Chapter 59: The Honorable Guest

  This jade slip is the same as the previous one, densely listing many heavenly materials and earthly treasures. The difference is that there are many rare and scarce things inside, and the numbers on it are much smaller. With the experience of the previous jade slip, Lin Feng already knew that these numbers should be the contribution points that can be obtained, and the purchase price being lower than the selling price is also normal.

  Going down the list, Lin Feng's eyes widened in shock. The first one was Man Tuo Hua, a fourth-grade spiritual medicine, with each plant worth 1,000 contribution points. Lin Feng had never seen Man Tuo Hua before, but he had heard of it long ago. It was the main spiritual material for refining Wan Hua Dan, and it was said that its growth place was infested with poisonous snakes and insects. Even ordinary foundation-building cultivators at the 8th or 9th level needed to be extremely careful, otherwise they would fall at any time.

  Lin Feng blinked his eyes, this kind of thing was not something he could easily get. Continuing to look down, the things behind were relatively easy to obtain, and the contribution points that could be obtained were also getting lower and lower, but even from hundreds to tens of contribution points, Lin Feng still didn't find what he might get.

  The bones of the Gust Tiger, 800 contribution points per kilogram, look like a lot. A tiger's skeleton should weigh dozens of kilograms, if you can get one, wouldn't that be tens of thousands of contribution points? However, any cultivator with some common sense would know that the Gust Tiger is the most ferocious among the sixth-rank demonic beasts, and its speed is extremely fast. Ordinary foundation-building ninth-layer experts cannot trap it without three to five people working together, and even if they can trap it, it's very difficult to kill it unless a Golden Dan expert intervenes, otherwise, casualties are inevitable.

  Low-grade Zhujidandan, 200 contribution points. This is usually only possible for intermediate dan masters to refine, and the success rate of dan formation is extremely low.

  Huanxuan Stone, I heard it's a Water-attribute 4th-tier Spirit Stone, extremely rare, each one worth 120 contribution points.

  Flare Crystal, only one word different from Flare Stone, is a 3rd-tier fire attribute spirit stone. It can be found in small quantities in every mining area that produces Flare Stones, but it's hard to find and extract. Whether you can get it or not depends on your luck. 50 contribution points.

  Lin Feng looked down the list with a tragic expression, discovering that these things were extremely difficult to obtain. He wanted to become a guest king, but it seemed very unlikely, so he started looking from the last row.

  Medium-grade Buddhist ritual objects, one item at a time.

  Zhong Pin Bai Hua Dan, each pill is one point.

  Zhong Pin Ti Qi Dan, one pill each time.

  "This is also too low, right? A medium-grade elixir, even if it's a first-class elixir, can't be given such a low price!" Lin Feng finally saw that he had something and understood that Zhu Yan was after the Qi-gathering Elixir in his hand, but this price was so low that it made him furious.

  "Contribution points are the contribution value you get for providing us with a dan, not the selling price of ling stones. We will still pay you in ling stones according to their market value; similarly, contribution points are also a condition for buying things, and the value of anything itself still requires you to pay the corresponding ling stones." Zhū Yán saw that Lín Fēng had some misunderstandings, so he hastily explained.

  "Oh! So that's how it is, this is barely enough, but the contribution value given is a bit too low." Lin Feng thought about the number 800 marked on the back of the Spiritual Object Record and still felt it was a bit low.

  "To be honest with you, the medium-grade Qi-tonifying Pill is only used on our excellent disciples. Although they are the future of our sect, they are not the backbone of our strength. It's already remarkable that they can contribute so much value; take a look at the medium-grade Xiao Pei Yuan Pill above, each one is worth 5 contribution points. If you can refine it, then all kinds of materials will be at your disposal from now on."

  Lin Feng looked up and indeed on the top, it was written "Medium-grade Small Pei Yuan Dan", each one costing 5 points. Further up, there were medium-grade Pei Yuan Dan, each one costing 30 points.

  "Why isn't there a point value for the top-grade Dan?" Lin Feng knew that there were even better grades of Dan, such as superior and extreme grade Dan, but why didn't they write it down? Did they not need to?

  Zhu Yanbai's face turned white as Lin Feng said with a glance: "Is it useful even if you write it? Who can refine it?"

  Lin Feng was shocked and said: "Even you can't refine it?"

  Zhu Yan gave him a white eye again and said, "What am I? Even if it's a successful master of the Dan Dao in our sect, I haven't heard that you can refine top-grade Dans. This is not a technical problem. As Master Shu said, this is a material problem. Without sufficient spiritual energy from spiritual herbs, it's hard to refine better spiritual Dans."

  "With so many spiritual fields and spirit gathering arrays, can't you think of a way to cultivate the best spiritual medicine?" Lin Feng still wouldn't give up.

  "The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is closely related to the geographical location, and even if the Ling array is powerful, it has its limitations. Moreover, there are many other factors such as water and soil, sunlight, etc., which one can't easily grasp." Zhu Yan rolled her eyes, seemingly disdainful of Lin Feng's naive question.

  Lin Feng nodded, realizing that he had oversimplified the problem. The growth of plants required a very high level of environmental conditions, especially for spiritual herbs, which were extremely demanding. Otherwise, there wouldn't be only a few scattered spiritual herbs among the vast number of ordinary flowers, grasses, and trees. To solve this problem, one would need to have a powerful cultivator use array formations or other restrictive methods to create a suitable environment - this was probably what was referred to as a "secret realm". No wonder that whenever someone heard about the discovery of a secret realm, it would stir up unprecedented enthusiasm and bloody frenzy in the cultivation world.

