Mu Li looked at the spirit stones handed to her, a little confused.
The shopkeeper explained, “Senior, the pills were sold by you yourself, so naturally these spirit stones belong to you.”
Mu Li thought for a moment and said, “How about this—you can just calculate them at the purchase price of one hundred spirit stones each. After all, they were sold through your shop.”
She hadn’t meant to fleece the customer earlier; it was just that the boy had been so irritating she couldn’t help herself. If he came back to cause trouble, she would feel guilty toward the shopkeeper. So fifty spirit stones counted as compensation.
Seeing Mu Li’s generosity, the shopkeeper didn’t insist further. He gave her five hundred spirit stones, while the rest of the money was transferred to her card after his assistants finished tallying all the pills.
Walking out of the shop, Mu Li’s heart bloomed with joy. This time, she had sold more than 4,800 spirit stones in total—instantly richer than when she had first transmigrated. The sense of accomplishment was indescribable.
And once money was in hand, the urge to shop and stroll around was irresistible.
The streets of the cultivation world weren’t much different from modern society: there were grand, well-decorated shops, and also vendors who simply spread a cloth on the roadside to display their wares. Among the bustling crowds were not only cultivators but also ordinary mortals with no spiritual power at all.
Inside shops, some were haggling fiercely, while others had shopkeepers lounging lazily, letting customers browse without paying them any mind.
Mu Li wandered for a long time but didn’t see anything she wanted. Finally, she stopped at the entrance of a bookstore. She remembered that although she had contracted Duoduo, she knew very little about raising spirit beasts. The Mu family’s library had very few such books. So she decided to go in and buy some.
From the outside, the bookstore looked unimpressive, but inside it was spacious and bustling. Most of the patrons were adults with children. The children were mostly mortals who hadn’t yet drawn qi into their bodies, though a few had succeeded and were proudly basking in the envy of their peers.
Mu Li shook her head, thinking to herself: It seems parents in the cultivation world value education too.
After asking where the spirit beast books were, Mu Li declined the clerk’s guidance and went straight up to the second floor.
Compared to the lively first floor, the second was much quieter, with only a few scattered people. The bookshelves were sparse and widely spaced, with tables and chairs in between for reading.
This wasn’t much different from modern bookstores, Mu Li mused as she walked to the shelf of spirit beast books. She didn’t plan to read there, so she simply pulled down every book related to spirit beasts, intending to buy them all.
“Ah, all the spirit beast books have been taken.”
Mu Li froze at the voice. Turning around, she saw Xuanyuan Yunfei and the heroine Su Xuening standing behind her.
What a coincidence!
Mu Li thought she’d better check the almanac before going out in the future. Luckily, she had worn a veiled hat to avoid being recognized. Otherwise, she’d be providing gossip fodder for the onlookers.
“Don’t worry, Senior, we have plenty in stock.” The clerk behind them was briefly surprised to see Mu Li clearing out the shelf, but quickly recovered, calling for more books to be brought and helping Mu Li carry her stack.
The pile of books in Mu Li’s arms was taken from her. She wanted to say it wasn’t necessary—after all, as a cultivator, such weight was nothing to her. But she held back, afraid her voice might give her away.
Fortunately, the male and female leads weren’t paying attention to her and followed the clerk to choose their own books.
Mu Li let out a breath of relief, went downstairs, paid, stuffed the books into her storage pouch, and prepared to head home. But before she had gone far, Duoduo—who had been sleeping in her pocket—climbed out and perched on her shoulder.
Afraid of being noticed, Mu Li quickly grabbed him and stuffed him back into her pocket.
“If you keep running out, I’ll have no choice but to buy a spirit beast pouch and make you stay in it all day.”
Duoduo had never been in a spirit beast pouch, but he knew what it was. He squeaked twice in protest, then obediently stayed put. Still, he was brimming with excitement, constantly sending Mu Li the thought that there was something good in another direction.
Understanding Duoduo’s meaning, Mu Li grew excited too. This was the first time he had ever told her he’d found something valuable. She immediately changed direction to check it out.
Following Duoduo’s guidance for about fifteen minutes, Mu Li arrived at a fairly lively street.
This seemed to be a mortal district, with few cultivators. The shops and stalls sold everyday goods for mortals.
Guided by Duoduo, Mu Li stopped at an old man’s stall. His hair was white, and his stall was filled with herbs. Since Duoduo couldn’t come out, Mu Li picked up the items one by one to sense them. Finally, she discovered that the “good thing” Duoduo meant was a bundle of vines.
The vines were dried, their original form unrecognizable. Mu Li couldn’t sense much spiritual energy in them, but Duoduo was insistent, so she yielded to his desire.
The old man’s business wasn’t good, perhaps because he wasn’t talkative. Seeing Mu Li’s interest, he explained dryly, “I dug this up in the mountains. It can be used to feed livestock, and when dried, it’s good for bathing too.”
As for what benefits it had, he couldn’t say. Mu Li didn’t expect an ordinary mortal to know much anyway. She asked, “What’s this called?”
The old man shook his head. “I don’t know its name.”
Mu Li stopped asking and went straight to: “How much?”
The old man hesitated before answering, “It’s hard to find. It grows on cliffs and is difficult to dig out. Ten taels of silver for a bundle.”
Mu Li was stunned. She was wealthy now, carrying plenty of spirit stones and even more stored on her card. But she didn’t have a single tael of silver. Cultivators usually dealt in spirit stones and rarely interacted with mortals. Moreover, she wore no jewelry—not even a hairpin—so she couldn’t do what novel protagonists often did: casually pull off a hairpin or bracelet to trade.