Spirit Stone Grades, Extracting Rewards! (5k)

【You didn’t hesitate, arriving before the formation barrier.】

【Then you struck out with a single punch. Under the immense destructive force of your primordial energy, the formation barrier cracked like a spider’s web, ultimately shattering layer by layer…】

【You stepped into the core area of the ancient tomb ruins. Dense spiritual energy rushed toward you — the concentration of spiritual energy here was no weaker than that of your spirit field grotto-heaven.】

【You saw the white spirit dragon that had been trapped. Black gaseous energy coiled around the Spirit Vein Dragon’s body.】

【The Spirit Vein Dragon let out two mournful cries toward you. You suppressed the greed in your heart and refrained from looking at the Spirit Vein Dragon.】

【Your gaze turned to the bronze stone coffin. Sure enough, just as you had predicted, Perfected One Myriad Wood was still in slumber. If you didn’t actively awaken him, there would be no danger to your life.】

【You carefully surveyed the entire core area of the ancient tomb ruins.】

【The entire ruin was suffused with abundant spiritual energy, and directly before you lay several acres of spirit fields.】

【The spirit fields were planted with all manner of precious spirit medicines, starting at two thousand years of age at minimum. These spirit medicines were sufficient for refining mid-grade, or even high-grade pills!】

【Within the spirit fields, several puppets were tending to the crops. These puppets seemed to be designed exclusively for farming and possessed no offensive capabilities.】

【You didn’t hesitate, sweeping through and plundering everything in sight like a storm.】

【Every last spirit medicine — roots, soil and all — was stuffed into your spirit field grotto-heaven.】

【In an instant, the spirit fields at the core of the ancient tomb ruins were left as nothing but bare earth.】

【And those puppet farmers stood motionless, completely at a loss, staring blankly in place.】

【Next, you began plundering the other treasures in the core area.】

【You quickly discovered that before the Spirit Vein Dragon, there was a spirit-gathering formation, and within the formation, spirit stones were piled up like a small mountain!】

【Your heart surged with joy. After studying it for a while, you successfully entered the spirit-gathering formation.】

【You picked up a spirit stone and examined it carefully. Surprise filled your heart — not only were there low-grade spirit stones here, but also a considerable number of mid-grade spirit stones, and even a small quantity of high-grade spirit stones!】

【You looked toward the trapped Spirit Vein Dragon not far away, your mind turning. These spirit stones had most likely been catalyzed into existence by the Spirit Vein Dragon.】

【You counted carefully. There were a full 120,000 low-grade spirit stones, 5,000 mid-grade spirit stones, and 300 high-grade spirit stones!】

Seeing this, Suxing’s heart swelled with irrepressible delight.

“There are actually 120,000 low-grade spirit stones… and even mid-grade and high-grade ones!”

“Damn, this young master hasn’t even broken a thousand spirit stones total up to now. If I got my hands on this batch, wouldn’t I be rich?”

One had to know, low-grade spirit stones were the kind Suxing had possessed before — their spiritual energy was relatively impure and difficult to absorb.

A single mid-grade spirit stone, however, contained ten times the spiritual energy of a low-grade one! And was far easier to absorb.

And high-grade spirit stones contained ten times the spiritual energy of mid-grade ones!

“If you calculate it that way, this ancient tomb contains the equivalent of a full 200,000 low-grade spirit stones!”

Suxing’s heart soared. If he could get his hands on this batch of spirit stones —

Whether Suxing used them for executing the spirit rice plan, for cultivation, or even for artifact refining and the like, it would be more than enough!

It might even accelerate his cultivation speed significantly!

“The equivalent of 200,000 low-grade spirit stones… that’s merely 200 million energy… I absolutely must get every last one of these spirit stones!”

Suxing felt a surge of excitement.

His gaze turned to the simulation panel.

【You packed up every last spirit stone and stored them all in your spirit field grotto-heaven.】

【After plundering the spirit stones, you began surveying the rest of the ruins.】

【Unfortunately, aside from the spirit stones and spirit medicines, all that remained here was the trapped spirit dragon and the massive bronze stone coffin atop the stone platform.】

【You gazed at the Spirit Vein Dragon before you, greed stirring in your heart. If you could rescue the Spirit Vein Dragon and claim it for your own use, you would never lack spiritual energy again.】

【But your rationality ultimately triumphed over greed, because you understood clearly — if you touched the Spirit Vein Dragon, Perfected One Myriad Wood would likely awaken from the bronze stone coffin.】

【So after a moment of hesitation, you left the core area of the ruins, preparing to retrace your steps and exit the ancient tomb.】

【Before you departed, the Spirit Vein Dragon let out a mournful cry toward you…】

【After leaving the ancient tomb ruins, you swiftly departed the Age of Immortals and Martial Arts dungeon.】

