"An iron pickaxe for five thousand? You're robbing me!"

The Gatekeeper confidently replied, "What are you talking about? This is an iron pickaxe engraved with magical runes, a semi-finished spiritual artifact. Charging you five thousand is a steal for you."

"Don't think I don't know the market price."

An iron pickaxe engraved with magical runes usually costs between two to three thousand on the market.

Without blushing or skipping a beat, the Gatekeeper said, "If you have the ability, just don't lose it!"

Li Cunxu wasn't too bothered by this, having gained a lot on this trip, he was suddenly less short on money.

Of course, this amount of money is still not enough when compared to high-level resources.

Moreover, the Gatekeeper did indeed remind him not to lose it, so he was at fault first.

The Gatekeeper said, "We can purchase ore here as well, no worries! We're fair and pay the market purchasing price."

Li Cunxu thought for a moment and shook his head.

This time, his gains were only gold nuggets, silver ore, and iron ore.

The silver ore and iron ore were both needed to increase the population of Silver Slime and Iron Slime.

The gold nuggets, he also intended to use for mutating Slime.

Using gold nuggets to mutate Slime is a no-loss business.

If the mutation succeeds, a Golden Slime will drop refined gold nuggets when it dies.

If the mutation fails, it doesn't matter, as the gold element is a very stable metallic element. The digestive ability barely absorbs the gold element, and any material that cannot be absorbed will be naturally expelled by the Slime's body.

The Gatekeeper said, "Then you have to return the spatial backpack within two days."

"Okay."

Returning to the ranch, Li Cunxu went down into the cellar and dumped out a pile of ores; the ore piled up like a small mountain.

For safety, the silver ore and gold nuggets were placed in a separate location.

Li Cunxu was very careful, knowing full well the skill and danger of thieves in this world.

The moon hung high, and Li Cunxu, Xiaoruan, and Yiyi stealthily snuck into the tunnel beneath the bedroom.

"Xiaoruan, collect the tax!"

The soul tax arrived, and the soul grew rapidly.

The mental tax arrived, and the spiritual power grew rapidly.

The physical tax arrived, and the strength of the body grew rapidly.

Xiaoruan swallowed the Small Fruit and shrank in size; then it grew bigger and even larger than before.

The passage of the tunnel couldn't accommodate its body, so Li Cunxu promptly retrieved Xiaoruan to the Beast Taming Space.

The spiritual ability tax arrived, and the spiritual energy exploded in growth.

Additionally, there were six more attributes.

Normal (attribute-less spiritual energy, from Mini Slime), Fire, Ice, Wind, Gold, Spirit.

The skill experience tax arrived.

Xiaoruan learned to shrink, Fireball, Waterball, Wind Blade, make an iron pickaxe, excavation, Ironification, Silver Sword.

Waterball breakthrough four times, Grass Blade breakthrough four times...

Charge breakthrough seven times.

Charge, this skill has no technical threshold, too easy for Slime to learn. All attribute Slimes, as long as it is used in front of them a few times, they can learn it.

Fireball: Two times breakthrough.

Wind Blade: Breakthrough.

Ironification: Mastered.

Silver Sword: Beginner.

...

Li Cunxu released Xiaoruan again; it had restored its normal weight by shrinking using its skills.

Xiaoruan's strength surged dramatically, but its biological level didn't change, still at Black Iron level five...

The last tax collection was the same; the strength increased, but the biological level didn't change.

"You've grown hands."

Li Cunxu remarked in surprise, seeing Xiaoruan grow two round little hands like the Miner Slime.

Receiving the feedback from Xiaoruan's power-up, a warm flow softly strengthened his body in all aspects.

His hands and feet became more powerful, his vision brighter...

The spiritual power also surged, but it still didn't break through to Black Iron intermediate, which made Li Cunxu realize there might be an issue.

So much spiritual power should be enough to break through Black Iron intermediate three times, yet it hasn't; something must be wrong.

Either there's a problem with himself, or there's an issue with the Vast Sea Meditation Technique he's practicing.

Who should he ask for help to check?

Sister Chen Xi?

After reaching out to Chen Xi, she seemed busy, never responding to the message.

Li Cunxu had to find his homeroom teacher, Mei Rufeng, and they arranged to meet at a café.

In a rarely passed narrow alley, an old-fashioned café was hidden there. Pushing open the carved wooden door, Li Cunxu stepped into a simple and cozy space, with wooden tables and chairs emitting a faint scent of sandalwood, and black and white old photos hanging on the walls, recording the past days of Tongdu.

Mei Rufeng sat by the window with a cup of steaming coffee in front of her. The oblique sunlight outside the window cast a gentle golden edge on her profile. Upon seeing Li Cunxu arrive, her pretty face immediately cooled, with a hint of vigilance in her eyes.

She had no fondness for a student who had once threatened her with her daughter.

"What do you want from me? Let me say first, you said last time you'll apply for 'home study,' so you can't use that to threaten me again."

Mei Rufeng was very wary about Li Cunxu suddenly finding her.

Li Cunxu softly said, "Teacher Feng, don't be nervous, I just want you to help me check my body."

"Dream on, I won't submit to you."

Mei Rufeng's face flushed red, and she spoke through gritted teeth.

???

Li Cunxu had a face full of confusion. When he saw Mei Rufeng's flushed face, he immediately understood she misunderstood the 'body check.'

"I can't break through to Black Iron Intermediate in spiritual power and want you to help check it."

So that's what it was.

Mei Rufeng breathed a sigh of relief.

"Teacher Feng, no need to be so wary of me. It's impossible for your daughter never to exhibit the Eye of Medusa. We might have opportunities to cooperate in the future."

Upon hearing this, Mei Rufeng's expression eased a little.

"Alright, I'll give you a check."

Like an old Chinese doctor checking a pulse, Li Cunxu placed a hand on the table, and Mei Rufeng placed two fingers on his pulse, using spiritual power to examine Li Cunxu's spiritual form.

"Strange, you have such a large amount of spiritual power yet haven't broken through the Black Iron level."

"Is there a problem with my body?"

"I don't see anything. What meditation method are you practicing?"

Li Cunxu unfolded the Angry Sea Storm Diagram.

"The Vast Sea Meditation Technique, you're practicing this?" Mei Rufeng's eyes widened, and she exclaimed.

"Yes."

"Has no one told you that the Vast Sea Meditation Technique is a pitfall? Practicing it will make your spiritual power as vast as the sea, with a spiritual sea ten times larger than other meditation methods, but the difficulty of breakthrough is also tenfold."

Li Cunxu took a deep breath; as long as it was possible to break through, he wasn't worried about the tenfold increase in difficulty, as he had pet beast feedback.

With Xiaoruan's tax collection and Xiaoyi's fate points, as long as they provided sufficient feedback, none of it would be a problem.

After bidding farewell to Mei Rufeng, Li Cunxu returned the spatial backpack.

"By the way, when I was mining, I discovered a small blood pool composed of Blood Cultist corpses in the secret mining realm."

He then relayed the location and features near the small blood pool to the Gatekeeper for him to search.

Upon hearing this, the Gatekeeper's expression turned serious.

"I'll check this out immediately, why didn't you mention it yesterday?"

"I forgot."

"Anything related to Blood Cultists is no small matter; don't forget next time."

Li Cunxu realized, anything related to Blood Cultists is no small matter, though it didn't seem serious to him; how could he have forgotten this incident until now?

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