Xiao Fei pondered how to spend such a large sum of spirit stones on his way back.
Besides setting aside some for daily expenses, it would be best to spend them, allowing the spirit stones to generate their due value and maximize their worth.
He could also follow the example of the clan disciples, taking on numerous tasks such as alchemy, artifact forging, and talisman drawing, then purchasing finished products to submit, converting spirit stones into contribution points.
It was said that the sect, a long, long time ago, allowed direct exchange of spirit stones for contribution points.
However, this policy caused dissatisfaction among many disciples.
Disciples from impoverished backgrounds felt the sect's actions were unfair, causing them to lose at the starting line and undermining the original meaning of contribution points.
Rich disciples were also displeased, viewing the sect as profit-driven and greedy, always trying to extract spirit stones from their pockets.
Finally, the sect accepted the opinions of the majority of disciples and abolished the policy of directly exchanging spirit stones for contribution points.
No one was allowed to purchase contribution points with spirit stones; one had to make corresponding contributions to the sect to earn them.
At this, all disciples were satisfied!
Yet, rich disciples could always find a shortcut using spirit stones, while impoverished disciples remained at a disadvantage from the start.
This was precisely what the saying "changing one's mind three times a day" referred to.
Xiao Fei urgently needed to earn a large number of contribution points.
As a newcomer to the sect, contribution points were required for many things.
Besides the Hall of Teachings, the sect also had a Library, and a Sect Treasury open to disciples, filled with many valuable items that could only be exchanged with contribution points.
Having emerged from the rogue cultivator path and without a master's guidance, he had to learn everything himself. The vast amount of cultivation knowledge in the Library was precisely what he yearned for.
He was now at the tenth level of Qi Condensation and would soon face the issue of Foundation Establishment.
The first necessity was the Foundation Establishment Pill.
A primary reason many cultivators joined sects was the clear path within the sect to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills.
Outside the sect, obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill relied on luck and was highly uncertain; even with a large sum of spirit stones, one might not be able to buy one.
However, at the Dan Xin Sect, one could definitely exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill by providing 150,000 contribution points.
But 150,000 contribution points was an astronomical figure for most disciples.
It would take decades of not eating or drinking to earn enough, comparable to saving money for a house in his previous life.
This meant that only a select few could obtain Foundation Establishment Pills: either one was from a wealthy family or exceptionally talented.
The Dan Xin Sect originally intended to cultivate only this small group of exceptionally talented individuals.
With his thoughts in order, Xiao Fei returned to his small courtyard and immediately entered the space.
Then, he was stunned...
Where were the spirit stones?
His thirty thousand spirit stones were all gone.
All that remained at the spot was an overturned wooden crate and a small pile of white powder.
He was very familiar with this powder; it was the residue left behind after spirit stones were used up, impurities within the stones.
Did the space swallow his spirit stones?
These thirty thousand spirit stones were earned through his arduous efforts of picking up dropped equipment and looting corpses.
He had planned to exchange them for contribution points to acquire cultivation manuals.
Now, it was all in vain!
Xiao Fei took out a few spirit stones from a wooden box and threw them on the ground, then watched them closely.
Gradually, he noticed a change: the spiritual energy flowed out of the spirit stones and was absorbed by the land within the space.
Eventually, the spiritual energy within the spirit stones was depleted, leaving only a pinch of powder.
The facts proved that the space indeed consumed spirit stones.
Previously, he had few spirit stones, treasuring each one. He kept them in wooden boxes, not allowing them to directly contact the ground within the space, thus not discovering this.
However, after the space consumed his thirty thousand spirit stones, apart from the spiritual energy becoming denser, there seemed to be no other change, which greatly disappointed Xiao Fei.
"That's not right!"
He immediately exited the space and found two identical water clocks. He placed one outside and one inside the space, timing them simultaneously.
Cultivators could fly through the heavens and burrow through the earth, yet they hadn't refined a wristwatch. For timing, they generally used water clocks, incense sticks, and sundials.
Xiao Fei mused that once he learned artifact forging, he would definitely refine a wristwatch.
After several comparisons, Xiao Fei finally confirmed that besides the spiritual energy becoming denser, the passage of time within the space had also accelerated.
The space previously had a time flow of 10 times, and now it had become 13 times.
After consuming his thirty thousand spirit stones, it gained three times the time, increasing the growth speed of spiritual herbs.
One year outside was equivalent to 13 years inside the space!
Calculating it this way, it didn't seem like a loss.
However, he now had to find ways to earn spirit stones and contribution points again.
The materials for Qi Gathering Pills he planted in the space had been sold once before he entered the Dragon Fall Abyss. Now, besides what he used for his own alchemy, there wasn't much left.
Besides Qi Gathering Pill materials, other valuable items in the space included ginseng, Dragon's Breath Grass, and some medicinal herbs gathered from the Dragon Fall Abyss.
However, the planting area for these spiritual herbs was not extensive.
This was because the more precious the spiritual herb, the more caution was needed when selling it.
Conversely, common spiritual herbs like Spirit Gathering Grass could be sold in hundreds of portions at once without raising suspicion.
Additionally, the two Red-Capped Fruit trees at his second sister's grave had grown into large trees, and their spiritual fruits had once again laden the branches.
At a price of 5 spirit stones per fruit, it should fetch several thousand spirit stones.
However, this time he planned to brew the Red-Capped Fruits into spiritual wine to try.
His space had a unique advantage: time acceleration, and the longer spiritual wine was aged, the more valuable it became.
In fact, many materials could be used to brew wine, including spirit grains, spiritual herbs, spiritual fruits, and spiritual flowers, all of which could be brewed into spiritual wine with different flavors.
Xiao Fei hadn't known how to do this before, but this time he had obtained a recipe for brewing wine from spiritual fruits.
Acting on his thought, Xiao Fei picked all the spiritual fruits from the two trees and washed them clean.
He cut them open, removed the seeds, mashed the pulp into a paste, then added honey and spiritual wine yeast, stirred them evenly, placed them in a large wine vat, sealed the opening, and stored them in the space.
Every one to two days within the space, he would open it to stir, pressing down the pulp floating on the surface.
Three days later, Xiao Fei tasted the flavor. The sweetness from the spiritual fruits had already converted into alcohol. He added more honey, stirred evenly.
After a total of three months within the space, with three additions of honey, the spiritual wine had finally stabilized.
The sweetness no longer converted, and the effective components of the spiritual fruits had dissolved into the wine liquid, marking the completion of the first step.
Then, he filtered out the lees from the spiritual wine, leaving only the liquid, which was the freshly brewed spiritual wine.
Xiao Fei poured himself a cup of spiritual wine and gently sniffed it. The aroma was not overpowering, but a faint wine fragrance, mixed with hints of honey and spiritual fruit scents, very pleasant.
Taking a small sip, the alcohol content was not high, and it was easy to drink. Due to much of the sweetness not having converted into alcohol, the spiritual wine still retained a light sweetness, making it very palatable.
However, the wine was still cloudy. He stored it in the space for about another year, allowing all the sediment to settle at the bottom.
At this point, the wine liquid became clear and transparent, the aroma became more mellow and enticing, and the taste more harmonious.
Xiao Fei kept a small jar of this spiritual wine for himself, sealed the rest, and stored it in the space for aging, to be opened at least ten years later.
Spiritual wine aged for ten years or more, besides having a better taste, also possessed special properties, capable of rapidly replenishing magical power.
This alone made many cultivators flock to it; even those who didn't like drinking would purchase some.