Chapter 52: I forgot, what can you do about it?
Gu Zi noticed something unusual about his senior brother Lin.
Recently, many girls from the peaks have been seeking him out.
However, his senior brother continually turned them away or found various excuses to send them off.
Though he had never been in love, he had spent enough years among the outer disciples.
Had he never seen a pig run after seeing one?
He was certain that every time those hopeful girls came to see his senior brother, only to be met with his shy demeanor and end up rejected and sent away, it was clear they liked him.
They all fancied their senior brother!
With such a popular senior brother, why didn’t he show any interest in finding a partner?
It wasn’t until he was cleaning up near the mud pile outside his brother’s yard recently that he caught a familiar, foul smell. Following the stench, he discovered a pair of socks, surrounded by withered plants.
Even though they were dirty and unrecognizable, he could tell they were the socks he had lost long ago.
He had searched for them and cursed whoever was responsible for stealing even his socks.
He never expected to find them today in his brother’s yard.
Connecting this with everything he had seen before, a ridiculous thought suddenly crossed his mind.
‘Could it be that his senior brother has some strange fetish?’
Reflecting on how Lin Mo had been so gentle in teaching him lately, and granting him various favors, this suspicion began to intensify.
Today, Lin Mo was in a particularly good mood because he had won something great in a random draw.
That item was Yincao Grass.
The original owner had decent experience and memorized many pill formulas.
This Yincao Grass was the main ingredient for the Rank 5 Longevity Pill.
The quality of pills is categorized into nine ranks, which is the inverse of the Core Formation levels.
Rank 1 is the lowest, and Rank 9 is the highest.
Among pills, the rarest type isn’t the ones that speed up cultivation; it’s the Longevity Pill.
The materials for crafting a Longevity Pill are extremely rare. Even a Rank 1 pill that can extend life by “one year” can auction for over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
It is said that a Rank 4 Longevity Pill can increase one’s lifespan by “thirty,” with an auction price exceeding ten million Spirit Stones.
Taking the same type of pill multiple times diminishes its effectiveness. Generally, a person can only take up to three Longevity Pills before they become ineffective.
Of course, some people have unique constitutions in alchemy that allow them to take more of the same type of pill.
Coincidentally, Lin Mo’s alchemy skills were already quite advanced, making it no problem for him to refine this Rank 5 Longevity Pill.
In a good mood, he saw Gu Zi tidying up nearby and approached him, asking, “Gu Zi, have you encountered any issues in your cultivation recently?”
“Ah…” Lin Mo’s gentle tone and amiable smile startled Gu Zi, causing him to drop the broom in his hands.
His senior brother had always been indifferent to those girls from the peaks and never smiled, yet here he was, smiling so gently at him.
Gu Zi suddenly felt even more convinced that Lin Mo had that peculiar fetish.
“What’s wrong?” Noticing Gu Zi’s panic, Lin Mo picked up the broom and handed it back to him.
“Thank you, Senior Brother!” Gu Zi, taking the broom, dared not look Lin Mo in the eye. Instead, he bowed his head nervously and said, “Recently… I’ve not encountered any issues in my cultivation.”
“Are you feeling unwell?” Observing the sweat rolling down Gu Zi’s forehead, Lin Mo remarked, “If you’re unwell, you shouldn’t clean today. Go rest instead.”
“Understood, Senior Brother!” Not knowing how to face Lin Mo, Gu Zi stumbled back to his own room with the broom.
“Why is this child acting so strangely today!”
Lin Mo, who was suspected of having a strange fetish, shook his head and prepared to take Sword Riding to Cloud Stream City to buy materials needed for alchemy.
Before leaving, he changed into the white robe he had purchased earlier.
Looking at himself in the mirror, all dressed in white, he felt quite celestial, nodding in satisfaction.
Once again, the original owner’s appearance was truly impressive.
He looked like a male lead from a novel.
It was a pity the original owner had never bothered to choose a good outfit for himself.
As he arrived at Cloud Stream City while riding his sword, Lin Mo felt numerous fiery gazes upon him.
Turning around, he saw many young girls stealing glances at him.
