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

Chapter 23: Crimson Gold Sword

After the Spring Festival, everyone's life returned to normal.

The ice and snow melted, and the weather gradually warmed up.

On the eaves, rows of crystal-clear icicles dripped incessantly.

The originally frozen ground became muddy as the snow melted.

On this day, Xu Mu walked out of his house with some elixirs, ready to sell them at the market and also retrieve the custom-made magic sword.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped out, he ran into Jia An and Ma Rui, who were traveling together, along with a few neighbors from the alley.

"Xu Fellow Daoist, are you also going to join the patrol team?" Ma Rui smirked.

"No!" Xu Mu shook his head and said, "I'm planning to sell the refined elixirs!"

He had heard about the recruitment of patrol team members from Su Qing a long time ago.

However...

He glanced at the group of people and asked with some confusion, "I heard that the recruitment requirements are quite high. Are you confident?"

According to the information he heard, they only recruited cultivators at the third level of Qi Refining who were skilled in combat.

Although the neighbors in front of him had reached that level, they were not particularly skilled in combat.

Although Jia An and the others often entered the Baihe Forest, they were mostly worker bees and had very few opportunities for actual combat.

Only those cultivators who specialized in hunting and killing demonic beasts could be considered skilled in combat.

"Don't worry, Xu Fellow Daoist. Jia Boss has already smoothed things over. As long as we go there and register, it's just a formality!" Ma Rui said excitedly.

"Jia Boss?"

Xu Mu glanced at Jia An, who was chubby and had his chin raised, and for a moment, he doubted whether he had misheard.

"Xu Fellow Daoist, do you want to go together? With me around, I guarantee that you can join the patrol team, and no one will dare to bully us anymore!" Jia An said in a bold tone, quite satisfied with himself.

For a moment, Xu Mu thought he was hallucinating.

He still remembered that when he first arrived, Jia An was still a cautious and humble person, showing great enthusiasm for him just because of a bottle of Qi Gathering Pill.

He suddenly remembered that when he left the Chi family, Jia An had invited him to drink in the market.

At that time, Jia An had shown a hint of ambition, but Xu Mu didn't think highly of him.

Later, Jia An had invited him a few more times, but Xu Mu had refused under the pretext of alchemy. After that, Jia An never came to find him again.

He hadn't seen Jia An's wife, Li Moqing, for a long time either, and he didn't know what she was busy with.

Originally, he thought it would be difficult for Jia An to make any waves, but he didn't expect him to actually find a way.

Looking at the expressions of Ma Rui and the others, it was clear that they almost worshipped Jia An.

However, even if they formed a small group, it would be difficult to achieve much.

It wasn't that Xu Mu was jealous, but mainly because Jia An's cultivation level was too low.

Only at the third level of Qi Refining!

No matter how much he tried, it would be useless!

He would be better off practicing honestly with that time!

Of course, everyone had their own choices, and Xu Mu wouldn't make decisions for others.

He just smiled and shook his head, rejecting their invitation.

Faced with Xu Mu's refusal, Jia An's expression darkened slightly.

In the past, he was just an ordinary wandering cultivator, and Xu Mu was an alchemist, so he wanted to curry favor with Xu Mu.

But with the operations he had been doing recently, he felt that he would soon be successful, to the point where he was a bit arrogant and looked down on Xu Mu, an "old cultivator."

He had long been dissatisfied with Xu Mu's repeated rejection of his goodwill.

Especially Xu Mu's disregard for his achievements, which made him extremely unhappy.

Xu Mu himself might not have noticed it, but invisibly, he really didn't regard the other party highly, and even the entire slum area had very few people he considered worthy.

It wasn't that he was too arrogant, but the fact was there.

Cultivators in the slum area could barely earn ten low-grade spirit stones in a month of hard work.

But if he wanted to, he could easily earn thousands of low-grade spirit stones.

A hundred times more than an ordinary wandering cultivator!

In this situation, even if he tried to hide it, he would inevitably reveal some of it.

Although Jia An felt extremely dissatisfied with Xu Mu in his heart, he didn't fully show it. Instead, he smiled and said, "Since that's the case, forget it. But we live in the same alley, so it's fate. If Xu Fellow Daoist has any trouble in the future, feel free to come find me!"

"Thank you!"

Xu Mu politely thanked him with a cupped fist.

The two groups separated at the entrance of the market.

"Old Ma, you follow him and see where he goes. Remember, keep your distance and don't let him notice you!"

Not long after they separated from Xu Mu, Jia An suddenly stopped and said with a gloomy expression to Ma Rui.

"Jia Boss, what's the matter?"

"Don't ask so many questions! Just go!"

"Then what about my joining the patrol team?"

"Don't worry, with me around, it's fine to go later!"

"Alright!"

Ma Rui nodded and turned to chase after Xu Mu's direction.

Jia An, on the other hand, continued on with his group towards the recruitment point.

...

"Ten bottles of Jade Marrow Pills! And some of them are of medium grade! Xu Fellow Daoist, your alchemy skills have improved again! Congratulations, congratulations!"

Song Family Medicine Shop, upon seeing the pills Xu Mu took out, Su Qing's eyebrows raised, the corners of her thin and transparent lips slightly lifted, and her eyes were filled with surprise.

"Recently, my skills have been improving, especially in fire manipulation, which is why I was able to succeed!" Xu Mu smiled modestly.

If it weren't for the recent shortage of spirit stones, he wouldn't have brought out so many jade marrow pills to sell.

Because it would attract too much attention!

Fortunately, the Song Family Medicine Shop had a strong background, so although Su Qing was pleasantly surprised, she didn't question it too much.

