No hope for eternal life

"However, the secret techniques in the secret pavilion in the small town need to be purchased with spirit stones, and each secret technique is not cheap. This is another big problem." Mu Changsheng thought to himself. He had been to the secret pavilion in the town once, but was soon scared away by the prices. Even the cheapest first-grade secret technique cost tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones, which was like robbing spirit stones.

Just when Mu Changsheng was worried about the spirit stones, Yang Wuque suddenly handed Mu Changsheng a storage bag: "This belongs to you."

Mu Changsheng opened the storage bag in a daze, only to find that it was filled with mid-grade spirit stones. For a moment, he couldn't even count how many mid-grade spirit stones there were.

"Sir, your kindness in teaching me is as great as a mountain. I really cannot lend you any more spirit stones." Mu Changsheng quickly pushed the storage bag back. Although he was in urgent need of spirit stones, he remembered that he already owed Yang Wuque a hundred medium-grade spirit stones, which he had not repaid before, so how could he borrow more?

"This is not a loan to you, this is yours." Yang Wuque smiled faintly, "During the time you were away, I helped you mine all the gold and silver stone concentrates that are easier to mine and sold them to the nearest Qihua City. After deducting the one hundred middle-grade spirit stones I lent you, all that is what you deserve."

"So that's how it is." Mu Changsheng suddenly understood and was deeply moved. He could imagine the scene: Yang Wuque, in order to hide it from the townspeople, taught during the day and secretly mined the gold and silver stone concentrate at night, refined it himself, and then secretly sold it, which really ruined the gentleman's image. But Yang Wuque acted as if he didn't care about it.

"It turns out that sir has already planned everything for me." Mu Changsheng was deeply moved. He had just been worrying about the spirit stones, and Yang Wuque had already prepared them for him.

Finally, Yang Wuque waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. I have taught you for three years, and I think I have taught you enough. You can come or not come as you wish."

"If you don't mind, sir, I will practice in this classroom for a while." Mu Changsheng replied with a smile. It was already bright in the day and it was almost time for Yang Wuque to teach. Mu Changsheng said this because he naturally planned to stay and listen to the class.

"It's up to you." Yang Wuque said calmly, turned around, left the classroom temporarily, and entered his own courtyard.

Seeing that Yang Wuque did not refuse, Mu Changsheng immediately sat down to meditate and practice, not willing to waste any time.

Half an hour later, the second student stepped into the classroom, startling Mu Changsheng who was practicing.

Seeing the newcomer, Mu Changsheng was slightly surprised, then smiled and said, "Welcome back, Mu Xun."

The person who came was Mu Xun, who had run away from home to Nansha City before.

Seeing Mu Changsheng was the first one to appear in the classroom, Mu Xun was not surprised, but he did not give Mu Changsheng a good look as he did before. He just nodded slightly and sat down in his seat.

Seeing this, Mu Changsheng didn't say anything more. While waiting for class to start, he thought about his future training in his mind.

After a while, as other students filed in and Yang Wuque returned to the classroom, the class officially began.

"Today, I will give a lecture on encouraging learning." Yang Wuque's warm voice spread throughout the classroom: "A gentleman says: learning should never stop..."

After class, Mu Xun walked home with Mu Changsheng for the first time. Along the way, many people pointed fingers at Mu Changsheng. Although the residents in the town generally did not have high cultivation levels, they were not fools. Almost everyone had heard that Yang Wuque treated Mu Changsheng differently.

In this regard, Mu Changsheng remained calm, watching his eyes and his nose, and not being moved by external things.

"Didn't you dislike Mr. Yang's class before? Today you seem to be extra attentive in class." Mu Xun asked proactively. During class, he often observed Mu Changsheng and found that Mu Changsheng was much more serious in class now.

"That's because I was too superficial before. After I went out for a walk, I understood the profound meaning of every word Mr. Yang said, and naturally I took it more seriously." Mu Changsheng replied. He also remembered what his father Mu Yanggu told him. It doesn't matter if you can't understand some things now. Just remember them first, and maybe they will be useful in the future.

