Fulai Jade Shop.
While waiting for the food to be delivered, Zhang Fulai accompanied Li Mu to see the stone being cut. The Hetian jade was indeed cut into pieces according to Li Mu's markings. After the first cut, the workers dared not cut any further on the rough stone. It was a high-quality, icy, and bright green jade.
Although Li Mu knew that the surge in price referred to the increase in the value of jade, he only needed some jade to make jade bottles and boxes for storing things. What difference would it make if this piece of jade increased in value? Could he sell it and buy other pieces? Such a hassle was not advisable, and he didn't have the time for it.
Seeing that Li Mu insisted on cutting the stone according to his markings, Zhang Fulai stopped trying to persuade him and could only arrange for more workers to work overtime to cut the stone.
Soon, the food arrived, and the group stopped being polite and ate and chatted over the sumptuous meal.
After dinner, Zhang Fulai's wife, Wan Lan, took out a red jade bracelet from her safe and gave it to Cheng Jiawei. Cheng Jiawei declined at first, but accepted it after Li Mu nodded in agreement.
Li Mu was shrewd; he had just saved someone's life, and it would be awkward for the other person not to accept a token of gratitude. Zhang Fulai's family was quite well-off to be able to run a jade shop of this size, so accepting a small gift from him was not a big deal.
Cheng Jiawei spent the whole day with Li Mu. She had originally planned to take a piece of jade from among those jade stones and make a small trinket to give to her as a token of her gratitude. Now that Boss Zhang had given her a jade bracelet, it saved her some trouble.
They had eaten the thank-you meal and accepted the gifts. The group had become quite familiar with each other, and after a few words, the conversation turned to the children. Zhang Fulai even suggested that his child become Li Mu's apprentice, but Li Mu thought about it for a while and declined.
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In Li Mu's view, this child definitely possessed spiritual roots; otherwise, he would never have inhaled the trace elements emitted by the extraterrestrial meteorite. Extraterrestrial meteorite is a refining material in the cultivation world, requiring spiritual energy to activate it. Although this child had never cultivated, he could inhale spiritual energy through breathing, but he didn't understand cultivation and couldn't retain the spiritual energy within his body.
Therefore, Li Mu felt that the child was very intelligent at first glance. As for the poisoning, it was easy to explain. It was probably because when the child was playing with the meteorite, a small amount of spiritual energy activated the trace elements of the meteorite and brought them into his body, resulting in poisoning.
The bead that came out of the child's body looked about the size of a bean, but it actually contained very little meteorite iron, at most no more than one percent of a milligram. The rest was the mucus from the organs during the separation, so it could be compressed together after being wrapped in spiritual energy.
If a child is practicing the Dao, these inhaled trace elements will be expelled through the breathing techniques of cultivation. However, in this degenerate age, the child lacks the conditions and environment for cultivation.
If this child were born in a cultivation continent, he would definitely be a cultivation genius sought after by all the major sects. However, in this world where spiritual energy is depleted and cultivation is in a state of discontinuity, it is considered a waste of talent.
Li Mu could accept the child and give him a chance, but his own foundation is not yet stable. It would be unwise to talk about taking on a disciple now. This is part of the reason why he doesn't talk about feelings right now. If he can't protect himself, these people will be implicated.
“Brother Zhang, how about this? If, I mean if, your child still has the passion for cultivation in five years, then he can come to Jiangcheng to find me. I think it should be fine then.”
Li Mu couldn't quite refuse Zhang Fulai's enthusiasm, but he also felt a sense of appreciation for his talent. Five years—he should be able to establish himself in five years. If he couldn't handle these mundane matters or those who challenged him within five years, then everything else was meaningless.
As a businessman, Zhang Fulai was certainly astute enough to understand that such a wise person shouldn't be pushed too hard, otherwise the bond of friendship might become worthless.
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Subsequently, Li Mu inquired about the location where the meteorite was found. According to Zhang Fulai's recollection, the meteorite was found about seven or eight years ago when he went to Taibai Mountain for sightseeing. Later, it was identified as an iron meteorite, but it was not sold because it was too small and the price offered was too low.
Upon inquiring about the location where the meteorite was found, Li Mu decided to investigate, feeling he would regret it if he didn't. Thus, Li Mu once again changed his plans for this trip to Xishan, opting instead to explore Taibai Mountain.
