Next, the senior brothers began to divide the ore.
Su Ning picked up a piece and examined it carefully: “I have a wood spirit root, so I don’t need too much. The small piece that Junior Sister gave me yesterday is enough to upgrade my sword’s toughness, so I won’t take any.”
He put the ore back.
Yan Chuan rubbed his hands: “I have a fire spirit root, and this stuff can increase the sword’s hardness when added. Should I take five jin?”
He himself felt it was a bit too much and cautiously looked at the other senior brothers.
Murong Zhuo nodded: “Is five jin enough? How about ten jin?”
Yan Chuan shook his head: “That’s enough, that’s enough, let’s be careful and save it.”
Murong Zhuo took three jin for himself: “Earth spirit roots can use this too, but I’m not greedy, so I’ll just take three jin.”
Gu Chenguang waved his hand: “I have a water spirit root, so I can’t use it. The piece Junior Sister gave me yesterday is enough to upgrade my sword, so I won’t take any.”
In the end, the senior brothers only took eight jin of ore.
They planned to sell all the rest.
I asked, “Aren’t you keeping more for yourselves?”
Su Ning smiled, “Our swords are enough for now. We’ll buy more when we need them later.”
Yan Chuan said, “Right, right now the most important thing is Junior Sister’s cultivation!”
Murong Zhuo said, “When you become stronger, our sect becomes stronger.”
Gu Chenguang said, “Mm.”
I looked at them.
They wore patched clothes, lived in a simple cave, and the boots on their feet were worn through with holes.
They held the Nether Deep Iron ore in their hands as if holding some rare, precious treasure.
Yet they couldn’t bear to use it for themselves.
Because they wanted to save it for Junior Sister’s cultivation.
I lowered my head.
My eyes felt a little warm.
“Th—thank you, Senior Brothers.”
Su Ning rubbed my head: “What are you thanking us for? We’re family.”
…………………………
So, the senior brothers happily took the Nether Deep Iron to the black market.
I stayed behind in the sect and continued to cultivate.
In the evening, the senior brothers returned.
Their faces were filled with barely suppressed excitement.
Su Ning pulled out a jade bottle from his chest pocket: “Junior Sister, look!”
I took the jade bottle and opened it to look inside.
Inside lay ten round pills.
Nourishing Essence Pills, Body Tempering Pills, Azure Spirit Pills… all good things to help me quickly build a solid foundation.
Yan Chuan then pulled out a pouch of spirit stones and poured out 30 crystal-clear high-grade spirit stones.
High-grade spirit stones!
This was the first time I had ever seen high-grade spirit stones.
They emitted a soft purple glow, their spiritual energy so dense it was almost tangible.
Thirty high-grade spirit stones were equivalent to three thousand mid-grade or three hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.
For a poor sect like ours, this was an astronomical figure.
Su Ning stuffed the spirit stones into my hands: “Junior Sister, these should be enough to last you until Foundation Establishment.”
I looked at the spirit stones in my hand, then at the expectant eyes of my senior brothers.
Then, I shook my head, “I’ll just take 20.”
Su Ning: “Huh?”
Yan Chuan: “Junior Sister, you don’t need to hold back…”
“I’m not trying to be frugal,” I said. “Distribute the rest among yourselves, Senior Brothers.”
Everyone froze.
I said seriously, “You’re all Golden Core cultivators, and you need good spirit stones for your cultivation too. Besides, to earn resources for me, you couldn’t even bear to upgrade your own swords. Please take these spirit stones and use them.”
The air went quiet for a few seconds.
Su Ning’s eyes reddened slightly: “Junior Sister…”
Yan Chuan sniffled: “You silly child…”
Murong Zhuo turned his face away: “It’s so windy, sand got into my eyes.”
Gu Chenguang silently pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the corner of his eyes.
In the end, the senior brothers accepted the spirit stones.
Ten stones in total—two for each of the five senior brothers.
The Eldest Senior Brother wasn’t here, but his share was saved.
The Second Senior Brother could mine his own, so none was left for him.
They carefully put them into their storage bags, as if holding priceless treasures.
That night.
I held the twenty high-grade spirit stones and cultivated.
Su Ning set up a Spirit Gathering Array and placed the twenty high-grade spirit stones into its nodes.
I sat cross-legged and began circulating my cultivation technique.
…
Three days later:
Boom—
Spiritual energy rushed in like a tsunami.
Great Perfection of the Qi Refining stage—a smooth, effortless breakthrough.
Just one step away from Foundation Establishment.
The senior brothers exchanged looks, then took the two high-grade spirit stones each of them had put away that day and added them into the Spirit Gathering Array.
I closed my eyes, continuing to cultivate and circulate my technique.
The spiritual energy inside my body whirled wildly, compressing, condensing…
Foundation Establishment—achieved!
I opened my eyes and let out a long breath of turbid air.
