Sage of Humanity

Many people like Liew Ruyin in the mercantile union are responsible for transactions with cultivators. Although they receive a salary every month, the salary is not high and does not meet their cultivation needs.

Tips from clients are one of their additional sources of income. Of course, being willing to humble themselves and serve clients like Liew Ruyin is another way to make money.

Everyone in the mercantile union comes from a background of independent cultivators, and before joining the union, they were all poor and destitute. They know better than any cultivator the cruelty of the cultivation world and the difficulty of survival. Therefore, serving clients is not something they find hard to accept; it's a necessity driven by life.

Stepping out of Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, Lu Ye sighed.

He had intended to ask if he could sell those few storage sacks, but Liew Ruyin's handling of the situation made him forget all about it.

It seemed inappropriate to turn back now, so he would have to wait until next time. He had planned to set off on his journey to the Righteous Blood Sect's residence, but now it seemed there was no need to rush.

Having some good items on hand, he had to completely digest them and convert them into his own cultivation – that was the proper way. With a higher cultivation, the journey would also be safer.

As for staying at Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, Lu Ye didn't consider it, as he was short on funds. The price of one Spirit Stone per night may not seem like much, but if he were to stay for many days, it would be a huge expense.

With only four Spirit Stones left, Lu Ye found an apothecary based on his daytime memories and spent two Spirit Stones on two Spirit-Nurturing Pills, then returned to the street where he had set up his stall during the day.

He casually placed a few pieces of ore on the stall from his storage sack, sat down with his legs crossed, and took out another Spirit Stone.

This was the first time he had obtained Spirit Stones, which could be used to aid in cultivation.

Lu Ye had already tried cultivating with medicine, and now wanted to try cultivating with Spirit Stones to compare the efficiencies. If it proved efficient, he would not need to spend Spirit Stones on elixir pills in the future.

Though he had never cultivated with Spirit Stones before, he was familiar with the concept – during the day, he had seen many stall owners selling goods while holding a Spirit Stone and cultivating, looking very comfortable and content.

Now, mimicking what he had learned, Lu Ye discovered one advantage of cultivating with Spirit Stones.

That is, you can interrupt cultivation at any time, unlike after ingesting elixir pills, where the pill energy spreads in the abdomen. If not guided in time, it could cause accumulations of pill energy.

Cultivating with Spirit Stones is different. If something happens, you can interrupt cultivation immediately without any adverse effects. Stay connected through empire

At night, the street was still bustling. From time to time, cultivators would come to inquire about prices. Lu Ye handled it as he did during the day and astoundingly completed a transaction, selling a piece of ore for five Spirit Stones.

By dawn, Lu Ye stopped this round of cultivation and opened his hand to look at the Spirit Stone – it had only shrunk a little. Looking at the increase of spirit force in his tenth spiritual orifice, Lu Ye frowned slightly.

After a night of trying, he reached several conclusions.

Cultivating with Spirit Stones is safer than with elixir pills. Firstly, the cultivation process can be interrupted anytime. Secondly, there are no hidden dangers with Spirit Stones, similar to absorbing nature's spiritual energy.

However, in terms of efficiency, it is nowhere near that of ingesting elixir pills.

Perhaps it's an issue with his own talents, making it difficult to channel the Spiritual Energy into his body. Lu Ye felt that with his current rate of cultivation, it would probably take several days of non-stop cultivation to deplete a Spirit Stone.

Other cultivators might have a higher efficiency, but definitely not comparable to taking elixir pills.

As for cost-efficiency...

The value of one Spirit Stone is basically equivalent to one Spirit-Nurturing Pill. The amount of spirit force gained after consuming a Spirit Stone is roughly the same as that gained from an elixir pill, making the cost-efficiency about the same.

After these trials, Lu Ye understood why everyone needed to convert Spirit Stones into medicine for cultivation – in terms of efficiency, taking elixir pills is indeed higher and naturally more preferred by everyone.

As daylight approached, Lu Ye packed up his stall and left the marketplace.

Since he was unwilling to spend unnecessary money on lodging at Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, he would have to find another place.

He prepared to return to the cave he had found on Qingyun Mountain before, deemed relatively safe, where no one would disturb his cultivation.

The reason he didn't leave at night was mainly because it was dangerous to travel then.

Before departing, he spent two Spirit Stones on a lot of food, as hunting in the mountains was very time-consuming, and there weren't many wild animals left in that area anymore.

He took stock of his current possessions: forty-seven Spirit-Nurturing Pills, five low-grade Spirit Stones, almost thirty Spirit Talismans, six healing pills, nearly thirty pieces of origin magnetic ore, big and small, as well as some ores whose names Lu Ye couldn't recall, and four sets of clothes for changing.

Compared to when he first entered the Spirit Stream battlefield, his assets were roughly the same, but his cultivation had improved tremendously.

Lu Ye believed that if he could convert all the things he had into strength, he might be able to advance several levels in the Spirit Stream realm.

However, such things couldn't be rushed; they needed to be planned step by step.

The marketplace saw many cultivators coming and going, most of them in groups, but there were also lone wolves like Lu Ye—those independent cultivators who lacked support from family or sects.

Lu Ye left the marketplace when dawn was breaking; as he was alone, he inevitably had to be more cautious.

Upon smoothly entering Qingyun Mountain, Lu Ye ran at full speed, making detours on purpose a few times to make sure no one was following him before proceeding along the path leading out of the mountain.

By noon, Lu Ye had rushed back to his previous cave.

To his surprise, there was some noise inside the cave. He crept in cautiously, a Spirit Talisman clenched in his hand and ready to strike, but when he took a good look, he was almost beside himself with anger.

There, inside the cave, a white figure was lying on the ground, sound asleep—who else could it be but Big Tiger?

Yiyi floated out from Big Tiger's forehead, and as their eyes met, the scene became somewhat awkward.

"What are you doing in my house?" Lu Ye demanded.

Yiyi also asked, "Didn't you leave?"

"I've come back!"

A moment later, Big Tiger's robust figure darted out of the cave, turned back to roar at Lu Ye, and atop Big Tiger's head, Yiyi looked utterly indignant, gritting her teeth, "Big liar! Untrustworthy and disloyal!"

"Get lost!" came Lu Ye's shout from inside the cave.

Having driven away the intruders, one spirit and one tiger, who had taken over his nest, Lu Ye ate something and then entered a state of cultivation.

He first took out two Spirit-Nurturing Pills he had bought with Spirit Stones and consumed one. After the pill energy dispersed in his abdomen, he guided the spirit force into his spiritual orifice.

The spirit force in the tenth orifice slowly accumulated.

When the pill energy of one Spirit-Nurturing Pill had been fully expended, Lu Ye opened his eyes and noticed an issue—the efficacy of the Spirit-Nurturing Pill he bought from the marketplace seemed not as good as those given by the sect master. The difference wasn't huge, but it was there, discernible from the spirit force accumulated in his spiritual orifice.

He didn't rest; he took another Spirit-Nurturing Pill and, after the pill energy was completely spent, became even more certain of this result.

Afterwards, he took another Spirit-Nurturing Pill that he had gotten from the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union and consumed it.

After comparing, he finally concluded that Liew Ruyin hadn't lied to him—the Spirit-Nurturing Pills from the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union were indeed better than those sold outside and were equivalent to those given by the sect master.

Looking at it this way, he hadn't wasted his money. In the future, when buying elixir pills, he would still need to go to the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, where at least the quality was assured.