Three days.
He had spent three whole days digging, leaving the ground beneath the surrounding ten-mile mountain range riddled with holes.
His patience nearly exhausted, Xu Xian finally discovered the white snake’s former cave.
The white snake was so moved it actually started crying.
"Waaaah!"
"We finally found it!"
"This wasn't easy!"
Covered in grime and dust, Xu Xian felt only bewilderment. He snapped irritably, "What are you wailing for? It’s not like you were the one digging, yet you’re the one getting emotional."
The white snake remained silent, its eyes brimming with tears.
If they hadn't found it, it really would have ended up as snake soup. How could it not be moved?
Its little life was finally saved.
Inside the underground cave.
It was pitch black, filled with jagged rocks, cold, and damp. With the passage of time and the shifting of eras, its former glory had long since vanished, leaving only a scene of ruin and desolation.
Following the giant snake’s guidance toward the depths of the cave, Xu Xian couldn't help but start grumbling again.
He remained on high alert; gods only knew if this snake had left any traps behind.
Fortunately, after some twisting and turning, they arrived at the place the white snake had mentioned without any mishaps.
The moment they turned a corner, the space suddenly opened up.
In a massive underground chamber, a pile of spirit stones as large as a small hill lay stacked, radiating a cerulean light.
Within the vision of his Pupil of Insight, the air was densely packed with floating text.
[Top-grade spirit stone • Purity 98%]
[Top-grade spirit stone • Purity 96%]
[Top-grade spirit stone • Purity 95%]
[Top-grade spirit stone...]
[Top-grade spirit stone...]
They were beyond counting. It was like a livestream with millions of viewers where nothing but the scrolling barrage of comments could be seen.
Xu Xian was stunned, his footsteps faltering.
Little Shuer watched with wide eyes. Sitting on Xu Xian's forehead, the book spirit exclaimed in shock, "Oh my god, we’re going to be rich!"
Xu Xian let out a silly, giddy laugh.
"Hehe!"
"Hehe!!"
"Hehehe!!!"
Heaven truly rewards the persistent.
The white snake’s eyes were full of disdain as it secretly cursed his foolish appearance.
In Fanzhou.
Spirit stones with a purity lower than 40% were classified as low-grade spirit stones.
Those with a purity between 40% and 70% were categorized as mid-grade spirit stones.
Anything above 70% was a high-grade spirit stone.
As for top-grade spirit stones, the purity had to be above 95%.
The higher the purity of a spirit stone, the fewer impurities it contained, making it more effective for cultivators to absorb—and, naturally, making it far more valuable.
Ordinary spirit stones typically emitted a milky-white glow. Only top-grade spirit stones gave off the cerulean light currently before them.
Top-grade spirit stones.
They did exist in Fanzhou, but their numbers were extremely small, and they were rarely seen in circulation on the market.
At the very least...
Xu Xian knew that even at the Wendao Sect’s Merchant Hall, one couldn't obtain them by exchanging merit points.
However...
The hall did buy them back.
The price was incredibly high.
They were worth four times the buyback price of a high-grade spirit stone.
Spirit stones.
They were born in spirit mines.
In the current world of Fanzhou, spirit mines of all sizes already had masters.
The generation speed of spirit stones was extremely slow.
They were born within the spirit veins of heaven and earth.
According to unofficial statistics:
In a high-level spirit mine, one mid-grade spirit stone could be produced for every thousand spirit stones on average. Only one high-grade spirit stone could be produced for every ten thousand stones.
As for top-grade stones...
No one had ever calculated it.
Because they were too rare.
A spirit mine might not produce even a handful in an entire year.
However, some books recorded that top-grade spirit stones weren't rare a long time ago. It was only with the passage of time that their production had dwindled.
Some speculated that this was caused by the exhaustion of Fanzhou's spiritual energy.
After all, the spiritual energy in the world was limited, yet there were too many people cultivating, sucking the world's spiritual energy dry.
Xu Xian agreed with this sentiment.
Xu Xian walked up to the pile, picked one up, and held it in his hand, unable to put it down.
The cerulean light flickered in his eyes, reflecting a brilliance as gorgeous as glazed glass.
