Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 6 Preschool Preparation
After returning home, Li Ru began to stew the fire-patterned chicken.

This Fire-Patterned Chicken is a low-grade first-tier spirit beast, and its meat contains abundant spiritual energy.

It was quite valuable, costing one low-grade spirit stone and fifty fragments of spirit.

When she returned home, Li Ru bought Zhou Shan a jar of spirit wine as a reward.

All things considered, today's expenses have far exceeded Li Ru's budget.

Fortunately, the son found a spirit stone to fill the gap.

At dinner, a large bowl of fragrant chicken soup with flaming patterns was placed on the wooden table.

The marinated chicken in the bowl is light red and has a firm texture.

The soup is rich and clear, with a thin layer of golden oil floating on the surface. It is decorated with some edible herbs, parsley, and other side dishes, as well as some spices.

Full color and flavor.

Zhou Ling couldn't help but swallow hard.

Li Ru only bought this kind of spirit beast meat, which was worth more than one low-grade spirit stone, after two or three months when he had some spirit stones in his pocket.

This kind of spirit beast is raised by cultivators. Its meat is delicate and contains spiritual energy, so it is very expensive. Ordinary rogue cultivators simply cannot afford to eat it.

Li Ru ladled a bowl full of meat broth, tore off two large chicken drumsticks, placed them in front of Zhou Ling, and said with a smile, "Son, eat up!"

He ladled out another bowl, tore off two chicken wings, and placed them in front of Zhou Shan. "Try it and see how it tastes."

Zhou Ling sat on the tall wooden chair that Zhou Shan had specially made for him, picked up a spoon in one hand and a chicken leg in the other, and ate the soup and meat with a bite of soup and a bite of meat. The soup was fresh and the meat was fragrant, without any greasiness.

This is the best food Zhou Ling has ever eaten since she was born.

"delicious!"

Zhou Ling couldn't help but say.

Li Ru smiled and said, "Son, eat more if it's delicious. This chicken is all yours."

"Mommy will buy it for you next month!"

Zhou Shan took the wine jar, poured himself a small bowl of wine, and watched Zhou Ling eat with relish.

He then picked up his chopsticks and placed two chicken wings into Zhou Ling's and Li Ru's bowls respectively, and said with a smile, "You two eat. I often eat monster meat when I'm in the mountains."

"Husband, you should eat some too. The meat from the wild beasts in the mountains can't compare to this spirit beast meat!" Li Ru said with a pained expression as she looked at him.

Zhou Ling also picked up her chopsticks, picked up a chicken wing, stood up, supported herself on the wooden table with one hand, and put the chicken wing back into Zhou Shan's bowl.

"Dad, you should eat more too!"

Seeing his wife and child's concern, Zhou Shan smiled with satisfaction, "My son is so sensible!"

Li Ru picked up a chicken wing and was about to put it in Zhou Ling's bowl, but Zhou Ling pushed it away with both hands and shook his head, saying, "Mom! I've had enough!"

Li Ru could only take the food and put it back in Zhou Shan's bowl, saying softly, "You'll be going into the mountains again in a few days, so eat more!"

"I'm a body cultivator, so eating spirit beast meat won't do me much good. You should eat it!"

The couple started arguing over who should have had the money.

Looking at Zhou Ling, she felt quite helpless, but also warm inside.

[Capturing genuine concern, basic insight +1]

As night fell, the food on the dining table was steaming.

The soft light of the flint lamp cast long, elongated shadows of the three figures.

The whole room is filled with a warm and cozy atmosphere.

After eating the Fire-Patterned Chicken Soup, Zhou Ling's Physique increased by 5 points.

Now, in terms of physical fitness, he is gradually surpassing children of the same age.

······.

Time flies, and another six months have passed. Zhou Ling is now a little over two years old.

As their child grows up, the pressure on Zhou Shan and his wife is increasing.

