Immortality and cultivation: Heaven rewards diligence, and success is inevitable.

"What do you suggest we do to resolve this?"

The cultivator glared fiercely at the crowd and spoke in a stern voice.

All the senior brothers breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, thankfully Li Ze hadn't caused any major trouble.

"Senior brother? How many spirit crystals do you want? I'll pay for him." Zhou Yuan took out a bag from his pocket, but it wasn't a storage bag.

The bag was an ordinary bag, but it made a jingling sound, which suggested it contained a lot of spirit crystals.

"Five hundred spirit crystals!" The cultivator stretched out his palm and gestured in front of everyone.

"What?! Five hundred spirit crystals?! How could there be so many? Did he sleep with a fairy?"

The other disciples stared in disbelief, dumbfounded.

You have to understand that it's only because Jiang Shi can make talismans that he can sell so many spirit crystals.

These poor, menial disciples usually had to be frugal here and there to save even a tiny bit of money.

The money saved up must be used to buy cultivation resources.

"You're right! He slept with a fairy. As soon as he arrived, he ordered a woman in the mid-stage of Qi Refining to accompany him. Do you think he should be given five hundred spirit crystals?"

After the monk finished speaking, everyone finally understood what was going on.

Everyone was disappointed in Li Ze.

The senior brothers were so angry that they all wanted to go up and beat Li Ze up.

"You'd better hand over the five hundred spirit crystals right now, or I'll keep him in the courtyard to entertain guests. I think some people just like that kind of thing."

The monk gently touched Li Ze's face with his foot.

Li Ze's entire body was immobilized by the cultivator's magic power, rendering him unable to speak or move.

He could only keep turning his eyes around, tears of anxiety and regret streaming down his face.

"Junior brothers, how many spirit crystals do you have?" Senior Brother Hu sighed and asked the group.

"Senior brother, I still have eighty here."

"Senior Brother Hu, I only have thirty spirit crystals left. I just spent them all."

"I have a hundred spirit crystals, but it's still not enough."

"I have fifty spirit crystals here." Jiang Shi had no more spirit crystals, but he still had some low-grade first-rank water shield talismans.

He didn't sell them all; he kept some for self-defense.

However, he didn't take out many; he only planned to give out five spirit talismans.

He took out five talismans, which left room for explanation; if he took out too many, it would inevitably arouse suspicion from his fellow disciples.

Nobody in the Canglin Chamber of Commerce knows him, so it doesn't matter to him if he sells a few hundred copies.

His fellow apprentices here know him inside and out.

Upon hearing Jiang Shi say that he had fifty spirit crystals, Zhou Yuan looked at Jiang Shi and nodded.

Previously, Zhou Yuan's impression of Jiang Shi had worsened, and he thought Jiang Shi was the kind of person who would curry favor with the powerful and wealthy.

In retrospect, Jiang Shi's willingness to sacrifice for Li Ze shows that he is a person of loyalty and righteousness.

Fifty spirit crystals is quite a lot for a menial disciple.

"I also have a hundred spirit crystals here, but it's still not enough," Senior Brother Hu said, frowning.

"Senior brother, we are outer disciples of the Qingyun Sect. I wonder if we could make an exception and pay 360 spirit crystals first, and we will definitely send the rest of the spirit crystals later," Senior Brother Hu said, clasping his hands in greeting.

"An outer disciple? You're probably just a menial disciple, aren't you? You can't even afford this much spirit crystal!"

The cultivator said with a disdainful look, "I am a disciple of the three major sects, Biluo Valley, so naturally I am not afraid of Qingyun Sect."

Besides, if they can't even come up with this much money, they're definitely not from a prominent family. So, we can just let them get away with it.

The other party couldn't afford to pay first, so even if the city lord of Canglin City came, he couldn't find fault with him.

Thinking of this, the cultivator grabbed Li Ze and dragged him into the pleasure house.

Just then, a cold voice rang out.

"Stop!" Lin Yanyi walked over.

