Longevity Begins With The Birth Of A Daughter At An Old Age

Chapter 2: Infant Blood Pill

"What's going on?" Xu Mu hurriedly got up and rushed into the bedroom.

Ye Yingying pointed to a corner of the ceiling, her face pale and trembling.

Xu Mu protected her in his arms and followed her finger, looking up.

In the next moment, his pupils slightly trembled.

A moldy severed hand was stuck in the corner of the ceiling!

Fortunately, the hand didn't move!

"Phew!"

Taking a deep breath and calming down, Xu Mu found a wooden stick and poked it down.

The severed hand was covered in dark blue mold, dried up like old bacon, making it difficult to distinguish whether it belonged to a man or a woman.

Xu Mu endured the disgust and wrapped it in a piece of cloth.

Let's go!

He threw it into the sewer at the entrance of the alley.

Ye Yingying had been protected by her father since she was young, with a simple mind and little experience. Encountering something like this suddenly scared her to the point of being distraught. It took Xu Mu a while to calm her down.

"Husband, am I useless?" Ye Yingying shrank in his arms, her eyes slightly red as she looked at Xu Mu.

Xu Mu rubbed her little head and smiled, saying, "You just haven't seen much. You'll get used to it in the future."

This is not the peaceful era of his past life. This is the cultivation world where the weak are preyed upon by the strong, and human life is as insignificant as grass and mustard seeds. Even if Xu Mu loves his wife dearly, he can only help her become stronger little by little.

However, she is only in her twenties, and her current performance is already quite good.

At least, she has never complained about the hardships of life or blamed Xu Mu for his incompetence.

Although it was just an ordinary-looking severed hand, it still cast a shadow over Xu Mu's heart.

To be on the safe side, Xu Mu bought a talisman to ward off evil spirits in the market and had Ye Yingying keep it close to her.

Their already meager savings became even tighter.

Fortunately, as long as he can continue refining pills, he can slowly accumulate wealth.

In the following days, apart from taking care of his wife's daily life, Xu Mu spent most of his time refining the Pigu Pill.

Once he accumulated a certain quantity of pills, he would take them to the shops in the market to sell.

Having been an alchemist for so many years, he had established cooperative relationships with several shops, so he didn't have to worry about sales.

However, the prices at the shops were much lower compared to when he used to set up his own stall.

But Ye Yingying was about to give birth soon, and he couldn't leave for too long. To avoid any accidents, he could only sell at a lower price.

In addition to refining elixirs, Xu Mu also squeezed out some time to practice Fire Control Technique.

Whether it was the reminder from the Toothman, the moldy severed hand, or the strange neighbors, they all made him feel deeply insecure.

In order to deal with possible accidents, he had to seize every moment and improve his strength as much as possible.

Even if it was just a tiny bit.

Inside the house, a palm-sized orange-red flame bird flew out of Xu Mu's hand and collided with the ground stones.

Bang!

The collision between the bird and the stones produced a clear sound, as if someone had taken a hammer and struck hard.

The stones shook slightly, leaving a black shallow pit with burn marks, while the bird scattered into sparks after the impact, flying into the air and reassembling.

"Unfortunately, it's still a bit inferior to Fireball Technique!"

Xu Mu said with some regret.

Fire Control Technique was not purely a combat spell. Although he had practiced it to the level of mastery, its power was still much weaker compared to spells like Fireball Technique or Wind Blade Technique.

However, the real advantage of Fire Control Technique was not its attacking power, but its ability to sustain combat and its versatility.

For example...

Under Xu Mu's control, the bird in the air suddenly transformed into a fire snake, wrapping around several tens of kilograms of stones and slowly lifting them from the ground.

Perhaps because the stone slab was too heavy, after lifting it to half a meter high, the fire snake made a bang sound and scattered into sparks again, while the stone fell heavily to the ground.

The sparks reassembled once again, but this time they didn't turn into a bird or a snake, but into a fireball.

The fireball kept rotating and compressing, gradually changing from its original orange-red color to blood red, and finally to dark red. It then fell onto the stone with a bang, instantly shattering it.

Xu Mu let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

This was a move he had developed based on his knowledge of physics from his previous life. By compressing the flames, he could create a powerful explosive force.

Its power surpassed that of Fireball Technique!

The only downside was that compression took time, and after using it, he needed to release the flames again.

After resting for a while and recovering some spiritual power, Xu Mu snapped his fingers with his right hand. With a puff sound, a ball of flame ignited at his fingertip.

This was a simple Ignition Technique that didn't even count as a first-tier spell. Almost all cultivators could perform it as long as they infused spiritual power, allowing them to infinitely enlarge the flame.

It was perfect for complementing the use of Fire Control Technique.

The flames gathered in the air once again, transforming into a new fire snake and flying towards the stones.

Days like this passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. The day of Ye Yingying's delivery was getting closer.

...

Evening.

After finishing dinner, Ye Yingying felt a bit uncomfortable, so Xu Mu asked her to rest in her room while he took care of the dishes.

Looking at the bottom of the bowl that Ye Yingying had eaten clean, Xu Mu couldn't help but feel a pang of pain.

