Chapter 11 Price Soaring_1

"Hunger? But didn't I just finish my meal?"

Xu Mu was taken aback for a moment, but then he quickly realized.

It is very likely that the system was extracting the abilities from his body to enhance his physical fitness, in order to adapt to the use of Thunderbolt Sword Skill.

"It seems like I guessed right, the body-enhancing swordsmanship can indeed indirectly strengthen the body, but I have to pay the cost of this enhancement myself!"

Although it had some flaws, Xu Mu was already quite satisfied.

He took out the Fasting Pill that he had snatched from Sun Daocheng, checked it, and took one.

"Let's try again!"

Click Add Point!

[Thunderbolt Sword Skill +10]!

The Fasting Pill, which had just entered his stomach, was digested in an instant.

The feeling of hunger was much stronger than before.

"It seems that the energy contained in the Fasting Pill is indeed much worse than that of monster beast meat and Spirit Rice!"

"Fortunately, compared to Spirit Rice and monster beast meat, it's more convenient to take Fasting Pills!"

This time, Xu Mu directly took two pills.

[Thunderbolt Sword Skill +10]!

This time, in addition to a faint hunger, there was also a strange sensation of tightening muscles all over his body.

He took off his shirt for inspection.

His body was thin and there were no muscle lines as he had imagined.

"Is the improvement too small, or is it just my imagination!"

He took another Fasting Pill.

[Thunderbolt Sword Skill +10]!

When he looked down again, it seemed that there was indeed a slight change.

He gently waved his arm and could feel a fullness and power.

"There's an improvement! But it's not much!"

He ate all the remaining Fasting Pills.

[Thunderbolt Sword Skill +20]!

Buzz!

This time there was finally a big change. Xu Mu saw his muscles moving slightly all over his body, like small mice.

When everything calmed down, he could see faint muscle lines.

At a glance, he was no longer thin and seemed a bit tough.

He got back up and held a flame longsword condensed in his hand. Xu Mu wielded the sword, creating a gusty wind as though he had been practicing for several months. His breath was coordinated with the sword technique, looking orderly.

"Good, with my current skills, even without using spiritual power and skills, I can easily beat five or six ordinary people."

Paying a bottle of Fasting Pills and a meal in exchange for a strong body, Xu Mu was very satisfied with this result.

It was a pity that the room was too small, so it was impossible to test the effect of the enhanced Light Body Skill.

And—

"I'm hungry again!"

Since he had no more Fasting Pill, Xu Mu had to return to the kitchen and eat all the remaining food, only to be half full.

"Practicing swordsmanship consumes so much food!"

"This is just the initial stage of body training. When it comes to skin, tendons, internal organs, bone marrow, and blood in the later stages, the consumption may be even greater!"

This is the realm recorded in the Thunderbolt Sword Skill, which can be reached by continuous training, achieving a completely coordinated body strength, and able to unleash the full power of the sword skill with a random movement.

If the body cannot keep up, rash use of sword skills will not only fail to hurt others, but also hurt oneself.

"Another big spender!"

Xu Mu sighed in his heart.

However, in order to save his life, everything is worth it.

The fear is that even if you have money, you cannot enhance your strength.

The current Thunderbolt Sword Skill is at the beginner level; 60/100, still lacking forty points to advance to a proficient level.

The remaining Luck Value is 3,495 points.

For the next half a month, Xu Mu devoted himself to alchemy at home.

His Fire-controlling Skill has been incrementally increased by five hundred, it is now at the level of a Grandmaster; 1051/3200, the attack power and control power have been further increased.

When the food at home was almost eaten and all the medicinal materials for the fifteen Qi Gathering Pills were used up, he had no choice but to step out of the house.

"Stay at home until I come back, and remember what I told you!"

"Hmm!"

Ye Yingying was holding a child, she nodded heavily, then Xu Mu walked out of the house with peace of mind.

As Xu Mu walked out of the alley, two pairs of eyes stared at him through the crack of the door for a long time.

Less than a moment after leaving the alley, he arrived at the place where he had ambushed Sun Daocheng half a month ago. Xu Mu unconsciously slowed down his pace and subtly observed.

The large pit on the ground had been filled up, and the cracks on the walls on both sides had been simply repaired. If you don't take a closer look, you won't notice.

As for Sun Daocheng's body, it had disappeared. Xu Mu wondered if it had been taken away by the city's patrol team.

Seeing all this, Xu Mu took a sigh of relief.

The death of Sun Daocheng didn't attract the attention of the city administrators, which is the best outcome.

However, after rejoicing, Xu Mu started to worry again.

Sun Daocheng was able to be killed by him so unclearly, could he also be killed by others this inexplicably one day?

The shanty area is not safe!

We need to strengthen our power as much as possible, and the house also needs to be reinforced. A few Seal Restriction Talismans are far from enough, it would be best if we could buy a set of formations.

Of course, Xu Mu's greatest wish is to move to live in the city center.

There are patrol teams patrolling there all day and night, and the safety is much higher than in the shanty area.

"But now, the rent in the city center has probably risen to a sky-high price, and there may not be any vacant houses!"

When Xu Mu entered the marketplace, he found that the streets were much more crowded than usual.

The crowd was bustling with people. Quite a bustling sight!

"Outside cultivators!"

Xu Mu, after observing carefully, found that many cultivators' clothing and attire differed greatly from those of White Stone City Marketplace.

He recalled the words said by his neighbour, Jia An, half a month ago.

