Vessel of Worlds

Beyond the attribute of the embedded spirit stone, spirit tools also varied in grade.

Based on this, spirit tools could be simply classified into low-grade, mid-grade, and upper-grade, corresponding to low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade spirit stones respectively.

A low-grade spirit tool only needed a low-grade spirit stone to activate. A mid-grade spirit tool required a mid-grade spirit stone to reach its full potential. An upper-grade spirit tool, naturally, called for a high-grade spirit stone.

In terms of power, a low-grade spirit tool was equivalent to a Qi Refinement cultivator's attack, a mid-grade spirit tool could match a Foundation Establishment cultivator's full-force strike, and an upper-grade spirit tool fitted with a high-grade spirit stone could unleash power on par with a Core Formation cultivator or above.

Generally speaking, the material limitations of a spirit tool meant that a lower-grade tool could not accommodate a higher-grade stone. Forcing a mid-grade spirit stone into a low-grade spirit tool would not only waste enormous amounts of energy but would produce little more effect than a low-grade stone—while the excessive power would damage the tool itself, rendering it useless after just a few uses. Conversely, placing a low-grade spirit stone into a mid-grade spirit tool would only unlock a tiny fraction of its potential.

The ancient texts also noted that while spirit tools boasted impressive power, the spirit stone consumption was staggering. A single use at the level of a high-stage Qi Refinement cultivator's full-power strike would drain one to several low-grade spirit stones. Reaching Foundation Establishment levels of power required mid-grade spirit stones—an expense most cultivators simply could not bear. It was precisely these limitations that had driven spirit tools to near-extinction in the cultivation world.

But Andy saw things differently. Spirit stones might be precious to everyone else, but for him they were limitless. If he could get his hands on a mid-grade spirit tool, it would be one more life-saving card up his sleeve.

I can't get a mid-grade ice spirit stone right now, but I can probably trade for a few low-grade ice stones. Then just let the bowl upgrade them. Andy's mind was already working. But eight hundred spirit stones is far too much. A Qi Refinement disciple pulling out that kind of money would definitely attract attention—it's not worth the risk.

Just as Andy was weighing whether to make a move, a familiar, ice-cold voice spoke from behind him: "A mid-grade ice-attribute spirit tool? Let me see." It was the pale-faced, middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Leng—the one Andy remembered from his first day at the sect. He had appeared behind Andy without anyone noticing.

Every cultivator in the crowd was at Qi Refinement. The moment they heard a Foundation Establishment senior speak, they all scrambled aside. Andy quickly stepped back as well. With a Foundation Establishment cultivator interested, there was no way he could compete for the purchase.

The seller was a burly young man with a thick beard. He immediately raised the translucent, diamond-shaped small shield in both hands and said: "Please examine it, Uncle Leng."

Though Cultivator Leng was still a full zhang away from the shield, he made a grasping motion in the air with his right hand. The shield flew into his palm as if drawn by an invisible thread.

Andy watched as the cultivator surnamed Leng studied the shield for a long time, then turned his palm over. A transparent crystal appeared in his hand, trailing wisps of icy white vapor.

"A mid-grade ice spirit stone!" someone in the crowd murmured.

Cultivator Leng pressed the ice spirit stone into a socket at the center of the diamond-shaped shield. The instant it clicked into place, the shield hummed and began to glow with a soft radiance. Andy and several nearby cultivators immediately felt a wave of biting cold wash over them.

"Hmph—nothing but a damaged piece. Look here." Cultivator Leng examined the shield a few moments longer, then pointed at one corner with obvious displeasure.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Everyone followed his finger. Sure enough, that section showed no spiritual light at all—the energy supply wasn't reaching it.

For a defensive artifact, completeness was everything. A gap in coverage was a fatal weakness—if an opponent found it and concentrated their attacks there, the user would be putting themselves in mortal danger.

"I had no idea it was damaged, Uncle Leng. I sincerely apologize," the bearded man stammered, face draining of color.

"Hmph." Cultivator Leng said nothing more. He removed the mid-grade ice spirit stone and tossed the shield back to the seller.

