When Nie Kong returned home, Hua Mei was once again engrossed in her work, the courtyard filled only with the sound of carving knives slicing against wood blocks. Besides the half-finished piece in her hands, four roughly shaped wooden figurines stood before her, all seemingly awaiting the final finishing touches to be completed simultaneously.

He stood silently at the courtyard gate, watching for a while before stepping in, calling out with a cheerful laugh, "Sister-in-law, I brought you something back."

"Ah?"

Brought me something? Hua Mei couldn't process the words immediately. She paused her carving, looked up, and stared blankly at Nie Kong. It wasn't until he approached that she snapped back to reality, attempting to rise and take the two cloth bags from him, asking with confusion, "Uncle, what did you buy?"

"Don't get up yet."

Nie Kong spoke as he reached into one of the bags, pulling out an exquisitely crafted jade hairpin, shimmering with an all-over emerald hue, and flashed it before her eyes. "Do you like it?"

"A jade hairpin?"

Hua Mei hadn't expected him to buy her a jade hairpin. Her pretty face instantly flushed crimson, and she waved her small hands repeatedly in refusal. "Uncle, I already have a hairpin."

Nie Kong laughed softly. "The wooden one you have has already broken once; it should have been thrown out long ago. You need a new one. Here, let me put it in for you."

As Nie Kong leaned in toward her, Hua Mei grew even more flustered. "No, no... Ah, Uncle, I'll do it myself, I..." Before she could finish speaking, Nie Kong had already unceremoniously plucked the wooden pin from her elaborate hair and replaced it with the jade hairpin, which shone with a brilliant, verdant light.

Nie Kong stepped back a few paces and studied Hua Mei, soon nodding with satisfaction. "It looks wonderful. I was worried the jade wouldn't suit you, but now I see my concerns were entirely needless."

Across from him, Hua Mei jumped up as if startled by a deer, her cheeks flushed a deep, rich red, her hands unsure where to rest in her embarrassment.

Nie Kong was long accustomed to Hua Mei's shyness. With a faint smile, he placed both cloth bags into her lap. One bag was filled entirely with clothes, and the other held sundry items like wooden combs.

Relying on his memories and what he had learned in the past few days, Nie Kong realized that in the last three years, Hua Mei had barely bought anything for herself. Her clothes were all from when she first married into the family; the wooden hairpin, once broken, had been mended and reused; and she hadn't the heart to replace the combs, even though most of their fine teeth were missing.

Since Nie Kong was already out, he took the opportunity while strolling through the city center to purchase things for Hua Mei, not stopping until every gold coin he carried was spent. This was only possible because the jade on the Tianling Continent wasn't as expensive as it was on Earth; otherwise, those few gold coins wouldn't have even afforded the hairpin.

Nie Kong said softly, "Sister-in-law, I no longer need medicine for my illness now. You cannot be so hard on yourself in the future like you were before."

"Mm."

Hua Mei stole a glance into the cloth bag and saw that it even contained undergarments. Her cheeks burned scarlet, hot as fire, and her delicate head bowed lower and lower, her chin nearly touching the proud swell of her bosom. Only one thought echoed relentlessly in her mind: How could Uncle buy me these things?

"Sister-in-law, I'm going to cultivate now. Don't wait for me for lunch; I already ate outside."

"Mm."

Hua Mei responded, her voice a mere insect’s drone, automatically agreeing, not even noticing when Nie Kong had left.

Who knew how long it was before Hua Mei’s chaotic thoughts finally settled. She opened the two bags one by one to look inside, then reached up to touch the jade hairpin on her head. A strange blend of sweetness and sorrow filled her heart, and before she knew it, two misty clouds began to gather in her eyes...

—————————————————————————————————————————————— Southeast of the practice grounds.

"Thwack!"

Standing before the spinning top, Nie Kong engaged every part of his body. His feet crossed rapidly—forward, backward, left, and right—while his arms darted out, tapping the iron rod at the top's center, then immediately retracting. The sharp, rhythmic collisions drifted away on the wind.

Ever since witnessing Mu Hongling’s demonstration the day before yesterday, he had been drilling relentlessly against the top. Overall, Nie Kong's progress was decent; he only got snagged by the iron bars about once every dozen attempts. Of course, this was still far from Mu Hongling's level of being "spring-loaded" in his movements.

One cannot become a fat man in one gulp. Nie Kong was reasonably satisfied; at the very least, his speed and physical reflexes had improved by nearly a whole tier since two days prior.

"Thwack! Thwack! Thwack..."

"Snap!"

Half his right palm was caught. Nie Kong slammed his left palm onto the top's apex, pulled out his right hand, shook it a few times to loosen it, and continued his movements, the crisp sounds echoing one after another.

Only when he was drenched in sweat from his training did Nie Kong stop.

