Since Xiao Fei's cultivation broke through to the third level of Qi Refining and he gained divine sense, it was as if a new world had opened up to him.
He enjoyed using his divine sense to investigate everything he saw.
An ant crawling by his foot would have its gender checked with divine sense.
The vegetables Huang Feifei bought back would be magnified and examined with curiosity using his divine sense.
When he went to the market today, he also bought a few pieces of floral cloth for Huang Feifei, feeling that she didn't have enough clothes.
As he walked back into the inn carrying the floral cloth, the shopkeeper with the small, bean-like eyes was still holding his golden rat. A rare look of kindness flickered in those bean-like eyes.
Xiao Fei directed his divine sense towards the space between the golden rat's hind legs. He had never paid attention before, did rats have penises?
However, before his divine sense could even touch the golden rat, the shopkeeper's bean-like eyes widened, and a powerful divine sense surged out like a stormy tide, pressing directly down on Xiao Fei.
Instantly, Xiao Fei felt as if he were being crushed by Mount Tai, or as if he were in the deep sea thousands of meters below, surrounded by immense pressure.
Xiao Fei was covered in sweat, veins bulging, his eyes protruding as if they would explode at any moment.
Since entering Star Moon Immortal City, this was the first time Xiao Fei had truly experienced the terrifying power of a high-level cultivator.
At this moment, he could feel that if the shopkeeper wanted to kill him, it would be effortless.
Fortunately, he had no intention of killing him. After only a few breaths, the pressure on Xiao Fei eased, and the powerful force receded like the tide.
Xiao Fei collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. He was still confused; they usually joked around without issue, so why was the shopkeeper so furious today?
It was only today that he realized this seemingly slovenly, unremarkable old man was actually a master in disguise.
"Brat! Do you know what you did wrong?"
At this moment, the shopkeeper's expression was stern, much like a parent who had severely punished their child before lecturing them.
Xiao Fei observed his expression and saw that the shopkeeper merely intended to teach him a lesson.
"Is it time to raise the rent?"
The shopkeeper's eyes widened, and the powerful pressure from before surged towards him again like a tide.
However, it was much gentler this time. Xiao Fei could clearly feel a brazen divine sense roaming all over him.
His own divine sense was too weak to resist the other's probing. After this sweep, the shopkeeper could count every single hair on his body.
"How does it feel to be probed by divine sense?"
As the shopkeeper spoke, his divine sense continued to roam freely over Xiao Fei.
"I will give you a lesson today."
"In the cultivation world, everyone has their own secrets. Even brothers should not pry into them."
"Even more so, you must not scan others with your divine sense. This is a highly taboo and impolite act."
"Especially probing cultivators with higher cultivation than you with divine sense can bring about your own demise."
After finishing his words, the shopkeeper retracted his divine sense.
Xiao Fei quickly got up and bowed deeply to the shopkeeper. Although the shopkeeper's methods were rough, he was truly acting for his own good.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior!"
"You have just begun on the path of cultivation. Besides cultivating in seclusion, you should also venture out. At least know the common sense of cultivation to avoid making such a low-level mistake again."
Then, the shopkeeper offered some advice on cultivation matters, which greatly benefited Xiao Fei.
His cultivation process had been entirely self-taught, and he had inevitably made some misinterpretations along the way.
While these errors were not yet apparent in the early stages, they could become irreversible over time.
From this day forward, whenever Xiao Fei encountered difficulties in his cultivation, he would seek guidance from the shopkeeper.
Xiao Fei had no idea what his esteemed senior, the shopkeeper, truly was.
However, problems that Xiao Fei couldn't figure out even after racking his brain were often clarified by the shopkeeper in just a few words, leaving Xiao Fei with a feeling of sudden enlightenment.
Xiao Fei sometimes lamented privately that his rent of two taels of silver per day was incredibly worthwhile, and that the shopkeeper was truly a model of conscience in the service industry.
It was a shame, though, that the inn's business was quite poor, with only Xiao Fei and Huang Feifei as guests for most of the time.
Under the guidance of the expert, Xiao Fei's cultivation had been steadily progressing, but he had run out of spirit stones.
Most of the 68 spirit stones he had obtained last time had gone into Lin Dagou's pocket.
Furthermore, his cultivation required absorbing spiritual energy from spirit stones, otherwise, his progress would be extremely slow.
