Even if the probability of this trouble occurring was small, it was still a major problem. If the matter were exposed, it would be almost certain death.
Fang Ming would not do such a foolish thing.
Exchanging Lingyuan Pills for spirit stones was not difficult.
There were plenty of such shops on the streets.
He found a shop specializing in exchanges and traded his Lingyuan Pills for spirit stones.
Fang Ming carefully extended his internal mana, inch by inch, into these spirit stones, exploring the differences between them and the spirit stones of World One.
He also observed them closely with his naked eye.
After his exploration, Fang Ming discovered that these spirit stones, resembling small pebbles, contained spiritual energy far exceeding the concentration of spiritual energy in the outside world.
This was consistent with World One's cultivation world.
Spirit stones became the currency for cultivators' transactions primarily because they contained a high concentration of spiritual energy. Whether for alchemy, artifact refining, formations, or healing, spirit stones could play an auxiliary role.
World One's cultivation world used spirit stones as currency, and this cultivation world also used spirit stones as currency.
The difference between the two was that the spirit stones in World One were relatively rough, often dug directly from mineral veins, varying in size and spiritual energy concentration, without specific standardization.
However, in this world, each spirit stone was classified into low, medium, and high grades, with unified sizes and spiritual energy concentrations.
Each low-grade spirit stone contained a consistent concentration of spiritual energy and was of a uniform size.
There was absolutely no possibility of inconsistent spiritual energy concentrations between two low-grade spirit stones.
The spiritual energy concentration was uniform.
This could not have been directly dug from mineral veins. It could only mean that there was a unified immortal cultivation force that reprocessed the original spirit stone ore and fashioned it into currency.
Fang Ming also inquired about the name of this organization: the Mansion of Rebirth.
The Mansion of Rebirth was a top-tier force in the Nine Provinces Great World. It was rumored to have old monsters in the Ascension Realm, waiting for their lifespans to end before ascending to the upper realm and transforming into immortal bodies.
Before ascending, they resided in the lower realm.
The influence of the Mansion of Rebirth spread throughout the Nine Provinces, from the extreme north to the outer seas in the east.
Under such an organization, there were countless branch mansions below the main mansion. One of these branch mansions was located in this town.
Once cultivators who mined actually found ore, the original spirit ore, under the control of the Mansion of Rebirth, was not allowed to be directly used as currency. It had to be recognized by the Mansion of Rebirth, marked with the symbol of the Mansion of Rebirth, and then cut into low-grade, medium-grade, and high-grade spirit stones according to its spiritual energy concentration and size before it could be circulated as currency.
It was precisely because of this artificial division that the currency system, where one hundred low-grade spirit stones could be exchanged for one medium-grade spirit stone, was maintained.
Of course, there were commissions involved.
The Mansion of Rebirth, by controlling the currency, had undoubtedly earned immense profits by transforming original spirit ore into unified currency.
However, since the Mansion of Rebirth was a top-tier force with cultivators in the Ascension Realm and even over a hundred cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm, the cultivators of the Nine Provinces could only tolerate the Mansion of Rebirth wielding such monetary power over the entire cultivation world.
"Low-grade, medium-grade, and high-grade spirit stones are relatively straightforward, essentially consumables that lose their spiritual energy upon use. As for the legendary top-grade spirit stones, they can absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth to replenish themselves, making them permanent items and thus highly sought after by cultivators," Fang Ming mused.
The efficacy of these top-grade spirit stones was not naturally occurring but a technological creation of the Mansion of Rebirth.
However, for such high-end items, even a Golden Core True Person might not possess a single top-grade spirit stone as a symbol of wealth.
"I should first look for heavenly treasures that can aid my cultivation of Xuanfa," Fang Ming thought.
In World One's cultivation world, cultivators fought using spells and magic treasures.
In this cultivation world, however, cultivators fought using Xuanfa.
Although spells and Xuanfa might seem similar, they were vastly different.
For instance, some Xuanfa required "inspirational objects" or "reliance objects" to be cast.
For example, the Lin family possessed a Xuanfa of the mortal-grade, high-tier, called the Stellar Sword Art, which required nine types of spiritual herbs as "inspirational objects" or "reliance objects" to be wielded.
Without these nine spiritual herbs as reliance objects, this Xuanfa could not be cultivated.
It was akin to the equipment wearing conditions or prerequisites for cultivating a technique.
Spells did not have the restriction of "reliance objects"; they were only limited by mana and cultivation realm.
Xuanfa, however, emphasized the "Xuan" (profound) aspect. Not only were there limitations in mana and cultivation realm, but there were also restrictions regarding reliance objects.
For a mortal-grade, high-tier Xuanfa, Fang Ming possessed spells of comparable power. However, this did not mean he was unwilling to learn Xuanfa or lacked interest in it.
In fact, the Xuanfa of this cultivation world, not to mention the legendary immortal-grade Xuanfa, even the heavenly-grade Xuanfa, were terrifying to the extreme; moving stars and shifting the moon were not mere fantasies.
Fang Ming yearned for heavenly-grade and earthly-grade Xuanfa.
And if one cannot even sweep a room, how can one sweep the world?
Similarly, if one doesn't even learn a mortal-grade Xuanfa, could they directly master an earthly-grade or heavenly-grade Xuanfa if they obtained one?
Therefore, Fang Ming deemed it necessary to learn the mortal-grade, high-tier Xuanfa: the Stellar Sword Art.
"Stellar Sword Art, Lin family, mortal-grade high-tier Xuanfa..."
Fang Ming carefully pondered the information in his memory.
This Xuanfa was one of the techniques his father, a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm, knew, according to Lin Xuan's memories.
To cultivate this Xuanfa, the requirement for mana was the seventh layer of Meridian Condensation. Although Fang Ming had not reached this level, he possessed the mana of the One Qi Art as a substitute, which fully met this prerequisite and even far surpassed it.
Cultivating this Xuanfa required nine reliance objects.
These nine reliance objects were nine types of spiritual herbs.
Among these nine spiritual herbs, five were of inferior quality, three were more precious spiritual herbs, and the most valuable was a spiritual herb called "Hidden Moon Blood."
Fang Ming estimated that the five inferior spiritual herbs could be found in shops in Liangchen County, which was this town. The other four precious ones were harder to say.
However, there would be a way when the time came, so there was no need to worry too much. He just had to keep moving forward.
Fang Ming's eyes scanned the rows of shops selling heavenly treasures on the street.
"Qingxiang Pavilion," "Tianbao Tower"...
After a moment's thought, Fang Ming walked towards Tianbao Tower.
Tianbao Tower had a decent reputation in Liangchen County and was guarded by a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm. They should be able to procure several types of spiritual herbs.
At least the five inferior spiritual herbs could definitely be obtained, and some of the three more precious spiritual herbs could also be acquired.