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

Chapter 32: Rapid Improvement

"Darling, did you have a conflict with Sister Li?" Ye Yingying hurriedly asked when she saw Xu Mu return.

Holding Little Ling'er, Lan Shijin also looked over.

"No!" Xu Mu shook his head and then solemnly said to Ye Yingying, "Don't associate with her anymore in the future!"

He didn't want his wife to be influenced by the other party.

"Oh!" Ye Yingying nodded.

She wasn't a three or five-year-old child. She could tell from the tone of Li Moqing's voice what she had done.

But she couldn't understand why Li Moqing had changed so much in just over a month.

She didn't know if it was a case of breaking the jar or if it was her true nature, but now that she didn't have her husband, she was letting herself go.

Seeing Ye Yingying agree, Xu Mu didn't say anything more, after all, Lan Shijin was still here.

Lan Shijin had only met Li Moqing a few times and wasn't very familiar with her.

And it wasn't convenient to discuss such matters.

After coaxing Little Ling'er for a while, Lan Shijin began to set up the formation in the room. She had all kinds of materials and didn't need Xu Mu to buy anything else.

In the late afternoon, it started to drizzle. Xu Mu held an oiled paper umbrella and sent Lan Shijin to the entrance of the market, then returned home alone.

Morning pick-up, evening drop-off, for three consecutive days, the Spirit Gathering formation was finally set up.

After settling the spirit stones, Xu Mu invited the other party to have a meal at home, and then sent her to the entrance of the market, bidding each other farewell.

Xu Mu thought that after the formation was set up, he would be able to enjoy a peaceful time of cultivation, but things didn't go as planned.

On the second day of setting up the Spirit Gathering formation, the several Qi Refining cultivators who had been searching at the entrance of the market, under the leadership of the Toothman, began to conduct inspections in the slum area.

In order to avoid arousing suspicion, Xu Mu had to destroy the formation again and hide his valuable items.

Fortunately, the cultivators this time didn't do anything extreme, they just walked around the house and left after confirming that there was no one hiding.

Xu Mu was furious!

I just set up the formation!

Although it didn't cost much spirit stones, it was still money!

After the search team left, Xu Mu didn't immediately go find Lan Shijin.

He was really afraid that she would come again, and then he would probably cry.

After seven or eight days, when it was confirmed that the turmoil had completely passed, Xu Mu finally went to the market and found Lan Shijin again.

Regarding Xu Mu frequently destroying the formation and then having her set it up again, Lan Shijin couldn't help but wonder:

Does Xu Mu have some kind of idea?

Even Cold Moon's gaze at him seemed a bit off!

Xu Mu could only smile bitterly.

He doesn't want to either!

But what if something unexpected happens?

Destroying the formation would only waste some spirit stones, but if someone discovers any clues, it could cost him his life.

Given Xu Mu's personality, he is not willing to take such risks for just a few spirit stones.

Fortunately, Lan Shijin didn't say much and still agreed to help him set up the formation.

However, this time, Xu Mu made a new request.

"Fellow Daoist Lan, can you help me set up a formation that can be adjusted?"

He doesn't lack spirit stones now.

If possible, he hopes to convert all these spirit stones into strength.

He doesn't currently lack elixirs either. The ones he snatched from Luo Xu are still unused, so he can only focus on cultivating spiritual energy.

"It can be done! But the materials required will be much more expensive, and it will take about seven to eight days!"

"Time and materials are not a problem!"

Xu Mu readily agreed.

His response made Lan Shijin look at him with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

Lan Shijin found herself increasingly unable to understand this neighbor who used to be ordinary.

To facilitate the arrangement of the formation and save some money, Lan Shijin rented the room next to Xu Mu's again.

As for the matter of leaving by boat, she didn't mention it. Every time she did, it made Lan Shijin angry.

Her friend had only been making excuses before, but recently, she had completely shut herself off.

The spirit stones she had spent earlier were completely wasted, and she even lost a friend.

Now, all she wanted was for the war to end quickly.

Time flew by!

Eight days later, the formation was set up.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, according to your request, the daily consumption can be increased to a maximum of one hundred low-grade spirit stones! If you want to further increase it, you will have to find other formation masters!" Lan Shijin said.

"It's enough! Thank you for your hard work, Fellow Daoist Lan!" Xu Mu smiled.

"Fellow Daoist Xu is too polite!"

She was just doing business and there was no hard work involved.

On the contrary, she had to thank Xu Mu for giving her such a big order.

Ordinary people couldn't afford to hire a formation master to set up a formation.

After settling the spirit stones, Lan Shijin bid farewell and left, while Xu Mu couldn't wait to enter the formation and test its effectiveness.

The entire Spirit Gathering formation consisted of six formation pillars and a formation compass the size of a round table. When activated, it would form a semi-circular light curtain that was one zhang high and two zhang wide, just enough to cover the entire bedroom.

On the formation compass, there were grooves for embedding spirit stones. As long as the spirit stones were placed in them, the formation would continue to operate.

If the spirit stones were depleted and not replenished in time, the runes on the pillars would collapse and need to be redrawn, and the pillars themselves would be damaged.

There were over a hundred grooves on the compass, and the more spirit stones were embedded, the stronger the power of the formation.

