Nine Transformations of the True Spirit

Chen Yuan put away the jade plaque and said:

"Excuse me, Manager He, how many types of caves are there? How much is the rent?"

Deacon He said calmly:

"Qi refining monks can rent four types of caves, A, B, C and D. A-class caves cost forty spiritual stones for one year, B-class caves cost twenty spiritual stones for one year, C-class caves cost ten spiritual stones for one year, and D-class caves cost five spiritual stones. In Shi Yiannian, in addition to Ding and other caves, there are spirit gathering arrays that can be practiced with the help of spiritual veins. "

Chen Yuan said without hesitation:

"Chen chose to rent Ding and other caves."

As he spoke, he took out five spiritual stones from the storage bag and placed them on the counter.

Deacon He put away the spirit stone, turned over his hand and took out another jade tablet, took a look at it, handed it to Chen Yuan, and said calmly:

"Ding No. 358 Cave Mansion. After one year, remember to come and pay the spirit stone, otherwise the sect will take back the cave. There are four rules in our city. One is not to fight with others privately, the other is not to steal or rob, and the third is not to rape. Buy and sell by force. Fourth, you are not allowed to enter the cave privately. If you violate it, you will be fined with the spiritual stone confiscated, and at worst, you will be killed on the spot. Please do not violate it, fellow Taoists."

Chen Yuan's heart trembled:

"Chen, remember this."

He took the jade plaque, bowed to Deacon He, and walked out of Guiyuan Pavilion with Cao You.

Cao You smiled and said:

"Brother Chen is a wise move to rent Ding and other caves. Most casual cultivators rent the lowest Ding and other caves in the first year after arriving in Huanyuefang City to save spiritual stones."

Chen Yuan frowned and said:

"This Ding cave doesn't have a spirit gathering array, yet it actually requires five spirit stones. The Guiyuan Sect is too overbearing."

Cao You sighed and said:

"There is no other way. As long as you want to stay in Huanyuefang City, you must rent a cave. Guiyuan Sect uses this method to force casual cultivators to earn spiritual stones. Five spiritual stones may not seem like much, but every year The payment, plus the five spirit stones for the pass token, is ten spirit stones per year. Brother Chen still needs to make plans early and choose a way to earn spirit stones to support himself."

Chen Yuan said:

"What Fellow Daoist Cao said makes sense, but I don't know how many spiritual stones can be earned in a year through these three methods?"

Cao You thought for a moment and said:

"Brother Chen, like me, is a fifth-level Qi refining monk. If you rent a spiritual field, you can ripen up to five spiritual grasses in a month. One spiritual grass can be sold for three spiritual stones, and four of them will be handed over to the Guiyuan Sect. If you keep one for yourself, you can get three spiritual stones, which is the safest way."

"If Brother Chen goes into the mountains to hunt monsters, the risk will be higher. He may not harvest anything for several months, but he may also hunt a monster in three or two days and make a lot of money. As for the last way, he must Let’s see if Brother Chen himself has any inheritance.”

Chen Yuan smiled and said:

"Thank you, fellow Taoist Cao, for your suggestion. Chen will definitely consider it seriously."

Cao You smiled and said:

"Brother Chen, you're welcome. I also have some selfish motives. I usually go into the mountains to hunt monsters with my two friends, and we have gained quite a lot. Brother Chen possesses two medium-grade magic weapons and is very powerful. If he chooses this path, , the three of us can join forces with Brother Chen and take care of each other."

Chen Yuan frowned when he heard this. Seeing this, Cao You quickly said:

"This is just a suggestion, everything is up to Brother Chen himself. However, the three of us are loyal people. We have worked together for two years without any discord. We are quite experienced and will never hold Brother Chen back. I The rented cave is at No. 279, if Brother Chen is interested, you can come to me at any time."

Chen Yuan's brows relaxed and he said:

"Thank you Taoist Cao for your kindness. If Chen chooses to go into the mountains to hunt monsters, he will definitely cooperate with Taoist Cao."

