Chapter 64: Chapter 64: The Temptation of Spirit Stones, Beaver Foundation Establishment
"So you’re telling me this now because I’ve gained sufficient ability? Or is there another reason?"
The black cat leisurely lay on his shoulder, meowing, conveying some information it knew from its former master to Li Ye.
—The general meaning was that Li Ye indeed had the ability now.
Simultaneously, it also imparted some extremely important information to Li Ye:
Low-Tier Spirit Stones are merely consumables. Many arrays and magical artifacts, even alchemy and talisman making, require the stable spiritual power inside Spirit Stones as a catalyst.
Spirit Stones are divided into natural Spirit Stones and those created artificially.
Compared to the spiritual power from Spirit Veins and other spirit sources, the spiritual power in Spirit Stones is more stable.
Therefore, the quantity of Spirit Stones produced by major sects, and whose Spirit Stones’ spiritual power most closely approximates natural Spirit Stones, are ways to compare the strength of sects.
"I see."
The black cat’s words, along with the information contained within, eased some of Li Ye’s long-standing confusion.
Thinking this way, the value of Low-Tier Spirit Stones indeed declines. No wonder Su Ya and the Spiritual Mechanism Vine had mentioned that the prices here were manipulated.
On one side, the major sects lead resource control, and on the other, the inherent value of Spirit Stones remains. Separating Low-Tier and High-Tier prevents an inflation of Spirit Stone numbers which leads to devaluation.
Both High-Tier and Low-Tier cultivators can gain the resources they need without the inability to cultivate.
Indeed, it’s completely different from what I imagined before.
However, this also shows that this system is definitely under the control of a higher will.
And moreover, the place must be prosperous with resources; there must be ways to obtain spiritual qi, otherwise, why would all the sects unite...
Oh dear, I hope I won’t be struck by lightning.
Li Ye quickly throws all these wild thoughts out of his mind.
Since it still exists today, it must be reasonable. Perhaps I’ll only understand the inside story when I reach a higher tier someday.
As a small cultivator at the Qi Refining stage, why even think about these matters?
The black cat looked at Li Ye’s expression with its round eyes, and only after seeing him completely calm down, did it gently meow once.
—Make efforts to earn Spirit Stones!
Afterwards, it jumped back into the book again, disappearing entirely.
It left Li Ye staring at the Bright Shining Mulberry Tree and the Qingsui Silkworm eggs on it, pondering for a moment and muttering:
"This thing is indeed difficult to cultivate... needing both Mo and Spirit Stones, and so many materials. I’ll deal with the silkworms first; the task comes first."
With this decision made, Li Ye carefully removed all the silkworm eggs, took them back to his room, and placed them into the jade box he had prepared long ago.
The Qingsui Silkworm is very fond of jade items, even when feeding mulberry leaves, jade powder must be mixed in.
Though they like all kinds of jade, there are differences between different types of jade.
Previously, Li Ye bought some First-Tier Spiritual Jade, which he planned to experiment with when the silkworms hatch to find the most suitable Spiritual Jade.
As for the Bright Shining Mulberry Tree, it requires sufficient sunlight.
He planned to use the Xiguang Seed Nurturing Technique from time to time, as it not only boosts his proficiency, but also nurtures its growth.
...
After the arrival of the Mulberry Tree, Li Ye practically didn’t step out, watching the state of the silkworm eggs on a daily basis.
If anything was needed, he would ask Zhao He to buy it for him or contact the Four Seasons Sect shop.
He’s been going out more often recently, but he still enjoys staying at home.
However, as the spiritual qi in the courtyard increased, coupled with using Gray Wishing Dust and Shining Hua Fragrant Oil to nourish his primary spirit plant and Spirit Beast, it led to... an excess of spiritual qi.
They were almost eager to offer their spiritual qi to Li Ye, even fighting over it—
For example, the moment Li Ye stepped out, the nearby Spirit Vein Willow would directly send spiritual qi rushing towards him, while others further away, not having such control, could only let their spiritual qi spill into the courtyard.
He had long reached the threshold of the Tenth-Layer of Qi Refining, and Foundation Establishment requires turning the original spiritual qi inside into spiritual liquid.
Now, his spiritual qi was overflowing, and the purity of his spiritual power was extremely high, naturally forming into liquid.
Furthermore, with so much spiritual qi helping him break through, he hardly needed any pills for breaking realms.
He even felt that if he wasn’t careful, he might break through to Foundation Establishment Stage at any moment.
"Breaking realms too easily is also a form of agony."
He helplessly sighed, then stretched out his hand to transform his spiritual power and divine sense into the Xiguang Bell, controlling it to patrol the courtyard.
"Ding ling ling~"
The gentle chime sounds like sunlight on the spirit plants and Spirit Beast in the courtyard.
This is his best method of consuming mana, and it also helps establish rapport with the Spirit Beast and spirit plants.
With his Xiguang Bell’s soothing, they also feel happiness and joy.
A gentle breeze, a soothing bell chime.
Li Ye leisurely leaned on the lounge chair, enjoying the abundant spiritual qi, occasionally taking a few seedless lotus seeds to nibble on.
As he reached for the lotus seeds, suddenly he saw a team of Golden Horned Ants happily running out from the mechanism space gate in the distance.
They approached him directly, uniformly spitting out some small gold nuggets.
These gold nuggets were only about the size of soybeans, yet in the sunlight, they exuded a benevolent glow.
Like the shining radiance of the Buddha’s halo, instantly capturing Li Ye’s attention.
"Buddha’s Crown Gold?"
"How did you manage to bring this out from inside?"
He was surprised, holding the Buddha’s Crown Gold.
Yet, the beaver lounging in the sun nearby suddenly brightened its eyes, nimbly leaping to pick up a soybean-sized piece of Buddha’s Crown Gold.
"Chirp!"
It climbed onto Li Ye, holding the Buddha’s Crown Gold, shaking it, emanating seven-colored light like a flame encasing the Buddha’s Crown Gold.
It directly melted the soybean-sized Buddha’s Crown Gold, turning it into an almost transparent disc.
Gold served as the base, with its Buddha’s Light encircling the disc, solidifying into a semi-transparent solid, radiant.
It truly resembled the halo behind a Buddha statue.
"Ah?"
Li Ye took the small disc, rubbed it in his hand, suddenly surprised: "You even know how to refine artifacts? Wait, when did you advance to Foundation Establishment?"
The spiritual power emanating from the beaver had already liquefied. If it hadn’t shown off this way, Li Ye wouldn’t have even realized it had advanced to the "Foundation Establishment Stage."
It blinked its round eyes and chirped a few more times.
The other four beavers rushed over, also standing on the table, their bodies emitting liquefied spiritual power, all of them were in Foundation Establishment!
Though Spirit Beasts’ Foundation Establishment differs from that of the Human Race, they indeed crossed from Second Tier to Third Tier, overcoming a very challenging barrier.
Li Ye himself hasn’t even reached Foundation Establishment yet.