Chapter 168: Chapter 167: Spirit Stone Does Not Equal Spiritual Qi
"A Wasted Spirit Root?"
Xu Yuan was clearly anxious. "Yes, that senior just said it was a Wasted Spirit Root. He also told me to choose a Gold Attribute Cultivation Technique."
Chu Mu was speechless, yet also somewhat relieved.
He was speechless because of the Wasted Spirit Root aptitude.
As for why he was relieved... a Wasted Spirit Root was, at the very least, still a Spirit Root.
If he didn’t have a Spirit Root at all, Chu Mu really would have had no choice but to send Xu Yuan back.
Xu Yuan asked cautiously, "Brother Mu, is a Wasted Spirit Root a really bad aptitude?"
Chu Mu shook his head, then nodded. Finally, he pulled a booklet from his Storage Talisman and handed it to Xu Yuan. "This is a compilation of common knowledge about the Cultivation Immortal Realm I put together myself. Have a look."
After speaking, Chu Mu scanned the Marketplace. The former Learning Pavilion was gone, but the Longevity Sect’s Daoist Technique Pavilion was quite conspicuous.
As he looked around, Chu Mu couldn’t help but think it was a shame. ’A great scalper like Wang Mazi... how could he just disappear?’
"Brother Mu, haven’t seen you in a good long while!"
"Whoa, and you got a dog? This thing is built like a tank!"
Just as Chu Mu was lamenting his loss, a familiar voice came from behind him.
Chu Mu froze for a moment. He turned his head, and there was that familiar, pockmarked face. Who else could it be but Wang Mazi!
"I just walked a whole circle around this place. How did I not see you?"
Chu Mu was a little puzzled. He had just spent over an hour wandering around with Xu Yuan. In the past, he would have run into Wang Mazi at least three or four times in that span.
"Sigh, don’t even ask. I took a huge loss this time!"
Wang Mazi started pouring out his grievances. "With the Sun Family gone, all my connections are useless now."
"I was planning to leave with the Sun Family, but the Longevity Sect caught me. They forced me to mine for half a year! It cost me an arm and a leg to finally get out."
"It’s not like before. Now I’m just working for someone else, only earning a bit of hard-earned cash..."
Chu Mu raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "So you got recruited?"
"I wish I’d been recruited! Now I’m just a dog for someone, only getting the scraps..."
"Brother Mu, you wanna buy something? I’ll sell it to you cheap. There’s no fun in this business anymore!"
"Perfect timing. I need the most basic Gold Attribute Cultivation Technique, a Gold Attribute Attack Technique, and also a Fire Attribute Defense Technique."
Wang Mazi looked Chu Mu up and down, chuckling. "Well now, Brother Mu, have you struck it rich?"
Chu Mu’s expression didn’t change as he spouted nonsense, "Just some hard-earned money. My brother here just spent over half a year mining in the Yutai Mine!"
Wang Mazi smiled and didn’t press further. He fumbled around in his clothes for a moment before handing a stack of booklets to Chu Mu.
"The Defense Technique is more expensive, but since we go way back, I’ll give you a discount. Including the related knowledge, I’ll give you a package price of twenty Lower Spirits. For the Cultivation Technique and the Attack Technique, I’ll charge you fourteen Spirit Stones. That’s a total of thirty-four Lower Grade Spirit Stones."
"Thirty-two."
Chu Mu took the stack of books and started haggling without even looking up as he fumbled for the Spirit Stones.
This time, Wang Mazi surprisingly didn’t haggle at all. He agreed without a second thought.
"Fine, thirty-two it is. I’m only getting a sip of the soup anyway, not even a few Broken Spirits will make it into my pocket."
Chu Mu handed over the Spirit Stones, still finding it hard to believe. "Brother Wang, did someone really get you by the neck?"
"You think I’m kidding you!"
Wang Mazi shot Chu Mu an irritated glance, then couldn’t stop himself from cursing again.
Chu Mu placated him for a while and managed to piece together what had happened to Wang Mazi.
First, on the day the Longevity Sect arrived, the chaos caused order to break down. A fat sheep like him was naturally targeted. After a huge fight, he barely managed to escape, but before he could even leave the Marketplace, he was caught by the Longevity Sect’s Law Enforcement Team.
Then, he was thrown directly into the Yutai Mine, which had also been taken over by the Longevity Sect, and forced to mine for half a year. Later, someone from the Longevity Sect must have discovered his identity as a scalper.
After some extortion that bled Wang Mazi dry, a Divine Soul Contract was slapped in his face. If he didn’t sign, he would die. If he signed, he’d have to launder dirty money here in Jade Emperor Valley for some Cultivator from the Longevity Sect.
As for which Cultivator it was, with the Divine Soul Contract in place, Wang Mazi couldn’t say even if he wanted to.
His experience was truly tragic. Chu Mu couldn’t help but feel sorry for Wang Mazi.
Given how well he had been doing for himself before, even if he had left Jade Emperor Valley for another Marketplace, he would never have ended up in such a miserable state.