The smile on Cao You's face became stronger and stronger, and he said:

"Brother Chen came to Huanyuefang City for the first time and is not familiar with the inside of the city. I will take you around to familiarize yourself with the route of the city."

Chen Yuan smiled and said:

"Then I'm going to bother fellow Taoist Cao."

Afterwards, the two of them wandered around the market.

Under Cao You's introduction, Chen Yuan's understanding of Huanyuefang City gradually deepened.

All shops in Fangshi are owned by Yuanzong, and casual cultivators can only rent them and cannot buy them.

The largest shop among them is called "Guiyuan Pavilion", which sells elixirs, magic weapons, talismans, spiritual beasts, etc., all-inclusive, with the best quality, but the price is also the most expensive.

In addition, there are many shops opened by the immortal cultivating families attached to Guiyuan Sect, each with its own focus. Some specialize in selling elixirs, and some specialize in selling magic weapons. The quality is slightly worse, but the price is also cheaper.

The most numerous shops and stalls in the market are still owned by casual cultivators.

There are very few casual cultivators who can afford to rent a shop. Most of them are foundation-building cultivators, alchemists, weapon refiners, etc.

These foundation-building monks have gathered a group of casual cultivators and are quite powerful in Huanyuefang City. They collect spiritual herbs, monster materials and other items and sell them, and they can also earn some spiritual stones.

Alchemists, weapon refiners, etc. have joined forces to rent a shop and sell elixirs, magic weapons, talismans and other items necessary for monks to avoid middlemen from making price differences.

Most casual cultivators cannot afford to rent a shop, so they can only set up their own stalls and sell whatever they have.

The spiritual fields on the surrounding mountains are also divided into three levels, rented to monks in the early, middle and late stages of Qi refining respectively.

According to the rules of Guiyuan Sect, if Chen Yuan wants to rent a spiritual field, he can only mature spiritual grass that has been sixty years old, which is the raw material needed for the elixir in the middle stage of Qi refining.

It only takes forty years of spiritual grass to refine the early stage elixir.

It takes eighty years of spiritual grass to refine the late-stage elixir.

…

Two hours later, it got dark. The two of them walked around the market and came to the foot of the mountain with the cave.

A wide stone staircase winds up, enough to accommodate ten people walking side by side. A jade archway stands at the foot of the mountain with the four characters "Huan Yue Cave Heaven" written on it.

The two of them walked up the mountain path, and many monks passed by in a hurry.

On both sides of the mountain road, there are forked roads leading to various houses.

These houses, caves, and other caves are all courtyards upon entering, but they are surrounded by green pines, flying waterfalls, carved beams and painted buildings, and cornices. They are just like the residences of mortal princes, and are extremely luxurious.

Further up, there is the area where the C-level caves are located. Those exquisite houses have disappeared and turned into real "cave mansions" dug into the mountains.

Looking up, the B- and A-class caves halfway up the mountain and above are as simple and crude as the C-class caves, with no fairy spirit at all.

But they can be cultivated with the help of spiritual veins, and in the eyes of monks, they are hundreds of times better than the exquisite Ding and other caves.

Chen Yuan said goodbye to Cao You, took out the Dongfu Jade Tablet, and injected a little magic power into it.

The cave mansion floated in the air, guiding him to an exquisite house. The sandalwood door was engraved with the words "Ding San Wu Ba", emitting a faint light and having a shallow groove.

Chen Yuan put the jade tablet into the groove, the light slowly dissipated, and the wooden door opened silently.

He put away the jade plaque and walked into the courtyard. The sandalwood door closed silently behind him.

There are three rooms in the courtyard. The main hall is luxuriously furnished. The tables and chairs are all made of precious wood and can accommodate guests.

There was nothing in the room on the left, just blue bricks on the floor for the master to use as he pleased.

In the room on the right, there is a jade bed with an exquisite futon placed on it, which should be a training room.

A layer of faint light shrouded the small courtyard. This was a formation set up by Guiyuan Sect to prevent other monks from prying into it.

