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“Things that truly last, won't come easy.”
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Unknowingly, Qai actually left the grain fields of the 3 Mo disciples bringing home a gift of camaraderie.
Apparently, Qai’s act of extending help to them initially gave them a sense of suspicion. But after Qai completed the task, it made them understand that he was not like most disciples who only knew how to take advantage of the weak.
Not only did Qai save their Vitality grain fields from being completely ransacked by the Spirit Beast, but also saved their Mo family’s hope from being thoroughly ruined.
So the 3 disciples thanked Qai warmly and promised to give him a small portion of the harvest soon.
In Qai’s mind though, that promised portion will be fed to the newborn calf.
‘If the mother Eland found the Vitality grains delicious, then this little calf should enjoy them too.’
When Qai got back to his valley, he immediately placed the newborn calf in the middle of the garden plot. It had the richest spiritual Qi energy so he thought that the Spirit Beast calf would grow faster in there.
As usual, he assigned the Ant Workers to look after it.
Three days later, he packed up around 50 precious herbs, with ages no less than 10 years old, and brought them to the Contributions Hall.
Each of them was healthy and rich in spiritual Qi energy which only proved that the herbs were carefully nourished. There were even a dozen among them which were rare species.
So when the sect official examined them, he turned to Qai and looked at the latter meaningfully.
Said sect official cleared his throat then inquired about an herb.
“Junior, if you still raise more of this 10-year-old Flame Mushroom, you can deliver them here. Our chief alchemist Elder Meng is looking for them. No, I’ll personally pick them up from you and be sure to reward you handsomely.”
“Senior official, I do have few more. I just don't know if they’ll be enough to satisfy Elder Meng’s demands. But if I may be blunt, senior, how much compensation do I get from each Flame Mushroom.”
The sect official paused for a moment and rubbed his chin.
In truth, Elder Meng once ordered him to watch out for any Flame Mushrooms among the herbs submitted. He was trying to advance his attainments in Pill alchemy in deep seclusion that was why the elder could not personally come out to pick the herbs himself.
And the sect official knew that once Elder Meng brokethrough with ‘his’ help, he would be rewarded greatly. So he was thinking of hoarding the Flame Mushrooms himself so he can deliver them to Elder Meng personally.
“How about this, junior. For these 50 herbs, I will give you 300 Contribution Points. But for every Flame Mushroom that you can give after this, I will pay 100 Contribution Points each.”
Qai felt good about the offer and so he immediately communicated with the Queen Ant to send the Ant Workers back in the valley once again and only to look for Flame Mushrooms.
The Queen Ant did as told and the Ant Workers immediately rushed out in a much bigger area to search for the herb. They did it a swift fashion since they had to be back before Qai could.
“Senior, we can go now to my valley so you can personally examine my Flame mushrooms.”
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The Ant Workers had a level 3 cultivation base with shadow-like agility so when Qai came back, the newly picked herbs were already replanted.
The sect official was surprised to see Qai’s array formations when they arrived. But he put the matter at the back of his mind since he was more excited to see the Flame Mushrooms.
And when Qai uncovered the illusion on the garden plots, the sect official almost screamed out of joy. He blinked twice then rubbed his hands in excitement.
“Junior, I never thought you had this kind of garden.”
What actually revealed before the sect official’s eyes was an entire bed specifically devoted to Flame Mushrooms. Apparently, there were 2 dozens of 10-year-old Flame Mushrooms—however, there was one that emitted a very thick spiritual Qi energy.
When the sect elder caught sight of it, he was stunned.
”Hundre.. A hundred-year-old Flame Mushroom!”
Qai smiled when he heard the sect official. He thought of the job done well by his giant Ants.
“Senior, do you think Elder Meng has a need for 100-year old Flame Mushroom?”
“Don't bother to ask, junior. And I will not bargain for it either. I’ll take all of these Flame Mushrooms in exchange for 3000 Contribution Points.”
Qai gasped when he heard the number.
In his mind, once the transaction completed, he would have a total of 3300 Contribution Points.
He delightedly agreed and immediately handed over his sect badge.
Qai went back to the South mountains and toured at the several buildings in order to find how far could his 3300 Contribution Points take him.
When he saw most of the prizes, he was flabbergasted.
His initial thoughts after he gained the Contribution Points was that he struck it rich. But now he realized how costly it was to even buy a single medicinal pill.
A Qi Condensation Pill was valued at 50 points each while a Spirit Pill cost 100 points. A Foundation Establishment Pill, however, amounted to a whopping 3000 points.
An entry to the 9-story Pagoda would cut 300 from one’s Contribution Points a day while an entry to the first floor of the Treasury Hall would exchange for 500 points a day but with a limit of two techniques to study.
While the first cultivation manual learned could be taken outside the Hall, he could not do the same to the succeeding ones—apparently, sect rules said that a disciple can only learn the technique inside the Treasury Hall.
Meanwhile, the cost for a treasure refinement by an elder would depend upon the grade of the treasure. But the minimum pay normally amounted to 3000 points and the materials to be used must be provided by the disciple.
A disciple, however, may opt to directly buy a treasure but the available treasures were normally much more expensive.
‘So costly.’
By far, to his standards, the most decent trade available was to exchange Contribution Points into Spirit Stones, two is to one. However, one cannot purchase points using Spirit Stones.
Among outer disciples, Qai’s could be considered as one of the richest. But in reality, his wealth was very little.
He was not worried though.
He felt that his garden would still give him more Contribution Points in the days to come.
Right now, his thoughts were weighing which one to prioritize with his Contribution Points.
Qai decided to spend them on two things after some considerations.
The first was spend Contribution Points to enhance his knowledge in array formations so he needed to enter the Treasury Hall.
Secondly, he wanted a Guandao suited for cultivators. In short, he wanted a sect elder to refine a treasure for him—obviously, he put this matter on the top of his list in consideration as well of the forthcoming ‘mandatory’ competition.
But since his Contribution Points were not enough, he could only follow the advice of one of the inner disciples—and that was to go to Maple City for treasure refinement.
Qai decided to enter the Treasury Hall first then exchange some Spirit Stones.
While he had some 500 or so Spirit Stones in his storage pouch—which he got from both Shu Liang and Old Bu’s possessions—he felt that they won't be enough.
Qai thus spent a couple of days in the first floor of the Treasury Hall.
While it was short, he did gain a lot studying the principles of Array formations. In fact, once he gained more Contribution Points, he planned to study some more.
As to where to go in Maple Valley regarding his concern, he bribed official Fatty Liu a little about some tips.
After spending 1000 points for the two days he went to convert another 2000 Contribution Points into 1000 Spirit Stones.
Qai sighed when he thought of the remaining 300 Contribution Points.
‘Easy come, easy go.’
Apparently, it was a proverb he often heard back in his previous life.