Chapter 359 Deposit

Jia Yu couldn't help but be surprised; fifty high-grade spirit fruits were not something that could be easily gathered.

"How can it be so fast? We're still short a few. However, the third high-grade earth spirit fruit tree in Crimson Flame Peak has already borne fruit. We can collect enough in a little over two years."

I'll discuss it with Yan Zu to see if we can get the payment in advance.

Ji An explained that it takes three years for a top-grade Earth Spirit Fruit tree to ripen.

Golden-spotted spider silk needs to be soaked in the blood of earth dragons for about a year to reach the required quality.

A year later, he will be able to gather enough spiritual threads and collect all the materials. He can then ask Senior Brother Zhu to help him refine the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner.

“Ancestor Yan is relatively easy to talk to. Junior brother, please wait a moment while I go and ask for instructions.”

Jia Yu made a hand seal, opened the mimicry array to enter the secret vault, and the passage to the vault opened and closed again.

The sect's two Golden Core stage guardian spirit beasts, the Fire Tortoise and the Fire-Burning Tortoise, are both short-tempered and uncompromising, rarely making concessions.

The earth dragon beast is much more amiable and easier to deal with.

Ji An took off the pendant hanging around his neck and put it into his storage bag. This rare item, which he obtained from the Immortal City of Mingfeng Mountain, could still be absorbed by the stone turtle.

It can yield about thirty points per year, much less than before. Perhaps after a certain point in time, this wonder will be completely destroyed.

A moment later, the passage to the secret vault opened again, and the Earth Dragon Beast, which appeared to be only the size of a bull, strode out first with a lazy gait.

Its footsteps were so light that the ground felt no vibration at all.

But as it drew closer, Ji An felt an oppressive aura, as imposing as a mountain, a feeling he had never experienced before. He thought to himself:

'It was only after opening up the Earth God's Abode that I truly felt the power of this mountain-guarding spirit beast.'

The earth dragon beast walked to the scales, its golden vertical pupils revealing its majesty, and its deep voice resounded:

"Little fellow, how many top-grade earth spirit fruits did you bring? If the number is too far off, you won't get my blood ahead of time!"

Jia Yu had already told it the general situation, and it would be happy to enjoy the spiritual fruit as soon as possible.

"I'm only missing eight fruits. I'll make up for the shortfall within three years. Not only that, I'll also give one more to the Rock Ancestor."

As Ji An spoke, he took out several yellow jade boxes with sealing talismans affixed to them and opened them one by one in front of the earth dragon beast.

The earth dragon beast stuck out its tongue, curled up a spirit fruit, and chewed it slowly, nodding its massive head a few times in satisfaction.

"Yes, this tastes really nostalgic. I agree."

The Golden Spirit Sect could not provide it with many earth-elemental spiritual fruits, and it usually spent most of its time sleeping in the earth's veins.

"However, as a cultivator, you should understand that I cannot give you the blood directly. Take out the spiritual silk that needs to be soaked."

"I'll have Jia Yu inform you once the spirit silk is dealt with."

In the cultivation world, there are insidious curses that can be cast using blood or other personal items. It once witnessed the entire process of a Golden Core stage demon beast being cursed to death.

From then on, it became extremely cautious.

"sure."

Ji An took out a dozen or so bundles of spider silk that shimmered with a pale yellow spiritual light, placed them into a specially made white jade box, and continued:

"The blood needs to completely submerge the spiritual threads, and once these spiritual threads develop a warm, jade-like luster, the task will be complete."

The earth dragon beast raised its forelimbs, its sharp claws bending and piercing through the muscles that were not covered by scales. Bright red blood, as clear as lead and mercury, flowed out and quickly submerged the spirit threads in the box.

The blood had no fishy smell at all; instead, it had a faint fragrance.

"I'm going back to sleep."

As the earth dragon beast spoke, it turned and left. The jade box in Ji An's hand was lifted up by a cloud of yellow mist and flew above its head.

"Respectfully seeing off Ancestor Yan."

The earth dragon beast entered the secret vault, the passage closed, and the mimicry magic circle reappeared.

With another task completed, Ji An felt much more relaxed.

"Hey, Junior Brother will soon have his second top-grade spiritual weapon. Let those fellow disciples who insist on crafting custom-made spiritual weapons be envious!"

Jia Yu laughed and said that most of his fellow disciples didn't even have a single top-grade spiritual weapon.

Ji An grinned and said:

"The burden is heavy. Just the Flame Banner alone requires more than a hundred spirit stones to purchase the fire element essence it absorbs every day."

If more Wuji Apricot Yellow Banners appear, at least two hundred spirit stones will be gone every day when I open my eyes. If I calculate carefully, it will cost eighty to ninety thousand low-grade spirit stones every year.