"Those who were able to escape from the front lines to White Stone City must be very rich. No wonder the manager of White Stone City dared to raise the rent so high!"

Xu Mu traversed carefully through the streets, skilfully avoiding the cultivators.

Although he had some power, he wasn't yet capable of swaggering around casually.

By the time he reached Song Family Pharmacy, he straightened out his clothes and walked in.

"My friend, are you here to sell Qi Gathering Pills again?"

Xu Mu never expected to meet the same beautiful mole-bearing maid who had attended to him the first time, nevertheless that she remembered him.

As a result of this, Xu Mu subconsciously felt a sense of familiarity towards her.

"Correct! I would appreciate if you could show me the way." Xu Mu replied courteously.

"Right this way, please!"

The maid enthusiastically led him towards the back chamber.

"I am Xu Mu, but I still don't know your name?"

"My name is Su Qing!" the maid responded with a smile.

"Su friend, do you happen to know the recent battle situation between our Clear River Sword Sect and the Soul Forging Sect?"

Although Su Qing was just a maid, she had the backing of the Song Family Pharmacy, she was sure to know many insider details that outsiders didn't.

"Um..."

Su Qing hesitated, unsure of whether or not to tell Xu Mu.

After all, the Song Family was a subsidiary clan of the Clear River Sword Sect, she was essentially a member of the Song Family, if she divulged bad information about the Sword Sect, and people came to know about it, she might even lose her job.

"A small token of appreciation. I hope Miss Su doesn't find it offensive."

Seeing Su Qing's hesitation, Xu Mu took out a bottle of Qi Gathering Pills and handed it over to her.

"This--"

Su Qing suddenly wore a startled expression on her face.

This gift was not insignificant in the least!

She was merely a maid, not a high-ranking official, her monthly wages amounted to just over ten Lower-grade Spirit Stones.

Xu Mu's bottle of Qi Gathering Pills directly touched her heart.

"Master Xu is really, really generous!"

After hesitating a bit, Su Qing couldn't help herself and accepted it, quickly stowing it in her pocket.

This bottle of Qi Gathering Pills might help her break through to the next level sooner.

After taking the pills, she didn't reply immediately, but instead led Xu Mu into the rear hall before she started speaking in a whisper.

"I don't know many details, I just overheard the Shopkeeper mention that the Clear River Sword Sect had suffered heavy losses recently, several Great Cultivators of Foundation Establishment stage have died and they keep shrinking their controlled areas. For some time to come, the population of our White Stone City is going to increase."

She paused before continuing, "I heard, not long ago, Soul Forging Sect's Demonic cultivators infiltrated our White Stone City by blending in with the refugees. There were several victims in the shantytown area, even during daytime people were being attacked!"

"There's a surge in the population in the marketplace now and the patrol team can't cope with it. So be extra cautious when you leave home Friend Xu, it's safer to travel with familiar people if possible!"

"Oh yes!"

Just before she was about to leave, Su Qing reminded Xu Mu again.

"Commodity prices in the marketplace have been soaring recently, especially pills and talismans!"

Xu Mu immediately understood what she meant.

"Thanks for the reminder, friend."

Su Qing smiled and left, returning shortly with a middle-aged pill master.

After verifying the pills, with Su Qing's intentional or unintentional assistance, Xu Mu managed to sell a batch of Qi Gathering pills at fifty percent higher rate than before.

A total of two hundred and eighty Lower-grade Spirit Stones!

This was the largest amount of spirit stones he had ever received after so many years of crossing over.

The only thing that upset Xu Mu was that with the rising price of pills, the cost of raw materials had also surged significantly.

The Qi Gathering pill materials that previously cost two spirit stones per portion, now cost three, and according to Su Qing, the price would continue to surge in the future.

Considering the current situation, Xu Mu bought thirty portions of Qi Gathering Pill's materials spending ninety lower-grade spirit stones.

He also spent one hundred and thirty Lower-grade Spirit Stones to buy sixty fasting pills and one hundred portions of fasting Pill's materials.

Buying Fasting Pills was naturally for the cultivation of the Thunderbolt Sword Skill.

Of course, he could make them himself, but that would be a waste of time.

What Xu Mu didn't expect was that, while the Qi Gathering Pill's price had skyrocketed, the price of Fasting Pills had also surged crazily, practically doubling.

This forced Xu Mu to buy some of the refining materials in case the price continues to soar, in which case he would have to refine them himself.

He had barely left the shop when he had already spent two hundred and twenty of the two hundred and eighty spirit stones.

Seems like the pharmacy always profits. You earn from the pharmacy, you spend in the pharmacy, not a single cent brought back home.

"Friend Su, I have one more thing to ask of you!" Xu Mu started again after completing the transaction.

"Feel free to say it, Master Xu!"

There was a radiant smile on Su Qing's face.

Not only had she gained from Xu Mu during this reception, she also got quite a bit in commissions. One could say she was in high spirits.

"Friend Su, you work in the pharmacy and must know many pill masters. I wonder if there are any who need a Pill Furnace. I happen to have one spare!"

Recently, he used the middle-grade Pill Furnace he got from Sun Daocheng for Alchemy, which was far superior to the lower-grade one that he originally had.

Anyway, it wasn't being used and was just gathering dust at home. He figured he might as well sell it to get spirit stones which he can use to upgrade his strength.

Upon hearing that Xu Mu wanted to sell his Pill Furnace, Su Qing's eyes lit up.

This was because she had a little brother who was currently learning Alchemy.