The Thirty-Ninth Volume: Spirit Stone Currency

  The two ended their conversation and parted ways in discontent. Yu then endured the grand ceremony of sacrifice, returning home with his relatives. His younger brother was deeply envious of the wealth and prestige of the Yu family, talking about it nonstop when he got home, his admiration evident.

  Yu Dejun and Yu Zecheng couldn't see eye to eye, but Yu Zecheng got along very well with Yu Degong. They agreed that at the end of the first month, Yu Degong would go to the internal school in the Yu family to study and further his education. There, he could learn the Yu family's inherited divine technique, which was several times more brilliant than the Butterfly Transformation Great Method - the Innate Minghe Washing Heart Technique.

  Yu Ze Cheng looked at his brother who was cheering and jumping, after Yu De Jun's test, his brother did not have a spiritual root and could not cultivate immortality, perhaps this path was just right for him.

  The next day, Yu Ze Cheng led his disciples back to Shanzhu City and strolled along Yubridge Street, his own territory. Suddenly, he realized that this was where he belonged.

  After returning, Yu Ze Cheng began to deploy his forces, pull in relationships and buy people's hands. Since Tan Er Lang died, his territory was ownerless, which became Yu Ze Cheng's next target.

  Tan Er Lang went missing, and the news was covered up for over ten days. Finally, the truth came out, causing a huge stir. Tan Er Lang had many enemies, and he feared that others would find out about his disappearance. So, when he went to Lin Hai to buy jade, he disguised himself and spread false information, saying that he had gone into the mountains to hunt. As a result, people thought he had met with an accident while hunting in the mountains.

  Hei Hu Tang sent down over a hundred elite fighters to search for him in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, but after more than ten days of searching, they returned empty-handed. One of his top generals mysteriously disappeared, and the Sect Master Shi Tianyun was severely reprimanded by Ma Laohei because of this incident.

  Everyone knew that Tan Er Lang was gone for good, and the street territory he once controlled instantly became a piece of fat meat, with countless eyes cast in that direction.

  Ma Laohei directly parachuted an executive this time. This person is different from Yu Zecheng, bringing twenty disciples to take over Tan Er Lang's territory.

  Ma Laohei's actions were too hasty, and this matter completely enraged the Shi family who ruled over Shanzhu. Under Yu Zecheng's secret manipulation, the newly arrived executive was met with no one paying a single copper coin in fees at the beginning of the month, and was discriminated against within the organization. Whether it was the current Tan faction led by Hua Hu Die, or the old faction led by Liu Daohan, or Yu Zecheng's new rising force, they all looked at them with cold eyes, and no one took them seriously.

  The new constable, having tried every means, could not collect a single penny. Finally, he became so enraged that he wanted to resort to violence, but the shopkeeper's loud cry brought countless villagers from Shanzhuang, who surrounded them and would not let them go. In the end, it was Shi Tianyun who rescued them. The new constable had no choice but to slink away with his men back to Linhai City.

  As a result, this territory was naturally divided up by Yu Ze Cheng and Hua Hu Die, but Hua Hu Die didn't have much joy for long, because he discovered that Yu Ze Cheng's disciples were gradually increasing, slowly infiltrating his territory.

  Actually, these things were all done by Gaofeng and his disciples. Yu Zecheng did not participate personally, he just nodded and gave orders in the end. Because of another matter, which attracted more attention than the scramble for territory.

  After returning to Shānzhú, Yú Zéchéng took out the twelve jade stones purchased by Tán èrláng and began to study what use this spiritual stone had.

  As he slowly researched, Yu Ze Cheng discovered the secret of the Ling Stones, holding them in his hand, Yu Ze Cheng could absorb spiritual energy from them. This spiritual energy had a single attribute, winding and endless, having a huge auxiliary effect on replenishing his own spiritual energy and cultivating immortal techniques, even more pure and useful than thousand-year-old ginseng. The only drawback was that this spiritual energy did not belong to him, needing to be decomposed in his body first before he could use it.

