Ascending the Jade Palace Chapter 66: At the Very Least, It Is a Spiritual Filling

Hearing Zhou Yingxi praise his family's donkey at as delicious, Wang Yulou smiled and began to introduce it.

"Indeed. This stir-fried donkey intestine dish is made from the finest cut. A single donkey only yields one plate; it is the absolute essence of the animal.

The seasoning incorporates a variety of dicinal herbs, and to stimulate their dicinal properties, a tiny amount of toxic aconite powder is added.

Not only is it incredibly delicious, but it also perfectly harmonizes dicine and food. Eating it regularly can prolong one's life."

However, Zhou Yingxi, sitting across from him, looked sowhat confused.

"What do you an by... the cut of the intestine? Is it a particularly long donkey head?"

She found it strange; the food on the plate clearly did not look like a donkey's head.

Wang Yulou paused for a mont before explaining.

"No, it is the donkey's intestine. The absolute best part of the donkey's intestine."

Hearing his words, Zhou Yingxi did not reply. Instead, she imdiately spat out the at in her mouth, took a quick sip of spiritual tea to rinse, and spat that out too.

She stood up silently, not even casting a glance at Yulou, and walked straight toward the exit.

Wang Yulou, Wang Yulou, you are worse than a dog, Wang Yulou.

You do not deserve a single shred of my gentleness.

Our friendship ends here. It is my utmost tolerance that I am not turning into your sworn enemy right now!

I accepted your invitation to attend a banquet, yet you serve the tip of an intestine.

You just watched eat that stuff, which used to hold... that kind of filling, bite after bite without stopping?

Could you not have given a single warning?

You truly deserve to die!

"Ugh..."

Ultimately unable to hold it in, Fellow Daoist Yingxi dry-heaved after taking a couple of steps.

Yulou stood up, feeling a bit awkward.

This was quite a predicant. She had clearly been enjoying it so much just a mont ago, yet now she could not stand it after learning the na.

"Fellow Daoist, you are too attached to appearances. This is a literal attachnt to form."

"Miss Zhou, the spiritual donkeys of our Wang Clan eat spiritual grass and leaves for all three als across the four seasons, and they drink from spiritual springs and dew. Please do not misunderstand..."

Yulou's point was simple. Given the dietary standards of their spiritual donkeys, even the contents inside could not be considered that filthy.

At the very least, it had to be a... well, a spiritual filling.

Zhou Yingxi had just barely suppressed her urge to retch, but hearing Yulou put it that way, she instantly pictured what she had just eaten.

"Ugh... Do not call Miss Zhou! I cannot bear it!"

Believing she had been utterly wretchedly deceived by that bastard Wang Yulou, a dazed Zhou Yingxi rushed downstairs.

Yulou followed her all the way to the entrance of the Flavorful Bistro, calling out to her retreating figure.

"Fellow Daoist Yingxi, are you still coming to the Talisman Master Competition in a month?"

Having breathed in the fresh outside air, Zhou Yingxi finally recovered her composure. She turned around fiercely and snapped.

"I am raising my price! Six hundred spirit stones!"

You bastard, since you tricked into eating that, I must fleece you thoroughly to vent the anger in my heart!

Otherwise, if I let you off so easily, I will suffer too great a loss. I will be so furious my dao heart will be blocked.

Contrary to what Zhou Yingxi expected, Yulou, who had assud the matter was ruined, was instantly overjoyed.

"Deal!"

Hearing the scoundrel agree so readily, Zhou Yingxi realized she had set her price too low!

This fellow infuriated her so much that the huffing breath from her nostrils nearly blew her veil right off.

In this regard, Ning Qianqian was Zhou Yingxi's senior; she was an expert at dealing with the younger generation of the Wang Clan.

The people of the Wang Clan had their family rules carved into their very bones.

Even Yu'an, with his wild and unbridled personality, had been gradually restrained by those family rules.

When it ca to bargaining and quoting prices, the Wang Clan mbers were often incredibly ruthless. No matter how extraordinary the relationship, one had to remain constantly on guard.

As a furious Zhou Yingxi departed, Old Tang of the Flavorful Bistro stepped forward with a smile.

"That was Senior Mu's daughter, right? What happened? Did you have a fight with her?"

