Chapter 265: 7 Foundation Establishments
Although Song Jiulai also gave the other half of the Sect’s Spirit Fields to the new players, a competition like this still couldn’t be completely fair.
However, this was also due to Chen Miaomiao’s breakthrough in developing Spirit Grass, which was a testament to her own ability.
There was nothing to be done about it. With such a disparity in levels, the points ranking was bound to be unfair.
Song Jiulai thought for a moment. ’Since there are commemorative medals, maybe next time I shouldn’t do this kind of large-scale points ranking. I should make it more detailed.’
’For instance, players have different specializations. Artifact Refining competitions could be based on success rate and quality, while Alchemy competitions could focus on the quantity and quality of what’s produced. I could just give awards to the top few players at the Early, Mid, and Late Stages of each rank.’
’That would be suitable for when there are more players.’
’It would be a bit more troublesome, but at least it would be friendlier to ordinary and new players than the current competition, and it would also boost their motivation.’
’Besides, the system isn’t afraid of handling these trivial matters.’
The system said, "We’re just in the initial phase. You’re a new Sect Master, so it’s impossible to have a perfect plan. Things will get better and better."
Hearing this, Song Jiulai’s eyes widened. "You actually said something human."
The system replied, "What do you mean? What parent doesn’t dote on their child?"
Song Jiulai: "..."
’You little monster.’
When the day ended, Song Jiulai closed the top ten rankings and issued the qualification to exchange for a new puppet.
Therefore, she planned to return to Xuanwu City, rent an Artifact Refining workshop, and craft the new puppets.
’Looks like I’ll have to buy some good medicine powder.’
The material ratios for different puppets on the market were hardly a secret; they were publicly circulated, so there was no need to go out of your way to buy the recipes.
Some merchants even specialized in selling puppet spirit materials, telling buyers what abilities the finished product would have.
Second-order Puppets were only slightly better, and not difficult to craft.
Of course, she hadn’t forgotten her main job. While practicing the Lotus Birth Kill, she discovered she could multitask.
She could cultivate and mine at the same time, unlike with the Nine Transformations Dragon Bone, which required her full, undivided attention.
Back when she dealt with that trio, she had used two Magic Treasures at once.
Controlling a Magic Treasure wasn’t difficult, as long as one had enough Spiritual Energy.
But controlling several Magic Treasures simultaneously still required a powerful consciousness for support.
She had opened her Sea of Consciousness ahead of schedule, so her consciousness was stronger than others’.
But with the blessing of the system’s Soul Cultivation Heart Method, it seemed she could cheat far more easily than others.
She could now practice the Lotus Birth Kill while splitting off a part of her consciousness to mine.
Normally, this was quite risky. Practicing a Cultivation Technique without full concentration could easily lead to mishaps. However, the Lotus Birth Kill wasn’t as demanding as the Dragon Transformation Bone, and this opened up a whole new world for Song Jiulai.
Her mining speed was very fast, not on the same level as an ordinary Cultivator.
She mined quite a few ores during this time.
It wasn’t until she mined her first ore containing a Dragon Breath Spirit that she understood what it was.
A faint, winding shadow of light would appear, swimming within that section of the ore.
It also emitted a much richer Spiritual Energy.
This made the ore all the more eye-catching.
A single glance was enough to tell it was different from ordinary ore.
Ores of the same rank also varied in size, though there wouldn’t be any particularly large differences.
Most Cultivators used simple and crude methods to process the ore after separating the impurities.
However, when encountering a Dragon Breath Spirit, one had to be much more careful.
If the excess edges of the ore were separated, the Dragon Breath Spirit might dissipate.
Therefore, it required extra caution during processing.
But that was only for newcomers. After becoming proficient, an average disciple could basically guarantee success; the problem was that ores with a Dragon Breath Spirit were just too rare.
This wasn’t difficult for Song Jiu. With just a little extra care, she successfully extracted the ore containing the Dragon Breath Spirit.
She didn’t have the system intercept this piece. When she took it out, the mark on her wrist grew hot, a clear sign that it had been registered by the Sea View Sect.
The ore glowed with a faint light. It was a piece of Black Xuan Stone.
It was pitch-black all over, somewhat resembling Meteorite Iron, but a shadow of light floated continuously within, making it look very beautiful.
This one was First Rank.
Song Jiulai didn’t care that it was intercepted by the Sea View Sect.
In less than a week, she had mined the required amount of spirit materials for the Sea View Sect. Among them, there were only four pieces in total with a Dragon Breath Spirit, and all were First Rank—and she had consumed three of them.
’If I can mine more later, I guess I’ll give two pieces to the Sea View Sect.’
’So what if I take the lion’s share? The output is so low, the Sea View Sect should be honoring me!’
’Leaving even one piece for the Sea View Sect feels like I’m doing charity.’
The points ranking ended, and the players who earned the right to exchange for a new puppet were overjoyed.
The top three were Mu Qiu, Honghuang, and An Xiu.
Fan Guzhou and his group seemed to have intentionally controlled the rate at which they acquired points. In any case, they had exchanged everything for Spirit Stones instead of keeping points.
Because the top three came with special abilities, they had probably discussed among themselves to leave the special puppets for these three first.
This was likely something they discussed outside the game. After all, it was no secret that players were in contact in the real world now.
Mu Qiu had even officially become an employee of Han Tian.
Grouping up was unavoidable. Fortunately, the batch of players she had chosen this time were good at heart and had good fortune. The other, more ordinary players were also quite accepting of the Cultivation World’s mechanisms.
Survival of the fittest; it wasn’t strange that they couldn’t get more points because they weren’t strong enough.
The only shame was that paying to win by buying points didn’t count as acquiring them...
Back in Xuanwu City, Song Jiulai was buying materials when she received news that the two brothers, Jiang Tianya and Liang Xueyao, had both reached Foundation Establishment.
Their breakthrough to Foundation Establishment was similar to Mu Qiu’s, in that they encountered danger. However, their danger came from two Late-stage Qi Refining Loose Cultivators.
The two of them had taken some lifestyle players to First Mountain.
They ran into these two Loose Cultivators because the pair had gotten ideas about robbing the Longevity Sect’s lifestyle players.
But one of the lifestyle players shouted in the Sect channel, and Jiang Tianya and Liang Xueyao, who rushed back in time, discovered the situation.
They attacked directly without any hesitation.
If it had been an ordinary Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, dealing with two experienced ones would have been quite difficult.
It was just like last time when the players were defeated by disciples from other Sects.
It was hard to beat others without relying on pills.
But Jiang Tianya and Liang Xueyao both possessed a Purple Spirit Root, had been trained in the real world, and their synergy in battle was terrifyingly good—even better than the brief coordination of Mu Qiu’s trio.
To test their own limits, they hadn’t used any pills at the beginning. As the fight dragged on and their consumption grew, their opponents realized something was wrong and tried to flee. But they didn’t get far before Jiang Tianya and his brother forcefully stopped them.
After all, it would be bad if anyone else found out about this.
They only had Mortal Treasures on hand, and even those were ones Liang Xueyao himself had refined.
After the battle, both of them successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment.
The two of them had no psychological barrier about silencing them permanently, since their opponents were the aggressors.
They just didn’t know which Sect the opponents came from.
The system then told Song Jiulai, "These two Cultivators are a bit like the first person you met when you were in the Early Stage of Qi Refining."