Lin Zhiyue had been eyeing that spirit beast meat in the dining hall for a long time—its aroma was so enticing it could hook someone from far away. But looking at the price tag of ten low-grade spirit stones, she silently swallowed her drool.
To balance her books, her desire to earn money rose to an unprecedented high. Upon hearing that doing sect missions could be exchanged for a share of spirit stones, she flew like the wind straight to the mission collection point.
Lin Zhiyue wandered around the mission collection point and picked the easiest low-grade mission—gathering a specified spiritual herb in Qingmu Town, thirty miles from the foot of Tiance Palace's mountain. Its maturity period fell within these two days, and the reward was thirty low-grade spirit stones, an easy catch.
She sent a message to Qi Yan, telling him she had taken a small mission and would be back in a day. Qi Yan's reply consisted of only two words: “Be careful.” It was as concise as always.
Qingmu Town was not large. The spiritual herb grew in a stone crevice by a stream outside the town. By the time she arrived, the sun had just passed noon. After crouching by the stream and searching for half an incense stick's time, she found her target.
The leaves of that spiritual herb had a faint purple glow on the edges, making it very easy to recognize. She carefully dug it out with its roots and soil, wrapped it up, and stuffed it into her earring. With that, the mission was complete.
On her way back, she ate a bowl of wontons at a small stall at the town entrance. Calculating that it was still early, she strolled back slowly.
Along the way, she was constantly calculating one thing in her mind—her poverty.
Buying that silver bracelet for Liu Fengyao had cost her two months' worth of her disciple allotment. The spirit stones she had left now were barely enough for daily meals.
The money to repair the breastplate of Dragon-Riding Dreamscape had been advanced by Qi Yan, and she had always kept in mind to repay him. Although sect disciples received a fixed allotment every month, that tiny amount of spirit stones was barely enough for food and clothing. To save up some real wealth, who knew how long it would take.
As she walked, she flipped through the system interface. As she scrolled, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Points.
Ever since she learned about the system's function to convert duplicate parts into points, she had never paid attention to it. The items in the Point Shop were far too expensive; a single piece of a set easily started at thousands of points, and her little leftover change was not even worth looking at.
But today, she clicked on the points panel on a whim. When she saw the string of numbers in the top right corner, she was stunned.
Over one thousand three hundred.
She had drawn so many outfits; the points automatically converted from duplicate parts had unknowingly accumulated to this much.
She clicked into the Point Shop and scrolled down. Sure enough, the further down she went, the cheaper the items became. The gold-bordered parts at the very top cost tens of thousands of points, and the purple ones in the middle started at one or two thousand. But when she scrolled to the very bottom layer, there was a row of ordinary-quality items with gray and white borders, priced between one hundred and three hundred points.
Pearl earrings: 150 points. Effect: Faint spiritual energy attached; emits a light fragrance near the ears when worn.
Silver bracelet: 200 points. Effect: Slightly increases hand dexterity, helpful for precise control of spiritual energy.
Jade bracelet: 280 points. Effect: Faint body protection, can block a single strike from the Qi Refining Stage.
There were also a few hairpins, a waist chain, and a jade buckle, all fluctuating around two hundred points.
These items were of low quality and had weak effects, making them completely useless to her. However, if she took them out to sell on the market of the cultivation world—an ordinary-quality spiritual artifact was still a spiritual artifact! Most of the low-level self-defense items bought by rogue cultivators were of this grade.
Lin Zhiyue found a rock by the roadside to sit on and began to seriously calculate the math.
An ordinary-quality spiritual artifact could sell for at least dozens to a hundred low-grade spirit stones in the market. If she exchanged all these points for physical items to sell, she could conservatively estimate a net profit of several hundred spirit stones. This was much faster than doing sect missions, and there was no risk involved.
She spent five hundred points to exchange for the silver bracelet and the jade bracelet. The moment the two items fell from the system space into her palm, they felt warm and solid, completely different from the low-level spiritual artifacts she had seen in the market's spiritual artifact shops.
The silver bracelet was warm to the touch, and a very faint spiritual light flowed over the plain band. Getting closer, she could see dense and even spiritual runes slowly flowing inside the bracelet.
