Chapter 117

Just like that, time trickled by.

After a long while, Lu Changsheng opened his eyes with a wry smile and said, “Who would have thought that to refine this Black Dragon Magical Bead and merge it into my body would not be an easy task.”

“With my current peak at the Sixth Level of Energy Refinement, trying to fully refine this treasure bead will probably take two to three months.”

During the refining process just now, his spiritual power was completely depleted, and yet he hadn’t even managed to refine one percent of the bead.

Having previous experience with refining a black metal block, he knew that acquiring Magical Treasures and wanting to refine them was no easy feat.

But he hadn’t expected it to be this difficult.

“Two to three months then, since it’s a Magical Treasure, requiring some time is normal,” he said.

Lu Changsheng exhaled lightly and stowed away the Black Dragon Magical Bead.

He took out a Spirit Stone, sat down to cultivate, and recovered his spiritual power.

He had yet to draw any talismans today.

After his spiritual power had mostly recovered, Lu Changsheng took out the talisman making tools and, in the Talisman Room, drew two Middle Grade Talismans and two Superior Grade Talismans.

Now that his cultivation level was sufficient, there was no need to use top-grade talisman paper and ink for making Superior Grade Talismans.

Ordinary Superior Grade Talismans could be drawn using advanced level talisman paper and ink, which would also save quite a bit of cost.

After all, continuously using top-grade paper and ink to draw talismans, but not being able to immediately convert them into Spirit Stones, could still be quite costly.

After finishing making talismans, and seeing that it was getting dark, Lu Changsheng thought it was better to seize the day and decided to visit the White Jade Tower ahead of time.

With over three hundred Spirit Stones on him, he could afford to take in and help a few more unfortunate women.

And he would also see if there were any such people with a Spiritual Root.

After all, if he truly wanted to have more children with Spiritual Roots, it depended on having women with Spiritual Roots.

Out of his thirty children, only four possessed a Spiritual Root.

Among those four, Qu Zhenzhen and Lu Miaoyun each had a child with one.

The other wives had borne so many children, yet only two had a Spiritual Root.

This inevitably made Lu Changsheng hold a sliver of hope for the children in the wombs of Shao Yuyao, Xiaoqing, and Guan Xin.

After informing the Shopkeeper Zhang Shan, Lu Changsheng headed out toward the White Jade Tower.

“Brother Lu, where are you off to?” Yu Maocheng called out to Lu Changsheng as he passed by the Jade Meal Pavilion.

Since the two lived across from each other and their shops were located nearby, they would greet each other and chat briefly when they met.

Especially after Yu Maocheng found out during a conversation some time ago that Lu Changsheng was not a Lu Family disciple but a son-in-law to the family, he felt as though he had found a kindred spirit.

He began to complain to Lu Changsheng about marriage, expressing some regrets about marrying into such a cultivation family.

While it was like having the backing of a large tree, it also often led to a wife who was very strict after marriage.

Being a Spirit Cooking chef himself, constantly busy, he only had ten Spirit Stones of pocket money a month.

To such sentiments, Lu Changsheng naturally could not relate.

However, it was not good to say too much, so he simply responded with a few agreeing words, acknowledging the difficulty and sharing that his own wife was quite understanding in this regard.

At that time, Yu Maocheng had not detected the tone in Lu Changsheng’s response, and would come to drink and chat with him when he had nothing else to do.

It wasn’t until a short time later that Yu Maocheng saw all the ladies in Lu Changsheng’s courtyard, which made him feel numb and silent.

At that moment, the way he looked at Lu Changsheng changed.

Of course, they did not become distant over just this one incident.

They would still greet each other as usual, ask how things were going, and invite each other to eat at the Jade Meal Pavilion.

But he stopped asking Lu Changsheng out for drinks to complain about his marital life.

He knew that complaining to someone like Lu Changsheng was like playing the lute to a cow.

The latter simply could not understand his anguish and lacked any empathy.

“I feel like the house is a bit short on maids; I’m planning to go check out the White Jade Tower,” Lu Changsheng replied with a smile.

He then cordially invited Yu Maocheng, “Brother Yu, would you care to join? Let me tell you, this White Jade Tower…”

“Scram, scram, scram!” Yu Maocheng immediately darkened his face and waved his hand hastily when he heard this.

“Brother Yu, as the saying goes, one should not walk a narrow Dao alone, nor should one have too few companions on the Dao. Therefore, the more companions you have, the more steadfast the Great Dao in your heart!” Lu Changsheng joked, taking strides toward the White Jade Tower in search of the Dao.

Watching Lu Changsheng’s retreating figure, Yu Maocheng sighed softly, a hint of envy involuntarily appearing in his eyes.

He knew that Lu Changsheng had over a dozen maids at home, and yet he was still off to wander around the White Jade Tower.

Thinking of his own situation, he sighed softly.

At this moment, a woman in her thirties, with a beautiful face, approached Yu Maocheng and said, “Husband, are you envious of Lu Changsheng? Do you also wish to take a few more concubines?”

Upon hearing this, Yu Maocheng shivered, not expecting his wife to be nearby.

He promptly replied with a serious face, “No, not at all, there’s absolutely nothing like that!”

Although he harbored such desires, this was something he definitely could not admit.

However, before he could further explain, the woman sighed and murmured, “Husband, it has been twenty years since I married you.”

“In these twenty years, I’ve only borne you Feng’er, Yun’er, Yu’er, and Xue’er. Among them, only Xue’er has a Spiritual Root and can cultivate. Perhaps you should take a few more concubines.”

“That… wouldn’t be right, would it?” Yu Maocheng hesitantly replied.

“It’s fine, husband. Whatever type you like, I will help you pick,” the woman said with a gentle, soft smile. “How many would you like, three, five, or ten?”

“No need, no need, just one will do, one is enough,” Yu Maocheng said with a smile on his face.

“Great, Yu Maocheng, when I married you, I was a pure maiden, not only did I secure this pavilion for you, but I also bore you four children, and now you think I’m old and want to take a concubine, don’t you!”