Chapter 37: Second Update

Although Chi Yixuan was using the shadow guard’s body to communicate with the people inside Half-Moon Gorge, leaving a layer of separation from his own senses, the instant the shadow guard entered Half-Moon Gorge, he still immediately felt the world of difference between the concentration of spiritual qi inside and outside the barrier.

Everyone said the immortal continents were filled with spiritual qi, something the mortal world could not begin to compare with, but when Chi Yixuan entered Dongchen Continent, he had only felt that the spiritual qi between heaven and earth had become a little more active. It had not exceeded his expectations by much, and at first, he had even been somewhat disappointed. Only after entering Half-Moon Gorge did he realize that it was not the immortal continents bragging. Rather, good spiritual veins simply would never be placed outside the immortal gates.

If barriers could lock the spiritual qi of a spiritual vein inside and keep it from leaking out, then those immortal gates could naturally use the same method to seal most of the spiritual qi inside their own sects, where only their disciples could enjoy it. A single yellow-grade high-grade spiritual vein could bring such dense spiritual qi. Then what about a mystic-grade high-grade one, an earth-grade high-grade one, or even a heaven-grade high-grade one? No wonder so many cultivators flocked to upper-tier immortal gates. No wonder Wutong could summon a life-bound artifact at only ten years old.

What surprised Chi Yixuan was that the average age of the people inside Half-Moon Gorge was even younger than he had expected. Previously, he had thought that since they could control a yellow-grade high-grade spiritual vein, even if there were no cultivators inside, they should at least all be close to adulthood. Who could have known there would be children younger than Wutong inside, and even a two-year-old baby with a snot bubble hanging from their nose?

When that little baby was frightened into tears by the shadow guard’s appearance, yet dragged that snot bubble along while holding back and not daring to make a sound, Chi Yixuan happily thought, Zhaoge can finally open a kindergarten! More points will come in!

And with a spiritual vein like this, his subjects’ cultivation would definitely grow quickly. When the time came, they would be able to kick points back to him too! It was simply a sure-profit business!

As Chi Yixuan calculated in his heart, he felt that reaching Golden Core in a year was looking very possible!

Even his life-bound artifact sensed his excitement. The life-bound artifact spoke up helplessly to remind him, “I’m afraid you may be disappointed. The reason the concentration of spiritual qi in Half-Moon Gorge is so high is because Half-Moon Gorge is small and has few people. If you incorporate this spiritual vein into Zhaoge and open it to all future subjects of Zhaoge, then the concentration of spiritual qi will inevitably decrease.”

“Oh, right.” Chi Yixuan instantly felt disappointed. “But that’s fine. Now we have a yellow-grade spiritual vein, and in the future, we’ll be able to have a mystic-grade spiritual vein. You have to eat one bite at a time.”

Not long after, Tie Di and Gang Qin finally finished discussing. The two of them came before Chi Yixuan and said solemnly, “We are willing to offer the spiritual vein here to Senior, but Senior must promise to protect everyone in Half-Moon Gorge and give us a place to live in peace, until more than half of us have become cultivators.”

This was not outside Chi Yixuan’s expectations. He could tell that Half-Moon Gorge’s barrier would not last much longer. At present, their only choice was to cooperate with him.

So he was not anxious in the slightest. Instead, he casually found a bamboo slip inside Half-Moon Gorge and carefully wrote out a contract.

The bamboo slip carrying the contents of the contract floated before the sisters. The terms were even more generous than they had imagined. As long as they promised to become members of Zhaoge, Chi Yixuan and his Zhaoge would protect them. This protection did not stop at preserving their lives. It also included helping them make a living and cultivate before they reached adulthood. After they became adults, as long as their cultivation reached Qi Refining third level or above, they could enter Zhaoge’s workshops to work, and even the treatment had been listed out together.

The higher their cultivation, the more resources Zhaoge would allocate toward them.

The contents were truly too detailed. It took the sisters quite a while to finish reading. After that came a long silence.

When Tie Di spoke again, her voice was even a little trembling. “Senior, is all this true?”

Chi Yixuan nodded. “As long as the contract is established, I cannot violate it.”

The sisters naturally understood this point. It was precisely because they understood that they found it so hard to believe. This contract offered better treatment than what many immortal gate disciples received.

No one understood the drawbacks of Half-Moon Gorge better than Tie Di and Gang Qin. Although they had a spiritual vein and did not lack spiritual qi or spirit stones, this place was truly too small. The knowledge they could access here was limited, and if they wanted their cultivation to advance, tempering experience was indispensable. None of their family had been able to successfully reach Foundation Establishment inside Half-Moon Gorge. Otherwise, they would not be in such a passive position.

