Chapter 67: At 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 tasty, but it also embodies the principle of food and medicine sharing the same origin—eating it regularly can prolong life and enhance health.”

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

“What exactly is... intestine tip? A longer donkey head?”

She found it strange—the food on her plate clearly had nothing to do with a donkey’s head.

Wang Yulou paused, then explained.

“No, it’s just the intestine—the most exquisite part of the donkey’s intestine.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yingxi said nothing; instead, she spat out the intestine tip, drank a sip of spiritual 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 shred of my gentleness.

Let 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 serve me intestine tip.

That thing once filled with filling—you watched me eat it, bite after bite, without a word?

Couldn’t you have warned me just once?

You truly deserve to die!

“Ugh~”

She couldn’t hold it back—after taking two steps, Yingxi let out a dry heave.

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—physically attached, at that.”

“Miss Zhou, our Wang family’s spiritual donkeys eat spiritual grass and leaves for all three meals, drink from spiritual springs and dew—you misunderstand...”

Yulou’s point was simple: given the spiritual donkey’s diet, its filling wasn’t exactly... that bad.

At the very least, it’s a spiritual filling.

Zhou Yingxi had just suppressed her nausea, 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’d 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.

“Miss Yingxi, will you still come to the Talisman Master Competition a month from now?”

Having breathed in the fresh air and recovered, Zhou Yingxi turned back with a venomous glare.

“I’m raising the price—six hundred spirit stones!”

You dog, you tricked me into eating that... I must squeeze you dry to vent my fury!

If I let you off so easily, I’d be cheated—I’d be so angry my Dao heart would clog.

But contrary to Zhou Yingxi’s expectations, Yulou, who had assumed the deal was ruined, burst into joy.

“Deal!”

Hearing the scoundrel agree so quickly, Zhou Yingxi realized she’d underbid.

This bastard 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 family members.

The Wangs carved their family rules into their bones.

Even the reckless Xiang Yuan had been gradually tamed by them.

When haggling or quoting prices, Wangs are utterly ruthless—even with close ties, you must always be on guard.

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

“That’s Miss Mu’s daughter, isn’t it? What, did you two quarrel?”

Tang Nianqiu’s round face beamed with amusement.

Wang Yulou had stolen his adopted daughter; now seeing him flounder with Zhou Yingxi, Old Tang was delighted.

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

“Yulou, I’m not saying this to scold you, but romantic matters must be mutual.

One-sided passion leads nowhere—Miss Mu is far older than 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 lickspittle?

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, remember well.”

The chorus of “yeses” left Tang Nianqiu speechless.

Yulou said “yes, yes, yes,” yet somehow it sounded wrong.

Yes, yes, yes—is that right?

Isn’t it wrong?

Just as Tang Nianqiu was about to ask, Wang Yulou had already walked off quickly.

Another morning, Huafeng Residence.

The blazing peach-wood spiritual fire turned the room into a steamer—this was a sign of Ning Yao’s insufficient control over spiritual fire; when Hongmei himself forged, this never happened.

Her cultivation was only Qi Refining Eighth Layer, yet crafting a mid-grade magic treasure required fiercer flame, so Ning Yao still wore her special fire-resistant spiritual gear.

But Xiang Yuan had long passed the age of sneaking glances at his senior sister; he merely quietly activated his spiritual sense, observing the forging process.

“Sss~”

Ning Yao helplessly wiped sweat from her brow and slumped into her chair.

“I ran into trouble engraving the eleventh restriction—Father, could you adjust the design to make the ninth restriction slightly smaller?”

Hongmei shook his head and commented.

“No problem—you’ve improved, much better than last time. Go watch the front store.

Yulou, your turn now.”

This was the biannual forging examination; Hongmei required Zhong Ningyao to directly forge a mid-grade magic treasure with eleven restrictions.

For Xiang Yuan and Yulou, the requirement was to attempt forging a mid-grade magic treasure with nine restrictions.

There’s a difference between crafting a magic treasure blank and forging a finished artifact; the former requires later refinement to reach its theoretical restriction limit.

Directly forging a mid-grade magic treasure is superior to making a blank and then refining it, since refinement can also cause explosions.

But magic treasure blanks are essential—pre-forging basic restrictions allows customization later based on customer demand.

This prevents crafting items that won’t sell and accelerates turnover.

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

Over the years, he favored purple copper—nothing else; when he reached Qi Refining, he would cultivate water arts.