Xu Mu took out over a hundred pieces and quickly filled all the grooves.

The runes flickered, and invisible spiritual energy spread out. The formation was officially activated!

If Lan Shijin were here, she would probably widen her eyes in astonishment.

Although she set up the formation, she never expected Xu Mu to be so extravagant.

You see, once the spirit stones are embedded and connected to the formation, they cannot be taken out.

What she didn't know was that Xu Mu had no intention of using the original Spirit Gathering formation that consumed ten spirit stones a day.

Although the turmoil of the search had passed, Xu Mu still had a lingering feeling of unease, so he wanted to further improve his strength in a short period of time.

Since there was no way to improve his skills, he could only work on his cultivation.

What does it feel like to consume one hundred spirit stones a day in the Spirit Gathering formation?

Xu Mu will tell you!

Just one word—

Satisfying!

When he started to absorb the spiritual energy, it poured in like a flood, rushing in.

Originally, his cultivation could only improve by two or three points a day, but now it could increase by a dozen or twenty points, almost ten times the original rate.

If combined with the assistance of elixirs, it would be like riding a rocket.

Xu Mu could feel the improvement in his cultivation every moment.

In just half a month, he reached the fifth level; 377/600!

Xu Mu suspected that in another half a month, he would be able to break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Such progress would make even the direct descendants of the Foundation Building families envious.

At the same time, the rate of spirit stone consumption was enough to scare an ordinary person.

In half a month, just the consumption of the formation alone amounted to fifteen hundred low-grade spirit stones. If the cost of setting up the formation was included, it would be close to two thousand.

And this was just the foundation!

Don't forget that he also had to take elixirs every day!

Especially the Qi-boosting pill and the Spirit Nurturing pill he obtained from Luo Xu, all of them were valuable. If his self-made Qi-gathering pill and Jade Marrow pill were also taken into account...

Three thousand low-grade spirit stones wouldn't be enough!

It was simply burning money!

In this terrifying act of burning money, he hadn't made a breakthrough yet, but Ye Yingying had already broken through.

She reached the third level of Qi Refining!

Less than twenty years old, and already at the third level of Qi Refining!

This progress not only surprised Ye Yingying herself, but even Lan Shijin was shocked.

You see, her daughter, Leng Yuening, had extraordinary talent and laid a solid foundation since childhood. At this age, she had only reached the third level of Qi Refining, possibly even later than Ye Yingying.

If it were just that, it wouldn't be enough to surprise her.

The key is that Ye Yingying's original talent was very poor, and it was uncertain whether she could break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining in this lifetime. Yet now, she suddenly made rapid progress.

With this rate of progress, she might even have a chance at Foundation Building in the future.

This made Lan Shijin begin to feel a strong curiosity towards Xu Mu, because she knew that all of this was thanks to Xu Mu's efforts.

However, she was a smart person. Although she was curious in her heart, she did not pry into it. She just became more enthusiastic than before.

Breaking through in cultivation naturally called for a celebration.

So, that night, Xiaoling was awakened several times!

Every time she woke up, she saw her father bullying her mother. Sometimes he stood, sometimes he sat, sometimes he approached from the front, sometimes from behind. Her mother was already crying, but he refused to let go!

He was really bad!

Xiaoling clapped her small hands in anger and yelled.

Fortunately, in the end, her mother finally fought back and knocked her father down. Now it was her father's turn to be beaten!

Xiaoling clapped happily.

It wasn't until dawn that the two stopped fighting, and Xiaoling fell into a deep sleep, exhausted.

In her little heart, she made a vow that when she grew up, she would never let her father bully her mother again.

...

Time flew by in this rapid advancement.

Half a month later,

Xu Mu's cultivation smoothly reached:

[Fifth level; 599/600]!

After failing to break through for two consecutive days, Xu Mu quickly adjusted the Spirit Gathering Array back to ten spiritual stones per day.

Burning money could indeed quickly improve cultivation, but at the same time, when breaking through bottlenecks, it would be much more difficult than for normal cultivators.

This was because the foundation was not solid enough.

Xu Mu didn't mind though.

This was an inevitable price to pay!

Just endure a few more days!

With the arrival of the bottleneck, Xu Mu began to significantly reduce his cultivation time and instead squeezed out more time to refine pills.

After all, he had promised Su Qing to increase the quantity of pills by thirty percent this time.

Regarding the matter he inquired about, Su Qing had already replied, agreeing to it. However, she would only give him the information after the pill exchange.

There were no surprises during the transaction. Xu Mu obtained the information he wanted, and the other party obtained the pills they wanted.

It's just that Su Qing, like Lan Shijin, couldn't help but be surprised by his change in appearance for a long time.

...

The bright sunlight poured through the window, illuminating the room brightly.

Xu Mu sat at the large table in the hall, carefully flipping through the book in his hand. On the corner of the table, Ye Yingying had found a purple iris flower from somewhere and put it in a vase, blooming brightly.

The book was given to him by Su Qing. The writing was delicate and graceful, exuding the taste of a refined young lady. It should have been written by a young woman.

It recorded the information of all the Foundation Building families in Baifang City.

"There are a total of seven Foundation Building families in Baifang City: Lv, Zhang, Chen, Luo, Yan, Song, Chi..."

(End of this chapter)