  Lin Feng's heart moved as he probed the spiritual medicine in the Panlong Ring with his divine sense, and he felt that the spiritual medicine inside seemed to be somewhat different.

  "Have you thought it through? In the Cultivation Realm, there are many rare and precious treasures that are hard to find. Once you become a guest of our sect, you'll only need to refine pills to easily obtain them, saving so much time!" Zhu Yan's smiling face looked like that of a swindler no matter how one looked at it.

  "Qingyang Gate being the number one sect in the cultivation world, I'd be happy to become a guest elder. However, there's always been something on my mind that I wanted to ask for Senior Zhu's guidance."

  "Now that Lin Daoyou is willing to become a guest of our sect, you and I can be considered fellow disciples. Let's speak freely without reserve." With this affirmative response, Zhu Yan's smile became even sweeter.

  "From the moment I met you, senior, you've been taking care of me so well. As a junior, I was always confused by your actions. Now that I've become a guest officer, I'd like to ask: what benefits do you gain from this?" Lin Feng wanted to say that Zhu Yan had been trying to seduce him from the start, but considering his opponent's overwhelming martial power, he could only phrase it more tactfully, trusting that Zhu Yan would understand the underlying meaning.

  Zhu Yan's smiling face froze for a moment, but then he burst out laughing and said: "Clever little guy, indeed not ordinary! Old Dao will tell you the truth, this is not a secret. After you become a guest elder, as your recommender, our sect will have a reward of contribution points, the amount of which is one-tenth of what you get."

  "No wonder the seniors are so concerned about the juniors, it turns out that as long as the juniors become guest officials, the seniors are equivalent to finding a machine for earning contribution points. It's just that this junior machine seems a bit small?" Lin Feng also understood, many things on the first jade slip he saw earlier were very rare even among foundation-building cultivators, so it was reasonable that Zhu Yan treated himself exceptionally well in order to earn more contribution points.

  "The principle of accumulation is something I think fellow daoists should know. As the old daoist in charge of the entire alchemy system of Baibao Hall, it's not difficult to pull in dozens of accomplished alchemists as guests. The gains from this are quite considerable. Otherwise, as a mid-level alchemist, I could just casually refine some pills within the sect and be done with it - why bother suffering here? Moreover, I have high hopes for fellow daoist Lin. With his alchemy skills, I think he'll soon refine a Small Prenatal Pill. As long as he continues to work hard, a mid-grade Small Prenatal Pill won't be far off either. At that time, I hope fellow daoist will sell more of them to Baibao Hall - it's a win-win for everyone." Zhu Yan spoke sincerely to Lin Feng, seeing that the latter was not annoyed by his previous words, but rather even more impressed with him.

  "Thank you, senior, for your kind words. I will definitely work hard to earn more contribution points!" Now that the conversation has opened up, it's much better. The two of them used to speak in a guarded and probing manner, which was indeed exhausting. But now that they have a common interest, Lin Feng's words are much more sincere.

  "Haha, that's settled then. Come, this jade token is your new identity. You return that jade slip to me. By the way, I think the only thing you can get with contribution points is a mid-grade Qi Dan. When will you hand over the 50 pieces for this month?" Having caught a free laborer, Zhu Yan immediately finalized Lin Feng's identity, and everything was already prepared. He seemed to have known all along that Lin Feng couldn't escape his grasp.

  Lin Feng shook his head, as a half-scattered cultivator, without the support of his family, he indeed had no way to resist Zhu Yan's great temptation and becoming a guest was an inevitable choice.

  "Clang!" Five bottles of medium-grade Qi Dan were placed in front of Zhu Yan, making his eyes smile. He wasn't surprised that Lin Feng could easily take out fifty medium-grade Dans. As a Dan master, he had always kept the best for himself, and from the Dans Lin Feng sold to him earlier, he knew Lin Feng's skills were not ordinary. Besides, who didn't have some savings?

  "Is it the Ling Stone or the material?" Zhu Yan said.

  "I'm looking for spirit stones, I've had some things come up recently and I'm afraid I won't have time to refine dan anymore." Lin Feng had been wanting to sell his mid-grade dan for spirit stones anyway, and now was the best opportunity. He would get the dan sold and also gain some extra contribution points.

  "Alright, no problem!" Zhu Yan put away the dan medicine and turned to call for someone to bring out a thousand ling stones. After seeing Lin Feng receive them, he specifically reminded him: "You need to maintain your identity as a guest, which requires earning at least 50 contribution points per month. In your current situation, it seems that you only have the path of dan refining left, so it's best if you refine more dan. Symbol masters rely on drawing symbols, equipment masters rely on crafting equipment, and we dan masters rely on refining dan. As long as you refine enough good dan, you can get enough ling stones. With ling stones, are you afraid that your cultivation will be unsuccessful?"

  Lin Feng understood that Zhu Yan's words had exceeded the ordinary interest relationship and had a hint of meaning, so he hurriedly thanked him. However, he was bitter in his heart, knowing that the problem of walking into madness had not been solved, and he had no way to calm down and practice. It seemed that this time, he really had to take a risk.