12: Rule changes

In the following year, Lin Feng cultivated and crafted Talismans. Lin Feng rapidly accumulated Spirit Stones at a rate of earning over forty Spirit Stones each month. Unfortunately, these Spirit Stones did not stay in Lin Feng's hands for long. Lin Feng used these Talismans to purchase eight spell techniques: Invisibility Technique, Immobilization Technique, Golden Light Shield, Earth Evasion Technique, Water Arrow Technique, Earth Wall Technique, Light Body Technique, and Healing Technique.

These eight spell techniques cost Lin Feng a full eighty Spirit Stones. Moreover, Lin Feng spent another one hundred Spirit Stones to purchase a Storage Pouch. As for Magical Artifacts, Lin Feng did not purchase any. It wasn't that Lin Feng was reluctant; rather, he used the remaining Spirit Stones to repay his Junior Brothers.

Lin Feng repaid his nine Junior Brothers with triple the amount of Spirit Stones, which made them incredibly grateful to him. In just one year, they had received three times the Spirit Stones. These few became even more respectful of Lin Feng. Not only was Lin Feng capable, but he also kept his word to them. Unconsciously, Lin Feng's image grew taller in their hearts.

Now, Lin Feng had been in the Sect for three years. The thirteen-year-old Lin Feng was at Qi Refining Stage 3, and he felt that he only needed one year to Breakthrough to the fourth stage. Lin Feng could be said to be somewhat smug at the moment.

However, while Lin Feng was feeling smug, his other Fellow Brothers were looking a bit dejected. The Deacon Huang, who managed them, announced something that caused distress among the Utility Disciples.

That was, over the years, due to the Four Great Sects of Great Xin, Cloud-Soaring Pavilion and the other three major Sects had maintained a policy of mutual non-aggression. There had been no conflicts between the various forces for decades. The Great Xin Sect had also not had any friction with Sects from other countries, leading to an increasing number of Sect Disciples, especially low-level Disciples.

For the long-term development of the Sect, it was decided to select more elite Disciples to remain in the Sect for cultivation. The cultivation period given to Utility Disciples was changed from five years to four years, but the assessment requirements for Cultivation remained unchanged.

After this news was announced, it caused an uproar among the many Utility Disciples. This requirement was not a problem for True spiritual root cultivators, but it was very unfriendly to pseudo-Spiritual Root Cultivators. As for miscellaneous Spiritual Root Cultivators, it didn't matter much, because even if they were given five years, they could not Cultivate to Qi Refining Stage 3 unless they had abundant resources.

But how could miscellaneous Spiritual Root Cultivators possibly have abundant resources? They had to perform the Sect's utility tasks while also Cultivating. How could they have time to earn Spirit Stones? Furthermore, even if they had time to earn Spirit Stones, what could Disciples at Qi Refining Stage One, or at most Stage Two, do to earn Spirit Stones to purchase the Medicinal Pills needed for Cultivation?

It could be said that as soon as this news came out, pseudo-Spiritual Root Cultivators were dejected, while miscellaneous Spiritual Root Cultivators were somewhat indifferent, merely regretting not being able to Cultivate in the Sect for an extra year, as the Spiritual Qi here was much richer than outside. True spiritual root cultivators, though they had some complaints, only needed to spend more time on Cultivation, so it wasn't a big problem for them.

Due to this policy, the Disciples living in the same row as Lin Feng, who had previously been excited and happy due to Lin Feng's Spirit Stone repayment, had their mood considerably dampened.

These Disciples knew that now was not the time to complain. Regardless of whether they had miscellaneous Spiritual Roots or pseudo-Spiritual Roots, they all took out their Spirit Stones to purchase Cultivation Medicinal Pills. No matter what, they all wanted to try. They wanted to give it their all to see if there was a chance to remain in the Sect in the future.

During this year, Lin Feng was busy crafting Talismans and Cultivating, so he hadn't paid too much attention to everyone. Now that the news had arrived, these Disciples no longer had their previous laughter and playfulness; everyone began to Cultivate seriously.

Speaking of which, although Lin Feng earned a lot of Spirit Stones this year, he did not spend them on purchasing Medicinal Pills for Cultivation. This was mainly because Lin Feng had already Cultivated to Qi Refining Stage 3, and his task was completed ahead of schedule, so he didn't need to worry about the assessment.