Rent, monthly food expenses, son's preschool books, etc.

Next, my son will be going to the Taoist academy.

The spiritual root test alone is a considerable expense.

In addition, the Taoist academy's preschool classes also have different levels.

The spiritual energy varies depending on the location of the school.

After discussing it, the couple decided that no matter what spiritual root their child tested positive for, they would send him to a mid-level Taoist class.

The tuition fee is five low-grade spirit stones per month.

They knew that their own child had good talent, and that with proper guidance from a tutor, he would definitely surpass them in the future.

Of course, this is a considerable expense.

Including rent, it already exceeds Zhou Shan's current monthly income. Moreover, there are other expenses for the child attending the Taoist academy.

Although Li Ru had saved up some spirit stones over the years through frugality, the total amount was still considerable.

It won't last long either.

Therefore, Li Ru could only suggest leaving her son at the Taoist temple while she went into the mountains with Zhou Shan to search for medicinal herbs.

Zhou Shan refused outright, as his son was in poor health and needed proper nutrition.

Zhou Shan secretly decided that he could only go deeper into the mountains.

The area they are currently mainly searching for medicinal herbs is only the outer region of Black Cloud Mountain.

If you advance another hundred miles or so, the quantity and quality of the medicinal herbs will be relatively higher.

Of course, the danger is also much higher.

The monsters encountered in the outer areas are generally only early to mid-tier first-order monsters.

If we go any deeper, we'll most likely encounter a late-stage Tier 1 demonic beast.

This is definitely not something he can handle.

However, for the sake of the children, we still have to take this risk.

If a single trip into the mountains yields one or two mid-grade first-level spiritual herbs, that's enough to support the family's expenses.

Zhou Ling's physical condition is not as bad as Zhou Shan thought.

Six months later, his growth rate is as follows:
[Physical constitution, average nutrition (4800/10000)]

As physical fitness improves, the growth value provided by ordinary food becomes extremely limited.

Regarding the talent [physical evolution], it increases with the number of exercises reaching 10,000.

The current state of the effect has also changed.

[Result: A total of 109 boxing practice sessions]

[Cumulative boxing practice: 109/1]

The boxing style he practiced was the Great Yang Technique, which Zhou Shan taught him.

This is also a basic body-refining technique promulgated by the Dao Alliance, which is said to have nine levels.

However, Zhou Shan's cultivation only reached the first level.

[Comprehension: Average (72/100)]

In terms of comprehension, as Zhou Ling finished reading fifty books, his [Immortal Wisdom Root] was successfully activated.

Over the past six months, there has been a significant improvement.

This also greatly improved Zhou Ling's reading efficiency when reading some ancient books.

It's worth mentioning that his [Treasure Hunting] talent has been further enhanced.

The range of sensing the treasure reached seven or eight zhang.

A few days ago, he went out with his mother.

As he passed by a bridge, he unexpectedly sensed that there was treasure by the river.

He could only pretend to be curious and go to the river to catch fish.

Li Ru also went along with his wishes and took him to play by the river.

Then Zhou Ling unexpectedly found another low-grade magic weapon, the Black Gold Hammer.

This made Li Ru extremely happy.

Although they can't use this black gold hammer, it's still a low-grade magic weapon worth over ten spirit stones.

After returning home, Li Ru gave Zhou Ling an extra meal by buying a fire-patterned chicken.

As for the black gold hammer, Zhou Shan was tasked with finding a way to sell it.

After this incident, Li Ru almost always took her son with her when she went out.

The child is incredibly lucky!

······.

"Husband, the child is going to the Taoist academy to test his spiritual roots tomorrow. Are you nervous?"

After dinner, Li Ru asked nervously.

"Don't worry, Ling'er is like you, her spiritual root should be quite good."

"If you don't have spiritual roots, then just follow me and cultivate your body!"

Zhou Shan took a sip of wine and offered words of comfort.

(End of this chapter)