Purple copper is among the most water-compatible metal materials.

“This piece of purple copper has no inherent nature—relatively simple, but you must control your spiritual power expenditure. Need a Kai Ling Pill?”

Hongmei, whose name was Wang Yueshuo, gently reminded him.

After all, Yulou was his cheap brother and rotten disciple.

Unless he imparted all his fire-art and metal-forging Dao, Wang Xianmao would never grant him Foundation Establishment.

Yulou swallowed one spirit pill and held a second Kai Ling Pill in his mouth; after preparing himself, he tossed the purple copper into the furnace.

Activated its nature, added auxiliary materials in sequence, controlled the nature, began reshaping.

The Jade Ruyi activated; Jin Guang drained rapidly. Yulou’s movements were seamless, leaving Hongmei stunned.

He’s barely twenty... Wang family, Wang family of Anbei Nation.

“Ten?”

Xiang Yuan was astonished—Yulou hadn’t stopped after completing the ninth restriction; he immediately began engraving the tenth.

Tenth restriction—completed. Hongmei frowned; this wasn’t excellence—it was monstrous.

Eleventh restriction—completed. The spiritual fire began to spiral out of control; Hongmei helped control it, the spiritual belt’s aura automatically protecting its owner.

Twelfth restriction—completed. Xiang Yuan watched Yulou’s spiritual belt, feeling a pang of envy but believing it was his elder brother’s due.

Thirteenth restriction—completed. Hongmei had long noticed Yulou’s worn belt; he recalled that night when he and Yulou shared a room.

Fourteenth restriction—completed. No—it exploded.

Actually, as soon as he finished the thirteenth restriction, Yulou noticed his full Jin Guang had been entirely consumed.

His goal in forging one more layer was to make the purple copper sword explode.

Later, he could claim he had a sudden awakening but lost control—not that his talent was too great.

Possession invites danger—he needed to stay low-key; he only needed to know how powerful the full Jade Ruyi truly was.

Hongmei—no, Wang Yueshuo—let out a long, relieved breath.

Fortunately, fortunately, you’re not that kind of prodigy.

“Ding! Ding! Ding!”

Turbulent spiritual energy surged through the smelting furnace, hurling shattered fragments of purple copper in all directions.

Hong Mei gently placed his hand beside the smelting furnace, and soon the purple copper fragments grew still.

He looked at Yulou with deep emotion and spoke.

“Yulou... ah, Yuan, you go first.”

Sister’s furnace exploded. Brother’s furnace exploded too.

But these two, one reached the level of ten sealing layers without explosion, the other even reached thirteen sealing layers without explosion.

Yuan was under immense pressure; he silently dropped a ninth-rank mottled agate into the smelting furnace and began refining.

He didn’t pursue too many sealing layers—he lacked a Fire Spirit Root, a fundamental difference from Zhong Ningyao and Wang Yulou.

Half a quarter-hour later, under Yuan’s careful movements, the ninth sealing layer on the mottled agate was finally completed.

A ninth-sealing-layer mottled agate seal...

A mid-rank gatekeeper is still mid-rank—it’s still mid-rank.

Even Yuan himself thought it looked shabby.

Hong Mei didn’t care much—Zhong Ningyao had far more talent than Wang Yuan.

And with Yulou’s brilliance before them, Yuan’s ninth-rank mottled agate seal truly had nothing remarkable to boast of.

“Well done. Go now, join your sister up front to watch the shop.”

Hearing Hong Mei say this, Yuan glanced at his brother; Wang Yulou nodded, and Yuan happily went up front to find his sister.

Yulou shook his head.

Yuan had matured greatly, but before his elder brother, he remained forever a boy.

"Yulou, you're the most gifted refining cultivator I've ever seen. Have you ever considered joining the Nine Orifices Valley to further your cultivation in the Art of Refining?"

The Nine Orifices Valley is one of the Ten Sects of Wunan, belonging to the “Lower Seven Sects,” equal in rank to the Red Lantern Sect.

It is named Nine Orifices because it is situated within the Valley of the Grade-Three Spiritual Item known as the Nine Orifices, each orifice corresponding to a unique type of spiritual material.

Thus, the Nine Orifices Valley is exceptionally inclusive in the Art of Refining, boasting high skill and abundant lineages.

Legend says even Golden Core True Persons ranked on the Immortals’ Platform seek the Nine Orifices Sect’s aid to forge magic treasures.