He asked the white snake, "Just how many stones are here?"
The white snake thought for a moment and said nonchalantly, "I don't know. Probably around a million or two. I can't remember clearly. You can count them yourself..."
Xu Xian slapped the white snake’s head and laughed. "Tsk tsk, as expected of a great demon from the ancient era. Your family fortune is quite substantial."
The white snake bared its teeth in pain. Seeing that Xu Xian was in a great mood, it pushed its luck. "I say, young hero, can you take me down now? Let me get some air too."
Without a second thought, Xu Xian readily agreed. "Sure, why not?"
He casually thrust Wait into the ground and took the white snake off, tying it to the sword instead.
He pulled out his spirit bags.
And began packing the spirit stones.
He didn't forget to gloat. "Good thing I came prepared, otherwise I wouldn't be able to take these with me, haha!"
Adhering to the principle that even the smallest bit of meat is still food...
After the battle in Snake Valley, Xu Xian had dozens of spirit bags in his possession, three of which were high-tier spirit bags.
A low-tier spirit bag had a capacity of 1 cubic meter.
A mid-tier spirit bag had 5 cubic meters.
A high-tier spirit bag had 20 cubic meters.
This was more than enough to hold all these spirit stones.
As Xu Xian controlled his spiritual energy to funnel the spirit stones into the bags, he didn't forget to keep a tally.
He packed and packed and packed.
The white snake lay on the ground, bored out of its mind and drifting into a drowse...
Xu Xian didn't know how long he spent packing, but for the first time in his life, he experienced the feeling of counting money until his hands cramped.
And what was the most important part?
The fact that all this money was his.
Wasn't that just wonderful?
He even had to pop a pill halfway through for energy.
At the very end, after he dug the final spirit stone out of the dirt and tossed it into a spirit bag, he clutched his lower back and exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
"Whew~ Over two million stones in total. I’m rich!"
Little Shuer hurriedly offered congratulations.
Xu Xian sat down against the cave wall to rest for a while. Grinning widely, he asked, "With these spirit stones, how many levels of the Sword Tower can I build?"
Little Shuer held up two fingers and smiled. "These are all top-grade spirit stones. You can build at least two levels."
Xu Xian did the math in his head.
One level per stage.
Starting from the core formation stage.
That meant two levels of the Sword Tower, combined with these spirit stones, could help him break through to the sixth stage—the soul transformation stage.
In the Wendao Sect, this realm was considered high-end combat power.
Once he reached the soul transformation stage, making money would surely become much easier.
"Not bad."
"Hehe, Master’s luck is really good, running into such a big sucker."
Xu Xian was displeased by that.
"What are you saying? That was clearly due to my great strength."
Little Shuer smiled but said nothing.
After resting for a bit, Xu Xian turned his gaze toward the white snake lying on the ground, a flash of cunning in his eyes.
He walked over, leaned down, and asked, "I say, Brother Snake."
The white snake opened its eyes. "Hmm?"
"Do you have any more?"
The white snake was confused.
"Any more what?"
"Spirit stones?"
The white snake shook its head, its eyes clear. "No more."
Xu Xian was skeptical and continued to press, "Other things are fine too. You had so many spirit stones, surely you have some other treasures? Like heavenly materials, earthly treasures, weapons, or something..."
After speaking, he didn't forget to add, "If you bring them all out, I'll let you go."
The white snake curled its lip and said, "There’s nothing left."
"Are you lying?"
The white snake looked like it was about to cry. "There’s really nothing left!"
"You have more!"
"I really don't!"
Xu Xian stared at it, saying sinisterly, "If you're going to be like this, I’ll have no choice but to make that snake soup."
The white snake was stunned and grew frantic.
"You’re going back on your word? Didn't we agree that you wouldn't kill me if we found the spirit stones?"
Xu Xian looked at it calmly, completely unbothered. "Yeah, I said that. But I’m going back on it. What of it? Not happy? Bite me then."
The white snake was so angry its eyes rolled back. "You..."
Xu Xian said coldly, "'You' what? Either give me money, or I take your life!"
The white snake was so aggrieved it was practically in tears. "My little ancestor, I really have nothing left!"
Rate on N.U.
