Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

“Purple Raven Gold, Celestial Blue Stone…” Master Wu pondered for a moment, “Then let’s use Purple Raven Gold as the main ingredient and Celestial Blue Stone as the secondary ingredient, and add it to the sword blank to forge a sword for you.”

"Because some swords haven't been forged yet, your sword may have to wait a while longer, at least three or four months. I've been thinking, let's wait until the Lantern Festival next year, when the market opens, and then you can come to the sword forging hall to pick up your sword."

"Before that, I'll go get a spare sword. You can use it for now. If you're not going down the mountain, try not to inject your true qi into the sword."

As he spoke, Master Wu led Zhuang Xing to the room next to the main hall to fetch a sword, taking away Zhuang Xing's original sword.

Zhuang Xing settled the bill with Master Wu. Before picking up the sword, he only needed to pay a deposit, which was two black banknotes. When the work was completed, he would need to pay four more banknotes.

Master Wu said that most of the money was for the price of Purple Raven Gold and Celestial Stone. Purple Raven Gold and Celestial Stone seem to be relatively high-grade spirit ores. After all, Purple Raven Gold has the word "gold" in it, and spirit ores that are associated with gold and jade are hard to find cheap.

However, Master Wu also said that when Zhuang Xing needs to replace his sword in the future, he can remelt the purple raven gold and lapis lazuli. Although there will be some loss, the price will be much cheaper when he forges a new sword.

After paying the deposit, Zhuang Xing took the paper seal signed by Master Wu and left the sword forging hall.

Not long after Zhuang Xing left, another swordsmith came to the sword-making room where hundreds of swords were hanging.

Just as he was about to move the locked box away, Mr. Wu suddenly walked in.

"Old Liu, go and tell the scholars of the Prince of Jin that the armor will take another half month to be forged."

"What nonsense are you talking about, Old Wu? Wasn't this Crimson Cloud Stone Armor already forged?"

Master Wu didn't reply, but opened the box. At a glance, you could see a sword mark about half a finger deep on the arm armor, which had almost completely penetrated the thickest part of the arm armor.

"This..." The swordsmith was stunned. "This is Crimson Cloud Stone! Even if I hit it with an iron hammer, I could hardly leave a mark. Who on earth could have carved such deep marks on this armor?"

"Don't worry about it for now. Go tell Prince Jin that the armor has been delayed, and I will take care of repairing the arm armor," Master Wu said.

"Well... never mind, never mind. You'd better have a good talk with me when you get back." The swordsmith sighed and hurriedly ran out.

Master Wu stayed alone in the room, took out his pipe, and rolled tobacco in the pipe.

He stared intently at the scars on the arm guard, then looked at his own arm, and took a deep drag on his pipe.

...

After leaving the Sword Forging Hall, Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling lingered in the city for a while.

Because he had saved money to forge the sword, Zhuang Xingcai dared not spend it. Now that he knows that forging the sword will cost a total of six black coins, he can use the remaining coins as he pleases.

The two wandered around, looking at whatever caught their eye and stopping to look at it for a while.

At the ritual implements shop, Zhuang Xing spent three blue coins to buy a night lamp, the kind of lantern ritual implement that hangs in front of various shops.

Simply infuse it with true qi, and this ritual implement will shine. However, it is important to note that the four paper lanterns on its sides must not be damaged. It is best not to use it outdoors, but rather to place it indoors in a place free from wind and rain. At night, it can be used as a small table lamp, and the light it emits is much brighter than that of an oil lamp.

He originally wanted to buy another nightlight for Yunling, but Yunling said that Master Yuanyan had a nightlight. She said that when she returned to the wooden house by the herb field at night, Master Yuanyan would give her a private lesson before she went to sleep, so he had to give up on the idea.

Before leaving Shanshi, Yunling bought half a spiritual plant from a senior sister's stall.

It wasn't some spiritual plant beneficial to cultivation, but something called the Killer Vine. This vine loves to grow in the mountains and fields. Although it's called the Killer Vine, you can actually deal with it as long as you have an axe and a sword. At least before it becomes intelligent and transforms into a demon, iron tools are enough to cut its vines.