"Ha! A broken spirit tool and he wanted eight hundred spirit stones for it! Must be desperate for money!" The voice belonged to the same cultivator who had been arguing with the bearded man earlier.

The bearded man's face turned crimson, but he didn't dare say a word with Cultivator Leng standing right there.

Now that the spirit tool was known to be a damaged piece—impractical and ruinously expensive to use—the remaining onlookers lost interest. Seven or eight of them, including Cultivator Leng, drifted away to other stalls.

Only Andy remained.

Once the others had gone, he stopped the dejected seller, who was about to pack up his stall. "A damaged spirit tool can't possibly be worth eight hundred spirit stones. What's your real price?"

The big man stared. He hadn't expected anyone to want a known defective piece. He recovered quickly: "You want it? For you—three hundred. No, two hundred spirit stones." He gritted his teeth and slashed the price to a fraction of his original asking.

"Done." Andy produced two mid-grade spirit stones and handed them over.

The bearded man happily pocketed the stones and passed Andy the shield, along with ten low-grade spirit stones in change. Even here on Guling Street, the standard exchange rate for a mid-grade spirit stone was a hundred and five low-grade stones.

Andy slipped the shield into his storage pouch without looking back and moved on to other stalls.

Over the next little while, Andy visited several more shops and stalls, changing his voice each time, and managed to trade for a few low-grade ice spirit stones at exchange rates of twenty-five to thirty low-grade stones per ice stone.

But his most important objective—acquiring pills that could advance his cultivation—remained unfulfilled. The Taixu Sect's most abundant resource was precisely the high-stage Qi Refinement disciples who needed such pills. Anything of that sort would be snapped up the instant it appeared on the market. Even at inflated prices, the sect had no shortage of wealthy disciples from major cultivation families willing to pour spirit stones into pills.

After nearly a full circuit of the street without finding anything suitable, Andy was growing frustrated. Was his cultivation going to stall at the eleventh layer for the next half year? With his spirit root aptitude, even using high-grade spirit stones for meditation would make it difficult to break through to the next layer in any reasonable timeframe.

Brooding over this, Andy walked into the last pill shop on Guling Street.

"Pills that benefit high-stage Qi Refinement cultivators?" The shop's proprietor was a middle-aged woman who still carried an air of youthful beauty. She repeated Andy's question with a knowing smile. "Every trading meet, at least twenty or thirty people ask me the same thing. Unfortunately, pills like Marrow-Washing Pills and Tendon-Transforming Pills that significantly boost cultivation are almost never available on the open market. In most cases they're snatched up the moment they come out of the furnace. We don't have any in stock at the moment, I'm afraid."

"What about sub-grade pills? If you have any, I'll take some," Andy tried.

"Sub-grade pills? None of those either. They're not worth enough to sell at a premium, and too cheap to be worth stocking. Usually they just get thrown in as freebies with regular pill purchases." The woman looked regretful, but after a pause she added: "However, we do carry one type of pill that's effective for high-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. It's called the Mind-Nourishing Pill. Have you heard of it?"

"The Mind-Nourishing Pill? The one that supposedly improves a cultivator's spiritual sense? I've heard the effect is so faint as to be practically useless," Andy said after a moment's thought.

The woman smiled demurely. "I'm afraid you've been misinformed, fellow cultivator. The Mind-Nourishing Pill most certainly does strengthen spiritual sense—but improvements to spiritual sense aren't as dramatic or immediately noticeable as gains in spiritual power. I can personally guarantee that after taking a sufficient number of these pills, you will clearly feel a significant difference in your spiritual sense. This pill has been around for over a thousand years. If it were nothing but an empty reputation, it would hardly have endured this long."

"That's a fair point. How much are they?" Andy was genuinely interested. He hadn't given much thought to his spiritual sense before, but since he had started forging, he had discovered just how heavily every aspect of the work depended on it. Insufficient spiritual sense made everything harder.

"Fifty spirit stones per pill. Buy in bulk and we'll throw in a batch of sub-grade pills as well." The woman quoted a price Andy found acceptable.