Laozu.

At noon.

Wang Lici ran into Wang Shouzhe's room, her chubby round face full of委屈 (grievance): "Fourth Uncle, Fourth Uncle, I was cheated by a despicable wandering cultivator. Sob, sob, sob, I spent ten gold coins on this broken stone, and there's nothing good inside."

As she spoke, she took out a fist-sized stone, which she had managed to cut open, revealing a white interior.

Wang Shouzhe's heart sank. Ten gold coins was not a small amount. But since he had given it to her, it was her own money. Still, seeing it wasted like this made him feel tired.

Could it be that Shouxin Big Brother was good at raising wasteful children? One is a gambler, and the other is a glutton!

What could be good to eat inside a stone? This intelligence is really worrying.

"Huh, that's not right." Wang Shouzhe's eyelids twitched as he took the stone she had cut in half.

The stone had a green exterior and looked very appealing. Clearly, this was the most common type of gambling stone found at wandering cultivators' stalls! Some very powerful families, such as the Tianren family, or major forces, might control some spirit stone mines.

In spirit stone mines, there are many scraps. Occasionally, these scraps can yield spirit stones. However, to maximize profit, these scraps are sold as gambling stones.

Initially, only a few wandering cultivators participated, but later, this became an industry. Wandering cultivators set up stalls in various places, allowing people to try their luck.

Everyone knows that ten out of ten gambles result in a loss.

But there are always those with incredible luck, like spending ten gold coins and gambling out a spirit stone worth hundreds or even thousands of gold coins, thus becoming rich overnight.

All these legends have made the gambling stone industry flourish, and the families that own spirit mines are happy to maximize their profits.

However, Wang Shouzhe usually wouldn't even glance at such gambling stones. He didn't have any special vision like the Golden Eye. The probability of losing was much higher than winning. It was better to cultivate the land honestly and earn money step by step.

But this gambling stone of the eldest maid... the white interior was clearly full of spiritual energy, and he could feel a cool sensation penetrating his body as soon as he held it.

Of course, he knew it was a spirit stone, but he wasn't sure how much spirit stone it contained. After all, Wang Shouzhe had only seen one or two spirit stones in his life.

Therefore,

Wang Shouzhe pulled the still sobbing Wang Lici and went to find Longyan Laozu for an appraisal.

Even with Longyan Laozu's extensive knowledge, she was slightly surprised after examining the stone for a moment. After a brief assessment, she said, "It is indeed a spirit stone. It can be cut and polished into three to four pieces of spirit stone."

Three to four pieces?

Wang Shouzhe's expression froze. In the current procurement list, he had added ten spirit stones, worth a thousand gold coins. He originally planned to use one or two to try cultivating and see the effects.

The rest of the spirit stones would mostly be used at the Xing Sheng Farm, combined with the spirit-gathering array, to see if more spirit fields could be opened. According to his knowledge, the Xing Sheng Farm had a spirit spring that could support about sixty acres of spirit fields.

However, the Xing Sheng Farm currently only had twenty acres of spirit fields, due to the family's financial difficulties after a major crisis. They had planned to wait for Grandpa Wang Xiaohan to advance to the Lingtai Realm, stabilize the family situation, and then gradually open the remaining spirit fields.

But Wang Xiaohan's attempt to advance to the Lingtai Realm failed, causing the plan to open the spirit fields to be put on hold.

Now, Wang Shouzhe had to open the spirit fields, otherwise, it would constrain the cultivation progress and development of the family's young members. They couldn't keep buying spirit rice from outside, could they?

The ten spirit stones were bought by Wang Shouzhe with great effort.

But who would have thought that the brat Wang Lici would gamble out three to four pieces with just ten gold coins!

"Girl, do you know that gambling stones is wrong?" Wang Shouzhe's voice was stern. Winning a gamble might bring temporary gain, but this trend cannot continue. Otherwise, if the eldest maid gets a taste of it and becomes addicted to gambling stones, all the money would be wasted.

"Huh?"

Wang Lici was scared, her face turning pale, trembling, and sobbing, "Fourth Uncle, what are gambling stones? I just thought there was something good to eat inside the stone. It looked like something really delicious. That despicable wandering cultivator said there was definitely something good inside. Who would have thought he was lying~ Sob, sob, sob, my money is gone. I could have bought so many fish jerky, octopus jerky, squid strips..."

Since coming to Bai Dao Wei, Wang Lici had become obsessed with fish jerky and other delicious snacks, finding them even better than honeyed fruits. She had never seen or heard of spirit stones.

"Glutton! What could be good to eat inside a stone!? What are you thinking all day?" Wang Shouzhe held his forehead, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"Alright, alright, stop crying." Fourth Aunt Xu Zhirou quickly intervened, hugging Wang Lici and comforting her, "Shouzhe, the eldest maid is still young. She hasn't traveled far and doesn't understand these things."

"Sob, sob, sob~ Fourth Grandma, that despicable wandering cultivator must have done something to make me really think there was something good inside. But when I cut it open, it was all inedible garbage." Wang Lici was heartbroken and very upset.

Garbage?

Wang Shouzhe held his forehead, feeling a bit dizzy. If spirit stones were garbage, what in the world would be considered treasure? But Wang Lici probably really didn't know what a spirit stone was. She had grown up in the family, and the Wang family was too poor, with very few spirit stones.

At this point, Wang Shouzhe was convinced that the eldest maid wasn't lying to him.

She didn't have the intelligence for that!

"Shouzhe, if the eldest maid can really feel something good inside the stone." Fourth Aunt Xu Zhirou said hopefully, "Doesn't that mean..."

Wang Shouzhe, of course, thought of this as well, but he couldn't quite understand it, so he looked at Longyan Laozu.

Longyan Laozu frowned, also puzzled, "To my knowledge, even cultivators at the Tianren Realm need to use secret techniques to see through gambling stones, which requires significant effort and noise. However, I have heard of some people with special eye techniques who can see through gambling stones. But such people are extremely rare, and using eye techniques causes noticeable changes in the eyes, making it easy to be exposed. Like Lici... I haven't heard of such a case."

After a pause, Laozu continued, "Shouzhe, the world is much larger than you can imagine. My knowledge is just a drop in the ocean. Perhaps, Lici has a natural talent in spirit perception."

What natural talent in spirit perception? Wang Shouzhe didn't quite believe it. Even if the girl had some talent, it was probably a glutton's talent.

We'll see.

Wang Shouzhe took out thirty gold coins and gave them to Wang Lici, saying, "Go buy three more stones. Remember, only the ones that feel like they have something good inside."

Wang Lici stopped crying and looked at Wang Shouzhe with innocent eyes, as if he were a fool. Fourth Uncle, are you really that stupid? Haven't you learned your lesson from being cheated once?

"Ha ha."

Wang Shouzhe's cheeks twitched, and he laughed coldly, "Eldest maid, I forgot to tell you, Fourth Uncle just bought two books..."

Before he could finish,

Wang Lici tightly clutched the thirty gold coins and ran off like the wind.

Her speed and reaction were so quick that even Wang Shouzhe was taken aback. He wasn't sure if the eldest maid had any natural talent in spirit perception, but he was certain she had a natural talent for speed.

To prevent her from being cheated, he quickly sent Wang Zhong and Wang Yong to follow her.

"Shouzhe, you really are..." Fourth Aunt Xu Zhirou smiled.

......