Qin Mu did not see the scene of the Misty Sect disciples swiftly flying past above Guanhai City on their swords. He was looking at a bill Uncle Cang had handed him.
Exclamations did ring out on the street outside the bookstore.
However, by the time Qin Mu turned to look, there was nothing to be seen anymore.
He could only focus his attention back on the thin bill in his hand, which recorded Zhuangyuan Bookstore's income for the past month—only 27 taels.
After deducting the 25 strings of copper coins owed each month in rent for the residence and the bookstore, he'd only earned two strings of copper coins last month.
And from those two strings of copper coins, he still had to subtract Uncle Cang's monthly wage of 200 wen, as well as the combined 200 wen wages of the Cook and the servant at home.
Under the rule of the Great Yu Dynasty, 1200 wen of copper coins made one string, and one string of copper coins was equal to one tael of silver.
Calculated this way, he had only earned 1 tael and 800 wen last month.
That little money could only ensure he wouldn't starve to death.
As for wanting to eat something good and improve his meals, that was out of the question.
Looking at this pitiful profit, Qin Mu couldn't help but cover his face with his hand.
Seeing Qin Mu like this, Uncle Cang beside him couldn't help but speak up to explain, "Owner, the reason our profits were low last month is because the books have basically all been sold. Right now the bookstore only has scriptures left that nobody wants."
"If we don't get new books stocked soon, I'm afraid we won't even be able to pay next month's rent."
After saying this, he subconsciously let out a soft sigh, a look of sorrow crossing his face as he thought of the previous owners, a couple who had passed away not long ago in an accident.
It was precisely because the books in the store had nearly all sold out that the couple had gone together to restock, only for both of them to lose their lives as a result.
Hearing this, Qin Mu felt a bit of a headache coming on, but he still nodded and said, "I'll think of a method as soon as possible."
With that, he chatted with Uncle Cang for a few more moments before picking up his oil-paper umbrella and leaving.
On the way, as he passed by the Towering Ship propped up on a stone frame, he saw a young man with an honest and simple appearance, dressed in an azure robe, standing on the Deck and speaking coldly to the person in front of him.
"Zhao Yuanjing, eliminated."
Qin Mu glanced up at this, then shook his head and left.
……
Late at night, in a certain Room aboard the Towering Ship;
After using his Divine Sense to observe that all the Disciples on the ship were meditating and cultivating, Zhang Qianren quickly opened his eyes and slowly loosened his left hand, which had been clenched into a fist the entire time.
Under the dim candlelight, an Embroidery Needle came into view—Golden Hoops engraved with patterns on both ends, with a section of Black Iron in the middle.
"The Ruyi Jingu Bang……"
After murmuring this to himself, an expression of both anxiety and excitement showed on Zhang Qianren's aged cheeks.
He had always been cautious. During the day, after leading a group of Disciples into the East Sea, he had accompanied those disciples in a treasure-hunting game the whole time, only returning to this "Cloud-Piercing Ship" after nightfall.
Those disciples had, of course, found nothing, wasting many Water Repelling Talismans for nothing as they roamed the East Sea all day.
Meanwhile, taking advantage of the disciples' inattention, he had used his Storage Ring to collect a great deal of Metal from the seabed.
What excited him was that he would soon know whether this Exotic Treasure, hailed as an "innate supreme treasure," was truly as that piece of news had claimed—that it could restore its Spirituality simply by Devouring Metal.
His anxiety stemmed from the same thing.
He worried that all of it might be false.
After taking several deep breaths in a row, Zhang Qianren finally took out, with trembling hands, an Iron Block still wet and stuck with shells and seaweed from his Storage Ring.
He didn't know how to get the Ruyi Jingu Bang to Devour the Iron Block, so he could only tentatively place the needle-sized Ruyi Jingu Bang on top of it.
The next moment, before his astonished eyes, the head-sized Iron Block slowly began to shrink, visible to the naked eye.
Before long, his crossed knees were covered with seaweed and shells.
"It can actually Devour Metal!"
Zhang Qianren's eyes instantly went wide, and, his face full of excitement, he took out one Iron Block after another from his Storage Ring.
At the same time, in Qin Manor;
Qin Mu, who had long since fallen asleep, was suddenly jolted awake.
