Chapter 25: Converting a Mountain of Spirit Stones
"What am I supposed to do? The resource gap is enormous!"
Fang Yuan rubbed his temples in frustration. Now that his decomposition talent had proven so remarkably useful, resources had become the one and only bottleneck limiting his rate of advancement.
The scrap material produced by the Pill Hall and Artifact Hall over any given period was simply not enough.
"2,500 pounds of Pill scrap material — the usable medicinal powder extracted from it amounts to roughly 300 portions, enough to refine at most 2,700 Pills. But the vast majority are Qi-Nurturing Pills. That amount of Spiritual Energy would be enough for an ordinary cultivator to break through to the ninth layer of Qi Refining, yet for me, it might only cover a single minor-realm breakthrough."
His Dantian was ten times the size of a cultivator at the same stage.
And the quality of his Spiritual Power was two to three times greater than his peers!
In other words, the amount of Spiritual Energy he required was dozens of times that of an ordinary person!
On top of that, he was simultaneously cultivating all three aspects of Essence, Qi, and Spirit — which, by rough calculation, tripled the gap further.
That meant the Spiritual Energy he needed for cultivation was a hundred times that of an ordinary person!
"But if I sell the supreme-grade Pills and convert the proceeds into Spirit Stones, then decompose those Spirit Stones, the Spiritual Energy I'd gain would be over a hundred times what the Pills themselves contain. Huh — doesn't that balance out perfectly?"
Fang Yuan fell into deep thought.
Using Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills directly for cultivation was far too extravagant for his current situation. Converting them into Low-Grade Spirit Stones and then cultivating with those offered the best value by far.
With that settled, he had no choice but to make a change in his approach.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, it was time for work again.
To Fang Yuan's eager anticipation, the Artifact Hall and Pill Hall delivered the ten-day inventory manifest along with a fresh batch of scrap material.
After his shift, Fang Yuan collected the scrap material and returned to his Cave Dwelling.
He decomposed the failed Pills one by one, obtaining a considerable amount of medicinal powder.
Then he set about refining Pills.
Having grown Proficient, Fang Yuan's pill-refining skill had improved dramatically.
Refining Qi-Nurturing Pills had become effortless and fluid, as natural as breathing.
He could now process five portions of medicinal powder simultaneously in a single session, producing Pills that were half upper-grade Qi-Nurturing Pills and half Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills!
Throughout all of this, his decomposition talent continued to play an enormous role. The Spirit Herb powder extracted through decomposition was exceptionally pure — with all impurities completely removed, the quality of the resulting Pills improved dramatically.
He refined Pills through the entire night.
Fang Yuan produced twenty furnace batches in one go, using a total of one hundred portions of raw materials, yielding 500 Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills and 400 upper-grade Qi-Nurturing Pills.
The upper-grade Qi-Nurturing Pills were then decomposed, yielding 400 incomplete Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills. After being re-refined in another pass, they became 300 complete Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills.
In other words, in a single night, Fang Yuan had successfully refined 800 Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills.
Early morning.
Fang Yuan arrived at the Treasure Hall bright and early, made his way to the Exchange Room, took out a single Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pill, and placed it on the inspection platform.
Xiaobao's slightly mechanical voice rang out.
"Ding — scanning… scan complete. One Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pill detected. Exchange value: 500 Contribution Points. Confirm contribution?"
"Contribute!" Fang Yuan said without hesitation.
In the next instant, the Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pill was teleported away over a short distance.
This time, Fang Yuan placed ten Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills on the platform.
"Ding — 10 Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills detected. Exchange value: 5,000 Contribution Points. Confirm contribution?"
"Contribute!"
Fang Yuan said without ceremony.
On the third attempt, Fang Yuan placed one hundred Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills on the platform.
"Ding — … 100 Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills detected. Exchange value: 45,000 Contribution Points. Confirm contribution?"
"What? Why did the price drop?" Fang Yuan asked, baffled.
"A significant increase in inventory has been detected. Per established rules, the price of this item will decrease accordingly. Do you wish to continue contributing?"
"Fine!" Fang Yuan nodded.
He contributed the hundred Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills.