That being said, being entangled by the Killer Vines is still a very troublesome thing, because their vines are so tough that if an ordinary mortal were to be entangled, he would inevitably have to work up a sweat to cut them off and escape.

The senior sister took out the severed killer vine to sell, just to try her luck. It wasn't worth much, but she didn't expect someone to actually buy it.

The senior sister only took two white banknotes, accepted one cyan banknote, and gave Yunling three white banknotes in change.

Yunling has recently reached a new bottleneck in her cultivation of life-giving techniques. She bought the Killing Vine to make her first attempt at creating a spiritual plant that she can control.

Zhuang Xing naturally supported her wholeheartedly. After strolling around for a while, Zhuang Xing and Yunling left Shanshi around noon.

Zhuang Xing carried a night lamp, tucked a talisman into his pocket, and two old, miscellaneous books he had bought under his arm.

One book is called "Xiaochuang Youji" and the other is called "Jian Deng Xin Hua".

He had picked them all up from street stalls. "Xiaochuang Youji" seemed to be an ordinary diary written by an official who had come to the capital. "Jian Deng Xin Hua" was a collection of strange tales. Zhuang Xing flipped through one of them, which started with a one-night stand between a scholar and a female ghost. It seemed that all of these were fabricated, erotic stories that were popular and entertaining.

It is a bit vulgar, but Zhuang Xing still bought it back to critique it with a research mindset.

This book also offers a glimpse into what life is like in those bustling metropolises.

In short, his first trip to Shanshi with Yunling came to a successful end.

It's a bit of a pity that I didn't get to try the fat Taoist priest's cooking.

However, shopping always brings happiness. Money in your hand is just paper; it only becomes something with real value when you spend it.

Thinking about the unfinished sword, Zhuang Xing happily returned to the house and put everything down.

Speaking of which, his birthday is just around the corner.

Standing before the stream at the entrance, he saw the green tassels on his waist swaying slightly in the calm water.

Time flies! He's another year older.

Chapter 106 Reunion Dinner

After returning to Xuanqing Temple, Zhuang Xing went back to the school to study Taoist magic and practice swordsmanship.

Soon, on September 12th, Zhuang Xing's birthday, Yunling found him and gave him a special gift.

"These are the seeds of the Heart-Protecting Vine." Yunling took out a brocade pouch embroidered with lotus flowers.

"Heart-Protecting Vine? Is it a spiritual plant you cultivated using the Life-Generating Technique?" Zhuang Xing asked.

Yunling nodded and said, "It's a spiritual plant that I cultivated using the Killer Vine and the Iron Tree."

Ironwood is a type of tree used by Xuanqing Temple to make wooden swords. Ironwood is not a spiritual plant, but its wood is very heavy and hard.

Yunling demonstrated to Zhuang Xing how to use the Heart-Protecting Vine. All it takes is to activate the true qi sealed in the seed using the life-giving technique, and the Heart-Protecting Vine will grow rapidly, transforming into vine armor to protect vital parts.

Whether facing blunt or sharp weapons, these vines are very effective at cushioning damage. The only drawback is that such rapid growth depletes the seed's vitality. Just like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, the life of the heart-protecting vines becomes very short. Within a quarter of an hour, they wither quickly, as if burned out, turning into a handful of dust and drifting away with the wind.

In addition to defense, these seeds can also be thrown out as ropes to bind enemies, making them a versatile spiritual plant that excels in both offense and defense.

"And...this..."

In addition to the seeds of the heart-protecting vine, Yunling also took out a sachet.

"This is what my master taught me. It's a sachet made of herbs. Wearing it can repel insects, calm the mind, and help me sleep more peacefully at night."

Zhuang Xing took the sachet in his hand and immediately noticed the little cat wearing a hair clip embroidered on the blue sachet.

Yunling's tied-up hair hung down, and the little cat on this hair tie looked just like the cat on her hair tie.

Zhuang Xing understood immediately, knowing that the sachet must have been sewn by Yunling stitch by stitch.

"Thank you." He accepted the sachet and seeds.

He knew that Yunling was celebrating his birthday; in this era, only children and the elderly would celebrate birthdays.

When a newborn baby turns one year old, a traditional "grasping ceremony" is held. After that, except for a birthday celebration when the baby turns ten, the annual birthday celebrations are usually just a few boiled eggs, which is called a "mini birthday".

