"Considering that more worlds might open up in the future..."
"I should give these two worlds a name in my mind first."
"The cultivation world can be called World One."
"And the zombie world can be called World Two."
"The cultivation world, its exploration level is unknown, its map size is unknown, it might be a flat-earth shape."
"The zombie world is a planetary structure... its map size is also unknown, and I don't know if the stars in the universe can be visited. Perhaps that world contains the entire universe... but it might also only contain the solar system."
Fang Ming pondered.
Then he inquired through various channels about the value of the crystals he held.
"This thing is similar to the inner core of a demonic beast—but a demonic beast with an inner core would not be this weak."
"Demonic beasts rarely have inner cores. Demonic beasts that can cultivate to have inner cores are difficult for even core disciples who have cultivated for hundreds of years to take down..."
"This is not the inner core of a demonic beast."
"It is said that some demonic beasts, before condensing an inner core, have a crystal within their bodies... but this phenomenon is very rare among demonic beast species. This crystal is filled with death qi, which does not match any known demonic beasts."
"Perhaps it's a puppet from the demonic path? Or a zombie from the Corpse Refining Sect?"
"It feels more like a zombie... but the aura is completely different from a zombie, and a zombie's body could not possibly contain any kind of crystal..."
"Regardless, these crystals condensed with death qi can be used as key points for evolving the Death Gate in low-level formations... How about I offer ten spirit stones?"
Thus, Fang Ming, through his channels, exchanged hundreds of crystals for ten spirit stones with a senior brother from the outer sect who had been practicing formation arrangement for over ten years.
Hundreds of crystals for ten spirit stones seemed low, but Fang Ming noticed that the prices in this cultivation world were not as exorbitant as the spirit stone prices in the online novels he had read in his past life.
Ten spirit stones could already buy quite a few things.
For example, Golden Light Talismans, a defensive talisman commonly used by low-level cultivators, cost only one spirit stone for seven pieces.
And attack talismans like Fireball Talismans and Earth Thorn Talismans, commonly used by low-level cultivators, cost only one spirit stone for twelve pieces.
Fireball Spell and Earth Thorn Spell were truly low-level spells, far more powerful than the spells used by spirit farmers for pest and weed control.
Fang Ming knew that casting Fireball Spell and Earth Thorn Spell required cultivating the "One Qi Art" to the fifth level to have sufficient mana.
Their power was naturally far beyond that of weed-killing spells.
Weed-killing spells targeted only pests among spirit plants.
Fireball Spell and Earth Thorn Spell, on the other hand, targeted legitimate low-level cultivators.
The two were incomparable.
If he were to purchase these talismans, Fang Ming's survivability would obviously increase significantly.
Although each talisman could only be used once, and due to being inscribed by other cultivators, they were less convenient to use than casting spells with his own mana.
However, in critical moments, they were true trump cards.
"Offensive talismans are half the value of defensive talismans... It seems that cultivators also place a higher value on their own survival and defensive capabilities..."
"I'll use three spirit stones to buy over twenty talismans."
Fang Ming bought over twenty talismans, including both offensive and defensive ones.
Spirit stones were almost universally useful.
Fang Ming even saw spirit rice for sale.
This was normal—the production of spirit rice could only supply inner disciples. Core disciples received it for three meals a day, but ordinary outer disciples had to buy it with spirit stones.
Fang Ming bought some spirit rice.
As it touched his tongue, Fang Ming felt a cool energy enter his body, and his own blood and mana were slightly amplified.
He circulated the One Qi Art again and found not only no obstruction from the turbid qi generated by consuming mortal food, but rather a smooth sensation.
Mana flowed up and down his meridians without hindrance, feeling smooth.
After personally tasting the spirit rice, Fang Ming understood even more clearly how important spirit rice was to cultivators—it greatly increased cultivation efficiency.
Consuming too much mortal food accumulated more turbid qi in the body, making higher-level cultivation increasingly difficult. Consuming spirit rice eliminated this problem.
"This is a very good food for my cultivation..."
"I can obtain some spirit rice using the crystals from zombie brains..."
Now Fang Ming possessed the ability to travel to the zombie world.
Since the crystals from zombie brains could be used as basic materials for formations, it meant they had value in the cultivation world.
This, in turn, meant that Fang Ming could exchange them for spirit rice.
Although the zombie crystals could be obtained continuously, given that there was an entire world supplying them, let alone hundreds of crystals, that world had billions of crystals, making them practically inexhaustible.
The raw materials for a survival base were not an issue, and the cost was almost zero.
However, there were problems in the trading process.
Just like now, Fang Ming only took out a few hundred crystals to complete a transaction, which seemed simple—but this was because the quantity was small and did not attract much attention.
Fellow disciples would not delve into the origin of these zombie crystals—a sale is a sale, and questioning the origin of every item would be absurd.
But as zombie brain crystals became more frequent in the Baiyun Sect's transactions, they would eventually attract attention.
At that time, Fang Ming, who couldn't explain the origin of the zombie brain crystals, might be forced to leave this cultivation world.
These fellow disciples were not fools. How could a mere handyman disciple, who didn't even have the right to descend the mountain, have so many zombie crystals while staying within the Baiyun Sect every day? Fang Ming estimated that offering ten thousand pieces would definitely draw attention.
"This is a problem. If it were an outer disciple who could descend the mountain, there would be ways to explain it. If it were an inner disciple, their status alone would mean they wouldn't need any explanation and could simply present them."
"But I am only a spirit farmer... a handyman disciple..."
Fang Ming shook his head.
This matter was somewhat difficult to handle.
Furthermore, the spirit rice that needed to be submitted annually could not be obtained by buying spirit rice in the market; it had to be grown and then submitted. If no spirit plants were grown in the spirit field, and no spirit plants were seen for a year, suddenly producing spirit rice at the end of the year would be a clear anomaly. He couldn't hide it from either his fellow handyman disciples or Steward Liu, who managed the handyman disciples.