The Lay Flat Life: My Wife's Cultivation Makes Me Stronger - Chapter 32

“Little Fox, what do you think? Should I sell this 380-year-old White Lingluo Flower for spirit stones, or should I have it refined into pills to use during the Ancestor’s Ceremony?” Han Feng asked.

The little fox gazed at the massive White Lingluo Flower, which nearly filled the entire room, and after a moment of thought, replied, “First, tell me, where on earth did you get a 380-year-old herb?”

Han Feng continued, ignoring the question, “I don’t really need spirit stones right now. But if I can have it refined into pills, it could give me a little extra security during the Ancestor’s Ceremony, at least enough to face Ye Longyuan with some confidence.”

The little fox narrowed her eyes, clearly annoyed by his evasiveness. “That’s all well and good, but the real question is: where did you get such an old herb? Last time, you suddenly pulled out a Three-Needle Flower that was over 300 years old, and I found that suspicious.”

Han Feng, still dodging her inquiry, said, “If I go to an alchemist at Danxia Peak, they might not help me, and I can’t afford the alchemy fee, nor the cost of the additional herbs I’d need.”

The little fox crossed her arms, tapping her paw impatiently. “That’s a 380-year-old herb! In a small place like this, it’s extremely rare. You’re only eighteen—did you start growing this thing in a past life and carry the memory over?”

“I did hear there are alchemists at the market who will take materials and refine them for free, but they take a share of the final product. That might be an option,” Han Feng continued, completely ignoring the little fox’s question.

“Seriously! Where did this herb come from? You’re a servant disciple, a broke nobody. How do you have access to herbs like this?” the little fox demanded, growing more frustrated by the second.

“But I don’t even know the recipe. Maybe I should ask Senior Sister Jiang. She’d know. Or maybe I should just give the herb to her and have her refine it—wait, no, I can’t explain where the herb came from…” Han Feng mumbled, lost in thought.

Fed up with his evasive answers, the little fox lunged at the massive herb, intent on biting into it.

But Han Feng, quick as ever, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and lifted her into the air. “What are you doing?”

“What do you think? Are you even listening to me?!” the little fox snapped, her tiny paws flailing in frustration as she tried to kick him with her short legs.

Han Feng chuckled, amused by the sight, and said, “You don’t need to know everything. Let’s just say I have a secret.”

“Of course I know you have a secret! Otherwise, why would you have been hiding your cultivation for so long?” the little fox retorted, hopping onto the table with an air of importance.

Her face was filled with suspicion, but her sharp eyes gleamed with intelligence as she continued her analysis. “The last time, you gave Jiang Surou a Thirty-Year-Old Three-Needle Flower. Then, later that night, you suddenly had a Three-Hundred-Year-Old Three-Needle Flower, which you sold to buy your formation and sword.

And now, you gave her a Thirty-Year-Old White Lingluo Flower, and once again, you have a Three-Hundred-Year-Old one in your hands.

I’ve figured it out! I know what’s going on!”

Looking at the little fox, who seemed so pleased with herself, Han Feng let out a sigh. “Alright, I can’t fool you. You’re smarter than I thought. Let me tell you the truth…”

“The truth is that you don’t give Jiang Surou the good stuff! You keep the best things for yourself and only gift her the lesser things. You don’t love her at all, do you?” the little fox declared triumphantly, proudly wagging her tail as if she had just uncovered a great conspiracy.

Han Feng’s face went blank. What in the…? You analyzed all that, and this is what you came up with?

Seeing that he was getting nowhere with this conversation, Han Feng decided to come clean. After all, the little fox lived with him and would likely see through his secrets eventually. It would be easier to just tell her the truth now rather than face constant questions later.

“Little Fox, remember how, the last time, you noticed that the Three-Hundred-Year-Old Three-Needle Flower I had didn’t have any medicinal power?”

“Yeah, that was weird. It didn’t work at all.”

“This one is the same,” Han Feng said, gesturing to the White Lingluo Flower.

The little fox’s eyes widened. She immediately darted over to the flower and took a bite out of it, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing. Sure enough, there was no medicinal effect. “Huh? Why doesn’t it work?”

“It’s not that it doesn’t have medicinal power; it’s just that it only works for me.”

After a brief pause, Han Feng explained, “Here’s the truth: I have something in my mind—some sort of strange entity. Whenever I give a gift to a Dao partner, it returns something ten times better in value. Do you get it now?”

Joy danced in the little fox’s bright eyes. “So, you give a Thirty-Year-Old herb, and it gives you a Three-Hundred-Year-Old one?!”

Realization dawned on her all at once. “Wait a minute. If you give the Three-Hundred-Year-Old herb, won’t it give you a Three-Thousand-Year-Old herb in return? And then if you give that one, you’ll get a Thirty-Thousand-Year-Old herb! We’re going to be rich!”

Her eyes lit up with stars, as if she had just discovered a mountain of treasure.

Han Feng chuckled bitterly. “Yeah, well, clearly the entity thought of that too. There’s a rule: the things it returns to me can’t be gifted to anyone else, not even a Dao partner. If I give this herb to someone, it won’t return anything to me.

The things it gives me can only be used by me. No one else can make use of them.”

“So it’s not that the herb has no medicinal power; it’s just that it only works for you?” the little fox asked, frowning.

“Exactly. That’s why we can’t exploit it endlessly.”

The little fox sighed, disappointed. “Well, that ruins the fun.”

“There’s still a way to make good use of it,” Han Feng said. “For example, I can sell the herb for spirit stones, then use those spirit stones to buy something of equal value, which I can gift again. I’ll get something ten times better, which I can sell for even more spirit stones, and then I can repeat the process. I can keep doing this and gradually climb up.”

The little fox’s ears perked up. “That still sounds like a great idea! Sure, it’s a bit more complicated, but it could work!”

“It’s not as good as it sounds,” Han Feng replied, shaking his head. “First of all, as the value of the things I sell increases, people are going to start paying closer attention. Eventually, someone will figure out that the things I sell don’t actually work. And when that happens, I’ll have angered a lot of powerful people, and they’ll come after me.

You can get away with doing something once or twice, but if you keep doing it, even a fool will realize something’s wrong.

The second problem is that I can’t actually cultivate. This entity doesn’t just return gifts; it also returns Dao partner cultivation at ten times the rate. If I start abusing the system to farm spirit stones and gifts, I might anger the entity behind it. If it decides to take the blessing away, I’ll be back to being a complete waste.

I spent five years as a waste, and it’s only by sheer luck that I’ve found a way to improve myself and survive in this chaotic world of cultivation. I don’t want to lose that. So, we can’t take any unnecessary risks. Understand?”