That night, Li Xuan set up a simple tent, cooked Spirit Rice, and after eating, began to Cultivate. Around midnight, all the Spirit Rice in his stomach was digested, and his Cultivation speed slowed down again.
He recovered from Cultivation and began to tally the gains from yesterday's battle. The biggest gain from this battle was actually the Storage Pouch, which had a capacity of 10 cubic units and was priced at around 500 Spirit Stones.
Its high price was justified. Firstly, Storage Pouches could only be crafted by Artifact Refiners of the second rank or higher. For an Artifact Refiner to reach the second rank, they must first become a Foundation Establishment Cultivator themselves, and secondly, their Artifact Refining skills must also Breakthrough, which is by no means easy. Secondly, the raw Materials for crafting Storage Pouches are space crystals, priced at 100 Spirit Stones each. Coupled with the failure rate during refining, it often takes two or three attempts to succeed once.
"Artifact Refiner, truly an enviable profession. Even within the Sect, there are only about twenty Artifact Refiners of the second rank or higher, among whom only 3 are third-rank Artifact Refiners, all of whom are senior Elders."
Li Xuan smacked his lips, sighing with emotion.
Then he began to tally other items:
"Two bottles of 20 qi replenishing pills, to be used after identification. 30 Low Grade Fireball Talismans, 10 Low Grade Vajra Talismans, three Flying Swords, one High Grade Fireball Talisman..."
"Uh... this, one bottle of three Wondrous Pills. Playing so wild, huh..."
There were also some miscellaneous items, useless to him.
Only 20 Spirit Stones remained. He thought for a moment and spent 5 Spirit Stones to upgrade 5 Vajra Talismans and 5 Fireball Talismans. Talisman upgrades were almost instantaneous and didn't consume much time; even in the midst of battle, there was enough time for a temporary upgrade.
"Tomorrow, I'll go to the market again, sell the Flying Swords and Wondrous Pills, and then procure some Materials. The matter of the Spirit Fish must be resolved after all."
The remaining two Flying Swords were both made of Low Grade Materials. Even upgrading them would only slightly increase their attack power, not turn them into Medium Grade Flying Swords, so he decided to sell them directly.
Having understood these things, he began to cook Spirit Rice again. The Spiritual Qi concentration on this mountain was less than first-rank, so to improve quickly, he could only rely on eating.
After eating the Spirit Rice, he sat down to Cultivate again, only fully absorbing the Qi from the Spirit Rice by dawn.
"Based on three meals of Spirit Rice a day, roughly one catty of raw Spirit Rice, it would take a month to Breakthrough to Qi Refining Layer Four. That's still too slow. If I take Qi Enhancing Pills, three pills a day, it would only take half a month. However, taking Medicinal Pills, not to mention their expensive price of 1 Spirit Stone per pill, the accumulation of pill toxins is also a big problem. I'll stick to eating."
"However, one catty of Spirit Rice costs 0.5 Spirit Stones, making it 15 Spirit Stones a month, which doesn't seem cheap either."
He frowned in thought.
"I wonder how many wild ginsengs are left on this mountain. Never mind, I'll focus on the main task today and check the forest another day."
At this moment, in a wild ginseng growing area in the forest, a fluffy Snow Sable looked at the wild ginseng covered in snow and untouched, happily rolling around on the ground. Since her ginseng was stolen last time, she had increased her patrol frequency: once in the morning, once at noon, and once again in the evening.
Lying on the thick snow, thinking about eating the delicious wild ginseng in another half a year, drool seemed to be flowing from her lips...
Market, Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
Li Xuan placed two Low Grade Flying Swords and two bottles of qi replenishing pills in front of Li Gengsheng, asking him to name a price.
Li Gengsheng took them with a slightly complex expression, examined them carefully, and then quoted:
"Senior Brother, these two Flying Swords are both Low Grade Flying Swords in perfect condition. The Pavilion can offer 30 Spirit Stones per sword. As for these qi replenishing pills, they are ordinary first-rank Low Grade, 5 Spirit Stones for both bottles. Wondrous Pills, cough cough cough, the Pavilion does not accept them."
Then he added:
"I've authenticated these qi replenishing pills for Senior Brother, and there's no problem with them. Senior Brother can actually keep them for himself. If you were to buy them on the market, these two bottles would cost 10 Spirit Stones."
Li Xuan smiled and nodded, grumbling internally about the dark recycling prices, but outwardly he said with a smile:
"I'll sell the Flying Swords, and I'll keep the qi replenishing pills for myself. I hope Senior Brother will keep this matter confidential for me. As a newcomer, I don't want to stir up trouble. When winter comes, I'll invite Senior Brother to the mountain for wine and fish."