It's a pity that there is no spirit gathering circle in the courtyard. No matter how luxurious it is, it is no different from a thatched house.

Chen Yuan sat on the futon, thinking about Cao You's words, his thoughts rolling.

After paying ten spiritual stones, he still had two hundred and twenty-seven spiritual stones left.

If you sell the materials from the bear demon and wolf demon, you can also harvest some spiritual stones. Among the monks in the middle stage of Qi refining, they can also be called rich.

He could buy six bottles of elixirs and raise his cultivation level to the sixth level of Qi refining in one fell swoop.

But after thinking about it, Chen Yuan gave up the idea.

If he wants to enter the Huanyue Mountains to hunt monsters, improving his cultivation is the best choice.

But monsters will go crazy when they see him, and monsters are densely packed in the Huanyue Mountains. If he provokes groups of monsters, with his cultivation in the middle stage of Qi refining, he will definitely die without a burial place.

There is only one way he can go, and that is to learn alchemy.

The alchemist has a high status in casual cultivation, and he has a complete set of alchemy inheritance in his hands. He doesn't even need to buy an alchemy furnace. If he doesn't learn alchemy, he will be wasting his resources.

The growing consciousness in the starlight infusion also gave Chen Yuan a little more confidence in learning alchemy.

These two hundred or so spiritual stones were the capital for him to learn alchemy.

That's why he chose to rent the cheapest Ding and other caves, just to save some spiritual stones and buy more spiritual herbs.

Alchemy consumes spiritual stones extremely, and each piece of spiritual stone must be calculated carefully and must not be wasted.

If this road fails, he will risk hunting monsters in the mountains.

As for renting a spiritual field, Chen Yuan had never considered it.

If you farm before you become an immortal, and you still need to farm after you become an immortal, then isn’t your cultivation of immortality in vain?

…

The next morning, Chen Yuan came to the market and started shopping slowly.

Yesterday, Cao You only took him for a rough walk around, giving him a general understanding of the city.

But some specific details still need to be understood by him.

Chen Yuan walked into a shop called "Li's Alchemy Hall", looked at the elixirs on the counter, and asked:

"How many spiritual stones are there in a bottle of Spirit Gathering Pill?"

Sitting in the shop was a tenth-level Qi Refining monk wearing a blue gown. He glanced at Chen Yuan and said calmly:

"Twenty-two spiritual stones."

"Can it be cheaper?"

"The minimum is twenty-one dollars, no more."

"Is it true that there can't be any more?"

"If fellow Taoist sincerely want it, I can make the decision and reduce it to 20 yuan a bottle. This is the lowest price. It really can't be any less."

The monk in blue shirt stood up with a smile on his face.

Customers who make repeated counteroffers like this often sincerely want to buy.

But Chen Yuan just said "Excuse me" and turned around to leave, leaving the blue-shirted monk in shock.

After leaving Li's Alchemy Hall, Chen Yuan visited several alchemy shops and also went to Guiyuan Pavilion to find out the price of the Spirit Gathering Pill, which was around 20 spirit stones.

This is an elixir suitable for monks in the early stage of Qi refining. It is widely circulated in the world of immortal cultivation. It is also the first elixir that Chen Yuan plans to refine next.

The raw materials of the Spirit-Gathering Pill are 30-year-old silver-leaf grass, white orchids, and coneflower. Chen Yuan used the same method and asked the price. One plant costs one spiritual stone.

To refine a furnace of Spirit-Gathering Pills, two silver-leaf grasses, two white orchids, and one coneflower are needed.

Chen Yuan knew what he was doing, so he went to several weapon refining shops and compared prices with three others. Finally, he sold the monster materials from the wolf monster and the bear monster separately, and harvested forty-one spiritual stones. The spiritual stones in the storage bag It went up to two hundred and seventy-eight yuan.

Afterwards, he spent two hundred and fifty spiritual stones to buy one hundred silver-leaf grasses, one hundred white orchids, and fifty golden cone chrysanthemums, and returned to the cave to start refining the elixir.