Chapter 69: The Wealthiest Individual in the Cultivation World

Just then, the door to the conference room was knocked upon. Jiang Rui went over and opened it, allowing a police officer holding a folder to enter. He glanced at He Ming and the others, then spoke to Liu Bin, “Leader Liu, I have a situation to report.”

Liu Bin nodded, “Go ahead.”

The officer continued, “We received a report from Phoenix Township. The head of Daping Village claims that a vengeful spirit has appeared in their village.”

“One villager was possessed by the spirit, but fortunately no serious harm was done. They invited a feng shui master to handle the situation.”

“One of the masters, while procuring materials for talisman making, brought back a Maoshan Daoist.”

He Ming and the others immediately grew serious. Liu Bin asked, “What about this Maoshan Daoist? Is he genuine, or just a charlatan?”

The officer replied, “He has real abilities. He easily dealt with the vengeful spirit and told the village chief their village is shrouded in an extremely dense, filthy aura. He advised them to invite a true master to perform a ritual as soon as possible, or else serious trouble would arise.”

“Currently, every household in the village has a protective talisman from this Maoshan Daoist. He said it will keep them safe for three months; beyond that, he couldn’t guarantee anything.”

He Ming asked Liu Bin, “Has anyone else from the Sky Division been to Yudong?”

Liu Bin shook his head. “There’s no such news. It’s probably an unaffiliated Daoist. The Maoshan sect has a vast lineage; it’s not surprising there are unsanctioned practitioners.”

After speaking, a thought occurred to him, and he asked the officer, “Did the report mention the Maoshan Daoist’s name or appearance?”

The officer replied, “He’s said to be very young, in his twenties, surname Li. The feng shui masters call him Brother Dafei.”

Understanding flickered in the eyes of He Ming and the others. Liu Bin rubbed his forehead, exhausted. “Why are we only hearing about this now?”

The officer explained, “The village chief of Daping reported it to the township government several days ago, but recently there have been abnormalities in many villages in Phoenix Township. The township chief personally led a team to investigate, which took some time.”

“Since it involved supernatural events, they didn’t dare act carelessly, afraid of causing unnecessary panic.”

Liu Bin nodded, “Understood. I’ll report this promptly and request a renowned monk or Daoist master to address the issue. You may go.”

“Alright,” the officer replied.

After he left, Wang Lin turned to He Ming, “This is a timely update. At least we know what ability Li Yunfei possesses. What should we do next?”

He Ming pondered for a moment, then sighed, “Let it be. Since he’s gone to such lengths to avoid us, it’s clear he has no intention of joining Purple Heaven.”

“With his background and the things he’s done, even with all his power, he poses no threat to the country.”

“We’ll leave him be for now. Currently, several suspected locations of ancient celestial realms within Greater Xia have begun showing signs of activity. The ghost soldiers from the ancient battlefields are becoming restless. We’re short-handed, so our focus must remain on these matters.”

---

Liu Bin said, “Alright, I’ll tell Yingzi that if she gets in touch with Li Yunfei, she must notify us immediately.”

“This kid managed to cultivate to this level on his own—he’s talented. Even if he doesn’t want to join Purple Heaven, as a citizen of Greater Xia, he still has a duty to the nation.”

He Ming nodded, “Good. That’s how we’ll proceed.”

...

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Li Yunfei had no idea he’d already caught the attention of Purple Heaven, though he’d anticipated it.

When he decided to protect Zhang Ziying, he knew he’d soon be exposed.

That’s why, when he headed for Shennongjia, he deliberately chose rural routes, avoiding roads with surveillance.

From Nan County’s Badong to Taihuang Mountain was over two hundred kilometers. Liu Bin and the others would never have guessed he’d gone to Shennongjia.

At the heart of Shennongjia’s forest region, deep within the lair of the Donkey-Head Wolf clan, Li Yunfei had set up a table in a secluded cave and was tirelessly painting talismans.

In that cave, which held a spirit stone mine, the Donkey-Head Wolf King and its pack were busy mining.

They were naturally skilled at digging tunnels, so having them mine was immensely efficient.

After discovering the mine a month ago, Li Yunfei organized the wolves to dig during the day. At night, he and the little fox would burrow into the freshly-mined tunnels and cultivate atop piles of spirit stones.

In about twenty days, relying on the spirit stone mine, he managed to advance his cultivation to level thirty.

The little fox was only a few percent away from reaching level thirty herself.

Once at level thirty, entering the Spirit Movement realm, Li Yunfei’s power surged.

The system inventory, previously twenty-five spaces of four cubic meters each, had fused into five spaces of twenty cubic meters.

After these twenty days, Li Yunfei now had sixty cubic meters of spirit stones in his system inventory, with an even larger pile in the cave.

As an individual, he was now arguably the wealthiest cultivator around.

The state possessed vast reserves of spirit stones, but they belonged to the nation, not to individuals. Spirit stones were more valuable than oil or uranium.

Li Yunfei used a curved blade to cut the stones into standard rectangular blocks, each weighing exactly five hundred grams.

One cubic meter of spirit stones weighed about sixteen and a half tons—lighter than gold, heavier than silver.

Sixty cubic meters amounted to nine hundred ninety tons, nine hundred ninety thousand kilograms, or nine hundred ninety million grams.

The most expensive piece of equipment—the Rending Crescent Blade—cost only forty grams of spirit stone per blade. He could buy countless Crescent Blades, or untold pounds of wild boar beast meat.

The greatest difference between cultivating with spirit stones and absorbing ambient spiritual energy was the “power.”

If absorbing the spiritual energy floating in the air had a power rating of ten, using spirit stones raised it to fifty, even eighty—the efficiency several times higher.

Spirit stones were like batteries, storing spiritual energy to be absorbed and integrated into oneself, with each small piece holding a massive amount.

Cultivators absorbed spirit energy from the stones much faster than the stones could recharge.

Once depleted, a spirit stone wasn’t useless—given time, it would naturally absorb ambient spiritual energy and refill itself.

Depending on the concentration, it took about nine months to a year for an exhausted stone to recharge.

Thus, they were recyclable—as long as spiritual energy didn’t dry up, spirit stones would never be truly depleted.

In eras of depleted spiritual energy, they were non-renewable resources.

In times of spiritual resurgence, however, they were entirely renewable.

Now, Li Yunfei was flush with wealth, no longer needing to trade talismans for spirit stones. On the contrary, in battle he could adopt a “pay-to-win” approach, scattering currency to dominate.

He was now drawing talismans only to produce every kind he could master, selling them to the system, and later buying them as needed.

He didn’t need to carry too many spirit stones—sixty cubic meters were plenty. He reserved forty cubic meters for other items, like beast meat or daily supplies.

He felt no need to purchase anything from the market at present.

As for cultivation, he wasn’t overly reliant on spirit stones.

This time, it was because his level was awkward—neither high nor low.

Suitable dungeons were hard to find at this stage, but once he surpassed level thirty, that problem would vanish.

He could simply seek out graveyards, abandoned villages, or ruined settlements to train as much as he pleased.