Song Liuhua clutched the 100,000 Spirit Jade Coin Card, staring blankly at Feng Ci’s retreating figure.
She never expected her nominal husband to be so generous.
Ordinary families only gave 10,000 Spirit Jade Coins as bride price when taking a wife.
Don’t underestimate these 10,000 Spirit Jade Coins. In the Ten Winds Continent, the average family’s monthly income was around 3,000 Spirit Jade Coins.
Her family, before her elder brother was injured, was considered only moderately well-off in the entire Yanqing City, with him being a fourth-tier Martial Spirit Master.
After deducting expenses, their annual income was merely 20,000 Spirit Jade Coins.
During the Cold Season, if food was insufficient, they had to buy additional supplies at high prices to survive the winter. When temperatures dropped abnormally low, they needed to spend more on purchasing Fire Crystals for warmth.
Poor families without high-tier Martial Spirit Masters spent the whole year hunting Exotic Beasts and digging for wild vegetables, barely managing to survive, with little chance to save any money.
It was only three years ago, when her elder brother advanced to become a fourth-tier Martial Spirit Master, that their family could start saving some money. Recently, with increased medical expenses for both siblings, their total assets now amounted to only 30,000 Spirit Jade Coins.
Even so, they were still much wealthier than ordinary families.
In comparison, her nominal husband was excessively lavish.
After they had walked some distance, Jiang Wen Xiu asked with disbelief, “Feng Ci, do you know who she is? How could you actually form a Marriage Contract with her?”
“Song Yuan’s sister has been frail and sickly since birth. She’s eighteen now and still hasn’t awakened—basically a useless person. With your family background, why would you need to marry her?”
The Feng family was one of the ten great families in the southern part of the Ten Winds Continent. As the fourth direct descendant of the Feng family, even with a damaged Spirit Abode, Feng Ci was beyond the reach of ordinary families.
Jiang Wen Xiu spoke with frustration, “You’re being foolish. Even with a damaged Spirit Abode and your cultivation falling to the fourth tier, with enough nourishing items for recovery, there might still be hope for restoration. Why give up on yourself like this?”
“Besides, if you want to form a marriage alliance here, Yanqing City has many noblewomen. The Song family are just commoners, and Song Yuan’s damaged Spirit Abode has dropped him to the second tier—there’s no hope left. Marrying her offers you no benefit at all. You…”
“I know what I’m doing.”
Feng Ci lowered his gaze, his smile fading slightly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
When it came to marriage, he could make his own decisions. His own choice would surely be more satisfying than someone else’s.
Moreover, his new wife was surprisingly not displeasing.
Marrying her was fine.
As for her talent, it didn’t matter to him. He was more than capable of supporting his wife.
Jiang Wen Xiu exhausted his arguments, seeing that Feng Ci remained stubborn. “I think you must be bewitched. When you suffer the consequences, you’ll realize I was right.”
In families like theirs, for the sake of future generations, there was absolutely no reason to marry someone who couldn’t awaken. Besides, food and drink were top priorities, and obtaining food wasn’t easy. Even descendants of great families had to work hard themselves. Supporting a completely useless ordinary person—how was that different from charity?
Feng Ci… forget it.
Jiang Wen Xiu shook his head and stopped trying to persuade his friend.
Song Liuhua wasn’t one to dwell excessively. To her, marriage was just an episode; going to the Mercenary Guild to test her talent was the top priority.
The Mercenary Guild was bustling with people, many of them testing their talent—mostly children around four or five years old.
Song Liuhua paid the five Spirit Jade Coins testing fee.
Standing in line behind a group of children, she stood out conspicuously.
Drawing many sidelong glances.
However, she was born with a thick skin. Back in modern times, she had often followed elderly women to collect free eggs, oil, rice, and flour without any shame. So now, with just a bit of pointing and whispering, Song Liuhua believed she could handle it with ease. She confidently followed the slow-moving queue.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, standing until she felt dizzy and blurry-eyed, it was finally her turn.
The steward glanced at her indifferently and gestured for her to stand on the testing platform. “Relax and place your hand on the glowing sphere in the center.”
