Burial Furnace

"We don't make any money at all, just barely enough to make ends meet," Hua Jinhuan said calmly. "It's all business, fair competition. There's no such thing as swallowing your pride; otherwise, what's the point of justice?"

The male cultivator thought for a moment and nodded: "You're right."

The two said no more and went to the cremation hall.

The male cultivator took two corpses out of his storage bag and threw them into the furnace to burn.

A surge of primal energy rushed in, passing through the walls and ignoring the distance, directly entering Zhang Yuan's body, further enhancing his lifespan and talent.

Zhang Yuan, who was cultivating, had a sudden thought.

A customer has come in?

Can I also obtain the power of origin in the small building?

"Four mid-grade spirit stones," Hua Jinhuan said calmly.

Although the body was in a body bag, the moment the body entered the furnace and the body bag broke, her divine sense detected the body's cultivation level before death—early Foundation Establishment stage.

Without any haggling, the cultivator obediently took out four mid-grade spirit stones from his pocket, placed them on the table next to the stove, and turned to leave.

Hua Jinhuan is in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, which is quite impressive.

After a while, another order came in.

It was a masked male cultivator who delivered two Foundation Establishment corpses.

He was equally decisive, throwing the food into the furnace, paying four mid-grade spirit stones, and then turning and leaving.

Night was falling.

Mu Qingqing also arrived at the entrance of the crematorium.

She stood at the doorway, staring in disbelief at everything before her.

What happened to that dilapidated crematorium?

The low lintel, the mottled walls, the crooked signboard, the courtyard covered with fallen leaves... all are gone.

Instead, a magnificent new building has been erected.

The lintel is tall, the walls are snow-white, the signboard is brand new, and the font is bold and imposing.

The front of the gate is paved with smooth bluestone slabs, and osmanthus trees and colorful flowers are planted on both sides. Smooth stone benches are placed under the trees.

The air was filled with a faint floral fragrance, which was refreshing and delightful.

There's even a mansion with a yard right next to it!

The courtyard walls were covered with vines and tiny flowers, which looked especially serene under the moonlight.

How many spirit stones would it take to build this?

Is the old man's business really that good?

No wonder the old man was so generous; he could get away with not using spirit stones by giving up his first kiss.

Last time, the old man saved her life with invisibility and concealment talismans, which cost him quite a bit.

It seems the old man really doesn't lack spirit stones.

She was secretly delighted!

But when she pushed open the door and saw that the person sitting behind the counter was not the familiar old man, but a woman wearing a veil, she felt as if the sky had fallen.

Although the woman wore a veil, obscuring her face, she had a slender figure and an extraordinary air about her.

Most importantly, the aura emanating from her was clearly that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!

The aura was almost tangible; although it was well concealed, Mu Qingqing could still faintly feel the oppressive presence.

Could it be... that this woman killed the old man and seized his crematorium?

Mu Qingqing clenched her fists involuntarily, her nails almost digging into her palms.

Her eyes immediately reddened, and a sour feeling welled up in her nose.

Her chest felt like it was blocked by something, making her feel suffocated.

But she didn't dare to make a move.

The other party was at the late Foundation Establishment stage, while she was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining; the gap was too large.

Taking action rashly will only result in needless death.

She bit her lip, forcing herself to calm down.

"Fellow Daoist, are you disposing of the corpse?" Hua Jinhuan asked calmly.

"Um...yes." Mu Qingqing nodded, trying to make her voice sound calm. "By the way, wasn't the owner here an old man before?"

She asked casually, but her heart was pounding uncontrollably, as if it were about to jump out of her chest.

"He's busy tonight, so he asked me to watch the shop for him for a while," Hua Jinhuan explained.

"Thankfully, the old man is still alive."

Mu Qingqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief, her heart finally at ease.

The tension in my shoulders eased, and the soreness in my eyes subsided, replaced by a joy of something lost and found again.

She followed Hua Jinhuan to the cremation hall and cremated two corpses in the Qi Refining stage.

Then, reluctantly, she took out four low-grade spirit stones from her bosom and placed them on the table.

If the old man were here, we wouldn't have to pay for the spirit stones.

These are spirit stones that I finally obtained after a lot of hard work.

She immediately took her leave and disappeared into the night.

Zhang Yuan and Qi Jiaojiao did not stop cultivating until noon the next day.

After a day and a night of dual cultivation, Qi Jiaojiao's true essence was incredibly pure, like a mountain spring that had been repeatedly filtered, clear and transparent, without a trace of impurity.

There's no need to continue.

Moreover, this kind of cultivation consumes too many spirit stones.

The speed is five times that of before, and the energy consumption is naturally five times that of before as well.

This time, Zhang Yuan consumed one hundred mid-grade spirit stones during his cultivation.

If you use high-grade spirit stones for cultivation, the consumption will be less; a few dozen stones will be enough.

The effect will definitely be many times better, and you might even be able to advance directly to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

But top-grade spirit stones are too precious and too rare.

There aren't many Golden Core cultivators.

Since opening the shop, Zhang Yuan has earned six high-grade spirit stones, plus ten more from the Shadowless Ring.

Even the Golden Core female cultivator with the butterfly mask wanted to stay overnight to save those two high-grade spirit stones.

Therefore, being able to cultivate with mid-grade spirit stones is already quite extravagant.

"Old man, are you very rich? How can you make so much money running a shop?" Qi Jiaojiao was a little envious and jealous.

She personally witnessed Zhang Yuan consume one hundred mid-grade spirit stones.

The spirit stones piled together glittered, making her eyes widen in amazement.

Her mid-grade spirit stones had long been used up, and she could only use low-grade spirit stones to cultivate.

The spiritual energy of low-grade spirit stones is impure and mixed, making absorption and conversion very slow, resulting in a far inferior effect.

"It's not all from running the shop." Zhang Yuan shook his head, his brows furrowing slightly. "Besides, I'm almost out of my mid-grade spirit stones."

Cultivation resources have always been a limitation to my ability to become stronger quickly.

He wanted to grow up faster so he could settle accounts with Lin Qingxue.

"Want me to keep you company one more time?" Qi Jiaojiao blinked, and without waiting for Zhang Yuan's answer, she pulled him into the room.

They didn't come out until an hour later.

Qi Jiaojiao straightened her clothes, her cheeks still retaining the afterglow of spring.

She said coquettishly, "I'll go in place of my senior sister, and you can help her purify her true essence as well."

After saying that, she went to the rest room at the crematorium.

"It's your turn, Senior Sister, hurry up," Qi Jiaojiao said to Hua Jinhuan, then mischievously added, "Don't you dare tempt the old man!"

"You want to have him all to yourself?" Hua Jinhuan said coquettishly, rolling her eyes at her.

Soon, she appeared on the second floor and handed over all the spirit stones she had earned the night before to Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan accepted the spirit stone, nodded, and then led her to the cultivation chamber.