The essence of fire, worth 10 Spirit Stones each, directly gave Xu Mu 25 pieces after the system's critical hit multiplier. In other words, after killing the Fire Demon, Xu Mu had already made a massive profit even before opening the chest.
Xu Mu looked at the rare chest beside him and opened it.
[System Message: Player obtained: 1 stalk of Ghost Spirit Grass, 1 Azure Moon Stone.]
Ghost Spirit Grass is the primary material for refining the first rank mid-grade medicinal pill, the Condensing Consciousness Pill. Usually fifteen years old, a single stalk is worth 20 Spirit Stones.
Although Ghost Spirit Grass is quite valuable, it didn't really matter whether he had it or not; the most important thing was the Azure Moon Stone!!
This was a rare object even more precious than the Star Stone, and its only use was to improve a cultivator's Spiritual Root grade!! It only appeared in rare chests, and the probability of it dropping wasn't high. Usually, one might only find one after opening a dozen or so rare chests. This was something truly priceless that couldn't be easily bought.
However, having just one piece, or even three to five, was useless. But if one could gather 10 pieces, they could upgrade a Low-Grade Spiritual Root to a Mid-Grade one!
You should know that with a Mid-Grade Spiritual Root, one could enter the elite classes of the Immortal Alliance Middle School. They would also receive investments from outside forces. As long as nothing unexpected happened, there was a high probability they would be admitted to an Immortal Dao Academy in the future. One could say the future would be bright.
No one with a Low-Grade Spiritual Root would refuse 10 Azure Moon Stones; if 10 Azure Moon Stones were truly placed before them... Even if it meant losing everything they owned, they would be willing to trade for them.
Xu Mu didn't expect that the very first rare chest he opened would yield one. Although there was only one, it was enough!!
Brother System! Give me a critical hit!!
The system's wonderful notification sound rang out.
[System Message: Detected Host has obtained rewards: 1 stalk of Ghost Spirit Grass, 1 Azure Moon Stone.]
[System Message: Congratulations, Host, for obtaining a 30x Critical Hit amplification.]
[System Message: Rewards increased to 30 stalks of Ghost Spirit Grass and 30 Azure Moon Stones.]
[System Message: Rewards have been stored in the System space and can be withdrawn at any time.]
Xu Mu couldn't wait to take out 10 Azure Moon Stones and place them into the Spiritual Root slot of his personal status bar. He had had enough of the slow cultivation speed of a Low-Grade Spiritual Root.
[System Message: Spiritual Root can be upgraded. Upgrade now?]
"Upgrade!"
Xu Mu could clearly sense some changes occurring within his body. The most direct change was that his perception of the surrounding spiritual Qi became clearer.
With the same concentration of spiritual Qi and the same cultivation time, the better the Spiritual Root, the more spiritual Qi one could absorb and refine, and the more one's cultivation would improve. Thus, as cultivation time increased, the gap between two people with different Spiritual Roots would only grow wider. Different Spiritual Roots also meant a significant difference in upper and lower limits.
According to the big data statistics of the Tianyuan Star's thousand-year history of cultivation:
There were also even better top-tier and Heaven-grade ones.
It's a pity that upgrading from a Mid-Grade Spiritual Root to a High-Grade one requires 100 Azure Moon Stones. Although I still have 20 left, I don't know when I'll be able to save up a hundred.
After all, the Demon Race isn't something you can encounter whenever you want, and even if you kill one, it's not guaranteed to drop them.
However, I've only been in the Cave Abode World for five months and have already upgraded my Spiritual Root to Mid-Grade; I've already surpassed 99.9% of people. If others knew I was still unsatisfied, they would probably cough up blood from anger.
Overall, although the cost of killing this Fire Demon was a bit high—using 12 First Rank Low-grade Talismans—compared to the harvest, it was simply not worth mentioning.
25 pieces of essence of fire were worth a total of 250 Spirit Stones. 30 stalks of Ghost Spirit Grass were worth a total of 600 Spirit Stones. As for the 30 Azure Moon Stones, their price couldn't be measured in Spirit Stones. Because in the thousand years since the Cave Abode World appeared, Azure Moon Stones have rarely appeared on the trading platform. And every time, only one piece would appear, so these 30 pieces really couldn't be valued with Spirit Stones.
