"Brother Mu, Brother Mu!"

Just as he reached his front door, he saw Xu Yuan running over excitedly.

"Brother Mu, have you finalized the formula?"

Chu Mu laughed. "Why do I get the feeling you’re more anxious about this than I am?"

Xu Yuan gave a sheepish grin. "Well, I’ve been helping with the experiments every day. Of course I want to see the results!"

"It’s finalized."

Chu Mu stopped teasing him and nodded, handing the prescription to Xu Yuan. "I’ve given the formula a new name: Dragon and Snake Soup!"

"You’ve experienced its effects before, so I won’t elaborate."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh..."

Xu Yuan nodded vigorously. Even though he couldn’t understand the details of the formula, he stared at it with a face full of excitement.

Finally, Chu Mu couldn’t stand it anymore and broke through Xu Yuan’s inexplicable excitement. "Alright, hurry up and make a copy. I still need this one."

"Okay, okay..."

Xu Yuan rushed into the room. After copying it down, he eagerly left with the formula, his destination clearly Mingxin Hall.

Chu Mu shook his head with a smile. He glanced down at the formula in his hand, pondered for a moment, and then headed out as well.

He walked over two hundred meters down the town’s main street toward the mine, then ducked into an adjacent alley. After a series of twists and turns, Chu Mu finally stopped before a grand residence.

Compared to Chu Mu’s own small courtyard... no, there was simply no comparison. The entrance gate alone of the residence before him was in no way inferior to that of Chang the Scholar’s mansion.

Judging by the residence, its owner’s status was clearly anything but low.

And that was indeed the case. Wu Shuo, his direct superior—formerly a Squad Leader of the Nanshan Inspection Office and now its Hundred Households—held a prominent position not just in Nanshan Town, but throughout all of Qinghe County.

Chu Mu was something of a regular at Wu Shuo’s home. After he knocked, a servant immediately answered the door and welcomed him inside.

He was led directly to a seat in the main hall used for receiving guests, and tea and snacks were promptly placed before him.

"Look what the cat dragged in. What brings you here today, kid?"

A moment later, Wu Shuo’s voice arrived before he did.

Then, Wu Shuo walked in, holding a fair and chubby little child.

"Come, say hello to your uncle. Call him Uncle Chu!"

Wu Shuo put the little boy down and pointed at Chu Mu.

"Uncle Chu."

The little boy was well-behaved, looking obediently at Chu Mu and mumbling an unclear greeting.

"Wu Heng must be almost two, right?"

Chu Mu asked casually, chuckling as he teased the little boy.

Wu Shuo laughed heartily. "Hahaha, the little rascal grows up fast. He’s two in the blink of an eye!"

Chu Mu took the opportunity to praise the boy. Everyone at the Nanshan Inspection Office knew that their Hundred Households had long been childless.

It wasn’t until he took a concubine in recent years that his wish was finally fulfilled. Having a son in his old age, this little boy was the apple of his eye, his precious treasure.

Flattering the Hundred Households himself was pointless, but praising his precious son was always the right move.

"So, what brings you to my home today? Don’t you usually have your hands full?"

"I heard you’ve been so obsessed with studying medicine you’ve practically gone mad..."

"That’s just nonsense. In fact, I’ve made some progress, which is why I’ve come to you, Hundred Households!"

As he spoke, Chu Mu took the Dragon and Snake Soup formula from his robes and presented it to Wu Shuo. "I’ve developed a formula. Its effects are about three times stronger than Essence Qi Powder."

"And unlike Essence Qi Powder, there’s no monthly limit. If you have the money, you could take it like a meal."

"But the human body has its limits, so taking it once a day is best. Otherwise, you risk overloading a body too weak to handle it, and you could easily develop a tolerance..."

As Chu Mu spoke methodically, the smile on Wu Shuo’s face gradually faded.

BAM!

Wu Shuo practically slapped the table as he snatched the formula into his hand.

After studying it for a moment, Wu Shuo looked up at Chu Mu. The smile was completely gone from his face, replaced by a deep solemness.

After a long pause, Wu Shuo finally asked, "Are its effects really that good?"

"More or less."

Chu Mu nodded, his tone more confident than ever before.

"You kid..."

Wu Shuo shook his head, his serious expression dissolving. He held up the formula Chu Mu had given him. "Kid, do you have any idea how precious this formula is?"

"If you let word of this out, I can’t even imagine how many Martial Artists, even just within our Qinghe County Inspection Department, would come flocking to you, waving banknotes in your face!"

"They’d give you money, they’d give you power!"

"If you have what they want, I doubt anyone would hesitate!"

"And you’re just giving something this valuable to me so easily?"

Chu Mu’s mind raced, but his expression remained unchanged. He shook his head with a smile. "If you hadn’t guided me onto the path of Qi and Blood Cultivation, Hundred Households, I’m afraid I would have never found my way."

"A mere formula is nothing in comparison!"

These weren’t just polite words; Chu Mu meant them sincerely.

In the months since he’d arrived in this world, he had met quite a few people and made many superficial friends, but there were only three he truly cared about.

One was Xu Yuan, who followed his lead almost without question. He, of course, went without saying.

Of the other two, one was Elder Li of Mingxin Hall. Although their relationship was based on a monetary transaction, it had long since surpassed a simple exchange of value. The debt one owes a teacher can never be forgotten.

The other, naturally, was the man before him, Wu Shuo. Regardless of Wu Shuo’s motives or his character, he had treated Chu Mu exceptionally well.

He had led him onto the path of Martial Arts Cultivation; this too was the debt one owes a guide.

Besides, if not for Wu Shuo’s protection these past few months, his life wearing the skin of an Inspector would not have been so comfortable.

In comparison, while the formula was precious, it was not that significant.

"Hahaha, you kid..."

Wu Shuo laughed loudly. "Alright, if that’s the case, then it would be impolite of me to refuse."

"But you need to be careful. The path of Qi and Blood Cultivation is difficult, and countless Martial Artists have wasted their lives on it. With a skill like this, you should hide your talents appropriately to prevent others from harboring malicious intentions."

Chu Mu nodded. This had indeed somewhat exceeded his expectations.

Or rather, he hadn’t considered this point at all.

Especially as his understanding of the Cultivation Immortal Realm deepened, he had developed a detached view of everything in the mortal world—be it money, power, or even Qi and Blood Cultivation.

It was only natural that he had overlooked this.

Then, Chu Mu brought up the second reason for his visit. "By the way, Hundred Households, what’s the situation at the mine right now?"

"The mine..."

Wu Shuo shook his head. "Same as always. That damned ghost mine is just a pit we keep piling bodies into."

"If you go into that mine shaft, surviving for even three to five days means you’ve been blessed by your ancestors."

"Basically, dozens of people die in there every day!"

"Still, it’s better now. Before, we didn’t understand the situation, and many of our brothers lost their lives because of it. Fortunately, we’ve slowly started to figure things out..."

...