Xiao Fei had been a disciple of the Dan Xin Sect for over a year.
In that time, he had come to understand the various matters within the sect.
Apart from spirit stones, there was another system of currency within the sect: contribution points.
One could earn contribution points by doing tasks for the sect or completing various assigned missions.
Contribution points could be used to learn cultivation techniques, trade items, and more within the sect.
Xiao Fei woke early that day, ate some leftover food from the previous night, and then walked out of his small courtyard.
Outside the courtyard were three mu of spiritual fields, which Xiao Fei had planted with Lantern Fruit. This was an herbaceous spiritual fruit that bore fruit in three years and matured in eight.
Beside the spiritual fields, a spiritual peach tree was also planted, already bearing some spiritual peaches. He had exchanged 80 contribution points with other disciples for it.
A spiritual peach tree that was already bearing fruit was equivalent to a money tree; no one would willingly sell it unless there were special circumstances.
Xiao Fei walked to the tree, activated a simple protective formation, plucked a semi-ripe spiritual peach, wiped it on his clothes, and took a bite.
The flesh of the spiritual peach was crisp, tender, and juicy, with a sweet taste. Especially the unique fragrance of peach was extremely alluring.
Xiao Fei walked and ate, heading quickly towards Transmission Peak.
More than a dozen transmission academies were built on Transmission Peak.
In these transmission academies, Foundation Establishment cultivators would impart knowledge and skills daily.
The content of the teachings varied. Some focused on explaining cultivation techniques, some on teaching spells, and others on alchemy, artifact refining, talisman crafting, and formations.
Of course, these teachings were not free. Everyone had to pay a certain amount of contribution points to enter a transmission academy for study.
For someone like Xiao Fei, who came from a rogue cultivator background, this was an ocean of knowledge. He went to Transmission Peak to study for half a day almost every day.
The remaining half of the day was spent on self-study, alchemy, and cultivation. His days were extremely fulfilling.
His cultivation progress had been a bit slow recently, seeming to have hit a bottleneck. Today's lessons would include explanations on this matter.
After paying two contribution points, Xiao Fei entered a transmission academy specifically for explaining cultivation.
At that moment, a round-faced cultivator immediately and mysteriously approached him, casting a soundproof barrier to shield them both.
"Junior Brother Xiao, I've brought the spiritual wine recipe you wanted last time. Where are the spiritual herbs I asked for?"
The round-faced cultivator waved a jade slip in front of Xiao Fei, awaiting the trade.
"I've also brought the spiritual herbs you wanted!"
Xiao Fei also took out a jade box, opened it, and revealed a ginseng that was seventy to eighty years old, emitting a rich spiritual energy.
This was the oldest batch of spiritual herbs in Xiao Fei's spatial artifact. The quantity was not large, and Xiao Fei usually used them sparingly.
He had two Red Shoots fruits in his spatial artifact, and now he had planted several young spiritual peach trees.
It was foreseeable that he would not lack spiritual fruits. Currently, he was busy with his studies and had no time to set up a stall to sell them.
He thought about processing the spiritual fruits further into spiritual wine, which would be easier to store and sell.
Spiritual wine was expensive in the cultivation world and was always in high demand.
Especially some aged spiritual wines could quickly replenish depleted magical power, making them even more valuable.
Each taking what they needed, the two quickly completed this simple transaction. At this moment, the Foundation Establishment cultivator teaching that day had already entered the main hall.
These teaching Foundation Establishment cultivators also received tasks from the sect to teach Qi Refining disciples, earning a large number of contribution points.
Therefore, they taught with considerable effort to attract more disciples to attend their classes.
This Foundation Establishment cultivator had high prestige among the many Qi Refining disciples, and his classes were attended by hundreds of people.
The contribution points he earned from a single class were enough for Xiao Fei to refine pills for several months to earn.
After the Foundation Establishment cultivator took his seat at the head of the hall, he got straight to the point without any preamble.
"Today, we will discuss the relationship between a cultivator's physical body and their magical power."
"The physical body is the vessel for magical power. A strong physical body can store more magical power."
"Sometimes, two cultivators at the same cultivation realm can have vastly different amounts of magical power. This is due to the significant disparity in their physical bodies."
"Cultivating the physical body is relatively difficult, progress is slow, and it requires more hardship and consumes more resources."