Because cutting jade is too time-consuming, Li Mu could have taken the uncut jade away, but Zhang Fulai repeatedly assured him that he would cut it to Li Mu's specifications within one night. So Li Mu had to stay in Gaojing for another day.
It was around nine o'clock at night when they left the Fulai Jade Shop. Li Mu had asked Cheng Jiawei if she wanted to leave first, but the girl was stubborn and insisted on waiting for Li Mu. Now that they had left the jade shop together, Cheng Jiawei didn't say much and just drove off at a fast speed. The destination was unknown.
Jiawei Outdoor – this was the first eye-catching sign Li Mu saw after getting off the bus. Just from the name, it was pretty clear that it was related to Cheng Jiawei.
The shop was already closed. Li Mu was a little confused. What was Cheng Jiawei up to? After the beautiful woman made a phone call, the curtain was raised, and a shop assistant poked her head out and saw the two of them, smiling and calling out, "Weiwei's here! Come in quickly."
“Li Mu, I know you’re going to Taibai Mountain tomorrow. I have to go to school, so I can’t go with you. So, I wanted to get you some outdoor gear. You should be able to find everything here. Just pick what you like.”
Cheng Jiawei had a somewhat dazed day. The sightseeing was fine at first, but Li Mu's gambling on stones and treating people's illnesses became a bit fantastical. The Cheng family originally started out as a traditional Chinese medicine business, but it had declined, and there were no longer any people in the family like Li Mu who could treat people's illnesses.
Previously, after hearing Li Mu ask Zhang Fulai about the origin of the stone more than once, Zhang Fulai concluded that Li Mu would probably go to Taibai Mountain to search for it. Since he couldn't accompany him, he could only give him a set of outdoor equipment, which happened to be from a shop owned by his family.
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After listening to Cheng Jiawei's words, Li Mu looked at the dazzling array of outdoor equipment and really didn't know what to do. The young lady was indeed thoughtful, but he didn't need these so-called professional equipment at all when he went into the mountains. Instead, he felt they were just a burden.
Seeing that Li Mu seemed embarrassed to take things from her own shop, Cheng Jiawei took the initiative to arrange it. Hiking clothes, hiking boots, tent, sleeping bag, compass, trekking poles, machete, climbing rope, a messy pile, leaving Li Mu speechless.
Although Li Mu felt that Cheng Jiawei's kindness was a bit superfluous, he couldn't refuse. In the end, he could only force a smile through his wrinkles and accept it, carrying a backpack that was half his height as he left the shop.
The next morning around 9 a.m., Li Mu, who had stayed an extra night at the hotel, finally received the jade he had been waiting for. It weighed several dozen kilograms in small pieces. Li Mu thought he might as well delay a little longer and refine the jade.
In one morning, dozens of jade bottles and seven or eight small jade boxes were crafted. The remaining scraps were used to craft more than ten jade magical artifacts, two bracelets, a necklace, and more than ten jade plaques.
Li Mu didn't intentionally create these magical artifacts for attack or defense; they were just small items for warding off evil and calming the mind. He thought that if anyone had a special request during the martial arts trade fair, he could refine them on the spot to make the magical artifacts the customer wanted.
After doing all this, Li Mu was finally able to set off to do what he wanted to do and go where he wanted to go. His first stop was, of course, Mount Taibai.
After everything was ready, hiker Li Mu took a taxi straight to Taibai Mountain. There was more than one way to get up the mountain. After determining the direction, he began his ascent.
There are many mountains in the Xishan area, the most famous of which is Mount Hua. Although Mount Taibai is not as famous as Mount Hua, its height and precipitousness are indeed the best in the Qinling Mountains. It is known for its high altitude, cold climate, danger, wonder, richness and mystery.
The treasure-hunting spot Zhang Fulai mentioned was probably before reaching the summit of Mount Taibai. Li Mu then leisurely followed the tourists into the mountain. Although there weren't many tourists, he didn't want to appear too strange, so he held his hiking pole in his hand and occasionally used it for leverage.
Li Mu had already decided to spend two to three days exploring Mount Taibai. Although extraterrestrial meteorite iron was rare and hard to come by, there was always a chance that some might be missed, or perhaps he might encounter some other opportunities. At the very least, it wouldn't be bad to find a few spiritual sources in the mountains.
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