Of course, now that each conversion would now yield a decent amount instead of a smattering, Arthur naturally decided that he would now convert his qi into Spirit Slag. Sure, each conversion of qi yielded more Inferior Spirit Slag when compared to normal Spirit Slag. However, once 10 hours pass by, allowing him to convert Spirit Slag into System Points, he would end up obtaining 100 if he focused on Spirit Slag, and only 60 if he focused on Inferior Spirit Slag.
And that was already considering the fact that he now had the ability to convert qi into Inferior Spirit Slag multiple times in an hour. He now had the leeway in his qi recovery rate, after all.
With that said, he used up every attempt of [Qi Conversion] he had per hour… for five straight days. Of course, he didn’t just stare off into the distance while waiting for the process to be complete, repeating it again once it was done. Well, at times, he did do that, but for the most part, he busied himself with other things.
For one, after he had upgraded Qi Recovery Rate twice, there were still 5 System Points remaining. Seeing that, he spent it on an upgrade on [Spirit Sense], finally adding a level to the skill. Through that, he found out that leveling the skill would increase the field’s range by 100 meters while increasing its duration by only 5 minutes. Basically, it was a mix of the upgrade given by Tier 0 Qi Purity and Tier 1 Qi Purity on the skill, with the former on duration and the latter on range.
After that, he watched the couple do their own things, continuing to make the house look better by adding a few essential amenities inside and outside the house. As for the farm where they would obtain quite a bit of their food, Jian assiduously tilled the fields, nodding in satisfaction once the field had reached a respectable size. He then started planting seeds all over the field, grabbing a few barrels of water from a nearby river slightly beyond the range of Arthur’s sensory field.
Also, during the 5 continuous days where Arthur did not really do much for the couple, the two still fervently prayed to the God of Spirit Slag once they were finished eating breakfast. Although the two had not received any blessings or any other thing from the god that they were worshiping, they knew that the god still existed, watching their every move. In their minds, they just thought that the god had become tired for a bit, so they went to rest.
Well, it’s not like that thought was wrong from a certain perspective.
Sure, it seemed like Arthur was still doing something, but due to the monotony of the task he was doing, he felt like all of his mental stress was being gradually washed away thanks to the passage of time. Nevertheless, he still watched the couple even all through that, thinking that he was watching some sort of reality television show.
But of course, once five days had truly passed, Arthur made a move as he looked at the amount of Spirit Slag he had amassed during the past few days.
Unlike Inferior Spirit Slag, which took on an ash gray color once it was piled up, normal Spirit Slag instead took on the color white, giving off the feeling that there was more qi in them compared to Inferior Spirit Slag. Then again, that was the truth. If not, Arthur would have been able to convert his qi into Spirit Slag even before he had reached Tier 1 Qi Purity.
Knowing very well how much 1.2 kilograms of Spirit Slag would give him, Arthur could not help but take in a deep breath as he muttered, “I am definitely gonna go on an upgrade spree after this.”
Ding!
You have exchanged 1.2 kilograms of Spirit Slag for 1200 System Points.
“Man. Even in another world, big numbers look very satisfying,” he said soon after, chuckling as he decided that the first order of business was for him to continue upgrading the Spirit Receptor Module.
So far, he had gone through the first three tiers of Spirit Receptors. Namely, Receptor Conceptualization, Receptor Foundation, and Receptor Creation. The tier that followed after Receptor Creation was [Tier 3 — Receptor Fortification], spanning 10 levels that cost 25 System Points each.
In total, he would spend 250 System Points to max out the fourth tier of upgrades from the module. Then again, he thought of it as a worthy investment since the fourth tier increased the boost by 25%, bringing it to a total of 60%. With his current recovery rate, it would go from 8.1 points of qi per hour to 9.6 points of qi per hour.
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Thus, without hesitation, he spent 250 System Points on the upgrade, leaving him with 950 System Points remaining. Surprisingly, he did not feel any regret whatsoever. After all, he had a way to make it back.
Feeling that the four tiers of Spirit Receptors would be enough for him for now, he pondered as to whether he should allocate the remaining System Points towards increasing Qi Capacity or enhancing Qi Purity. Though, just before he could come to a conclusion, another thought took over his mind, prompting him to spend 110 System Points in total to upgrade… [Spirit Sense] and [Spirit Aura].
