Ye Chen, San Niu, Murong Yu, and Lin Yifei walked out of the Enlightenment Hall together. The four of them felt relaxed and refreshed, having finally completed their three-month introductory training. Now, all four of them were literate people, no longer illiterate mountain folk. Of course, Murong Yu was an exception, as he was already literate, unlike the other three.
After three months of tempering, Ye Chen and the other three had finally become cultivators, cultivators at the Qi Refining Layer 1! From now on, they would no longer be ordinary mortals. Ye Chen and San Niu were no longer cowherds from remote mountain areas. They were like phoenixes reborn from ashes, becoming Cultivators envied by countless people. In the future, they would be the Immortal Elders and Immortal Masters in the mouths of mortals, Immortals who could fly through the sky and dive underground, capable of anything!
Since becoming a cultivator at Qi Refining Layer 1, Ye Chen's height and weight had changed significantly over the past three months. The previously thin and scrawny boy's appearance had also changed considerably. Here, they ate white steamed buns and rice every day, with meat and fish at every meal. In three months, these mountain cowherds' appearances had completely changed. Their complexions were rosy and full, no longer showing the sallow look of those who hadn't had enough to eat. Ye Chen had grown half a head taller, and his appearance had matured a bit. He no longer looked like a ten-year-old brat. Now, Ye Chen looked about his actual age, a robust twelve-year-old boy!
The four of them walked to the mess hall to eat.
After the meal, the four of them, full and satisfied, came out of the mess hall.
"Senior brothers, where are we going now?" Lin Yifei asked.
"Of course, we're going to the Administration Hall!" Ye Chen replied.
"Right, right! Didn't Steward Sun say that we are now Qi Condensation Stage disciples and can collect our cultivation resources from the Administration Hall? We can collect them once a month from now on," Murong Yu added.
"I wonder what cultivation resources they will give us?" San Niu asked.
"I heard from other inner sect disciples that it's a bottle of Harmony Pills and three spirit stones," Lin Yifei said.
"Then let's hurry!"
The four of them walked and talked, heading towards the Administration Hall.
At the Administration Hall of Sword Peak,
Behind the counter, several attendant disciples were handling matters for disciples who had come for assistance. A steward, looking like a scholar around thirty years old, sat behind a desk, flipping through a book. On the desk in front of him was a wooden sign: Welfare Collection.
Ye Chen and the other three walked into the Administration Hall and immediately saw the wooden sign. The group walked directly to the steward. Murong Yu stepped forward first, bowed deeply, and asked, "May I ask your esteemed surname, senior? We are all newly accepted disciples. Can we collect our sect welfare from you?"
The scholar-like steward put down his book, turned his head to examine Ye Chen and the other three, smiled kindly, and asked, "My surname is Tang. Are you four new disciples of Sword Peak?"
"Indeed!"
"First, take out your disciple tokens for registration. Now that you are all Qi Condensation Stage disciples, you can come to collect your sect welfare on time every month from now on."
Ye Chen and the other three quickly took out their disciple tokens. Murong Yu, being first in line, respectfully handed his identity token with both hands. Steward Tang took the token, picked up a thick ledger, and after verifying and registering, took out a palm-sized storage bag embroidered with the emblem of a sharp sword on its front. He handed it directly to Murong Yu along with his disciple token.
"The procedures are complete. This is your sect welfare for this month," Steward Tang said.
"Thank you, Steward Tang!" Murong Yu quickly bowed and thanked him, accepting his disciple token and storage bag with both hands.
Afterward, Ye Chen and the others collected their sect welfare one by one. Ye Chen was the last to collect his.
The four of them received their cultivation supplies and then bid farewell to Steward Tang and left. As they exited the Administration Hall, Steward Tang smiled with satisfaction and said softly, "These four are all elite disciples of my Sword Peak. They will surely become pillars of the sect in the future. Especially Murong Yu and Ye Chen, the two Personal Disciples of the Peak Master, their future looks promising! In just three months since joining, their cultivation has already reached the late stage of Qi Refining Layer 1. Other inner sect disciples have only just entered the early stage of Qi Refining Layer 1. Their spirit root aptitudes are so heaven-defying! Truly remarkable youths! They are the hope of my Sword Peak, hahahaha..."
Outside the Administration Hall, Ye Chen and the others parted ways. San Niu and Lin Yifei returned to their cultivation caves in the inner sect. Ye Chen and Murong Yu walked towards the mountain together.