"Ah... Yaya..."

In the Yaochi Acupoint, Xiangxiang gave a weak cry. Nie Kong frowned slightly. Half a day had passed, and the little creature seemed weaker again.

Yesterday, Xiangxiang had no medicinal energy to absorb. Nie Kong had been hoping that when the little thing got truly starved, it would take an interest in the mass of dark-green blood within the Yaochi Acupoint. If it could absorb that dark-green blood as it did when it first acknowledged him as master, it might help Nie Kong dispel a hidden worry.

Regrettably, the little thing hadn't absorbed a single drop of the blood.

Nie Kong was deeply puzzled by this. He knew that the creature had successfully pledged allegiance only after absorbing the dark-green blood. Nie Kong was certain that besides that hidden, strange power, the dark-green blood must contain something that held a strong attraction for the Purple Illusionary Spirit Incense. Otherwise, after Nie Kong forcibly moved the little thing to another acupoint the night before last, it wouldn't have desperately scrambled back to the Yaochi Acupoint.

However, even through the spiritual connection he shared with Xiangxiang, Nie Kong couldn't quite discern exactly what that substance was now.

"It's been over half the day; the Spirit Treasure Pavilion has likely given up searching. It’s time to go buy the medicinal herbs. If I wait any longer, the little one will truly run into trouble."

With that thought, Nie Kong strode out of the spinning top area.

"You little idle things, gather over here! There's a mission!" A sudden, loud roar echoed across the entire practice field.

The speaker was a stout, mountain-like fat man. After a brief pause, he bellowed again, "This mission is very simple: find a person within Jiyang City."

A mission? Find someone?

The young men and women on the practice grounds, who had been resting, chatting, or wandering aimlessly, all had their eyes light up. These youngsters endured tedious training daily and had long yearned for something to break the monotony. Hearing of a simple, non-dangerous task, they instantly became excited.

Find someone!

Upon hearing those two words, Nie Kong, who had been about to leave, felt a stir in his heart and quickly walked toward the burly man in the center of the field. By the time he arrived, hundreds of people had already gathered around the stout man, the majority being under twenty, and there were even some children as young as eight or nine.

The fat man grinned and held up a portrait. "The person you're looking for is this fellow: twenties, medium height, sallow and thin, hoarse voice, with a local Jiyang accent..."

This search mission was for me?! Damn it all to the deepest pits, is the Spirit Treasure Pavilion ever going to stop?! Hearing the fat man's description, Nie Kong cursed inwardly, yet felt a strange mix of amusement and exasperation. He hadn't expected that the search would eventually implicate the Nie family itself.

At that moment, a chaotic chorus of voices erupted: "Uncle Qing Tong, what is this person for? Is he a Spirit Master too? What's his cultivation level?"

"Yeah, yeah, is there a reward for finding him?"

"..."

"Quiet! Quiet!"

Nie Qing Tong roared, the fat on his face trembling. "There's no penalty if you don't find him, and no reward if you do. Remember, if you spot him, do not act rashly; immediately relay the message back. Oh, right, reliable intelligence suggests this person holds a Spirit Card storing sixteen thousand pure gold coins. Therefore, everyone must pay special attention to shops in Jiyang City that can exchange for gold coins or accept direct Spirit Card payments."

"Do you all remember?"

"We remember!"

"Good, move out!"

Nie Qing Tong swept his palm, broad as a cattail fan, and the hundreds of people cheered as they rushed out of the practice grounds. Watching the disorderly scene, Nie Qing Tong shook his head with a smile and quickly followed them. Once they were gone, the training field became deserted, with only a few cultivation maniacs remaining unmoved in the surroundings.

Nie Kong stood frozen, feeling intensely stifled, cursing the entire lineage of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion up and down several times in his mind: Focus on shops that exchange gold or accept Spirit Card payments. If I go to buy medicine, won't I be walking right into their trap? Spirit Treasure Pavilion, you are truly insidious! It’s a good thing I am a member of the Nie family, or I might have suffered a huge blow this time.

That Spirit Card was now unusable. He would have to find time to buy a transfer device and a new Spirit Card to move the gold coins out before he could use it. However, those two items combined would cost over a hundred gold coins, which he couldn't easily acquire right now... What a hassle. If he couldn't buy medicine, how could he provide energy for the little one? Nie Kong frowned, pacing back and forth repeatedly. After a long while, Nie Kong's eyes suddenly lit up. Today was the first day of the tenth month—how could he have forgotten such an important date!

△△△ P: Third update done... Regarding Hua Mei, there will be a small explanation later. She is a very important character, and in the future, she won't just be a decorative vase hindering progress. Uh, several plot points have already been laid out in Volume One; perhaps some meticulous readers have already noticed ^^....