【You were worried that after triggering the formation, the Perfected One Myriad Wood within the ancient tomb could awaken at any moment.】

【To avoid endangering yourself, you returned to the real world.】

【After returning to the real world, you continued your daily intensive training in the Sword-Controlling Technique.】

【Your mastery of the Sword-Controlling Technique improved slightly, but a breakthrough to Major Mastery remained a distant prospect.】

【In the monotony of training, two years passed quickly…】

【In the twenty-fifth year, the situation at Demon-Sealing Pass began to deteriorate. Human powerhouses suffered catastrophic casualties.】

【You knew that the Legendary beast army would soon descend upon Demon-Sealing Pass.】

【Having recently broken through to the Void Shattering realm, you were eager to test your true strength.】

【Shortly after you arrived at Demon-Sealing Pass, the demon clan’s Legendary army descended.】

【Hundreds of Legendary beasts, several Emperor-level demon clan members… and a countless horde of lesser beasts laid siege to the gates.】

【In this battle, all ten Legendary-stage and one Emperor-level human powerhouses joined the fight, but in the end they still could not hold Demon-Sealing Pass.】

【Demon-Sealing Pass fell completely, but you distinguished yourself brilliantly in this battle.】

【You fought a Legendary-stage beast one-on-one.】

【The beast stood nearly a thousand zhang tall, its body as massive and terrifying as a mountain.】

【But by this point you were a Void Shattering realm cultivator, and with the enhancement of primordial energy, a single punch carried the force of a million tons!】

【You battled the Legendary beast for hundreds of rounds without falling behind in the slightest.】

【Your Protective Hardened Qi shielded you firmly, while the layer of primordial energy armor on the outside greatly boosted your defenses. Meanwhile, the primordial energy seed within your body endlessly generated more primordial energy, replenishing your expenditure.】

【The Legendary beast was enormous as a mountain, and ordinary attacks were simply incapable of inflicting serious damage.】

【The thick layer of hard scales on the beast’s skin, combined with the hundreds of meters of fat and muscle beneath, formed an impenetrable defensive barrier.】

【Even a mid-stage Void Shattering cultivator would find it incredibly difficult to slay a Legendary colossus.】

【You faced this same thorny problem. With your Void Shattering realm strength, if your enemy hadn’t been so colossal, you could easily wound or even critically injure them.】

【But against a Legendary beast, due to its unique body size, it was virtually immune to the vast majority of blunt-force damage.】

【Compared to relying purely on brute force against a Legendary beast of such immense size, you found that using primordial energy in conjunction with the Blackice sword proved far more effective.】

【With the enhancement of primordial energy, combined with your terrifying strength, you could effortlessly carve off massive chunks of the Legendary beast’s flesh.】

【The only regret was that your swordsmanship remained at the Human Sword stage, unable to borrow the power of heaven and earth to slay this Legendary colossus.】

【After hundreds of rounds of combat, you sustained light injuries, while the Legendary beast you fought suffered severe wounds — though its life was not in danger.】

【Just as you were preparing to slowly wear this beast to death, the human Emperor was finally slain!】

【Under the combined assault of three Demon Emperors, the human Emperor was overwhelmed and ultimately fell in battle.】

【And you were promptly killed by a Demon Emperor who was now free to act. Your divine soul was obliterated…】

【You died!】

【Ding, this simulation has ended!】

After the simulation ended, Suxing drew a deep breath.

In this simulation, the benefits Suxing obtained were nothing short of tremendous.

Whether it was Zong Laogou’s inheritance or the exploration of the ancient tomb ruins, the gains from either alone were enough to bring about a qualitative transformation in Suxing’s foundations in a short period of time!

“Those Legendary beasts really are a pain to deal with, though!”

“Even though they’re only Legendary-stage in strength, they’re so thick-skinned and massive… even late-stage Legendary or late-stage Void Shattering cultivators probably couldn’t kill one easily…”

Suxing murmured.

“If I want to kill a Legendary colossus, I still need to learn the Three Talents Sword Art! If I master the Earth Sword chapter, my technique’s power will definitely surge dramatically. Perhaps then I could cut one down?”

Suxing thought to himself.

Then, unable to contain his eagerness, he turned his gaze to this simulation’s rewards.

【Talisman Expert】: Purple talent. Price: 1,000,000 energy.

【ten years of pill refining experience】: Pill refining insights. Price: 500,000 energy.

【Eight Trigrams Divination Art (Major Mastery)】: Heaven-grade upper-tier secret art. Created by a wandering Daoist. Skill approaching the Dao — a glimpse into the true essence of the Dao of Destiny. Nearly a Dao technique. Capable of divining fortune and misfortune, evading danger. Cultivation in the Human Fortune Chapter has reached Beginner-level, only a hair’s breadth from Minor Mastery. Price: 120,000,000 simulation energy.