They each returned to their respective cultivation caves. Ye Chen was eager to check what his sect welfare was, as he hadn't checked it before. Ye Chen estimated that the sect welfare for the Peak Master's Personal Disciples might be much better than that for ordinary inner sect disciples. He didn't want to discourage San Niu and Lin Yifei, so he hadn't checked the storage bag he received in the Administration Hall.
Upon entering his cultivation cave and closing the door, Ye Chen went directly to his cultivation secret room. He sat down cross-legged, took out the storage bag with the sword emblem, and impatiently opened the bag. He poured all the contents out in one go. Instantly, a pile of items appeared before Ye Chen's eyes: three bottles of pills and fifteen crystal-clear, finger-sized crystals. Ye Chen guessed these were the so-called spirit stones. Spirit stones are crucial for cultivators; cultivators cannot cultivate without them. Spirit stones have three major uses:
First, spirit stones can be used directly for cultivation. Spirit stone is the abbreviation for spiritual power stone. Spirit stones contain a large amount of extremely pure spiritual power, which is much purer and more potent than the spiritual energy contained in the air. The spiritual energy in the free state in the air is relatively mixed and loose, not pure, and its absorption and refinement effect is not obvious. However, the spiritual power contained in spirit stones is incomparably pure. Cultivators can directly absorb and refine the spiritual power contained in spirit stones. After all the spiritual power in the spirit stone is completely absorbed and refined, the spirit stone will turn into a small pile of white powder and debris, losing its function.
Second, spirit stones can also serve as an energy source, providing power for arrays, teleportation formations, flying ships, energy cannons, and other magic treasures, supporting the long-term operation of these formations and magic treasures, and unleashing great power to attack and kill enemies.
Third, spirit stones are also the universally recognized currency in the cultivation world. Cultivators can use spirit stones to trade for other cultivation materials. Spirit stones can function as currency, similar to gold and silver in the mortal world. Cultivation is impossible without spirit stones.
In addition to spirit stones and pills, there was also a mid-grade magic sword. At Lingyun Sword Sect, all disciples practice swordsmanship, so they cannot do without magic swords. As a Personal Disciple of the Peak Master, the sect rewarded him with a mid-grade magic sword, a treatment that inner sect disciples do not receive; they can only get a low-grade magic sword. In the cultivation world, the various weapons and equipment used by cultivators are classified by grades from low to high: magic tools, spirit tools, treasure tools, immortal tools... Each grade is further divided into four sub-grades: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and ultimate grade. Generally, cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage and Foundation Establishment Stage can only use magic tools. Spirit tools require powerful divine sense control, so only a few cultivators at the late stage of Foundation Establishment have the ability to control and use spirit tools. Golden Core cultivators have powerful divine senses and can easily control spirit tools. For cultivators, all their weapons and equipment are sometimes collectively referred to as magic treasures. In the cultivator market, a low-grade magic sword often costs around one hundred low-grade spirit stones. The price of a mid-grade magic sword is even more expensive, often requiring several hundred spirit stones, with better ones costing five hundred to a thousand spirit stones. High-grade magic swords are even rarer, costing several thousand spirit stones. Most cultivators cannot afford them. As for ultimate-grade magic swords, they rarely appear on the market. Only a few individuals with prominent status and high backgrounds can possess such rare high-grade weapons and equipment. Ordinary cultivators can't even see such treasures.
When Ye Chen and the others first joined the sect, the storage bag issued by the sect only contained a mortal-grade iron sword, with no grade at all. Only inner sect disciples were eligible to receive a low-grade magic sword, while outer disciples didn't even have the qualification to receive one. As a Personal Disciple of the Peak Master, the treatment was naturally better, which is why Ye Chen and Murong Yu received a mid-grade magic sword.
In addition to these items, Ye Chen also found several bottles of different pills. One small green porcelain bottle contained a verdant green pill. The label on the bottle read "Spring Return Pill" (Hui Chun Dan). Ye Chen poured the incredibly verdant pill into his palm and examined it carefully. This verdant green pill was completely verdant, plump and round, semi-transparent, emitting a faint spiritual light. It smelled faintly of a fresh and elegant medicinal fragrance. Steward Sun had once mentioned that this was a good medicine for healing injuries; after taking it, one could quickly recover from injuries. The one in Ye Chen's palm was a mid-grade Spring Return Pill of even greater quality. San Niu and other inner sect disciples received low-grade Spring Return Pills of slightly lower quality.
