Chapter 68

In Wuyang City, at the Li Family Manor, Song Xing respectfully handed a plain-looking box to Li Yulong in person.

Yang Zhong, standing nearby, was both curious and furious. Had Song Xing eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall to be so bold as to refuse him and insist on delivering the box to Li Yulong himself? This made Yang Zhong very jealous—after all, he was just one of the young master's attendants.

Li Yulong looked at the special wax seal on the box, which Li Xian had personally drawn, and opened it with ease. Inside the wooden box was a jade box. When he opened the jade box, Li Yulong drew a sharp breath.

There were five complete low-grade spirit stones, enough to provoke a robbery by a Golden Core expert! "Yang Zhong, give Song Xing 50 taels of gold."

"Thank you, sir." Song Xing was very happy, as receiving a personal reward from Li Yulong meant he had entered the core of the Li Family.

Li Yulong took out two sealed envelopes, "Song Xing, you came just in time. Deliver these two letters to Li Xian and Li Liang."

"Yes." Song Xing took the letters and the gold, and left happily, then hurried back to Anyang without delay.

In the Qingyun Valley, Wei Zhe had been very busy these past few days, delivering things every day, including spirit stones! He had now delivered a total of 100 spirit stones.

"100 spirit stones!" Li Xian looked at the pile of white spirit stones in front of him, his eyes narrowing as he quickly calculated: with so many spirit stones, he needed to give out rewards, otherwise the morale would drop. But how to distribute the rewards was a delicate matter—it was a very useful and costly right that needed to be cherished!

After much thought, Li Xian called Xu Ren, Bei Chen Yuqing, and Fang Shijing. "Gentlemen, today we need to draft a reward system. What kind of contribution deserves a silver reward, what kind deserves a gold reward, and what kind of reward can earn spirit stones!

We also need to compensate those who have made important contributions in the past, or their families."

Xu Ren and the others had already made up their minds. It was impossible to say they weren't tempted by the spirit stones. They spent only half a day drafting the regulations.

First, everything would be marked with "points," with Fang Shijing responsible for the points system, subject to public supervision.

Those who made significant inventions, contributions, or solved key problems, regardless of whether it was military, scientific, or strategic, would receive major points rewards.

Additionally, those who worked diligently needed hope, to know that as long as they worked hard, their points would increase daily, and they would eventually earn spirit stones.

Third, the specific points rules. One point was equivalent to one tael of silver; 10 points were equivalent to one tael of gold, and 500,000 points were equivalent to one spirit stone! There was no way around it—spirit stones were too rare and couldn't be obtained from the outside. Li Xian believed that even in the Dragon Palace, there wouldn't be many spirit stones! After all, Wei Zhe only delivered a little bit each day!

Moreover, once points were redeemed, they would be cleared, and points could not be traded or transferred.

This was the basic situation, and the more detailed aspects would be perfected by Fang Shijing and the others. Li Xian preferred to be a hands-off manager.

In the afternoon, after a few days of adjustment, Li Xian entered seclusion again. This time, he prepared 10 spirit stones, fearing a repeat of the previous situation.

Xia Qingqing was very concerned about Li Xian. Upon hearing that he was preparing to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage, she personally stood guard.

Holding the spirit stones, Li Xian entered a meditative state again, returning to the previous state, floating upward on a cloud. He saw the edge again, but this time the cloud under his feet was very solid. When the cloud floated to the edge, Li Xian lightly jumped and entered a new realm.

Here, the "sky" was higher, wider, and clearer. In a daze, Li Xian felt his life become more noble!

"So that's why everyone says that craftsmanship is a lowly profession, while cultivation is more noble! Cultivation indeed makes life more advanced. But without the so-called lowly professions, where would I get the spirit stones from!"

In this world of indistinguishable reality and illusion, Li Xian gazed at the sky, letting the clouds carry him without direction, just wanting to see what kind of world this was.

Do others have such experiences when they advance? Li Xian didn't dare to ask, for fear of accidentally revealing something and losing his life.