The moment he opened his eyes, a series of Prompt Sounds rang out in his ears.
"Your Ruyi Jingu Bang has devoured Iron Ore, Experience +1."
"Your Ruyi Jingu Bang has devoured Iron Ore, Experience +1."
"Your Ruyi Jingu Bang has devoured Iron Ore, Experience +1."
"Your Ruyi Jingu Bang has devoured Iron Ore, Experience +1."
As the frequent prompt messages appeared in his mind, a smile immediately spread across Qin Mu's face.
"They're finally starting to level up the Ruyi Jingu Bang!"
"Don't you dare stop!"
"Put more effort into it!"
"Best if the Ruyi Jingu Bang's Level reaches one hundred in just one night!"
As these thoughts ran through Qin Mu's mind, all trace of sleepiness had vanished from his face.
Propping himself up on the edge of the bed, he sat up, his eyes burning with intensity as he stared at the dark silhouette of the roof beam in the darkness—that pillar-like shadow looked just like a Ruyi Jingu Bang lying on its side.
The Prompt Sounds ringing in his mind felt like the most wonderful music in the world; every time one sounded, Qin Mu would gently pat his leg with his hand, keeping time with it.
After roughly a dozen or so minutes, the content of the Prompt Sound suddenly changed.
"Your Ruyi Jingu Bang has increased to Level 1. You will receive feedback of Gold Spiritual Root +1. You may choose the Feedback recipient."
Qin Mu had originally intended to accept this feedback himself, but on second thought, he decided he should give the benefit away first.
Like bait used in fishing, it would be better to use this feedback to trade for the other party's redoubled effort.
After all, there was no upper limit to how much the Ruyi Jingu Bang could increase.
In the long run, this choice would actually work in his favor.
With this thought, Qin Mu chose the Feedback recipient in his mind, and, through his recognize with the golden cudgel, composed a piece of content.
At that very moment, in a certain Room aboard the Towering Ship, Zhang Qianren's Expression suddenly changed.
The reason was that, at that moment, a piece of information had appeared in his mind.
"The Ruyi Jingu Bang has gained a faint recovery of Spirituality, bringing you feedback of a Gold Spiritual Root."
As this message faded away, he suddenly felt a burst of coolness appear out of nowhere in his Weiling Acupoint, spreading up along his spine and straight into his mind.
Under the assault of that cool sensation, he subconsciously shivered.
Then, with hands that were practically trembling, he took out a palm-sized Stone Tablet used for testing Spiritual Roots from his Storage Ring.
On the Stone Tablet were engraved the five characters "Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth," and beneath each of these five characters was a thin, recessed line.
To one side of the five thin lines, a numerical value appeared at regular intervals.
After Zhang Qianren gently pressed his palm onto the Stone Tablet, he subconsciously swallowed.
A few breaths later, a fiery red thin line appeared on the recessed vertical line beneath the character "Fire." This thin line rose slowly, visible to the naked eye, up to the value of 30, then stopped moving entirely.
After it stopped, a golden thin line also appeared on the recessed vertical line beneath the character "Gold."
But this thin line only barely poked up before stopping at the value of 1.
"Gold... a Gold Spiritual Root has really... really appeared!"
Zhang Qianren's eyes abruptly went wide, and his breathing grew ragged.
In the past, he had only possessed a single "middle-lower" Fire Spiritual Root, but now, on the "Spirit Tablet," a second Spiritual Root had truly appeared!
He understood perfectly well what this meant!
As long as he kept increasing the Spirituality of the Ruyi Jingu Bang, this Gold Spiritual Root, currently only at 1, would keep rising as well.
This also meant that, one day, the value of this Gold Spiritual Root would reach the full value of 100, or even surpass it, becoming the rarely-seen "Heavenly Spiritual Root" of the ages!
The moment this thought crossed his mind, boundless pride surged up in Zhang Qianren's chest.
In that moment, he wanted very badly to laugh out loud, but he didn't dare do so.
He could only clench his fists tightly and breathe deeply.
But this excitement, this exhilaration, had already exceeded what he could suppress.
And so, under the flickering candlelight, his aged cheeks suddenly began to twitch faintly.
✦✦✦