Mu Wanwan ran a finger around the brim of her veiled hat, her eyes shining.
The dwarves looked slightly different from how they were described in some novels. Their average height was around 1.2 to 1.3 metres, but they were not all green-skinned, muscular, and ugly.
Among a row of male dwarves, Mu Wanwan even spotted a dwarf girl who could be described as extremely adorable. Her skin was somewhat rough, but her face was far from unattractive. Her cultivation also seemed quite high—Mu Wanwan could not determine her rank at all.
The entrance fee for the marketplace jointly operated by the humans and dwarves was indeed much more expensive than the one run by the elves.
At the elven marketplace, a first-rank cultivator had only needed to pay two silver coins to enter. Even after she advanced to the second rank, the fee had merely doubled to four silver coins.
But here in the human marketplace, first-rank cultivators had to pay three silver coins, second-rank cultivators six, and the fee for a third-rank cultivator shot straight up to one low-grade spirit stone.
Mu Wanwan felt a little awkward. She had used her final spare spirit stone to bribe Hongye that morning.
Slightly embarrassed, she asked, “Can I pay with silver coins instead?”
The person receiving her was a relatively young human female cultivator. She raised an eyebrow upon hearing this but maintained her composure.
“You can. Also, are you planning to set up a stall inside? There will be an additional charge depending on the goods you’re selling.”
Mu Wanwan moved the basket from her back and placed it in front of her.
“They’re only some ordinary vegetables and first-rank spiritual plants.”
The female cultivator swept her gaze over the basket, and her expression visibly cooled.
“The entrance fee is fifteen silver coins. You’ll also need to pay one silver coin as a stall fee for the things in your basket.”
“Fifteen?” Mu Wanwan was a little unhappy.
Although spirit stones could indeed be exchanged for ordinary currency at a certain rate, one low-grade spirit stone could generally only be exchanged for eleven silver coins—twelve at most.
The price this woman was demanding was clearly an attempt to rip her off.
Or rather, to deliberately make things difficult for her.
“Fifteen,” the female cultivator repeated, rolling her eyes impatiently.
“According to the exchange rate, you should only be charging me thirteen silver coins.” Mu Wanwan suppressed her irritation and tried to reason with her.
“Oh.” The woman merely raised an eyebrow. “If you’re unwilling to pay, then stop standing here. There are plenty of people waiting behind you.”
After hearing this, Mu Wanwan understood that the female cultivator genuinely disliked her for some reason.
She was angry, but she had no choice. She needed to meet Uncle Zong, so she did not continue arguing. Instead, she counted out fifteen silver coins and handed them over.
“Hah.”
The female cultivator accepted the money and waved for the people behind her to let Mu Wanwan through.
Just as Mu Wanwan was walking away, she heard the woman’s mocking voice behind her.
“A third-rank cultivator dressed so unfashionably, and she’s even selling vegetables? She’s probably some useless rogue cultivator.”
Mu Wanwan tightened her grip around the wooden token she had just received, a chill rising at the corners of her lips.
It was true that she was a rogue cultivator, but she had not expected these human cultivators to judge her entirely by her appearance.
Wasn’t that going too far?
Mu Wanwan pinched her sleeve, her mood considerably worsened. Following the streets and the information Uncle Zong had left her, she began searching for the shop he had opened with his friend.
The marketplace jointly run by the humans and dwarves was much livelier than the elven marketplace. There were also many more weapon shops, most of which were owned by dwarves.
After passing several of them, Mu Wanwan realised that the shops were divided into different levels.
Some of the dwarves dressed as blacksmiths specialised in doing business with ordinary mortals. Other shops were larger, with flying swords and similar items displayed inside, clearly catering to cultivators.
Mu Wanwan walked for a while and turned down several streets before finally locating the shop Uncle Zong had opened with his friend.
It was not as remote as their shop in the elven marketplace, but the location was still not particularly good, and there were not many people passing by.
When she arrived, Uncle Zong happened to be standing outside the shop. The moment he saw her, his eyes lit up, and he greeted her.
“Lass, you’re here.”
