Longevity starts from having a daughter in old age

“Friend, how much for this tier two Fire-controlling Skill jade slip?”

In the shop, Xu Mu pointed to a palm-sized red jade and asked.

“One Medium-grade Spirit Stone! This is the best skill jade slip we sell in our shop!” The shop assistant introduced with a smile.

Xu Mu was speechless.

A Medium-grade Spirit Stone was equivalent to a hundred Lower-grade Spirit Stones.

However, often a hundred Lower-grade Spirit Stone couldn’t be exchanged for a Medium-grade Spirit Stone.

Looking at the book in his hand, which recorded almost all skills of the Qi Cultivation Stage with detailed annotations, it was worth merely twenty Lower-grade Spirit Stones.

All Xu Mu could say was, it’s fucking expensive!

However, being expensive had its merits too.

Learning skills using a jade slip not only skipped the step of memorizing but also offered some comprehension of the practitioner who had engraved it.

Xu Mu touched his pocket and hesitated before asking, “Could it be a bit cheaper?”

“Friend, we don’t negotiate prices in our shop!” The shop assistant said with a smile.

“Can I pay with Lower-grade Spirit Stones instead?”

“Of course, but it’ll be one hundred and ten Lower-grade Spirit Stones!”

Fuck!

You just raised the price by ten!

In the end, after much persuasion, Xu Mu was given a discount of five Lower-grade Spirit Stones in combination with some secret skill books.

Upon returning home, Xu Mu immediately rushed into the utility room, calmed his mind, and pressed the jade slip against his forehead.

With the influx of his spiritual power, the jade slip cracked and shattered instantly.

A wave of invisible spiritual power followed the shattering of the jade slip and merged into his brain.

Various knowledge about the tier two Fire-controlling Skill, and insights, were forcibly etched into his mind.

It was somewhat like the memory transmission of the system but cruder, and the contents were relatively vague and fragmented.

When Xu Mu had fully absorbed it, he immediately checked the system.

[Tier two Fire-controlling Skill, Beginner; 187/200]!

It had instantly increased his proficiency by nearly two hundred points.

But Xu Mu could feel that this was not the limit because many of the insights were fragmented and would only be fully integrated once he reached that level.

So, this jade slip not only saved him a lot of time in practicing the basics but also could intermittently increase his cultivation speed in the future.

“One hundred Spirit Stones, it’s worth it!”

Xu Mu was very happy.

His subsequent training also gave him a taste of what it felt like to fly.

In just three days, he reached [Proficiency, 399/400].

At this point, Xu Mu realized that although jade slips were indeed magical, it should not have such an exaggerated effect.

The reason for his rapid progress, apart from the skill jade slip itself, was mainly due to the high level of the tier one Fire-controlling Skill.

As he expected, in just one day, he broke through the bottleneck and reached the Proficiency stage.

Just as he wanted to continue cultivating, the system automatically popped up a dialog box.

[Skills available for fusion detected, proceed with fusion?]

On the system panel, the tier one Transcendent Fire-controlling Skill and tier two Proficiency Fire-controlling Skill were glowing simultaneously.

“So they can be fused!”

Xu Mu was overjoyed.

He didn’t hesitate much and chose to proceed.

The two icons on the system interface instantly merged.

At the same time, a lot of messy information appeared in Xu Mu’s mind, merging together, discarding the old to bring forth the new, evolving into an entirely new Skill.

[Please give the new skill a name.]

“Tier two Fire-controlling Skill!”

Xu Mu did not make up a fancy name and stuck with the original skill name.

Now the Fire-controlling Skill had become –

[Tier two Fire-controlling Skill Grandmaster; 1024/6400]

Although the grade had dropped from Transcendent to Grandmaster, Xu Mu didn’t feel that the Fire-controlling Skill had weakened; instead, he felt it was significantly stronger.

Especially in controlling the temperature. When he released it, even the dark iron sword showed signs of melting.

Additionally, his ability to compress the flame improved further.

“Who knew I could play it this way!”

This fusion operation opened up his mind.

He essentially only spent a hundred Lower-grade Spirit Stones to gain an increase in Luck Value of over a thousand points.

It was unfortunate he had no money left, or else he really wanted to buy a few more fire skill jade slips.

“Wait, if Fire-controlling Skill can be fused, then why can’t Fireball Skill do so?”

He looked at the Fireball Skill on the system panel.

[Fireball Skill Proficiency; 367/400]!

This is the fire skill with the highest level, apart from Fire-controlling Skill.

“Could it be because the level is too low?”

The fusion prompt only appeared for the tier two Fire-controlling Skill after it reached the Proficiency stage.