The senior brothers gathered around in a circle, looking at me anxiously.
Su Ning was the first to ask: “How is it?”
I sensed my internal condition and nodded: “I’ve reached Foundation Establishment.”
Everyone cheered.
Su Ning picked me up and spun around.
Yan Chuan stomped his feet in excitement.
Murong Zhuo threw his head back and roared to the heavens.
Gu Chenguang pulled out his notebook and scribbled frantically, logging Junior Sister’s cultivation results:
— Cultivation Level: Early Foundation Establishment Stage ✓
— Time Taken: Less than three months
— Cost: 30 high-grade spirit stones
— Notes: Genius cultivation speed, bankrupting cultivation costs.
After the cheering died down, everyone calmed down.
And then, they began to worry.
Su Ning spoke up first: “Thirty high-grade spirit stones… all gone.”
Yan Chuan nodded: “Bankrupt right after striking it rich—in less than three days.”
Murong Zhuo sighed: “Thirty high-grade spirit stones… converted to low-grade spirit stones, that’s three hundred thousand.”
Gu Chenguang added the final blow: “Enough for an ordinary person to cultivate for ten years.”
I looked down at my surroundings.
The spirit stones had turned grayish-white, completely drained of spiritual energy.
Thirty high-grade spirit stones, gone just like that.
I raised my head: “Did I… squander our fortune again?”
The senior brothers…
They all shook their heads together.
Su Ning: “It’s not your fault, it’s just what your cultivation requires.”
Yan Chuan: “Right, that’s how Chaos Spirit Roots are.”
Murong Zhuo: “If there’s anyone to blame, blame us for being too poor.”
Gu Chenguang closed his notebook: “It’s fine. Next time we’ll just ask Second Senior Brother to send back some more ore, and we’ll exchange it for spirit stones for you again.”
I looked at them.
My heart felt warm.
But I was also worried.
Just reaching Foundation Establishment cost thirty high-grade spirit stones.
What about Golden Core?
What about Nascent Soul?
I didn’t dare think about it.
I really didn’t dare think about it.
That night.
At the stone table of the Main Peak’s cafeteria.
Heavenly Sword Sect’s 2nd “Money-Making” Seminar grandly convened.
Attendees: All disciples currently present in the sect (four people in total, plus one three-and-a-half-year-old Foundation Establishment stage Junior Sister).
Meeting Host: Su Ning.
Meeting Minutes: Gu Chenguang.
Topic: How to consistently get spirit stones.
Su Ning spoke first: “Relying on selling ore isn’t a long-term solution. No matter how large Second Senior Brother’s mineral vein is, there will come a day when it’s all mined out.”
Yan Chuan nodded: “And Junior Sister’s cultivation speed is too fast, the resource consumption is just too high.”
Murong Zhuo scratched his head: “We need to figure out a stable source of income.”
Gu Chenguang flipped through his notebook: “According to the market trends of the cultivation world, the common ways to make money are: Alchemy, Weapon Refining, Talisman Crafting, and Array Formation.”
I raised my hand to ask: “So which one do we choose?”
Silence.
Su Ning sighed: “Alchemy requires a cauldron, which we can’t afford.”
Yan Chuan: “Weapon Refining requires a forging furnace and rare treasures, which we can’t afford either.”
Murong Zhuo: “Talisman Crafting requires talisman paper and brush pens, which we can afford even less.”
Gu Chenguang: “Array Formation…”
My eyes lit up: “Array Formation doesn’t require buying things?”
Gu Chenguang nodded: “There are some basic arrays that don’t require materials. As long as you find suitable array nodes to channel the natural spiritual energy of heaven and earth, it works.”
Me: “Then that’s great!”
Just as everyone started to smile—
Gu Chenguang added: “However, forming arrays requires array knowledge. And to learn array knowledge, you need to buy books. One book costs at least ten mid-grade spirit stones.”
Everyone fell silent once again.
Me: “…So, we still have no money?”
Gu Chenguang nodded: “We still have no money.”
Suddenly, Su Ning slapped his thigh: “There’s one more line of work that requires zero capital!”
Everyone turned to look at him.
Su Ning lowered his voice: “Robbing the rich to give to the poor.”
Yan Chuan’s eyes lit up: “That’s just highway robbery!”
Murong Zhuo rubbed his hands together: “I’ve already thought of a target: Zhao Youqian!”
Gu Chenguang: “…That’s against the law.”
Everyone fell silent yet again.
Su Ning sighed: “If only we could rob people legally.”
Yan Chuan scratched his head: “Let’s just focus on body tempering these next few days then.”
Murong Zhuo nodded: “Right, right, right. You’ve just reached Foundation Establishment, so you need to consolidate your cultivation base.”
Gu Chenguang chimed in: “Body tempering doesn’t cost money. We’ll figure out the rest when Eldest Senior Brother comes back.”