Repairing the Spirit Vein
Shen Jingchuan sat in the central private room, without uttering a sound from beginning to end.
He did have the idea, but he quickly suppressed it.
Firstly, the people around him are all far from Foundation Establishment. Xiao Mingshu, the one with the highest cultivation, is only at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. They haven't reached the point where they absolutely need Foundation Establishment Pills, so there's no need to rush.
Secondly, he really didn't care for low-grade Foundation Establishment Pills. Even with a 30% success rate, they would only be mid-grade if he upgraded. If he really wanted to use them himself or give them to people around him, he would have to get better ones in the future.
Thirdly, he was truly broke. After spending 80,000 Spirit Stones, he only had a little over 2,000 left.
Unless he takes out his upgraded treasure and exchanges it for Spirit Stones at the market.
These days, he has always acted arrogantly in front of True Person Moxuan, coming from a big Lineage. In the end, he couldn't even produce 10,000 Spirit Stones and had to offer something as collateral. Wasn't that just showing off his true colors?
He picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip.
Even in such a small market town, you can find Foundation Establishment Pills. There will be even more opportunities when you go to larger markets and markets near sects in the future, so there's no need to rush.
On the stage, Liu Meiniang held up her hammer and looked around.
"Nine thousand one, once."
"Nine thousand one, twice."
"Nine thousand one, three times -- Sold!"
This low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, which had aroused the envy of all the cultivators present, ultimately ended up in the pocket of the Tian family of Qi State.
After the auction ended, Shen Jingchuan didn't leave.
He ordered a few dishes from the Returning Geese Tower restaurant and a pot of wine to be brought to the private room. The three of them ate leisurely before going downstairs.
Back at the rented courtyard in the market, Xiao Mingshu and Huan'er barely spoke a word the whole way, each returning to their own room.
Shen Jingchuan was puzzled, but didn't have time to ask further.
Right now, all he could think about was that section of the Spirit Vein.
Back in his room, he activated the Spirit Gathering Formation, and then, with a thought, entered his Heaven and Earth Ring.
The moment her feet touched the ground, Xian'er's figure floated over.
Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua came up to him from the left and right, respectively, while Big Black, Little Black, and Treading Snow also frolicked around him, nuzzling him with their heads.
"Brother, you've come."
Su Qingshu took his arm, her eyes full of laughter.
Shen Jingchuan patted her hand, then casually stroked Big Black's neck a couple of times, his expression somewhat anxious.
"I have to talk to you now, I have something urgent to discuss with Sister Xian'er."
He turned to look at the two sisters.
The two sisters obediently responded and led the three horses a short distance away.
Shen Jingchuan then activated his Divine Sense and took out the large jade box from his Storage Ring, holding it in his palm.
"Sister Xian, take a look at this."
Xian'er landed in front of him, her gaze falling on the jade box, and that lazy voice rang directly in his mind.
Are you asking me to open it?
Shen Jingchuan quickly lifted the lid of the box, and there lay the remnant of the vein inside, with strands of milky white Spiritual Qi seeping out.
Xian'er looked at it for a moment, then her expression became serious.
Her voice remained only within Shen Jingchuan's Divine Sense; Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua beside him couldn't hear it at all.
"It's a First-Tier Spirit Vein, but unfortunately it's damaged, missing about 30%."
Shen Jingchuan responded to her with his Divine Sense.
"Sister Xian, do you think we should put this thing inside the light sphere to repair it? Maybe upgrade it another level?"
Xian'er shook her head.
"Upgrading is unnecessary, but repairs are fine."
"Let me give you a price first. A complete First-Tier Spirit Vein like this would fetch between 100,000 and 150,000 Spirit Stones at an auction house, depending on its condition."
"Your section is 30% damaged, and you got it for 80,000 Spirit Stones. To be honest, that's not cheap."
Shen Jingchuan's brow twitched.
How much will the repairs cost?
"To make up for this 30%, I estimate it will cost at least 20,000 Spirit Stones."
Xian'er, "However, there are advantages to repairing it. Once the Spirit Vein is complete, the Spiritual Qi emitted will be more than twice as much as it is now."
Shen Jingchuan nodded, then asked another question.
"What if we didn't just repair it, but instead upgraded it to a Second-Tier Spirit Vein?"
Xian'er glanced at him as if she had heard a joke.
"Upgrade to the second tier? Do you know how many Spirit Stones that costs? Tens of millions."
"Besides, even if you really have that ten million, if you come across Second-Tier Spirit Vein outside, the selling price will be about that amount. Why bother with all that trouble?"
Shen Jingchuan gasped.
"So expensive?"
"What do you think?" Xian'er said slowly, "First-Tier Spirit Vein is enough for a cultivation Lineage to establish itself. Second-Tier Spirit Vein is enough for a small sect to start its own sect."
"As for the third tier, that's something only large sects with tens of thousands of disciples can possess. Beyond that, the fourth tier..."
She paused.
"Fourth-Tier Spirit Vein is something only a giant of a holy land can possess. Its price can't be calculated in tens of thousands; it has to be hundreds of millions."
Shen Jingchuan fell silent.
After a long while, he gave a bitter laugh, his Divine Sense filled with helplessness.
"Forget ten million, I can't even come up with ten or twenty thousand right now."
"I spent 80,000 spirit stones bidding on this Spirit Vein, and now I only have a little over 2,000 Spirit Stones left. How am I going to make up for it?"
Xian'er, however, remained calm.
"You don't need to fill it with Spirit Stones now."
"Put it into the light sphere first. The energy stored up in the light sphere these past few days should be enough to replenish this 30% loss."
"Once it's repaired, bury it underground in this space. It's a Spirit Vein itself; once buried, it will slowly release Spiritual Qi, and the Ring will gradually recover on its own. Unless you want the Heaven and Earth Ring to undergo a significant change quickly, you won't need to give it any more Spirit Stones afterward; it will recover on its own."
She thought for a moment, then added another sentence.
"If you're worried about not being safe, just let the Ring absorb those two thousand Spirit Stones you have, just to be on the safe side."
Shen Jingchuan's eyes lit up.
"Okay, let's do it that way."
Without further hesitation, he first lifted the broken piece of vein from the jade box, guided it with his Divine Sense, and sent it directly into the pale white sphere of light in mid-air.
Immediately afterwards, he took out the last two thousand Spirit Stones from his Storage Ring, leaving not a single one behind, and put them all into the light sphere.
"Absorb all the Spirit Stones and repair the Spirit Veins."
With a thought, a soft green light rose from the sphere of light, tightly enveloping the remnant vein. The more than two thousand Spirit Stones instantly dissolved and were absorbed by the Ring.
Shen Jingchuan stared at it for a moment, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that everything was in order.
Just then, his Divine Sense suddenly stirred.
In the corner of the sphere of light, the rusty nail that had been tossed in that morning had lost all its green light.
He reached out and beckoned, and the nail flew out of the ball of light, landing in his palm.
The mottled rust on the nail had long since disappeared; it was dark and heavy, exuding a restrained chill. Holding it in one's hand, even Divine Sense felt a faint, stinging pain, as if pricked by needles.
Shen Jingchuan held the Soul-Seizing Nail, which seemed completely different from the real thing, and turned to look at Xian'er.