He had been busy improving his strength and his ability to earn Spirit Stones, and the extra Spirit Stones were basically all returned to his Junior Brothers. The remaining Spirit Stones were all used to consume on Talisman paper and spiritual ink, with no extra Spirit Stones to purchase the Medicinal Pills needed for Cultivation.

Although Lin Feng purchased eight spell techniques, in this year, he only Cultivated five of them to Major Achievement, with the remaining three not yet Cultivated. Seeing that the Sect's requirements for Disciples had become stricter, Lin Feng decided that the Spirit Stones he earned later must also be used to purchase Medicinal Pills to quickly improve his strength.

Just one month after Deacon Huang announced the new policy, Lin Feng purchased a bottle of Qi Gathering Pill. This bottle contained ten Medicinal Pills, totaling ten Spirit Stones.

Lin Feng purchased Medicinal Pills that could improve Cultivation for the first time and tried taking one to see the effect.

Immediately after taking the Medicinal Pill and Cultivating, Lin Feng felt his Cultivation speed increase sixfold. At this rate, one Medicinal Pill would allow Lin Feng to Cultivate for five or six days. However, when Lin Feng Cultivated for four hours, a significant portion of the Medicinal Pill's potency was refined, and the refining speed doubled.

Lin Feng did not stop Cultivating and continued for an entire day, and one Medicinal Pill was actually completely refined.

After Cultivating for a full day, Lin Feng lay on the bed in his wooden house, pondering. With the enhancement of the entries, the Medicinal Pill, which originally could sustain Cultivation for five or six days, was completely refined in one day. The consumption of Medicinal Pills was too rapid, but Lin Feng's Cultivation speed greatly increased.

Taking one Medicinal Pill, the speed of Cultivation improvement was about six times that of normal Cultivation without Medicinal Pills, and with the enhancement of the entries, it increased by over thirty times.

Originally, Lin Feng felt it would take a year to Cultivate to Qi Refining Stage 4. Now, with the Medicinal Pill's enhancement, Lin Feng felt it would only take two months to Cultivate to Qi Refining Stage 4 and become a Cultivator in the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

However, one Qi Gathering Pill a day meant one Spirit Stone. Ordinary Utility Disciples could not afford such consumption. This kind of consumption was probably unique to Lin Feng among the Utility Disciples of Cloud-Soaring Pavilion.

Lin Feng secretly congratulated himself on his wise decision earlier, gathering his Fellow Brothers from the row of wooden houses to raise funds to learn Talismans crafting. Otherwise, Lin Feng would not have the strength to withstand the consumption of one Medicinal Pill a day.

With the Medicinal Pill's enhancement, Lin Feng now felt that the Cultivation speed of those Heavenly Spiritual Root Cultivators was nothing more than this. Thinking of this, Lin Feng suddenly thought of a question: Is it true that every Cultivator refines Medicinal Pills at different rates after taking them?

Lin Feng wanted to verify his idea and separately asked Xiong Hu and Qi Liang, as well as several other Junior Brothers in his row of wooden houses. Because Lin Feng had repaid their Spirit Stones, these people had all used the Spirit Stones Lin Feng returned to them to purchase Medicinal Pills to improve their Cultivation. In the current situation, only by taking Medicinal Pills to accelerate their Cultivation speed could they possibly remain in the Sect.

After this inquiry and comparison, Lin Feng understood. These Medicinal Pills should have similar potency, but Disciples with different Spiritual Root Aptitudes had different abilities to refine the potency, which led to their varying speeds in refining Medicinal Pills.

For Xiong Hu, one Medicinal Pill could only sustain him in continuous, sleepless Cultivation for a day and a half. Of course, he certainly wasn't that diligent, so it generally took Xiong Hu about two and a half days to refine one Medicinal Pill.

And for those Disciples with poorer Aptitude, it obviously took much longer to refine one Medicinal Pill.

Lin Feng also discovered a small detail: because low-level Disciples took too long to refine Medicinal Pills, the Medicinal Pill's potency would be lost, resulting in a lower utilization rate compared to those with better Spiritual Root Aptitude.

Although this was a small matter, it made Lin Feng sigh with emotion: how important Aptitude is for Cultivators pursuing the Dao. No wonder Li Yunfei's comfort to him back then was so stiff, as if Lin Feng's Aptitude was hopeless. Lin Feng now fully understood, after all, they didn't have a Golden Finger.