A month quietly passed, and the supply of Meridian Crystal Stones was once again exhausted. The soldiers no longer had access to spiritual water, leaving Ji Xia rather helpless.
Currently, Taicang's need for spiritual water was immense. Apart from providing for the Taicang Silver Guards and the Cang Defense Army, it was also supplied to the Tianfu Pavilion, Taicang Academy, and the royal court's officials.
Theoretically, one Meridian Crystal Stone could sustain ten thousand people for a month. However, due to the shortage of spiritual water and careful rationing, it was just enough for over thirteen thousand people to use for a month.
Ji Xia sighed deeply. It was only after managing resources himself that he realized how costly everything was. Each Meridian Crystal Stone was worth as much as 1,200 regular crystals.
While it didn't sound exorbitant, the issue was that these stones were consumables—one was needed every month.
Currently, Taicang had to allocate spiritual water for as many as thirteen thousand people, not including the thousand Cang Defense Army troops stationed far away in Cang City. If they were to consume spiritual water in full supply for an entire year, it would require at least sixteen to seventeen thousand Spirit Seeds.
This rough estimate alone made Ji Xia's heart ache.
However, the good news was that the Meridian Crystal Stones were extremely effective. More and more soldiers in the army were breaking through to the Seventh Heaven, and a few with exceptional talent had even reached the Eighth Heaven.
The speed of this progression was astonishing, so despite the heartache, Ji Xia gritted his teeth and exchanged for more stones.
Since his return to Taicang, Ji Xia had refrained from exchanging any new divine artifacts. He had even resisted his curiosity and avoided entering the Sacred Tree Space.
Taicang's livelihood had now stabilized, and ordinary divine artifacts no longer caught his attention. However, the Sacred Tree Space was filled with fascinating and enticing artifacts, and Ji Xia feared that frequent visits would make it hard for him to resist the urge to exchange for them.
The saying goes, "Good steel should be used on the blade's edge." It was better to exchange for one powerful artifact than waste resources on a hundred smaller ones. Thus, Ji Xia resisted entering the space entirely, choosing to save his Spirit Seeds for emergencies.
But now, with the shortage of Meridian Crystal Stones, Ji Xia had no choice but to enter the Sacred Tree Space. The stones were too vital to neglect.
The moment he entered, a surge of information flooded into Ji Xia's mind.
"What!"
The message left Ji Xia stunned.
"34,708 Spirit Seeds?"
The bright number in his mind made him feel dizzy.
Upon returning to Taicang previously, he had nearly exhausted all his Spirit Seeds, even exchanging for a divine fruit worth a staggering 12,000 points. Yet, within just one month, his Spirit Seeds had skyrocketed past 30,000, edging closer to 40,000!
He couldn't comprehend how this had happened.
Last time, his massive harvest of Spirit Seeds had been thanks to the Sun Spirit Refining Furnace consuming sacrificial spirits. Since returning to Taicang, Ji Xia had focused on studying restrictions, practicing manuals, and cultivating—he hadn't done much else. So where had all these Spirit Seeds come from?
Suppressing his excitement, Ji Xia summoned the Spirit Seed Record Panel.
[Details]
Gained emotional response from 462,080 Taicang citizens: [Reverence], resulting in 9,242 Spirit Seeds.Gained emotional response from all members of the Sacrificial Pavilion: [Utter Hatred], resulting in 5,100 Spirit Seeds.By borrowing others' hands, you killed one Spirit Palace Second Realm cultivator, seven Spirit Manipulation Yuan Aspect cultivators, four Spirit Manipulation Divine Aspect cultivators, one Spirit Manipulation Heavenly Aspect cultivator, and thirteen high-level Divine Ability cultivators, resulting in 13,700 Spirit Seeds.Gained emotional response from the Symbol Sage King: [Curiosity], resulting in 2,000 Spirit Seeds.Played a major role in the downfall of the Sacrificial Pavilion, resulting in 2,000 Spirit Seeds.
...
Ji Xia scanned the panel, almost laughing out loud in disbelief.
"So this is why the Spirit Seeds surged so dramatically—Dark Priest was taken out by Grand Symbol!"
Suppressing his elation, Ji Xia muttered, "Is this what they call 'killing and looting brings fortune'? I killed Shi Yu, raided the Sacrificial Pavilion's treasury, and reaped immense benefits."
"Before leaving, I even informed Senior Zhao Yuan about the Sacrificial Pavilion's existence. Their annihilation brought me this staggering amount of Spirit Seeds. I almost feel bad about it…"
Of course, the "feeling bad" was mere jest. Ji Xia harbored no guilt at all. Based on what he already knew about the Pavilion's heinous crimes, exterminating them was justified and carried no psychological burden.
Moreover, Ji Xia understood that in the endless wilderness, showing mercy meant courting death.
"I remember when I killed Zhang Yi and Shi Yu, I only received 600 Spirit Seeds. Now, borrowing others' hands to kill so many terrifying experts has only earned me 13,000 points. It seems if they aren't killed directly by me or my forces, the Spirit Seed yield drops significantly."
"And now the emotional response from Taicang's citizens has unlocked [Reverence]. The ratio has improved to 50 people per Spirit Seed, far better than the previous 100-to-1."
His gaze moved line by line until it landed on the entry for the Symbol Sage King's curiosity.
Ji Xia's heart skipped a beat.
The emotions of all the Sacrificial Pavilion's strong cultivators combined—[Utter Hatred]—had only provided 5,100 Spirit Seeds, and that included a Spirit Palace Second Realm powerhouse.
Yet the Symbol Sage King's casual [Curiosity] alone provided a staggering 2,000 Spirit Seeds?
By now, Ji Xia had roughly grasped the rules of the Emotion System. Besides his subordinates, the stronger and higher-ranked an individual, the more Spirit Seeds they would yield.
The emotions [Curiosity] and [Utter Hatred] were clearly worlds apart in significance.
The Symbol Sage King's casual emotion yielding so many Spirit Seeds was likely not just due to his lofty status. More importantly, it was because of his unfathomable cultivation level.
"Senior Zhao Yuan said that over a century ago, the Symbol Sage King had already cultivated three Spirit Palaces, reaching the Third Realm. After a hundred years, even with the immense difficulty of advancing in the Spirit Palace realm, his unparalleled talent must have pushed him further."
Ji Xia speculated silently, "Perhaps… even two steps further…"
He was no longer the ignorant novice of old. After reading countless records, manuals, and rare texts, Ji Xia had gained considerable knowledge about cultivation realms.
Yet even so, he couldn't begin to imagine how terrifying a Spirit Palace Fifth Realm powerhouse might be.
At the very least, the complete annihilation of the formidable Sacrificial Pavilion was undeniable proof of the Symbol Sage King's strength.
"I need to inform Senior Zhao Yuan as soon as possible."
Ji Xia took a deep breath. "I must make him aware before some bigshot in the Grand Symbol Empire whimsically decides to drag little Taicang into opposition against them!"
"Fortunately, with this influx of Spirit Seeds, Taicang can now develop even faster. Only by becoming strong can we put an end to this constant fear!"