89: Chapter 89 A Humble Journey to the Ninth Level of Qi Refining

Inside the Contribution Hall, Steward Lu's hand holding the registration book suddenly tightened.

His body stiffened, his gaze locked firmly onto the person before him, and a slight tremor involuntarily escaped his throat: one hundred thousand contribution points, to exchange for ten thousand bottles of spirit gathering pill.

Such a number, let alone a Disciple in the Qi Refinement Stage, even Foundation Establishment or Golden Core Cultivators had never seen before.

Yun Song felt uncomfortable under his gaze, the back of his neck tingling slightly, so he hurriedly asked tentatively: "Steward Lu, is there a problem with the exchange?"

This question finally brought Steward Lu back to his senses.

He cleared his tight throat, suppressed the shock in his heart, and asked with a softened tone: "Do you know that ten thousand bottles of spirit gathering pill require a full one hundred thousand contribution points?"

"I am aware." Yun Song's tone was calm. He raised his hand to lightly tap the Storage Pouch at his waist, and a contribution token glowing with a faint light landed in his palm.

Steward Lu took the token, injected a trace of Spiritual Qi with his fingertips to inspect it, and his pupils suddenly constricted.

Dusty memories instantly surged; this calm and composed young man before him was actually that former Mortal Miner with no Spiritual Root!

The former Mortal body had now truly stepped onto the path of immortality and had even cultivated to the Qi Refining 6th Layer; such a transformation made it difficult for his heart to calm down for a long time.

However, having been in the position of Steward for many years, he understood the rules well; as long as the duties within his scope were handled, he should never ask about others' Opportunities or secret matters.

After a moment of stunned silence, he suppressed all ripples in his eyes, silently handed the token back to Yun Song, and his face returned to its usual composure.

"The amount of contribution points is sufficient, but the Sect only produces five thousand bottles of spirit gathering pill per month, so it is difficult to gather ten thousand bottles all at once."

Steward Lu frowned, full of confusion: "Your cultivation is still in the Qi Refinement Stage, why do you need so many spirit gathering pills?"

"This pill is rich in Spiritual Qi, and I thought I could use it to Cultivate daily to improve my cultivation faster." Yun Song replied truthfully.

"Foolish!"

Steward Lu slammed the table, causing a few drops of ink from the inkstone on the table to splash out: "Do you know the drawbacks of using Medicinal Pill to Cultivate?"

"The spirit gathering pill is condensed from external forces and contains medicinal dregs and Impurities; it is fine for emergencies during fights."

"If used to Cultivate year-round, Impurities will accumulate in the Meridians and rust the Spirit Vortex. In the mildest case, your cultivation will stagnate; in the worst case, your Meridians will burst, and your life will be at risk!"

"These basic cultivation common sense points were taught by the Elder at the Martial Arts Arena long ago; you are completely unaware of them?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Song's heart sank, as if he had fallen into an Ice Cave.

Since joining the Sect, he had focused solely on hard Cultivate and had never attended lectures at the Martial Arts Arena, so he had no idea about these critical points and had almost ruined his own cultivation due to ignorance.

He hurriedly bowed and saluted, full of gratitude: "Thank you, Senior, for the timely reminder; this Junior almost made a grave mistake!"

"Forget it, use Spirit Stone to Cultivate from now on."

Steward Lu opened the old exchange ledger and said in a deep voice: "One contribution point exchanges for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone. What attribute of Spirit Stone do you want?"

Yun Song raised his eyes, his expression calm, and his tone clear: "Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—twenty thousand of each attribute."

"Clatter."

The quill in Steward Lu's hand dropped straight onto the desk.

He looked incredulous and asked in a startled voice: "Five-Element Spiritual Root?"

He had been on duty at the Contribution Hall for decades and had seen single-Spiritual Root and dual-Spiritual Root Cultivators; at most, he had only encountered those exchanging for three-attribute Spirit Stones. Five-Element Spiritual Root Cultivators were truly rare; the entire Sect struggled to produce one in a hundred years.

"Are you sure it is Five-Element Spiritual Root? You didn't say it wrong?" Steward Lu still could not believe it and asked again.

"Absolutely true." Yun Song nodded in response.

"Follow me." Steward Lu stood up immediately and specifically lowered his voice to urge him: "The amount of one hundred thousand Spirit Stones is huge. Exchanging them in the open is likely to attract covetous eyes. I will take you to the secret room to withdraw them to avoid bringing trouble upon yourself."

After saying this, he led Yun Song to the depths of the Contribution Hall and pushed open a hidden secret door.

The secret room inside was filled with a faint scent of Dragon Saliva Incense, the light was soft, and the halo of the wall lamps spilled down. Steward Lu took the Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch. Before long, one hundred thousand five-colored Spirit Stones were stacked into a neat square array on the ground, the stones lustrous and emitting a luster like cold jade.

"These are the one hundred thousand Spirit Stones you wanted. Count them."

Yun Song released his Divine Thought to scan them, confirmed that the quantity was exactly correct, then raised his hand and waved it, collecting all the Spirit Stones into his Storage Pouch, and bowed to Steward Lu in thanks: "Thank you, Steward Lu, for your trouble."

After leaving the Contribution Hall, Yun Song did not stop for a moment and headed straight to the place to Cultivate under the waterfall at the back of the Sect.

This place had immense water vapor and rich Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi; it was an excellent place to Cultivate.

He sat cross-legged on a blue stone, took out tens of thousands of Spirit Stones and placed them around his body. The immense water vapor mingled with the Spiritual Qi emitted by the Spirit Stones, and the surrounding Spiritual Qi instantly became several times denser. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and began to Cultivate wholeheartedly.

The Five-Element Spiritual Root requires one to Cultivate by nourishing the Five Elements Spiritual Veins simultaneously, and the consumption is far greater than that of ordinary Cultivators.

Time flew by, and six years passed in the blink of an eye. The one hundred thousand Spirit Stones were completely exhausted, and Yun Song's cultivation finally steadily improved from the Qi Refining 6th Layer to the Qi Refining 8th Layer.

When the Spirit Stones were exhausted, Yun Song went to the Resource Hall again, collected the six-year quota for an Inner Sect Disciple, totaling over sixty thousand Spirit Stones, and returned to the waterfall to go into seclusion again.

After another two years of hard Cultivate, the sixty thousand Spirit Stones were all used up, but his cultivation had barely broken through to the Qi Refining 9th Layer.

The consumption of the Five-Element Spiritual Root became increasingly terrifying; the further he progressed, the more the required Spiritual Qi increased exponentially.

He was not discouraged and went to collect the two-year quota of twenty thousand Spirit Stones for an Inner Sect Disciple, then returned to the same spot to go into seclusion.

But this time, the twenty thousand Spirit Stones only lasted for half a year before being completely exhausted, and his cultivation still remained at the Qi Refining 9th Layer, with no further improvement.