Whether to Renew

But he quickly realized what had happened and immediately suppressed the shock and heartache in his heart. In a calm tone, he said, “Mm, that’s true. Although it’s been drained of more than half its reserves, it’ll recover after being cultivated for a while. Once the Lock Rings can be mass-produced and sold, our sect will have another major source of income.”

His expression remained composed, but his heart was bleeding.

More than half of the spirit stone mine!

So expensive. So very expensive.

To avoid damaging the foundation of the spirit stone mine, they wouldn’t be able to touch it again for at least the next few years.

After Lingxian Sect’s nightly dinner, Lin Xiao returned to his residence on Lingyun Mountain.

On the way, he discussed the matter with the system.

“System, next time I go into seclusion, if I need spirit stones, can you deduct them from the sect’s reserves? Don’t keep harvesting from the spirit stone mine… Our sect only has this one mine, and it’s still small. It hasn’t had time to grow yet.”

System: …

[Helpful reminder: The host can build a spirit stone repository in the sect’s treasury. The system can then unlock the spirit stone repository and the option to select it as a source for consumption.]

“That’s good. I’ll get it done tomorrow!”

After reaching an agreement with the system, Lin Xiao finally no longer had to worry about their spirit stone mine being damaged at its foundation in the future.

The sect’s channels for earning spirit stones were now stable as well. Although Lin Xiao felt the pain, he quickly consoled himself.

Then, when he thought about the Lock Rings, which would provide the sect with another exclusive business, his mood brightened again.

The Lock Ring could be said to be the first thing he had designed without relying on the system at all. It was created entirely by combining his own knowledge of the four great cultivation arts.

The sense of achievement it gave him was something he could never obtain by having the system synthesize items for him.

Speaking of the system…

Lin Xiao was somewhat surprised that the system actually supported his independent research into the Lock Ring.

During his research, the system had not only blocked all system notifications from disturbing him, but had also rewarded him once he completed his work!

It seemed that this system truly existed to support Lingxian Sect’s growth, rather than making the sect overly dependent on it and bringing it completely under its control.

Just as he was thinking this, the system spoke.

[The spirit stones required for the host’s idle cultivation have been exhausted. Would the host like to renew the service?]

In fact, the spirit stones Lin Xiao had prepaid had already run out several days ago.

However, he had been busy researching the Lock Ring. After coming out of seclusion today, he had continued sharing the Lock Ring with the others. Seeing how excited he was, the system had chosen not to disturb him.

Hearing the system’s icy voice prompt, Lin Xiao sighed wistfully and asked, “How many spirit stones does my idle cultivation consume each day now?”

[Because the host has reached the Nascent Soul stage, idle cultivation now consumes five hundred spirit stones per day.]

Hiss—

When he saw the number five hundred, Lin Xiao couldn’t help sucking in a sharp breath.

That was far too much!

Five hundred a day. Five thousand in ten days. Fifty thousand in one hundred days!

Yet clearly, advancement at the Nascent Soul stage would not be as quick as it had been in the earlier realms.

He had no idea how long he would remain in the Nascent Soul stage. If he had to pour five hundred spirit stones into cultivation every single day, Lin Xiao felt that he really couldn’t afford it.

Although he was the sect master, his salary obviously couldn’t cover such exorbitant idle-cultivation fees.

It seemed that until the sect struck it rich, he would have to honestly cultivate on his own.

Why did it feel as though, the moment he came out of seclusion, he was faced with a shortage of spirit stones from every direction?

After establishing the various departments and positions, they had also set corresponding salaries for each of them.

As the sect master, he received a salary as well. He couldn’t simply take spirit stones from the sect whenever he pleased. After all, these were rules he himself had established; he certainly couldn’t break them merely to pay for idle cultivation.

Besides, the spirit stone mine urgently needed time to recover.

“Sigh. When I think about it, cultivating on my own is pretty good too. As for idle cultivation… I’ll work hard to earn spirit stones first. I can use it again once I’ve earned enough.” Lin Xiao consoled himself.

And so…

Lin Xiao, the sect master who had thought that he would be able to relax after emerging from a year of seclusion, sat cross-legged on his bed with a deeply troubled expression and began that day’s cultivation.

He would probably have to diligently find time to cultivate on his own for quite a long while to come.

Although Nascent Soul cultivation was already considered top-tier in the mortal world, they were still maintaining long-term trade with the cultivation world. And in the future…

In any case, as the sect’s representative in terms of strength, he could not afford to stop advancing his cultivation.

Moreover, when necessary, he might even have to spend the spirit stones to cultivate idly while cultivating on his own at the same time.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and it was now the twentieth day since the new disciples had entered the sect.

Construction of the new disciples’ residential area was nearing completion.

This was also the day when all one hundred and thirty-two new disciples successfully achieved qi absorption and entered the path of cultivation.

At noon, after everyone had finished their morning classes and was resting beneath the grass shelter, Liu Yunan approached them with a storage pouch in hand, his face full of delight.

“Everyone, gather around.”

Hearing Elder Liu’s summons, everyone hurried over and stood neatly in front of him.

Liu Yunan opened the storage pouch and waved his hand. One after another, jade pendants shaped like peach leaves flew out and drifted toward each person.

The new disciples reached out and caught the verdant peach-leaf pendants flying toward them. At the same time, they heard Elder Liu say, “These Peach Leaf Pendants can conceal your cultivation. They’ll be useless if you put them inside a storage pouch.”

“Now that you possess cultivation, there’s no telling when you might encounter someone with malicious intentions after leaving the sect. A mortal’s identity and a cultivator’s identity are ultimately different. For your safety when traveling outside in the future, it’s best that you never let these pendants leave your side.”

Originally, Liu Yunan had intended to distribute the Peach Leaf Pendants along with the following month’s allotment of supplies, during the second month.

After all, he had never expected everyone to successfully achieve qi absorption within a single month.

That was why he had been genuinely surprised—and delighted—when he received a voice transmission from Lin Xiao that morning informing him of the news.

The faster the new disciples cultivated, the sooner they could take up positions in various parts of the sect.

Then he himself could escape the troubles caused by all the parties constantly urging him.

So, in his moment of happiness, he realized that he had nothing else to give the new disciples and decided to distribute the Peach Leaf Pendants planned for the following month ahead of schedule.

Liu Yunan wasn’t particularly reluctant to hand out more than a hundred pendants. There were still several hundred left in the sect’s treasury.

If the Peach Leaf Pendants didn’t require leaves from the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree to make, the sect would probably have been able to stockpile even more.

The number had originally been produced based on their estimate of how many new disciples there would be.

However, making these Peach Leaf Pendants had not involved stripping the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree bare.

Ever since the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree had saved Mo Yuanjiao and the others last time, Lin Xiao had stopped harvesting from it as casually as he used to. Instead, he had begun taking good care of it.

The Peach Leaf Pendants had all been made from the fallen leaves that everyone had collected from the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree over the past few years.

It was just that the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree normally shed very few leaves, maintaining its perfect, lush appearance at all times.