Chapter 67: At the Very Least, It

Hearing Zhou Yingxi praise the donkey meat as delicious, Wang Yulou smiled and began to explain.

"That's right—this dry-fried donkey intestine tip is made from the finest part of the intestine; one donkey yields only one serving, all pure essence."

The seasoning includes multiple medicinal herbs, and to activate their potency, a touch of toxic aconite powder was added."

Not only is it incredibly delicious, but it also embodies the principle of food and medicine sharing the same origin—eating it regularly can prolong life and enhance longevity."

But Zhou Yingxi, seated across from him, looked puzzled.

"What is... intestine tip? A longer donkey head?"

She felt strange—clearly, the food on the plate had nothing to do with a donkey's head.

Wang Yulou blinked, then explained.

"No, it's just the donkey's intestine—the most exquisite part of it."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yingxi said nothing; instead, she spat out the intestine tip from her mouth, then drank a sip of spirit tea—and spat that out too.

She silently rose, not even glancing at Yulou, and walked straight out.

Wang Yulou, Wang Yulou, worse than a dog, Wang Yulou.

You don't deserve even a sliver of my gentleness.

Let our friendship end here—this is my final grace; I won't turn against you as an enemy!

I came to your banquet at your invitation, and you served me intestine tip.

That thing once filled with stuffing—you watched me gobble it down without a word?

Couldn't you have warned me just once?

You truly deserve to die!

"Ugh~"

In the end, she couldn't hold it back—after walking two steps, Friend Yingxi gagged slightly.

Yulou rose awkwardly.

This whole thing—just a moment ago you were eating it with such relish, and now that you know the name, you can't stand it?

Friend, you're attached to appearances—physically attached to appearances."

"Miss Zhou, our Wang Shi's spirit donkeys eat spirit grass and spirit leaves for all three meals, drink spirit springs and spirit dew—don't misunderstand..."

Yulou's meaning was simple: in terms of the spirit donkey's diet, its stuffing wasn't that bad.

At the very least, it's a spirit stuffing.

Zhou Yingxi had just suppressed her gag reflex, but with Yulou's words, she remembered exactly what she'd eaten.

"Ugh~ Don't call me Miss Zhou! I can't bear it!"

Believing she had been thoroughly tricked by the dog-like Wang Yulou, Zhou Yingxi wandered downstairs in a daze.

Yulou followed her all the way to the entrance of Zhiwei Fang, shouting after her back.

"Friend Yingxi, will you still come to the Talisman Master Competition in a month?"

Having finally breathed in the fresh air and recovered, Zhou Yingxi turned back fiercely and said:

"I'm raising my price—six hundred spirit stones!"

You dog, you tricked me into eating... I must overcharge you to vent this anger!

If I let you off so easily, I'd be cheated—I'd be so furious my Dao heart would become blocked.

Yet, contrary to Zhou Yingxi's expectations, Yulou—who had assumed the deal was ruined—suddenly beamed with delight.

"Deal!"

Hearing this bastard agree so quickly, Zhou Yingxi realized she'd undercharged!

This guy had made her so furious—so furious that the air streaming from her nostrils nearly lifted her veil.

In this regard, Ning Qianqian was Zhou Yingxi's senior; she knew exactly how to deal with Wang Shi youths.

The Wang Shi people carved their family rules into their bones.

Even Wang Yuan, with his wild temperament, had been gradually tamed by family discipline.

When haggling or quoting prices, the Wang Shi are utterly beastly—even with the closest ties, you must always be on guard.

Fuming, Zhou Yingxi left. Old Tang from Zhiwei Fang stepped forward with a smile.

"That's the daughter of Elder Mu, isn't it? What, did you two have a fight?"

Tang Nianqiu's round face beamed with amusement.

Wang Yulou had stolen his adopted daughter; now seeing Wang Yulou get humiliated by Zhou Yingxi, Old Tang was overjoyed.

Had he not worried about Wang Yulou's feelings, he might have sung a couple of lines.

