"You humans? Master, does that mean you aren't human?" Mu Chen was utterly astonished, suddenly recalling the Barbaric Aura the Profound Old Ghost had unintentionally emitted.
"Heh. Let's not talk about that. As for you, have you made your decision?" the Profound Old Ghost said with a noncommittal, mysterious smile.
Mu Chen was confused, but he knew the Profound Old Ghost would never harm him. 'As long as he's my Master, what does his true identity matter?' The thought of finally being able to walk the path of a Martial Artist made Mu Chen's closed eyes flicker with anticipation. He asked, "Master, when do we leave?"
"No rush. I heard what your father said that day. The Xuanling Imperial Academy... If nothing unexpected happens, that little girl you're always with will definitely be chosen this time. Don't ask me why; you'll find out when the time comes. She's much stronger than your Mu Family's so-called top genius, that little Mu Rongxuan brat. So, we'll leave after your four great families' competition. Before that, you need to prepare some things."
"What?" Mu Chen's eyes flickered. 'Mu Bingling's Cultivation is clearly far weaker than Mu Rongxuan's, but the Profound Old Ghost must have his reasons for saying so.' Thinking this, Mu Chen gritted his teeth and said, "Alright. What do I need to prepare?"
"This is a list of the things you need to prepare. Don't worry, it's all very cheap stuff. Alright, I'm going to rest now." After speaking, a Scroll made of the exact same material as the one for the Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique appeared before Mu Chen.
"Wait," Mu Chen called out hastily. "Will my Nine Attributes Dantian be discovered by others?"
The Profound Old Ghost praised him, "Not bad. You're learning to conceal your strengths. Rest assured, no one can sense a Nine Attributes Dantian. From the outside, it feels exactly the same as an Attributeless Dantian. Besides, with me here, no one will even be able to tell that your Dantian has recovered."
Hearing this, Mu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Profound Old Ghost fell silent after saying this. Mu Chen shook his head, unrolled the list the Old Ghost had given him, and scanned it, thoroughly perplexed.
One bell, a zhang of Black Iron Lock Chain, a twenty-five-jin Black Iron Block, a fifty-jin block, a one-hundred-jin block, a five-hundred-jin block, a one-thousand-jin block, several sets of clothes, various seasonings, and one Storage Ring.
These were indeed all inexpensive items. Aside from the slightly more expensive Storage Ring, all the other materials were bottom-of-the-barrel cheap. Together, they wouldn't even cost one hundred Elemental Stones. A Storage Ring might be a bit pricier, needing five hundred to a thousand Elemental Stones—the cheapest ones, of course. A Storage Ring with one cubic meter of space only cost five hundred Elemental Stones.
Mu Chen thought for a moment. Although he hadn't asked his family for money over the years, they would always give the children some lucky money during the New Year festival. Over the past twelve years, Mu Chen had saved up nearly three thousand Elemental Stones, equivalent to 30 Elemental Crystals. It was more than enough to buy these things.
He glanced at the sky; it was already broad daylight. Mu Chen gently tore the Scroll in his hands. A moment later, the Scroll dissolved into tiny fragments that vanished into the air.
"Time to head back..."
Treading on the morning dew, Mu Chen quickly made his way from the back mountain to the front courtyard, where the Mu Family's training grounds were located. Though his eyes were closed, the surrounding scene was perfectly reflected in his mind. The training grounds were filled with Mu Family disciples, all sweating profusely. Some let out explosive shouts as they practiced their Fist Techniques with the power of a roaring tiger. Others used simple equipment to temper their physiques. But they all shared one thing in common: no matter what training they were doing, they all faced west.
To the west of the training grounds was a beautiful sight, for that was where all the women of the Mu Family did their Body Forging. In the center of that area, a young woman in a white dress danced gracefully, like a beautiful Spirit Butterfly.
Seeing this young woman, the corners of Mu Chen's mouth lifted into a slight smile. A spring breeze blew past, rustling his hair.
A disciple who was training turned around to take a break and was startled to see a youth in a white shirt at the edge of the training grounds. He said in surprise, "Huh? Isn't that the Fourth Young Master?"
The disciple's voice wasn't loud, but it still drew the attention of the surrounding disciples. Sure enough, when they saw Mu Chen, their faces first showed surprise, which quickly turned into faint disdain.
Instantly, like a stone tossed into a pond, the Mu Family disciples who were training all began to gather around. Mu Chen frowned slightly but said nothing, simply taking a few steps to the side. However, someone wasn't about to let it go.
"Heh heh. I say, our esteemed Fourth Young Master, this is no place for you. What if a strong gust of wind makes you sick? Someone might think we beat you up."
Such caustic words could only have come from Mu Hu. Mu Chen loathed the guy, so he didn't say a single word and simply started walking toward his own small courtyard.
Seeing Mu Chen walk away, a few Mu Family disciples laughed wantonly. "If I ended up like him, I'd have killed myself long ago."
Another Mu Family disciple chuckled and asked, "Brother Hu, you've reached Sixth-Ring Martial Disciple now, right?"
