Finally, after hours of walking and tireless training, they stopped for the day.
Though they were still some distance away, the massive walls of Sky Way City were already visible, looming faintly on the horizon.
The sun had long since set, and stars glittered quietly across the night sky.
Du Yue marked a nearby tree as an entrance and opened the path to their mountain home.
The two stepped inside, and soon after, Su Wen prepared dinner.
They sat together at the dining table, the warm glow of spirit lamps filling the room.
Outside, snow fell steadily, covering the earth in layer after layer of crystalline frost.
As they ate, Su Wen spoke casually,
"Wife… we'll enter Sky Way City tomorrow. I'll take you shopping first, then we'll board a Sky Boat to Great Eastern City. Is there anything specific you want to buy?"
Du Yue paused mid-bite, thinking for a moment.
"Husband, we should look for rare materials for my sword. I want to raise it to Grade 4 or higher."
She continued calmly,
"Once I reach the Nascent Soul Realm, I can turn it into my lifebound treasure and store it in my dantian for continuous refinement."
After a brief pause, she added,
"And you don't have a lifebound sword yet either. We should gather materials to forge one for you as well."
Su Wen nodded.
He picked up a piece of Low Grade 3 spiritual beast meat… cooked specifically for her… and fed it to her.
She happily opened her mouth and swallowed it.
The meat melted instantly on her tongue, rich spiritual essence spreading gently through her body, her eyes curving with clear satisfaction as warmth flowed down her throat.
Over the past few days, he had been using increasingly high-grade ingredients purely for her cultivation.
He cooked with Mid Grade 3 Spirit Herbs for her, while for himself, he used only Peak Grade 2 ingredients.
'I'll need to look for spirit herb nurturing formations in Sky Way City', he thought.
'If I can grow them on the mountain, it'll save a lot of resources.'
His gaze drifted to the remaining Grade 3 meat.
'I'll break through to Peak Foundation Establishment first before consuming any Grade 3 meat or pills', he decided.
'At my current realm, Peak Grade 2 meat is perfect. Anything higher would be wasted and dull my absorption.'
His eyes then returned to Du Yue, and a strange thought surfaced.
'The southern part of the Eastern Continent is far from the Central Continent, and its spiritual qi is thin… higher-grade beasts should be extremely rare.'
They hadn't encountered a single Grade 3 beast along the way. One would have to venture deep into the wilderness just to find one or two.
Yet… over the past few days, she had brought back at least one Early Grade 3 beast each day.
Even with her cultivation, locating such beasts… and then hunting them… should have taken hours at the very least.
And yet, she returned each time as if it were effortless.
His thoughts drifted to Moon City.
The Peak Golden Core cultivator, and the City Lord himself, a Mid Golden Core cultivator, she had defeated so casually… as though swatting aside children.
Su Wen's gaze lingered on her a moment longer.
'She is not as simple as she seems…'
Du Yue finished her meal with a soft burp, rubbing her stomach contentedly like an old man, then flopped back into the chair like a pig, yawning lazily.
Su Wen's expression turned a bit odd as he looked at her.
'No… I must be overthinking. She's just a dumb wife who happens to be a bit strong… right?'
Noticing his odd stare, she tilted her head and looked at him suspiciously.
Su Wen snapped out of his thoughts but didn't explain.
Instead, he took out two storage rings and handed them to her.
"Wife, help me sort these," he said. "They belonged to the City Lord and his son."
Du Yue, feeling lazy after eating so much, was about to refuse…
"Doing some work will help you digest faster," Su Wen added teasingly.
She shot him a grudging glare but still accepted the rings, lazily beginning to check their contents.
Seeing this, Su Wen grinned as he cleared the dishes, feeling a small sense of satisfaction from bullying her just a little.
Du Yue glanced at him, noted that infuriating grin, but said nothing.
Su Wen then settled into a chair and took out a book, completely ignoring her as he immersed himself in reading.
Du Yue narrowed her blue, gem-like eyes, a mischievous smile slowly spreading across her lips.
Without any warning, she dumped the contents of both storage rings at once, completely flooding the large table with items.
Her expression remained serious, as if fully focused on her task.
Su Wen startled and nearly choked on his breath. He jumped up from the chair, placing the book back into the ring.
Before she could make an even bigger mess, he hurriedly pulled out another table and said grumpily,"Wife…"
Du Yue turned to him with an innocent, questioning look."Yes… husband?"
He took a deep breath, staring at her seemingly dumb, naive expression, and continued,"First, sort the spirit stones and herbs by grade."
He pointed to the new table."Then group everything properly and place them over here."
"You should have told me earlier…" Du Yue said, her face bearing the pout of a wronged maiden, but inwardly she smirked… pleased to get back at him and have his attention fully on her.
Su Wen sighed as he looked at her, silently wondering if her soul cultivation would end up being a waste of resources…
Still, Du Yue behaved herself, gracefully picking up the spirit herbs and neatly arranging them by grades on the larger table.
"Cough… let's check the spirit stones first," she said calmly, straightening her posture like a professional accountant.
"Even though we didn't take anything else from their mansion, their storage rings should still contain plenty of resources…"
8,100 low-grade spirit stones (+6,700) 1,350 mid-grade spirit stones (+1,100) 40 high-grade spirit stones
"Husband, we've struck it rich… look! There are so many spirit stones here…" she said, smiling cheerfully.
She then picked up a darker stone, heavier in her hand, its spiritual qi far denser than the others.
"…and this one seems to be a higher-grade one."
Su Wen picked up one of the heavier stones as well and spoke,
"Spirit stones come in many grades… low, mid, high, and beyond. They're distinguished by how densely their spiritual energy is compressed."
He casually rolled the stone between his fingers and continued,
"Low-grade stones contain thin, scattered qi. Mid-grade stones hold more refined essence. High-grade stones, though, are packed with intensely condensed spiritual power… almost crystalline in purity."
He brought the spirit stone in front of his eye and try to saw through it as sparkled and reflected the candle light in the room,
"This is my first time seeing a high-grade spirit stone… and it truly is beautiful."
He looked at Du Yue and added,
"At your realm, you can only cultivate effectively with high-grade stones. Mid- and low-grade ones won't be enough to support you."
Du Yue nodded, then patted his back with a face full of confidence.
"Husband, don't worry. I won't let you be poor or lacking spirit stones in the future."
She puffed out her chest proudly.
"If we ever run short… we can always borrow some from bad people."
Su Wen replied absentmindedly,"Wife… are they really that kind? Just waiting around so they can lend us their wealth?"
Du Yue smiled sweetly.
"Of course, my husband. With my sword at their necks, they'd even lend their lives willingly."
Su Wen looked at her with a mix of amusement, then reached out and pinched her nose."Wife… I think you're the truly bad one here…"
She blushed, burying her face in his chest, and giggled softly."Yes… I am a bad wife…"