Harvest

Although the duel had not gone entirely according to Fang Xiao's plan, everything had gone smoothly enough. Thinking of the considerable gains he had made, the corners of his lips remained slightly raised all the way back to his residence.

Looking back on that match, he had only seriously struck with his sword once, yet the power displayed by the Great White Sword Pellet had truly exceeded Fang Xiao's expectations. Once his cultivation grew deeper and the Great White Sword Pellet became more refined, what level of might would it reach then?

But the Essence of Five Metals was not so easily gathered. It was a treasure every Sword Cultivator dreamed of. If he truly could not find any in the future, he could only refine it himself.

Over the next few days, the challengers came one after another to fulfill their promises and deliver their wagers. With the contracts in place, none of them dared default. Looking at the Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag, Fang Xiao wondered whether, if he ever ran short of Spirit Stones, he could pull this same trick a few more times.

Though he had already learned through the contracts how much he stood to win before the battle, he still could not resist sweeping it with his Spiritual Sense. In addition to the eight thousand Merit Points newly added to his Identity Token and five thousand Spirit Stones, together with his original Merit Points and Spirit Stones, he now possessed over thirteen thousand Merit Points and more than twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

Sure enough, only ordinary disciples did missions to painstakingly save up Merit Points and Spirit Stones. Capable disciples had plenty of ways to obtain them.

Recalling that exchanging for a Foundation Establishment Pill required twelve thousand Merit Points, the only thing now standing between him and the pill was the Sect Grand Competition. With his current strength, claiming a spot in the top thirty would be like reaching into a bag for something.

He believed that in the next three years, even if he could not reach Peak Qi Condensation, he would at least stand firmly at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer. His strength would not remain stagnant either. Foundation Establishment was within sight.

A few days later, Fatty Han came to see Fang Xiao.

"Senior Brother Fang, we earned a total of one hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones this time. These are your sixty thousand Spirit Stones. Please accept them."

"There were actually this many?"

Fang Xiao swiftly took the Storage Bag and scanned it with his Spiritual Sense. Inside lay four large chests and one small chest, arranged neatly: forty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones and two hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Having never possessed such a vast sum before, he could not help feeling a little lightheaded. Even some Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were probably not as wealthy as he was.

"There are even Mid-grade Spirit Stones. Though the exchange rate is one hundred to one, I'm afraid no one would be willing to trade Mid-grade Spirit Stones for low-grade ones. You've put some thought into this."

"You're too kind. Without you, we would not have made these gains either. Senior Brother had me act as the middleman, and this junior brother also received quite a few benefits. Please accept this small token of my respect."

Watching Fatty Han offer another Storage Bag, Fang Xiao swept it with his Spiritual Sense. Five hundred Spirit Stones. He actually found himself looking down on such an amount now.

"Take it back. I don't mean anything else by it. It's just that if anything comes up in the future, I may need you to run some errands."

After thinking it over, he did not accept the Spirit Stones. He could not possibly handle everything personally in the future. Even if he did not build his own faction, he still needed to take in a few underlings. Otherwise, while he kept his head down cultivating every day, would he not be completely in the dark whenever news arose in the Cultivation World? He might even miss some opportunities by accident. Fatty Han was quite capable, and Fang Xiao intended to recruit him.

Seeing this, Fatty Han did not stand on ceremony and put away his Storage Bag.

"Take a look at this and see whether it has any value. If it does, do you have a way to sell it?"

Fang Xiao handed him a gourd of Spirit Wine.

"This is Spirit Wine? Did Senior Brother brew it yourself?"

"Yes. And there's more than one kind: wine that improves cultivation, strengthens the body, heals injuries and neutralizes poison, restores spiritual power, consolidates one's foundation and nourishes one's essence. Those are the only kinds I know how to make. Oh, there's also one that replenishes kidney qi."

"Senior Brother is actually a Spirit Wine Master. Don't let the fact that Spirit Wine Masters are a niche profession fool you—Spirit Wine is good stuff. As long as it does not conflict with medicinal pills, it can be used together with them, and the effect is even greater than one plus one. If we sold it in the Outer Court, it would absolutely be in short supply."

After all, Fang Xiao had transmigrated from Blue Star and possessed knowledge that did not exist in this Cultivation World.

He explained concepts such as commodities, producers, consumers, and supply chains to Fatty Han. Fatty Han's eyes shone as he listened, repeatedly saying that Fang Xiao had an even better head for business than he did.

Since there were no design or transportation stages involved, the two divided their tasks clearly. Fatty Han would be responsible for purchasing materials and later sales, while Fang Xiao only needed to handle production.

Seeing that it was getting late, Fang Xiao told Fatty Han that the cost of the materials would be deducted from the Spirit Stones earned from selling the Spirit Wine. He gave Fatty Han some Spirit Wine and a list of materials, then sent him away. Fatty Han left Fang Xiao's residence with an excited expression, though there was also a trace of lingering reluctance in his eyes.

