Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

Jiang Ling sought help for this very reason.

She plans to participate in the inner sect competition in seven years, but based on her current cultivation progress, she can only reach the eighth level of Qi Refining at most within seven years, and there is absolutely no possibility of reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Only by forging two top-grade magic weapons that match the attributes of one's own cultivation technique can one have a chance to stand out in the competition. Therefore, a large amount of spirit stones are urgently needed to purchase materials, and one must ask a familiar weapon refiner for help.

The matter of the weapon refiner is not difficult to handle.

Jiang Ling's master has a friend who is a renowned weapon-refining master. The deal can be finalized simply by sending a sealed message.

However, the lack of spirit stones posed a problem for her.

Logically speaking, she was her master's only disciple, and her master should have done everything in his power to help her. However, her master left the sect to travel several years ago and has not been heard from since, leaving her in a situation where she "has a master but no one to take care of her".

Crafting two custom-made top-grade magic weapons would cost at least two thousand low-grade spirit stones, and the actual cost would probably be even higher.

Jiang Ling searched her entire body and found that she only had a little over a thousand spirit stones left in her storage bag. To be on the safe side, she was still short at least 1,500 low-grade spirit stones.

At this moment, Li Buhui took out six hundred low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, his tone tinged with apology:

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, these are the only spirit stones I have available at the moment. Once I return to my shop, I can easily borrow another one or two hundred, bringing the total to eight hundred low-grade spirit stones. I am ashamed to say that this is my humble contribution."

Eight hundred yuan!!!

Wu Fan's heart stirred. Li Buhui's willingness to part with so much clearly meant that he didn't just want to invest in a cultivator who might eventually reach the Foundation Establishment stage; he probably had other motives as well.

He secretly calculated that the spirit stones he possessed had other important uses and should not be used lightly, but the proceeds from selling pills to Li Buhui yesterday could be set aside to support Jiang Ling.

However, in order to maintain the persona of "being short of money and having limited resources", they cannot give it all away.

Jiang Ling has great potential for foundation building, making this investment worthwhile.

Furthermore, if he were to join Falling Star Valley in the future, Jiang Ling would be a great asset to him within the sect before he reached Foundation Establishment.

Having thought of this, Wu Fan had already made up his mind and decided to take out four hundred spirit stones.

He immediately adopted a gritted-teeth expression and said in a deep voice:

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, I originally planned to purchase some high-quality spiritual herbs to break through to the first-tier high-grade alchemist realm. However, Foundation Establishment is a major event in your path of cultivation, more important than my breakthrough in alchemy. So I took out 80% of the spirit stones I received from selling pills to Brother Li yesterday, a total of four hundred. Although it is not much, it is a token of my goodwill."

Niu Dazhuang, standing to the side, scratched his head, his face full of difficulty, and his tone somewhat hesitant:

"My wife is about to give birth again, and my son Ben recently tested positive for eighteen strands of spiritual energy. He will need a lot of spirit stones to begin his cultivation journey... I can only afford to spend two hundred spirit stones at most."

After saying that, he lowered his head in embarrassment.

"That's already quite a lot."

Jiang Ling smiled faintly at Niu Dazhuang, her eyes full of gratitude. "Fellow Daoist Niu has a family to take care of, and you have to cultivate yourself while also planning for your wife and children. Jiang Ling thanks you."

After speaking, she stood up and gave a slight bow.

Niu Dazhuang quickly stood up to return the greeting, waving his hand gruffly, "Fellow Daoist, you're too kind!"

Jiang Ling then turned to Wu Fan, her tone filled with guilt:

"Fellow Daoist Wu, for my sake, you have to delay your breakthrough to becoming a Pill Master. I feel extremely guilty. However, the Foundation Establishment stage is of great importance, so... I have no choice but to accept this shamefully."

After saying this, he bowed again.

Wu Fan quickly returned the greeting and said gently, "Fellow Daoist, there's no need to take it to heart. We've known each other for many years, and it's only right that we support each other."

Finally, she looked at Li Buhui, her tone concise yet earnest: "Fellow Daoist Li, Jiang Ling will remember your help this time."

