HPMC Chapter 8

After laughing, Mu Zirun calmly examined his new residence.  

It was roughly thirty square meters in size, divided into inner and outer rooms, with the outer room being about twice as large as the inner one.  

The inner room had a stone bed that felt warm and smooth to the touch—a type of unique jade, certainly no ordinary material. On the floor was a meditation cushion, also made from some peculiar material. Nearby stood a wardrobe that almost reached the ceiling. Opening it revealed several layers of clothes and neatly arranged storage compartments.  

The outer room contained antique-style tables and chairs, emitting a faint, refreshing fragrance. A single whiff cleared the mind, offering some benefit for cultivation. To the right was a large screen, partitioning off about a third of the outer room. Behind it were a desk, a bookcase, and a soft couch for resting. Aside from these, there were no other decorations.  

Overall, the setup didn’t seem like a place for a mere servant.  From Mu Zirun’s perspective, even the young masters of wealthy mortal families might not enjoy such treatment. But then again, he was now in a cultivation world, so such a tasteful and elegant residence wasn’t too surprising.  

After looking around, Mu Zirun walked straight to the study area behind the screen and sat down on a wooden chair.  He then placed the storage pouch, jade talisman, and token Yu Tianze had given him on the table.  Now, it was time to sort through his belongings. Mu Zirun opened the storage pouch first, reaching in and pulling out items one by one.  

Thirty-five assorted jade bottles;  

Eight custom-made cultivation robes;  

Twenty-nine low-grade magical artifacts;  

Eleven mid-grade magical artifacts;  

Three high-grade magical artifacts;  

Eighteen bolts of enchanted silk;  

Three rolls each of Five Elements silkworm thread;  

Two hundred high-grade spirit stones.  

Wait, something’s off here. This seems a bit too much…  

As Mu Zirun looked at what was supposedly the “monthly allowance” for a Nascent Soul-stage cultivator, he spread his palm to reveal a dark, rectangular object. It was about a foot long and half a foot wide, shaped almost like a tablet. This “tablet” was something Mu Zirun had discovered by chance after transmigrating. Its form was familiar, and its functions were simple. Yet, without a doubt, it was Mu Zirun’s unique golden finger, the foundation of his survival before meeting Yu Tianze.  

Touching the screen with his finger, five squares appeared on the “tablet.”  

The first was “Decompose.”  

Mu Zirun had tested it before. He once placed a low-grade spirit stone on the ground in front of the “tablet” and pressed this square.  A beam of light shot from the square, enveloping the spirit stone. After about three seconds, a surge of dense spiritual energy burst forth, creating a brief shockwave of air before dissipating. All that remained on the ground was a dull, transparent stone-like object.  Clearly, the “tablet” had decomposed the spirit stone into pure spiritual energy and an expended storage medium. When Mu Zirun decomposed the transparent stone again, after another three seconds, it turned into a dust-like substance.  

The second square was “Synthesize.”  

At the time, Mu Zirun pressed this square while aiming it at the dust-like substance. After three seconds and another flash of light, it turned back into a transparent stone. He then tried saying “absorb spiritual energy” while pressing the square—sure enough, faint currents of air swirled around. But this time, it took a full half-hour for the spirit stone to fully restore. He deduced that the time required was influenced by the concentration of spiritual energy in the surroundings.  

After many more experiments, he essentially understood the principle of synthesis.  

As long as he knew the formula and could obtain materials containing the required elements, he could synthesize whatever he wanted—this was practically cheating!  

Imagine taking the materials needed to refine a certain type of pill and using this synthesis function. Wouldn’t that allow him to obtain the pill without needing any alchemy skills? The same applied to artifact refining, talisman creation… anything he desired, as long as he could acquire the necessary components.  

Next was the “Appraise” square, which allowed for in-depth analysis, another powerful cheat ability. For instance, if Mu Zirun scanned an unnamed cultivation technique, the square would provide all information about it, including cultivation methods and comprehension. At that point, even an idiot would know how to cultivate it. If he scanned an unknown material, the square would detail its composition, uses, advantages, and drawbacks.  

Following that was the “Query” square, which complemented the “Synthesize” square.  

Mu Zirun once tried inputting “Fasting Pill,” and the “tablet” displayed extensive text detailing the pill’s origins, formula, refining methods, and even substitute herbs. Before meeting Yu Tianze, Mu Zirun had planned to search for herbs in the forests outside the sect to synthesize Fasting Pills and save a significant amount of money. However, before he could find the herbs, he encountered Yu Tianze…  

This function also had limitations: the queried information had to be either common knowledge or recorded somewhere, and the query terms had to be precise. This tested Mu Zirun’s own meticulousness.  

The final square was aptly named “Deduction.”  

