Accepting the Mission

Ye Feng reached out to catch the cloth bag Ding Hao had tossed over. The moment his fingertips touched the fabric, he felt that Ding Hao was still gripping the mouth of the bag tightly.

Clearly, Ding Hao truly could not bear to part with those ten Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Ye Feng did not stand on ceremony. With a slight twist of his wrist, he yanked the cloth bag straight out of Ding Hao's hand.

Weighing its satisfying heaviness, Ye Feng casually mocked him.

"You call yourself an Inner Court Prodigy, yet you're this stingy? They're only ten Low-grade Spirit Stones. Do you really have to clutch them so hard?"

With that, Ye Feng turned and left, while Ding Hao remained where he stood, his face shifting from green to white.

The surrounding inner court disciples all looked at him strangely—some with sympathy, some with mockery, and some with undisguised glee at his misfortune.

Ding Hao had not only lost the gambling match and his Spirit Stones, but had also lost every shred of face. He had truly lost both the lady and his army.

Ding Hao clenched his fists so tightly that his nails nearly sank into his palms. His chest felt so stifled with frustration that he nearly spat blood, yet he could not find a single word to refute him. He could only watch helplessly as Ye Feng strode away in style.

Ye Feng did not take Ding Hao's miserable state to heart. Upon returning to his courtyard, he took out all his Spirit Stones and counted them.

Fifteen from the Gambling Arena, plus the seventeen he had left from before, made a total of thirty-two Low-grade Spirit Stones.

He nodded in satisfaction. "These should be enough to support my cultivation for a while."

For the next half month, Ye Feng completely entered an outrageously extravagant cultivation mode.

Other Qi Gathering Realm cultivators primarily absorbed Heaven and Earth spiritual energy. Only when breaking through bottlenecks would they reluctantly use one or two Spirit Stones as support, clutching those stones as if they were treasures.

But Ye Feng was different. He directly gave up absorbing Heaven and Earth spiritual energy and simply cultivated with Spirit Stones in hand.

He circulated the Azure Origin Art, pressed a Spirit Stone close to his Dantian, and guided the dense spiritual energy within directly into his body, transforming it into his own True Qi.

Just how abundant was the spiritual energy contained in thirty-two Low-grade Spirit Stones?

If an ordinary Qi Gathering Realm cultivator used them sparingly, they would last for more than half a year. Yet in Ye Feng's hands, they were exhausted in just half a month.

When the final Spirit Stone lost its last trace of spiritual energy, the gleam on its surface completely faded. It became a dull gray ordinary stone that could be crushed into fragments with a casual squeeze.

Then, a powerful wave of True Qi suddenly erupted from Ye Feng's courtyard.

He abruptly opened his eyes. Air currents swirled around his body, and his aura was several times stronger than it had been half a month ago. He had astonishingly reached the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm Second Layer, only Half a Step Away from the Qi Gathering Realm Third Layer!

"This is even faster than I expected." Ye Feng felt the abundant True Qi within his body, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.

He knew full well that if other cultivators learned he used Spirit Stones like this, they would surely condemn him as a wastrel who was ruining precious things through reckless extravagance.

Who wasted Spirit Stones like that?

But to Ye Feng, as long as he could rapidly raise his strength, this little expenditure was nothing at all.

Looking at the thirty-two dull gray, faded Spirit Stones on the table, Ye Feng did not throw them away.

He picked one up and rubbed its rough surface with his fingertips. With a thought, he said, "System, alter this Spirit Stone's time. Return it to two months ago."

The instant his words fell, the faded Spirit Stone in his hand flashed with a faint glimmer. The spiritual energy that had originally dispersed suddenly reappeared from nowhere, and its dull gray surface regained its lustrous white sheen. Leaning closer, he could even sense spiritual energy richer than before!

Ye Feng's eyes lit up. He hurriedly gathered the remaining thirty-one Spirit Stones and altered them one by one with the system.

In less than the time it took to burn half an incense stick, all thirty-two Spirit Stones had been restored to their original state, their spiritual energy even more abundant than before.

Yet Ye Feng did not continue cultivating. Instead, he put the Spirit Stones away.

He knew very well that going from the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm Second Layer to the Third Layer required more than spiritual energy—it also required an opportunity.

If he forced a breakthrough, the chances of success would be too low, and it would instead be easy to leave behind hidden dangers.

More importantly, these Spirit Stones had already been altered by the system once. The same item could only be altered once, so he needed to save them for emergencies or use them to purchase other cultivation resources.

"Looks like cultivating with Spirit Stones alone has its bottleneck too. I need to find some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures or medicinal pills that can help break through bottlenecks." Ye Feng rubbed his chin.

"And I need to earn some fresh Spirit Stones too—ones that haven't been altered. They may come in handy for cultivation later."

The first place that came to mind was the Gambling Arena. But on second thought, after he had defeated Ding Hao last time, the entire inner court knew he was not someone to be trifled with. No one would dare challenge him on the stage anymore, so earning Spirit Stones through the Gambling Arena was no longer realistic.

Ye Feng shook his head helplessly. He could only seek another path.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered the mission boards he had seen on the inner court streets before.

It seemed that Feiyun Sect had a contribution point system. He pulled out the inner court disciple handbook and carefully leafed through it, quickly figuring out the rules: disciples could earn contribution points by completing sect missions or making contributions to the sect. Contribution points could then be exchanged within the sect for Spirit Stones, cultivation arts, martial skills, weapons, and even Treasure Herb resources that were difficult to buy outside.

"Wasn't this tailor-made for me?" Ye Feng's eyes brightened. "Taking sect missions lets me earn contribution points for resources, and I might even make some Spirit Stones along the way. It's perfect."

He immediately tidied up, left his Single Courtyard, and headed straight for the inner court's Mission Hall.

The Mission Hall was bustling with people. Disciples gathered around different mission areas, selecting missions.

The low-difficulty area was packed with newcomers who had just broken through to the Qi Gathering Realm, while only a small number of highly cultivated disciples lingered in the High-Difficulty Mission Area.

Ye Feng glanced over the missions in the low-difficulty area. Most involved gathering herbs, guarding storehouses, and the like. The contribution points were few, and the rewards were low. Without the slightest hesitation, he passed them by and walked straight toward the High-Difficulty Mission Area, his gaze swiftly sweeping across rows of mission scrolls in search of missions with generous rewards.