As soon as he finished speaking, he bowed respectfully.

Wu Fan witnessed all of this. Although Jiang Ling did not express her gratitude to Li Buhui in words, it was more profound than any words could express.

Li Buhui was indeed radiant, the smile on her lips almost impossible to suppress, and she quickly stood up to return the greeting.

The group exchanged pleasantries for a while longer until the sun set and dusk fell, at which point they all got up to say goodbye.

"I will never forget the kindness shown to you three fellow Daoists today."

Before parting, Jiang Ling stood upright and gave the three of them a graceful bow, her demeanor extremely gentle.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, you're too kind."

The three returned the greeting in unison, watching her figure disappear at the market exit.

After saying goodbye to Jiang Ling, Wu Fan, Li Buhui, and Niu Dazhuang walked together toward the exit of the market.

"Brother Wu, this is the final payment for the pills you made yesterday. I will send someone to deliver the medicinal herbs you requested to Fengxie Tower where you are staying in a few days."

Li Buhui handed over a heavy cloth bag, from which the crisp sound of spirit stones colliding could be faintly heard.

Wu Fan took it and casually put it into his storage bag.

Seeing his straightforwardness, Li Buhui smiled slightly, cupped his hands and said, "Brother Wu, Brother Niu, I shall take my leave now. Let's meet again another day."

Having said that, he leaped away and departed along another path.

Watching Li Buhui's retreating figure, Wu Fan and Niu Dazhuang returned to Fengxie Tower together and went back to their rooms to rest.

The next morning, Wu Fan got up and went to the market, visiting each shop to inquire about high-quality fire-attribute spiritual materials.

After visiting several stores, I found that either the spiritual materials had weak primal power and the Five Elements Beads had no effect, or the primal power I sensed did not match the price, making them extremely poor value for money.

During this time, he did encounter many high-quality spiritual materials of other attributes, but since he mainly cultivated fire-attribute techniques, he had to put them aside for the time being.

On the fourth day of this search, Wu Fan finally received news from Qianzhen Pavilion.

The pavilion happens to be consigning a piece of molten crystal.

Upon hearing the words "Fire Crystal," Wu Fan felt a surge of surprise.

He had previously used the Fire Molten Stone to draw upon the primordial power of the Five Elements Bead, but after the Five Elements Bead advanced, the Fire Molten Stone became useless.

Firestone is a common material used to refine fire-attribute magical artifacts, but because it needs to be mined from deep within magma, the mining is extremely difficult and therefore the price is not low.

Fire-melting crystals are formed from fire-melting stones that have been tempered at high temperatures in the magma of the Earth's core for hundreds of years. Not only is the difficulty of mining them several times higher, but the fire attribute essence they contain is extremely pure, making them an excellent material for refining fire attribute magic weapons. Even a piece the size of a fingernail can sell for hundreds of spirit stones.

After learning the details, Wu Fan, led by his attendant, entered an elegant private room and sat down to wait.

Before long, the door was pushed open, and a stout middle-aged male cultivator walked in. His spiritual energy was contained, and his cultivation level had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining.

"Esteemed guest, I am Wang Buwei, the manager of Qianzhen Pavilion. I've heard you're interested in purchasing Fire Crystals?"

Wang Buwei wore a perfectly measured smile and spoke in an extremely gentle tone. His gaze swept quickly over Wu Fan as he secretly assessed the man's background.

Wu Fan stood up and returned the greeting with a cupped hand: "It is indeed I. I would like to trouble Steward Wang to bring out the Fire Melting Crystal for me to examine, so that I may see its quality."

Wang Buwei calmly took out a jade box with a spirit-sealing talisman affixed to it, which could firmly lock in the aura of the fire-melting crystal.

Then, he handed the jade box to Wu Fan and slowly opened it:

"Honorable guest, please take a look. This piece of Fire Melting Crystal was consigned for sale by a cultivator half a month ago. It is of excellent quality, with a refined essence and no impurities. It is sufficient to be used to refine a first-grade top-quality fire attribute magic weapon, and can even be used as a spiritual weapon material for Foundation Establishment cultivators."