She had actually arrived long ago. She was disgusted by Li Ze's spending money at brothels, so she didn't want to get involved.

But seeing that none of her fellow disciples could gather enough spirit crystals, she couldn't just let Li Ze be dragged in to serve them.

They had no choice but to step in and help.

"Fairy Lin." The cultivator immediately changed his attitude upon seeing Lin Yanyi.

He abandoned Li Ze and strode over to Lin Yanyi.

"Fairy Lin, it's been a long time, but you still look as elegant as ever." The cultivator took out a fan from his storage bag and said to Lin Yanyi with an air of refined elegance.

"I still vividly remember the fairy's grace during the last joint competition of the three sects."

The three major sects sometimes join forces to hold a grand competition in order to hone the combat skills of their disciples.

It is certainly not enough for disciples to only cultivate behind closed doors.

"Here are five hundred spirit crystals, don't worry," Lin Yanyi said coldly.

She naturally didn't want to talk to the people of Biluo Valley.

The relationship between men and women in Biluo Valley is unusually open.

They often practice together, without any sense of shame.

Lin Yanyi usually avoids people from Biluo Valley.

"Fairy Lin..." The cultivator wanted to speak, but Lin Yanyi didn't give him a chance at all.

She took out five hundred spirit crystals and threw them to him. Then, Lin Yanyi stretched out her jade hand, and a beam of white light shot into Li Ze's body.

Li Ze was able to move again immediately.

"Senior Sister Lin, I..." Li Ze was about to speak, his face streaked with tears.

Lin Yanyi ignored him and turned to leave.

"Oh dear," the cultivator said, quite disappointed as he watched Lin Yanyi leave.

Then he turned to look at Li Ze, smiled and patted Li Ze on the shoulder.

"You're a junior brother from the Qingyun Sect, right? Come often! Don't worry about money, your Senior Sister Lin will pay for it. Welcome, welcome!"

Then he laughed and went back to the pleasure house.

"Junior Brother Li, how dare you go to a place like that! I, Zhou Yuan, have been in the outer sect for ten years, and I've never been there! You bastard!"

Senior Brother Hu had a terrible temper and kicked Li Ze in the butt.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Li Ze dared not resist and could only let Senior Brother Hu teach him a lesson.

After Senior Brother Hu's reprimand, everyone lost interest in going to the auction and prepared to return to Qingyun Sect.

On the way, Zhou Yuan changed his attitude towards Jiang Shi, and the two became much more amicable.

Back in the courtyard, Jiang Shi bid farewell to everyone and went to his home.

After finishing his meal, Jiang Shi prepared to begin his cultivation.

He aims to break through the "Earth Spirit Technique" to the perfect state in one fell swoop.

He took out a small porcelain bottle and swallowed a Huangting Pill in one gulp.

[Proficiency +30]

A rich earth elemental energy entered his dantian.

It was slowly refined by Jiang Shi.

My proficiency is increasing rapidly.

Six days later, Jiang Shi finished his work.

[Earth Spirit Technique: Great Success (2100/3000)]

The two Huangting Pills increased Jiang Shi's proficiency by about two thousand.

Although he had not yet reached perfection in his cultivation, Jiang Shi felt that he was about to break through to the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage.

"I need to go into seclusion to cultivate." Fearing that the time would be too long, Jiang Shi first went to collect the talismans and tools for the next month.

Then I used my contribution points to buy some fasting pills.

The Fasting Pill is best taken by cultivators during seclusion. One pill can last for ten days without food.

The price isn't high either; it's one contribution point, much cheaper than Huang Ting Dan.

After completing his preparations, Jiang Shi began his seclusion to focus all his efforts on breaking through to the next level.

A month and a half later—

Jiang Shi sat on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a sharp glint in them.

He broke through!

[Earth Spirit Technique: Perfected (3000/3000)]

His cultivation level also broke through to the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage.

Most importantly, he has now actually cultivated spiritual consciousness, which is something that can only be cultivated in the late stage of Qi Refining.