  If these spiritual stones are not used, Yu Zhen's cultivation will make progress every day, but his true yuan is thin and needs to absorb spiritual energy and transform blood energy after exhaustion, which is extremely slow. The transformation of the heart can only be done bit by bit, and according to the progress calculation, it will take about 15 years to roughly complete this layer of transforming blood into a vortex.

  But with the Ling Stone, the true yuan spiritual energy flowed endlessly, and suddenly the speed increased, ten times faster than his normal self-cultivation speed.

  With these spirit stones, Yu Ze Cheng began his cultivation journey, starting to cultivate the transformation of blood into Qi. Gradually transforming his heart. The effect of these spirit stones is extremely great, using them for cultivation can reach the limit of one day and one night each time, exceeding this time, the body will produce a rejection reaction, the born Qi will decrease, and the effect of Qi transformation can be said to be zero. Therefore, Yu Ze Cheng cultivates for one day and one night, rests for one day and one night, alternating in cycles.

  As soon as he entered the state of cultivation, he suddenly had a feeling that in the realm where blood was circulating, Qi was flowing, and organs were transforming, there was no day or night in the sky, no distracting thoughts in his heart, and time had no meaning to him. It was like a short moment, but when he opened his eyes again, a whole day and night had passed.

  Twelve pieces of Ling Stone, through cultivation, Yu Zhen discovered that although they look similar on the outside, there can be a huge difference inside. Ordinary Ling Stones, after being cultivated and absorbed two or three times, will lose all their spiritual energy and turn to dust.

  But why are two of the spiritual stones not drying up no matter how much they absorb? In addition to this question, Yu Zecheng encountered countless doubts during his cultivation and could only rely on himself to slowly explore, just like a blind man riding a horse in the dark.

  Sometimes Yu Zecheng was also shaken, if there was a master to lead the way, and he had been exploring for more than ten days on his own, the master would only need one sentence to solve it, but every time he thought about being controlled by others in the future, being Grandpa's puppet, Yu Zecheng gritted his teeth and persisted.

  Regarding the Ling Stone issue, Yu Zhen Cheng finally couldn't bear it and sent a letter to Grandfather Yu De Jun to inquire about this matter.

  Soon a reply came, and Yu Dejun explained the reason in his letter. It turned out that these Ling stones were actually the currency for transactions in the Xianxia world.

  "Ling Stone" is a stone filled with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The spiritual energy it contains is extremely nourishing for cultivators.

  Cultivators can use spirit stones to absorb the spiritual energy within, which is used for cultivation. They can also be used to set up formations, build caves, create talismans, cultivate medicinal materials, forge magical instruments, and activate transmission gates. It can be said that spirit stones are essential for cultivation and are the most basic thing in the world of cultivators.

  When a cultivator is meditating and practicing, if they absorb the spiritual energy from the spiritual stone, it will make their cultivation speed astonishing. After all, a cultivator absorbing and refining scattered spiritual energy themselves is different from having pure spiritual energy right next to them, allowing them to absorb and extract it at will.

  If you have a spiritual stone in your hand, it will be even more convenient. Because the level and effectiveness of a cultivator's spellcasting are generally determined by their own magical cultivation, it is unlikely that they can cast spells beyond their level with just their own strength, so spiritual stones become the best magical amplifier.

  If a cultivator holds a piece of spiritual stone in their hand when casting a powerful spell, the spiritual energy inside the stone will continuously replenish the cultivator's depleted magical power during the spellcasting, allowing them to support and forcefully cast spells that they would normally be unable to use.

  So Ling Shi became the basic circulating currency in the Xian Xia world, and its numerous practical and unimaginable effects naturally made its value soar. The major sects vied for control of the Ling Shi mines, sparking wars that were an eternal theme in the Xian Xia world.