The alchemist who came to verify the pills only praised them and asked if Xu Mu would be willing to join the Song Family as a guest alchemist.

After Xu Mu declined, he promptly paid with spirit stones.

There was no deliberate trouble or bloodshed like killing for treasures.

For Xu Mu, this was not a small amount, but for the Song Family Medicine Shop, it was just a small business deal that wasn't worth tarnishing their reputation.

When he finally left the medicine shop, he had obtained a total of eight medium-grade spirit stones and thirty sets of materials for refining jade marrow pills.

And Su Qing's warm send-off.

The price of medium-grade jade marrow pills was much higher than that of low-grade ones, and recently the price of raw materials had decreased, which was why there were so many.

After leaving the medicine shop, he immediately rushed to the magic tool store, presented his voucher, and received his custom-made magic sword.

"This sword is three feet and seven inches long, made primarily of gengjin, with some chijing iron mixed in according to your request to enhance the power of fire attribute spiritual energy. It was also tempered with earthfire liquid to make it easier to gather fire elements."

The tall shopkeeper held a white long sword in his hand and explained it in detail.

The long sword emitted a cold, icy light, with a white-gold color all over, and the sharp edge of the blade seemed capable of cutting through one's eyes.

"And you're lucky, when the formation master was inscribing it, he found that gengjin and ruìjīn formations were extremely compatible, so he added an extra ruìjīn formation for you!"

The shopkeeper handed the sword to Xu Mu with envy on his face and continued, "Fifteen ruìjīn formations, two solidification formations, a total of seventeen formations. If it weren't for their limited functionality, they would be considered top-quality even among third-grade magic tools!"

"Not bad!"

Xu Mu held the sword in his hand and gently shook it, revealing a satisfied expression on his face.

This sword was tailor-made for him, eliminating many unnecessary formations. If it could unleash its full power, its attack power could even surpass that of a third-grade magic tool.

After all, ordinary third-grade magic tools could only have eighteen formations inscribed on them.

No one would be foolish enough to inscribe fifteen attack formations among them.

However, it was pure nonsense for the shopkeeper to claim that this sword was comparable to a top-quality third-grade magic tool.

The materials for forging the sword were there, and if it weren't for the limited formations, it would be impossible to inscribe seventeen formations.

If he were to sell it, he probably wouldn't even get the price of a second-grade magic tool.

But in Xu Mu's hands, its value was comparable to a third-grade magic tool.

Xu Mu tried injecting spiritual energy into it, and the originally white-gold sword suddenly showed faint red veins, spreading across the blade. The entire sword became hot, distorting the surrounding air.

This was clearly due to the chijing iron!

Seeing this scene, the satisfaction in Xu Mu's eyes grew even stronger.

The five medium-grade spirit stones he spent were not in vain!

Unfortunately, no one came forward to spar with him.

"Shopkeeper, does this sword have a name?"

Xu Mu took the white iron sword sheath given by the shop and put the long sword into it, then asked.

"The blacksmith who made it named it the Crimson Gold Sword! But since you ordered it, you can decide the name yourself!"

"The Crimson Gold Sword, huh! Not bad, I won't change it then!"

Xu Mu couldn't be bothered to think of a name.

After paying the final installment, he left the magic tool shop.

After replenishing his daily supplies at the market, he returned home, hugged little Ling'er for a while, and entered the miscellaneous room. He took out the jade slip for the third-level Flame Control Technique and began absorbing the information and insights within.

The information in the third-level Flame Control Technique was much more extensive than the second-level technique. In addition to condensing and controlling flames, it also involved mastery over true fire.

True fire was a spiritual flame that could only be condensed within the body after breaking through the Foundation Building stage. Whether it was alchemy or refining tools, it was much stronger than ordinary flames.

"Perhaps when I cultivate to a higher realm, I can condense Spirit Gathering Flames ahead of time!"

Xu Mu felt very excited when he saw this passage.

However, while the third-level Flame Control Technique was powerful, the difficulty of cultivation also increased exponentially.

After fully absorbing the information in the jade slip, the symbol for the third-level Flame Control Technique appeared on the system panel.

[Entry-level of the third-level Flame Control Technique; 157/400]!

The difficulty of cultivating a third-level spell had skyrocketed to a new level. The entry-level required a proficiency of 400, but fortunately, Xu Mu was mentally prepared for it.

However, it seemed impossible to integrate with the second-level Flame Control Technique in the short term unless Xu Mu was willing to use Luck points to increase his chances.

Of course, that was not possible!

He had to carefully calculate the use of Luck points now and save them whenever possible.

In the following days, Xu Mu continued to seclude himself and focus on cultivation.

The increase in his abilities did not have a significant impact on his daily life.

If he wasn't refining pills, he was cultivating spells, occasionally squeezing out some time to accompany his wife and children.

At the same time, Jia An, Ma Rui, and others in the alley successfully joined the patrol team. They started wearing the uniform clothes provided by the market and patrolled the nearby area in an orderly manner every day.

Jia An indeed had some means, as he managed to obtain the position of a small team leader.

Every day when they passed by this alley, they would walk around with high spirits.

However, due to his chubby figure, it looked somewhat comical.

Although the new patrol team was formed, the expansion of the market was delayed, and even the self-expansion of the major families suddenly came to a halt.

Due to his focus on cultivation, Xu Mu didn't notice this abnormal change. He later heard about it from Lan Shijin.

Time always passed quickly during fulfilling days, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Spring had arrived, with grass growing and birds flying, and everything was coming back to life.

On this day, while Xu Mu was cultivating in the Spirit Gathering Array, he felt a movement in his spiritual power.

"I'm about to break through!"

(End of this chapter)