Only those who turn sixty are eligible to celebrate a "longevity," or a "big birthday."

Despite being so old, very few people actually knew Zhuang's birthday. Apart from his parents, only Yunling gave him a birthday present.

A birthday without anyone celebrating is just an ordinary day.

But because of Yunling, today is unusual for Zhuangxing.

As the sun set, the two sat in a deserted corner of the Taoist temple, having stayed a little longer than usual today.

On September 15th, the two took advantage of their vacation to go to the small town at the foot of the mountain.

They didn't come down the mountain to accept the commission; Master Qingxuzi said they would stay in the temple to study this year.

The last time the two were sent down the mountain, it was only to broaden their horizons. Now that they have become disciples of Qing Sui, the courses they need to learn have become much more advanced. The old Taoist said that other senior brothers and sisters would handle the demon-slaying, and told the two to enrich themselves further. He would arrange a trip for them next year.

The two of them came down the mountain this time to buy other things, or perhaps to relax in town.

Zhuang Xing wandered around and bought some food at the snack street. As he strolled, he smelled a sweet aroma.

The shop that sells candied fruit and maltose actually stocked up on honey.

Thinking about the flour he hadn't yet ground, Zhuang Xing went to the shop and bought a small jar of honey.

The shopkeeper took out small scissors and cut the silver that Zhuang Xing had taken out into small pieces, then weighed them with a weight.

This honey isn't cheap; a small jar cost half an ounce of silver.

Zhuang Xing felt a little sorry for the honey, but on the way back to the mountain, when he and Yunling shared the honey, they found it very sweet and delicious.

Days passed by, and soon it snowed again on the mountain.

The snow covered Xuanqing Mountain, turning the mountain into a vast expanse of white. It was even colder this year than last year.

Several months later, five or six of the children who were brought back to the mountain have found their parents and been handed over to the officials to be sent home. But the remaining twenty-odd children are still waiting indefinitely, and this year they will have to spend the New Year on the mountain.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhuang Xing and Da Chun moved two large stone slabs to the eaves next to the banyan tree and assembled them together, creating a rather large stone mill in front of Zhuang Xing.

Zhuang Xing took out ten catties of the twenty catties of wheat, kept half as wheat seed, and used the stone mill to remove the husks and grind the rest into flour.

Ten pounds of wheat yielded six and a half pounds of flour, which, though not much, was enough to make something to eat.

On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the temple, as usual, gave everyone a New Year's holiday.

Through Bai Yu's connections, Zhuang Xing managed to borrow a stove from the kitchen staff.

Zhuang Xing asked Yunling and his senior sister Qiaoxia to help him make the cake according to the method he remembered.

He substituted honey for white sugar. He had eggs and flour, so he separated the egg whites and yolks. He used the egg whites to mix with finely ground flour, and then added the egg yolks. He didn't have cow's milk, but he had goat's milk.

They spent the entire afternoon fiddling around in the kitchen.

Zhuang Xing poured the prepared batter into a ceramic jar mold, and finally, with a feeling of trepidation, sealed it into the stove.

He took the baked cake out just before it got dark.

"It's a success!" Zhuang Xing looked at the soft, fluffy cake with a flaky crust on the outside and breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully it was a success, otherwise all that flour would have been wasted.

On the last night of the year, many people shared the cake with him.

Da Chun, Bai Yu, Yun Ling, senior sister, senior brother, and his neighbors, the children who were taken back to the mountain, even Daoist Qing Xuzi came to visit them...

Zhuang Xing tried to make the cake as big as possible, but each person only got a small two or three bites. Although it wasn't covered with cream, the freshly baked chiffon cake was still very fragrant. At least for everyone in the house, it was the first time they had ever tasted such a soft and sweet food.

They gathered in the small earthen house, where snow was falling outside and the stove was burning quietly, emitting a warm light.

Besides the cake, Sister Qiaoxia also grilled a few fish. They brought over the cured meat, sausages, and glutinous rice from the cafeteria. That night, they enjoyed a lively reunion dinner.

The little girl who was rescued by Zhuang Xing back then has now become a member of Bai Yu's team, and everyone calls her Little Jasmine.