"Yulou, it's not Uncle Nianqiu saying this, but romantic matters must bring mutual joy.

One-sided passion leads nowhere—this daughter of Elder Mu is far too old for you; give up, give up."

Hearing Old Tang's nagging, Yulou offered no explanation.

What do you mean, "give up"? "One-sided passion leads nowhere"?

Do you think I'm a lapdog?

No—I once firmly refused a marriage proposal!

Old Tang has only this much insight; why would Wang Yulou bother explaining to him?

"Yes, yes, yes, you're absolutely right, Yulou will remember it, remember it well."

His chorus of "yeses" left Tang Nianqiu speechless.

Even though Wang Yulou said "yes, yes, yes," it somehow sounded wrong.

Yes, yes, yes—is that right?

Doesn't seem right.

Just as Tang Nianqiu wanted to ask, Wang Yulou had already hurried away.

Another morning at Huafeng Residence.

The scorching peach-wood spiritual fire made the room feel like a steamer; this was actually a manifestation of Sister Ning Yao's insufficient control over the spiritual fire. When Master Master Hongmei personally refined, this problem would not occur.

Her cultivation was only at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, while refining a Mid-Quality Artifact required a more vigorous spiritual fire, so Ning Yao wore that special Fire-Avoiding Spiritual Artifact suit today as well.

But Wang Yuan had long passed the age of secretly watching his senior sister; he simply silently circulated his divine sense, observing the refinement of the artifact in the furnace.

"Hiss~"

Sister Ning Yao helplessly wiped the sweat from her forehead and slumped into a chair.

"There was a small problem when engraving the eleventh layer of the prohibition. Father, could you modify the prohibition design to make the ninth layer slightly smaller?"

Master Master Hongmei shook his head and commented.

"It's fine. There is still progress; it's much better than last time. Go to the front and watch the shop."

"Yulou, it's your turn now."

This was the semi-annual Dao of Refinement assessment. Master Master Hongmei's requirement for Zhong Ningyao was to directly refine a Mid-Quality Artifact with eleven layers of prohibitions.

The requirement for Wang Yuan and Yulou was to attempt refining a Mid-Quality Artifact with nine layers of prohibitions.

There is still a difference between making an artifact blank and directly completing an artifact. To achieve the theoretical upper limit of prohibition layers for the former, subsequent refinement is needed.

And if one can directly refine a Mid-Quality Artifact, it is naturally better than making a blank first and then refining, since explosions can also occur during refinement.

But artifact blanks are also a rigid demand. Refining the basic prohibitions in advance allows the types of subsequent prohibitions to be adjusted according to customer needs when they come to customize.

This avoids producing items that cannot be sold and simultaneously accelerates the turnover rate.

After selecting a piece of purple copper, Yulou stood before the artifact furnace.

In recent years, he had favored purple copper. There was no other reason; after Yulou entered the Qi Refining stage, he would cultivate the Cultivate Water Technique.

Purple copper is one of the spiritual materials among metal and stone materials with the highest compatibility with the Cultivate Water Technique.

"This piece of purple copper has no nature assigned, so it is relatively simpler. But you must control the loss of spiritual power. Do you want to take a Spirit-Opening Pill?"

Master Master Hongmei, whose name was Wang Yueshuo and Dao title was Master Master Hongmei, gently reminded from the side.

After all, Yulou was his cheap younger brother and rascal disciple.

If he did not impart all his Fire Method, Metal and Stone, and Dao of Refinement to him, Wang Xianmao would not give him the opportunity to form a Foundation.

Yulou took a pill, kept a second Spirit-Opening Pill in his mouth, and after preparing properly, threw the purple copper into the artifact furnace.

Activate the spiritual nature, add auxiliary materials in order, control the spiritual nature, and begin changing the shape.

The Jade Ruyi activated, Jin Guang was consumed rapidly, and Yulou's movements were quite smooth, leaving Master Master Hongmei stunned.

He was only in his early twenties... Wang Shi, Wang Shi, the Wang family of Anbei Kingdom.