Upon hearing this, Mu Xun looked thoughtful and said nothing more.

After a while, Mu Changsheng and the other person passed a corner and happened to hear three women talking about gossip here.

"Have you heard? The county magistrate has sent people to fence off the barren mountain outside the town. Do you think there are any treasures in that barren mountain?" said a woman while cracking melon seeds.

"Hey, you don't know this, right? I heard that there is a spiritual mine on that mountain, and it was discovered by Mr. Yang. He and the county magistrate split the profit 50-50." Another woman spoke loudly, as if afraid that others couldn't hear her. She felt that Yang Wuque was not as noble as he looked, and she felt indignant.

"I was wondering why Mr. Yang came to our remote village. It turns out he was after the spiritual mine. As expected, there are no good people in this world..."

Mu Changsheng gradually walked away until he could no longer hear the voices of those women. He frowned slightly. It was normal for the barren mountain to be surrounded and discovered, but how could those women know such detailed information about the 50-50 split?

Mu Xun on the other side also heard what the women said and frowned, but his inner thoughts were different from Mu Changsheng's.

"Dong dong clang!" The heavy sound of sword forging came from afar, which also meant that Mu Changsheng and the others were almost home.

When passing by the sword-making shop, Mu Changsheng took the initiative to greet Mu Qun and said, "Hello, Uncle Mu."

After the last chance encounter in Xukai Town, Mu Changsheng had a better impression of Mu Qunxian. In his opinion, he was an elder with a great sense of justice.

"Changsheng is back." Mu Qunxian responded with a smile while swinging the hammer.

After Mu Changsheng entered the house, Mu Xun slowly approached the sword-making shop. He had rushed to Nansha City without saying hello, but ended up getting rejected and felt deeply frustrated. Therefore, after coming back, he went to Yang Wuque's class first and did not go home first, perhaps because he did not know how to face Mu Qun first.

Seeing this, Mu Qunxian didn't say much and just handed the sledgehammer in his hand to Mu Xun.

Mu Xun took the sledgehammer and started swinging it without saying a word, helping Mu Qun forge the sword. He had been swinging this sledgehammer since he was a child and was already very familiar with it.

On the other side, Mu Changsheng returned home and saw his parents still waiting for him in the courtyard, but they both looked refreshed and seemed to have had a good rest.

"You just came back from get out of class, why did you take so long?" Mu's mother Chen Wanru asked with concern.

Mu Changsheng grinned and whispered to the two elders: "Mr. Yang taught me a secret technique."

Yang Wuque did teach him a secret technique, but Mu's mother and father probably couldn't guess the level of that technique no matter what.

Mu Yanggu's eyes lit up instantly when he heard this. If he had already passed on the secret technique, how far would he be from becoming a disciple?

"Okay, okay, you must follow Mr. Yang's guidance in your practice in the future. As for those rumors slandering Mr. Yang, don't believe a single word of it." Mu Yanggu instructed.

"Hehe, don't worry, Dad." Mu Changsheng smiled. How could he believe those rumors? The only thing that worried him was why the content of the rumors was so detailed.

Afterwards, Mu Changsheng asked Mu Yanggu: "Dad, you should go to Qihua City to return the special foundation-building pill, right?"

There were no special-grade foundation-building pills for sale in the town, so Mu Changsheng guessed that the special-grade foundation-building pill that Mu Yanggu bought was most likely from Qihua City.

"You're right. I was planning to set off after you come back." Mu Yanggu nodded. He still owed Mu Qun spirit stones and wanted to pay him back as soon as possible.

"Just in time to help me buy some things on the way." Mu Changsheng said as he handed a piece of paper to Mu Yanggu. The paper was filled with various spiritual objects that he needed to practice the secret technique of the Nine Transformations of the Physical Body.

Mu Yanggu knew that Mu Changsheng had learned the secret technique from Yang Wuque, so it was normal for him to need spiritual objects to assist him in his practice. However, when he took the paper and looked at it, he was immediately shocked: "So many!"