At dawn, the eastern sky turned the color of a fish’s belly.
The various sounds of lingering intimacy that had filled the small house hours ago had long since vanished, replaced only by the rhythmic chirping of cicadas from the untended tree growing willfully in the courtyard.
Cultivators did not truly need sleep; meditation was enough to offset fatigue. However, if one wished to rest like a mortal, sleep was not forbidden. Nie Shiyun had still not entirely adjusted to the habits of the cultivation world, such as abstaining from food and rest. Just as he often sought out spiritual food to satisfy his palate, he occasionally took a nap like an ordinary person.
Not to mention, after such a passionate encounter, Nie Shiyun was currently in a light slumber, his hand resting over the quilt atop Zhai Bairong’s body. He could feel the frequency of the other man’s breathing through his fingertips.
Perhaps because both had gone without release for too long, their reckless indulgence had lasted until daybreak, and they had only just settled down a short while ago.
The body beneath his hand stirred. Nie Shiyun’s eyelashes fluttered in his light sleep, but he did not open his eyes. Listening to the sounds, he knew Zhai Bairong was getting up. The other man very gently moved Nie Shiyun’s hand back onto the bed, followed by the rustling of fabric—Zhai Bairong was likely picking up the clothes that had been tossed aside the previous night.
*They must be quite wrinkled by now...* Nie Shiyun thought to himself.
It didn't take long before Zhai Bairong was presumably fully dressed. He walked straight to the door and pushed it open. Before stepping out, he seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second. After a long pause, he left behind a single sentence: "I apologize for the intrusion yesterday," before quickly vanishing.
Nie Shiyun was taken aback and opened his eyes, hearing the sound of Zhai Bairong’s hurried footsteps receding into the distance.
*If you knew I was faking sleep, you should have just said so.*
Last time, they had come to blows immediately after finishing; this time, he had made a clean getaway. Nie Shiyun shook his head helplessly. His experiences in this department were truly different from the norm.
The sky brightened rapidly. Before long, the room was filled with beams of morning sunlight filtering through the paper windows, illuminating the space. Without the cover of night and the scent of wine, the intimate atmosphere of the previous evening was like a popped bubble—gone without a trace.
Nie Shiyun stretched and rose from the bed. He estimated that he probably wouldn't see Zhai Bairong for at least a few days.
His mind was flooded with a thousand thoughts as he tried to untangle the events of last night, but the more he thought, the messier it became. Unable to make sense of it, he simply set it aside. After meditating for a while to calm his mind, he went to the front to open the shop.
He had been closed all yesterday afternoon, and it turned out some customers had actually come by only to find the door shut. They returned early the next morning. Nie Shiyun offered apologies with his mouth while collecting money with his hands, not missing a beat.
Just as Nie Shiyun expected, after their "second" night of passion, Zhai Bairong was nowhere to be found for several days—perhaps unsure of how to face Nie Shiyun, or perhaps unsure of how to face himself.
Nie Shiyun took out the Yangliu Sword. He wasn't worried about the man disappearing forever; the priest can run, but the temple remains, right?
After some thought over the past few days, Nie Shiyun decided to try using the Ink Crystal. Firstly, no matter how much the Yangliu Sword was upgraded, it was still only a Dharma treasure for Foundation Establishment cultivators. If Zhai Bairong truly couldn't break through his bottleneck, there was naturally nothing to worry about. If he did manage to break through, the Yangliu Sword would eventually be replaced anyway, so it posed no threat.
Having weighed his options, Nie Shiyun began researching how to combine the Yangliu Sword with the Ink Crystal. He had only used Ink Crystal to forge small Dharma treasures before. This material was very temperamental; once heated, it would melt rapidly and then solidify almost immediately. Once molded, it could not be reworked. If he slipped up, the Dharma treasure itself would be ruined along with the material. The cracks on the Yangliu Sword were narrow, long, and extremely irregular. Nie Shiyun didn't want to destroy the item instead of repairing it. Not only was his reputation as a smith at stake, but as a man... he simply didn't want to lose face in front of someone he had been intimate with.
He wasn't in a hurry to start immediately. He planned to practice with other materials first and wait until Zhai Bairong reappeared to ask for his opinion.
Most people would never allow outsiders to watch them perform alchemy or smithing, as these were considered trade secrets. However, Nie Shiyun had set up a small workbench in the shop. He usually tinkered with small gadgets in front of customers, performing simple tasks at the front desk while saving his unique techniques for the forging room. Although it was just a common trick to attract customers, many people—both in his previous world and this cultivation world—fell for it. In particular, some young cubs would come over to watch him fiddle with things when they were bored. Once they became familiar with him, they would affectionately call him "Boss Nie" or "Master Nie," completely forgetting the fear they had when he first opened the shop and they treated him like a monster.
"No candy today?!"
Just as he sent off the previous customer, the group of brats arrived. Nie Shiyun occasionally made food for himself in the small kitchen and would sometimes recreate snacks he remembered from Earth, like nougat or preserved plum candy. Once these brats discovered them, they wouldn't leave him alone.
Initially, when he was in a good mood, he would give them a few for free. In Nie Shiyun’s eyes, it was like feeding small animals. Gradually, these cubs started coming too often, so he simply started selling them for five spirit stones a piece.
Later, he discovered that these little demon brats were reselling them outside for eight spirit stones. It made him both angry and amused, though in the end, he didn't actually do anything to the children.
"None today," Nie Shiyun said bluntly. He had been very busy lately and had no time to make candy.
"Ehhh—" The group of kids wailed in disappointment.
"Come on, make way."