"Many cultivators only focus on improving their magical power realm and neglect physical body cultivation."
"In fact, if you encounter a bottleneck in your magical power cultivation, it might be better to pause your magical power training and try to temper your physical body. This often yields unexpected results."
Following this, the instructor explained some methods and precautions for physical body cultivation, from which Xiao Fei benefited greatly.
Xiao Fei recalled that when he was on the second level of the Dragonfall Abyss, Ji Wudi's skin had turned golden, and even blood threads could not penetrate it. This was likely due to practicing some physical body tempering technique.
After attending this lesson on cultivation, Xiao Fei went to attend a class on alchemy.
Alchemy had now become his primary way of earning contribution points.
For refining a furnace of Qi Gathering Pills for the sect, if a furnace yielded three pills, it would be exchanged for one contribution point.
For every additional pill, another contribution point would be earned.
If a furnace yielded less than three pills, not only would there be no contribution points, but one would also have to compensate the sect with spirit stones.
However, no system in the world is perfect; there are always loopholes.
For example, Xiao Fei could now produce four pills per furnace, which should only earn him two contribution points.
But he only took one set of materials from the sect each day and harvested another set of spirit herbs from his spatial artifact. He would refine two furnaces of pills, yielding eight Qi Gathering Pills in total.
He would keep one for himself and submit the remaining seven pills.
This way, it was equivalent to producing seven Qi Gathering Pills per furnace, earning him five contribution points.
After deducting the four contribution points spent on attending two classes daily, he could still save one contribution point, accumulating 30 points in a month.
In fact, he was not the only one doing this.
Some wealthy disciples from aristocratic families, to avoid affecting their cultivation, did not even refine pills themselves.
After receiving the task, they would directly purchase Qi Gathering Pills to submit to the sect and have their family handle the spirit herbs they took back.
This was equivalent to a method of directly exchanging spirit stones for contribution points, which was very suitable for wealthy disciples from aristocratic families.
As for cultivators without money or background, they could only honestly refine pills.
Besides alchemy tasks, other tasks like artifact refining and talisman crafting were also handled this way by some.
The sect's higher-ups were naturally aware of this speculative and fraudulent behavior. After all, everyone had climbed up from the lower ranks, and some had even done it themselves when they were young.
When the water is too clear, there are no fish. Everyone turned a blind eye and let it be.
In fact, this also had its benefits. Many families, to support their disciples, had to spend real spirit stones.
A large amount of spirit stones flowed into the sect continuously every day, constantly strengthening the sect's foundation.
The contribution points the sect paid for this were merely numbers.
Disciples would then use these contribution points to attend classes, learn cultivation techniques, and exchange for spiritual items, which would then flow back to the sect.
Of course, the Dan Xin Sect was renowned for its alchemy in the cultivation world. If disciples were allowed to continue this practice unchecked,
In just a few hundred years, the Dan Xin Sect would lose its advantage in alchemy and eventually become a second-rate pill dealer.
To prevent this, the Dan Xin Sect established five rankings: the Alchemist Ranking, the Artifact Refiner Ranking, the Talisman Master Ranking, the Formation Master Ranking, and the Combat Power Ranking.
Each list ranked from first to one hundredth place.
The rankings were updated every three years. Any disciple who made it onto the list would receive additional rewards each month and a grand prize annually.
Especially the top three disciples, who would receive Foundation Establishment Pills as rewards.
Therefore, to get onto the lists, especially to compete for the first position, many cultivators would go to great lengths.
It was known that Foundation Establishment Pills were extremely rare throughout the cultivation world. Ordinary cultivation families would treasure one or two pills, hiding them in the most secure places.
If Xiao Fei were to exchange contribution points for Foundation Establishment Pills honestly, given his rate of accumulating contribution points, it would take at least 50 years.
After 50 years, he would be an old man. How could he possibly establish his foundation then?
The Dan Xin Sect used the ranking system as an incentive, fostering healthy competition and cultivating many outstanding talents in each generation.
In short, the Dan Xin Sect had been established for tens of thousands of years and already had a complete set of effective systems to ensure its perpetual vitality.
Xiao Fei heard that some demonic sects used a "gu-raising" method to cultivate disciples, forcing them to kill each other, and they didn't even need to be loyal to the sect or their masters. The thought alone sent a chill down his spine.