"Naturally, keeping client information confidential is a rule of the Pavilion, and moreover, Senior Brother is one of our own," Li Gengsheng quickly assured him, a hint of hesitation on his face.
"Does Senior Brother have any advice? We are both Senior and Junior Brothers, there's nothing that can't be said," Li Xuan noticed the unusual expression on his face and asked with a smile.
Li Gengsheng stood up, closed the door of the appraisal room, and smiled bitterly, shaking his head:
"I wouldn't dare to give advice. Senior Brother is new here, perhaps you don't know, but Lingxu Mountain, though nominally a Sect property, has actually long become the territory of the three major Families on the island. Every year, they send hunters, gatherers, and fishermen from their Families to the mountain to hunt, gather, and fish. Sometimes, Senior Brother should yield. As the old saying goes, a strong Dragon doesn't oppress a local snake. I hope Senior Brother makes plans as soon as possible."
Li Xuan was a little surprised. Even Island Lord Feng had not mentioned this to him, yet Li Gengsheng brought it up first. He figured Island Lord Feng also wanted to use this matter to make him seek help and owe a favor.
He quickly understood the ins and outs of the situation and felt a great increase in goodwill towards Li Gengsheng.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. Junior Brother will pay more attention."
Li Xuan cupped his hands.
Taking the Spirit Stones, Li Xuan left.
Li Gengsheng looked at his retreating back and sighed softly.
"I hope this Senior Brother can last a bit longer."
He had been here for fifty or sixty years, and during that time, he had seen too many Senior Brothers sent by the Sect to guard the mountain arrive full of vigor and leave dejected.
Li Xuan was amiable and unpretentious, which made him quite fond of him, so he offered a few extra words of caution. He was now at Qi Refining Layer Eight, with 20 years remaining until his 120-year limit. The hope of Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment was slim, and he had no children, so he naturally wasn't afraid of those three major Families causing him trouble.
After leaving the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, Li Xuan went to some hunting and fishing gear shops in the market and bought some fishing nets, shovels, and other tools. These items were all System-certified and could be upgraded again.
To be on the safe side, he also purchased some wind riding talismans, and then hurried towards Lingxu Mountain, arriving safely.
Back on the mountain, he looked at the old site of the courtyard, now burned to ashes, and sighed. He grew more and more eager for the day the Bronze Fragment would upgrade into the Bronze Palace. It had 50 square meters, enough for him to live in, and most importantly, it was safe. At least he wouldn't have to worry about being ambushed while Cultivating at night.
Then he got busy. There were also gullies around the Heavenly Pond. Li Xuan chose one and used a net to block the gully's exit, thus forming a simple small fish pond.
He focused his gaze on it, and a transparent panel appeared above it:
"【Extremely Simple Fish Pond (Upgradeable): A makeshift simple fish pond, utilizing the characteristics of the spiritual volcanic lake, can accommodate 2000 fish. The probability of ordinary fish evolving into Spirit Fish is one in ten thousand.】"
"【Can be upgraded to a first-rank Low Grade Spirit Pond.】"
"【Upgrade Effect: Accommodates 3000 fish, the probability of ordinary fish evolving into Spirit Fish increases tenfold, Spirit Fish growth speed +10%.】"
"【Upgrade Conditions: 20 Spirit Stones, one Spirit Fish.】"
"【Upgrade Time: Half a day.】"
"Upgrade."
Li Xuan took out 20 Spirit Stones and then took out a Spirit Fish from the spirit fish treasure mirror.
"Tenfold means one in a thousand. That's three Spirit Fish a year. If I open a few more ponds, I can meet the Sect's goal. However, this would mean not having enough Spirit Stones to upgrade the Bronze Palace."
Buying the fishing nets cost him 5 Spirit Stones. These fishing nets were capable of blocking treasure fish, and after his upgrade, they became fishing nets capable of blocking Spirit Fish, which cost another 5 Spirit Stones to upgrade.
Counting the 60 Spirit Stones from selling the Flying Swords and the recent expenditure for one pond, he had 45 Spirit Stones left.
"No, I can't use all of it to upgrade fish ponds right now. Testing one pond is enough for now. At this point, upgrading the Bronze Palace is the priority. I'll go up the mountain later to have a look. With the System, finding mountain treasures only requires more time, but if I'm caught off guard and lose my life, then nothing will be left."
After a moment of deliberation, he confirmed his urgent goal and flew up the mountain on his spirit boat.