Chapter 16

15. Days without peace

After browsing his own panel and finishing the prompt information regarding Gu Xinyue.

Chen An sat on the edge of the bed, his face a mix of joy and worry.

The joy was that the Divine Sense attribute was very difficult to improve, and the process of improving it was painful, yet he only needed to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh with Gu Xinyue to increase it.

The worry was that he could not gain Alchemy Experience from Gu Xinyue, so it would likely be difficult for him to break through to a First-tier Advanced Alchemist before the child was born.

"Sigh, life is always hard to have it all."

Chen An sighed in his heart.

He then stopped overthinking and turned his gaze back to the beautiful concubine beside him.

At this moment, Gu Xinyue was facing away from him, covering herself with the quilt, too embarrassed to face him. Her delicate body under the covers was very hot, and she would tremble when accidentally touched, seemingly still feeling very nervous.

When doing anything, one is always a bit nervous at the beginning; it will be better after doing it a few more times.

Judging by a cultivator's physical fitness, even if they did it a few more times right now, there shouldn't be any problems.

Thinking this, Chen An once again had Gu Xinyue turn her body over, wanting to have a long, intimate talk with her throughout the night.

【Divine Sense strength +1】

【Divine Sense strength +1】

【Divine Sense strength +1】

【...】

It was not until midnight that Chen An stopped training his Divine Sense strength. He lay on his side, pulling Gu Xinyue into his arms, and while stroking her soft white hair, he whispered the same sweet nothings he had once said to Song Huaying.

However, the effect did not seem very good; no "Affection +1" prompt appeared.

Chen An thought to himself that either Gu Xinyue's temperament was truly cold, or he hadn't cherished her enough just now, causing her to harbor resentment.

Time passed quickly.

With a blink of an eye, the sound of roosters crowing came to his ears.

Chen An woke up and glanced out the window; the sky was still dim, and the sun had just risen over the mountains.

"I really wronged Ying last night; I must go over and see her."

After tucking the thin quilt in for Gu Xinyue, Chen An quickly dressed, got out of bed, and pushed the door open to go to the woodshed to see if his little wife had slept well.

As soon as he left, Gu Xinyue, who had been fast asleep on the bed, opened her eyes. Touching her body that had been cherished last night, her heart was filled with mixed feelings.

After the tossing and turning of last night, she hadn't slept the entire night.

It wasn't that she didn't want to sleep, but that she couldn't.

She had slept alone since she was a child, and suddenly having someone else on the pillow made it hard to adapt for a while.

"In the future... will I also have to give birth to a child for my husband?"

At the thought of Song Huaying's large, protruding belly, Gu Xinyue couldn't help but feel a little afraid.

But at the same time, she felt a trace of longing.

A longing to have a family again, to have family members who loved her and whom she loved.

On the other side, in the backyard.

Chen An gently pushed open the door of the woodshed and found that Song Huaying was not inside.

He was a bit puzzled, immediately and clumsily activated his Divine Sense to perceive, circled the room for a while, and then saw Song Huaying's petite figure in the kitchen.

At this moment, Song Huaying was humming a tune while making breakfast with her large belly, looking very virtuous.

"Ying, how did you sleep last night?"

Chen An stepped forward to hug Song Huaying from behind, his hands gently stroking her protruding lower abdomen, and asked while affectionately nuzzling her small face.

Song Huaying stirred the thin porridge in the pot and said with a sweet smile:

"I slept quite well, but I felt a bit lonely. Husband must make it up to me later."

"No need to wait until later; your husband will make it up to you right now."

"Hey, wait, go... go to the woodshed~"

One incense stick of time later.

【Alchemy Experience +2】

Looking at the "Alchemy Experience +2" in the prompt, Chen An suddenly thought of something.

Gu Xinyue's strength was Divine Sense, and the pleasure of the flesh with her increased Divine Sense strength.

And the pleasure of the flesh with Song Huaying increased Alchemy Experience; did this mean she had a certain talent for alchemy?

Chen An felt this was very possible, but unfortunately, it was almost impossible to verify.

Because Song Huaying was not a cultivator, she could not circulate Spirit Power in her body and therefore could not practice alchemy.

However, having her assist him in alchemy in the future—that felt like a possibility.

Hmm, it might just require further increasing her physical strength.

Otherwise, the Alchemy Room would be too stuffy and hot, and her soft, weak little body definitely wouldn't be able to take it.

When the child is born, he could let her practice martial arts, using the path of Blood Qi to strengthen her body, and incidentally bring some longevity.

"Husband, I'll make some side dishes for the porridge; you go call Sister Gu to get up."

