Chapter 210: Life Has a Spirit

Chapter 210: Chapter 210: Life Has a Spirit

Back when they were poor, let alone installing air conditioning, they couldn’t even afford one fan per person. To save on electricity, they wouldn’t even turn on a fan unless it was sweltering, and sometimes the power would just go out at night. In the evenings, everyone would gather outside to cool off. They would wave palm-leaf fans to swat away mosquitoes and catch a breeze. The adults would smoke and chat, while the children ran around playing. Now that everyone’s lives had improved, those scenes were a thing of the past. As Zhang Yun walked through the village to head home, he realized that while he would run into many people to greet during the day, he hardly saw a single soul at night.

As he neared home, Zhang Yun intentionally slowed his pace. He glanced toward Xiuqin’s House. Seeing that the lights in her room were off, he wondered, "Has she not gone upstairs yet, or is she already asleep?"

Actually, while shopping at the mall today, he had considered buying a gift for Xiuxun. The first thing that came to mind was the lingerie store he had visited yesterday with Yang Xiaoyun and Feng Ru, but that was unrealistic. Not only did he not know her size, but it was also far too intimate—she would never accept it. Thinking it over, nothing seemed right. She would find a bracelet too expensive, while skincare products or lipstick would seem too personal.

"Master," Xu Jin and Ma Yuming called out.

They were still in the courtyard. However, they weren’t cooling off; they were practicing martial arts. The grain had already been dried and stored away, leaving plenty of space in the yard for them to move around, and there were no onlookers at night.

"You guys..." Zhang Yun observed them for a moment. Recalling what Qi Luo had said about cultivation ranks, he thought, "They should be at the Second Grade, right?" Seeing them stop and look over, he said, "Good practice! Don’t stay up too late, as Ming Tian will require traveling far."

"Yes!"

Zhang Yun then went to check on his father.

"I’m fine. It’s just an old ailment. Those two kids were just overly anxious. Dean Zhang is an experienced traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Now that he’s given me acupuncture, how could anything be wrong with me?" Zhang Fu reassured his son.

Seeing his father’s honest and hearty smile, Zhang Yun felt a twinge of sorrow. When parents suffered from illness or hardship, they would never tell their children. They would simply endure it all on their own, right up until their aging shoulders could no longer bear the weight. He wanted to hug his father but held back. Even nowadays, people were still unaccustomed to more modern or Western expressions of affection like hugging or saying "I love you." Easterners remained more reserved.

"How are... things going with you two?" Earlier, in front of the two disciples, Zhang Fu hadn’t felt it appropriate to ask for details, but now, alone in the room, he couldn’t contain his curiosity.

Zhang Yun smiled and replied, "Don’t worry about that. I’m making a lot of money now. Are you really afraid I won’t be able to find a wife?"

"That’s completely different! In the past, anyone would have done, but if you can find someone better, the next generation will be even more outstanding." Although Zhang Fu felt that being with Ouyang Mingruo was punching above their weight, he genuinely didn’t mind. He wouldn’t even mind if his son married into her family as a live-in son-in-law! No matter the surname, the bloodline of the Zhang Family would still be passed down.

"There’s no rush. How about you find me a stepmother first? While you still have the energy, you could whip up a little brother or sister for me."

"You’re asking for a beating, aren’t you?" Zhang Fu’s old face flushed red at his words.

"Wait right here!"

Zhang Yun headed to the storage room. Among the liquor he had bought for his dad today, there was a bottle of tonic wine infused with ginseng. He had originally planned to drop a Mysterious Petal into it to dilute it, allowing his dad to slowly absorb it and nourish his body. Now that he knew about the migraines, he took action immediately. He thought, "Since it was effective for the severe injuries sustained by Qi Luo and Mingruo, it should also work for migraines, right?"

"Why are you giving me something so potent?" Zhang Fu laughed the moment he saw it. When a married middle-aged man drank this, people would smile knowingly, let alone a widower like him.

Zhang Yun, having already added a Mysterious Petal, poured him a small glass. "I used my connections to get this from a famous doctor in the big city. It costs over twenty thousand a bottle."

"That expensive?" Zhang Fu had thought it would be a little over a hundred at most. He was just about to suggest giving it to their neighbor, Uncle Xi, or his uncle, but he was startled upon hearing it cost twenty thousand.

Zhang Yun had already peeled off the label. He claimed it was expensive precisely because he was afraid his dad wouldn’t drink it and would give it away instead. "Drink a small glass every night before bed."

