"Family Planning" was a cheap option. Lu Qing still had two options he had to spend a large number of Karma on.
One of the options, which was also the most expensive one, was the "Recipe for Foundation Building Elixir."
Lu Qing was extremely surprised when he saw the recipe.
He did not even know what the recipe for the Foundation Building Elixir was when he was alive!
The most valuable items in the cultivation world were items that aided in the advancement of cultivation levels.
Such items included the Foundation Building Elixirs, treasures that aided in advancements to the Initial Enlightenment Stage, and resources required to advance to the Golden Core Stage…
The Foundation Building Elixir was only a Level Three elixir. Even though an ordinary Level Three elixir was rather expensive, Level Three high-grade elixirs would only fetch 4,000 to 5,000 Spirit Stones. Comparatively, a Foundation Building Elixir easily doubled that price and would fetch 10,000 Spirit Stones. Normally, there would be a demand but no supply for the elixir. If someone were to sell a Foundation Building Elixir for 10,000 Spirit Stones on the market, it would be bought in a second.
There were three main reasons as to why the Foundation Building Elixir was so valuable. The core reason was that it required expensive ingredients. The main ingredient in the Foundation Building Elixir was either a thousand-year-old Golden Lotus or the Demon Core of a Level Three demonic beast.
Only the Qingfeng Sect could grow thousand-year-old Golden Lotuses in the Feiyun State.
What if it were someone else? Not only was a Golden Lotus hard to find, but also what could a person do even if they found one? They had to grow the lotus for a thousand years. That was five times the lifespan of a Foundation Building cultivator. Even a cultivation family might not be able to survive for a thousand years.
Furthermore, what could a person do even if he managed to grow the lotus for a thousand years? An item as valuable as that would invite the greedy gazes of countless people.
If they did not use a thousand-year-old Golden Lotus, then they would have to use the Demon Core of a Level Three demonic beast. The strength of a Level Three demonic beast was equivalent to that of an Initial Enlightenment cultivator. Furthermore, they were usually the leader of a piece of territory and had countless demonic beasts under their command.
Killing a Level Three demonic beast? That was possible. An Initial Enlightenment cultivator had to lead an army of cultivators to wage war with the demonic beasts and be prepared to die.
Other than the ingredients, two other areas determined the exorbitant price of Foundation Building Elixirs.
One was the massive demand, and the other was that it was hard to find an alchemist.
The former was obvious. As for the latter, a Level Three alchemist could barely create a Foundation Building Elixir, and there was a possibility that they would incur a loss. A stalk of a thousand-year-old Golden Lotus cost around 50,000 Spirit Stones. That meant that an alchemist had to create five Foundation Building Elixirs from a batch to recoup their capital.
A Level Three alchemist would have performed extraordinarily well if they could guarantee five elixirs in every batch. People who were determined to earn money from this trade had to be Level Four alchemists. Only they could guarantee seven to eight elixirs, or even more, out of every batch of Foundation Building Elixirs they made.
Even a Level Three alchemist who knew how to make Foundation Building Elixirs was rare enough, much less Level Four alchemists. The cost of human capital was high. The recipe for the Foundation Building Elixir was also a secret that many large factions guarded heavily. Things would be chaotic if that information were to be leaked to the public. An ordinary Level Three alchemist would never be able to create a Foundation Building Elixir.
Even Lu Qing did not know the exact recipe of the Foundation Building Elixir when he was alive. Of course, it was not that he could not obtain the recipe as a Golden Core cultivator. It was just that there was no need for him to do that as he was not an alchemist.
The recipe of the Foundation Building Elixir was an extremely valuable item that could not be found on the market. Even though it was not as valuable as the Foundation Building Elixir itself, it could be used to exchange for several unexpected items.
Comparatively, the 100 Karma he had to use to exchange for the recipe of the Foundation Building Elixir was worth it.
Currently, there were no alchemists in the clan who had reached Level Three. However, that was all right. He could obtain the item first.
On the one hand, he could reserve it for his clan. On the other hand, he could use the recipe to obtain a few premium items. He might even be able to obtain a Foundation Building Elixir if he topped up a few Spirit Stones.
The other option Lu Qing wanted to get was "Resource Upgrade."
[Level Two Resource-type: Resource Upgrade]
[Upgrade one resource of the clan. The success rate from Level One to Level Two is 70%, while the success rate from Level Two to Level Three is 20%. The resource can be strengthened to improve the output of the resource point if the upgrade fails. Costs 50 Karma.]
At the start, Lu Qing intended to upgrade the clan's medicine garden. However, he realized that it was inappropriate upon closer analysis.
He read the explanation. A resource point like the medicine garden would transform into a treasured land if it were upgraded. He would be able to grow better medicines there, and to some extent, the land would also accelerate the growth of the herbs.
However, ultimately, the output of the medicine garden still depended on what herbs were grown there.
The herbs produced by the Lu Clan's medicine garden were rather average in both variety and quantity.
That meant that there was no need to upgrade the medicine garden immediately.
His other two options were the herd of Water-Spirit Horses or the Energy Stone Mine. Those had relatively more value.
He could first eliminate the Water-Spirit Horses as a choice. Lu Xueting, who was a Level One Beast Tamer, still had difficulties dealing with the herd of horses as it was at the moment. She would occasionally make mistakes. She would have even more trouble if the horses were upgraded.
Thus, the only thing he could upgrade was the Energy Stone Mine.
Even though Lu Qing was rather hesitant when he saw the 20% success rate, he decided on this option after he read that the output of the resource point would be improved even if the upgrade failed.
He would not make a loss.
[Level Two Energy Stone Mine upgrade success. Please read the Resource interface for more details.]
"Oh my! My luck is quite good. I even managed to hit the 20% success rate!" Lu Qing exclaimed to himself.
He then tapped and opened the "Resource" interface and realized that the estimated resource output of the Energy Stone Mine had increased dramatically.
Initially, the Level Two Energy Stone Mine could only produce 210 Spirit Stones in a year. These Spirit Stones used to make up the bulk of the Lu Clan's income. Fortunately, the clan's control over the interests in Pingyao County had increased due to Lu Qing's secret assistance. Coupled with the income from the herd of Water-Spirit Horses, the output of the Energy Stone Mine did not seem as important as before.
However, the output of the stone mine had reached 490 Spirit Stones. It had more than doubled!
The high output of the Energy Stone Mine increased the clan's gross income of Spirit Stones to roughly 400.
Lu Chaoxi had looked troubled when Lu Qing got him to acquire a piece of good magic equipment that could be used to counter spirits. He had thought that the clan had no money.
Didn't they have it now?
Level Two high-grade magic equipment usually cost around 1,000 Spirit Stones. With the current gross income of the clan, they would be able to purchase one in three years.
Of course, he could not just calculate it that way. The clan still had to accomplish many things. He had gotten Lu Chaoxi to organize men to take down the three conquest missions he scouted just now. The preparatory efforts for those missions also required Spirit Stones. They also needed money to pay the cultivators of the clan if they got them to do battle.
However, even if they could not afford a piece of high-grade equipment, they had enough to spend 600 to 700 Spirit Stones on apiece of mid-grade equipment.
In summary, they could do anything they wished if the clan got richer. In a few years, after they finished with their preparations, they would be able to take down the Water Ghost Lake.
The plan he decided on would last five years.
He hoped that the clan would manage to obtain the Yin-essence Water Jade, which could help a cultivator advance to the Initial Enlightenment Stage, in five years.
Lu Qing was rather happy when he thought about his plan. However, a notification from the system dampened his spirits a few days later.
"Lu Mingchang died in battle."