  Spirit stones are divided into four levels according to the amount of spiritual power they contain, including low-grade spirit stones, mid-grade spirit stones, high-grade spirit stones, and super-grade spirit stones. In addition, spirit stones can also be divided into five elements: gold spirit stones, wood spirit stones, water spirit stones, earth spirit stones, and fire spirit stones, according to the different spiritual power attributes they contain. There are also some rare wind spirit stones, thunder spirit stones, and other rare attribute spirit stones, which are even fewer in number.

  Those spirit stones that can support two or three refinings are all low-grade spirit stones, the last two are mid-grade spirit stones, one hundred low-grade spirit stones can only be exchanged for one mid-grade spirit stone, so that spirit stone would have such an effect.

  After reading this letter, the difference between self-cultivation and having a mentor is not the same. Yu Ze Cheng suddenly had an epiphany and felt that the powerful cultivator behind Tan Er Lang was either also a self-taught cultivator who didn't understand anything, or was using the differences in spiritual stone levels to deceive Tan Er Lang and his group into collecting spiritual stones for him.

  Grandfather mentioned in the letter that he would return to the Yu family, and also said that this time's guidance was free of charge. He thought of his grandson and did not collect any fees. Next time if you want to ask about cultivation again, you must pay the corresponding spirit stone before teaching, which is also a rule in the cultivation world, even for relatives.

  After reading the last few sentences, Yu Ze Cheng became extremely angry, tearing up the letter into shreds. He made up his mind to never bother with this greedy old man again. The old man didn't need the money; he just wanted to force Yu Ze Cheng to change his stance and submit to him. But Yu Ze Cheng was determined that he would absolutely not yield and become a puppet of the old man's.

  From then on, Yu Ze Cheng accelerated his cultivation pace. Very quickly, a month later, the ten pieces of low-grade spirit stones were completely consumed. Yu Ze Cheng began using those two pieces of mid-grade spirit stones. These mid-grade spirit stones had a different effect, supporting Yu Ze Cheng's cultivation for fifty-six times before they finally shattered.

  The number of times this piece of medium-grade spirit stone was cultivated is far less than what Yu Zecheng calculated, because later on, the amount of true yuan required for Yu Zecheng's cultivation became more and more, the speed at which spiritual energy was extracted became faster and faster, until finally all the spiritual energy in the spirit stone was absorbed, causing it to shatter.

  Only the last piece is left, and the Heart Ring's transformation has only been completed by thirty percent. The rest can't bear to absorb the spiritual energy of the last Spirit Stone, so they rely on their own cultivation. As a result, that slow speed is unbearable, just like being used to driving a car and then walking again. This cultivation speed really can't adapt.

  Yu Ze Cheng was in a state of anxiety, worrying about what would happen if he lost this spiritual stone. He became increasingly irritable and his temper grew more violent. His disciples noticed this change and kept their distance from him whenever possible.

  That day had arrived for cultivation, but looking at the last piece of spiritual stone, Yu Ze Cheng was extremely reluctant to part with it. His mood became irritable again, and he randomly smashed the porcelain on the table and the furniture in the house to vent his frustration.

  Suddenly someone poured a basin of cold water on him, and Yu Teng immediately got angry. Who dared to play tricks on himself? He glared at the person and saw that it was Liu Shiyun holding a copper basin and pouring a full basin of water on him.

  Liu Shiyun shouted loudly:

  "Wake up, look at what you've become, hurry up and wake up, brother."

  Liu Shiyun shouted while crying, and when Yu Zecheng saw her tears, he suddenly felt as if he had woken up from a dream. What had happened to him during this period? What was he doing? Had the demon possessed his heart?

  As this thought arose, his mind suddenly calmed down, and the previous Yu Zecheng returned. It was only then that he realized he had lost his original heart during his cultivation. Now that his spirit had returned, he looked back to find that it was already May outside the window, his hair was long and unkempt, his clothes were tattered, and his body reeked of a strange smell, having been possessed by the demon for a long time.