Chapter 79

After listening to Song Qingming, Shi Chun raised his wine cup and said slowly and earnestly, "Brother Song, after this experience, we can be considered to have a bond of life and death. If you encounter any trouble in Guiyun Market in the future, as long as we can help, you can come to our cave dwelling to find us."

Song Qingming also raised his wine cup, drank with Shi Chun, and then said:

"Brother Shi, you know many people in Guiyun Market. I am in need of a middle-grade spirit stone recently. I wonder if you know where I might be able to exchange for one."

"A middle-grade spirit stone? Could it be that Fellow Daoist Song is looking to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining?" Shi Chun did not answer immediately, but instead looked at Song Qingming and asked with some confusion.

The middle-grade spirit stone Song Qingming spoke of was also a type of spirit stone, but it contained much more spiritual energy than the low-grade spirit stones Song Qingming had. In the cultivation world, one middle-grade spirit stone was worth approximately one hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Ordinary Qi Refining cultivators generally used low-grade spirit stones for cultivation; only cultivators at the Core Formation stage and above would directly use middle-grade spirit stones. Seeing that Song Qingming needed such an item, Shi Chun quickly guessed that he must be using it to break through his realm.

A middle-grade spirit stone contained more than ten times the spiritual energy of a low-grade spirit stone, and the energy was purer. Like the Qi-Gathering Pill Song Qingming had used before, it was an excellent spiritual item used to assist Qi Refining cultivators in breaking through bottlenecks.

Seeing that Shi Chun had guessed his intention, Song Qingming smiled and nodded, continuing, "That is indeed the case. After leaving White Dragon Mountain, I found that it was very difficult to advance my magic power during cultivation. Now that I have returned to Guiyun Market and have some time, I want to try and see if I can take another step forward."

"I really didn't expect that in less than five years, Brother Song's Dao path would have already surpassed mine," Shi Chun said with some envy.

"Brother Song is going to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining so quickly. Could it be that you are also a three-element spiritual root cultivator?" Qin Yuniang asked curiously upon hearing that Song Qingming was exchanging for a middle-grade spirit stone to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining.

Song Qingming shook his head and said modestly, "The two of you, please don't tease me. Breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining is not such an easy thing. This is my first attempt at breaking through, and I estimate that nine times out of ten I won't be able to break through the realm. I'll be satisfied if I can just loosen the bottleneck."

"Brother Song is still so young, don't be impatient; there is plenty of time to break through the realm. Come to think of it, I do know a few people who have middle-grade spirit stones. However, Brother Song, you should know that here in Guiyun Market, one middle-grade spirit stone requires about one hundred and ten spirit stones to exchange for."

"Brother Shi, rest assured, I am naturally aware of this. If you can help me exchange for a middle-grade spirit stone, please come directly to the Flying Cloud Guard station in Guiyun Market to find me."

Although the market value of one middle-grade spirit stone is equal to one hundred low-grade spirit stones, middle-grade spirit stones are much more useful than low-grade ones. Qi Refining cultivators can use them to break through realms, and Foundation Establishment cultivators can use them in battle to recover their magic power more quickly.

This also leads to people with middle-grade spirit stones basically not being willing to take them out to exchange for low-grade ones unless you are willing to pay a premium. Even so, in a place like Guiyun Market, they are still in high demand but low supply.

The three chatted happily in the Heavenly Wind Tower for over an hour, and only after they were full of food and wine did they reluctantly part ways.

After leaving the Heavenly Wind Tower, Song Qingming returned directly to the Flying Cloud Guard station. Xu Ziyan and the others had not yet returned from the Floating Cloud Mountain Range, so Song Qingming could only place the Green Jade Pill in his residence and wait until she returned to hand it over to her.

Unexpectedly, only a few days after the gathering at the Heavenly Wind Tower, Shi Chun actually brought a middle-grade spirit stone and found Song Qingming, and he even brought him two at once. This made Song Qingming overjoyed.