The price dropped again — down to 400 Contribution Points per Pill. Fang Yuan was speechless. He stopped contributing the remaining Pills and put them away. If he kept going, the price would only keep falling.
In the end, Fang Yuan walked away with 90,000 Contribution Points.
He then applied to exchange them for 90,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
Fang Yuan collected them and strolled contentedly back to his seat.
He was just thinking about how best to cultivate when he got back.
Then he spotted a familiar face walking in.
It was the princess, Li Mengyao.
"Something you need?" Fang Yuan asked, looking at her with mild curiosity.
Li Mengyao glanced at him and said, "Senior Brother Fang, I never expected you to be hiding such depths. You reached the fifth layer first — I underestimated you before!"
Fang Yuan waved it off. "Just luck! Han Zimo broke through too."
"His breakthrough doesn't surprise me. But I'm very curious — how did you advance so quickly? What's your secret? I'm willing to pay in Spirit Stones for that information!" Li Mengyao cut straight to the point.
Fang Yuan chuckled at that. "It's not really a matter of Spirit Stones."
"Three thousand Spirit Stones!" Li Mengyao declared.
She placed thirty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones on the table.
Fang Yuan shook his head with an exasperated smile. "Junior Sister Li, this is practically arm-twisting. There's genuinely nothing I can tell you."
Li Mengyao said firmly, "I need this information badly. I need to be first. As for the rewards — I don't care about those. I'll give you all the first-place prizes!"
Fang Yuan sighed. "Why go to all this trouble? Here's what I'll say — I won't say much more than this. Go to the Selection Room and look up supreme-grade Pills. That's all I can offer. I work here, and I can't be leaking information like this."
Li Mengyao didn't quite follow, but she gave Fang Yuan a long, searching look, then clasped her hands in a respectful bow. "Thank you."
She turned and walked out of the rear hall.
Fang Yuan watched her retreating figure, a thought flickering through his mind: "If she sees the Pills and exchanges them all, won't I be able to contribute mine again at the higher price?"
Li Mengyao entered the front hall, stepped into one of the Selection Rooms, and pulled up the query list. She browsed through the Pill catalog, searching for information on supreme-grade Pills.
Before long, a single entry appeared before her.
[Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pill: Contains exceptionally pure medicinal potency. Can substitute for ten to thirty days of arduous cultivation during the early Qi Refining stage; effectiveness decreases proportionally during the Mid Qi Refining Stage. No Pill Toxin. No consumption interval. Exchange price: 500 points. Stock: 211.]
"Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills?"
A flash of astonishment and delight crossed Li Mengyao's eyes.
The Pills she currently used were upper-grade Qi-Gathering Pills — one per day, requiring her to purge the Pill Toxin afterward. Each one was worth five days of her own hard cultivation, which was already quite good.
But compared to Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills, they paled in comparison.
While Qi-Nurturing Pills were generally suited for the early Qi Refining stage, supreme-grade ones were a different matter entirely.
A supreme-grade Pill's effective tier was elevated by one full level, making it suitable for cultivators in the Mid Qi Refining Stage. Its potency was comparable to upper-grade Qi-Gathering Pills — and more critically, it had no consumption interval and no Pill Toxin, meaning one could swallow several in a single day!
Cultivation speed would skyrocket!
"No wonder Fang Yuan cultivates so fast. With access to these Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills, how could he not? But these Pills are so expensive — how can he afford them?"
A flicker of puzzlement crossed Li Mengyao's mind, but she didn't dwell on it.
"Wait — the price is actually this low?" A glint of surprise appeared in Li Mengyao's eyes. "Just reselling them would turn a tidy profit. And supreme-grade Pills are rare to begin with, so their uses are even greater."
This was clearly a lucrative opportunity — and Fang Yuan had simply handed it to her.
There might be a reason behind it — perhaps Fang Yuan couldn't absorb this deal on his own — but that was a separate matter.
Just moments ago she had thought Fang Yuan was being outrageously greedy, refusing to say a word more for three thousand Spirit Stones. Now she realized that three thousand Spirit Stones for this information had been an absolute steal.
"Consider it a favor I owe you!"
Li Mengyao murmured softly to herself, then immediately selected "exchange all," pulling out every Spirit Stone she had on her and proceeding with the exchange.