Once at the Treasure Pavilion, Xiao Zi, upon seeing him, sparkled with excitement and scrutinized him for a moment.
Lin Mo, a beautiful figure coming towards her, was beautifully illuminated by the white robe that accentuated his cool demeanor.
“Indeed, Young Master Lin wearing this robe is truly captivating. It must have left countless passing girls spellbound, right?”
Xiao Zi placed her left hand over her chest, her right elbow resting on her left hand with her fingers poised on her chin, playfully asking Lin Mo, “Are you here to buy or to sell today?”
Recalling the ingredients in the pill formula, Lin Mo replied to Xiao Zi, “Do you have Snow Jade Bone Ginseng and Bitter Vine?”
“Young Master Lin knows how to refine pills?” Xiao Zi looked at him in surprise.
“A little,” Lin Mo replied nonchalantly.
“These two medicinal herbs are used for refining pills of Rank 4 or above; Young Master Lin is being too modest.”
“How many of these two items do you need?”
Lin Mo stated the quantity he required.
Xiao Zi smiled and produced the items: “That’ll be sixty thousand Spirit Stones in total.”
After the transaction, Lin Mo remembered that he still needed an alchemy furnace.
“Well, as for the alchemy furnace, the quality of pills you refine is quite high, but I don’t have a suitable one at the moment.”
Without an alchemy furnace, how could he refine any pills!
Noticing Lin Mo’s disappointment, Xiao Zi quickly added, “The Treasure Pavilion in White Emperor City will hold an auction every ten years soon. Young Master Lin can go take a look; perhaps you’ll find a suitable alchemy furnace.”
After noting the date, Lin Mo bid farewell to Xiao Zi.
Not long after returning to his Azure Bamboo Peak yard, Ye Kai approached him.
Seeing Lin Mo in a new outfit, looking even more handsome than before, a sense of crisis arose within Ye Kai.
But he still stated his purpose first.
“Senior Brother Lin, I have transported all the spirit soil from the area around the spiritual spring, which is a hundred miles away, back to the spirit field behind the mountain. Please check it.”
Ye Kai was covered in dirt, breathing heavily as he spoke.
Lin Mo said little and personally went to the back mountain.
Noticing that a corner of the spirit field still had some burnt spirit soil, he asked lightly, “What happened there?”
With an impatient tone, Ye Kai replied, “That’s all the spirit soil around the spiritual spring!”
He didn’t doubt that Ye Kai was slacking off due to those few acres of land.
Lin Mo smirked slightly, “You’ve worked hard, Junior Brother Ye. I’ll handle that few acres.”
Handle it. How to handle it?
Was Lin Mo really so kind as to run to another place himself to fetch the spirit soil for those few acres?
Just when Ye Kai was puzzled, Lin Mo used his magic to replace the spirit soil Ye Kai had brought back and walked to the few burned acres of the spirit field.
After a series of incantations and manipulations, within a short while, those few acres of scorched spirit field were rejuvenated with spiritual energy.
Lin Mo’s planting skills were nearly level six.
Repairing the spirit field with his spiritual energy was completely unproblematic.
However, this maneuver left Ye Kai utterly dumbfounded.
He questioned Lin Mo, “Senior Brother Lin, you could have restored this without changing the spirit soil. Why did you make me transport it back from that distant spiritual spring?”
Lin Mo shrugged, feigning embarrassment with a smile, “Junior Brother Ye, I forgot. You wouldn’t be so petty as to blame your senior brother, right?”
This attitude clearly demonstrated he wasn’t forgetting anything; he was teasing him.
Ye Kai’s internal fury was boiling, yet he couldn’t reveal it. Gritting his teeth, he replied word by word, “Of course not!”
“Then, Junior Brother Ye, please kindly take the burnt spirit soil back to the spiritual spring, lest it pollutes the newly restored soil.”
“Why didn’t you mention this when making me transport the spirit soil back, Senior Brother Lin?” Ye Kai spoke while trembling, but now wasn’t the time to lose his temper; he had to endure to maintain his façade.
“Also forgot!”
Watching as Lin Mo mockingly departed with grace, his white figure fading, Ye Kai’s eyes turned red with frustration yet remained helpless.
…