The jade bracelet was even more beyond her expectations. The green color was so vibrant it seemed ready to drip, as transparent as a pool of frozen spring water. The spiritual light was restrained deep within the bracelet, appearing and disappearing. Even if she didn't know the market, she could tell that this texture was definitely more than ordinary quality.
She weighed the two bracelets in her hand and re-estimated their value in her heart.
The “ordinary quality” the system referred to was probably based on its own standards. In the system's eyes, purple was just the starting point, and gray and green were trash.
But these “ordinary quality” items despised by the system were clearly at the level of mid-grade spiritual artifacts when placed in the outside cultivation world. Her previous estimation of the Point Shop was completely wrong.
The next day, Lin Zhiyue found an excuse to go down the mountain and took the two bracelets to the largest market at the foot of Tiance Palace.
She first entered three spiritual artifact shops to ask for prices. The shopkeeper of the third shop was an old man with a goatee. He took the silver bracelet and held it up to the light to look at it for a full cup of tea's time. He pinched, tapped, and probed it with spiritual energy over and over, and finally looked up with a subtle expression.
“Little girl,” he lowered his voice, “this bracelet... the way the spiritual runes run seems to be refined by ancient methods. No one out there can forge such even patterns anymore. The color is also clean, without impurities. If you take this quality out and say it came from a secret realm, people would believe it.”
He offered a price for the silver bracelet: “Three hundred low-grade spirit stones.”
Lin Zhiyue remained calm on the surface, but her heart had already exploded. Three hundred. It was nearly ten times her previous estimate.
The old shopkeeper gave an even higher price for the jade bracelet. “This green color is rare and pure. The protective spiritual light is restrained but not scattered, and it can block more than three strikes from the Qi Refining Stage.” He held up five fingers. “Five hundred. This is my purchase price. If you sell it yourself, you can get over six hundred.”
The two combined were eight hundred low-grade spirit stones. Five hundred points exchanged for eight hundred spirit stones; one spirit stone was only worth 0.6 points.
This profit was so high that she had to take two seconds to calmly accept it.
She calmly accepted the spirit stones, turned around, and left the shop. It was only after she stepped out of the market gates and stood by the roadside that she looked down at the eight heavy mid-grade spirit stones in her pouch—the old shopkeeper had thoughtfully exchanged them into mid-grade ones for her convenience. Eight mid-grade spirit stones were enough for her to eat, drink, and live in Tiance Palace for more than half a year.
She took a deep breath and calculated again in her heart. The gray and white ordinary-quality parts in the Point Shop were priced between one hundred and three hundred points. Today, she spent five hundred points to get eight hundred spirit stones.
If in the future, the duplicate parts she got from drawing cards every month were converted into points, and she regularly exchanged them for a batch of ordinary parts to sell...
Lin Zhiyue rubbed her fingers, feeling that she had discovered a sustainable and prosperous road.
When she returned to Tiance Palace, she met Chu Zhixun on the side peak's stone steps. Her Eldest Senior Brother was carrying a newly forged broadsword and humming a tune as he walked up. Seeing her, he grinned. “Junior Sister, what good things did you buy down the mountain?”
“Just exchanged for some spirit stones.” Lin Zhiyue patted her pouch, her tone relaxed.
Chu Zhixun laughed heartily and rubbed her forehead. “If you're short on money, tell your eldest senior brother. Senior brother will buy you dinner!”
Lin Zhiyue dodged his hand with a smile and ran toward her courtyard. After a few steps, she stopped, turned around, and shouted to him, “Then Senior Brother, buy me roasted meat tomorrow at noon!”
“Sure!” Chu Zhixun replied energetically, carrying his broadsword as he walked toward the main peak.
Lin Zhiyue entered her courtyard, closed the door, leaned against it, and looked down at the eight mid-grade spirit stones in her pouch. The heavy weight in her palm felt exceptionally reassuring.
She crouched in the yard and calculated the books again from beginning to end. After confirming she hadn't made a mistake, the curve of her lips couldn't be suppressed no matter what.
She was now someone with a side hustle. And the profit margin of this side hustle was ridiculously high.
Rate on N.U.
