Chapter 8: The Soul Nourishing Tower

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  Some were enlightened by the Ghost-Controlling Spell, forgetting to eat and sleep for three days. When Lei Dong opened his eyes, he was filled with mixed emotions of joy and worry. Indeed, the Ghost-Controlling Spell was an extremely powerful technique. However, it was also a profound and difficult-to-learn technique. The three-day period only allowed Lei Dong to gain a superficial understanding. Unlike Chen Ge's Netherfire Bullet, which required absorbing netherfire during cultivation but could be used freely in battle afterwards.

  The mighty Oni Konton requires not only the creation of a Soul Tower to house the vengeful spirits, but also the capture and refinement of these spirits into ghostly servants. Only then can one summon these ghostly servants in battle. However, what's even more crucial is that the quality of these vengeful spirits varies greatly. In the eyes of those who wield the Oni Konton, most vengeful spirits are inferior and can only be used as cannon fodder even after refinement. This is because refining ghostly servants is extremely time-consuming and requires precious blood sacrifices. Inferior ghostly servants are also difficult to cultivate, making them not worth the investment.

  Among tens of thousands of inferior ghosts, only one spiritual ghost will appear. And spiritual ghosts are also divided into lower, middle, upper, extreme, and heavenly spiritual ghosts, five levels. In fact, any spiritual ghost, even a lower-level spiritual ghost, has the value of cultivation, but if you want to rely on it for a long time, at least a mid-level spiritual ghost is required. However, the higher the quality of the spiritual ghost, the rarer it is, and almost every hundred thousand inferior ghosts will have one mid-level spiritual ghost. However, in the Ghost Control Technique, it is also mentioned that as long as you have a mid-level spiritual ghost during the Qi Refining period, plus several lower-level spiritual ghosts, you will have a great advantage at the same level of cultivation.

  All of these are also the reasons for Leidong's mixed emotions. Nowadays, he can be considered a poor and white-collar worker, where can he find a mid-grade spirit?

  It's not easy to deal with the spiritual ghost, and even the Soul Nurturing Tower is not a good solution. Although the Ghost Controlling Spell lists various materials for building a Soul Nurturing Tower suitable for beginners like him, he doesn't have the materials, and even if he did, without any foundation in refining equipment, how could he possibly refine a Soul Nurturing Tower?

  Helpless, Lei Dong had to spend several days first tempering the storage belt and short sword. Not to mention being proficient in using them, he could barely control them. Only then did he put all his slightly valuable belongings into the storage bag. He found a sturdy servant and had him take it to the refining equipment room belonging to the Wan Gui Cave. Similarly, it was managed by an old Qi Refining period senior brother.

  When Lei Dong greeted him, the guy almost ignored him, looking at a bamboo book by himself. Although he was slightly angry in his heart, he patiently asked him about the news of the Soul Tower.

  That old man was taken aback, and immediately ridiculed Lei Dong, saying that he didn't know the height of the sky or the thickness of the earth, and yet he wanted to play with the Ghost-Controlling Spell, a money-burning technique, when he was only at the first layer of the Qi Refining stage.

  From his nagging, Lei Dongcai gradually came to understand. Perhaps the Jueyigui was indeed a powerful technique, but if one wanted to achieve anything, they would need a lot of money and a large amount of spiritual stones. This way, they could afford top-quality soul towers or mid-to-high quality spirit ghosts. It wasn't that no one had started cultivating the Jueyigui from the beginning. However, most of those who did were backed by powerful forces, such as being a direct descendant of some old ancestor. Only then would they have the opportunity to obtain mid-quality spirit ghosts. Unless, of course, they had extremely good luck and easily captured an excellent spirit ghost. Just like the Wan Gui Old Ancestor, who was lucky enough to obtain a top-quality spirit ghost during his fifth layer of Qi refinement. It was thanks to that top-quality spirit ghost that the Wan Gui Old Ancestor became very strong during his Qi refinement period, able to complete difficult tasks with ease, and after accumulating a large amount of resources, he eventually achieved his current status as a Golden Dan Dao.

  But even Wan Gui Lao Zu's lifelong pursuit of Ling Gui, after spending countless efforts and wealth, he only has one top-grade Ling Gui and one extreme-grade Ling Gui. The extreme-grade one was obtained by chance when he was very young. This shows that excellent Ling Gui are hard to come by. Middle-grade Ling Gui are already rare and difficult to find. As for higher-grade Ling Gui, many people who practice the Ghost Taming Technique spend their entire lives without necessarily obtaining one.