The two entered the shop. Uncle Zong immediately activated a mechanism and led her into a courtyard behind the building.
Aunt Yun and another female beastkin were sitting on stools. Beside them stood a beastman whose build was nearly as sturdy as Uncle Zong’s.
“This is my brother-in-arms. You can call him Uncle Chen,” Uncle Zong introduced with a smile. “And this is the talented lass I’ve been telling you about.”
Mu Wanwan smiled at the beastman and called him Uncle Chen.
Seeing that he did not know how to address her, she thought of the dragon and the little chirp waiting at home to be fed. Her heart stirred.
“You can just call me Xiao Qian.”
Even Uncle Zong looked slightly surprised.
“Xiao Qian?”
Mu Wanwan pressed her lips together and smiled. “Mm. And this is?”
The female beastkin sitting beside Aunt Yun gave her a friendly smile.
“You can call me Aunt Hua.”
“Aunt Hua.”
After exchanging some simple pleasantries, Mu Wanwan did not waste any time. Under the expectant yet hesitant gazes of Uncle Zong and the others, she took out her Spatial pouch.
“Aunt Yun, these are the spiritual plants I cultivated for you. I encountered a small fortunate opportunity recently, and my cultivation improved.”
Mu Wanwan removed the fifteen second-rank Blue Star Grass plants and fifteen second-rank Hundred Treasures Fruits she had cultivated for Aunt Yun from the pouch.
Uncle Zong stared at the spiritual plants, which were of noticeably better quality than the previous batch. His face flushed with excitement as he repeatedly exclaimed, “Good! Good!”
It was not only him. Even Uncle Chen, who had previously appeared somewhat simple and honest, widened his eyes slightly, a sharp gleam flashing through them.
“These are second-rank? Not third- or fourth-rank?”
Uncle Zong burst into laughter and slapped him on the shoulder, giving him a mocking look.
“Weren’t you the one who refused to believe me before?”
Uncle Chen looked a little embarrassed.
“Well, I didn’t know…”
Aunt Hua was also delighted. She held Aunt Yun’s hand and said, “Yun’er, this is wonderful.”
Mu Wanwan touched her face.
“Uncle Zong, about those pills…”
Before she could finish, Uncle Zong interrupted her. His brown eyes looked at her seriously as he raised a large hand and wiped his face.
“Lass, listen to me.”
Mu Wanwan thought something serious had happened, so she nodded for him to continue.
“No one is capable of everything. Every person has things they’re good at and things they aren’t. There’s nothing wrong with that…”
As he spoke, he glanced at Aunt Yun as though pleading for help.
Aunt Yun immediately took over.
“That’s right. Those pills aren’t absolutely necessary to us. We’re already very happy that you brought us so many spiritual plants. You don’t need to take it to heart…”
Mu Wanwan did not know whether to laugh or cry.
So this husband-and-wife pair had already prepared themselves for the possibility that she had failed.
Even so, they had still been willing to let her try.
Warmth filled Mu Wanwan’s heart. Unable to bear watching them continue comforting her, she directly took out the pills she had bottled earlier and placed them on the table one bottle at a time.
With every bottle she set down, their voices grew quieter.
By the time she had neatly arranged all twelve bottles of Spirit-Replenishing Pills on the table, the courtyard was silent aside from the sound of the wind and several sharp intakes of breath.
“There are only twelve full bottles of Spirit-Replenishing Pills, as well as three loose pills. I put those into this smaller bottle.”
As Mu Wanwan spoke, she took out the Snow Condensation Pills.
“This bottle contains Snow Condensation Pills.”
“Holy crap!”
Uncle Zong could no longer hold himself back. The beast markings on his face emerged—not the three lines Mu Wanwan had seen before, but four and a half vivid crimson marks.
“You even managed to refine Snow Condensation Pills?!”
Mu Wanwan froze, startled by the markings on his face. It took her a moment before she belatedly nodded.
“But I only managed to refine two.”
“Two!”
Even Aunt Yun could no longer remain calm.
“You mean two actual Snow Condensation Pills?”