【Sword-Controlling Technique (Minor Mastery)】: Sword flight technique for swift movement. Speed determined by spirit sword quality and the sword cultivator’s strength. On the offensive, it can take an enemy’s head from a thousand li away; in retreat, one can soar freely upon the sword, traversing ten thousand li in an instant. Price: 80,000,000 energy.

【Low-Grade Spirit Stones x200,000, Mid-Grade Spirit Stones x5,000, High-Grade Spirit Stones x300】: Price: 280,000,000 energy.

【3,000-Year Herbs, 5,000 Stalks】: Price: 50,000,000,000 energy.

【Old Dog Zong’s Diary (Complete)】: Priced at 10,000 energy. 【Eight Trigrams Fortune Divination Art (Complete)】: Priced at 500 million energy.

……

Suxing scanned through the simulation rewards and discovered that this simulation had actually triggered several dozen different reward options.

Among them were the vast majority of valuable items from Zong Laogou’s storage artifact.

Though those treasures and artifacts were useful, they weren’t worth Suxing spending his precious redemption slots and simulation energy to exchange for.

The truly valuable ones were just the eight listed above.

Suxing began analyzing the reward options one by one.

“Talisman Expert… this talent might be useful in the future, but there’s no rush…”

“Once I get my hands on Zong Laogou’s storage artifact, I’ll be able to study secondary disciplines like Formation Dao, artifact refining, and Talismans…”

Suxing shook his head slightly and first eliminated the talent option.

Next was the pill refining experience — Suxing had no intention of choosing that either for now.

“As for spirit stones… 280 million energy. Although I can currently afford it… I haven’t broken through to the Void Return realm yet, so spirit stones would be useless for now.”

“As for spirit herbs… damn, 5,000 stalks of 3,000-year herbs, and the freaking price is 50 billion energy? That’s way too damn expensive!”

Suxing declared he simply couldn’t afford it.

“As for the Eight Trigrams Divination Art… I’ve already learned the more useful Human Fortune Chapter, so there’s no rush to redeem this…”

“But a total value of 500 million energy, approaching the level of Dao arts… this secret technique truly has extraordinary origins!”

After a brief pause, Suxing’s gaze turned to Old Dog Zong’s diary.

Surprisingly, that massive stack of diaries only cost 10,000 energy.

Most likely because under the simulator’s assessment, it was merely the diary of a heretical cultivator, and therefore held little value.

“However… when it comes down to it, the rewards I should choose this time are still the Sword-Controlling Technique and the Eight Trigrams Divination Art!”

The corners of Suxing’s mouth curved upward slightly.

With Minor Mastery-level Sword-Controlling Technique, collecting Spring Dew Purified Water would be no problem, which meant the Void-Shattering Pill could be refined sooner.

And the Eight Trigrams Divination Art was the prerequisite for Suxing to instantly kill Zong Laogou — an indispensable choice!

“I choose the Sword-Controlling Technique and the Eight Trigrams Divination Art!”

Suxing silently declared.

【You have successfully brought out Eight Trigrams Divination Art (Major Mastery), spending 120 million energy. Remaining energy: 128.06 million points.】

【You have successfully brought out Sword-Controlling Technique (Minor Mastery), spending 80 million energy. Remaining energy: 48.06 million points.】

As the simulator’s notification sounds faded, Suxing’s simulation energy — which had been over 200 million — suddenly shrank to a mere 50 million or less.

But it was all worth it!

Two streams of mysterious energy descended into Suxing’s body.

Immediately after, vast segments of memory flooded into Suxing’s mind — comprehension of the Eight Trigrams Divination Art, along with cultivation memories of the Sword-Controlling Technique!

Originally, with just Beginner-level Eight Trigrams Divination Art, Suxing had already been considered a half-immortal among mortals — a genuine master skilled in fortune-telling, feng shui, fate-altering, and divination.

But now, with Major Mastery-level memories flooding in, Suxing’s comprehension of the Dao of fate had long surpassed the realm of ordinary mortals.

Suxing’s eyes narrowed as he focused intently, working hard to digest the memories of the Eight Trigrams Divination Art swirling through his mind.

After a long while, Suxing finally opened his eyes slowly.

A look of disbelief shimmered within them.

“Incredible… the theory of fortune and qi is so exquisitely profound, encompassing virtually every aspect of the world and threading through the entirety of a person’s life…”

Suxing’s expression turned somewhat grave.

With his current divination abilities, the fate of ordinary mortals — even the trajectory of their near future — Suxing could see through at a glance, without even expending much cultivation.

He could even expend his own cultivation to forcibly alter a mortal’s fortune!

