"I'll buy it…" Di Tou cut in.
"And for the… Oh? You'll buy it?" His eyes shining, Bu Qiong quickly ducked under the counter again, grabbing a piece of waxen paper and wrapped up the stone before pushing it in front of Di Tou, his attitude screaming "It's already been wrapped, so you have to buy it now! Returns not allowed!"
"That'll be one medium grade spirit stone senior…"
"Mu, you can call me Senior Mu." Di Tou responded while grabbing a spirit stone out of his bag and handing it to Bu Qiong.
Smiling, Bu Qiong received the stone and pocketed it. "Oh right, your stuff is here, if you want I'll also sell you a bucket to carry everything in for only three."
"Alright, alright, enough already. I'll take it." Di Tou grabbed another three silver nuggets and handed them over to the youth, who grabbed a medium sized bucket that was identical to the one Di Tou had used in the bathhouse to carry water.
Collecting all his items, Di Tou left the bathhouse under the enthusiastic gaze of Bu Qiong, who's face was screaming, "Come again soon, buy more stuff, hehe."
As Di Tou exited the bathhouse, it had darked a bit and as he walked down the street heading towards the food street, Di Tou realized why all the other bathhouses had been closed after seeing a couple of scantily clad woman and men begin to populate the street.
F*ck, those weren't bathhouses, they were "bath" houses.
Sighing, Di Tou averted his eyes and left.
At the food street, Di Tou found the same lady from the day before and bought another couple of flat breads to bring home, before wandering around the street a little. It was still a little bit early for dinner, but he had eaten lunch at a weird time and he didn't particularly feel like heading out again to grab food.
Walking around the street, Di Tou happened to pass by Old Wang's place and noticed that it seemed to be closed for the day.
Then after wandering around a bit more, Di Tou choose a relatively nicer restaurant that specialized in slow roasted chicken and rice sets.
After thinking for a little while, Di Tou ordered their signature chicken, a bowl of rice, and a plate of vegetables, which added up to just short of four low-quality spirit stones.
Handing over a medium sized spirit stone, the waiter who had seemed a little sleepy and annoyed before, was suddenly much more polite, and returned Di Tou's change in a new bag.
Of course, it should be said that it was rather reasonable that the waiter was annoyed. Di Tou, this old man came to the restaurant in the off hours alone, didn't order much, carrying a fairly large package of items, and had a weird smell to him.
To put it nicely he looked like a wandering cultivator, to put it rudely, he looked like he was homeless and came in to try to eat and dash.
After a short wait in which the waiter had come by four times to refill his tea and ask if he needed anything, the food arrived freshly cooked.
The food itself was alright. It was definitely better than what Di Tou had been eating on a daily basis in modern times and had a historic homemade charm to it that made it rather palatable, but in comparison to Old Wang's noodles they seemed to be lacking something.
Thanking the waiter and leaving a low-tier spirit stone as a tip, Di Tou exited and made his way back home.
Arriving back in his abode and putting down his purchases, Di Tou quickly kneeled to check the scroll.
<-( )========================( )->
Strength – 8.05 (.25) (1)
Dexterity – 10
Intelligence – 8.405 (1.25) (2)
Spirituality – 10
<-( )========================( )->
"43% efficiency in action [tidying bed], sub average feedback obtained."
"21% efficiency in action [sweeping leaves], low level feedback obtained."
"26% efficiency in action [bathing], sub average feedback obtained."
"…"
F*ck, are you telling me that my sponge bath yesterday couldn't even count as a bath?
Looking at the change in his attributes, Di Tou noticed that sub average feedback for bathing gave .25 points considering that low level feedback for sweeping leaves gave one point.
This placed bathing on the same feedback level as tidying the bed, which checking his notes Di Tou recalled was one of the least rewarding activities. It seemed like activities that could be considered part of his personal hygiene gave the least feedback by default?
Mulling over it a moment, Di Tou made a note of it, before focusing on the more important detail. He had figured it might be the case, but it seemed like food other than Old Wang's didn't give him any feedback.
Di Tou had already had a hunch this might be the case when he was eating earlier, but now that he saw it he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Of course he'd still try eating at a few different places for the next day or two in hopes there was at least one other location that provided feedback, but he couldn't help but feel that Old Wang was the outlier in this case.
But more importantly, it seemed like he was really close to reaching 10 points in all attributes, being less than four points away. Which was about four leave sweeping sessions.
Coming to this thought, Di Tou figured he could probably get that done tonight.
Imagining that he might be able to finally step into the world of cultivation, Di Tou couldn't help but jump into action. Grabbing the bags and twine he had purchased earlier and heading out back to the courtyard to start sweeping!
After half an hour or so, Di Tou finished sweeping the courtyard and had filled one of the bags with leaves.
Then… There was something he wanted to test.
Obviously if he continued sweeping the courtyard right now, it'd still be considered the same action of 'sweeping leaves' and at best would increase his efficiency. But what if he changed a location?
Stepping onto the street carrying a bag and his trusty straw broom, Di Tou started sweeping.
Not too long later, he filled in one bag. He had gotten a few weird looks in the meantime, but most people simply ignored him and passed on by.
Bringing the newly filled bag back to his courtyard and piling it with the other three, Di Tou couldn't help but feel a little excited.
Kneeling by the bags he found…
<-( )========================( )->
Strength – 10 (2) (2)
Dexterity – 10
Intelligence – 8.4075 (.025) (1)
Spirituality – 10
<-( )========================( )->
"21% efficiency in action [sweeping leaves], low level feedback obtained."
"19% efficiency in action [sweeping leaves], low level feedback obtained."
"Cap in [Strength] reached, 50% of excess attributes will be randomly attributed to [Intelligence]."
Di Tou's eyes shone. This was it, this was his ticket out of Body Refining!