Mu Wanwan admitted it openly.
“Yes. They’re first-rank. Aunt Yun, take a look.”
She handed the porcelain-white jade bottle to Aunt Yun.
With trembling hands, Aunt Yun carefully opened the bottle. An intense medicinal fragrance immediately drifted out, and she hurriedly sealed it again.
Beside her, Uncle Chen also opened one of the smaller bottles of Spirit-Replenishing Pills. After examining it for a moment, he resealed it and revealed a hearty smile.
“Brother Lei, you’ve truly found yourself a treasure this time.”
“The quality of these first-rank Spirit-Replenishing Pills is far better than the ordinary kind. I recommend pricing each bottle at one and a half mid-grade spirit stones.”
Uncle Chen returned to his usual smiling appearance.
“I can sense that the medicinal power inside them is extremely pure, with very few impurities.”
Uncle Zong’s expression became complicated. He smiled proudly at Uncle Chen while also feeling as though he had been slapped in the face.
Only yesterday, he had bragged to his friend that Mu Wanwan would probably bring over a dozen Spirit-Replenishing Pills this time, while Snow Condensation Pills were likely out of the question.
Yet today, she had brought more than a hundred pills—and even two Snow Condensation Pills.
Facing his friend’s smile, which seemed to contain both mockery and envy, Uncle Zong felt particularly embarrassed.
Still, happiness outweighed everything else.
Besides, he had lost control just now and accidentally exposed his true strength.
Mu Wanwan had noticed it as well, but she did not mention it.
Ever since her own advancement, she had suspected that Uncle Zong could not possibly be only a third-rank cultivator. At the time, she had guessed that he was fourth-rank.
Now it seemed that Uncle Zong was a powerful expert at the peak of the fourth rank, approaching the fifth.
To a first-rank cultivator, a single mid-grade spirit stone might represent their entire fortune.
Second-rank cultivators were not wealthy either. Having a total net worth of around a dozen mid-grade spirit stones would already be considered quite good.
It was only upon reaching the third rank that a cultivator’s wealth experienced a dramatic increase. A third-rank cultivator with some savings might possess one or two genuine treasures.
Mu Wanwan had already found it strange that Uncle Zong owned shops in two different marketplaces and was also rather generous with his money.
He could not have been merely third-rank.
Now, her suspicions had been confirmed. She could not sense Uncle Zong’s aura at all, which meant he might be even stronger than his beast markings suggested.
“Xiao Qian, how does an eighty–twenty split sound?” Uncle Chen asked. “You receive eighty percent, and we take twenty.”
Uncle Zong also recovered from his surprise.
“That’s right. Although we help sell the goods and provide the seeds and materials, those things don’t amount to much. Your Uncle Zong will shamelessly count the materials as ten percent, with the remaining ten percent serving as our labour fee.”
Mu Wanwan shook her head.
“Uncle Zong, those seeds aren’t easy to obtain, and selling the products isn’t simple either. I think a sixty–forty split would be fairer.”
Aunt Yun glared at her.
“What nonsense are you talking about? The alchemists they worked with before received ninety percent. Even taking twenty percent means they’re already benefiting at your expense, yet you want to give them forty? Are you stupid?”
Mu Wanwan: “…”
This was the first time she had seen Aunt Yun looking so lively and speaking so sharply. For a moment, she was completely speechless.
The group argued over the division of profits for quite some time.
In the end, Uncle Zong and the others could not win against her stubbornness, so both sides compromised and settled on a seventy–thirty contract, with Mu Wanwan receiving seventy percent.
Uncle Zong calculated the money for all the pills she had brought. At Mu Wanwan’s strong insistence, he deducted the cost of the materials before handing her the spirit stones.
“The spirit stones from the Blue Star Grass and Hundred Treasures Fruits cover the material costs from both this batch and the last. Each bottle of Spirit-Replenishing Pills will earn one and a half mid-grade spirit stones. Your seventy-percent share from these twelve bottles comes to approximately thirteen mid-grade spirit stones.”
Uncle Zong continued calculating.