“This ability to change someone’s fate in the span of a single breath… it’s practically divine!”

Suxing marveled inwardly. He had been cultivating for over a year now, his cultivation advancing at breakneck speed, but only now — having mastered this divination art — did he finally resemble what mortals imagined an immortal to be.

A thought stirred in Suxing’s mind. Mysterious spiritual energy materialized over his eyes, and he then took out a mirror, gazing at the space above his own head.

This was the Qi Gazing technique!

“Hmm… deep green, even tinged with a wisp of purple qi! As expected… while this may not qualify as a Child of Destiny, the Blessed by Fortune talent has made my fortune one in a million!”

Suxing was fairly satisfied with this.

Fortune and qi gazing had always seemed ethereal and intangible.

But Suxing could now clearly perceive the color of fortune hovering above ordinary people’s heads.

For regular people, it was a transparent white.

For those who were slightly luckier, it was a pale green.

For someone who won the top lottery prize, it would be deep green.

As for Suxing — deep green tinged with purple meant he was someone blessed with great fortune!

This was the change brought about by Suxing’s Blessed by Fortune talent…

“With my fortune, I’m virtually unmatched in the mortal world… then who could possibly possess the even higher tier of pure purple?”

Suxing fell into contemplation.

“Perhaps Liu Xiu, the great sorcerer from my previous world’s history who summoned a meteor shower… or maybe Old Zhu, who started with nothing but a begging bowl and conquered the realm — they might barely qualify as having purple fortune?”

Suxing sighed with some emotion.

Throughout humanity’s thousands of years of history — whether in his previous life or on present-day Earth —

every thousand years or so, one or two Children of Destiny would inevitably emerge.

After thoroughly experiencing the mysteries of the Eight Trigrams Divination Art, Suxing drew his spirit sword Blackice.

As Blackice came to hand, it emitted a series of soft, humming cries.

“After reaching Minor Mastery in the Sword-Controlling Technique… I’ve become even more attuned to the spirit sword, and feel even closer to it!”

The corners of Suxing’s mouth lifted slightly.

With Minor Mastery in the Sword-Controlling Technique, it was no exaggeration to say that Suxing could now travel thirty thousand li in a single day, and without consuming much spiritual energy.

In other words, if he were to head to Guang Province — a distance of over ten thousand kilometers — Suxing would only need roughly half a day to arrive.

Suxing extended his hand to caress the spirit sword Blackice, a glint of wonder in his eyes as he praised:

“What a fine Blackice spirit sword… having kept it on my person for such a short time, its quality has actually improved further under the infusion of primordial energy!”

“I’d wager the Blackice sword’s quality has now reached the level of a top-tier Legendary-stage weapon, hasn’t it?”

Suxing was somewhat delighted.

Strictly speaking, after being nurtured by Suxing’s primordial energy, the Blackice sword had transcended the category of a mere magical artifact and now belonged to the class of primordial weapons!

Unlike ordinary magical treasures, primordial weapons grew stronger alongside their master.

After digesting the rewards brought out this time, Suxing fell into thought.

“Now my energy is down to less than 50 million. Even adding next week’s goods, that’s only a little over 100 million…”

“That amount of energy is nowhere near enough!”

Suxing realized he had to find ways to increase his income. Otherwise, the breakthroughs to Void Return and the Void Shattering realm — each requiring enormous amounts of energy — would be far more than he could bear.

“This week, I’ll focus on pill refining for now… After the next simulation ends, if the energy still isn’t enough, then I’ll make a trip to that place…”

A plan was already vaguely taking shape in Suxing’s mind.

And so, the following week passed with Suxing busy with pill refining and farming.

A week later, Suxing brought five thousand pills to meet Jin Congxue.

Going through the familiar routine of disguise and aura concealment, Suxing arrived at the villa.

Jin Congxue was wearing a dark-colored long robe today, but her complexion seemed somewhat pale.

Suxing walked into the room and glanced at Jin Congxue, activating the Qi Gazing technique.

The color of fortune above Jin Congxue’s head was deep green — just as Suxing had expected. Born into a prestigious family, blessed with exceptional beauty and outstanding ability, she was someone who should be protected by great fortune.

But then Suxing’s gaze sharpened. Within the deep green above Jin Congxue’s head, there was actually a faint tinge of blood-red.

Blood-red meant impending bloodshed!

The red above Jin Congxue’s head was rather faint, clearly not life-threatening.

Even so, Suxing spoke to Jin Congxue in a serious tone:

“Xue-jie, you seem to be… facing some bloodshed recently!”

Bloodshed?

Jin Congxue looked puzzled for a moment, then seemed to realize something.

Her pretty face flushed red as she rolled her eyes and said with coy exasperation, “You pervert!”