My Low-Grade Spiritual Aperture Is Saved!

Li Xiuchang understood that with his aptitude, the only way to improve his cultivation quickly was to spend money.

He had Wang Long accompany him to the market, and they went on a shopping spree.

Pills? Bought!

At the early stage of Qi Condensation, it was crucial to build a solid foundation, so breakthrough pills were not suitable, but many auxiliary cultivation pills could be taken.

Spirit Gathering Fire Formation? Bought!

Fire Origin Fruit Immortal Brew? Bought a whole gourd!

First-tier Spirit Delicacy Spirit Raising Soup? A bowl!

First-tier Waste Spirit Plant? Not good enough! Bought second-tier ones!

Wang Long, standing beside him, quickly tried to dissuade him, "Junior Brother, these second-tier Spirit Plants are for Foundation Establishment cultivators. You can't absorb them!"

"Oh, then buy first-tier ones, and more of them!"

"Junior Brother Li, spend your money wisely."

"It's fine, money comes and goes."

Wang Long watched with a heavy heart. Seeing Li Xiuchang spend so lavishly, he felt more distressed than if he were spending his own Spirit Stones.

People who were used to being poor could never stand seeing others squander their wealth.

Junior Brother Li became rich overnight and never experienced hardship. He didn't understand thrift. Forget it, I can't persuade him. When he calms down and realizes the emptiness after squandering, he'll naturally change... Wang Long ultimately stopped trying to persuade him.

In the end, Li Xiuchang spent over three hundred Spirit Stones on this trip!

This was despite the fact that everything he bought was first-tier, and the intense competition among first-tier artisans in the Immortal Dust Sect kept prices low.

Li Xiuchang didn't care about this expense at all; it was merely three days' worth of his income.

His current goal was to reach the third layer of Qi Condensation at all costs. Once he developed Spiritual Sense, a bright future might lie before him!

Returning to Eastern Geng District, number eighteen, Li Xiuchang immediately entered the cultivation room and began to cultivate in seclusion.

The cultivation seclusion for the Qi Condensation stage wouldn't be too long. As long as he remembered to come out every few days to start a fire and marinate meat, it wouldn't interfere with the production of Smoked Spirit Meat.

Entering the cultivation room, Li Xiuchang first took out the formation disk and set up the newly purchased first-tier formation, the Spirit Gathering Fire Formation, within the room.

The purpose of the Spirit Gathering Fire Formation was to imbue all the Spiritual Qi within the formation with fire attribute.

Pure Spiritual Qi was originally without attribute. It only transformed into mana with attributes after being absorbed into the body, modified by cultivation techniques, and influenced by the cultivator's physique.

The Spirit Gathering Fire Formation essentially pre-infused the Spiritual Qi with fire attribute, saving Li Xiuchang a lot of trouble during cultivation and allowing him to save considerable time.

Most importantly, this fire-attributed Spiritual Qi would not be converted into wood-attributed Spiritual Power by the Fire Starting Skill. Therefore, Li Xiuchang could cultivate all the absorbed Spiritual Qi into fire-attributed Spiritual Power.

As for wood-attributed Spiritual Power, he would rely entirely on absorbing it from Spirit Wood.

For Li Xiuchang, wood-attributed Spiritual Power could be obtained from Spirit Wood, but fire-attributed Spiritual Power was the key factor limiting his cultivation speed.

The "bigger the fire," the faster he could cultivate.

The Spirit Gathering Fire Formation was merely the first step for Li Xiuchang to strengthen his "fire," and he took out a large gourd, taking a sip of the pale red liquid within.

The taste was spicy and stimulating, as if a flame burned from Li Xiuchang's mouth all the way to his stomach, then transformed into a moving stream of heat, transferring to his Dantian.

This first-tier Fire Origin Fruit Immortal Brew could stimulate the Spiritual Apertures, temporarily enhancing their ability to absorb fire-attributed energy.

Immortal Brews were intoxicating, and high-tier ones were said to be able to incapacitate immortals. Li Xiuchang dared not drink too much, only taking a few small sips.

Putting away the wine gourd, he drank the Spirit Raising Soup, which accelerated cultivation, and then swallowed a few auxiliary cultivation pills.

After this entire process, Li Xiuchang let out a satisfied burp, feeling completely full.

He then took out several pieces of first-tier Spirit Wood and arranged them in front of him.

This wasn't all...

Li Xiuchang pulled out a handful of Spirit Stones, without counting them, and threw them all into the nearby Spirit Eye.

Instantly, Spiritual Qi surged from the Spirit Eye like a spring, like a geyser, causing the Spiritual Qi concentration in the small cultivation room to rise by several levels.