In truth, Fang Xiao had already thought it through. Once his cultivation rose in the future, he would look into whether he could create several fully automated production lines to make various kinds of Spirit Wine. So long as the quality kept up and he built a brand, he could even take orders from some sects. Then he would only need to sit behind the scenes and count Spirit Stones.

But he only knew how to brew several kinds of Spirit Wine for the Qi Condensation Stage. He could only wait until he became an Inner Disciple, then visit the sect's Scripture Repository to see whether it had any high-grade Spirit Wine Recipes. Spirit Wine brewed from low-grade recipes was only effective for the Qi Condensation Stage.

And preserving all of this depended on cultivation and realm. Without strength, what was yours would become someone else's. Once you had strength, mine, mine, it's all mine.

Drawing back all his thoughts, Fang Xiao shifted his focus to cultivation.

It was worth mentioning that after he replaced the several-decades-old spirit herbs used to brew Azure Origin Wine with hundred-year spirit herbs, the effect of the finished Azure Origin Wine soared to a level suitable for Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators.

He had also switched to Qi Condensation Pills suitable for the Qi Refining Late Stage. Since breaking through to the Qi Refining Late Stage, he had yet to try combining Spirit Wine with medicinal pills. Now that everything had been settled, he could finally cultivate in peace for a while.

Fang Xiao settled onto the Meditation Cushion and took out the Azure Origin Wine. Its color was unchanged, but its fragrance was richer and mellower. The Qi Condensation Pill was pure white, and even when he held it close, he could not smell anything. He did not study it further, simply tossing the pill into his mouth, raising a white jade wine cup, and draining it in one gulp. The pill and wine entered his stomach together, and a sensation of bloating and searing heat struck at once. The surging spiritual qi was like a rushing river, and wherever the spiritual qi passed through his meridians, they instantly expanded severalfold. Had the Purple Qi Meridian Protection Pill not strengthened his meridians, they would likely have been damaged or even burst under such torment long ago.

Not daring to delay, he swiftly circulated the Twin Sword Art. Only through the suppression of his powerful Spiritual Sense did the violent spiritual qi gradually begin to submit. After circulating through a full cycle, it began flowing into his Dantian like rivers pouring into lakes and seas.

After observing the powerful spiritual power within his Dantian for a while, he realized that although it was certainly good for the Twin Sword Art to strengthen spiritual power without limit, the reality was that his meridians simply could not keep up.

Other people's meridians were like needles. They only needed to slowly push their spiritual power forward like liquid, and the blockages would naturally clear bit by bit. Of course, this gradual approach made it extremely difficult to break through when encountering bottlenecks, especially major bottlenecks. This was also why so many aggressive Secret Arts for breaking through bottlenecks had emerged.

His own meridians, however, were like gun barrels. When breaking through, the instantaneous flow of spiritual power was like a fired bullet, while the bottleneck was like a plug blocking the barrel. If it could not blast through, what awaited was a burst barrel. And the bullet would only grow more powerful, while the plug would only become tighter. The only solution was to make the barrel thicker and sturdier.

Though his method was like taking a sword down a narrow, perilous path, it was also an effect of his cultivation technique. Still, he did not wish to choose a mild and sluggish path of cultivation. He did not want to one day face a bottleneck like a heavenly chasm and find himself unable to cross it. Perhaps that was simply the nature of a Sword Cultivator.

During the Qi Condensation Stage, and even when breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, Meridian Protection Pills could solve the problem. But he could not rely on Meridian Protection Pills forever. High-grade Meridian Protection Pills were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns; even with Spirit Stones, one might not be able to buy them. Fortunately, he had already thought of a solution: cultivate a Body Refining technique alongside his current methods.

So long as the resilience and strength of his meridians continued to improve, the road of future cultivation would be broad and smooth. Any bottleneck could be reduced to dust and shattered on the spot.

Fang Xiao had already roughly calculated it. With his current resources, he could brew Spirit Wine to assist Body Refining and purchase some Body Refining spiritual pills as well, without affecting the cultivation progress of his other two techniques. The key lay in selecting the technique.

As one of the Four Sacred Lands, Tianlan Sect naturally did not lack top-tier Body Refining techniques. But the Outer Court only had inferior ones. He could not keep going to beg Old Man Fan, so the issue returned to Foundation Establishment.

Thus, so long as he broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, all the problems he currently faced would be solved with ease.

As for how to break through from Peak Qi Condensation to the Foundation Establishment Realm, he could not simply swallow a Foundation Establishment Pill and leave it to fate. Fang Xiao was not that kind of person. If he understood the principles involved and learned the relevant taboos, he could at least raise his chances of success somewhat.