Upgrade

"What are you thanking me for?" Li Yunjing said with a laugh.

"I just hope you make it back alive, you brat."

Li Yunjing turned to Shui Yao and said,

"Junior Sister Shui, Junior Brother Mo can be stubborn sometimes. Make sure you keep a tight hold on that stubborn ox."

Shui Yao smiled knowingly. "Don't worry, Senior Brother."

The three then left the Patriarch Hall.

They returned to the Luozhen Hall, talking and laughing along the way.

Before they knew it, evening had arrived.

Li Yunjing asked the two to stay and have dinner before leaving.

Neither refused.

It had been a long time since they had eaten a meal cooked by Li Yunjing.

Li Yunjing swiftly prepared dinner.

All the rice was steamed golden corn, without a single grain of ordinary rice mixed in.

Every dish was a meat dish.

All were made with Demon Beast meat.

The three ate and reminisced about the past.

Zhang Hanpeng listened beside them, utterly entranced.

He imagined whether he might one day make such good friends himself.

After dinner, Mo Xuan and Shui Yao did not stay much longer before preparing to leave.

Before leaving, they made a point of pulling Li Yunjing into the Luozhen Hall.

Mo Xuan then took out a small bag.

"Senior Brother, take these Spirit Stones."

Li Yunjing swept his Divine Sense over them.

There were thirty-seven low-grade Spirit Stones in all.

"Junior Brother Mo, put them away. I still have Spirit Stones to use.

"You're going to a Golden Core cave abode. Keep these Spirit Stones and prepare more supplies," Li Yunjing refused.

Mo Xuan took Li Yunjing's hand and placed the bag directly in it.

"Senior Brother, don't worry about us. We've earned some Spirit Stones lately. We set these aside for you in the first place."

"That's right, Senior Brother. Please accept them," Shui Yao chimed in.

"The Luozhen Sect has taken in another disciple, so your expenses have grown. These Spirit Stones are important to you."

Li Yunjing frowned.

In truth, now that the sect's buildings could be upgraded,

Li Yunjing would no longer lack Spirit Stones.

He just hadn't turned them into money yet.

But Mo Xuan and Shui Yao insisted that Li Yunjing accept the Spirit Stones.

Left with no choice, Li Yunjing took the small bag.

"Junior Brother, Junior Sister, elder positions in the Luozhen Sect will always be waiting for you. If you ever can't get by out there, just come back to the Luozhen Sect."

Li Yunjing said to the two of them.

Mo Xuan and Shui Yao smiled and thought nothing of it.

After bidding Li Yunjing farewell, the two left the Luozhen Sect hand in hand.

Li Yunjing saw them off all the way to the mountain gate.

Watching them recede into the distance, Li Yunjing was deeply worried.

He did not know whether this farewell would be the last time the three of them saw one another.

Li Yunjing only hoped the two would return safely.

After standing there feeling wistful for a while, Li Yunjing composed himself.

He looked back at the dilapidated mountain gate and took the materials needed to upgrade it from his Storage Bag.

Six sturdy logs and one jin of iron nails.

[Upgrade?]

A prompt appeared.

Li Yunjing silently answered yes.

The next moment, the sturdy logs and iron nails vanished.

The once dilapidated, rotting mountain gate changed somewhat.

It looked better now.

The three characters for Luozhen Sect on the plaque had become clearly visible.

[Mountain gate (lv1)]

[lv2 spiritual effect: early warning range increased by twenty zhang; capable of resisting forced entry by an Early Qi Refining cultivator; spiritual light enhanced, with an added soul-intimidation effect, currently effective only against mortals.]

[Upgrade requirements: hundred-year ironwood * 8, first-grade mystic iron nails * 3 jin, jasper powder * 5 liang.]

After glancing at the basic information,

Li Yunjing returned to the Luozhen Sect.

While the sky had yet to grow completely dark,

Li Yunjing wanted to hurry and upgrade the remaining two buildings to lv1.

First was the Patriarch Hall.

He entered the Patriarch Hall.

Li Yunjing began cleaning it.

Walking up to the tablet stand, Li Yunjing first took down all the patriarchs' memorial tablets.

He then stirred the magic power within his body, creating a gentle breeze.

He blew away all the dust on the tablet stand.

He gathered all the dust together.

Li Yunjing then threw the dust out of the Patriarch Hall.

He cleaned the patriarchs' memorial tablets as well,

then put them back on the tablet stand.

He also cleaned the offering table.