Nie Shiyun stepped out from behind the counter, moving around the children. The previous customer had just bought a ready-made Soul-Stilling Hammer from the shelf. Human cultivators mostly used swords; sabers, staves, ropes, and whips were also common. However, slightly cumbersome treasures like hammers and axes were generally unpopular. Nie Shiyun had recently discovered that these heavy weapons were quite sought after among demon cultivators. Many large demon beasts, such as brown bears and tigers, preferred these after taking human form.
Thus, a few days ago, while practicing with Ink Crystal, he had forged a Meteor Hammer. Perhaps because he was in the zone, the finished product turned out even better than expected. Although it looked a bit exaggerated, its eye-catching effect was top-tier. Nie Shiyun had very satisfiedly placed it on the shelf.
"Then when will there be candy again?"
Nie Shiyun looked helpless and gave a casual answer: "I don't know. Maybe next month."
Looking back, he was startled. The person in front of him wasn't one of the usual brats, but a strikingly tall, half-grown lad. He must have entered while Nie Shiyun was arranging the shelf. Nie Shiyun hadn't sensed him at all, which meant the boy's cultivation was actually higher than his own.
The youth looked to be about twelve or thirteen, still possessing a lingering childishness, but he was clearly past the age where he should be asking for candy. Combined with the setting, it looked a bit comical.
"I heard they sell candy here."
Nie Shiyun’s forehead was lined with black streaks. "No, this is a smithy... though I do occasionally sell some snacks, it's just to tease those kids."
the group of demon beast cubs burst into giggles. The youth’s face turned bright red, and he suddenly whirled toward them. "Hey! You little brats dared to lie to me!"
"You're the brat!"
"So scary, so scary!"
"The country bumpkin deserves to be tricked—!"
The demon cubs shouted and scattered, disappearing in an instant.
Feeling Nie Shiyun’s questioning gaze, the youth looked even more embarrassed. He explained dryly, "I’m from a small village. I saw those kids hawking candy at the city gate earlier, so I bought some out of curiosity... I’ve never eaten anything like that before! I thought it was interesting, and they told me they bought it here..."
Nie Shiyun’s lip twitched. "I knew it. Those kids are nothing but trouble."
He brushed off his robes, thinking that the next time he encountered those little rascals, he would have to give them a proper lesson—though he had said that many times and never actually laid a hand on them.
"It's Ink Crystal! A Meteor Hammer made of Ink Crystal, I've never seen one before! It's so beautiful."
"Oh? You actually recognize Ink Crystal."
"Of course, I like smithing too! I saw this material once in my tribe when I was little." The youth’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the weapon. "Say, do you have any spare Ink Crystal? I want to make a weapon for myself too!"
Nie Shiyun was somewhat surprised. The youth before him looked young, and Nie had assumed he wouldn't be much more sensible than the previous group of kids. But on second thought, many demon beasts were mentally young while their actual age often exceeded his own. He stopped being dismissive and asked seriously, "You know how to forge? This Ink Crystal is not easy to refine. A slight mistake will destroy the material along with the treasure."
The youth choked. "I... I don't know how yet, but I'll definitely learn in the future."
Nie Shiyun thought to himself: *So he's just a greenhorn—no, a kid who hasn't even crossed the threshold yet but has grand ambitions.*
"Do you know the market price of Ink Crystal?"
The youth shook his head blankly.
"A whole piece is fifty thousand spirit stones. If you only want small scraps, the smallest... maybe ten thousand would be enough."
Hearing Nie Shiyun’s quote, the youth clearly fell into a daze of "this unit of measurement is beyond my comprehension." He opened his coin pouch and counted the spirit stones inside. Nie Shiyun couldn't see how much he had, but for a child who didn't even have a storage bracelet, one could guess how much was in his wallet.
Seeing the youth’s face turn ashen, Nie Shiyun was uncharacteristically polite to a customer who couldn't pay. "You might as well wait until you become a smith and earn some money before considering buying such high-quality materials. Haste makes waste. For a smith, building a solid foundation is the most important thing."
It was unclear if the youth took the advice to heart; perhaps he was still immersed in the shock that "things outside the village can cost tens of thousands." He cast a lingering, reluctant look at the various Dharma treasures on the shelves before leaving in disappointment.
Nie Shiyun didn't expect to actually do business with him in the future; he had only offered a few words of comfort because the boy seemed to truly admire the profession of a smith.
Finally walking back behind the counter to sit at his workbench, the sensing wind chime hanging at the shop entrance rang again. Nie Shiyun let out a long sigh. Today truly was a day without a moment's rest.
He looked up—this time, it was indeed the person who was supposed to come.
"Business is that good?"
Zhai Bairong looked at Nie Shiyun’s exhausted sighing form and found it somewhat novel.
"Not at all," Nie Shiyun waved his hand, sounding quite helpless. "Just some brats with no spirit stones and a mountain of questions."
Having not visited for several days, the shelves of the shop had been updated with many new Dharma tools. Zhai Bairong looked around before walking to the counter. Nie Shiyun teased, "Finally remembered your things? You slipped away so early that morning, I thought you were planning to leave the Yangliu Sword with me as an overnight fee."
Zhai Bairong let out two sharp, hurried coughs. "What is Fellow Daoist Nie talking about? I drank a bit too much that day and don't remember."
"Oh, right, of course. You were drunk," Nie Shiyun repeated with feigned seriousness.
"...Let us speak of serious matters."
Seeing the touch of indignation in Zhai Bairong’s expression, Nie Shiyun knew when to push and when to pull. He immediately fell silent, adopted a serious face, and took out the Yangliu Sword and the Ink Crystal.
