Cheng Guanghai had grown accustomed to his son’s breakthrough speed. More than anything, he was just happy.

The stronger his son became, the more secure his future position as Clan Leader would be.

When they reached the door to his room, Cheng Guanghai patted his son’s shoulder and said with a smile, "Get some good rest. I won’t have anyone wake you tomorrow; you can sleep in until noon."

Cheng Zongyang nodded.

Early the next morning, Cheng Zongyang was already awake. He didn’t go out, however. Instead, he sat cross-legged and began to meditate, entering a state of Cultivation while preparing to mentally enter the cottage and check on the system update.

As he appeared in the cottage, besides a few notifications about earned Points, he also saw the most important message of all—the cottage update was complete.

This wasn’t an update that added new features, but more like a patch.

—

Market Cottage rules update complete. The following two adjustments have been made:

1. Item Bar Rule Adjustment: The Item Bar will be changed to the ’Jade Stone Market.’ The market will connect with other Jade Stone owners for trade. Due to the differing flow of time between worlds, it is scheduled to open for one day each month on the day of the full moon. On this day, trading is free and unlimited.

However, as the Market Cottage is currently Level Four, the host’s Jade Stone Market will only be open for four hours. During this time, the market’s items will be arranged in an exhibition format, and Points can be spent to refresh the item display. No fee will be charged upon a successful purchase. After the time is up, the market will close. These rules are effective immediately!

2. Consignment Bar Rule Adjustment: The Consignment Bar will connect to the ’Jade Stone Market,’ facing other Jade Stone owners for the purpose of selling items. Due to the differing flow of time between worlds, it is scheduled to open for one day each month on the day of the full moon. On this day, trading is free and unlimited.

However, as the Market Cottage is currently Level Four, the host’s Consignment Bar will only be open for four hours. During this time, consigned items will be arranged in an exhibition format. A transaction fee corresponding to the current level will be deducted upon a successful sale. After the time is up, the Consignment Bar will close. These rules are effective immediately!

—

Reading over these so-called new rules, Cheng Zongyang’s heart began to race.

’It’s just as I predicted. The others are Stone Ring owners from different worlds. Because my Jade Stone was missing its box, it lacked the permission to initiate connections and could only be passive. It was like a computer without an internet connection, only able to play offline games.’

’Now that the item is complete, it can "go online."’

’Now I can only trade one day a month, but on that day, I’ll be able to make unlimited purchases. The only problem is that my time is restricted because of my level!’

Cheng Zongyang sighed.

’I can’t tell if this rule change is a good thing or a bad thing.’

’The good thing is that I can sell and buy continuously within those four hours, unlike now, where I have to wait three days after every sale.’

’The bad thing is that it’s now only once a month, and for just four hours.’

’All things considered, it’s a net positive. Four hours of free trading is more than enough to make up for a whole month of individual transactions, and then some. It’s like the monthly market day in the County Town.’

Cheng Zongyang looked again at the cottage’s main interface:

[Jade Stone Market] [Acquisition Bar] [Request Bar] [Consignment Bar]

’This Acquisition Bar is completely useless now.’ Cheng Zongyang glanced at the second cabinet. The Point prices it offered for items were truly outrageous.

’You could probably make a profit by tricking some clueless hosts, but anyone who could do some simple math, or who wasn’t in urgent need of Points, would never sell to the Acquisition Bar.’

’The full moon each month... that’s the 15th of the lunar calendar, right? What’s the date today?’ Something occurred to Cheng Zongyang. He checked the calendar on his watch. ’May 17th. Crap, didn’t it just pass? Does that mean I have to wait another month before I can trade?’

Cheng Zongyang’s face was a mask of resignation.

He then summoned Luo Dingran and explained the rule changes to him.

After listening and pondering for a moment, Luo Dingran said, "This is actually a good thing for us. We can accumulate more resources and Points, then do all our purchasing and selling at once. We won’t have to slowly chip away at it every three or seven days, restricted by the number of slots."

Cheng Zongyang nodded. "Start making preparations. The next trading day is next month... on the 20th."

As he finished speaking, he checked the calendar on his watch again to confirm the date.

Luo Dingran nodded. "I will be sure to keep it in mind."

Cheng Zongyang didn’t stay any longer and returned to the outside world.

In the days that followed, Cheng Zongyang did not go back into the mountains. Besides studying the Array Manual, he spent his time writing the books and materials required for his shadow organization.

To this end, he would enter the Wilderness World at night to learn from Luo Dingran and other Soul Slaves who possessed relevant professional knowledge.

