Lin He was not surprised in the slightest. With a nudge of his spiritual sense, a peak level one Jade Mantis flew over, and a system prompt immediately appeared.
"Peak level one demon beast Jade Mantis detected. Consume one medium-grade spirit stone to nurture it to level two?"
Lin He took out the three medium-grade spirit stones he had just obtained, selected an earth-attribute medium-grade spirit stone, and fitted it into the slot.
The next moment, an immense force sucked the Jade Mantis into the air. A drop of spirit liquid slid down the funnel and landed on its body. The spirit liquid, brimming with spiritual power, began seeping into its flesh. Soon, the Jade Mantis's aura surged, rising from peak level one to level two.
The suction in the air vanished. With a swish, the Jade Mantis darted more than a dozen zhang away in the space of a breath, its speed almost unbelievable.
"As expected of a Jade Mantis. It's incredibly fast."
Lin He's strongest tactic now was commanding spirit beasts to overwhelm the few with the many. Naturally, he had read plenty of texts on demon beasts and consulted fellow disciples skilled at commanding spirit beasts, learning much that he had never known before.
Demon beasts such as the Icefire Wolf, Three-Eyed Fire Wolf, and Azure Water Crocodile, for instance, ranked quite high among low-level demon beasts and were very powerful.
Yet advancing to level two brought no earth-shaking transformation. Instead, their overall ratings fell considerably.
Among demon beasts ranging from level two to level four, Lin He had selected the three with the greatest potential to serve as his bodyguards and muscle: the Golden-Light Python, Jade Mantis, and Azure-Eyed Toad.
Now, he was preparing to continue nurturing this Jade Mantis. Looking at the two remaining drops of spirit liquid at the top of the funnel, he took out another medium-grade spirit stone and fitted it into the slot. After repeating the process twice, he finally raised the Jade Mantis to level four, giving it strength equivalent to a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.
At this point, the system's notification sounded again.
"Friendly reminder: nurturing a level five spirit beast requires ten medium-grade spirit stones?" "Level four demon beast Jade Mantis detected. Consume ten medium-grade spirit stones to nurture it to level five?"
"Ten medium-grade spirit stones?"
Lin He froze at the words. Only after a long moment did his brows knit tightly. "A single nurturing session costs ten medium-grade spirit stones? At this rate, the spirit stones I have won't last."
Lin He's original idea had been simple. With the nurturing system, he had no need for spiritual herbs three or four hundred years old. He could instead use level five demon cores as the main ingredient to refine pills that improved his Foundation Establishment cultivation.
But the price the system demanded now exceeded his expectations.
"Without plenty of level five demon cores, I can't refine large quantities of cultivation-enhancing pills, much less advance quickly. It looks like I'll need to get my hands on plenty of medium-grade spirit stones."
"It's a pity there's no Green Spirit Island in the Heavenly South. There are heaps of high-grade spirit stones there, never mind medium-grade ones. Still, materials from level five demon beasts should be worth a lot in the Heavenly South. It's not as though there's no way to earn plenty of medium-grade spirit stones."
With that thought, Lin He's thinking opened up further. "That's right. As long as I can find a steady sales channel, I won't have to worry about running out of medium-grade spirit stones."
As he considered this, ideas began surfacing in Lin He's mind one after another.
Three days later,
Lin He had just gotten out of bed when he heard a clattering outside his cave abode. He hurried out and saw a lovely figure beside his abode, directing a high-grade blue flying sword to carve out another cave abode. It was Senior Sister Chen.
"Oh, you're back. Did you finish your business so quickly?"
Seeing Senior Sister Chen busy controlling her flying sword magical artifact, Lin He naturally could not let her do all the work alone. He casually took a top-grade flying sword from his Storage Bag and helped excavate the abode.
The top-grade flying sword he had obtained from Feng Yue was indeed sharp, far surpassing Senior Sister Chen's high-grade flying sword. With its help, the excavation sped up considerably. Senior Sister Chen was drenched in fragrant sweat, but she spoke with great excitement.
"I was lucky. Everything went smoothly, and my timing was just right. My eldest brother hadn't left home when I arrived. When he heard I had a Foundation Establishment Pill, he was overjoyed. He's already gone back into seclusion. According to him, his chances of success this time are at least eighty percent."
After speaking, Senior Sister Chen handed him two exquisite Storage Bags and said with a smile blooming like a flower, "There's plenty of medium-grade spirit stones in these, including the proceeds from that pill and the magical artifacts we sold earlier."
Lin He took them and scanned their contents with his spiritual sense, unable to suppress his delight. There were actually a hundred and ten medium-grade spirit stones in total. This was the first time he had ever received such a fortune, and he felt rather as though he had become rich overnight.
With such wealth at the early Foundation Establishment stage, he could already be considered a modest moneybags.
In high spirits, the two worked together and finished carving out a cave abode in just under half a day.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, Senior Sister Chen had clearly become much more forward. She pulled Lin He straight into the abode, and the two sat down beside the bed.
Before Lin He could ask, Senior Sister Chen volunteered an explanation. "Those high-grade, medium-grade, and low-grade magical artifacts sold for over ten thousand spirit stones altogether. After deducting the twenty-percent handling fee, eight thousand remained. Opinions vary on the price of a Foundation Establishment Pill. Some say two thousand, others three thousand. I quoted my eldest brother three thousand, and to my surprise, he agreed outright without even bargaining."
Lin He smiled. As the Chen Family's eldest son, Chen Qiaoshan had naturally been longing to reach Foundation Establishment. Being able to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill for three thousand spirit stones probably still had Senior Brother Chen grinning from ear to ear. Why would he haggle?
Lin He put the matter aside and instead examined the two exceptionally exquisite Storage Bags before asking,
"These Storage Bags have at least thirtyfold capacity. They must have cost quite a bit, right?"
Senior Sister Chen smiled brightly. "I noticed you usually carry only the tenfold-capacity Storage Bag you were given when you first joined. That simply wouldn't do! My eldest brother was very fond of these two Storage Bags. This time, he had no choice but to hand them over after I insisted."
"Senior Brother Chen is your eldest brother, after all. Doesn't this count as turning your elbow outward?"
At this, Lin He could not resist teasing her. Senior Sister Chen puffed up indignantly when she heard him.
"I did no such thing! After what we've done together, how can you still count as an outsider? My father and all six of my brothers know about us, yet they still tease me about turning my elbow outward. It makes me so angry!"
"Hehe, don't get upset. Have some fruit to cool down."
Senior Sister Chen shook her head, fixing Lin He with a burning gaze. "I don't want fruit. I want to eat..."
A little over a month later, Lin He successfully nurtured another two
Level four spirit beasts. He volunteered for an assignment guarding the Yellow Maple Valley Market and left the sect.