Tang Nianqiu's round face was completely filled with an amused expression, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

This kid Wang Yulou had poached his goddaughter, so seeing Wang Yulou suffer a setback with Zhou Yingxi made Old Tang incredibly happy.

If he were not mindful of Wang Yulou's feelings, he might have even broken into song.

"Yulou, it is not that your Uncle Nianqiu wants to lecture you, but when it cos to matters of the heart between n and won, both sides must be happy together for it to work. One-sided affection yields no results. Senior Mu's daughter is so much older than you anyway. Forget about it, just forget about it."

Hearing Old Tang's nonsense, Yulou did not bother to explain.

What do you an forget about it, and what do you an one-sided affection yields no results?

Do you think I am a sycophant?

No, back then, I was the one who firmly rejected the marriage alliance request!

Old Tang only possessed this much foresight, so why would Wang Yulou bother explaining things to him?

"Yes, yes, yes. You are absolutely right, Uncle. Yulou will keep it firmly in mind, firmly in mind."

This string of agreents left Tang Nianqiu sowhat bewildered.

Even though Wang Yulou was agreeing with him, everything about it felt slightly off.

Yes, yes, yes... is that right?

That cannot be right, can it?

Just as Tang Nianqiu was about to ask, Wang Yulou had already walked away with quick steps.

---

On another morning, inside Forge Peak Residence.

The scorching peach wood spirit fire made the room feel like a stear. This was actually a manifestation of Senior Martial Sister Ningyao's insufficient control over the spirit fire; such an issue would never occur when Hongi perford the refining himself.

Her cultivation base was only at the eighth layer of Qi Induction, and refining a mid-grade spiritual artifact required an even hotter spirit fire. Therefore, Ningyao was still wearing that special heat-resistant spirit artifact armor set today.

However, Yu'an had long passed the age of secretly peeking at his senior martial sister for no reason. He rely circulated his divine sense silently, observing the refinent of the artifact inside the furnace.

"Siss..."

Senior Martial Sister Ningyao wiped the sweat from her forehead helplessly and collapsed into a chair.

"A problem arose while inscribing the eleventh layer of restrictions. Father, can we modify the design of the restrictions to make the ninth layer slightly smaller?"

Hongi shook his head and critiqued.

"No matter. There is still progress, and it is much better than last ti. Go to the front and look after the shop.

Yulou, it is your turn now."

This was the semi-annual examination of the artificing path. Hongi's requirent for Zhong Ningyao was to directly refine a mid-grade spiritual artifact with eleven layers of restrictions.

For Yu'an and Yulou, the requirent was to attempt refining a mid-grade spiritual artifact with nine layers of restrictions.

There was still a difference between creating an artifact blank and directly producing a finished artifact. If the forr wanted to achieve the theoretical upper limit of restriction layers, it required subsequent advanced refinent.

And if one could directly refine a mid-grade spiritual artifact, it was naturally better than creating a blank first and refining it later. After all, there was always a risk of explosion during advanced refinent.

However, artifact blanks were also a necessity. Refining the basic restrictions in advance allowed them to adjust the subsequent types of restrictions according to a custor's specific needs when an order was placed.

This prevented refined items from remaining unsold while simultaneously accelerating the inventory turnover rate.

After selecting a piece of purple copper, Yulou stood before the artifact refining furnace.

Over the years, he had developed a preference for purple copper. For no other reason than the fact that once Yulou reached the Qi Refining realm in the future, he intended to practice water thods.

Purple copper was among the tal and stone materials that possessed the highest affinity for water thods.

"This piece of purple copper has not undergone Imbuing Nature, so it is relatively simpler. However, you must control the consumption of your spiritual energy well. Do you want to take an Enlightennt Pill?"

Now nad Wang Yushuo, with the dao na Hongi, the older man gave a warm reminder from the side.

After all, Yulou was his nominal younger brother and his troubleso disciple.

If he did not impart his Fire thod tal-Stone Artificing Way without reserving anything, Wang Xianmao would never grant him the opportunity to reach Foundation Establishnt.

Yulou swallowed a spiritual pill and held a second Enlightennt Pill in his mouth. Once fully prepared, he tossed the purple copper into the artifact refining furnace.