What they had originally thought was to use one spiritual vein in exchange for a dozen years of protection. During those dozen years, they would cultivate with all their might and succeed in reaching Foundation Establishment, so they could protect their younger family members in the future. The reason they were so humble and did not dare ask for anything more was also because they worried this Golden Core senior might go back on his word later. But there was nothing they could do. Their cultivation was low, and they were young. Suffering losses was inevitable. Was this not how the world had always been?

Yet they had not expected Chi Yixuan to take the initiative to list even more conditions. So many, and so detailed. This was clearly not done on a whim, but something he had already decided long ago. This was no longer merely protection. To say he was treating them like younger relatives would not be excessive.

And there were three hundred fifty-six brothers and sisters in Half-Moon Gorge! Most of them were under ten years old. It would not be easy to raise so many people. To put it unpleasantly, this was practically like being a giant sucker. Was this Golden Core senior perhaps a little foolish?

Forgive the sisters Tie Di and Gang Qin. They truly could not describe this senior with only the word “kind.”

Without the slightest hesitation, the two took the bamboo slip and pressed down their own fingerprints. They even pulled over the rest of their family and did not let off even the youngest children. When the little babies had their fingerprints pressed down, they even cluelessly blew bubbles.

The dense, overlapping fingerprints nearly covered the contract terms on the bamboo slip. After confirming that all the children had signed, Tie Di finally revealed a smile. “Please forgive us, Senior. This contract is truly too good. I’m afraid we may not bear to leave Zhaoge in the future.”

What Chi Yixuan wanted was precisely for them not to bear leaving!

He could tell that these children had better aptitude than the vast majority of Zhaoge’s current subjects. In the future, they would definitely bring him quite a few points. There was no need to talk about the distant future. Just speaking of the near future, once these children entered Zhaoge, they would also solve part of the demand for labor. Then making some early investment was only right. In fact, this did not even count as an investment. The value of one spiritual vein surpassed everything.

And the instant the contract was established, Chi Yixuan also heard the reminder from his life-bound artifact.

“Congratulations. You have gained three hundred fifty-six subjects. Your points have increased by three hundred fifty-six. Zhaoge currently has a total of one thousand five hundred eighty subjects.”

“Congratulations. You have obtained a yellow-grade high-grade spiritual vein. You have established immortal merit for Zhaoge’s future and have gained fifty thousand points. Your current point balance is sixty-six thousand one hundred sixty-two.”

Fifty thousand points! Chi Yixuan had never dreamed that one yellow-grade spiritual vein could earn him so much!

He was rich, rich!

Outside the gorge, Chi Yixuan’s main body excitedly jumped through an entire set of broadcast exercises on the spot and immediately withdrew points.

Thirty thousand points were instantly drained away, and his cultivation also changed from Foundation Establishment third level to Foundation Establishment fourth level, officially stepping into mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

It was not that Chi Yixuan was anxious to increase his combat power. Rather, after stepping into mid-stage Foundation Establishment, not only could he unlock another function, he could also open the game shop!

At present, his Zhaoge was still developing a little slowly. Although the subjects of Zhaoge felt that everything was changing by the day and were extremely proud, Chi Yixuan himself was not satisfied. In particular, there were many things he wanted to buy but could not. The shop, however, was different. He could pay to win!

Now he had a spiritual vein, and one yellow-grade high-grade spiritual vein could produce quite a few spirit stones every month. He had suddenly become loaded!

So after advancing, he urged the life-bound artifact to open the shop, impatient to enjoy the pleasure of being a pay-to-win player!

Yet when the shop opened, Chi Yixuan was dumbfounded. Paying to win was possible, but the currency was not spirit stones, much less gold or silver. It was points! Was this not just using cultivation to make up for having no money?

Chi Yixuan’s eyes went blank. “I knew it. I knew it. This world won’t let me exploit a single loophole.”

As for blaming the game? Impossible, impossible. This was his own game. How could there possibly be a problem with his game? The problem had to be this world!

There were truly too many goods in the shop, too many to browse through all at once, so Chi Yixuan had the life-bound artifact help filter suitable items.

A moment later, all the goods in the entire shop sank down, leaving only two items floating up.

The first was a magic artifact: the Kun Boat. It could change size at any time, which suited Chi Yixuan’s needs perfectly. He needed a means of transportation when going out, and to take so many people away from Half-Moon Gorge, he also needed a Kun Boat.

The price was also one Chi Yixuan could just barely afford: thirty thousand points.

It was just that activating the Kun Boat required quite a few spirit stones. With a spiritual vein now, he was not short of spirit stones for the time being.

He looked toward the second item. The instant he saw the listed price, he fell speechless, and even suspected that the life-bound artifact was teasing him again.

“Five hundred thousand? I wouldn’t be worth that much even if you sold me.”

The life-bound artifact said, “Please believe me. I would not select an item you are currently unable to pay for.”

Chi Yixuan made a questioning sound and carefully looked at the product name: Teleportation Gate.

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