Song Huaying said in a soft, delicate voice while looking down to tidy her slightly messy clothes.

Chen An nodded and said, "Alright, then thank you for your hard work, Ying."

After saying this, he first took the pot of cooked porridge to the main hall, and then went to call Gu Xinyue to get up.

Half an incense stick of time later.

The three of them sat together in the hall eating breakfast.

Gu Xinyue was very quiet, keeping her head down to drink porridge throughout without a word, showing no intention of chatting.

In contrast, the old married couple on the side kept chatting about this and that.

Chatting from south to north, from east to west.

Gu Xinyue watched with some envy, wanting to interject and join in several times, but in the end, she lost to her own reserve.

Not long after, all three were full.

Chen An had a higher cultivation level, so he mostly just accompanied his wives and concubines, not eating much himself.

He simply drank a bowl of clear porridge, felt it was enough, and then stood up to leave for the Alchemy Room to refine pills.

After he left.

Song Huaying immediately moved her chair to sit beside Gu Xinyue, asking with a curious look:

"Sister Gu, how did it feel last night?"

"It was fine."

"..."

Song Huaying fell silent at once.

That's right, she is a cultivator; could her body be as fragile as her own, a mortal?

Sigh, now that there is a fairy accompanying him by his side, I don't know if my husband will still be infatuated with me in the future.

Song Huaying became anxious.

Time passed quickly, and before one knew it, it was afternoon.

Chen An huddled in the Alchemy Room refining pills for half the day, then went to the Market to set up a stall for half the day, finally netting a profit of one-quarter of a Low-grade Spirit Stone.

Calculated over a month, that would be earning over 7 Low-grade Spirit Stones a month.

But a month ago, when his business was good, he could earn 7 Low-grade Spirit Stones in a single day.

There is no harm without comparison.

But there was no helping it; after all, since the Blood Demon chaos was quelled, the prices of items like pills, Talisman Paper, and Wuji had all fallen back to normal levels, no longer as wildly profitable as in the past.

To be honest, Chen An really missed those days when he could pack money into snake-skin bags.

Although it was chaotic then, it was truly profitable.

He stopped thinking about it.

Chen An quickly packed up his stall, but he didn't rush home, instead heading straight toward the Market.

He thought about buying a gift for each of his two wives and concubines at home.

It was the same stall lane that specialized in selling accessories as before.

Chen An walked around once, and finally carefully selected and bought two Hairpins carved with green lotus patterns.

The price wasn't expensive, and he could buy them with silver, but the craftsmanship was exquisite and very pleasing to women.

Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't dark yet, Chen An hurried home.

Just a few days ago, the Deacon at the Qi Refining Late Stage who was responsible for overseeing the Cheap Area was withdrawn, and along with him, more than half of the Qi Refining Mid-Stage cultivators in the patrol team also left.

Gradually, the public order in the Cheap Area had become poor again.

Although there were no murders for goods, there were many more petty thefts.

Following this trend, murder for goods would be a matter of time.

The reason for this was that the Bamboo Leaf Gang, which was responsible for managing the Bamboo Leaf Forest, had a tense relationship with the rival gang, Black Iron Villa, and both sides might break out into war at any time to seize mineral vein resources.

Therefore, many members of the Bamboo Leaf Gang were now being summoned and transferred to the front lines to prepare for war, leaving them with no time to attend to the public order of the Cheap Area.

"I didn't expect that just after the Blood Demon chaos passed, a gang war would arrive in the blink of an eye. I wonder if the price of pills will skyrocket again."

Chen An analyzed the situation all the way home.

But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that the price of pills would likely not rise.

Because the Bamboo Leaf Gang, as a large gang, must have stored many pills within the gang.

Even if the reserves were insufficient and they needed to purchase them from the Alchemists in the Bamboo Leaf Forest, the price would surely only be the same as usual, or perhaps even lower.

After all, the Bamboo Leaf Gang was the master of the Bamboo Leaf Forest; if the Alchemists living inside dared to raise prices, they would likely be gone by the next day.

The world of cultivation is not a peaceful era; when they have the strength to crush you, they can truly kill you if they want to.

At best, they might negotiate the purchase with you, at most perhaps suppressing the price.

When things become desperate, they could snatch your goods by force in a minute, and after snatching them, they might even grab you to serve as cannon fodder, and those who resisted would be beheaded on the spot to warn others.

"Sigh, I hope these two gangs don't start fighting."

"Otherwise, once the flames of war spread, the days for a low-level cultivator like me will likely be restless again."

Chen An thought with a worried look.

PS: Setting out the bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!