"Not enough!"

Li Xiuchang took out another handful of Spirit Stones and threw them into the Spirit Eye.

This time, the Spiritual Qi became so dense that it was visible to the naked eye, and the entire cultivation room was enveloped in a light mist.

However, this mist was quickly dyed a faint red by the Spirit Gathering Fire Formation.

"Still not enough!"

Li Xiuchang generously threw another large handful of Spirit Stones into the Spirit Eye.

In three separate instances, he had already invested over a hundred Spirit Stones.

This time, the Spiritual Qi was so dense that the entire cultivation room felt like a sauna, shrouded in clouds and mist.

After all this Spiritual Qi was converted into fire attribute, the temperature in the cultivation room soared, making Li Xiuchang's skin feel hot, and even breathing felt scorching.

Li Xiuchang finally nodded in satisfaction, considering the preparations complete and ready to begin cultivating...

After circulating the cultivation technique for one round, Li Xiuchang felt his cultivation speed and couldn't help but curl his lips upwards.

"My low-grade Spiritual Aperture is saved!"

Li Xiuchang went into seclusion for ten days, only coming out twice in the interim, both times to salt the Spirit Meat and to start the fire for the furnace.

To minimize the number of times he had to disturb Li Xiuchang, Senior Brother Wang Long adjusted the work progress of the hundred furnaces so that they were all synchronized. This way, Li Xiuchang only needed to come out once every four days.

In ten days, two more batches of smoked Spirit Meat were produced. Coupled with the income from smoke collection, Li Xiuchang had earned nearly fifteen hundred Spirit Stones.

However, he had also spent money like water during these ten days, so he hadn't saved much.

Wang Long had initially thought Li Xiuchang would curb his spending after one extravagant spree, but he didn't expect Li Xiuchang to go from bad to worse.

Every time Wang Long went to the market to restock, Li Xiuchang would ask him to bring back a large pile of items – elixirs, Immortal Brews, Spirit Delicacies, Spirit Wood... The expenses were always in the two to three hundred Spirit Stone range.

"When Junior Brother Li comes out of seclusion, I really need to talk to him this time. If he keeps spending like this, how is he going to live?" Wang Long muttered to himself.

This was only because he didn't know how many Spirit Stones Li Xiuchang had invested in his Spirit Eye during these ten days. If he did, he would probably be heartbroken.

As he was speaking, he saw Li Xiuchang walk out of his room into the courtyard with a proud and spirited air.

"Junior Brother." Wang Long was about to say something when his expression suddenly froze. "You, you broke through?!"

"Mm," Li Xiuchang nodded. "It's been about a month since I joined the sect, and I've finally reached the Second Layer of Qi Condensation."

Wang Long wanted to say "That's really fast," but he swallowed the words back.

For an ordinary Outer Sect disciple, breaking through from the First Layer of Qi Condensation to the Second Layer in a year was considered quite fast. Li Xiuchang had only taken a month, so he was indeed cultivating at a rapid pace.

However, when he thought of the resources Li Xiuchang had consumed and the Spirit Stones he had spent, Wang Long couldn't utter the compliment.

You finally broke through!

Even if those resources were fed to a pig, it should have grown into a pig demon at the Second Layer of Qi Condensation... A thought kept popping into his mind.

Immediately after, Wang Long felt guilty for his own thoughts. Junior Brother Li's ability to earn so many Spirit Stones was also his own skill. A pig couldn't earn that much.

Li Xiuchang was unaware of Wang Long's internal monologue and asked, "Senior Brother, isn't today another day to go to the market for supplies?"

"Yes, Junior Brother, is there anything you need me to pick up?"

"No need. I'll go with you today, Senior Brother. I plan to pick out a Flying Boat."

"Right, right. You're at the Second Layer of Qi Condensation now, so you can pilot a Flying Boat yourself. It'll be much more convenient wherever you go."

Wang Long paused and then asked, "What kind of Flying Boat does Junior Brother want to buy? I have a few Artifact Refining masters I'm familiar with, all fellow disciples. They can provide custom Flying Boat services, like accelerated Flying Boats, stealth Flying Boats, amphibious Flying Boats... They're a bit more expensive, but it shouldn't be a problem for you, Junior Brother."

Li Xiuchang waved his hand. "A Flying Boat is just a means of transportation. I can't be extravagant just because I've earned some Spirit Stones. Let's save some Spirit Stones and buy the most ordinary one."

Wang Long: ???

You're the one who's been spending lavishly, and now you want to be frugal when buying a Flying Boat?

You've said it all!