He stimulated its spirituality, added auxiliary materials in sequence, controlled the spiritual nature, and began to alter its shape.

The Jade Ruyi activated, and its golden light was rapidly consud. Yulou's movents were exceptionally smooth, leaving Hongi utterly dazed as he watched.

He is only in his early twenties... The Wang Clan, the Wang Clan, the Wang Clan of Anbei Kingdom.

"Ten layers?"

Yu'an discovered to his amazent that Yulou did not stop after completing the nine layers of restrictions, but instead directly began inscribing the tenth layer.

The tenth layer of restrictions was successful. Hongi's brow furrowed tightly; this was no longer just excellent, it was monstrous.

The eleventh layer of restrictions was successful. The spirit fire began to lose control, so Hongi helped regulate the flas. The spiritual aura of Yulou's spiritual belt automatically activated to protect its master.

The twelfth layer of restrictions was successful. Looking at Yulou's spiritual belt, Yu'an felt a touch of envy in his heart, but he also believed this was exactly what his elder brother deserved.

The thirteenth layer of restrictions was successful. Hongi had long noticed that belt Yulou had worn for many years, which reminded him of the night he had shared a room with Yulou.

Once the thirteenth layer of restrictions was inscribed, Yulou noticed that the golden light in his mind had been completely exhausted.

With a wave of Yulou's hand, a purple copper flying sword with thirteen layers of restrictions flew out from the artifact refining furnace.

Its entire body was a purplish red, flashing with brilliant spiritual light. It had already achieved the rank of a premium-grade item among mid-grade spiritual artifacts.

Using it during magical combat to cleave through an opponent's spells or protective shields would be top-tier.

Hongi, or rather Wang Yushuo, let out a long, deep sigh.

A monster. This was a true monster.

In his early twenties, he already possessed the aura of an artificing master. Wang Yulou's talent in the artificing path could be said to far surpass his own.

He looked at Yulou with great emotion and spoke.

"Yulou... Well, Yu'an, you go ahead and refine first."

Their senior martial sister's refinent had exploded, though she usually maintained a level where ten layers would not fail. His elder brother, on the other hand, had actually managed to refine a mid-grade flying sword with thirteen layers of restrictions.

Yu'an was under imnse pressure now. He silently placed a piece of ninth-grade variegated agate into the artifact refining furnace and began refining with a great deal of nervousness.

He did not pursue an excessively high number of restriction layers. After all, he did not possess a fire spirit root, which marked a fundantal difference between him and Zhong Ningyao or Wang Yulou.

A quarter of an hour later, through Yu'an's cautious movents, the ninth layer of restrictions on the variegated agate was finally completed.

A variegated agate magic seal with nine layers of restrictions.

Even a gatekeeper of the mid-grade was still considered a mid-grade artifact. It was a mid-grade item after all.

Though looking at it himself, Yu'an felt it was rather shabby.

Hongi did not mind much. Even Zhong Ningyao possessed more talent than Wang Yu'an.

Furthermore, with Yulou's magnificent achievent right before them, this ninth-grade variegated agate magic seal refined by Yu'an truly had nothing worthy of praise.

"The refinent is decent. Go on, go to the front and keep your senior martial sister company in looking after the shop."

Hearing Hongi say this, Yu'an glanced at his elder brother. Once Wang Yulou nodded, he happily headed to the front to find his senior martial sister.

Yulou shook his head.

Yu'an had matured a lot by now, but in front of his elder brother, he would always retain the appearance of a young boy.

"Yulou, you are the most talented person I have ever seen on the artificing path. Have you ever considered joining Nine Apertures Valley to continue your cultivation in artifact refining in the future?"

Nine Apertures Valley was one of the Ten Sects of Wunan, belonging to the sa lower seven sects tier as the Red Lantern Illumination Sect.

It was nad Nine Apertures because it was situated within the Grade 3 spiritual valley of the Nine Apertures Mountain, where the nine apertures corresponded to the production of nine special types of spiritual materials.

Consequently, Nine Apertures Valley was exceptionally inclusive regarding the artificing path, possessing a high level of expertise and nurous inheritances.

Legend had it that even Golden Core True Persons who sat upon the Gathering Immortals Platform had to seek assistance from the Nine Apertures Valley to refine their magic treasures.