He had used up the last spirit stone today and needed to find a way to earn more.
The grains planted in his spatial dimension could be harvested about once every half a month. Three mu of land could yield over 1000 catties per harvest. After consuming some himself, he could save about 2000 catties per month.
In two months, he had saved another 4000 catties of grain in his spatial dimension.
Xiao Fei spent three days selling this grain at the previous price, earning 23 spirit stones.
In Star Moon City, earning ten spirit stones per month on average was a level of income that could surpass half of the Qi Refining cultivators.
However, his burdens were also heavy; his second sister had not yet been redeemed.
Moreover, Doctor Huang had entrusted his granddaughter to him, naturally hoping that Huang Feifei could embark on the path of cultivation by following him.
One day, after they finished dinner, Huang Feifei was about to clear the dishes when Xiao Fei stopped her.
"Feifei, wait a moment. I have something to ask you."
"What is it?" Huang Feifei sat down again.
"Your Huang family ancestors were also cultivators. Did they not leave behind any cultivation techniques or similar items for their descendants?"
Logically, if she had cultivation techniques, Huang Feifei could have cultivated in Qingyang Town without waiting until now.
"I heard my grandfather say that the ancestors originally left several cultivation techniques and books.
However, after several family upheavals, most of the books were lost, leaving only a few medical texts.
One of them, as you have already seen, and another jade slip, though I don't know what it is."
Huang Feifei did not hide anything from Xiao Fei and told him everything.
"If you wish to see them, you may take them."
As she spoke, Huang Feifei got up and retrieved a large bundle from under her bed.
Upon unwrapping it, it revealed a pile of women's personal clothing.
From beneath this pile of personal clothing, Huang Feifei unearthed another small bundle wrapped in cloth.
After unwrapping the small bundle, several books and a jade slip were revealed.
If Doctor Huang had witnessed this scene, he would have been so angry that he would have died.
He had repeatedly instructed her that even though she was following Xiao Fei, she should still be cautious and not casually reveal these items.
Especially the jade slip, which contained important information about their Huang family, should never be shown to others.
And yet, after such a short time, Huang Feifei had forgotten his instructions and presented everything to Xiao Fei.
Alas! Why can't women be more mindful?
But Huang Feifei felt no sense of violating ancestral wishes at this moment, laying everything out before Xiao Fei.
Since Huang Feifei had offered them to him, Xiao Fei did not stand on ceremony. He picked up a book, the cover of which read "Basic Elixir Formulas."
After a brief perusal, he saw that it contained various medicinal recipes, some using ordinary herbs and others using spiritual herbs.
Doctor Huang could cure almost any serious external injury, likely by learning these formulas.
Xiao Fei also found several formulas for strengthening the foundation and invigorating the body within the elixir formulas, which should be helpful for his cultivation and could be tried later.
He also looked through the other books one by one; they were all about treating illnesses, saving people, and treating injuries, which he could read in his leisure time.
Only the jade slip, which Xiao Fei held for a long time, yielded no discernible results.
He had heard that some high-level cultivation information was stored in jade slips and could only be viewed using divine sense.
However, when Xiao Fei attempted to probe it with his divine sense, he was blocked by a gentle force.
After several attempts to enter it failed, he had to give up for the time being.
"You can keep this jade slip for now. I'll borrow these books to read for a few days."
Xiao Fei returned the jade slip to Huang Feifei and then took out his own cultivation technique, "Evergreen Skill."
"This is the cultivation technique I practice. Take it and try to cultivate.
If you have any questions, you can ask me, or you can ask the shopkeeper."
"Okay, thank you, Young Master!"
Huang Feifei happily thanked Xiao Fei as she took his "Evergreen Skill."
Since entering Star Moon City, she had often seen or heard about cultivators, and naturally, she yearned for it.
However, she had never had the opportunity to cultivate.
"When you cultivate, try holding a spirit stone in each hand. The effect should be better."
Xiao Fei took out two spirit stones from the wooden box and handed them to Huang Feifei.
"Do not carry spirit stones on your person when you go out. You have no cultivation yet. If a cultivator discovers them, they might not only snatch them away but also put your life in danger."
"Okay! Thank you, Young Master!"
Huang Feifei tightly clutched the spirit stones in her hands. She knew how precious spirit stones were, and at this moment, her eyes sparkled with admiration as she looked at Xiao Fei.