Chu Mu then tentatively asked about the nature of the restrictions imposed by the Divine Soul Contract. Immediately, the idea that had been faintly forming in his mind became much clearer.
"What’s wrong? You’re not gonna tell me you can break the Divine Soul Contract for me, are you?"
"I don’t have that kind of power."
Chu Mu gave a noncommittal reply and didn’t chat any longer, leading Xu Yuan away.
Afterward, he went straight to the housing rental office and paid nine Spirit Stones for three months’ rent.
This time, however, he registered it as a joint tenancy, which gave both of them the right to reside in the Marketplace.
House 38, Zone D3.
The two men and a dog wandered through the dense Housing District for quite a while before finally arriving at the Zone D3 section of houses.
"Brother Mu, over there."
While still a good distance away, Xu Yuan excitedly pointed to House 38 up ahead.
Following Xu Yuan’s finger, Chu Mu confirmed it was House 38 before scanning the surroundings.
The house was located on the northernmost side of the former East Lake, backed by a hillside, placing it right at the edge of the Marketplace.
The rent of three Spirit Stones a month was clearly worth it. The residence wasn’t a small single room like before, but a two-story pavilion that looked quite exquisite at a glance.
This area of housing was clearly newly built after the Longevity Sect took over the Jade Emperor Valley Marketplace. The occupancy rate didn’t seem very high, and there were few Cultivators to be seen on the street.
"Remember, the Cultivation Immortal Realm is different from the secular world. Talk less, watch more, learn more..."
"For now, don’t overthink things. Just focus on getting started with your Cultivation Technique and officially becoming a Cultivator..."
Arriving at the door, Chu Mu took out the Restriction Token and gave Xu Yuan a few more words of advice.
"Don’t worry, Brother Mu. I get it."
"Good."
Chu Mu said no more. ’A person’s fate is their own.’ He brought Xu Yuan into the Cultivation Immortal Realm for two reasons: one, out of a sense of camaraderie, and two, in the hope that Xu Yuan could be of some help to him.
Just like back in Jingmen, having him around could free Chu Mu from trivial matters, giving him more time to study and cultivate.
If Xu Yuan could do that, they would support each other, and he would help him when he could. If not, then one day, the two of them would inevitably drift apart.
As soon as they entered the house, before they could even get a clear look at the furnishings, a dense wave of Spiritual Qi washed over them.
Being enveloped in such rich Spiritual Qi felt as if a single breath could cause one’s Cultivation to soar.
After sensing it for a moment, he scanned the entire room, and his gaze finally settled on a palm-sized screen on the wall next to the door.
Ten degrees.
The two words were very clear, and Chu Mu naturally understood their meaning.
According to his understanding, the Spiritual Qi supply in the Jade Emperor Valley Marketplace operated on a tenfold system.
A house with a monthly rent of three Spirit Stones would be supplied with three hundred degrees of Spiritual Qi per month, which translated to ten degrees per day.
Of course, one could also control the Spiritual Qi supply independently. It was even possible to save it all up and release the entire three hundred degrees in a single day, or even within a single hour.
Three Lower Grade Spirit Stones contained only thirty degrees of Spiritual Power. Renting a house to get a supply of three hundred degrees of Spiritual Power was undoubtedly a great deal.
On the surface, it almost seemed like the Marketplace, the supplier of the Spiritual Qi, was running a charity.
The reality, obviously, was not so simple.
The main reason was simply that Spirit Stones... are not the same as Spiritual Qi.
One degree of energy from a Spirit Stone is not equal to one degree of Spiritual Qi.
Spirit Stones are a solidified form of Spiritual Qi.
According to the common definition in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, Spirit Stones are formed when Spiritual Qi undergoes eons of transformation, eventually settling and accumulating, and is then forged by the heavens and earth into Spirit Stone Veins.
And in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, although there is technology to compress the Spiritual Qi produced by Spirit Veins into Spirit Stones, the ratio is ten to one. The wasted Spiritual Qi dissipates back into the world.
In other words, to convert Spiritual Qi into a Spirit Stone, one hundred degrees of Spiritual Qi are needed to create one Lower Grade Spirit Stone containing ten degrees of Spiritual Power.
And that doesn’t even account for other losses during the conversion process.
Most importantly, this is just the ratio for converting it into Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
It is also common knowledge in the Cultivation Immortal Realm that higher-grade Spirit Stones contain purer Spiritual Qi.
Naturally, the conversion ratio for compressing Spiritual Qi into higher-grade Spirit Stones is even more extreme, and the additional costs are naturally more exorbitant.
And this ratio is the result of gradual evolution and improvement from ancient times to the present day.
This fact is an open secret in the Cultivation Immortal Realm.
After all, if a more efficient ratio were achievable, the housing’s Spiritual Qi supply clearly wouldn’t be a ten-to-one deal, but a less favorable one.
If, one day, the conversion ratio of Spiritual Qi to Spirit Stones could reach one-to-one, the world would likely be a completely different place...
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