29: Chapter 29 The world has been rather unstable lately

The cold, distant air that usually kept people at a distance had completely vanished, and she was incredibly soft.

Jiang Xuan watched for a few breaths, reached out, pulled her into his arms, and held her tightly.

Su Yue furrowed her brows in her sleep and hummed indistinctly.

Then, subconsciously, she snuggled further into his embrace, burying her face against his chest.

There was the cold scent of plum blossoms at the tip of his nose, which, after being warmed by body heat, had gained a soft sweetness.

Jiang Xuan closed his eyes, thinking that he wouldn't get up early to Cultivate today, and would doze for a while longer.

That doze lasted until the sun was high in the sky.

When he opened his eyes again, sunlight was already streaming in through the center of the window paper, illuminating the entire room.

Su Yue was no longer in his arms.

He propped himself up and looked; Su Yue was standing by the clothes rack at the foot of the bed, just having finished getting dressed.

Her white brocade robe was neatly fastened, her hair bun was redone, and she had returned to her usual heroic and cold appearance.

Only the small patch of skin between her nape and collar was still tinged with a faint pink that hadn't completely faded.

Jiang Xuan got out of bed, walked behind her, and while she was tying her sash, he clamped one hand around her waist and lowered his head to peck her lips heavily.

Su Yue's fingers paused on the sash at her waist, and she stiffened for a moment.

Then, she glared at him with her Phoenix eyes, her cheeks quickly burning up.

"It's early in the morning..."

Her tone sounded like a reproach, but her gaze lingered on his face for two breaths before she shifted it away herself, pressed her lips together, and said nothing more.

Jiang Xuan chuckled, released his hold, and went to put on his own outer robe.

The two of them walked one after the other to the front hall of the shop.

Jiang Xuan walked straight to the wooden shelf behind the counter and took down two small bottles.

One was cyan, the other emerald green; he placed them on the counter and pushed them toward Su Yue.

"One qi-boosting pill, one rejuvenation pill."

Su Yue's gaze fell upon the two bottles, but she did not reach out to take them immediately.

The qi-boosting pill was agreed upon last night, but the rejuvenation pill...

She glanced at Jiang Xuan.

Having recuperated in the shop these past few days, her injuries had healed by seventy or eighty percent, but a trace of hidden trouble remained in her body.

If she didn't use a rejuvenation pill to clear it out, it would always be a hidden danger when she Cultivate in the future.

However, she didn't have a single Spirit Stone, and to accept another Medicinal Pill for free made her feel uneasy.

Su Yue reached out to pick up the two bottles and tucked them into her sleeve, her voice very soft: "Thank you... I will treat this as a loan."

"I will repay you in the future."

Jiang Xuan waved his hand: "Don't talk about that; treat it as payment for helping me work."

"Help me watch the shop for a while; I'm going out for a stroll."

Su Yue was slightly stunned, her gaze subconsciously sweeping over the street outside the door.

It was only a fleeting glance, but Jiang Xuan had already understood.

He produced a palm-sized bronze token and handed it over: "This is the token to control the shop's defensive Formation."

"If someone comes looking for trouble, you only need to retreat into the Backyard, hold the token, and urge your Spiritual Qi to activate it."

"Once the Formation is fully activated, even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator would need an hour to force their way in."

"Once the commotion is large enough, the town patrol guard will naturally arrive."

Su Yue took the bronze token, flipped it over, and her brows relaxed slightly.

Jiang Xuan then took out another small jade token, made of white jade, with dense, tiny characters carved onto it.

"This contains the price list for all the goods in the shop."

"When customers come, just collect payment according to the prices on it."

Su Yue took the jade token, probed it with her Divine Sense, and the information inside immediately floated out clearly.

She put both tokens away, walked to the rattan chair behind the counter, and sat down quietly.

From this position to the curtain of the Backyard, it was only five or six steps away.

If something were to happen, she could retreat inside in half a breath.