Going by skill proficiency, the Fireball Skill would be on par with the second-stage Fire-controlling Skill only when it has reached perfection.

“Why not give it a shot?! I’m not far from breaking through!”

Xu Mu spent a day and quickly cultivated the Fireball to [Proficiency; 399/400]!

Not wanting to waste time, he added a touch of Luck Value and elevated the Fireball Skill to [Perfection; 0/800].

As he broke through the Fireball Skill, the system prompt appeared again.

[Fusion skills detected. Proceed with the fusion?]

The perfected Fireball Skill and the newly merged Fire-controlling Skill lit up simultaneously.

Xu Mu didn’t hesitate and clicked confirm again.

His mind underwent another peculiar fusion of information.

[Please name your new skill?]

“Second-stage Fire-controlling Skill!”

After some flickering, the proficiency level changed again.

[Second-stage Fire-controlling skill Grandmaster; 1502/6400].

While fusion of the Fireball Skill was not enough to increase the level of the Fire-controlling Skill, it added almost five hundred proficiency points, equivalent to fifty days of accumulated luck value.

The Fire-controlling Skill’s power also rose, moving up another notch.

At this point, Xu Mu was completely captivated.

Originally, he wanted to improve the Thunderbolt Sword Skill first, but now he put it aside, pulling out all the fire skills and started learning each one.

Just as he had barely familiarized himself with the Flame Breath Skill, there came a knock at the door from Ye Yingying.

She informed him, Lan Shijin came to visit with her daughter.

The mother and daughter moved in yesterday and immediately came to visit the two after tidying up their house.

“Friend Lan, aren’t you being too kind?”

Looking at the pile of gifts in the room, Xu Mu felt somewhat embarrassed.

In the room, Lan Shijin still wore a green magic robe, carrying a dignified and graceful demeanor.

Behind her stood a beautiful woman in a blue magic robe, giving off an icy, unapproachable aura.

This was Lan Shijin’s daughter, Leng Yuening.

Having been neighbors for more than a decade, this was the second time Xu Mu saw her.

“These are just some small trinkets for Little Ling’er! Don’t be polite!” Lan Shijin said with a smile.

With that, she eagerly took the baby from Ye Yingying’s arms, an exuberant smile spread across her face.

“Then thank you very much!”

Since she had already put it that way, he didn’t have any reason to refuse.

“Lady Yue Ning, please have a seat!”

With Lan Shijin refusing to let go of the baby, Xu Mu had to invite Leng Yue Ning to sit down first.

“Alright.”

Leng Yue Ning replied faintly, then sat down on the chair. Her fair, jade-like chin lifted slightly, her gaze not lingering on Xu Mu.

She put out a bit of an airs, seeming aloof and unfazed by everything.

Lan Shijin raised her elegant head and said to Xu Mu, “Friend Xu, don’t mind.

Yue Ning has always been like this, she didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

Not intentional, but deliberate, right?

You know there’s a problem, so why don’t you, as her mother, correct it?

With her arrogant attitude, isn’t she afraid of getting beaten up when she goes out?

Xu Mu was somewhat baffled.

However, he wasn’t privy to their family situation, so it was unnecessary to be a smart aleck. He decided to interact less with them in the future.

He kept saying, “I don’t mind! I don’t mind!”

Xu Mu went into the kitchen to fetch clean teaware and poured tea for them to drink.

But one of them was busy playing with the baby, and the other kept her long, graceful neck tilted back, just like a marble statue, showing no intention of drinking tea.

In the room, Lan Shijin and Ye Yingying were chattering away. Little Ling’er was giggling non-stop at their playfulness, while Leng Yuening and Xu Mu sat on the side like wooden statues.

Maybe seeing Xu Mu’s embarrassment, Ye Yingying said: “My husband, why don’t you go about your own business? Sister Lan and I, along with Lady Yue Ning, will just hang out here!”

“That, uh…”

Xu Mu wanted to put up some polite resistance.

“Friend Xu, feel free to go about your business, don’t stand on ceremony with me!” Lan Shijin said gently.

“Well, okay then! I’ll be in the next room, Friend Lan, you can call me if you need anything!”

“Alright.”

Lan Shijin nodded and continued to play with Little Ling’er. Xu Mu bowed to them and then walked into the storeroom next door.

“Jesus! That was so awkward!”

Xu Mu sighed with a bitter smile.

Then he took out the magic books and continued to cultivate the Fire Skills.

Unexpectedly, not long after he began his cultivation, vestiges of tinkling laughter carried over from the next room.

It wasn’t Ye Yingying or Lan Shijin.

Could it be Leng Yuening?

What a contrast?