"Ten layers?"

Wang Yuan discovered with astonishment that after Yulou finished the nine layers of prohibitions, he did not stop but directly began engraving the tenth layer of prohibitions.

Ten layers of prohibitions, completed. Master Master Hongmei's brows tightened. This was not excellence; this was monstrosity.

Eleven layers of prohibitions, completed. The spiritual fire began to run out of control. Master Master Hongmei helped control the fire, and the spiritual rhyme of the spiritual artifact belt began to automatically protect its master.

Twelve layers of prohibitions, completed. Wang Yuan looked at Yulou's spiritual artifact belt. Although he felt some envy in his heart, he believed this was what his eldest brother deserved.

Thirteen layers of prohibitions, completed. Master Master Hongmei had long noticed the belt Yulou had worn for years. He thought of that night when he and Yulou were in the same room.

Fourteen layers of prohibitions, completed. No, it exploded.

Actually, after finishing the engraving of the thirteenth layer of prohibitions, Yulou noticed that the full Jin Guang in his mind had been completely consumed.

His purpose in refining one more layer was to make the purple copper sword explode.

Later, he could claim he had a sudden realization but lost control, rather than that his talent was too good.

Possessing a treasure invites crime. He needed to be low-key now; it was enough to know how powerful the effect of a full Jin Guang Jade Ruyi was.

Master Master Hongmei, no, Wang Yueshuo, let out a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, fortunately, you are not that monstrous.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

The surging spiritual nature, carrying broken fragments of purple copper, rushed wildly inside the artifact furnace.

Master Master Hongmei gently placed his hand by the artifact furnace. Soon, the purple copper fragments inside quieted down.

He looked at Yulou with considerable emotion and spoke.

"Yulou... hmm, Wang Yuan, you refine first."

The senior sister's refinement exploded, and the eldest brother's refinement also exploded.

But these two, one reached the level of ten layers of prohibitions without exploding, and the other even reached thirteen layers without exploding.

Wang Yuan now felt immense pressure. He silently threw a piece of ninth-grade multicolored agate into the artifact furnace and silently began to refine.

He did not pursue too high a number of prohibition layers. After all, he did not have a Fire Spirit Root; in this aspect, there was a fundamental gap between him and Zhong Ningyao and Wang Yulou.

Half a quarter-hour later, under Wang Yuan's careful movements, the ninth layer of prohibitions on the multicolored agate was finally completed.

A ninth-grade multicolored agate seal with nine layers of prohibitions...

A Mid-Quality goalkeeper is still Mid-Quality; it is Mid-Quality after all.

Although Wang Yuan himself thought it looked shabby.

Master Master Hongmei did not care much. Zhong Ningyao had more talent than Wang Yuan.

And with Yulou's jade before him, Wang Yuan's ninth-grade multicolored agate magical seal indeed had nothing praiseworthy.

"Refined well. Go, go to the front and accompany your senior sister to watch the shop."

Hearing Master Master Hongmei say this, Wang Yuan glanced at his eldest brother. After Wang Yulou nodded, he happily went to the front to find his senior sister.

Yulou shook his head.

Wang Yuan has matured much now, but in front of his eldest brother, he will forever remain a youth.

"Yulou, you are the person with the greatest Dao of Refining talent I have ever seen. Have you considered joining Nine Orifices Valley in the future to continue cultivating the Dao of Refining?"

Nine Orifices Valley is one of the Wunanshi Sects, belonging to the 'Lower Seven Sects' at the same level as the Red Lantern Sect.

It is named Nine Orifices because it is situated within the Nine Orifices Valley, a third-grade spiritual object; the nine orifices correspond to the production of nine types of special spiritual materials.

Therefore, Nine Orifices Valley is extremely inclusive in the Dao of Refining, with high standards and many lineages.

Legend has it that even a Jin Dan True Person ranked on the Group Immortal Terrace would seek Nine Orifices Sect's help to refine magical treasures.