“Adding in the priceless Snow Condensation Pills, I’ll give you fifteen mid-grade spirit stones altogether.”
He handed Mu Wanwan a small cloth pouch.
“I exchanged some of them for low-grade spirit stones and silver coins so they’ll be more convenient for you to use.”
Mu Wanwan did not stand on ceremony. She excitedly accepted the slightly heavy pouch of spirit stones, feeling indescribably thrilled.
According to the prices in this world, one low-grade spirit stone was roughly equivalent to one hundred yuan, while one mid-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for approximately fifteen low-grade spirit stones.
Didn’t that mean she had just earned more than twenty thousand yuan in one go?
Although the value of spirit stones could not truly be equated with RMB, and she still needed to reserve a portion for Mr. Dragon to absorb, calculating it this way made Mu Wanwan feel as though she had genuinely become rich overnight.
The clothes she had previously liked but considered too expensive, the sweet and sticky pastries she had always wanted to make, and even second-, third-, or fourth-rank spiritual meat could all be arranged now!
“Lass.”
Seeing how excited she was, Uncle Zong tapped the top of her veiled hat.
“Don’t think this is a huge amount of money.”
Mu Wanwan responded, but her voice sounded slightly dazed.
Uncle Zong sighed. He did not continue discussing money and instead pointed towards her wrist.
“I noticed this earlier. Where did you get that bracelet?”
Mu Wanwan’s tongue slipped before she could think.
“My husband gave it to me.”
The instant those words left her mouth, her entire face turned bright red. It felt as though it had been set on fire, burning unbearably hot.
She instinctively lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes.
What was wrong with her?
Mr. Dragon had only called her “wife” for a few nights. How had she truly started regarding him as her husband?
They had not even had a proper conversation yet!
After she spoke, Mu Wanwan noticed that Uncle Zong’s and Aunt Yun’s expressions had both changed.
Feeling slightly uneasy, she asked, “Is… is it something bad?”
Aunt Yun could not hold back and burst into laughter. She laughed so happily that a hint of colour returned to her pale face.
“No, no. Your husband is very thoughtful.”
He had given her a protective talisman that even her Brother Lei would need to exert considerable effort to break.
Its value was hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of times greater than the small number of spirit stones this silly girl had painstakingly earned through refining pills.
Uncle Zong was also struggling not to laugh, but he tactfully chose not to expose the truth.
After all, this might simply be some private game between husband and wife.
“It’s a rather nice little trinket. Keep wearing it.”
Mu Wanwan stroked the cool green-jade bracelet.
The image of Mr. Dragon’s fluffy ears twitching incessantly appeared in her mind, and she suddenly wanted to return home.
They had only been apart for half a day, yet she had already begun missing him.
“By the way, lass, didn’t you say that your husband has difficulty moving?” Uncle Zong asked.
Mu Wanwan nodded.
Uncle Zong continued, “I happen to know a dwarf friend who can forge certain tools that assist with walking.”
Mu Wanwan’s eyes lit up.
Sometimes, she wondered whether Mr. Dragon refused to wake up because he could no longer walk. Perhaps he was simply too proud and unwilling to embarrass himself.
This suggestion suited her perfectly.
If they could make a wheelchair, perhaps she could push Mr. Dragon around the courtyard and let him bask in the sunlight.
“Uncle Zong, thank you for going to the trouble. I truly need something like that.”
Uncle Zong looked a little embarrassed.
“He’s a good person. Since I’m the one referring you to him, he should offer you a cheaper price.”
The moment he said that, Mu Wanwan’s heart gave an ominous thump.
She cautiously tested the waters.
“Uncle Zong, may I ask roughly how much it will cost?”
Uncle Zong rubbed his chin.
“After the discount, probably seven or eight mid-grade spirit stones.”
Mu Wanwan: “…”
**Author’s Note:**
Mr. Dragon: “My wife called me her husband! Even though she didn’t say it to my face, it still feels so sweet!”
Mu Wanwan: “As expected, becoming rich overnight was only an illusion. There are never enough spirit stones QAQ.”
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