"Water Arrow Talismans are the same as Light Body Talismans, worth two Spirit Stones each. Twenty of them make forty Spirit Stones."
"One hundred catties of Spirit Rice is worth about thirty-three Spirit Stones."
"As for the Star Stones..."
Normally, killing an Early Stage Qi Refining Yao Beast and getting one Star Stone from the dropped chest is already considered a good profit. But Xu Mu had the Reward Critical Hit Multiplier System. Although it was only a twentyfold multiplier this time, it still turned one Star Stone into twenty.
A small profit instantly became a massive windfall!!
Xu Mu killing one Early Stage Qi Refining Yao Beast was comparable to others killing twenty!
The current Xu Mu was frighteningly wealthy. He had 227 Spirit Stones, 115 catties of Spirit Rice, five Light Body Talismans, twenty Water Arrow Talismans, and twenty Star Stones.
Xu Mu then looked at the Black Scale Snake's corpse on the ground.
"A Yao Beast's physical body can also be sold for quite a few Spirit Stones, and some of the special materials are particularly precious."
For example, the gallbladder of this Black Scale Snake should sell for around six Spirit Stones. Six Spirit Stones was just a small sum compared to Xu Mu's total assets. But for most Qi Refining Second Layer cultivators, it was precious enough.
Converted to money, six Spirit Stones was 600,000. If one were frugal, it would be enough to live on for decades. Even if one went to enjoy the high-end Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon entertainment, being a bit careful would allow for two comfortable nights of fun.
Lacking tools, Xu Mu simply put both halves of the Black Scale Snake's corpse on the trading platform. Xu Mu had killed it with two Wind Blades, so the corpse was relatively intact and easy to sell. In just half a minute, the Black Scale Snake was bought by someone.
The buyer traded with Qi-Gathering Pills, ten in total. Only the Black Scale Snake's gallbladder was worth much, about six Spirit Stones; the rest combined was only worth four Spirit Stones.
If it had been a meatier Yao Beast, it could have been sold for more. After all, Yao Beast meat was not only delicious but also served to strengthen the physical body, albeit only slightly. If ordinary people ate it, it could even improve their health, so the price of Yao Beast meat was quite stable.
Xu Mu recalled the process of killing the Yao Beast this time. He understood that as a Qi Refining Second Layer who only mastered two basic spells and had no other means of attack... The reason he could successfully kill the Early Stage Qi Refining Black Scale Snake was mainly thanks to the Cave Abode's defensive formation, which allowed him to remain invincible.
If not for the defensive formation outside the Cave Abode, Xu Mu couldn't have gotten so close to the Black Scale Snake, and thus wouldn't have killed it so easily. If this battle had taken place in an open field, Xu Mu would most likely have used a Light Body Talisman to flee.
"Now that I have the Star Stones, I need to unlock the Formation Master profession as soon as possible and upgrade the Cave Abode's defensive capabilities."
Xu Mu continued to study the Dao of Formations until noon before leaving the Cave Abode. Just as he got home and was about to cook, Xu Mu saw a message from Cheng Hongbo saying he wanted to come over. Xu Mu replied, and a minute later, Cheng Hongbo from upstairs arrived.
"Is something wrong?" Xu Mu asked straightforwardly.
Cheng Hongbo said with a look of reminiscence, "I put the Meridian Opening Pill from the newbie gift pack on the trading platform and got some Spirit Rice in exchange."
"I'd heard people say Spirit Rice was delicious before, but I didn't think it could be that good. But after tasting it myself, I found it's truly delicious! More importantly, it's useful for cultivation!"
Xu Mu looked at him calmly. "You came just to say that?"
After all, he ate Spirit Rice every meal and had already consumed over forty catties by now.
"Of course not," Cheng Hongbo's expression turned serious. "My parents saw how hard I'm practicing, so they decided to take a gamble and use all their savings to fully support my cultivation!!"
Xu Mu frowned slightly and asked with concern, "All their savings?"
"Most likely," Cheng Hongbo replied.
Xu Mu found it somewhat hard to believe and asked bluntly, "What if you don't get into the Immortal Dao Academy?"
"Do your best and leave the rest to fate," Cheng Hongbo said, shrugging. "If I don't get in, I'll just find a job. Anyway, a cultivator's salary and benefits are at least decent when looking for work."
Xu Mu gave him a thumbs up. "Bold!"
Average families really wouldn't dare to take such a risk. After all, Cheng Hongbo's parents were ordinary people; the money they saved from a year of hard work could only buy one Spirit Stone.
If they used all their savings to support Cheng Hongbo's cultivation and he successfully entered the Immortal Dao Academy, everyone would naturally be happy. But if he failed to get in, it would be quite a loss. Even if a cultivator's job had good pay and benefits, it would still take a long time to earn back all those savings.
Cheng Hongbo chuckled, stood up, and waved his hand. "I just came to let you know. I'm going back to cultivate."
After Cheng Hongbo left, Xu Mu had lunch and returned to his Cave Abode as well.
Ten days later.
Xu Mu opened his personal status bar, looked at it, and clapped his hands. "It's done!"
[System Message: Player Status]
After Xu Mu's persistent contemplation and study, he had finally reached the beginner level in the Dao of Formations. Although it was only beginner level and he couldn't set up formations yet, it was enough.
Xu Mu took out ten Star Stones and placed them in the Formation Master column.
[System Message: Formation Master can be upgraded. Upgrade now?]
"Upgrade!"
In the next moment, a vast amount of knowledge and experience related to being a Formation Master flooded into Xu Mu's mind. Xu Mu had now become a First Rank Low-grade Formation Master!!
After reaching the beginner level in the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, one could improve their level through personal effort or directly use Star Stones to upgrade. Upgrading from beginner to First Rank Low-grade required ten Star Stones, and from Low Grade to Medium Grade required another thirty.
Although Xu Mu was only First Rank Low-grade, it was currently enough. After all, the defensive formation outside his Cave Abode was only First Rank Low-grade, yet it could already withstand the attacks of an Early Stage Qi Refining Yao Beast. If Xu Mu set up a few more formations, the Cave Abode's safety factor would be maxed out!
"In the First Rank Formation Legacy I borrowed from the school Library, there are two basic formations in total."
"Both of which I can set up at my current stage: a Mist Formation and a small Spirit Gathering Formation."
A small Spirit Gathering Formation could concentrate the Spiritual Qi inside the Cave Abode, slightly increasing the Spiritual Qi concentration and achieving an effect slightly better than a First Rank Low-grade Spiritual Vein.
The Mist Formation was also a First Rank Low-grade formation; once set up, clouds of mist would rise within an area. If one's Divine Soul strength was insufficient, they would get lost upon entering. Yao Beasts generally had powerful physical bodies but weak Divine Souls. Therefore, laying down a Mist Formation to confuse Yao Beasts would prevent them from discovering his Cave Abode.
"I happened to buy three Formation Flags recently, which are enough to set up the Mist Formation."
For simple basic formations like the Mist Formation, a more skilled Formation Master could set them up at will without using Formation Flags or Formation Plates. But for a novice Formation Master like Xu Mu, it was easier to use Formation Flags for the setup. Formations set up with Formation Flags were also more stable.
Xu Mu spent a few more days mastering the Formation Patterns of the Mist Formation. After returning home to bathe and wash up, he began to work on setting up the formation.