Chương 26: Expenditure

A flying boat raced through the sky of the Scripture Pavilion Division's mountain ground. It traveled between the peaks with a destination already in mind, and soon after, the boat came to a halt at a courtyard placed on one of the peaks. A young child dismounted and bowed towards the older disciples who controlled the magic tool.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Zu. If you need anything in return, you just have to ask." Zu Guo waved his hand, denying the nicety.

"No need, junior brother. It was just some time flying you around. I made you the offer, after all." He laughed and added a further sentence.

"If you have to give me something, then leave me some of your future honey. I do not raise bees myself." Lin Yi nodded with gratitude. He could do that without problems. If everything went smoothly, he would have enough honey in the future. This was a small price for Senior Brother Zu's help and advice.

"I will do that. Do you want to come in with me for some time? However, I do not yet have tea to serve you. Just that you know." He offered his senior brother. It would have been rude not to offer him an invitation into his home after he had flown him around the sect. Luckily, Zu Guo declined this too. From the few times the two met, he picked up a few of Lin Yi's quirks.

"I know you want to work with your new purchases. I won't impose on you, haha. Take care, Junior Brother Lin."

"You too, senior brother!" With their farewell, the flying ship shot into the distance. Lin Yi patted his new storage pouch with an excited smile, turned around, and went into his home. A little exhausted by the day, he took a quick bath, and then withdrew to the garden pavilion. He sat down with a content sigh. A few weeks had passed after he purchased the Locking Yang Nourishing Art. During that time, he followed his planned schedule to a high degree, and his cultivation made good progress.

He comprehended the Qi patterns required for the art's Initial Beginning Stage and the Qi-construct tubes for his cultivation base. The Qi circulations, Primordial Yang Elixir, Yang Longevity Cauldron, meridians, and tubes were, after all, all some kind of Qi constructs and forms, just in different variations. Building the Primordial Yang Elixir had already started, as well as the support tubes for his Qi Condensation cultivation. Both began in the Penetrating Vessel. His reason?

The Primordial Yang Elixir did not need an explanation; it could only be formed in this meridian. And Lin Yi thought he could directly start with the tubes in the same meridian. There was no need to fear a lack of space. The meridian was a spiritual organ and had more space than one would see from the outside. The Primordial Yang Elixir and the Qi tubes, and later the Qi circulation pathways, didn't clash against each other.

As long as their attributes were not too incompatible or Lin Yi created too many Qi constructs in one meridian, there was no problem. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Furthermore, as one reached a higher realm, the meridians and other spiritual organs would expand. The Qi tubes had naturally made greater progress. He branched the Penetrating Vessel to nearly all other 19 meridians, and could soon continue with the next meridian.

Once Lin Yi found that he was familiar enough with the new immortal art and his cultivation progress, he turned his gaze towards his extracurricular activities. He informed himself, in person and through his sect plate, about the costs of various items. After checking that he had enough Sect Points, he didn't hesitate long and bought them. One item, a new immortal art, was in the Scripture Pavilion. The rest, however, were located in the official sect marketplace.

Not wanting to waste Sect Points on the cultivation world equivalent of a taxi, and remembering that Zu Guo had offered to fly him around, he asked him shamelessly. Fortunately, either because Senior Brother Zu was kind-hearted or for other reasons, he accepted with pleasure, and the two planned to set off on a free day. This day was today, and shortly before Zu Guo dropped him off after their tour was over. Lin Yi picked up his storage pouch and pulled out all of his newest acquisitions.

Let's take properly stock and organize them. He thought with some excitement. This was the first time he personally owned immortal items. Yes, he possessed various forms of spiritual objects, such as his sect plate, clothes, and courtyard, some of which were not classified as magic tools. But none of them were truly his to do with what he wished. A storage pouch, as the name implied, was a spatial magic tool designed to contain more space than a normal pouch.

Lin Yi was not sure exactly how they worked, as he had not yet delved into artifact refinement. From what he knew, artifact refiners used a small part of a spatial material in the crafting of the pouch. Then they created magical restrictions, similar in origin to Qi patterns, to expand the pouch's inner space and allow larger objects through the opening as well, with other convenient abilities. Once I have enough time or reached higher realms I will definitely look into each of the four grand cultivation arts.

He thought. Lin Yi didn't expect that he would reach great mastery in most of them, but knowing a little bit of each would definitely help in the future. Lin Yi extended and connected his spirituality to the storage pouch, which revealed its inner space, much like his own Internal Sight. It contained his old and new possessions. He picked each new object, pulled it out, and lined it up in front of him. First were the smaller ones.

A jade stone, a small wooden box, a bigger metal box, two big bottles, and a small cloth bag the size of a finger. With the next item, he had more problems. Damn, get out, get out. His face twisted a little in annoyance. Using his spirituality, he tried to pull out a shelf-like object, half the size of an adult man, from the storage pouch. But due to his inexperience in operating it, the item got stuck several times in the pouch opening.

Lin Yi tried to widen the opening, pulling the object out in different ways, and, finally, with some brute force, succeeded. Sigh, finally. Looking before him, he finally saw his newly purchased possessions. All together, they costed him 950 Sect Points, but personally, Lin Yi thought they were worth it. The jade stone contained the immortal art, Myriad Insect Control Art.

It was partially derived from the sect's orthodox inheritance, the Charging Bull Scripture, and, as the name suggested, was used to control spiritual insects. He had it already for a few days and knew, however, that the true art would only be usable at the mid and late stages of the Qi Condensation Realm. Lin Yi could only use a preliminary art, but that was enough for the time.

While partially derived from the Charging Bull Scripture, it was not valuable enough to be placed on the third floor of the main Scripture Pavilion. Thus, Lin Yi bought it from the second floor for a steep price of 350 Sect Points. It was also the most expensive item. He looked at the two boxes and two bottles, then at the small bag. The cloth bag contained only a seed, costing him 100 Sect Points. But that was no mere mortal seed for some plant, but the seed of a spiritual bamboo.

It was a spiritual variant of bamboo called Solitary Yang Bamboo. Lin Yi chose it due to its properties. For one, the bamboo was slightly different than its brethren in that it didn't grow other stalks independently. The Solitary Yang Bamboo instead often produced seeds, unlike normal bamboo, which may not produce seeds for decades. That was one ability one could derive from its name. The other was its yang attribute. Its leaves could be used as spiritual materials for many occasions, including as tea leaves.

Brewing and drinking this kind of tea would help him cultivate the Locking Yang Nourishing Art and would be helpful for his future cultivation plans. Furthermore, his spirit bees could use the Solitary Yang Bamboo for nectar and pollen. This might even mutate them into a yang-type spirit insect variant. It would not just be a small joy if that could happen. Lin Yi's gaze finally stayed on the remaining objects. All of them were for raising spirit bees.