Having sold the jade talismans and gained an extra hundred taels of silver in her pocket, Shi Yu browsed around the spacious Tongyi Pavilion a bit more.
However, after taking only a few looks, she lost interest. With only a few hundred taels of silver to her name, there was truly very little she could afford.
Tongyi Pavilion primarily did business with cultivators, and practically everything used in cultivation cost a fortune. Except for a handful of items that could be settled in silver, the vast majority were priced in spirit stones.
Spirit stones were the most widely used currency across the entire Origin Realm.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth contained spiritual energy of various attributes. When absorbing and converting this spiritual energy during cultivation, a cultivator had to refine the spiritual energy that matched their own spiritual meridian's attribute into magical power while exhaling the unmatching spiritual energy. This cycle of inhalation and exhalation was the fundamental method of respiration.
However, if a cultivator absorbed spirit stones while cultivating, they could obtain attribute-less, extremely pure spiritual energy. This saved them the effort of expelling incompatible spiritual energy, thereby enhancing their cultivation efficiency.
Just as human bodies possessed spiritual meridians, heaven and earth had spiritual meridians as well. Over long years, spiritual meridians naturally birthed in regions where spiritual energy was exceptionally dense.
Spirit stones were mined from these spiritual meridians. Depending on the amount of spiritual energy they contained, they were categorized into low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade. One hundred low-grade spirit stones could be exchanged for one mid-grade spirit stone, and one hundred mid-grade spirit stones could be exchanged for one high-grade spirit stone.
In cultivation, among the four essentials—wealth, companions, techniques, and sanctuary—wealth always came first. Without wealth, taking even a single step forward was nearly impossible.
As Shi Yu looked around, two items caught her attention and lodged in her mind.
The first was low-grade Dew-Condensing Pills. Dew-Condensing Pills were the most commonly consumed pills for cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm. Absorbing one could restore magical power and aid in cultivation, priced at one low-grade spirit stone each.
The second was Qingming Dew. As a spiritual dew, consuming it could enlighten one to profound insights and help grasp spiritual realms, offering immense benefits to comprehension. Moreover, Qingming Dew was relatively low in tier among spiritual dews, meaning even those who had yet to officially step onto the path of cultivation could consume it, making it perfect for Shi Yu's current state. However, its price was steep: a thumb-sized jade bottle cost ten low-grade spirit stones.
If she could purchase both items and use them together, the time required to reach the First Layer of the Qi Refining Realm would be drastically shortened.
Once she reached the First Layer of the Qi Refining Realm and had spiritual power to draw upon, she wouldn't be as bound and restricted as she was now.
Having made up her mind, she stopped browsing and spent one hundred fifty taels of silver in Tongyi Pavilion to buy one hundred blank jade slips before departing.
Seeing her buy so many jade slips again, Tongyi Pavilion's manager, Jiang Qihe, felt even more certain of his hypothesis: a senior master skilled in the Dao of Talismans must stand behind this young master, and purchasing so many jade slips was naturally for practice.
The thought that Shi Yu herself was using these jade slips never even crossed his mind.
After all, he could detect no spiritual cultivation from Shi Yu whatsoever. Even for unranked trinkets like jade talismans, they were not something a mortal could produce. Besides, Shi Yu looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old—far too young.
...
Returning to her courtyard while her mental energy was sharp, Shi Yu crafted five jade talismans in one go. As soon as exhaustion set in, she immediately stopped, took a sip of diluted Life Spring water, and sat cross-legged to cultivate the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Record.
When her stomach growled from emptiness, she stopped cultivating, went to the courtyard to pick a few fresh vegetables, and cooked a balanced dinner featuring both meat and greens.
After dinner, she resumed carving jade talismans and meditating to cultivate.
Still possessing a mortal body, staying awake for a day or two was manageable, but she couldn't sustain it long-term. Thus, late at night, she paused her cultivation and went to sleep.
Five days passed in this repeating routine, and she quickly finished crafting all one hundred jade talismans.
By now, the strand of innate true Qi in her dantian no longer looked as flimsy as before. Floating inside like a fine veil of mist, it shimmered delicately, with the center gathering into a denser, hazy little cluster.
