The Moon Essence Pill was not an elixir that was widespread in the outside world.
Lu Qing had once consumed this elixir when he was trying to advance to the Foundation Building Stage many years ago. His Foundation Building process was rather smooth as he had the support of the Foundation Building Elixir and his Double Spiritual Roots.
Back then, he had partnered up with someone and killed one of Qingfeng Sect's Foundation Building cultivators despite being only a ninth-tier Qi Refining cultivator. He had snatched this elixir back then. He had never told anyone about this incident. The Qingfeng Sect also did not know about this. Otherwise, he would have been buried by the Qingfed Sect instead of living until he reached the Golden Core Stage.
Lu Qing had heard that only the Qingfeng Sect possessed the recipe for this elixir in the Feiyun State or even in the Dayan Dynasty. Other clans might have the recipe but kept that information a secret.
The Qingfeng Sect had basically monopolized the recipe for the Moon Essence Pill. The elixir was only provided to clan members, and they would not sell the completed elixirs on the public market. And from time to time, only clans who were on extremely good terms with the sect might be gifted with one. Incidents of the recipe spreading to the outside world were even rarer.
The Moon Essence Pill was not as valuable as the Foundation Building Elixir. The increase in the success rate provided by the Moon Essence Pill was not even a third that of the Foundation Building Elixir. Moreover, it did not guarantee that the cultivator would not die if they failed, unlike the Foundation Building Elixir. A cultivator would still die if they failed to advance even after consuming only the Moon Essence Pill.
However, more importantly, the effects of consuming the Moon Essence Pill with the Foundation Building Elixir were significant.
The success rate of advancing to the Foundation Building Stage after consuming only the Foundation Building Elixir was 50 to 60%. In the cultivation world, there was no shortage of people who spent a great deal of effort and their entire fortune on a Foundation Building Elixir only to fail to advance.
It was extremely pitiful.
There was someone like that in the Lu Clan. Lu Qing's fourth child, Lu Chaoling, was a fabled complete Qi Refining cultivator. But the reality was he had failed to advance to the Foundation Building Stage even after he consumed the Foundation Building Elixir.
However, consuming the Foundation Building Elixir and a Moon Essence Pill would boost the success rate to 80%. It was much more reliable.
It was great that a recipe that was monopolized by the Qingfeng Sect would appear in the exchange tab of Lu Qing's system.
Even though the effects of the Moon Essence Pill were much poorer than the Foundation Building Elixir, the ingredients needed for the Moon Essence Pill were cheaper. Coupled with the fact that the recipe was monopolized by the Qingfeng Sect, they might be able to obtain 30,000 Spirit Stones or even 50,000 Spirit Stones if they were to sell the recipe.
The extremely rare recipe of the Moon Essence Pill was much more expensive than the recipe of the Foundation Building Elixir, which was more widespread and required ingredients that were ten times more expensive.
Of course, Lu Qing had decided that he would only allow Lu Mingchao to learn the recipe and not spread it to the outside world when he saw the option. They could not sell the recipe or the finished product.
They might not be alive to spend the money they earned.
Only the Qingfeng Sect had the Moon Essence Pill. How could they explain how the Lu Clan obtained the pill? If they had not stolen it from the Qingfeng Sect, where did they get the Moon Essence Pill? Did they exchange it from a system? The Qingfeng Sect would not believe them…
If they revealed this to the outside world, the Qingfeng Sect would annihilate the Lu Clan.
However, there should not be much of a problem if he obtained the recipe and only used it within the clan, provided that he kept it top secret and did not reveal it to the outside world.
Truthfully, with the recipe, truly brave cultivators who wanted to attempt advancing to the Foundation Building Stage without the Foundation Building Elixir could still be aided by the Moon Essence Pill if the clan did not have enough Foundation Building Elixirs in the future.