Li Yunjing then took out tung oil, first-grade incense sticks, and fifteen low-grade Spirit Stones.

He silently willed the upgrade.

Soon, all the materials vanished.

The Patriarch Hall had been upgraded to lv1.

[Patriarch Hall (lv1)]

[lv2 spiritual effect: produces two units of Patriarch Incense Offering each month. After worship, Spiritual Qi absorption speed +20% for thirteen shichen. This effect takes effect once every thirty shichen.

During worship, +5% chance to trigger Patriarch's Protection and enter a state of enlightenment.]

[Upgrade requirements: hundred-year tungwood * 3 logs, spiritual cinnabar * 3 liang, first-grade premium incense sticks * 50, low-grade Spirit Stones * 30.]

After the upgrade, the Patriarch Hall had also changed considerably.

The once damaged memorial tablets had repaired themselves.

The blurred portraits had also become clearer.

The broken leg of the offering table had been restored as well.

The offering table, tablet stand, and memorial tablets gleamed as though they had been coated with tung oil.

After reading the basic information, Li Yunjing saw another prompt appear before him.

[Collect Patriarch Incense Offering?]

Li Yunjing silently answered yes.

One unit of Patriarch Incense Offering appeared in the system space.

Li Yunjing was very curious about the Patriarch Incense Offering,

and wanted to know what it was used for.

A prompt appeared before Li Yunjing, explaining the Patriarch Incense Offering's function.

Patriarch Incense Offering could be used to worship the patriarchs.

After worship, treasures of varying value would be obtained according to the amount of Patriarch Incense Offering used.

In short, it was like opening a blind box.

The value of the treasure inside the blind box, how much incense offering was contributed to the patriarchs.

This was interesting.

Li Yunjing's interest was immediately piqued.

One unit of Patriarch Incense Offering was a wisp.

Just like Pure Spiritual Qi.

Li Yunjing took out the wisp of Patriarch Incense Offering and offered it to the patriarchs.

All the patriarchs' memorial tablets lit up at once.

The next moment, Li Yunjing saw something suddenly appear on the offering table.

He stepped forward and picked it up.

It was a fist-sized piece of red spirit iron.

Li Yunjing recognized it. The spirit iron was called Crimson Cloud Iron.

It was a first-grade spiritual material, one of the raw materials used in artifact refining.

Because it was so abundant, its value was ordinary.

It generally sold for three Spirit Stones on the market.

The piece of Crimson Cloud Iron in Li Yunjing's hand was vivid in color.

It looked like the crimson clouds at dusk.

This piece of Crimson Cloud Iron was considered high quality.

It was worth a little more, though only four Spirit Stones.

Although Crimson Cloud Iron was not particularly valuable,

it made Li Yunjing very excited.

A single wisp of Patriarch Incense Offering could be exchanged for Crimson Cloud Iron.

With more Patriarch Incense Offering, wouldn't he be able to exchange it for immortal treasures!

Li Yunjing made up his mind.

From now on, upgrading the Patriarch Hall was the most important task of all.

If upgrading it could shorten the time needed to obtain Patriarch Incense Offering,

that would be very important to Li Yunjing and the entire Luozhen Sect.

After walking out of the Patriarch Hall,

Li Yunjing looked back.

The Patriarch Hall's appearance had changed somewhat.

Like the other buildings, it was no longer as dilapidated as before.

Heading to the Spirit Field, Li Yunjing looked forward to its lv2 spiritual effect.

Upgrading the Spirit Field required turning the soil, killing pests, and removing weeds.

Turning the soil was simple. Li Yunjing took out five hoes and released his Divine Sense, controlling the five hoes to begin turning the soil.

For a Qi Refining Completion cultivator like himself, turning the soil of a one-mu Spirit Field would not take long.

After about one and a half shichen,

Li Yunjing finished turning the soil.

As for killing the pests, Li Yunjing took a jade bottle with a narrow mouth and a wide belly from his Storage Bag.

He pulled out the stopper, and a delicate fragrance drifted into his nose.

The jade bottle contained a green liquid that shimmered faintly.

It was a spiritual liquid used to kill pests and remove weeds.

Li Yunjing placed a drop in each of the Spirit Field's four corners.

He then put away the jade bottle, and the pest killing and weeding were complete.

The spiritual liquid's effect was quite potent.

Li Yunjing then took out plant ash and piled it in the Spirit Field.

He silently willed the upgrade.

The plant ash vanished, and the Spirit Field was upgraded to lv1.