98: Chapter 98: Deployment, Breakfast, Aunt's Concern.

The ability of X-ray Vision was extremely practical. Chu Xiao easily located that Spiritual Vein Mine within the Yushan Mountains, and without much hesitation, he extracted the spiritual mine into the System space.

This Spiritual Vein Mine wasn't large; the Spirit Stones it produced only amounted to a few thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.

However, what Chu Xiao cared about wasn't the Spirit Stones, but the fact that a Spiritual Vein Mine could continuously produce Spiritual Qi. Legend had it that certain special Spiritual Vein Mines could even nurture mysterious Heaven And Earth Treasures.

As the Spiritual Vein Mine was extracted, the entirety of Mount Yu seemed to lose its strength; the Spiritual Qi gradually dissipated and became thin.

"Am I being a bit destructive to nature?"

Chu Xiao felt a bit of guilt in his heart.

Soon, he discovered that deep underground at Mount Yu, Spirit Stones were beginning to gestate again. Those Spirit Stones were very small, about the size of sesame seeds, and very concentrated. It likely wouldn't be long before they condensed into another Spiritual Vein Mine.

A Spiritual Vein Mine was essentially a Spirit Stone deposit formed by the mountain range's momentum gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. As long as the mountain range wasn't destroyed, the terrain wasn't damaged, and the world's Spiritual Qi wasn't cut off, it could continuously gestate mineral veins.

They would spring up endlessly, like bamboo shoots after rain.

Especially during this stage of Spiritual Qi recovery, where the world lacked no Spiritual Qi, various blessed lands, grotto-heavens, and mountain terrains could continuously nurture them.

Chu Xiao first returned to Yuhuwan Villa and buried that small Spiritual Vein beneath the villa.

Next, he chatted with the old man, expressing his desire to spend money to collect Spirit Medicines, Spirit Beasts, and all kinds of rare treasures, saying it didn't matter how much money it cost.

The old man, Chu Jianghe, pondered for a moment and then readily agreed.

The future world belonged to the Cultivators!

And the emergence of Cultivators would inevitably drive a vast array of new industrial chains. If a company wanted to remain prosperous and avoid being eliminated, it had to reform immediately, discarding most of its original old industries to invest in new markets.

That was a blue ocean, a blue ocean with even more intense competition!

Awakened by these words, the old man Chu Jianghe couldn't even be bothered to Cultivate. He began deploying and planning overnight, making non-stop phone calls.

It had to be said.

The old man had done one thing right: before the Spiritual Qi recovery, he had purchased many properties and manors for Chu Xiao. Now, the value and significance of these properties and manors had changed instantly.

Certain manors were located within famous mountains and rivers, making them rare blessed lands for cultivation.

"Grandpa, where do you plan to invest first?"

Chu Xiao asked with a smile.

The old man Chu Jianghe narrowed his eyes, pondered for a long while, and said, "Besides helping you collect Spirit Medicines, Spirit Beasts, and various Heaven And Earth Treasures, I think the most important thing right now is to hoard land! In the future, those mountainous areas will definitely become places where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold. Buy one, and there's one less. But right now, haha..."

He smiled faintly.

Chu Xiao picked up the conversation and said, "Right now, because of the Spiritual Qi recovery and animal mutations, those mountainous areas have almost become forbidden zones. Ordinary people avoid them like the plague and simply don't dare to live in them. So, right now is the stage where prices are at their lowest!"

The old man Chu Jianghe nodded with a smile and said, "Exactly, you're right. I just checked and found that many manors located in mountainous areas, as well as mountain land plots, are being sold off. The prices are outrageously low! The future is destined to be a world of Cultivators. Those mutated creatures are rampant now, but that might not be the case later. After all, the flesh, bones, and fur of mutated creatures are all high-value items."

At this point, the grandfather and grandson looked at each other and smiled.

In fact, to the two of them, these things weren't important. After all, one was an Immortal, and the other was soon to become one.

But who could say for sure what the future world would look like?

Money kept in hand is just a string of cold numbers on a bank card; it has no meaning and will significantly depreciate in the future.

Since the old man Chu Jianghe had nothing else to do, he might as well use his remaining energy to benefit future generations.

Early morning.

Kyoto, Inside the Second Ring Road, Jiefang Road, a large courtyard house.

Chu Xiao shattered the Void Realm to return to his room, pretending he had just woken up as the sound of footsteps came from outside the door.

Immediately after, a knock sounded on the door.

His young aunt, Jiang Yulan, stood outside and said with a smile, "Xiao, are you up? Your dad is calling you for breakfast."

"Oh! I'm up!" Chu Xiao responded, pushed the door open, and met his young aunt's somewhat shy and awkward gaze, calling out, "Auntie!"

"Mhm!" Jiang Yulan turned and left with a flushed face.

In the courtyard, the square table was covered with food: soup dumplings, soy milk, Douzhi, fried dough sticks, stir-fried liver, sweet bean buns, small stir-fry dishes, pickles, fermented bean curd...

"Where's Grandpa?"

Chu Lingyin asked, tilting her head.

Chu Xiao said, "Grandpa had something to do last night, so he went back to Jianghai City first."

Chu Lingyin asked gigglingly, "Then are we going back today too?"

Hearing this, before Chu Xiao could answer, he noticed his father Chu Nantian's expression change slightly; his brow was furrowed, looking as if he were unhappy.

Could it be that he can't bear for us to leave?

Chu Xiao thought for a moment and said, "No rush, let's stay here and play for a few days first. Today, I'll take you somewhere."

Chu Lingyin gave an 'oh' and then picked up the Douzhi, drinking it all in one go.

Douzhi is not the same as soy milk...

This stuff is a specialty breakfast drink of Kyoto. It's essentially a product of fermented and boiled soy milk; it smells foul and tastes foul. Most people really can't stomach it.

His father Chu Nantian finished his breakfast solemnly, wiped his mouth, and said, "Your mother and I are going to the group to handle some business today. Since you're here, take your younger sister and brother out to play! Once I find a suitable nanny, you can go back to being busy with your own things."

Leaving these words behind, he didn't care whether Chu Xiao agreed or not, stood up, and left.

His young aunt Jiang Yulan, while peeling an egg, asked with a smile, "Xiao, where do you want to go today?"

She placed the peeled egg in front of Chu Xiao and then picked up another one to peel for Chu Lingyin.

"Babao Mountain," Chu Xiao replied calmly.

Babao Mountain...

A cemetery!

Jiang Yulan's fair hands trembled for a moment. She nodded in silence and whispered, "Mhm... you really should take Lingyin to visit!"

Chu Xiao smiled and said, "Auntie, you and Dad go ahead and do whatever you need to do. I'll take good care of the two little ones. Don't worry."

At this point.

Jiang Yulan's eyes turned red and her nose felt sore. She turned her head slightly and said, "Tell your aunt the truth, do you... do you resent me?"

Resent?

If it were the old Chu Xiao, he definitely wouldn't have been able to wrap his head around it and would have certainly caused a huge ruckus in the family.

After all, this woman was his own maternal aunt!

How did she end up becoming his stepmother?

But now, as someone who had been reborn once and died once, Chu Xiao saw everything with clarity. He was indifferent, and even felt quite fortunate.

Fortunately, the person his dad married was his young aunt...

If it had been anyone else, he might truly have been unable to accept it.

"Auntie, you're overthinking it. I can see that you and my dad get along very well. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters. I won't think twice about anything else."

Chu Xiao smiled, put the tea egg she had peeled into his mouth, and swallowed it in one go.