Jiang Xuan seeing that she was settled, stretched his back long and lazily: "Then I'm off; if anything happens, crush the bamboo slip to contact me."

After saying this, he stepped out of the shop door.

He was not at all worried that Su Yue would steal while in charge.

If you employ someone, do not doubt them; if you doubt them, do not employ them.

Moreover, for a person with Su Yue's character, even if you threw all the keys to the entire shop to her, she wouldn't take an extra Spirit Stone.

...

Walking on the streets of Tingfeng Town, the morning atmosphere of daily life was thick.

A vendor selling steamed cakes placed a bamboo tray at the doorway, with golden, crispy cakes stacked into a small mountain, the aroma drilling straight into people's noses.

An old man selling sugar figurines was spinning sugar syrup, surrounded by a circle of children watching the excitement, chirping and chattering non-stop.

Cultivators and Mortals were mixed in the flow of people, and it was hard to tell who was who.

There were Loose Cultivators with long swords at their waists and steady gaits, and also Mortal peddlers carrying poles and hurrying along with hunched backs.

Occasionally, one could see a few Sect Disciples wearing uniform robes walking by in groups of three or five, eyes straight ahead, looking particularly conspicuous among the Mortals.

Jiang Xuan walked and stopped, and whenever he met a Loose Cultivator he found agreeable or who looked kind-faced, he would produce a bamboo slip and hand it over.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist. I opened a small general store in the west of the town; feel free to stop by when you have time."

"Sir, this is my shop's business card. If you need any immortal items, you can come find me; the prices are fair."

Whether this action would bring in customers was another matter, but spreading the reputation first was never wrong.

After strolling for half a street, Jiang Xuan stopped in front of a grocery store with gray walls and green tiles.

The shop was not big, the storefront was simple, and a faded wooden plaque bore the four characters "Ye's Grocery".

A lazy tabby cat was crouching on the steps at the entrance; seeing him approach, it twitched its ears and then lay back down.

Jiang Xuan stepped inside.

The display in the shop was simple, with various groceries placed on several rows of wooden shelves.

There were everyday Mortal items like oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, needles, and thread, as well as some low-grade talisman paper and crudely refined Spirit Ink that Cultivators would occasionally buy.

There were all sorts of odds and ends, with varying quality, typical of a grocery store style.

A middle-aged man wearing a gray short jacket came up from behind the counter to greet him.

He was not tall, but his build was lean and sturdy, and his eyes were bright and spirited, revealing a shrewdness honed from years of doing business.

"Welcome, Immortal Master, to my humble shop! This Junior is Shopkeeper Ye Zide."

His face carried a bit of warmth, and also a bit of honesty:

"The world situation hasn't been very stable lately, many supply channels have been cut off, and many things are out of stock."

"But please, Immortal Master, take a look around; perhaps there is something that catches your eye."

Jiang Xuan nodded, his gaze slowly sweeping over the rows of wooden shelves.

He skipped the oil and salt, skipped the needles and thread, and skipped the inferior talisman paper.

When his gaze swept to the innermost row of shelves, it suddenly paused.

On the shelf, two items were placed side by side.

One was a jade-white treasure box, the lid slightly ajar, containing a handful of dark green soil.

The soil was fine and moist, its color rich and shiny, with a faint, extremely subtle Spiritual Qi overflowing from the gap in the box.

The other was a piece of wood about two feet long, dark brown all over, with fine grain.

In a corner where sunlight couldn't reach, its surface was actually emitting a faint, ethereal glow.

Jiang Xuan walked two steps closer and examined it carefully.

The identification information floated out almost simultaneously.

spirit garden soil, second-grade spirit item.

Soil of fallen pistils, born from accompanying Spiritual Plant vegetation for a thousand years, with a clear and cold luster and thick Spiritual Qi.

It can be used to build a Spirit Garden and plant Spiritual Plant and Spirit Medicine.

High-quality spirit garden soil can significantly increase the growth speed and medicinal purity of Spiritual Plant.