Longevity with a Turtle

Chapter 141: Chapter 112: Zhou Miaoyun Visits

Improving his Talisman Dao Skills and earning more Spirit Stones were his top priorities right now. Only with an abundance of Spirit Stones could he purchase Body Refining Techniques and the Supporting Spiritual Objects needed for Body Refining.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was May. Over these two months, Chen Jianghe had used up nineteen Spirit Blood Pig Hides and successfully drawn six Middle-Grade Protection Talismans. Although his Talisman Dao Skills improved slowly, he could still feel the progress. Through a voice transmission, he commanded Fur Ball to fetch the letters from the post box.

This year was destined to be turbulent. He couldn’t enter deep secluded cultivation, especially since his relationship with Daniu had long surpassed that of ordinary friends. This was the most crucial year of Yu Daniu’s life, as he had to make a decision that would affect his entire future. In his last letter, Yu Daniu had mentioned waiting until Yun Huizhen’s cousin attempted Foundation Establishment before making a choice. Now that it was May, barring any accidents, Yun Yixuan should have already made his attempt. He might have even succeeded, or perhaps failed. Chen Jianghe was waiting for Yu Daniu’s letter.

Soon, Fur Ball brought a letter over. Chen Jianghe took a glance and realized it wasn’t from Yu Daniu, but from Zhou Miaoyun.

”Is Zhou Miaoyun coming to Qinghe Marketplace?” he wondered. As he read the contents, he frowned. It wasn’t because of her impending arrival, but rather because of Yu Daniu’s fifth son, Yun Wuniu.

Zhou Miaoyun had already taken up long-term residence in Jingyue Marketplace. After receiving Gao Peiyao’s letter, she was overjoyed. She immediately returned to the Zhou Family, selected a junior with good character and aptitude, and brought her back to Jingyue Marketplace. From there, they prepared to head to Qinghe Marketplace. Her plan was to entrust this junior to Gao Peiyao, hoping the girl might seize the opportunity to join the Celestial South Sect—even if only as a servant disciple. That alone would be a tremendous blessing for the Zhou Family.

However, what she never expected was that upon seeing this junior, Yu Daniu’s fifth son fell in love at first sight and refused to marry anyone else.

Helpless, Yu Daniu and Yun Huizhen could only approach Zhou Miaoyun to discuss the matter. Zhou Miaoyun was deeply puzzled by this and grew suspicious of Yun Wuniu’s character. But considering the Zhou Family’s long-term development at Jingyue Lake, she had no choice but to betroth the junior to him. The wedding was scheduled for July. As for her own niece, Zhou Xiaoxuan, she decided to bring her to Qinghe Marketplace to see if a Steward of the Celestial South Sect might take a liking to her. After all, Zhou Xiaoxuan was already twenty-three years old.

”This boy’s disposition will likely be hard to change. If left unchecked, he might end up harming Daniu in the future,” Chen Jianghe thought. For the first time, he felt genuine disgust toward someone. His friendship with Yu Daniu was real, so he naturally cared about his well-being. A son like that would definitely bring trouble to Yun Huizhen’s lineage in the long run. Yet, this wasn’t something he could state openly.

Yun Wuniu was different from Yun Xiaoniu. He had watched Xiaoniu grow up and shared a close bond with him; if Xiaoniu made a mistake, he could easily lecture him. But Chen Jianghe had only met Yun Wuniu a handful of times, and he could count the number of words they had exchanged on one hand.

”Whether he can be reined in will depend not on Daniu, but on his eldest brother Xiaoniu, and what Xiaoniu does in the future,” Chen Jianghe thought helplessly. Still, he hoped Yun Wuniu would exercise some restraint after getting married.

With the wedding in July, it was no wonder Zhou Miaoyun was in such a hurry. She had to rush back to preside over the ceremony. Nowadays, Zhou Miaoyun was an Elder of the Zhou Family and had the authority to decide most of its affairs. After all, half of the family’s Spirit Stone income came from her Spirit Talismans. Her brother, the Patriarch, naturally obeyed her every word.

”Since Zhou Miaoyun knows my address and wrote to me, she will definitely drag me along to find Gao Peiyao,” he thought. He didn’t want to meet Gao Peiyao too frequently. While he could leverage her influence, it would also draw too much attention, which contradicted his low-profile nature. Furthermore, whenever he faced Gao Peiyao, he always felt that she was intentionally or unintentionally probing him with her words, as if she had noticed something unusual about him. Naturally, he also didn’t want to interact with a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. It was highly stressful and gave him a helpless sense of losing control. But if Zhou Miaoyun really came looking for him, he wouldn’t be able to avoid it.

”Fur Ball, how’s the Demon Beast butchering coming along?” Chen Jianghe asked.

The High-Level Spirit Beast Circle flashed with a green light as communication between master and pet began. However, the intent Fur Ball conveyed through the circle was still quite vague, so Chen Jianghe had to speak with Little Black instead.

