Siheyuan: A master brewer starts with a jar of bone-strengthening wine!

With a loud "boom," Wang Zhonggui, Lei Yuan, and Qiao Yuanmu nearly jumped up.

The three of them combined couldn't even scrape together three hundred mid-grade spirit stones!

Two thousand for one ship? Three ships would be six thousand. That's enough to exchange for six Great Luo Golden Immortal-level demon beast cores!

Wang Zhonggui couldn't hold back any longer: "Brother, have you sold the ship for a flying sword? We might as well just jump into the sea!"

The man spread his hands and smiled helplessly: "Gentlemen, you've misunderstood. I really did haggle over the price."

The boat eats, and so do the people. When the spirit stone is burned, it becomes oil, food, and life itself!

More than half of them were filled into the hull's grid pattern to withstand the wind and waves.

Without it? The ship would be half as slow, the danger tripled, and the round trip would take an extra half month. Is your life worth anything? You do the math.

Dragonfly blinked: "A boat... can be burned with spirit stones?"

"It could have been done a long time ago!"

The man patted his chest and said, "Our village has an ancestral 'Whale Breath Wave-Driving Formation.' With a spirit stone inserted, the boat moves as fast as an arrow, and three days' work can be equivalent to ten days' work for others."

The farther you run, the more exhausted you become. The East Bank? That's a place where burning spirit stones is incredibly painful.

Vido pursed her lips, wanting to try and lower the price further.

Liu Dong raised his hand to stop her, and said decisively:

"Take us to see your ship."

Ding Lai grabbed Liu Dong's arm.

"Husband, are you really going to spend so many spirit stones to get them to make this trip?"

Liu Dong explained it to Ding Lai and Wei Duo with a smile:

"We're going to the eastern part of the East China Sea. It's a long way. Ordinary boats? They're so slow and tedious. If the wind is favorable, it's fine, but if there's no wind, a headwind, or a crosswind, we can only wait and can't move at all. A round trip would take at least several months."

"But if they could actually use the spirit stones as 'power' to push the boat... that would save us a lot of trouble!"

His eyes lit up. "This is the first time I've ever heard of someone actually figuring out how to use spirit stones effectively these days."

However...

"Just listening isn't enough; you have to see it with your own eyes and try it yourself before you dare to make a decision."

"If it really works, less time will be spent on the road and less time will be spent at sea, so the chances of something going wrong will naturally decrease as well."

He had barely finished speaking, and before Ding Lai and the others could even open their mouths, Huang Rujiao had already clasped his hands in a fist and bowed deeply, his waist bent very firmly:

"The Immortal Master is indeed a discerning person! He saw through the matter at a glance!"

"That's right, our ship doesn't rely on the wind, it relies on spirit stones! It's very stable, we're not afraid of strong winds, and we don't care where the wind comes from."

"Of course, with a tailwind and a little extra effort, it'll be even faster!"

"Since you have discerning eyes, please aboard and take a look!"

They were straightforward, so they didn't hesitate and immediately followed suit.

As they walked toward the dock, they introduced themselves and chatted.

Huang Rujiao was the leader in this project in the village, and he brought along a few fellow villagers to work on it together.

Why were they able to succeed? Because everyone involved was a cultivator, and they were all stuck at the "Refining the Spirit to Return to Emptiness" stage, unable to jump any higher.

But this level of skill is not enough for anything else; it's more than enough to drive a ship! With spirit stones, it's perfectly capable of sailing the oceans.

Liu Dong and his group didn't hide anything and revealed their cultivation levels.

Upon hearing this, Huang Rujiao's face immediately froze:

"My goodness...you guys are all at least at the peak of the mid-stage Celestial Immortal realm?!"

"Sigh, we brothers... we really can't compare."

"This is probably the end of my life."

Liu Dong patted him on the shoulder: "Brother Huang, don't sigh."

"Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are ordinary people. The fact that you've led your brothers to this level of cultivation makes you a truly formidable expert!"

Huang Rujiao grinned:

"That's true! We're content. With these skills, we get lots of work, earn a lot, and eat well—it's enough!"

Amidst laughter and conversation, they arrived at the small bay at the village entrance.

The place where the boats were moored was quite spacious, with more than a dozen boats crammed into the shallow bay.

You can tell the difference at a glance.

"Look, those five big ones are all our spirit stone ships."

Huang Rujiao pointed and said, "Those small fishing boats over there are used by the villagers for fishing."

Liu Dong and the others looked up and saw that it was indeed different:

The mast was short and stocky, not even as tall as the fishing boat next to it.

Why? Because it's fast when running! Being too tall would just slow you down and make you feel like you're being blown around.

The canvas can be folded up, but the frame is still there, getting in the way a bit.

Judging from the mast, it's purely for emergency use in the "spiking mode"; if you really want to speed things up, you won't need it at all.

There were still quite a few people busy in the bay, and when they saw Huang Rujiao leading people over, several of them swarmed around him:

"Brother Jiao, another job?"

"Absolutely! It's a big job!"

Huang Rujiao waved his hand: "Stop chatting and hurry up and prepare the things!"

"Alright!" The group turned and scurried away, their feet barely touching the ground.

Ding Lai asked curiously, "What are they busy with?"

"Grains, vegetables, salt, sauces, dried fruit, cured meat... the whole set of food and drink for seafaring."

Huang Rujiao smiled and said, "Don't worry, the higher the pay, the better the work you'll do!"

"Everything on board, including food and supplies, is included!"

"We're always sailing on the high seas, we know exactly what's needed, how people's gums bleed if they don't eat leafy greens for a few days, how eating too much salt causes swelling... we know it all!"

Vido's eyes widened: "Even this is so particular?"

"Of course I'm particular!"

Liu Dong nodded: "We definitely need to scrutinize it carefully."

"When people are at sea for a long time, it's not a matter of whether they are hungry or not, but that they are lacking certain things, such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B."

(He didn't mention the words "trace elements," afraid that others might be confused.)

"It's not the 'elements' like wind and thunder that you're talking about; it's the small parts that the human body actually needs."

Upon hearing this, Huang Rujiao's mouth gaped open wide enough to fit an egg: "Master Liu... how did you even get this brain?!"

"We only know 'we have to bring this, we can't leave out that,' but we never think about why we absolutely have to bring these things!"

Liu Dong waved his hand: "Actually, it's pretty much the same."

"The vegetables you picked, the marinated meat, and the dried fruit you made just enough to cover all those 'small parts'."

"With this prescription, even after two months at sea, you'll still be full of energy."

Huang Rujiao nodded vigorously and immediately called out, "Let's go, let's get on the boat and see for ourselves!"

The group boarded one of the spirit stone boats.

As soon as they stepped onto the deck, everyone exclaimed "Yo!"

Putting aside everything else.

The cabin was clean, well-ventilated, and bright; the berths were just the right firmness, and even the handrails were ergonomically curved...

Clearly, they had figured it out long ago: this wasn't an experiment, but a "floating inn" designed to generate long-term profits.

To verify the truth, Huang Rujiao led Liu Dong, Ding Lai, and Wei Duo into the drive bay.

It's not that I'm trying to keep anyone away from me, it's just that the space is only so big, and if seven or eight people stand there, there's not enough room to turn around.

The others were happy to have the hassle: "With the three of them keeping an eye on things, we can't go wrong!"

As soon as the three entered, their eyes were immediately fixed on the device in the center.

The spirit stone was embedded in the ring groove, with runes coiling like vines. As the light flowed, a steady pushing force was faintly felt.

Liu Dong paused for two seconds, then blurted out:

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"