Song Liuhua swallowed hard, her heart pounding. Starting today, this continent would witness the birth of a genius Auxiliary Spirit Master. From then on, high-grade spiritual medicines, high-grade spiritual artifacts, and high-grade Spirit Plants would be as easy as lifting a hand.
Thinking this, Song Liuhua curved the corners of her mouth into a smile.
As her hand touched the cool surface of the glowing sphere, a flash of white light vanished instantly.
The steward scribbled down the record and said flatly, “Lower-grade Auxiliary Spirit Master aptitude. Next.”
Song Liuhua’s smile froze on her lips.
Spirit Masters were ranked into four grades: lower, middle, upper, and supreme.
Most lower-grade Auxiliary Spirit Masters could only reach the first or second tier in their entire lives.
Other transmigrators had heaven-defying luck, with golden fingers that could pierce through the earth’s core. Why was it her turn to fail?
Was this fair?
Outwardly, Song Liuhua wore a cheerful smile, but inwardly, she was cursing.
“Thank you, steward.”
With that, she turned and walked out of the guild’s main entrance with desolate little steps.
She had thought she was different!
Hah!
This world that twisted everything beyond recognition.
Now, she could only comfort herself by thinking that at least she was a tiny bit better off than the original owner.
Those with cultivation talent lived longer and had better physical constitutions than ordinary people.
Not bad.
On the street.
Men and women dressed in ancient attire chatted and laughed openly.
From time to time, mercenary squads in martial attire passed by.
The atmosphere strangely felt like strolling through a modern shopping district.
Song Liuhua almost felt it was unreal.
Looking up, the four large characters “Liu Family Artifact Workshop” suddenly caught her eye.
Feeling a sudden impulse, she walked in.
The hall of the artifact workshop had an antique charm, with a long counter in the center and wooden shelves on all sides displaying various spiritual artifacts.
A shop assistant eagerly approached her: “What kind of spiritual artifact are you looking for, customer?”
“A Refining Cauldron.”
“The lowest grade.”
The shop assistant understood and smiled, leading her to the wooden shelves in the southeast corner.
“These are all the lowest-grade Refining Cauldrons, priced at five hundred Spirit Jade Coins.”
Spirit Jade Coins were the unique currency of the Ten Winds Continent.
A Refining Cauldron with a dark exterior, about the size of a washbasin, caught Song Liuhua’s eye. “I’ll take this one.”
“Will you sell it for two hundred and fifty Spirit Jade Coins?”
Bargaining by halving the price first—Song Liuhua employed this hardcore haggling tactic, deeply rooted in ancestral wisdom.
The shop assistant smiled. “Our shop does not offer discounts.”
“Two hundred and sixty…”
The shop assistant maintained his smile. “Our shop does not offer discounts.”
“Two hundred and seventy…”
“No discounts…”
A quarter of an hour later.
Song Liuhua gritted her teeth, pulled out a five-hundred Spirit Jade Coin Card to pay, and stormed out of the Liu Family Artifact Workshop in a huff.
She would remember this shop assistant!
A Refining Cauldron could be used for both Artifact Crafting and Elixir Crafting, but she had forgotten to buy spiritual medicine and crafting materials.
She only remembered after buying groceries at the Mercenary Market.
With no other choice, she went to the medicine shop to purchase a few portions of low-grade spiritual medicine, then returned to the Liu Family Artifact Workshop to buy a set of crafting materials. The same shop assistant who had sold her the Refining Cauldron attended to her again. Perhaps afraid she would haggle, he very kindly gifted her a manual on Artifact Crafting.
Song Liuhua was satisfied.
After all, she had spent ten Spirit Jade Coins on the Elixir Crafting manual.
By noon, the original owner’s total savings of two thousand had dwindled to just one thousand.
Earning money was difficult, so saving wherever possible was essential.
As for the hundred thousand Spirit Jade Coins in betrothal gifts from her cheap husband, she had no intention of using them for now. The remaining thirty thousand Spirit Jade Coins at home were hard-earned savings from the original owner’s brother over the years, and she didn’t plan to touch those either. After all, Song Yuan had injured his spirit sea and would need nourishment in the future, so some funds had to be set aside for his marriage prospects.