I won't need the essence of fire or Ghost Spirit Grass in the short term. I can sell a portion, or even all of them.
Currently, Xu Mu was only a First Rank Low-grade Formation Master. Even if he obtained more Star Stones in the future, his priority would be improving his path in formations. He had no time to spare for alchemy or artifact refining, so keeping the materials for them was useless. It was better to sell them early and exchange them for other things useful to him. Furthermore, these two items were in high demand and easy to sell.
From this battle with the Fire Demon, although the effect of one or two Talismans isn't that great, they have miraculous effects in large numbers. Because of the System, as long as I can kill demons, I'm guaranteed to make a steady profit. So in the future, I can buy more Talismans. If I encounter a demon I can't beat, I'll just bombard them with Talismans.
Thinking of this, Xu Mu listed the essence of fire and Ghost Spirit Grass on the trading platform in batches. At the same time, he browsed through the trade listings. Whenever he saw Talismans useful to him, he bought them all up.
In just half an hour, all 25 pieces of essence of fire and 30 stalks of Ghost Spirit Grass were sold out. 850 Spirit Stones were credited to his account.
Xu Mu, who originally had only 180 Spirit Stones in savings, suddenly saw his balance surge to 1,030 Spirit Stones. This was definitely a huge sum of money!! Most Late Stage Qi Refining cultivators didn't even have this much wealth in total. Even a Foundation Establishment great cultivator would stare wide-eyed and be unable to look away upon seeing so many Spirit Stones.
If he went to "Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon" to enjoy himself, he could stay for an entire year!!
While selling things, Xu Mu was also buying. During this half-hour, Xu Mu bought a total of 40 usable Talismans.
They were: 10 First Rank Low-grade Frost Talismans, 10 First Rank Low-grade Water Mirror Talismans, 10 First Rank Mid-grade Golden Light Talismans, and 10 First Rank Mid-grade Earth Spike Talismans.
First Rank Low-grade Talismans were 2 Spirit Stones each, while mid-grade ones cost 6 each. All together, these cost 160 Spirit Stones.
Furthermore, the wealthy Xu Mu was starting to look down on First Rank Low-grade Spirit Rice. It just so happened he had finished his previous Spirit Rice, so this time Xu Mu directly bought 100 catties of First Rank Mid-grade Spirit Rice.
First Rank Mid-grade Spirit Rice cost 1 Spirit Stone per catty!!
Even Late Stage Qi Refining cultivators with a specialized skill and stable income could only afford a meal of it every few days at most; usually, they still ate First Rank Low-grade rice.
The First Rank Mid-grade Spirit Rice Xu Mu bought was called Purple Bamboo Rice, a type of Spirit Rice that grows inside purple bamboo. Only those cultivators who have unlocked the Spirit Planter class and upgraded it to First Rank Mid-grade can grow it in their Cave Abode.
When the Spirit Rice matures, the bamboo is cut open, and the grains of Spirit Rice are found inside. Purple Bamboo Rice is slightly larger than First Rank Low-grade Spirit Rice and is pale purple in color. Of course, as a First Rank Mid-grade Spirit Rice, neither its taste nor the spiritual Qi it contains could be compared to First Rank Low-grade Spirit Rice.
Buying Purple Bamboo Rice at a high price wasn't because Xu Mu was greedy, but simply because he wanted to increase his cultivation a bit more every day. Dietary nourishment is still nourishment!
Additionally, Xu Mu spent 110 Spirit Stones to buy a defensive-type low-grade magic tool. Named the Black Rock Shield, it was refined from a type of black rock. It was pitch black all over, normally the size of a washbasin, but could expand when infused with magic power.
As a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator, Xu Mu now possessed 2 low-grade magic tools; one could say he was dripping with wealth. With the Black Rock Shield and these Talismans, Xu Mu would be even more composed when he went out to hunt demons in the future.