”Little Black, how is it going? Have you finished processing one of the Demon Beasts?”

”Come out and see for yourself,” Little Black replied through a Spirit Platform Transmission.

Chen Jianghe swept his Divine Sense outward and saw that one Demon Beast had already been processed. Its four claws had been neatly severed—this was clearly Little Black’s handiwork. The hide had been separated from the Physical Body, washed clean, and air-dried. There was also half a bucket of Spirit Blood. This surprised Chen Jianghe, as he had assumed Little Black would let Fur Ball drink the blood, given the massive amount of Spiritual Qi it contained. A complete set of Beast Fangs had also been extracted. Overall, the processing of the hide wasn’t perfect, and a fair amount of Spirit Blood had been wasted. They still needed more practice, proving that requesting two extra Mid-Stage Tier One Demon Beasts had been the right call.

Chen Jianghe walked out and stored the hide, Beast Fangs, Spirit Blood, and claws into his Storage Pouch. He planned to take them to the Demon Beast Workshop later to exchange for Spirit Stones.

”Not bad, keep up the good work. I’ll be counting on you, Black Hide, to support me from now on,” Chen Jianghe praised.

”Save it, I don’t buy that,” Little Black retorted. After letting Fur Ball’s praises get to his head, he had started to grow resistant to such flattery. ”You’d better get a few more Demon Beasts next year. It’s actually quite simple; just controlling the blood flow and washing the hide takes some effort and time. But we can process several Demon Beasts simultaneously.”

Right now, all he wanted was to earn more Spirit Stones to ease Chen Jianghe’s burden, or at the very least, make himself and Fur Ball self-sufficient in terms of resources. In his eyes, this Two-Legged Beast was far too weak. They couldn’t keep draining all of Chen Jianghe’s Spirit Stones; he needed to let Chen Jianghe improve himself as well. Otherwise, if Chen Jianghe got beaten to death outside, Little Black would have no one to play with.

”Alright. Next year, we’ll get four Demon Beasts, including two Mid-Stage Tier One Demon Beasts, just for you to practice on.” Chen Jianghe was highly satisfied with Little Black’s proactive attitude. He left them to process the next Demon Beast without further interruption and went back to drawing Spirit Talismans.

By late June, Chen Jianghe had used another ten Spirit Blood Pig Hides to draw four Middle-Grade Protection Talismans. During this time, he never received a letter from Yu Daniu, nor did he know if Yun Huizhen’s cousin had succeeded in his Foundation Establishment. What choice had Yu Daniu ultimately made?

However, someone else did arrive—Zhou Miaoyun.

Yesterday, Zhou Miaoyun had come to visit with her niece, Zhou Xiaoxuan, bringing two Tier One Middle-Grade Spirit Fruits as a gift. This welcoming gift was quite valuable, worth a total of ten Spirit Stones. Chen Jianghe had initially wanted to decline, but Zhou Miaoyun insisted it was a formal greeting gift from Xiaoxuan as a junior and urged him to accept it. Understanding her underlying intentions, he didn’t push back and accepted the two Tier One Middle-Grade Spirit Fruits.

The moment he saw Zhou Xiaoxuan, Chen Jianghe finally understood why Yun Xiaoniu’s aunt had described her as having a Fox Charm. Her beauty rivaled that of Jiang Ruxu, but with an added touch of seductiveness between her brows. Her delicate brows were like faint smoke, and her peach-blossom eyes were watery and vibrant, carrying an enchanting blur that could easily captivate anyone. Chen Jianghe couldn’t even fathom what Zhou Miaoyun’s other junior looked like to make Yun Wuniu completely disregard Zhou Xiaoxuan.

After their conversation, they arranged to host a banquet for Gao Peiyao at the Qinghe Tavern this afternoon.

Checking the time, it was approaching 1:00 PM. Chen Jianghe tidied up, brought Little Black and Fur Ball into the Spirit Beast Space, and left the courtyard. Even if he was only stepping out for a short while, he would always take the two of them with him. Though it was troublesome, it was absolutely necessary. His courtyard in Qinghe Marketplace could keep out ordinary strangers, but it might not stop the people operating behind the scenes of the marketplace. He held an Array Disc, but it wasn’t guaranteed that the marketplace administrators didn’t have a spare. If someone entered his home while he was away, Little Black and Fur Ball would be exposed. Little Black was his most important ”brother” aside from his own life; he absolutely could not afford any mishaps.

Arriving at the Qinghe Tavern, he saw Zhou Miaoyun and her niece waiting by the entrance.

”Uncle Jianghe,” Zhou Xiaoxuan greeted, bowing gracefully. A silver earring swung past her temple to rest against her charming cheek. She called out sweetly, her voice tender and soul-stirring, making it nearly impossible for anyone to resist sneaking a few more glances at her and yearning to hear her speak again.