Originally, Song Qingming had been prepared to go elsewhere to inquire about middle-grade spirit stones, but he didn't expect that the problem would be solved so quickly after the gathering with Shi Chun.

Song Qingming used the two hundred and twenty low-grade spirit stones he had on him to exchange for these two middle-grade spirit stones.

After obtaining the middle-grade spirit stones, Song Qingming, who had originally wanted to enjoy a leisurely period, had to start preparing to break through his cultivation realm.

Breaking through from the sixth level of Qi Refining to the seventh level is also a major bottleneck, so it is naturally not easy to break through. Song Qingming naturally had to be well-prepared.

In order to have a higher chance of a successful breakthrough, Song Qingming specifically went to Guiyun Mountain and spent over a dozen spirit stones to rent a cave dwelling with more abundant spiritual energy.

After using a Mind-Clearing Talisman to adjust his state, Song Qingming spent three days carefully dissolving the middle-grade spirit stone in his hand. Using the incomparably abundant spiritual energy from the spirit stone, Song Qingming began to attempt to break through the bottleneck in his body's meridians.

However, it was a pity that after Song Qingming spent over ten days and consumed one middle-grade spirit stone and many other spiritual items, not only did he fail to break through successfully, but he also nearly injured the meridians in his body. Helpless, he could only end his seclusion in disappointment and walk out of the cave dwelling.

Although he had been prepared in his heart, knowing that breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining was not that easy, it was impossible for most cultivators to succeed on their first attempt.

However, Song Qingming had prepared so thoroughly this time and spent so much time, yet the spiritual energy gathered in his dantian during the breakthrough couldn't even rush into his meridians, let alone touch the bottleneck. This truly left him feeling quite dejected.

After this failed breakthrough, he would have to spend at least another half a year polishing the magic power in his body before he could continue to use spiritual items to break through. Fortunately, Song Qingming still had one middle-grade spirit stone on him, so he didn't have to worry about the spiritual items needed for the breakthrough for the time being.

After leaving the rented cave dwelling, Song Qingming came to a shop in Guiyun Market, intending to sell some of the spiritual items he had on him to exchange for some spirit stones.

After a trip to White Dragon Mountain and exchanging for two middle-grade spirit stones this time, Song Qingming's spirit stones were mostly spent. This failed breakthrough also let him know that breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining was not that simple, so he had to make preparations early to ensure a smooth breakthrough in the future.

After agreeing on the value with the shop assistant, Song Qingming took out the magic tools he had obtained from Zhao Tiepao and the Ghost-Head, along with a portion of the talismans he had on him.

"A total of three hundred and sixty-eight spirit stones. Let's just round it up to three hundred and seventy spirit stones for you. Fellow Daoist, do you think that's acceptable?"

A middle-aged female cultivator with a face full of smiles reported a price that Song Qingming was very satisfied with after the shop assistant had counted all the spiritual items Song Qingming had taken out.

Song Qingming, sitting on a chair, sipped the spiritual tea gifted by the shop and nodded calmly, saying, "Then let's do as you say. Give me twenty catties of spiritual rice and a bottle of Qi-Nurturing Pills, and exchange the rest for spirit stones."

Soon, Song Qingming walked out of the shop, holding the spirit stones and spiritual items he had just exchanged for, feeling very satisfied.

After renting the cave dwelling on Guiyun Mountain, Song Qingming had already moved all his belongings from the Flying Cloud Guard station directly to the new cave dwelling.

Taking advantage of the fact that there were no missions for now, and using the abundant spiritual energy on Guiyun Mountain, Song Qingming seized the time to produce some talismans, preparing for the next time he would follow the Flying Cloud Guard into the Floating Cloud Mountain Range.

Just as Song Qingming had been fully immersed in talisman-making for not long, Xu Ziyan and their Eleventh Team of the Flying Cloud Guard finally finished their mission and returned to Guiyun Market.

(End of chapter)