But in this way, the already scarce Spirit Stones became even fewer.
Chen Ye counted them, and found there were only two Spirit Stones and eighty-three Spiritual Sand left.
Yet, as long as the Silver Scale Flower is cured, it can be sold at the market for eighteen Spirit Stones!
"Make money, make money, still making money!" Chen Ye encouraged himself.
What he lacks now is just the start-up capital!
Watching the man in his enthusiastic state, the two disciples exchanged glances with complex expressions in their eyes.
Zhiwei stared at her little hand, the glowing Spirit Stone casting a gentle light.
The Spirit Stone is small, but it could buy a girl like her.
Chen Ye, I am starting to not understand you...
Or is this Spirit Stone just to comfort oneself?
Consistently inclined to suspect Chen Ye with the worst intentions, the black-haired girl tightly clenched the Spirit Stone, wanting to embed it into her flesh.
The intense pain brought a bit more clarity to Lu Zhiwei's eyes.
There was no table in the room.
Chen Ye simply placed the several homemade dishes he prepared directly on the ground and called his two disciples over to eat:
"What are you doing standing there? Hurry up and eat!"
He filled a large bowl with rice, the rice of the Cultivation Realm is truly different.
Although it's not Spirit Rice, each grain is full, crystal-clear, and fragrant.
Paired with stir-fried beef, who knows how delicious it tastes!
Moreover, he was an orphan from a young age, often cooking for himself, he had long mastered culinary skills.
A new skill appeared on the proficiency panel: [Culinary Skill: Great Success: 15/200]
This was unexpected for Chen Ye, he hadn't anticipated that the skills from his past life would be recorded on the panel as well.
Qing Jun rubbed her little belly, swallowing her saliva repeatedly.
Foolish tummy!
After eating so many delicious things today, why am I hungry again...
Enticed by the aroma, the little girl slowly moved near the food, cautiously glanced at Chen Ye once.
Chen Ye offered an encouraging smile.
Qing Jun took a scoop of rice, and looked at Chen Ye again.
Chen Ye smiled once more.
Qing Jun took a piece with chopsticks, looked at Chen Ye again.
Chen Ye's face went stiff from smiling, but if he didn't smile, the little girl wouldn't dare to move.
Fortunately, once the little girl tasted a bite of the dish, her eyes lit up, and she began shoveling the rice into her mouth without stopping, no longer caring to look at him.
Chen Ye couldn't help but show a smile, this time the smile was from the heart.
But there's still a problem with the older girl...
Can't let him keep smiling foolishly, right?
Chen Ye glanced at the older girl's gloomy face,
He noticed the elder disciple's heart was more closed off and alert than the younger one's.
Like a hedgehog with raised spines, tense and anxious, disguised as a cold, prickly stone.
Chen Ye thought for a moment, walked over to Zhiwei, and gently picked her up.
"Mas...Master!" The black-haired girl shivered, softly cried out in fear.
So thin, holding her is like holding a doll.
Her small body shivered with fear.
Chen Ye sat on the ground with the older girl, placing his half-eaten bowl of rice aside.
He served another bowl, personally feeding the older girl.
The black-haired girl resisted greatly.
"Ah—open your mouth."
Chen Ye fed the older girl without refusal, placing a piece of food by her lips.
Little Zhiwei, aren't you the quiet, cold type?
Yet just now, she was crying, and in front of her master, she's just an older girl.
The black-haired girl didn't expect Chen Ye would do this, she pursed her lips and refused to open her mouth.
Chen Ye said slowly: "Could it be, Zhiwei wants Master to coax you to eat?"
"Gulp!"
The black-haired girl's little hands clutched and unclenched, finally hesitantly opening her mouth.
"Good girl, you're at the age where you're growing, how can you not eat?"
After taking a bite, the black-haired girl was stunned.
How can there be something so delicious in this world!
Much tastier than the osmanthus cake before!