The main ingredient of the Moon Essence Pill was the Moon Essence Herb. It was a Level Two high-grade spirit that could be bought from the market. A stalk of the herb cost about 2,000 Spirit Stones. Along with the other supporting ingredients, the raw materials of the entire recipe cost roughly 3,000 Spirit Stones. A Level Two high-grade alchemist could produce five pills in every batch, while a Level Two low-grade Alchemist… They could barely create the pill but should be able to manage two with every batch.
They had no choice. They had to make the pill even if it was at a loss.
******
When Lu Mingchao came the second day, Lu Qing handed the recipe over to her and raised the level of her alchemy techniques.
Lu Mingchao was confused when her alchemy techniques mysteriously rose to Level Two.
There had been a constant flow of strange incidents that were beyond her imagination ever since her father woke up.
The recipe for the Foundation Building Elixir had appeared. The Cavern Abode that could miraculously boost a cultivator's cultivation speed had appeared. Physical items mysteriously appeared out of thin air. The output of the clan's Energy Stone Mine suddenly increased. Her father had not come out of the chamber, yet knew everything about the situation around Yuyan Mountain…
Now, they even managed to obtain the Qingfeng Sect's top-secret recipe for the Moon Essence Pill.
Her father's methods were overly mysterious. However, most of the things that happened were good things. They had all been beneficial to the clan.
Lu Mingchao was rather intelligent in that regard. Her father did not elaborate on the matter, so she did not bother to ask. There was no need to.
After she sensed the sudden increase to her alchemy technique and obtained the recipe for the Moon Essence Pill, she said, "I'll search for a portion of the ingredients as soon as possible and create a batch of Moon Essence Pills. However, the reserves of the clan are not enough. Even though we have not finished spending the money we borrowed the last time, we might have to sell two pieces of magic equipment if we want to gather all of the ingredients…"
"The sooner, the better," Lu Qing said. "When all the preparations are complete, you can arrange for Xueting to consume the Foundation Building Elixir. You also have to give her a Level Two magic equipment. When she entered the Foundation Building Stage and refined her magic equipment, mobilize the cultivators of the clan within the next two to three months and take down the Water Ghost Lake!"
"I understand!"
******
After a series of expenses, Lu Qing's Karma dropped from over a thousand to the current 442.
300 Karma for the Core Lifespan Recovery, 200 for the Moon Essence Pill, and 150 for the Alchemist Level Increase—Lu Qing had spent 650 Karma in just over a day.
The feeling of spending money was great.
Along the way, Lu Qing also used the "Beast Tamer Level Increase" on Lu Xueting.
After all, it was an extra reward that he obtained when the clan completed the conquest mission on the horde of Steel Red Bugs. He might as well use it since it did not cost Karma.
Lu Qing had no intention of spending the rest of his Karma for the time being.
The clan's most important goal was to take down the Water Ghost Lake. There was no need to obtain the other options that would boost the other resources and development of the clan for the time being.
Relatively speaking, options that had a direct impact on the battle might be more useful.
For example, he had an option called "Spiritual Strength Increase" within the exchange tab that could be used on a Foundation Building cultivator. Cultivators who were at the Foundation Building Stage or under would have doubled their spiritual strength for an hour. It was an option that had a direct impact on a battle.
This was the first time he saw an option like this in the system.
After deliberating for a moment, Lu Qing decided to spend 30 Karma and refreshed the system three times.
The three refreshes presented him with 11 new options. It brought the total number of options in his exchange tab to 17.
The refreshes did not disappoint him. There were two more battle-related options in the system.
[Level Two Status-type: Power Increase. Allows the power of the techniques, talents, and magic equipment used by a clan member to be doubled for the next five seconds. At the same time, the spiritual strength expended would also be doubled. Limited to Foundation Building cultivators or under. Cost: 75 Karma]
[Level Three Status-type: Power of Initial Enlightenment. Allows a member of a clan to have the power of an Initial Enlightenment cultivator temporarily. Lasts for two minutes. Limited to cultivators at the seventh tier of the Foundation Building Stage or higher. Cost: 350 Karma]
******
"F***! The Power of Initial Enlightenment is a divine technique! It lives up to its name as a Level Three option!"