The others all chimed in with questions. Mu Hu clearly enjoyed the attention. He shot a contemptuous glance at Mu Chen's retreating back and said, "Yeah, I just broke through yesterday. I'm still a long way from Brother Rongxuan. I heard he already reached Eighth-Ring Martial Disciple a month ago. He's probably improved even more since then."
"That's for sure. The family competition is the day after tomorrow. I'm sure our Mu Family will shine this time."
"Yeah, we will."
After leaving the training grounds, Mu Chen headed straight for his room. Inside a hidden compartment in a cabinet, he quickly found a small red box. With a slight smile, Mu Chen gently opened it. Inside lay thirty white, transparent crystals. These irregularly shaped crystals were Elemental Crystals.
Besides being used as currency to buy things, Elemental Crystals served the same purpose as the Demon Crystals from Magical Beasts: they could be absorbed by Martial Artists for the Primordial Qi they contained. Of course, Purple Elemental Crystals had the highest concentration of Primordial Qi. Regular Elemental Crystals contained a very ordinary amount, sometimes making them less effective than directly absorbing the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. As for Elemental Stones, the Primordial Qi they contained was almost negligible.
He took out the thirty Elemental Crystals and tucked them into his robes. After putting the box away, Mu Chen strode openly out of his small courtyard. He was now going to gather all the things the Profound Old Ghost had told him to get.
His journey was unimpeded, not because the Mu Family guards respected him, but because everyone in the household, from top to bottom, knew him as the "trash of the Mu Family." So they simply ignored him, not even offering a greeting. Mu Chen, however, was happy to be left alone. He wasn't a talkative person to begin with.
Leaving the Mu Family estate, he arrived at the marketplace. Hawking cries echoed from all around, though most of the shops were selling Demon Beast Meat, Demon Crystals, and various medicinal herbs. Mu Chen first wandered around the market a couple of times without buying anything. He did this partly because he hadn't been out in a long time, and partly because he was looking for a blacksmith shop, where he could find everything the Profound Old Ghost had listed.
The streets were bustling with pedestrians. Whenever people saw Mu Chen's empty left sleeve and closed eyes, they would stop to stare for a moment, either muttering to themselves or making judgmental remarks—none of them good. Mu Chen was already used to this kind of scene at home; he certainly wasn't going to let the words of strangers get to him.
After walking for an hour, Mu Chen finally found a blacksmith shop called "Heaven's Craft." Looking in from the outside, there seemed to be no customers. It was still early morning, when most people would be training, abiding by the principle that the morning sets the tone for the day. Only servants and the like would be out shopping this early.
Mu Chen glanced around and, seeing no one he knew, stepped inside. The moment he entered, a wave of heat washed over him, accompanied by the rhythmic CLANG of a hammer.
It only took Mu Chen a moment to adjust to the environment. Before him was a bare-chested, middle-aged man with bronze muscles. Other than this man, there was no one else in the blacksmith shop; presumably, he was the owner.
The blacksmith noticed someone had entered but didn't look up, continuing to hammer the block of iron. He chuckled, "What do you need? Feel free to look around."
The blacksmith had a steady temperament and a calm tone of voice. Mu Chen smiled slightly. "Shopkeeper, I need to have some things forged."
Hearing his voice, the blacksmith stopped his work and looked up. He didn't say anything upon seeing a youth in a white shirt, but when he noticed the boy's missing left hand and closed eyes, he was visibly startled. He shook his head to himself, his expression quickly returning to normal. "So, what do you need forged?"
Mu Chen didn't speak, but instead took a piece of white paper from his robes and handed it to the blacksmith. Written on it were the items the Profound Old Ghost had instructed him to get.
The blacksmith glanced at the list and was slightly taken aback. Then he smiled and said, "Lad, are you sure you need these things?"
Mu Chen returned the smile. "Of course. Why else would I be here?"
The blacksmith chuckled. "Alright. We don't sell Storage Rings here, but I have a personal one that's three cubic meters. I'm not using it, if you're interested."
Mu Chen was certainly happy to be able to buy one directly, so he asked, "What's the price?"
"Heh, I'm not using it anyway. You can have it for 1,200 Elemental Stones."
"Alright, I'll take it." 'A three-cubic-meter Storage Ring would cost at least 1,500 Elemental Stones at a proper shop,' Mu Chen thought to himself. 'Buying it from the blacksmith is definitely a bargain.'
"Good. Wait a moment." The blacksmith set the list aside and went into the back room. He came out a moment later holding a plain-looking ring. "Here. The total comes to 1,300 Elemental Stones. The materials for the other things you want forged are very cheap."
Mu Chen took the ring from the blacksmith. He pulled thirteen Elemental Crystals from his robes and placed them in the blacksmith's hand, then tucked the ring away into his robes as well. It wasn't the right time for him to be seen wearing something like that. He then asked, "When can I pick up the items?"
The blacksmith thought for a moment. "Three days at most."
Mu Chen nodded. "Alright. I'll come back to get them in three days, at this same hour."
After settling on a time with the blacksmith, Mu Chen left the shop...