Tides of Spiritual Power subtly formed a vortex two meters in diameter. At its center, Zhao Zuo was immersed in deep meditation, his Cultivation level rising at an incredible speed.
Every breath... felt like he was inhaling and exhaling pure Spiritual Power.
Zhao Zuo lost track of time. It wasn't until a fiery, stinging pain spread through his Meridians that he snapped out of it. He quickly mobilized his Mana to soothe several of his main Meridians. A moment later, Zhao Zuo finally opened his eyes.
As he carefully assessed the Mana in his Dantian, he couldn't help but remark softly.
'With thirty percent more Mana from each Cultivation session, plus a sufficient supply of Purifying Spirit Pills, I estimate I can break through to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer in about two months.'
'However, it's easy to build a tolerance to most Pill Medicines, so I can't take too many Purifying Spirit Pills.'
Zhao Zuo remembered that back in the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, the Gathering Spirit Jade Plate only provided a twenty percent boost, yet its price was a terrifying eight hundred and eighty-eight Spirit Stones. The effect of his Clear Heart Jade Pendant now far surpassed it.
'A simple calculation: the cost was about eighty Spirit Stones, but the selling price could reach almost a thousand!'
If he had the start-up capital, Zhao Zuo was confident he could earn nearly a thousand Spirit Stones in a month. But this method of trading Creation Points for Spirit Stones would inevitably lead to... an even greater shortage of Creation Points.
Also, the personal risk would increase dramatically.
'I'll just take it one step at a time.'
Zhao Zuo stood up, stretched his limbs, and in the blink of an eye, threw himself back into forging Spirit Iron.
This time, he planned to challenge his limits: forge ten pieces of Spirit Iron a day. After subtracting the cost of Spirit Rice, he would net two Spirit Stones daily. But the most important reason was to earn more Creation Points.
「In the blink of an eye, the end of the month was approaching.」
During this time, Zhao Zuo had left the Earth Fire Forging Hall several times to wander around Moyun Workshop. He used a different face each time, selling the brand-new Lower Grade Magical Artifacts he had made and using the proceeds to buy two damaged ones. He would then spend three days repairing and reselling them.
At the same time, he used his Spirit Stones to gradually purchase three Purifying Spirit Pills. He also found time to go out in his true form and "happen to" run into Shen Yunjiao, who was returning from the Yunlan Mountain Range. He ordered twenty catties of Demon Beast meat from her for two Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
Practicing the Object-Controlling Spirit Patterns was also a daily, indispensable task. He could now draw one in under eight seconds, but those final three seconds felt like an insurmountable chasm, visible yet unreachable.
Zhao Zuo estimated that he could break through this bottleneck if his Cultivation reached the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer. The source of this chasm had to be... insufficient Cultivation!
As November approached, the weather grew colder, and frost could be seen in the early morning.
In the core area of Moyun Workshop, thanks to the presence of an Array, the weather was cold but still within a tolerable range. Outside the core area, however... the distant mountains and forests were already covered in white frost. The grass and leaves had lost their former vibrant green and vitality.
The white frost only began to dissipate when the sun rose and the temperature climbed. The leaves on the ground had become brittle from the cold, making a crisp sound when stepped on. The once-active birds had vanished, perhaps having already flown south to warmer lands.
Even the birds could choose a place to spend the winter, but the Loose Cultivators in the four major districts could not. Year after year, day after day, with no hope in sight... they struggled on the border between life and death.
Zhao Zuo exhaled softly, his breath forming a plume of pure white vapor.
He was still wearing a light shirt in this weather, yet he didn't feel the cold. Within a one-meter radius around him, the Clear Heart Jade Pendant created an invisible domain that kept the ambient temperature within a comfortable range.
Beneath his loose clothes were subtly defined muscle groups. After breaking through with his Golden Body Technique... his muscles had undergone a new transformation, becoming leaner and more powerful. This also caused his once-perfectly-fitting clothes to become somewhat baggy.
He had originally planned to continue his seclusion in the Earth Fire Forging Hall, but the perpetually dark atmosphere was truly becoming unbearable. He had no choice but to return home to relax his mind and body.
Zhao Zuo casually touched his face, and his appearance instantly changed into that of a middle-aged man in his thirties. He now had a thick beard, and his eyes held a fierce glint, making him look like someone not to be trifled with.
This new ability was the result of upgrading the Hundred-Change Mask three times. It could now store three facial profiles, and its adjustments were no longer limited to musculature; it could add surface details like freckles, acne scars, other scars, and beards. It could also alter his aura—the first impression one gives off—though it did not conceal the fluctuations of his Cultivation, nor could it hide his actual level.
The material for the Hundred-Change Mask's High Level Advancement was four taels of Hundred-Year Spiritual Silkworm Silk.
Zhao Zuo had also inquired about the price: twenty Spirit Stones per tael, meaning the advancement would cost eighty Spirit Stones. The benefit of this advancement was the ability to adjust his body shape within a certain range, reducing his height from about 1.8 meters to around 1.7 meters and shedding about thirty catties in weight.
It could only decrease, not increase. He couldn't stretch his bones to reach a height of two meters, nor could he conjure muscles out of thin air to increase his weight. Moreover, it still couldn't hide his Cultivation... and it couldn't change his gender.
Clearly, Zhao Zuo couldn't afford the eighty Spirit Stone cost for the advancement right now, so he had to put the idea aside. However, he still set it as a goal for the next month.
Also, yesterday, Zhao Zuo had gathered enough experience points to upgrade his Clear Heart Jade Pendant, completing its third-stage upgrade. Its quality had reached Middle Grade Magical Artifact +3.
[Upgrade Description: Greatly increases the effect of gathering Spiritual Power.]
After testing, he found that the concentration of gathered Spiritual Power had increased by about ten percent, while his Cultivation speed had only increased by four percent. This was because the resilience of his Meridians and the amount of Spiritual Power he could absorb each time were fixed; simply increasing the concentration of Spiritual Power couldn't perfectly translate into a faster Cultivation speed.
In total, the Clear Heart Jade Pendant now provided a thirty-four percent boost to his Cultivation.
Even so, among Supporting Magical Artifacts of the Middle Grade, the Clear Heart Jade Pendant was an absolute king. It could probably even sell for a high price of over a thousand Spirit Stones. After upgrading it, Zhao Zuo never took it out to admire again, even intentionally ignoring its existence.
For the next two years, at least, it could not see the light of day.
In addition, the conditions for its High Level Advancement were triggered: four taels of Clear Heart Jade Heart, four taels of Gathering Spirit Jade Heart, and four taels of Soul Nourishing Jade... The Clear Heart Jade Heart and Gathering Spirit Jade Heart would cost a total of six hundred Spirit Stones, while the Soul Nourishing Jade would cost about eight hundred Spirit Stones. The advancement would require a total of fourteen hundred Spirit Stones.
On the market, Upper Grade Supporting Magical Artifacts were priced anywhere from four thousand to ten thousand Spirit Stones. Considering the cost-to-performance ratio, this price wasn't expensive at all... in fact, it could be considered an absolute steal.
But it far exceeded what Zhao Zuo could afford.
That kind of money... would have to be acquired slowly and strategically.
Zhao Zuo stood in the cold wind for a while. Seeing it was about time, he headed to the Spirit Rice Store, spent three Spirit Stones... and bought thirty catties of Spirit Rice. As planned, he then hurried to the street stall area.
Yesterday, Zhao Zuo and Shen Yunjiao had agreed to travel home together today and look out for one another.
....