The gatekeeper said indignantly, “What are you talking about? This is an iron pick engraved with a spirit rune, a semi-finished spirit item. Charging you five thousand is a bargain.”

“Don’t think I don’t know the market price.”

An iron pick with a spirit rune usually sells for two to three thousand on the market.

The gatekeeper replied calmly, “If you have the ability, don’t lose it!”

Li Cunxu didn’t dwell on it. He had gained a huge haul this time and wasn’t so short on money anymore.

Of course, this amount was still nothing compared to high-tier resources.

Besides, the gatekeeper had warned him not to lose it. It was his own fault if he did.

The gatekeeper said, “You can sell ores here, don’t worry! Fair prices, same as the market.”

Li Cunxu thought for a moment and shook his head.

This time, his haul consisted only of gold bars, silver ore, and iron ore.

Silver and iron ores would be used to increase the population of Silver Slimes and Iron Slimes.

Gold bars, he wanted to use for slime mutation.

Using gold bars for slime mutation was a no-risk transaction.

If the mutation succeeded, the Golden Slime would drop refined gold bars after death.

Even if it failed, gold was a stable element. With its digestion talent, the slime could barely absorb gold, and anything it couldn’t absorb would be expelled naturally.

The gatekeeper said, “Make sure to return the spatial backpack within two days.”

“Understood.”

Back at the ranch, Li Cunxu poured a pile of ores out of the ground kiln. The heap looked like a small mountain.

For safety, he stored the silver ore and gold bars in a separate place.

Li Cunxu was extremely careful, fully aware of how dangerous thieves could be in this world.

The moon hung high as Li Cunxu, Xiao Ruan, and Yiyi quietly approached the underground tunnel under the bedroom.

“小软，收税吧！”

The soul tax arrived, and souls increased rapidly.

The spirit tax arrived, and spiritual power grew fast.

The physique tax arrived, and physical strength surged.

Xiao Ruan, after consuming the tiny fruit and shrinking, then grew bigger—this time even larger than before.

The tunnel passage couldn’t contain its body, so Li Cunxu immediately returned Xiao Ruan to the beast space.

The psychic tax arrived, and psychic power exploded.

Moreover, six new attributes were added.

Normal (attribute-less psychic power from Mini Slimes), Fire, Ice, Wind, Gold, Spirit.

Skill experience tax arrived.

Xiao Ruan learned Shrink, Fireball, Waterball, Wind Blade, Craft Iron Pick, Mining, Ironization, Silver Sword.

Waterball broke the limit four times, Grass Blade broke the limit four times…

Charge broke the limit seven times.

Charge, a skill without a technical threshold, was easy for slimes to learn. Any slime exposed to it a few times could master it.

Fireball: second limit break.

Wind Blade: limit break.

Ironization: proficient.

Silver Sword: beginner.

…

Li Cunxu released Xiao Ruan again. It had returned to normal weight after using Shrink.

Its power had risen sharply, but the creature level remained the same—still Black Iron Level 5.

The last tax collection was the same: power increased, but creature level did not change.

“You’ve grown hands.”

Li Cunxu was surprised. Xiao Ruan, like a miner slime, had grown two round little hands.

Feeling Xiao Ruan’s power increase warmed him completely, enhancing him in every way.

Limbs stronger, eyes brighter…

Spirit also surged, but it still hadn’t broken Black Iron Intermediate. This made Li Cunxu realize something was wrong.

So much spirit power should have allowed three Black Iron Intermediate breakthroughs, but it hadn’t. Something was off.

Either something was wrong with his body, or his Hanhai Meditation method had an issue.

Who could help him check?

Chen Xi?
Contacting Chen Xi, she seemed busy and didn’t respond.

Li Cunxu had no choice but to ask his homeroom teacher, Mei Rufeng, and arranged to meet at a café.

A hidden café in a seldom-passed alley, quaint and warm, with wooden tables and chairs faintly scented with sandalwood. Old black-and-white photos on the wall recorded the past of Tongdu.

Mei Rufeng sat by the window, a steaming cup of coffee before her. The slanting sunlight cast a soft golden edge on her face. Seeing Li Cunxu, her pretty face immediately hardened, eyes flashing caution.

She was not pleased with a student who had threatened her daughter.

“What do you want from me? Let’s be clear. Last time I helped you apply for ‘home study.’ You can’t use that to threaten me again.”

Li Cunxu’s sudden visit made her wary.

He said softly, “Teacher Feng, don’t be nervous. I just want you to check my body.”

“You’re dreaming. I won’t give in.”

Mei Rufeng’s face reddened, teeth gritted.

???

Li Cunxu looked puzzled. Seeing her flushed face, he realized she had misunderstood “check the body.”

“My spiritual power can’t break Black Iron Intermediate. I want you to check it.”

Ah, that made sense.

Mei Rufeng relaxed.

“Teacher Feng, no need to be so cautious. Your daughter won’t hide her Medusa Eye forever. We might cooperate in the future.”

Hearing this, her expression eased.

“Come on. I’ll check.”

Like an old Chinese doctor taking a pulse, Li Cunxu placed his hand on the table. Mei Rufeng touched his pulse with two fingers, sending her spiritual power to inspect his spiritual body.

“Strange. You have such massive spiritual power and still haven’t broken Black Iron.”

“Is it a problem with the body?”

“Can’t see anything. What meditation method are you using?”

Li Cunxu opened the Rage of the Sea map.

“Hanhai Meditation Method. You cultivate this?” Mei Rufeng’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Yes.”

“No one told you? Hanhai Meditation is a trap. It expands your spiritual sea tenfold compared to other methods, but the difficulty to break through is ten times higher too.”

Li Cunxu exhaled. As long as he could break through, the difficulty didn’t matter. He had pet feedback.

With Xiao Ruan’s tax collection and Xiao Yi’s stat allocation, as long as the feedback was sufficient, nothing was a problem.

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

“By the way, when mining, I found a small blood pool in the vein domain made of Blood Cultist corpses.”

He then gave the gatekeeper the location and features for easy identification.

The gatekeeper’s expression turned serious.

“I’ll investigate immediately. Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”

“I forgot.”

“No trivial matter involves Blood Cultists. Don’t forget next time.”

Li Cunxu froze. Involvement with Blood Cultists was never trivial. He couldn’t believe he forgot—it just came back to him now.

Chapter 59. What’s the Problem? Ch 59. What’s the Problem?

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