Ding!
[Spirit Sense] has been upgraded to Level 10.
[Spirit Sense] can now create a basic sensory field spanning 1.5 kilometers, lasting for 1 hour and 50 minutes before disappearing.
[Spirit Aura] has been upgraded to Level 10.
The range factor of [Spirit Aura] has been increased from 1.5:1 to 1:1. Current range is 40 meters
The boost factor of [Spirit Aura] has been increased from 0.028:1 to 0.03:1. Current boost is 33%.
“I should have probably focused on upgrading skills first, seeing as to how their cost for 10 levels is static,” Arthur could not help but mutter to himself, making a mental note to do so. Though, just as he was about to continue upgrading [Spirit Sense] and [Spirit Aura] even further, with the latter actually being crucial in helping the system quest be finished faster, he noticed that their costs had ballooned to a level he did not expect.
[Spirit Sense], which originally cost 5 System Points to upgrade, now had its cost increased by a factor of 50. As for [Spirit Aura], which originally cost 10 System Points to upgrade, had its cost increased by a factor of 25. In other words, both of them now needed 250 System Points per level to be upgraded to Level 11 and above.
Would Arthur actually spend that much right now? Nope. Upgrading both skills to Level 10 was more than enough for him at the moment. At the very least, he was certain that the couple would now notice the dense qi around the pile, prompting them to think that there was more to the pile of Inferior Spirit Slag than meets the eye.
With 840 System Points remaining, Arthur pondered over choosing between Qi Capacity and Qi Purity once again, staring at the upgrade screen for a bit as he calculated how many points it would take for him to upgrade Qi Capacity to the necessary amount. Naturally, the necessary amount would be 100, allowing him to advance to an Early Spirit Nucleus.
Thanks to his enhanced mental acuity, he calculated that he would only be able to double his capacity from 40 to 90, only being left with 30 System Points after that. Then, he looked at the cost to upgrade Qi Purity, seeing that it cost 110 System Points to upgrade Qi Purity to Tier 1, Grade 1.
Mulling over it for a bit, he soon realized that the loop from before was increased by a factor of 10 before being added to the cost that was needed for him to ascend to a higher tier of Qi Purity. Of course, he also calculated how much grades he would obtain if he spent all of his points on Qi Purity.
The answer? 5. How many points would remain after that? 150.
With that, he pondered if it was possible for him to spend all of his points wherein he would be able to upgrade both Qi Capacity and Qi Purity. Though, before he could come to a conclusion, he noticed that the couple had finally appeared before the pile, which they now deemed a shrine to the God of Spirit Slag. Noticing the shocked expressions on their faces, Arthur decided to leave the matter aside for now, wanting to see if something interesting was going to happen.
“What’s this white stuff on top of the pile?” Qin could not help but ask, looking at her husband after that. “Did you… actually do it on the pile?”
Jian could not help but cough loudly in response, feeling as if he was being wronged. “We may have the same tastes, but my tastes aren’t that outlandish! Anyways, I think I’m pretty sure you’re looking at this from a different perspective. After all, that white dust is far more precious than you think.”
“Eh? Really?” Qin could not believe her husband’s words. With that, she asked, “How so? All I can sense is that it has more qi than the gray dust below it.”
“That’s exactly why it’s more precious than you think,” Jian said with a smile before explaining, “That white dust is actually… high-grade Spirit Slag! If normal Spirit Slag can boost the growth rate of plants by 10 times, high-grade Spirit Slag can boost it by… 50!”
“Now this is just getting ridiculous,” Qin said in response. “Are you actually sure that something like that white stuff would boost a plant’s growth rate by 50 times? I could still believe the part where normal Spirit Slag boosts it by 10 times. But 50 times? I can’t help but think you’re lying to me right now.”
“Well, here’s the thing, Qin,” Jian said, his tone somewhat solemn. “High-grade Spirit Slag is not used on normal plants. It’s mostly used for plants that are used in alchemy, specifically those that take a long time to grow. Qin… do you know what that means?”
“We’re gonna become rich?” Qin asked in response, making Jian facepalm once he heard that. Shaking his head, he looked at her with a caring gaze as he said, “Well, there’s that, but…”
Grasping her hands as an excited expression crept up on his face, he then said to her, “You can practice alchemy again!”