Upgrading, a New Month

Li Yunjing glanced at the requirements for upgrading the Scripture Repository to lv1.

Ten spirit sandalwood logs and five Spirit Stones.

Spirit sandalwood was an ordinary wood that contained a little spiritual power.

In the mortal world, spirit sandalwood was highly valuable.

In the cultivation world, however, its value was nothing special.

Five prepared spirit sandalwood logs could be bought for one Spirit Stone.

By that reckoning, the cost came to only seven Spirit Stones.

But Li Yunjing smiled.

It would cost less than seven Spirit Stones.

The Luozhen Sect still had spirit sandalwood in reserve.

Not much, just twenty logs.

But that was enough to upgrade the Scripture Repository.

Li Yunjing had once worked as a woodcutter for a time.

He had chopped spirit sandalwood for a cultivation Lineage.

As a result, Li Yunjing had collected some spirit sandalwood and stored it in the Luozhen Sect.

He had thought it might come in handy someday.

Now was the perfect time to take the spirit sandalwood out.

Li Yunjing hurried to the Patriarch Hall.

He took ten spirit sandalwood logs out of the incense burner.

He carried them all in front of the Scripture Repository.

Then he took out five Spirit Stones and silently thought of upgrading it.

The next moment, all five Spirit Stones and ten spirit sandalwood logs vanished.

The Scripture Repository was successfully upgraded.

[Scripture Repository (lv1)]

[lv2 spiritual effects: Speed of comprehending cultivation methods +8%. When studying in the Scripture Repository, +10% chance of automatically correcting errors in understanding.]

[Upgrade requirements: 20 Agarwood Spirit Wood logs, 5 sticks of calming incense, 30 low-grade Spirit Stones.]

"Automatically correct errors in understanding!"

Seeing this effect, Li Yunjing was overjoyed.

Being able to correctly understand a cultivation method was immensely important to a cultivator.

Once an error crept into their understanding,

the impact on a cultivator could be enormous.

Taking a detour and wasting some time was a minor matter.

Something worse, such as irreversible damage to the meridians,

could ruin a person's entire life.

For that reason, when cultivating a method,

cultivators would seek out seniors and ask them for its secrets.

That was also why Rogue Cultivators sharpened their heads trying to join sects.

Sects had dedicated personnel responsible for explaining the methods their disciples cultivated,

so the disciples could avoid taking detours.

Rogue Cultivators enjoyed no such treatment.

They mostly had to feel their way forward on their own.

If they succeeded, they were lucky.

If they failed, they could just wait for death.

For that reason, Rogue Cultivators valued knowledge even more highly.

When it came to taking disciples, Rogue Cultivators generally would not do so unless it was necessary.

This made knowledge of the secrets of cultivation methods even harder to circulate among Rogue Cultivators.

That was a bitter predicament for them.

The effect that had appeared in the Scripture Repository,

however, could help Li Yunjing solve problems like these.

In the future, once the Scripture Repository's level rose,

Li Yunjing would no longer have to concern himself with such matters,

or assign dedicated personnel to explain cultivation methods to the disciples.

After all, cultivators were people too,

and could not possibly understand every cultivation method thoroughly.

The Scripture Repository had no such worry.

As for the requirements for upgrading the Scripture Repository to lv2,

Li Yunjing frowned slightly.

Agarwood Spirit Wood was a high-grade wood among first-grade spirit woods.

A single log was worth one low-grade Spirit Stone.

Calming incense was even more expensive.

It could soothe a cultivator's Divine Sense and calm the mind.

This could sharpen a cultivator's thinking.

It strengthened their ability to think for a short time.

Thus, a single stick of calming incense sold for ten low-grade Spirit Stones.

Five sticks came to fifty low-grade Spirit Stones.

Li Yunjing felt a twinge of pain at the expense.

Fortunately, the calming incense was not for his own use.

It was to be used as an upgrade material for the Scripture Repository.

If he used it himself, five sticks would be nowhere near enough.

A single stick of calming incense burned for only about half a quarter-hour.

Five sticks lasted a little over half an hour.

Not even three quarters of an hour.

Great sects used calming incense a hundred sticks at a time.

Their wealth was inhuman.

"Ah, I'm still short of Spirit Stones."

Li Yunjing sighed.

As he was sighing, Li Yunjing suddenly received a warning from the mountain gate.

Someone had come to the Luozhen Sect's mountain gate again.

Li Yunjing was startled, then thought of Zhang Hongzhi and the others.

Could it be them? Li Yunjing thought as he left the Scripture Repository.

Nobody normally visited the Luozhen Sect.

Curious, he headed for the mountain gate.

When he came out of Serene Valley, it was indeed Zhang Hongzhi and the others.