If Mu Zirun wanted to learn a sword technique, he could first use “Query” to obtain the moves, then use “Deduction” to see demonstrations of those moves by cultivators of various cultivation levels. The limitation was that the demonstrators could only be deceased or ascended immortals—not those still living in the same world as Mu Zirun.  

In summary, with this “tablet,” unless Mu Zirun was an incurable fool, he was bound to carve out his own path. With a golden finger that practically functioned as a golden thigh, merely gathering materials was already a breeze. So, after understanding the uses of this… divine artifact, exchange device, or simply calling it a “system,” Mu Zirun felt as if he’d been struck by a massive stroke of luck. He began formulating a series of plans for his future cultivation journey.  

But now, having been taken in as a servant by Yu Tianze and generously provided with resources, Mu Zirun felt his plans could be even more comprehensive, and his goals could be achieved more quickly. Thus, Mu Zirun had already used “Query” to learn about the monthly allowances for cultivators of all levels in the sect, including those for Nascent Soul-stage experts. The spirit stones, silkworm threads, enchanted silk, and custom-made cultivation robes were all as expected, but the pills and magical artifacts exceeded the reference values provided by the system.  

But if these were leftovers from the past, they seemed insufficiently abundant? After some thought, Mu Zirun guessed that the shortage was likely because Yu Tianze had previously offered most of his resources to Mingyuan Zhenren. Even Mu Zirun, upon hearing of Yu Tianze’s formidable reputation, had also heard that Mingyuan Zhenren was the only one who could control him, along with Mingyuan’s reputation for purity and kindness… Thinking about it, this wasn’t surprising.  

However, upon realizing this, Mu Zirun’s feelings toward Mingyuan Zhenren grew somewhat complicated. While it might have been a case of willing giver and willing receiver… excluding this month’s allowance, the remaining items in the storage pouch were pitifully few. It seemed Yu Tianze had given almost everything to Mingyuan over the decades, keeping only a small portion for his own use.  

Moreover, Mingyuan Zhenren was known for his generosity toward juniors and frequent rewards… After observing the straightforward, simple, and blunt peak lord and contrasting his poor reputation with Mingyuan’s excellent one, something felt off. A Golden Core-stage cultivator couldn’t possibly have enough resources to be so lavish. It was clear that Mingyuan’s generosity largely came from Yu Tianze’s contributions. Meanwhile, Yu Tianze was labeled “temperamental.” Regardless of whether Yu Tianze truly had a bad temper, Mu Zirun personally found him rather interesting.  

Especially since Mingyuan Zhenren, as a master, couldn’t provide much for his disciple due to his own limitations. While accepting a disciple’s offerings could reflect a deep master-disciple bond, nearly emptying his disciple’s storage pouch while building his own good reputation without helping clear his disciple’s name… Was he truly sincere toward Yu Tianze?  

Mu Zirun’s expression turned odd. He wondered: Yu Tianze had never moved out before, but recently did so, gave this month’s entire allowance to him, a mere servant, and declared that future allowances would also be collected by him… Had Yu Tianze realized something?  

If that were the case…  

Clearing his throat gently, Mu Zirun smiled warmly. With a little testing, he would know how to handle encounters with Mingyuan Zhenren in the future.  Then, Mu Zirun stored all the items from the storage pouch in the wardrobe. From the low-grade magical artifacts, he picked out four or five less useful ones to exchange for spirit stones—not for any other reason, but because high-grade spirit stones were currently unusable for him. Their spiritual energy was too dense, and a slight mishap could rupture his meridians.  

To draw spiritual energy into his body, he would need spirit stones. Additionally, Mu Zirun planned to gather some ingredients. Since his boss was generous with rewards, shouldn’t he strive to please his boss? Currently, there wasn’t much for him to do here. Even cleaning the palace was unnecessary—he had already noticed that the place was completely dust-free. “Taking care” of it was merely a formality, not an actual task.  

Having made up his mind, he stood up and walked to the study Yu Tianze had mentioned. The study was large, and the techniques for commanding spirit beasts were placed on the desk—simple incantations. Without spiritual energy yet, Mu Zirun could only recite these incantations aloud. Once he gained spiritual energy, a mere thought would suffice to command the spirit beasts.  

For now, he had to go to the mountainside to summon them. After soaking in the spiritual spring, Mu Zirun’s physical condition had improved slightly, making the descent less exhausting. Hanging the token around his neck, he leisurely made his way to the mountainside. Just as he was about to recite the incantation to summon the spirit beasts…  

Unexpectedly, before he could utter a word, three short shadows swiftly approached, stopping just below the mountainside.  

“Reporting…”  

“Mingyuan Zhenren has a message.”  

“These humble servants  request an audience with the master.”  

Mu Zirun raised an eyebrow, intrigued.  Speak of the devil… Why not take this opportunity to test the waters?

 

---

Couldn’t leave you on an odd number☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

As usual, lemme know of any errors<3