Chapter Ninety-One: The Stillwater Pearl and the Spirit Pagoda

A brief period of calm passed by.

During that time of cultivation, Li Mu often walked within the hollow, and today was no different.

Only then could he think in peace; he felt very at ease, and yet in great need of it.

The plants and trees in the hollow were also neat, well tended by the great ape.

As for that great ape, it was surely the monkey he had tamed. Why it was called Great Monkey was something Li Ying would have to explain. Let her call it whatever she pleased; no one else would object, only comply. Oddly enough, the ape seemed to approve of the name as well, and had grown somewhat close to Li Ying, often swinging and frolicking within the vines.

But with Li Mu, the ape was reverent and utterly loyal. Even the great strength art Li Mu had forced it to practice, it had already learned a little.

A green leaf drifted slowly down, and the slender Shen Bingxue landed beside Li Mu.

Li Mu was somewhat surprised. He had not seen her for several days, assuming she had become absorbed in alchemy and did not wish to be disturbed.

"Shopkeeper Li, why are you giving me these things?"

Shen Bingxue’s voice was cool. In her hand were several items that Li Mu had previously given her: beast cores, a ring of five-colored stone, a flying shuttle, and a Asura Sword.

These days she had not been lost in alchemy, but had instead been pondering something. Yet no matter how she thought about it, she still could not understand what was going on here.

Li Mu shook his head lightly. "Pharmacist Shen, our fates are now tied together. We have to resist together, and you came here of your own accord. It’s only natural that I give you some supplies for protection."

"I still feel uncomfortable about it."

Shen Bingxue sighed. "Shopkeeper Li, if this were the former Flower Woods Gate, I would never accept things like this. But now I somehow just took them."

At Flower Woods Gate, she had only ever given things to others; no one ever gave her anything. If they did, she would even drive them away, throwing the item aside and paying it no mind. In time, no one bothered to give her gifts anymore.

"That’s good. Since you accepted them, that’s enough."

Shen Bingxue shook her head. "It’s not that simple. Shopkeeper Li, you know I never take things for nothing, but what I want to give you now is hard to speak of."

Li Mu understood this too.

When they had met at Wood Jade Hall, Shen Bingxue had treated everything with perfect equality—never taking more than due, never giving too much, and never accepting anything for free. Because of that, Li Mu had grown a certain fondness for her, and secretly admired her.

Li Mu nodded, speaking with great earnestness. "I understand your character, Pharmacist Shen. But the situation leaves no room for choice, so don’t overthink it. It’s nothing serious, just a mutual need, that’s all."

Shen Bingxue’s body trembled slightly, and somewhere anger seemed to rise within her. "Mutual need... so he really thinks of it that way. Hah, impossible."

"Fine. Even if you give it to me, I won’t take it for nothing. This item, you must accept it."

Shen Bingxue let out a soft snort.

Her words were somewhat strained, but they were not as hard as they seemed; rather, there was a faint softness hidden within them.

Li Mu held the item in his hand, and his whole body suddenly shook so violently that he could barely stand.

"This, this, this kind of thing—why didn’t you give it to me sooner?"

"Why give it to you sooner? I brought it with me from the moment I came. How could I possibly tell you..." Shen Bingxue said, a slight flush rising to her cheeks, before turning away.

Li Mu looked at the item in his hand, overjoyed, and gazed at Shen Bingxue’s departing figure as he asked carefully, "I’ll keep it then. You won’t take it back, will you, Pharmacist Shen?"

"As you like."

Shen Bingxue said without turning around, "And if anything of yours is left over, I’ll throw it away." With that, she controlled a flying leaf and once again headed toward the alchemy grounds.

Li Mu had never been this excited in his life, simply because there was a string of beads in his hand.

The beads were small and unremarkable, a watery sky-blue, not especially beautiful. But on closer inspection, one could see rippling waves within, together with the sound of tides and birdcalls.

They were called Stillwater Beads, third grade in quality. Their use was nothing extraordinary. Worn at one’s side during cultivation, they could calm the spirit, maintain a tranquil mind, and prevent one’s state of heart from becoming unstable.

But the Stillwater Beads Shen Bingxue had given Li Mu were top tier.

Top tier among third-grade materials.

The warnings inside the spirit tower had always echoed in Li Mu’s mind: the limit of the tower value could be raised. A top-tier third-grade material could raise that limit by at least ten.

This string of Stillwater Beads held ten in all. That meant the value limit of the Mythical Spirit Tower could be raised to at least two hundred.

With two hundred tower value, many things could be done—for instance, raising third-grade materials and pills to top tier, or crafting second-grade treasures. All of it would make Li Mu stronger.

It was a qualitative leap, and that was why he was so excited.

This string of Stillwater Beads was truly important.

Li Mu glanced toward the alchemy grounds, his thoughts surging. How could he have imagined that so many difficulties would be resolved by Shen Bingxue’s string of beads?

Sitting down on the ground, he sent his mind into the spirit sea.

Within the spirit tower there, he gradually calmed himself and one by one dropped the Stillwater Beads into it.

"Obtained a third-grade material. Tower value increased by ten!"

"Obtained a third-grade material. Tower value increased by twelve!"

"Obtained a third-grade material. Tower value increased by eleven!"

The tower value quickly rose to two hundred and one, and only a single Stillwater Bead remained in his hand.

Carefully, Li Mu placed that lone bead beside the spirit tower as a keepsake.

He no longer needed it. Money begets money, and the tower value had reached two hundred; by continually adding third-grade materials and merging them, it would not be difficult to raise it to five hundred.

Now was the perfect time to make a move.

Li Mu had previously stocked up on a great many lower-grade spirit crystals, and he had obtained many from Flower Woods Gate. As long as he was cautious, he would not run short of tower value for a long while.

"Upgrade!"

"Third-grade upper-rank Moon Blossom upgraded to top tier. Cost: two hundred tower value."

The Moon Blossom was extremely important, because Li Mu intended to use it as the spirit-building material for Li Ying. It was especially suited to female cultivators, and Li Mu had great faith in his younger sister; she would surely endure the pain of building her spirit with the Moon Blossom. If she could bear the agony of opening her qi pool with the One-to-Clear Pill, then this too would not defeat her.

"Upgrade!"

"Third-grade upper-rank Condensing Spirit Pill upgraded to top tier. Cost: two hundred tower value."

What a pity, though, that he did not have many pills he could improve. His formulas were limited, and he would need to work with Shen Bingxue as much as possible to study further. Pills such as the third-grade pill for restoring true power, the Spirit Restoring Pill, and the third-grade pill for altering the meridians, the Meridian Tempering Pill, would each provide tremendous assistance no matter which one was made.

"Good. With so many materials and spirit crystals, there’s definitely hope."

Li Mu returned to reality with a faint smile.

Tower value was the great limit of the spirit tower. Now that he could obtain certain effects in a short time, many things could be transformed. There was no need to rush.

"Heh heh, Great Monkey, lead me over there."

At the cave entrance, Li Ying sat on the ape’s shoulder as it emerged from within.

Li Ying lifted her head and pointed toward the very high fissure above, her face bright with joy.

Li Mu looked at his younger sister, a faint smile on his lips. On her now flushed cheeks, there was already a different light.

"Looks like my little sister is about to begin spirit building together with the others."

Li Ying’s speed was indeed very fast. By Li Mu’s estimate, in a little over two months she would be able to break through to the spirit-building stage. Sun Qi and Sun Sanjiu would likely be the same.

Even among the great sects, one could hardly find such gifted talent. Surely following him would be much better. Li Mu was full of confidence.