After an unknown amount of time, the clouds under Li Xian's feet gradually dissipated. Li Xian understood that time was up, and he was about to fall in the most brutal way!

Wait, what am I seeing?!

Li Xian's eyes widened. In the distance, there was a huge "half-spirit stone mountain"—a low-quality spirit stone. This spirit stone was as large as a mountain and completely transparent. Inside the spirit stone, there was the flow of spiritual energy, the internal structure of the spirit stone, and it seemed to be demonstrating the process of spirit stone formation, with the half-spirit stone evolving into a spirit stone.

But wait...

"I protest!" Li Xian shouted.

The cloud under his feet shattered, and Li Xian once again kissed the ground hard, plop...

In the real world, Li Xian opened his eyes. The ten spirit stones in front of him had all turned into ordinary stones. Xia Qingqing, who had been nervously standing guard, saw Li Xian open his eyes and hugged him, burying her head in his shoulder. It was clear that Xia Qingqing was very tense, and the so-called "fate" theory had left a significant impact on her.

"I'm fine." Li Xian tightly hugged Xia Qingqing, greedily enjoying the faint warmth, momentarily forgetting to check his cultivation progress.

After about five or six minutes, Xia Qingqing finally looked up, her face still tense. "Did it succeed? You were in seclusion for two whole days, twice as long as when I advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage. And with ten spirit stones releasing spiritual energy at once, did your meridians get injured?"

"No, no, everything is fine. Look, how strong my arms are." Li Xian hugged Xia Qingqing tightly and was about to kiss her.

"Go away." Seeing Li Xian's lecherous appearance, Xia Qingqing finally confirmed that he was really fine.

After comforting Xia Qingqing, Li Xian closed his eyes and felt his cultivation. Indeed, he was at the Foundation Establishment stage. Compared to the Qi Condensation stage, the true essence at the Foundation Establishment stage had liquefied, and his body was more solid. In terms of combat ability, it had at least doubled; after consolidation, there would be even greater improvement.

But what made Li Xian happiest was the lifespan issue. On average, the Qi Condensation stage was essentially still human, while the Foundation Establishment stage had a lifespan of 150 to 200 years! The specific lifespan mainly depended on the age at which one entered the Foundation Establishment stage.

Additionally, after entering the Foundation Establishment stage, one could create magical artifacts, which was another thing that made Li Xian very happy. Magical artifacts were items with arrays carved into them and had powerful combat capabilities, including talismans.

Unlike the Qi Condensation stage, where one could only "carve" arrays on the surface of materials with natural spiritual properties, such as jade, which were weak and driven by a single strand of spiritual energy, the arrays at the Qi Condensation stage could only be used for small items like lamps. This was also a significant reason why craftsmanship was considered a lowly profession.

At the Foundation Establishment stage, one could "imprint" arrays on materials without natural spiritual properties and use true essence to endow them with spiritual properties.

Imprinting arrays was different from carving arrays; it was like a watermark, permeating the array into the material's interior, making it virtually indestructible.

Additionally, true essence had the ability to "nurture," which could increase the spiritual properties of non-spiritual items like swords and knives. However, this process was very long, taking several years to complete the "imbuing." Therefore, the production of magical artifacts was low, with few in number and high in price. Moreover, there could be no mistakes during the creation of magical artifacts, with numerous requirements and precautions.

Furthermore, at the Foundation Establishment stage, one could create talismans. Low-level wind and water escape techniques, as well as various small spells, could be imprinted on jade talismans. Of course, there were many requirements for talismans, otherwise, they would be everywhere.

But regardless, entering the Foundation Establishment stage was a cause for great celebration. And Li Xian's luxurious use of ten spirit stones to establish his foundation made it very solid.

Everything was satisfactory, except for the last moment in the consciousness world, where he only managed to see half of the spirit stone formation process, which made Li Xian very frustrated—would he have the chance again next time?

(Seeking collections, recommendations, and of course, donations would be even better (*^__^*) Hehe...)

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