Chapter 83: Two Women Meet

In the grilled fish restaurant, Mo Simin looked at Qing Nv sitting opposite her, then at Yan Bingxuan beside her, and finally at Chen Mobai, who was seated between the two girls. She couldn't believe his audacity!

"Come, this is black sturgeon I specially had someone transport from my hometown. It tastes even better than the carp from last time," Chen Mobai announced.

As Chen Mobai had been on Qingguang Island recently and didn't have time to return to Shuifu, he had to choose the best-tasting fish from the seafood market on the island. It was said to taste as good as the Bloodspirit Carp, though it lacked the effect of enhancing spiritual roots after consumption.

Chen Mobai had inquired and learned that even in the Tianhe Realm, Bloodspirit Carp, a famous dish, was not something ordinary cultivators could afford. Back then, the fry Liu Zengpei bought cost one spirit stone each. After meticulously feeding them and cultivating them to low-grade Tier 1, they were sold in the market for ten spirit stones. If one were to order this dish at the Heavenly Dining Pavilion in Nanxi Market, it would cost fifty spirit stones.

The reason for such a high price was primarily that the dish prepared by the Heavenly Dining Pavilion's chef would significantly increase the qi cultivation speed of cultivators practicing water-attribute cultivation methods within a week. Many believed it was due to the exceptional skill of the immortal chef, but Chen Mobai knew that it was mainly because of the quality of the Bloodspirit Carp itself. Cultivators in the Tianhe Realm didn't realize that Bloodspirit Carp could enhance water spiritual roots; they merely considered it a valuable ingredient.

However, thinking about this made Chen Mobai feel a pang of heartache. The Bloodspirit Carp he had eaten in Shuifu, even at cost price, would have amounted to several hundred spirit stones. But then he thought again: the cultivation of Bloodspirit Carp was a unique secret art of the Immortal Cultivator Liu family in the Yun Kingdom. If he were to sell the fish in Nanxi Market himself, he might be ambushed and eliminated by the Liu family the very next day. In that case, eating them himself was undoubtedly the best option.

This black sturgeon was also a specialty of Yunmeng Marsh. Its flesh was tender and succulent. Chen Mobai had tried it in his wooden cabin; even simply boiled, he would drink all the fish soup. Today, with the grilled fish restaurant owner's ancestral recipe combined with this delicacy from the Tianhe Realm, it was so delicious that even Yan Bingxuan, who always paid attention to her appearance, couldn't help but eat enthusiastically, her mouth covered in oil, after just one bite.

Chen Mobai was a bit slow in picking up his chopsticks and saw that the three female classmates had only left him some side dishes and fish bones. Fortunately, he had considered Qing Nv's fondness for food and had brought two fish back this time. When the owner served the second one, he didn't hesitate. He quickly grabbed a large, tender piece with his chopsticks and took a bite, under the cold, wide-eyed stares of the three girls.

Delicious!

After finishing the grilled fish, the three girls, however, began to primly clean themselves with purification spells.

"This place is good; we can come back next time to try it again," Yan Bingxuan commented, thinking it was due to the owner's skill. Qing Nv immediately interjected, explaining that it was because Chen Mobai's ingredients were good.

Mo Simin looked at the two girls, then suddenly kicked Chen Mobai. He looked at her, puzzled. The class leader immediately signaled with her eyes, urging him to speak up and end the dinner. She was afraid that if they stayed any longer, something unexpected might happen.

Coincidentally, Chen Mobai also planned to return to the Tianhe Realm to continue honing his combat techniques. Acceding to her unspoken wish, he suggested they meet again another time.

"Oh, right," Qing Nv said, "these are the high-grade Tier 1 Qi Replenishing Spirit Waters I've refined lately."

Before they parted ways, Qing Nv suddenly took out twelve bundled glass tubes from her bag. Inside, colorless, transparent spirit water rippled, making Chen Mobai beam with joy.

"Thank you for your hard work," Chen Mobai said. "Without this, my cultivation progress has been much slower lately."

After Chen Mobai earned money in Yunmeng Marsh, he immediately bought ten sets of main ingredients for refining Qi Replenishing Spirit Water at the Siyi Pavilion branch of the Lou family on Qingguang Island. He also acquired some used spirit stones, made a trip back to Diyuan Star to give them to Qing Nv, and bought some talismans online for his inventory.

With the same main and auxiliary ingredients, if used to refine high-grade Tier 1 Qi Replenishing Spirit Water, it would yield a maximum of ten tubes. However, the market price was much higher; the Immortal Sect flagship store priced it at 1000 contribution points per tube.

After Chen Mobai reached Qi Cultivation Layer 7, consuming mid-grade Tier 1 Qi Replenishing Spirit Water only provided two or three times the cultivation efficiency, so he naturally wasn't very impressed. Previously, Qing Nv's refining experience was insufficient, with only a 10% success rate. But with his ample supply of raw materials and spiritual essence, she had finally crossed that threshold recently.

"Now my refining success rate is 70-80%," Qing Nv said. "If I have enough herbs, I should be able to refine a hundred tubes for you before I go to the Jumang Daoist Academy, which should be enough for you to cultivate to Qi Cultivation Layer 9." As Qing Nv said this, she pushed the twelve tubes of high-grade Tier 1 Qi Replenishing Spirit Water on the table toward Chen Mobai, her eyes full of smiles.

"Perfect!" Chen Mobai exclaimed. "I just bought ten more sets of ingredients online. Come home with me to get them. Class Leader, Yan Bingxuan, we'll be leaving now."

Under Mo Simin's wide-eyed, disbelieving gaze, Chen Mobai simply waved goodbye to them and happily left for home with Qing Nv.

"How can he be so audacious?!" Mo Simin suddenly shrieked after Chen Mobai left. She had never seen such a clueless man before.

"Let's go too, or we'll miss the bus," Yan Bingxuan said calmly, standing up, showing no hint of her inner emotions.

"Aren't you angry at all?" Mo Simin pressed on, breathing heavily as she walked beside her best friend. "Seriously, if I weren't stronger than him, I would definitely teach him a lesson today."

Yan Bingxuan listened to her best friend's incessant remarks, couldn't help but sigh, and cut her off. "What's wrong? You don't actually think we're dating, do you? I already told you we're just classmates."

"Even if you're just classmates, how could he invite another girl when he's treating you to dinner?" Mo Simin argued. "Even if that person is his girlfriend, what does he mean by that? Is he showing off?"

Yan Bingxuan, however, felt that Mo Simin's way of thinking was incorrect. It was just a meal; wouldn't it be better and livelier if he invited a friend to join them? Besides, Chen Mobai had also said that Qing Nv was just a good friend of his. What's wrong with inviting another girl? Aren't you a girl too?

Mo Simin was stunned by Yan Bingxuan's thought process. She then thought about Chen Mobai again and felt as if she was the most abnormal one among them. One could only say that people with similar ways of thinking truly attracted each other. After Mo Simin understood this point, she immediately fell silent.

"Don't call me for any activities you two have in the future. If I join your group activities a few more times, my worldview and mindset will probably be shattered and rebuilt."

But that Qing Nv seemed to be a normal person, just like herself. Was she deliberately showing off to attract Chen Mobai's attention just now? What a pity, such a fine Heavenly Spiritual Root, why did she fall for him?