Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 22 Repairing the Sky Lantern and the Love Between Parents (Please continue reading)

"Two Soul Shards are expensive?"

Old Zhao stuffed all the beef jerky in his hand into his mouth, chewed quickly, bent down, picked up a lotus-shaped sky lantern, handed it to Zhou Ling, and smiled.

"Look at this, it's a lotus lantern with three inscription patterns. It's expensive even though it costs two fragments of spirit. What's so expensive about it?"

Zhou Ling examined it carefully; the lotus lantern was exquisitely crafted.

However, under the [Basic Insight], it can be seen that two of the three inscriptions inside the sky lantern are damaged.

He immediately shook his head. "This kind of lamp is too expensive, even for a single Soul Shard!"

Old Zhao's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you trying to stop people from doing business?"

Zhou Ling scratched his head. "If they're all one-piece spirit shards, then I'll buy them all; otherwise, forget it!"

Upon hearing this, Old Zhao frowned, considered for a moment, and said, "How about twelve shattered spirits?"

"If it's twelve shattered spirits, then give me another bottle of metallic spirit ink!"

"Oh, this..."

After some haggling, the thirteen spirit fragments were finally sold.

Zhou Ling purchased ten sky lanterns, plus a small bottle of spirit ink.

"Kids these days are so clever! So clever!"

Watching Zhou Ling carry ten sky lanterns in his hands and walk away with light steps, Old Man Zhao shook his head helplessly.

Fortunately, this batch of products didn't cost much, so he didn't lose money.

······.

As night fell, Zhou Ling returned home.

The house was quiet; my parents hadn't returned yet.

Zhou Ling placed the lamp in her room and then went to the kitchen to warm up the dinner her mother had prepared.

After a quick meal, I returned to my room.

He picked up the lotus lantern and examined it closely, looking at the three colored patterns on the lantern.

Although he cannot yet fully identify the problem, he possesses a talent for basic analysis.

He quickly found the wrong place.

[You are analyzing three light-colored runes. Basic analysis +1, proficiency in three light-colored runes +1]

"The main problem is the blending of the spiritual ink. If the spiritual ink is not pure enough, the spiritual power cannot be transmitted, and the inscription will become ineffective."

"Luckily, they just gave me a bottle of metallic spirit ink."

Zhou Ling murmured.

These light-colored inscriptions are mainly made of metallic mineral ink, which can be used to generate different colors of light.

Zhou Ling reviewed the document several more times, but the "Elementary Analysis" section did not provide any further prompts.

Zhou Ling was basically certain that the only problem was with the spirit ink.

He then took out the inscription pen and spirit ink, and then arranged the lotus lanterns.

He took another deep breath. After all, this was the first time he had ever drawn inscriptions on an object, and Zhou Ling was a little nervous.

Fortunately, it was only three inscriptions, so it wasn't too difficult for him.

With the addition of [Basic Insight] and [Basic Analysis], he had a clear understanding of this inscription.

Soon, I calmed down.

Moreover, repairing inscriptions is different from drawing inscriptions.

The overall structure of the luminous inscription in front of us is still intact.

The problem was that the ink wasn't mixed evenly enough, causing some patterns to fail.

Once you redraw it with spirit ink, it will be finished.

Of course, this kind of repair requires even more experience and keen eyesight from the weapon refiner, as well as proficiency in inscriptions.

This is something that a weapon-refining apprentice could never do.

The reason Zhou Ling was able to analyze the cause so quickly was mainly due to the support of his two talents.

Zhou Ling carefully held the inscription pen and meticulously drew along the patterns.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Zhou Ling had repaired the inscription.

After checking it carefully again and confirming that there were no problems, she immediately turned on the switch with her little hand.

Suddenly, a bright, rippled blue light emanated from the lotus lantern.

It illuminated the entire room beautifully.

"That's great!" Zhou Ling couldn't help but exclaim.

Repairing this lotus lantern should be enough to sell for at least a dozen spirit fragments.

Upon thinking of this, Zhou Ling instantly felt energized, like he'd been injected with adrenaline, and continued to repair the other sky lanterns.

These ten sky lanterns mostly have two or three inscriptions, with only one having four inscriptions.

After repairing five lamps in a row, Zhou Ling felt a wave of fatigue wash over him.

Half of the spiritual energy in my body has already been consumed.

The only option was to stop, sit cross-legged, and begin cultivating using the Spirit Flame Technique.

[You are absorbing spiritual energy. Spiritual affinity +1, spiritual energy +3]

It took two full cycles of circulation for it to recover.

"Ling'er, time for a midnight snack!"

Just then, her mother's voice came from outside.

Zhou Ling looked up and saw the bright moon hanging high in the sky outside the window.

It was already past midnight, and what Mother was talking about as a midnight snack was actually their dinner.

During holidays, parents are even busier.

"I'll think of something later, see if I can find a part-time job to help my parents out!"

Zhou Ling thought to himself.

Then walked out of the room.

On the wooden table, there was a plate of braised beef, a dish of stir-fried vegetables, a bowl of egg and seaweed soup, and a small dish of fried peanuts.

Zhou Shan had already poured himself a small half bowl of spirit wine and was slowly drinking it.

His untrimmed beard made him look even more weathered.

But he sat upright with bright, piercing eyes.

Zhou Ling knew that there would definitely be some good results today.

Zhou Ling sat down at the table, and Li Ru served him a bowl of soup.

"Ru'er, this jade hairpin is for you!"

At this moment, Zhou Shan took out an exquisitely crafted jade hairpin from his person and handed it to Li Ru, coughing a few times.

Why buy this?

"How many spirit stones did you spend?"

Li Ru paused for a moment, took the jade hairpin, and couldn't help but ask.

Zhou Shan took a sip of wine and said, "This is a mid-grade first-level jade hairpin. It can insulate against fire. I see you spend all your time in the kitchen, exposed to the heat for long periods, which is bad for your health. I've been wanting to buy you one for a while."

"I had a pretty good haul this time in the mountains, so I bought some."

This mid-grade jade hairpin cost him seven low-grade spirit stones.

Although he usually lived frugally, his monthly expenses were only enough to buy some ordinary spirit wine, which didn't cost him much spirit fragments.

But he's willing to spend money on his wife and children.

Feeling the warm scent of the hairpin in her hand, Li Ru pursed her lips, picked up the wine jar, poured Zhou Shan another bowl, and a tender look appeared in her eyes, "If you want to buy something in the future, you have to discuss it with me first."

"The child is still young, and there will be many places where he will need to spend spirit stones in his future cultivation. We should save as much as possible."

"I'm used to the heat in the kitchen, it's nothing serious!"

"Mmm!" Zhou Shan nodded with a smile, picked up a peanut, tossed it into his mouth, and ate it with relish.

"Dad, Mom, I've finished eating! I'm going to my room to sleep now!"

Watching her parents support each other through thick and thin, Zhou Ling felt both warm and somewhat helpless.

Hearing his father say this, he realized how hard his mother's work was.

If it's just general fatigue, then proper rest will allow you to recover.

But if internal heat enters the body, that's a completely different story.

Once the meridians are damaged, it will have a huge impact on cultivation.

It can even invade the lungs and potentially endanger life.

Suddenly, I felt a sense of urgency and hoped that I could become independent as soon as possible.

I don't want my parents to work so hard!

(End of this chapter)