This process will continue for many years until the artifact gives birth to a spirit, and the time when the spirit is born is not fixed.

"Haha, stop complaining about being poor. The Emerald Mulberry trees planted on Crimson Flame Peak are more than enough to meet our needs."

Ji An gently shook his head. The amount of Five Elements essence absorbed by the spiritual artifact was not constant, but was continuously increasing.

The other party was unaware of his ambition. The burden would be heaviest when he forged five top-grade spiritual artifacts, costing around 300,000 low-grade spirit stones a year.

The current harvest of spirit stones at Crimson Flame Peak cannot cover this consumption; at that time, small merits will still be needed to exchange for spirit stones.

As the two were chatting, a commotion arose outside the main hall, and several disciples walked in excitedly.

They wore black Taoist robes from the Law Enforcement Hall, with two gold threads embroidered on the cuffs and a flying sword embroidered on the chest.

The leader held up a fist-sized, extremely rough, gray stone and said:

"Uncle-Master Jia, we saw a meteor fall to earth while we were out and found this good thing. Quickly check how much merit it's worth!"

His face was covered in a thick beard, and his cheeks were flushed with excitement.

"What good stuff do you have? Let me see it," Jia Yu said with a smile. He was very pleased that his disciples came to the treasure pavilion as soon as they had any finds.

He took the stone, squinted to examine it carefully, and then probed it with his divine sense, a smile appearing on his lips.

"Let's go outside."

He left the desk and walked out of the main hall, and Ji An followed him out with great interest.

The blue flames in Jia Yu's hand surged, and a wave of heat rolled out in an instant.

The spells of cultivators or the flames they generate are respectively red, yellow, blue, white, and purple.

Fire-based spells during the Qi Refining stage are a light furnace red, while those of Foundation Establishment cultivators are bright yellow, and so on, with the Nascent Soul cultivator's Infant Fire appearing purple.

As for what color the flames of higher-level cultivators would be, that remains unknown.

The Golden Spirit Sect is, after all, only a Golden Core sect, and its knowledge of advanced techniques is relatively scarce.

The stone tumbled and rolled in the air, quickly turning a fiery red.

Moments later, lava dripped onto the ground, making a "sizzling" sound, and puffs of white mist rose up.

After a while, a flat, spherical stone the size of a pigeon's egg was revealed. It was slightly reddish and showed no signs of melting from the heat.

Jia Yu stopped casting the spell. As the blue flames disappeared, the stone cooled down rapidly, revealing its gray texture, just like an ordinary stone.

The only difference is that the surface has a wavy pattern, which is intricate and rustic, giving people a very comfortable feeling.

He stood the stone upright on two fingers and asked with a smile:

"Junior brother, do you recognize this item?"

As he spoke, he threw the stone.

Ji An reached out and caught it, feeling its smooth, warm texture like jade, a quality that ordinary stones could not possess.

He extended his divine sense and immediately realized that he had entered another bright space, but he did not know where the light source came from.

Thick white fog surrounded the space. He tried to probe the fog with his divine sense, but found that it was as if he had encountered a restriction, and he could not penetrate it even a little bit.

He explored the space and realized it was a square space measuring thirteen feet, which was very large, equivalent to more than fifty of his largest storage bags.

Ji An withdrew his divine sense, an uncontrollable smile playing on his lips:

"It forms its own space, so it must be a Void Stone. I didn't expect the original stone to be so inconspicuous. If I didn't deliberately use my divine sense to probe it, I wouldn't be able to detect it at all."

"Senior brother, since we've come across this, you absolutely must exchange this Void Stone for me!"

The Void Stone is extremely rare, a product of the collapse of a small world, and he had long wanted to possess one but could not obtain it.

"Once the procedures are complete, it will be yours. Please wait outside the hall, junior brother, while I discuss the exchange price with my fellow disciples."

Jia Yu invited several disciples into the main hall and even lifted the magical restrictions.

Ji An grinned. The price the sect got from the disciples was definitely lower than the price he exchanged, but he didn't know exactly how much lower.

He could earn 20 minor merits for each mid-grade second-tier Biluo Fruit he handed over, but other cultivators would have to spend 22 minor merits or even more to exchange for it.

The sect, as a platform, maintains its operation in this way.

Bored, he decided to practice his earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic that allows one to escape from the earth) technique, traversing the ground outside the palace and sensing the 360-degree, all-encompassing magical restrictions of the treasure pavilion.

Two quarters of an hour later, several disciples strode out of the main hall, each with a smile on their face, clearly having gained a lot.

Ji An stepped into the treasure pavilion, brushing past them.

Jia Yu coughed lightly and smiled:

"Junior brother, the sect rules stipulate that you cannot be present just now, please forgive me."

"Understood. Senior brother, please tell me how many merit points are needed to exchange for it."

Ji An didn't care; that was just how the sect operated.

