It took the servants about thirty minutes before they were able to gather all that was asked by Lin Mu. Seven servants walked in, each carrying a large box with them. They placed these one by one and the shopkeeper presented them to Lin Mu.
In the first box which had the best quality, the mid grade spirit stones were kept. The box had a preservative formation placed on it as well as a protective formation that prevented the contents from getting damaged when the box was moved.
The second box was similar and had low grade spirit stones kept in it. The third and fourth box had an assortment of pill bottles which were ordered by Lin Mu. The final three boxes all contained various spirit herbs and resources that were either of the earth element or contained earth attribute spirit Qi.
Lin Mu checked them with his spirit sense and found them to be as they were described. Hei Wan also gave her approval secretly and Lin Mu confirmed the transaction before storing all of the boxes in his ring.
"Thank you for your patronage, senior. Please do come again and feel free to contact me if you need any more things." The Shopkeeper said and even registered his communication jade with Lin Mu's.
Lin Mu simply bade him farewell before returning to the library in the mercenary pavilion. Now that he had all the resources, there was nothing stopping him from getting stronger than before.
After Lin Mu was gone though, the shopkeeper's expression turned serious. No longer it was that of a jovial businessman, instead of that a sly cultivator's had appeared.
"Hei Wan, did you get any idea of his background?" The shopkeeper questioned.
"No, elder. He didn't speak anything in excess and only things related to the transaction were discussed between us. I tried to get him to reveal more after I found out how much he was willing to trade, but was unsuccessful." Hei Wan replied with a straight face.
"Hmm… he was definitely experienced, then. Plus, the number of things he stored in his spatial storage ring… that was clearly not normal. I reckon it was a high grade spatial storage treasure or there is no way he would have that much space." The shopkeeper spoke.
"Do you need me to ask the disciples to keep an eye on him?" Hei Wan asked, her expression getting slightly dark.
The shopkeeper deliberated over it for a while before shaking his head.
"No… at least not for now. But if he does come again and another transaction like this happens be sure to inform me. Maybe I'll be able to get more information that way." The shopkeeper replied.
"As you wish, elder." Hei Wan said while secretly holding a jade slip in her hand.
***
Back at the library, Lin Mu had already taken out the boxes that contained all the herbs and other resources. He had asked the clerks not to disturb him for the time being and locked the doors. The clerks agreed with him right away and didn't mind it. It was not like anyone went to the library these days anyway.
"Hmm… what should I start with first, Senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Begin with the things that have the least amount of earth attribute spirit Qi and then progress to higher quality items from there. The mortal strengthening scripture develops tolerance to the same amount of resource after a while and thus it's better to do it this way." Xukong advised.
"Alright then," Lin Mu said before opening the first box.
This box contained spirit herbs rich in earth element spirit Qi and were of various types like flowers, grasses, stalks, roots, etc. He picked up what looked like a knotty root and put it in his mouth before chewing it.
"Ugh, this is bitter…" Lin Mu complained before swallowing it.
As soon as he did though, the medicinal properties of the root started spreading from his stomach, and he quickly guided it according to the method of the mortal strengthening scripture.
~shua~
The brown layer appeared on his skin once again and had the stone like patterns on it. The glow of the brown layer flickered as more and more earth elemental spirit Qi was being supplied to it.
Lin Mu was closely observing it and was wondering what the difference was between the earth elemental spirit Qi that he refined himself and the one that was obtained from the herbs. After observing it for a while, he couldn't really find any difference between them.
'Why doesn't the Mortal strengthening scripture progress then?' Lin Mu wondered.
Soon the absorption of the Qi was complete and the glow stopped. Lin Mu picked up another herb before eating it and repeating the process. Little by little the thickness of the brown layer was increasing and after a couple of hours it had reached a thickness of an inch.
The stone like patterns were now more apparent and a heavy feeling could be felt from the layer if one looked at it. By now, Lin Mu had emptied out half of the box of spirit herbs. Eventually, the brown layer started flickering and then a sound was heard.
~Crack~
The surface was covered in cracks, and it was as if the brown layer was now collapsing. Lin Mu did not panic though and let it happen.
~Crumble~
A minute later, the cracks spread even further and the entire layer started crumbling. Once it was gone, an even brighter light was emanated from Lin Mu's body. It made it hard to see him, but soon it started to condense onto his body.
~shua~
The light kept on getting smaller and smaller, until an even coat was formed all over Lin Mu's body. From head to toe, Lin Mu was now glowing in a brown light that seemed to be more clear than before.
Eventually, the light faded away and in its place another brown layer and appeared but this one had different patterns than before. Instead of a stone, there were now plate like patterns on it.