Examining this strand of innate true Qi, she reached for the gourd holding the Life Spring water, tilting her head back for a drink, but not a single drop came out.
“Empty already?” Shi Yu raised the gourd high and tilted her head to peek inside—indeed, not a drop remained.
All in all, this single drop of Life Spring water had lasted her a mere seven days.
Previously, a gourd of diluted Life Spring water could last her ten days. But now, she spared a bit every day to irrigate the spiritual grain planted in the courtyard; though she had been very restrained, it had still consumed quite a lot over several days.
The Life Spring water possessed boundless wonders—it could even regenerate severed spiritual meridians—making it Shi Yu's greatest trump card at present.
Aside from never being enough, it had no drawbacks whatsoever.
“I'll have to wait another seven or eight days for the next drop of Life Spring water.”
Shaking her head, she stood up and walked out into the courtyard.
The dawn cast a faint red glow, and the dew on the trees had yet to melt under the sun. In the center of the courtyard, a small patch of rice stalks swayed gently in the breeze.
Seeing the thriving White Jade Rice in that small plot of land, Shi Yu's gloomy mood instantly lightened.
In just a few days, the White Jade Rice—which had only been tiny sprouts before—had grown half a person tall and begun to head. Soon, it would flower, pollinate, and yield grain.
At this rate, the White Jade Rice would be ready for harvest in a few days. When that time came, she would be able to eat spiritual grain daily just like disciples from major sects and aristocratic families. Even if it was only Tier-2 White Jade Rice, it was still a great start.
Besides, according to the manager who had sold her the seeds back then, within the thousand-mile radius under the Yuxu Sect's domain in Changyuan Prefecture, Tier-3 Heavenly Scent Rice was a rarity, so Tier-2 White Jade Rice was already considered very fine.
Even within the Yuxu Sect, probably not every disciple had the privilege of eating White Jade Rice.
Shi Yu was right. Within the Yuxu Sect, handyman disciples had no chance of eating spiritual grain or vegetables; the food in their cafeteria was no different from mortal fare, except perhaps with a bit more meat.
Outer sect disciples received better treatment and could eat Tier-1 Pearl Rice, though not every day. Shares of spiritual grain were distributed based on each disciple's talent, performance, and sect contributions.
Inner sect disciples were the same; while they could eat Pearl Rice daily, obtaining higher-grade White Jade Rice required exchanging sect contribution points or receiving a reward from an elder or master.
As for the vegetables planted in the corners surrounding the plot of White Jade Rice, they profited from their proximity, receiving a share of the diluted Life Spring water during irrigation as well.
Over those few days, they had grown increasingly lush and vibrant. Their tender, brightly colored leaves emitted a rich, fresh aroma.
Shi Yu picked some to make breakfast. The vegetable leaves carried a subtle sweetness, crisp and delightfully refreshing.
“The taste is getting closer and closer to spiritual vegetables.”
These vegetables contained a trace of spiritual energy and very few impurities, making them far superior to ordinary greens. Given a little more time, they might truly evolve into spiritual vegetables.
After breakfast, Shi Yu dressed as a young man as usual and headed to Tongyi Pavilion with her finished jade talismans.
This time, she hadn't only made Dust-Repelling Talismans, but had also added Moisture-Proof Talismans to her inventory.
For her, crafting jade talismans had no failure rate. However, after careful consideration, she refrained from bringing all one hundred jade talismans to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Keeping twenty for herself, she brought the remaining eighty to sell.
Even so, when Tongyi Pavilion's manager, Jiang Qihe, saw eighty jade talismans placed before him, he was still startled for a moment.
He clearly remembered Shi Yu buying one hundred blank jade slips from Tongyi Pavilion just a few days ago. Now, in a span of mere days, those jade slips had... already all been used? A full eighty finished pieces meant that the creator had achieved a mind-boggling eighty percent success rate.
Moreover, these jade talismans were of exquisite quality, far more potent than ordinary ones.
Jiang Qihe couldn't help stealing a few extra glances at Shi Yu. With such a staggering success rate, the master behind this young master would likely enter the ranks of true talisman masters before long, wouldn't they?
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