"The Void Stones you obtain cannot be given to you directly. They will be crafted into a true spatial artifact by a designated art refiner to expand the effective space and strengthen the internal stability."

Junior brother may not know that if the Void Stone is subjected to a strong magical attack, its internal space will collapse.

Storage bags have the risk of having their internal space spied on by high-level cultivators or those practicing special techniques, but the Void Stone artifact doesn't have this problem.

"Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. If the storage bag is destroyed, the items stored in the space will be scattered out, but most of the items can still be used."

If the Void Stone is affected during battle, its internal space will be directly annihilated, and everything inside will be reduced to ashes.

There are numerous examples in the cultivation world of people losing everything due to the destruction of the Void Stone, therefore, the internal space of the Void Stone must be reinforced.

After the other party's explanation, Ji An nodded slightly:

What is the value of the Void Stone after it is successfully refined?

"The exchange price will be determined based on the size of the space after refining. I expect it to reach 40,000 minor merits or even more."

"So expensive? I remember that Junior Nephew Teng Zhiyuan from the Refining Hall also owns a Void Stone magic weapon. He shouldn't be willing to spend such an expensive one!"

Ji An was somewhat skeptical. The item was rare, but it shouldn't be worth that price. Teng Zhiyuan's most pressing need was the Peiyuan Pill; it was impossible for him to have so many minor cultivation pills.

"The price of Void Stone is determined by the size of the space. I know that Junior Nephew Teng has a Void Stone artifact, but he refined it himself after obtaining the raw materials."

Ji An sighed, "Fine, I have to buy it no matter how expensive it is."

He really didn't want to go out with a bunch of storage bags hanging around his neck; it was too conspicuous.

He took out the jade pendant and said:

"I've paid a deposit first, just to avoid someone else taking it. How long will it take to pick it up?"

The Void Stone is still in high demand. If he doesn't buy it, someone else will. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so hard to find.

He was just habitually grateful; for someone of his wealth, spending 40,000 small merits was nothing.

Jia Yu placed the jade tablet on the spirit plate and said:

"I'll take your 30,000 minor merits first, and I'll make up the rest later."

I will notify Senior Brother Zhu to come today. Based on past experience, it should be completed within half a month.

I will notify you as soon as I receive the finished product. Are you traveling recently?

"I will not go out; I will stay in the Ministry of Agriculture for the next month."

The two chatted casually, talking about the recent situation of their sect.

Jia Yu took a large gulp of the spiritual wine and exclaimed:

"The methods that Junior Brother implemented in the Department of Agriculture have been very effective. The number of Lingnong disciples has decreased, but the value of their output has increased significantly, which is equivalent to increasing the amount of resources per capita."

The patriarch has instructed the other halls to investigate their own specific circumstances and see if similar methods can be implemented.

The other party's approach was not particularly clever, but it was something that others had not expected. In the past, the spirit farmers were each responsible for a piece of spirit field, and there was no need to cooperate with other cultivators.

Ji An raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled:

“It would be difficult to implement this in other halls, such as the Refining Hall, where a qualified refiner must be proficient in all the procedures.”

Breaking the process down into smaller steps might improve the efficiency of crafting low-level magical artifacts, but it doesn't help in training skilled artifact refiners who can work independently.

The sect's resources are ultimately for the benefit of high-level cultivators. To give an extreme example, refining a top-grade spiritual weapon requires the cooperation of several people, and the sect happens to have only three weapon refiners who are capable of doing so.

If something happens to one of them, does that mean the spirit weapon will stop being forged?

The herb garden can manage without a spiritual farmer casting spells, but the crafting of spiritual weapons will have to be put on hold.

He pondered for a moment, then said:

"There are two training models that can be implemented. For cultivators with high talent in weapon crafting, an additional master-disciple training model can be implemented so that they can craft high-level spiritual weapons in the future."

A craftsman of average talent only needs to master one process; this allows them to focus on crafting magical artifacts and low-grade spiritual weapons, significantly increasing their efficiency.

Jia Yu pondered the meaning behind his words, nodded repeatedly, and then slammed her hand on the table and stood up:

"Well said. If we do it this way, many ordinary disciples can also make greater contributions."

"Haha, I'll tell the Ancestor about my junior brother's idea later. If we implement your method in the future, we can even get some small merit rewards."

In terms of rewards and punishments, the sect has always been very clear.

"I wonder how much the reward will be?"

Ji An scratched his head, thinking to himself:

'Is the sect going to turn into a sweatshop? How about checking out the Golden Spirit Sect's weapon-refining assembly line?'

Believe it or not, it's actually possible. After the assembly line was invented on Earth, it greatly improved work efficiency.

From now on, the sect can take on the task of refining standard magical artifacts from other sects or families, which is absolutely efficient.

(End of this chapter)