  His face alternated between red and white as he forced himself to ask about the lowest-level Soul Nourishing Tower, and the old man's response of ten contribution points made Lei Dong feel stifled. Exchanging one bottle of Minor Cultivation Elixir required one contribution point. This lowest-level Soul Nourishing Tower actually needed ten bottles of Minor Cultivation Elixir. After hesitating for a while, he gritted his teeth and asked how many contribution points he could get if he paid the sect in spirit stones.

  "Ling stone?" The old man seemed to have an expression of not wanting to do business: "According to the sect's rules, submitting a low-grade ling stone can get you five contribution points. How many ling stones do you have?"

  "I don't have any spirit stones, I'm asking how much contribution is needed to exchange for a low-grade spirit stone?" Lei Dong's face remained still as he directly asked.

  "Are you kidding me?" The old man snorted: "One contribution at 10 o'clock, how many do you want to exchange?"

  "I was just asking casually." Lei Dong left with a somewhat disappointed look in the old man's angry eyes, two Ling Stones on his body should be of lower quality. If he exchanged them all, he should be able to exchange for a Soul Nurturing Tower. However, the difference between the payment and the exchange made Lei Dong feel a bit resentful. He thought that if someone had an extra low-grade Soul Nurturing Tower, maybe one Ling Stone could be exchanged for it.

  After inquiring with Jianpu, I found out that there is a senior brother in the Wan Gui Ku who specializes in doing business. Whenever everyone has something extra, they take it to him for sale. And he will also take it outside to sell from time to time. The Yin Xie Sect is after all a large sect, and the quality of things used by its disciples is still good. He doesn't pay a high price for the items, but selling them to scattered cultivators or Xiuzhen families can make a small profit.

  He arrived at the door of his house, and after being notified by Jian Gong, he was warmly invited in by Zhao Baiwan, a shrewd businessman who looked like he had a keen sense of business. He didn't show any disdain for Lei Dong's current cultivation level, which was only at the first layer of Qi Refining.

  After entering the house, he saw that it was filled with all sorts of items, like a small shop. A smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

  "Hey, don't laugh, brother. I, Zhao, know I'm not a cultivation genius, so I can only do business to make a living." Zhao Baiwan said with a smile while serving tea, "In our sect's Ghost Cave Forest, there are only over a hundred people in total. Everyone is busy cultivating and doing tasks, even if someone has the leisure time to set up a stall, not many people will come to visit. Going to the headquarters' market is too far away, it's not worth running a trip for some small things. So, fellow disciples usually sell me their unwanted goods at a low price. Lei brother, in the future, please take care of me when doing business."

  Lei Dong took a couple of sips of tea and chatted with him for a few sentences before getting straight to the point.

  "A beginner's primary soul tower? Yes, we have the Wan Gui Ku here, and many people cultivate the Ghost Control Technique. However, it's rare to see someone like you, who rushes into the Ghost Control Technique at the first layer of the Refining Qi stage." Zhao Baiwan found a soul tower among his many goods and handed it directly to Lei Dong: "This soul tower costs 10 contribution points when exchanged for goods, which is equivalent to about two spirit stones. If you take it outside, the price will be similar. But we are fellow disciples of the same sect, so I won't take advantage of you. I'll accept six bottles of Xiao Pei Yuan Dan, and consider it a fair deal since this is our first transaction."

  "How can this be?" Lei Dong pushed back and said somewhat strangely: "However, I don't know the value of six bottles of Pei Yuan Dan, what is the relationship between it and the Ling Stone?"

  "Turns out you have a spirit stone." Zhao Baiwan's eyes lit up, and he explained with a smile: "Exchanging any goods for contribution points is not a good deal. For example, the spirit stone in your hand can only get five contribution points if exchanged with the sect, but exchanging one would require ten points. Generally speaking, people usually use contribution points from completing tasks or rewards to exchange. However, for convenience, when we buy and sell items, we calculate their value based on the exchange price. The cheapest exchange price is for a small Peiyuan Dan, which is worth one contribution point per bottle. Your spirit stone is equivalent to ten bottles of small Peiyuan Dan. Therefore, in terms of pricing, I usually consider an initial-level Soul Nurturing Tower and a low-grade spirit stone to be of equal value."

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