Recently, I have saved up some spirit stones. Tomorrow, I will go to the market to buy some spirit rice for Yingying to replenish her energy. I also need to prepare some postpartum food!

Xu Mu furrowed his brow, calculating in his mind how to make the most of the limited spirit stones.

However, no matter how much he thought about it, he still felt constrained.

In the market, the cheapest spirit rice could only be bought with five catties of low-grade spirit stones. Meat with spiritual energy was even more expensive, usually only two or three catties could be bought with one low-grade spirit stone.

Recently, due to the war, prices have been constantly rising.

Sigh!

It's really unfortunate for a poor couple!

Just as Xu Mu finished his busy work and was about to go back to take care of his wife, there was a sudden urgent knocking on the door.

"Who could it be so late?"

Xu Mu cautiously took out a few talismans and held them in his hand as he walked towards the front door.

Although there had been no abnormalities in the vicinity recently, he had heard various terrifying rumors about the slum area and couldn't afford to take it lightly.

"Who's outside?"

Xu Mu shouted.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, it's me!"

An old voice came from outside.

Xu Mu furrowed his brow slightly and judged from the voice that it was the old alchemist who lived at the entrance of the alley.

The old alchemist's name was Sun Daocheng, who was already in his eighties. Recently, he often came to visit under the pretext of discussing alchemy with Xu Mu.

As a newcomer, Xu Mu couldn't refuse, and he also wanted to learn about the surrounding situation from the other party, so he always let him in.

However, the other party usually came during the day, and it was the first time he came at night.

Xu Mu looked through the crack in the door and confirmed that there was only Sun Daocheng outside before opening the door, but he didn't let him in.

Sun Daocheng outside the door was wearing a greasy robe, with black and gray patches all over his body. His eyes were bloodshot, and there were still a lot of eye boogers in the corners of his eyes, as if he hadn't rested for several days.

"Fellow Daoist Sun, is there something you need coming so late?"

Looking at the even messier Sun Daocheng in front of him than usual, Xu Mu asked in confusion.

"There is indeed something!"

A smile like a chrysanthemum squeezed out of the wrinkled old face of Sun Daocheng.

He first looked inside and then whispered, "Fellow Daoist Xu, I wonder how much longer your younger sister has until she gives birth?"

"..."

Xu Mu narrowed his eyes, showing a guarded expression.

"Fellow Daoist Sun, why are you asking about this?"

"Hehe!"

Sun Daocheng smiled and rubbed his hands, his eyes filled with a hint of madness.

"I have the method to refine the Infant Blood Pill in my hands. If you're willing..."

"Get lost!"

Xu Mu's face turned pale in an instant, his eyes as cold as ice.

He had heard from the couple next door that this old man was not a good person, but he didn't know at first and had some dealings with him.

Never did he expect that the old man would have such an idea.

Perhaps the enthusiasm he had shown in the past few days was not for him, but for the child in his wife's belly.

"Don't get angry! How about this, I'll provide the other medicinal materials, and if we succeed, we'll split it fifty-fifty!"

Before Sun Daocheng could finish speaking, Xu Mu slammed the door shut.

"Hey! Fellow Daoist Xu, don't be in such a hurry! If that doesn't work, we can still negotiate! How about sixty-forty? If not, thirty-seventy is also possible!"

Outside the door, Sun Daocheng couldn't help but shout a few more times.

Meanwhile, Xu Mu had already returned to the bedroom with a gloomy expression.

Seeing that Xu Mu didn't respond for a long time, Sun Daocheng couldn't help but feel frustrated.

"You can't even support yourself, yet you want to raise a child! Are you out of your mind?"

The reason why he had been going to Xu Mu's house these past few days was to inquire about their situation.

It was only because he learned that their life was difficult that he dared to come and say such things. However, he didn't expect Xu Mu to be so dull-witted and reject his good intentions.

"Raising a child is a losing proposition. When the girl grows up, she'll have to be married off, and as for the boy, you'll have to support his cultivation. If you hand them over to me, I can immediately earn a large amount of spirit stones. Whether it's going to the gambling house or the brothel, you can enjoy yourself however you want! What an idiot!"

Sun Daocheng flicked his sleeve and cursed as he turned and left, heading towards the house at the end of the alley.

Just as he had walked halfway, the door next to him suddenly creaked open from the inside.

A strong smell of blood immediately filled the air.

"Fellow Daoist Sun, since he's unwilling, how about the three of us cooperate?"

Behind the door were a pair of twins with a cold smile on their lips and pale faces like paper.

"Well..."

Looking at the two of them, Sun Daocheng's expression was somewhat wary.

He had lived in this alley for many years and was not unfamiliar with these two. He knew that one was named Li Wen and the other Li Wu, and they secretly engaged in robbery and cultivation without a foundation.

It was said that their cultivation technique was extremely bizarre, requiring occasional blood consumption.

However, he himself was not someone to be bullied easily. Although he was wary of the two, he wasn't overly afraid.

Feeling his empty pockets, and considering the large debt he owed in the gambling house, Sun Daocheng gritted his teeth and walked in.

In the slums, some things, if you don't agree, won't just go away.

If you have any objections, you must voice them! Thank you, everyone!

(End of this chapter)