Zhang Fu took it carefully, clicking his tongue in awe. "Just this tiny half-ounce is worth several hundred bucks."

Zhang Yun lowered his voice. "It’s not like you don’t know how much I make. Spending it to nourish your body is far better than me wasting it on drinking, gambling, and visiting prostitutes, right?"

Zhang Fu was reluctant to spend money. One or two million was considered a fortune back home, but in a big city, it wouldn’t even buy a single apartment. Over the past couple of days, he had also heard everyone saying that the car Mingruo drove cost around one or two million. However, since his son had bought it and already opened it, he couldn’t let his filial piety go to waste. Watching his dad down it in one gulp, Zhang Yun placed the bottle under the bed and prepared a pitcher of cool boiled water for him.

"They say this stuff packs a punch. Drink plenty of water and then get some sleep."

Zhang Fu did indeed feel a fiery burning sensation, but since it was a potent tonic wine, he didn’t overthink it. This was a Mysterious Petal diluted to a fraction of its original strength, so it wasn’t more than he could handle. After attending to his dad and ensuring he drank plenty of water, Zhang Yun turned the air conditioning down a bit. He made sure his father was alright before returning to his own room.

Unconsciously, he glanced toward Xiuxun’s window again; it remained dark.

Today, that Bronze Venerable had earned him a hundred and fifty thousand, and this Jade Seal was another hundred thousand—basically free money. What amazed Zhang Yun, however, was that he couldn’t extract the surging Energy radiating from it! Back at the Gilded Hall in the Liu Family Cave, it hadn’t been convenient for him to study it thoroughly. Only now did he finally have the time.

The moment he held it and rubbed it in his hands, he could feel its immense Energy—it was far beyond what the Bronze Venerable possessed! When Zhang Yun had estimated its value at one or two thousand at the time, there was simply no comparison to be made. He was now fairly certain that a vast majority of the absorbed Energy was funneled into the Mysterious Iron Ring. A portion nourished his body, and another portion had yet to be absorbed. It might require more time, or perhaps it needed a Yin Yang Convergence like last night to catalyze the absorption.

The Energy from the Bronze Venerable had directly elevated him from the Fifth Grade to the Seventh Grade, and he estimated that fully absorbing it could push him to the Eighth Grade. As for the Energy within this Jade Seal, Zhang Yun wagered it could charge the ring by several dozen percent, potentially allowing him to break straight into the Innate Realm!

Unfortunately, the Jade Seal itself seemed to possess a restraining Barrier, preventing the Energy inside from leaking out in the slightest. Even with a powerful attraction drawing on it with thousands of times the force, the Energy merely swirled around inside. It was like using a magnet to attract iron filings trapped inside a box. No matter how much the filings surged, they remained blocked from coming out. After trying for ages, he still had no solution and couldn’t siphon out a single drop.

He thought, "Perhaps the fated time hasn’t arrived? Or maybe I need to become stronger before I can absorb it?"

Zhang Yun had no choice but to put it away for now. Such an important item naturally needed to be stored in the Peach Blossom Spring Space. Since he had accumulated quite a few things inside, Zhang Yun simply brought a few storage boxes in with him. He packed away spare clothes and items like the Jade Seal, while leaving the Blood Demon Blade, his sword, and his gun resting on top of the boxes in case of emergencies, ensuring he could grab them the moment he entered.

Seeing those storage boxes sitting next to the fields felt incredibly out of place. Zhang Yun pondered, "Should I build a shed or something similar in here? Even though it doesn’t need to shield against wind or rain, it would at least look nice!" Look nice... Well, given his handyman skills, it wouldn’t end up looking nice anyway. And since it wasn’t convenient to hire craftsmen to come in here, he could only give up on the idea.

Surveying this patch of the Peach Blossom Spring Space, Zhang Yun had a fleeting illusion: had the space grown a bit larger after absorbing so much Energy? He hadn’t measured it before, and the change wasn’t drastic enough to be certain just by eyeballing it.

He suddenly froze. "Wait a minute! Why can I sense life?"

There were fish, a turtle, and—right—a Crow. Even though they cowered and hid every time he entered, they definitely hadn’t died. Whether this was a new development or he simply hadn’t noticed it before, Zhang Yun could now clearly sense their life forces within his consciousness. He could pinpoint their exact locations. It was as if... they had gained souls! And those souls were entirely under his control!