She reluctantly swallowed, not forgetting to lick the rice grains from her lips, savoring it, when another spoonful was brought to her lips.
"Om."
Without Chen Ye's prodding, the black-haired girl opened her mouth voluntarily, eating one bite after another.
Chen Ye let out a slight sigh of relief.
If Zhiwei still refused to eat, he would have really been at a loss.
The big girl stubbornly refused to eat, no matter how he coaxed there was no way.
"Hmm?"
As soon as he stopped, the black-haired girl suddenly glanced at him.
"Oh, oh, just now Master was lost in thought."
Chen Ye couldn't help but chuckle, quickly continuing to feed the black-haired girl.
After all, she's still a child; when hungry, she still wants to eat.
It was only then that the older girl seemed to realize her actions, her small face flushed and she twirled her fingers awkwardly.
Qing Jun sighed silently.
Sister really has it bad! Actually being fed by Master.
Luckily, it wasn't her being held.
In the little girl's heart, there was a trace of relief, which quickly turned into guilt towards her sister.
How could she gloat!
...
"The feeling of taking care of kids, isn't too bad?"
Chen Ye stretched lazily, recalling the two disciples' full bellies, feeling an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.
He reminded his two disciples not to run around and gave her the only bed.
In the upcoming days, they will have to cook for themselves.
He plans to go into seclusion to heal the flower.
As for whether the disciples would run away, Chen Ye wasn't concerned.
Firstly, the Cultivation Realm is dangerous, even as a Fourth-Layer Qi Cultivator, he doesn't dare wander around outside.
In the game, the disciple had been forced to poison Chen Ye, and since then, her life had been full of hardships.
Secondly, if she really runs away, it wouldn't matter to Chen Ye; he'd live alone if worst came to worst.
Chen Ye carried the Silver Scale Flower, going alone to the storeroom.
The storeroom, narrow and without windows, had only a table and a chair.
Underneath the table was a pile of clutter, and upon careful inspection, there was even a rusty Iron Sword, with a small gold plate hanging on the hilt, inscribed with "Peace and Joy."
The gold plate was specially made by his mother for him in his childhood.
Touching the gold plate, a mix of bitterness, yearning, and longing surged within his heart.
Though this is a mundane item, it always held an unignorable place in his heart.
It wasn't until he completely gave up that he put this gold plate, which had always hung around his neck, into the storeroom.
"Maybe you also knew you were no longer the same person you once were."
Chen Ye sighed, wiped the gold plate clean with his sleeve, and hung it back around his neck.
In a daze, a warm hand of a woman caressed his neck, dispelling the unease and fear in his heart.
He picked up the rusty Iron Sword again, heavy, weighing over twenty pounds.
In his memory, it was a defective product bought with one Spirit Stone in his younger days, a result of a failed First-Tier Magical Artifact refinement.
At that time, he bid farewell to his parents, wielded a sword in the martial world, and accidentally ventured into the Immortal Cultivation Realm, full of spirit and ambition.
After saving up a significant amount of Spiritual Sand, he bought the Iron Sword, holding it with boundless ambition.
But that youthful ambition was sealed away with the Iron Sword over time.
"Not bad, in the Cultivation Realm, you should use a sword."
Chen Ye thought with excitement, swinging the Iron Sword recklessly, soon panting heavily.
The Iron Sword seemed usable at first, but now it felt too heavy.
In the end, Earth's Sword was the genuine Tier One Lower Grade Magical Artifact."
Chen Ye gave in and put the Iron Sword back, a faint melancholy seeping through his heart.
In the jumble found in the storeroom, there were discarded items that had been left behind due to previous practices with the Spirit Plant Technique.
Such as the damaged Jade Saber, a hoe, and withered plants, and so forth.
Chen Ye began to feel lost.
If he inherited another person's identity, social status, memories, what did that make him?
"Perhaps willingly or not, he and I are now inseparable."
Chen Ye gripped the gold plate around his neck firmly.
A moment of enlightenment brought about an unexpected joy...