"Sect Leader Li, we've come to get to work!"

Zhang Hongzhi spotted Li Yunjing from afar and waved to him.

Li Yunjing went up to them. "You three seniors really are efficient. You bought the materials so quickly."

Beside him, Zhu Mingzhe, with his drinker's nose, said with a smile,

"After doing this for so long, we've picked up a few connections."

Li Yunjing smiled and invited the three into the Luozhen Sect.

This time, Zhang Yuan had not come with them.

It seemed Zhang Hongzhi had been frightened.

As soon as the three entered the Luozhen Sect, they took out their tools and prepared to start work.

Before they began, Zhu Mingzhe made a point of asking Li Yunjing,

"Sect Leader Li, I like to drink while I work. You don't mind, do you?"

Rest assured, even if I drink, I certainly won't hold up the work."

Li Yunjing looked at Zhu Mingzhe, who loved wine as much as life itself, and nodded helplessly.

"Senior, please do things your own way."

Li Yunjing had no deadline in mind.

As long as Zhu Mingzhe did not hold up the work and did a fine job,

Li Yunjing did not want to meddle in such things.

Li Yunjing had great respect for craftsmen.

With Li Yunjing's permission,

Zhu Mingzhe immediately took out his wine flask

and poured a large mouthful of spirit wine straight into his mouth.

Seeing Li Yunjing watching him,

Zhu Mingzhe held the flask out to him.

"Sect Leader Li, want a swig?"

Li Yunjing smiled, shook his head, and declined.

Li Yunjing had also thought about making spirit wine.

If he mixed Golden Jade Rice with ordinary rice

and added spirit water containing Spiritual Qi,

he could probably brew a decent rice wine.

After all, wine was also a popular commodity in Xunxian Town.

He needed to plan this carefully.

After the three started work,

Li Yunjing returned to Luozhen Hall.

For now, he still needed to make the most of his time to cultivate.

His cultivation had reached Qi Refining Completion.

To reach Foundation Establishment, he needed to grind away at it.

He had to accumulate Law Power bit by bit,

until the Law Power in his Dantian turned to liquid.

Then, finally, he would have entered Foundation Establishment.

Li Yunjing could not afford a Foundation Establishment Pill.

With the help of a Foundation Establishment Pill,

this step would take considerably less time.

But a single Foundation Establishment Pill easily cost several thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.

Even if Li Yunjing sold his ass,

he had no idea how many times he would have to sell it to save up enough low-grade Spirit Stones.

The poor could only rely on mutation.

At this moment, Li Yunjing truly understood those words deeply.

Fortunately, after the Sect Grand Hall was upgraded to lv2,

cultivating there increased Li Yunjing's cultivation speed by 10%.

On top of that, Li Yunjing also offered incense daily at the Patriarch Hall.

The buff he received increased his cultivation speed by another 10%.

With the two combined, Li Yunjing's Law Power accumulated at a decent pace.

What was more, after some time had passed, he could upgrade the Sect Grand Hall and Patriarch Hall again.

Once their effects had been significantly strengthened,

Li Yunjing was confident that three months would be enough for him to reach Foundation Establishment.

The seasons flowed by,

and time spent cultivating always passed swiftly.

After the fifteenth, Li Yunjing had remained in the Luozhen Sect.

On this day, the first day of a new month arrived.

On July first,

inside Luozhen Hall in the Luozhen Sect,

Li Yunjing opened his eyes.

Sharp light flashed repeatedly in them.

This was a sign that his cultivation had advanced.

Over roughly half a month,

the Law Power in Li Yunjing's Dantian had accumulated at a decent pace.

He was still a considerable distance from Foundation Establishment, however.

He rose to his feet.

Li Yunjing had quite a few things to do today.

A new month had arrived.

He could collect the output from the Sect Grand Hall, the Patriarch Hall, and the poultry coop.

[Collect fifteen units of Pure Spiritual Qi?]

A prompt appeared before Li Yunjing.

Li Yunjing silently said yes.

Inside the system storage space,

the original eight units of Spiritual Qi had become twenty-three.

He walked out of Luozhen Hall.

Li Yunjing then went to the Patriarch Hall.

First, he offered incense to the Luozhen Sect's patriarch.

Then Li Yunjing collected one unit of patriarch incense offerings.

He went on to the poultry coop.

When the three hens saw Li Yunjing,

they immediately crowded around him.

Li Yunjing tossed out a handful of mixed rice.

Then he went to the chicken nest.

There were nine spirit eggs in the nest.

Eight of them were white and smooth as mutton-fat jade.

The remaining spirit egg was orange-red, like a blazing flame. It was a premium spirit egg with a special effect...