Additionally, a white bottle contained ten dark red pills, labeled "Grain Abstinence Pill" (Pi Gu Dan). Ye Chen could now fully recognize these characters, unlike before when he was completely illiterate. It seems the first benefit of joining Lingyun Sword Sect was that he had gotten rid of his illiteracy and become a literate person. If he were in a mortal kingdom, Ye Chen could have tested for a Xiucai degree or something similar. Besides reading and writing, the stewards and elders taught Ye Chen and the others various forms of correspondence and documents, which they could also complete. Compared to the scholars who studied arduously for ten years in the mortal world, Ye Chen and San Niu were no less inferior.
This type of Grain Abstinence Pill is taken by cultivators during closed-door cultivation. One pill can sustain a person for a long time without eating. Early stage Qi Refining cultivators cannot completely abstain from food. Therefore, they still need to supplement their diet from time to time. Once they reach a certain level of cultivation and enter the mid to late stage of Qi Refining, they can completely abstain from grain and no longer need to supplement with food. They can replenish all the energy their bodies need by absorbing and refining spiritual energy and spirit stones. However, in the early stage of Qi Refining, this is not yet possible, so they still need to eat to replenish energy. During a cultivator's closed-door cultivation, this Grain Abstinence Pill can replace food, making it convenient and practical. As long as they have Grain Abstinence Pills on hand, it doesn't matter if they don't eat for several months.
This large bottle contains a total of ten Grain Abstinence Pills. If one pill is used per month, this amounts to ten months' worth. Pills like Harmony Pills, Grain Abstinence Pills, and Spring Return Pills are sold in the sect's market. As long as one has spirit stones, they can be bought and sold freely.
To facilitate disciples in purchasing cultivation supplies, Lingyun Sword Sect has established a small market below the main peak, Lingyun Peak, within the sect. Although the market is small, most cultivation supplies can be found there. As the saying goes, "A sparrow, though small, has all its vital organs!" In addition to the stalls operated by the sect, this small market also allows disciples to trade freely. Disciples can set up stalls here with cultivation supplies they no longer need and trade with fellow disciples. The only rule to abide by in the market is not to pass off fakes as genuine or inferior goods as good ones, deceiving others. This is because the sect's enforcement team frequently patrols and supervises the market. Anyone who violates the rules will be severely punished. At best, they will be fined and punished; at worst, they will be killed or injured, their cultivation crippled, and they will be expelled from the sect. Therefore, no one dares to cause trouble in the market!
Currently, Ye Chen has just started cultivating and does not lack cultivation supplies. When his cultivation level increases and he has other needs, Ye Chen plans to visit the sect market. For now, as a Personal Disciple of the Peak Master, with sufficient cultivation resources distributed monthly by the sect, all he needs to do is focus on closed-door cultivation. He doesn't need to worry about cultivation pills or spirit stones.
Next, Ye Chen plans to focus primarily on closed-door cultivation to rapidly improve his cultivation level. He is currently only twelve years old. Three years should be enough for him to achieve a significant breakthrough in his cultivation. Ye Chen's goal is to cultivate to the late Qi Refining stage within three years, which means reaching at least Qi Refining Layer 7. Generally, outer and inner sect disciples take ten to twenty years to break through the Qi Refining Stage. Many inner sect disciples eventually get stuck in the mid Qi Refining stage and cannot advance to the late Qi Refining stage. Ultimately, fewer than twenty percent of inner sect disciples can break through the Qi Refining Stage and become Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators. Therefore, Qi Refining Layer 7 is a watershed. Most disciples are firmly blocked in the mid Qi Refining stage; only those who are hardworking, exceptionally talented, and have extraordinary luck and opportunities can smoothly reach the late Qi Refining stage or even the Foundation Establishment Stage in one go.
As an excellent cultivator with high-grade spirit root aptitude, Ye Chen is naturally more outstanding than ordinary inner sect disciples. Cultivating to Qi Refining Layer 7 or above in about three years is quite reasonable and generally achievable. This means that when Ye Chen turns fifteen, he can become a late Qi Refining stage cultivator! This is already considered quite impressive within the sect! Becoming a late Qi Refining stage cultivator will allow him to go outside the sect to complete some simple sect missions and earn sect rewards. Although walking the cultivation world as a late Qi Refining stage cultivator still carries some risks...