Mountains and giant beasts, cabins in the woods

"Hahaha..." Liu Xingmo replied with an embarrassed laugh, "No rush, let's talk about it after I advance to the second tier. The little kid is a four-legged money-devouring beast, I'm already struggling to support myself right now."

"Look at what you're saying!" Aunt Si's face hardened. "How much food can a child eat? You and your wife earn so much money all year round, I think it's enough to support a dozen or so children. Why don't you hurry up and have more children!"

That's just how old-fashioned people think.

Having children is for labor, not much different from raising livestock. As long as you have enough children, you don't have to worry about a few dying unexpectedly. Maybe you'll be lucky and give birth to a genius, then the whole family will be blessed. Even if a child's talent is hindered, it doesn't matter, as long as they grow up normally, they will be qualified as laborers.

It is said that this was the thought of the ancestor of Black Dragon Village, the Mountain Goddess.

Almost everyone in the village is her descendant, except for outsiders like Su Mali.

Liu Xingmo has always disdained traditional ideas.

He thought of his parents in this life. One was a man who traveled all over the country, and the other was a simple country woman. They passed away before they could raise their hard-won only son.

He then recalled the middle-aged man he had seen a few days ago and asked, "Fourth Aunt, were there any spirit stones among my parents' belongings?"

"Well! It seems like that's true, but, how should I put it..." Aunt Si's face showed an embarrassed expression, but finally she made up her mind and said, "Your uncle took that thing, not because he coveted it, but because the yamen urgently needed it! When it comes to matters at the yamen, saving someone's life is like saving a life..."

"Look at what you're saying. Do you think I don't know how good you are to me, Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt? I was just asking casually." Liu Xingmo smiled sincerely. "Then I'll go to work first and come back to move the grain later."

Fourth Aunt quickly said, "Don't worry, Xiao Mo, I'll talk to your uncle about this later and see if we can get that half of the spirit stone back!"

"Hehe, no need to force it."

……

Liu Xingmo buried various foods under the pear tree with snow.

The outdoors in winter acts as a natural cold storage, preserving food for a long time. In contrast, the warm Yinqianshan mine pit makes food more prone to mold and spoilage.

Liu Xingmo returned to his own peach orchard, loaded the remaining useful furniture onto the truck, and also brought more than a dozen barrels of wine.

This move has basically taken care of getting everything sorted. The next three months will likely involve spending most of the time in the mine.

Liu Xingmo drove back to his dimly lit new home.

He took half a dried persimmon and a cricket and went to the woodshed.

Four insects awoke from hibernation, but were still reluctant to move, lazily nestling in the firewood.

"Big Black, Second Black, Third Black!"

Liu Xingmo tore the dried persimmons into clumps and threw them out one by one, and three rhinoceros beetles pounced on them to eat.

"Blue-black, this is yours!"

Liu Xingmo threw out the thawed cricket, and the old scorpion nimbly caught it, stuffed it into its mouth, and chewed it.

"Great! Now that you're full, come for a walk with me! Eat more and grow faster so you'll have a chance to transform."

Liu Xingmo used his soul imprint to command four insects to walk along the mountain path in the mine.

The three rhinoceros beetles digested their food and quickly recovered, regaining their ability to fly and run.

Although the old scorpion still had explosive power, its endurance was failing. After running for only a short distance, it became weak all over and crawled unsteadily.

At this moment, Liu Xingmo would walk to Qinghei's side, reach out and stroke its smooth and warm back, transferring a faint trace of blood energy to it.

Qinghei looked like he'd been given a stimulant; his blood was surging through his veins, and his whole body was bursting with power.

With all eight legs moving in unison, it charged forward with a "swish, swish, swish" sound, and after running a long distance, it suddenly stopped, as if it had run out of fuel, and remained motionless.

Liu Xingmo gave it some time to recover before starting the next training session.

The training of contracted beasts is a gradual process like this.

Starting as a pure beast, one gradually becomes tainted by the strange energy of blood, transforming the physical body, strengthening the soul, and growing stronger from the inside out.

When the soul becomes powerful enough to control its blood energy independently and no longer needs the master's help, it will have officially transformed into an acquired mythical beast.

Unfortunately, insects lack a proper brain, possessing only a few ganglia that function instinctively. Their low intelligence makes metamorphosis difficult, which becomes the greatest hurdle in the first stage of bloodline cultivation.

There's no good way but to select the best insects and train them consistently.

Liu Xingmo also borrowed several books on scorpion breeding, and has skimmed through them in the past few days.

The above contains a suitable blood circulation route for scorpions. As long as you construct your energy channels according to this method, you can retain blood and energy in your body for a long time, increasing the chances of molting.

Heilongzhai has a history spanning thousands of years, a testament to the wisdom accumulated by generations of ancestors.

Liu Xingmo spent three days training his contracted beast.

Qinghei has made great progress. His aged body has absorbed a trace of blood and energy, and has regained some vitality. It seems he can live until next autumn.

I'll go to the newspaper office tomorrow and the day after, and after get off work I'll buy some good insecticide. If necessary, I can also get some of the rainbow coral.

Liu Xingmo walked home while planning various things.

At this time, the miners working in the mine also finished their heavy physical labor.

They emerged from the depths, shirtless, carrying shovels and hoes, their faces blackened with soot.

They chatted and laughed, and went to the canteen and restaurants in groups to sit down and eat.

The buildings inside the mine pit were built to serve this purpose. They not only include residential areas, but also provide a full range of dining and entertainment options.

Liu Xingmo saw Liu San Niang's figure in the largest restaurant.

The woman swayed her slender waist, captivating the group of dark-skinned miners.

The hall was packed with diners, and some people were even waiting in line at the door, peering inside.

Liu San Niang, how should I put it? To say she's a bad person isn't entirely true. To say she's a good person isn't entirely true either.

Liu Xingmo decided to keep his distance from this new neighbor.

He led four insects—one large and three small—up the steps and back to the stone house.

Sumali was busy in the hall, which was set up as a simple alchemy workshop, with bottles, jars, test tubes and crucibles piled up on a simple stone table.

Watching his wife conjure various flames, Liu Xingmo stepped forward and asked, "So, what's the deal? Any good ore?"

Sumali shook her head: "Not really. The iron ore content is already very low. Even if it's mined from dangerous mines and forged with great effort, the quality won't be satisfactory."

"Is it that serious? But Silver Coin Mountain has been dug up for thousands of years, so there really aren't many good things left in the shallow areas. What will we find on this trip?"

"I have everything. To craft alchemical artifacts, it's best to have a little of every metal element. Silver, in particular, is in high demand. Even if the content is low, it doesn't matter; I have ways to purify it."

"Oh, is it possible to find gold?"

"There's no trace of gold, but you can try looking for it."

"Okay, I'll go to the library to find the mining records of Silver Coin Mountain for reference."