Miss Nalan was about twenty-one or twenty-two years old, exceptionally delicate, and carried a unique temperament that was thoroughly enjoyable to behold.

"I don’t know him, he’s the Junior City Lord after all. He just wanted me to monitor you, and this is the reward he gave me, plus I’ll get ten silver coins as a monthly payment from now on!"

As Ye Luo spoke, he casually sat down on a nearby chair, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it in one gulp.

Nalan Rou furrowed her brows slightly. She had never come across such unconstrained servants like Ye Luo.

But then she thought, Ye Luo wasn’t really a servant of the Nalan Family, but rather her lifesaver, so Nalan Rou felt relieved.

"Oh, since it’s a favor from Bo Wu for you, what does it have to do with me?"

Nalan Rou smiled. She knew that since Ye Luo said it this way, it actually meant that he had no intention of helping Bo Wu.

"I just want you to check if I am being shortchanged. Supervising is tiresome after all. If he’s given too little, I need to be able to confront him!"

Nalan Rou couldn’t have imagined Ye Luo would respond like this.

Taken aback, Nalan Rou actually opened the Hundred Treasures Bag to take a casual look.

"Not bad, one thousand silver coins, a low-end personal intelligent system, and it even has your Nan Zhou City identity verified, which is what you need most right now!"

"Just this little? I even got a gold coin from that idiotic heir of the Lin Family, and he just gave one thousand silver coins, really? And what’s the use of this personal intelligent system?"

Ye Luo was slightly stunned; he hadn’t expected Bo Wu, even being a Junior City Lord, to be so stingy.

"Alright, be content. Although the personal intelligent system may not be much, what matters is that it has verified your identity, and that value is different. As for the silver coins? I don’t know if you have any idea about the prices, but let me tell you, one gold is quite a considerable amount for the heir of the Lin Family!"

With a smile on her lips, Nalan Rou said this and then threw the Hundred Treasures Bag back to Ye Luo. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Keep it safe. You have to understand, an ordinary person earns just a few hundred copper coins a month. One gold equals a thousand silver, and one silver equals a thousand copper. Just calculate how much you’ve gained!"

"How can it be so little? That’s unreasonable, how can an ordinary person only earn a few hundred copper coins a month?"

Ye Luo asked in confusion. Indeed, the disparity in prices was enormous, almost inconceivable.

"It’s not strange that you, as a non-cultivator, do not know this. Indeed, it’s a fact that ordinary people earn only a few hundred copper coins a month because in Great Tang, daily expenditures aren’t much. What costs the most are the resources needed for cultivation! For instance, even the lowest-level Cultivation Method costs hundreds of gold! For ordinary people, it’s something they might not be able to earn in a lifetime. Do you understand now?"

Ye Luo hesitated for a moment, but then grasped what Nalan Rou meant, which was clear enough in other words.

The entire Great Tang Empire, actually, served cultivators. Ordinary people had extremely limited resources; the only solace was that they didn’t have to worry about their daily needs. However, their chances of becoming Martial Artists were slim!

This was stark exploitation of class, but it was reality!

"Okay, I understand!"

Ye Luo nodded.

"By the way, I heard you’re preparing to participate in virtual combat, is that true?"

Suddenly, and for some unknown reason, Nalan Rou brought up this topic to Ye Luo.

"Yes, that’s true. Is there a problem?"

"There’s no problem, but I just don’t understand why you would participate in this kind of game that only children play?"

Ye Luo almost choked on his own breath, what did she mean by a game only children play?

Previously, Nalan Chen had told Ye Luo that there were only three ways to obtain Cultivation Methods, what else could Ye Luo hope for if not through virtual combat?

Besides, aren’t there strong fighters participating in virtual combat too? Why did it seem like child’s play in Nalan Rou’s eyes?

"I don’t think it’s something just for kids, virtual combat may not be as enlightening as actual fighting but it can certainly train one’s combat qualities. Most importantly, I need to learn the Cultivation Method, and that’s the only way I can think of to acquire it!"

"So be it, do as you wish. But remember, even if you can obtain cultivation methods through virtual combat, they are only of the lowest level. If you are truly serious, it would be better to save money and improve your knowledge at rural schools later!"

Fine, it seems there’s no common language with this young lady; she clearly doesn’t understand the hardships of the common people. Just now, she mentioned it herself, even the lowest-level Cultivation Method costs hundreds of gold coins!

Going to a rural school for further study, wouldn’t that burn even more money?

With Ye Luo’s current income of 500 copper coins a month, until when would he have to save?

Besides, does Ye Luo have that much time to wait?

Ye Luo didn’t want to deal with the young lady anymore, as he realized that they simply didn’t speak the same language.

Just as he was about to turn away, Ye Luo saw a stone on Nalan Rou’s desk – no, a Spirit Stone. Subconsciously activating the Clairvoyant Eye, Ye Luo saw something green inside the Spirit Stone?

What is this? Why is there something inside the Spirit Stone?

"What are you looking at?"

Suddenly, Nalan Rou’s voice came over. Ye Luo unconsciously looked towards Nalan Rou and that glance was terrible; he had forgotten to turn off the Clairvoyant Eye and ended up seeing Nalan Rou entirely!

After all, Nalan Rou was kind of his master now, if not a master, at least his boss, right?

But Ye Luo had seen her completely?

What kind of situation was this! Most importantly, it was an unintentional mistake from Ye Luo!

"Nothing, nothing at all!"

Ye Luo felt a bit embarrassed.

"Are you looking at that Spirit Mother Stone?"

Spirit Mother Stone?

Ye Luo was slightly startled; so the Spirit Stone had a name.

"Yes, but that stone is a bit special, there seems to be something inside."

"What?! You can see something inside the Spirit Mother Stone?"

Nalan Rou suddenly became a bit excited.

This made Ye Luo somewhat unable to react. Why was she so excited about it, especially since she was studying it? Did she not know?

"Quick, follow me. I bought this piece of Spirit Mother Stone for a lot of money, but I’ve been afraid to open it for fear of making a mistake. You must have a way to open it, right?"

Ye Luo was slightly taken aback, and after enquiring, he finally understood what this Spirit Mother Stone was!

Within the Spirit Stone lies the Spirit Mother, whose value is extremely high. It can be used for crafting Elixirs, Magical Treasures, among other things, even direct absorption is possible, but the Spirit Mother Stone is extremely difficult to distinguish!

On Earth, there is this thing called stone gambling, which is gambling on jade!

The Spirit Mother Stone here is akin to the stone gambling in the Martial Realm, though the methods involved are quite different.

Not to mention just ’opening’ the stone, it’s not something that can be done casually! The Spirit Mother is very special, once it’s not enveloped by the Spirit Stone, it will disappear instantly, so to open the stone, one must slowly remove the outer Spirit Stone while also ensuring that a thin layer of the stone skin remains to protect the Spirit Mother. This task is not simple since the Spirit Stone cannot be used directly, hence the thinner the membrane, the better, while also first determining where the Spirit Mother is within the Spirit Stone.

The Spirit Mother can move freely within the Spirit Stone, which means, any cut could potentially destroy the Spirit Mother, just like now with this Spirit Mother Stone Ye Luo is seeing, the green substance inside is constantly moving!

Opening the Spirit Mother Stone is not just about unlocking it, the most important part is to trap the Spirit Mother within the thin layer of the stone skin – and the thinner the layer, the better!

It could be said, many people simply can not handle this thing, yet with the Clairvoyant Eye, Ye Luo was destined to handle this thing as easily as if cheating!