Bottomless Pit

The figure of Zhao Long disappeared at the end of the path.

The sycophantic smile on Zhou Xuan's face vanished in an instant.

He turned around and returned to his dilapidated wooden hut.

The room was extremely simple; apart from a hard wooden plank bed, there was nothing else.

Zhou Xuan lay on the bed, his mind stirring.

A cerulean light screen, visible only to him, appeared before his eyes.

[Host: Zhou Xuan]

[Talent: Five Elements Impure Spirit Root (a one-in-ten-thousand top-tier piece of trash)]

[Cultivation Duration: Two years]

[Realm: Body Forging First Stage (Trash!)]

[Skills: Sweeping floors, cleaning toilets (a beast of burden)]

[Assets: Half a leftover Spirit Ginseng Whisker (a top-tier pauper)]

[Gold Touch Value: 60]

[Summary: A top-tier beast of burden and piece of trash with zero cultivation talent who is being exploited by the sect]

"A top-tier beast of burden and piece of trash..."

Zhou Xuan looked at the emotionless summary provided by the system, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Tears almost welled up in his eyes.

It was just too damn realistic, too damn heartbreaking.

But he quickly locked his gaze onto the very last line.

Gold Touch Value: 60.

Turning waste into treasure—this was his capital for a comeback, and he wanted to improve his strength immediately!

He leaped up from the bed, threw himself onto the floor, and fumbled for a hidden compartment beneath the bed frame.

From it, he carefully cradled a worn-out wooden box.

Opening the box, a few shriveled, nearly weathered-away ginseng whiskers lay quietly inside.

He had secretly scavenged these from the medicinal dregs while cleaning the inner sect's alchemy room a few days ago.

Although they were just scraps, they still contained a faint trace of spiritual energy.

He had originally treated them as treasures, intending to save them as a final boost when attempting to break through to the Body Forging Second Stage.

But now.

He had a better choice.

"System."

Zhou Xuan chanted in his heart.

"How much Gold Touch Value is needed to transmute this thing?"

[Ding! Detected low-quality spiritual item--broken Spirit Ginseng Whisker.]

[Do you wish to spend 10 Gold Touch Value to transmute it and turn waste into treasure?]

Ten points!

Zhou Xuan's pupils suddenly constricted!

Twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones had only yielded sixty points.

This would cost him one-sixth of his total in one go.

But he didn't hesitate in the slightest; having been in the sect for over two years, he had long known that the cultivation world spoke through strength. He hadn't had the ability before, but now that he had the system, he was going to become strong immediately.

"Yes!"

The moment the thought fell.

The few ginseng whiskers in the wooden box floated into the air.

A layer of faint golden light enveloped them.

Visible to the naked eye, the shriveled whiskers began to grow plump and stretch out.

New roots grew at an incredible speed.

In just a few breaths.

A complete Spirit Ginseng, crystalline throughout and exuding a rich medicinal fragrance, appeared before Zhou Xuan.

A powerful fluctuation of spiritual energy instantly filled the entire cramped wooden hut.

Zhou Xuan trembled all over with excitement.

I'm rich!

Ten Gold Touch Value, which is worth a little more than three Low-grade Spirit Stones.

The concentration of spiritual energy contained in this complete Spirit Ginseng he exchanged for it is likely not even comparable to a single Mid-grade Spirit Stone!

In the sect, a single Mid-grade Spirit Stone requires one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones to exchange!

A massive profit!

He hesitated for a moment between exchanging it for spirit stones or consuming it directly; if he exchanged it for spirit stones, it would be too eye-catching, and the world of cultivation is one where the weak are prey to the strong.

Zhou Xuan did not hesitate in the slightest, grabbing the glowing Spirit Ginseng and shoving it directly into his mouth.

It melted the moment it touched his tongue.

BOOM!

A vast and pure surge of spiritual energy, like a bursting flood, exploded within his body!

The spiritual energy frantically scoured his limbs, bones, and internal organs.

He was about to break through!

Zhou Xuan was wild with joy; he immediately sat cross-legged and guided this power to strike against the barrier of the first stage of Body Forging.

At the very same time that Zhou Xuan was about to break through.

Inner Sect.

Inside a refined residence on Green Bamboo Peak.

Zhao Long was lying comfortably on a soft couch, toying with the cloth bag he had snatched from Zhou Xuan.

"Junior Sister Liu is still too soft-hearted."

"Twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones, that's my entire monthly stipend."

"Giving them to that trash like that is simply a waste of heaven's gifts."

He sneered, his face full of smugness.

"That kind of waste, does he even know how to use spirit stones?"

"Better let me use them for him!"

As he spoke, he untied the bag and casually poured out a spirit stone into his palm, preparing to begin his cultivation.

"Huh?"

The sensation of spiritual energy entering his body did not come.

Zhao Long frowned.

"What's going on? Why is there not a shred of spiritual energy in this spirit stone?"

Refusing to believe it, he took a second one out of the bag.

It was the same.

Cold and dead, just like an ordinary rock.

Zhao Long's expression turned gloomy in an instant.

He dumped all the spirit stones from the bag onto the bed.

One.

Two.

Ten.

Twenty!

He inspected every single one.

The result was the same for all of them!

They were all waste stones!

"Damn it!"

Zhao Long let out a roar, slamming his fist onto the bed, veins bulging on his forehead.

"How dare he cheat me!"

The first person he thought of was that chore disciple, Zhou Xuan.

But then he calmed down.

"No."

"I watched with my own eyes as he picked up the spirit stones Junior Sister Liu gave him."

"A piece of trash at the first stage of Body Forging, what means could he possibly have to pull a switch right under my nose?"

It didn't make sense.

So where was the problem?

Zhao Long's eyes flickered as a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed through his mind.

Could it be?

Were these the useless rocks that Junior Sister Liu gave him back then?

He suddenly realized the truth.

"So that's it!"

"Junior Sister Liu wanted to distance herself from the situation without actually letting that piece of trash get anything!"

"On the surface, she provided compensation to silence the gossiping tongues, but in reality, she didn't give away a single cent!"

"Brilliant!"

The more Zhao Long thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was exactly what happened.

The anger on his face gradually dissipated, replaced by a playful smirk.

"It seems this Junior Sister Liu isn't as pure and saintly as she appears on the surface."

"It looks like Junior Sister Liu saw through Senior Brother's scheme long ago. Interesting!"

He muttered the name under his breath, a cold sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"But since this piece of trash touched the spirit stones, how could he not know they were just rocks? That trash dared to play me."

Zhao Long's gaze turned icy, and with a wave of his hand, the spirit stones were reduced to powder.

He immediately stood up and headed straight for the Outer Sect Management Office.

At this moment, Zhou Xuan was completely unaware of this.

Inside his dilapidated wooden hut, spiritual energy surged.

The torrent of spiritual energy transformed from the Spirit Ginseng rampaged through his body, scouring every corner of his meridians.

He did not know how much time had passed.

Boom!

A muffled sound echoed from within his body, as if an invisible shackle had been shattered.

Body Forging Second Stage!

Body Forging Third Stage!

Zhou Xuan slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

He felt the power within his body, which was several times stronger than before, yet there was not much joy on his face.

A whole Spirit Ginseng.

It had cost him ten Gold Touch Value.

The spiritual energy it contained was enough to propel an ordinary outer sect disciple from the first stage of Body Forging all the way to the fourth or even fifth stage!

But for him.

It had only increased his cultivation by two stages.

"Damn it, I really am a piece of trash!"

Zhou Xuan laughed at himself.

"This Five Elements Waste Spirit Root really is a bottomless pit for devouring spiritual energy."