In addition, he had an Elf Bird deliver a Soul Crystal Stone to Ma Yue’s side every day.

Gangzi was also very busy, having become a manual laborer. He was mostly occupied with excavating mountainsides, leveling ground, and widening the river. If not for the reward of Red Blood Pills, he probably wouldn’t have been so motivated.

The village grew more complete with each passing day.

「Time flew, and soon it was July, the height of summer.」

Under the scorching sun, men lined both sides of the river, brandishing axes, saws, and other tools. They were dressing the logs hauled down from the mountains, preparing them to be used as beams and pillars for their houses.

By this time, the walls for all the village houses were essentially complete; all that remained was the woodworking for the roofs.

The villagers were drenched in sweat, but their faces beamed with satisfaction and pride. They knew these timbers would become the roof beams for their new homes.

Some of the women were busy carrying tea and snacks to the work sites, while others helped transport materials.

At the Outer Mountain pass, in the area designated for the villagers’ homes, rows of neat new houses stood facing south. Numerous carpenters led their teams in hoisting up more lumber, waiting only to install the final roof beams.

At that moment, Cheng Zongyang was at home writing a book, a cool breeze drifting in through his window. As the familiar sound of an Elf Bird’s flapping wings grew closer, he couldn’t help but look up.

He recognized it at once; it was indeed the Elf Bird that Ma Yue had sent back.

Cheng Zongyang took out a Little Red Blood Pill to feed it, then untied the small wooden box from its leg.

Just as he was about to open it, another familiar sound rapidly approached.

It was a second Elf Bird.

Cheng Zongyang was a little surprised, though he had an inkling what this meant. He fed the second Elf Bird a Little Red Blood Pill as well, then removed the small bamboo message tube from its leg.

The two Elf Birds were overjoyed to see each other and immediately snuggled close. The sight left Cheng Zongyang at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.

’Getting a face full of PDA from a couple of birds!’

He ignored them and turned his attention to the letter from the city first.

*Zongyang, the people from the Commerce Association have arrived. They’re waiting for you to return to negotiate.*

Cheng Zongyang nodded as he read the note’s contents.

’The timing is about what I originally guessed,’ he thought. ’It also proves that Chen Kaishan has been handling this the entire time. Whether he’s actually sealed the deal, however, is still unclear.’

He was about to write a reply, but seeing that the two Elf Birds had just been reunited, he decided to wait.

He moved on to the second message.

It was another full Soul Crystal Stone.

Including this one, Ma Yue had sent back nine stones in the last ten days or so. There were still eleven people left in the cave.

He set the Crystal Stone aside and looked at the small slip of paper that came with it.

*Qianye Prefecture. The Crystal Stone is the one you gave special instructions for. All is well.*

A smile touched the corners of Cheng Zongyang’s lips as he finished reading.

After writing replies to both men, he tied their respective items back onto the legs of the two Elf Birds.

Ma Yue’s bird was, of course, carrying a new Crystal Stone. After feeding each of them one more pill, he said, "Alright, time to work. All this billing and cooing... have you no shame!"

The Elf Birds: "???"

They both shot Cheng Zongyang a look, as if to protest his heartlessness.

Cheng Zongyang just grinned, ignored the couple’s chirping protests, and sent them on their way.

Ever since he first suspected that the Red Blood Pills had a secondary effect, he had been paying close attention. In the past few days, after research by Zhang Jinquan, Luo Zheng, and the others, one such effect had been confirmed: intelligence enhancement.

Although the effect of a single pill was minuscule, the cumulative results of long-term consumption were becoming apparent.

The two Elf Birds, Gangzi, the Iron Head raised by Luo Zheng, the Ghost-faced Spider, and others had all shown evidence of this.

While the effect wasn’t dramatic, it was definitely there, which proved that this was the main reason the Red Blood Pills sold so well.

It was just that the system’s appraisal hadn’t specified this effect. It seemed to be a hidden, or perhaps a gradual, accompanying benefit.

The problem was, the Red Blood Pills had practically become daily feed for these creatures, so there were fewer left to put up for consignment.

Fortunately, the quantity of Red Jade Ganoderma was gradually increasing, so he wouldn’t be short on ingredients in the future.

After the two Elf Birds departed, Cheng Zongyang left his study and headed into the mountains alone.

He needed to bring three more corpses into the Wilderness World to test his theory.

After bringing the three corpses into the Wilderness World, Cheng Zongyang immediately returned home. He didn’t linger, since he didn’t know how long his experiment would take.