Chapter 158 : A Bounty of Foundation Pills

After the refinement was complete, everyone tallied the results and discovered that this batch had yielded an astonishing one hundred and five Foundation Establishment Pills [precious pills that aid cultivators in establishing their foundational cultivation base].

Once the Foundation Establishment Pills were counted, Eldrin Chen could not help but smile. "The fruits of a great victory are bountiful indeed. It seems Bianzhou will see a significant increase in its Foundation Establishment Cultivators [cultivators who have solidified their foundational cultivation base] over the next century."

Lyra Jiang also revealed a faint smile. "With so many Foundation Establishment Pills this time, we can afford to lower their price. Let us set it at twelve thousand Spirit Stones [minerals that store and radiate spiritual energy, used as currency and for cultivation] per pill."

After exiting the Alchemy Chamber, they found that the battle spoils from Celestial Ruins Mountain had been fully accounted for. Consequently, Lyra Jiang summoned the Purple Mansion Cultivators [cultivators who have opened the third major energy center, the Purple Mansion] from the various great clans.

Before long, everyone had gathered, their faces all bearing traces of joy.

Eldrin Chen reviewed his clan's accrued merit points and discovered that the Chen Clan's share was second only to that of the Xu and Yang Clans. In fact, due to the pivotal role he and the Old Patriarch played in turning the tide at a critical moment, the gap between their merit and that of the Xu and Yang Clans was not particularly vast.

"This decisive victory owes much to the contributions of all present," Lyra Jiang stated calmly, her gaze sweeping over the assembly. She then shifted her tone, adding, "Although Bianzhou suffered no losses among its Purple Mansion [the third major cultivation realm] ranks this battle, our casualties among the Foundation Establishment [the second major cultivation realm] and Qi Refinement Cultivators [cultivators in the first and foundational stage of cultivation] were not insignificant."

"Over four thousand Qi Refinement Cultivators fell. Celestial Ruins Mountain will bear the cost of compensation for their families."

"Twenty-six Foundation Establishment Cultivators perished—a casualty rate exceeding twenty percent. For each fallen Foundation Establishment Cultivator, I will grant one Foundation Establishment Pill to their designated successor and provide additional compensation in resources equivalent to three thousand Spirit Stones."

"Once these compensations are distributed, you must all ensure your disciples and clan members refrain from coveting or contesting these allocations." Dive deeper into the Dao at audio—novel.com.

Hearing Lyra Jiang's warning, everyone nodded in agreement, understanding in their hearts that Lyra Jiang would tolerate no sand in her eyes [idiom: would not tolerate any misconduct] and that they must not provoke her displeasure on this matter.

Seeing their assent, Lyra Jiang glanced at Yang Yuanhe, then continued, "During this great battle, Yang Zhengyuan performed meritorious service of no small measure. Now he is gravely wounded and has lost his clan's guardianmagical treasure|an enchanted artifact used by cultivators>>."

"Therefore, I intend to grant the Purple-Gold Heaven's Net Canopy as compensation. Do any of you have objections?"

Upon hearing this, the group pondered for a moment before ultimately agreeing with Lyra Jiang's proposal.

In this campaign, Yang the Ancient Ancestor fought across three battlefields. His contributions ranked first, second only to those of Celestial Ruins Mountain. However, strictly speaking, his merit was not significantly greater than that of the Chen Clan or the Xu Clan.

After all, in both major clashes, Eldrin Chen had the merit of being the first to slay the enemy and break the deadlock. The Chen Clan also slew several Purple Mansion Demonic Beast [powerful demonic beasts equivalent to the Purple Mansion cultivation realm], shattering key stalemates. The two from the Xu Clan also contributed greatly; Xu Darius fought in successive battles, and Xavier Xu managed to pin down the Purple-Spotted Wolf King for a considerable time.

Calculated in terms of Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy, used as currency and for cultivation], the total military merit of the entire Yang Family amounted to approximately three hundred and twenty thousand. The value of the Purple-Gold Heaven's Net Canopy exceeded two hundred thousand Spirit Stone.

Without compensation, after the Yang Family exchanged their merit for this treasure, they would, by rights, have very few Spirit Stone remaining. By now declaring the Purple-Gold Heaven's Net Canopy as compensation, Lyra Jiang was effectively saving the Yang Family a staggering two hundred thousand Spirit Stone.

With everyone's agreement secured, Lyra Jiang retrieved another set of Third Rank Treasure [a treasure of the third rank, suitable for Purple Mansion realm cultivators] and laid it before the assembly.

"Your contributions in this battle were significant. Choose from among these treasures for yourselves."

Gazing upon the Third Rank Magical Treasures before them, everyone's faces lit up with ecstatic joy. In this battle, the various great clans of Bianzhou had united their efforts, and Lyra Jiang had joined the fray, resulting in the slaying of twenty Purple Mansion Demonic Beasts in total.

The Third Rank Magical Treasures obtained from this numbered a staggering twenty-three items. Ten of these came from Lyra Jiang's slaying of seven Demonic Beasts [powerful creatures that have cultivated demonic energy], while the remainder were the spoils of the others' victories.

The majority of these treasures were of Third Rank Low Grade quality, with a mere five items reaching Third Rank Middle Grade.

Now, Lyra Jiang kept two Third Rank Middle Grade items and five Third Rank Low Grade Magical Treasures for her disciples. She then brought out the remaining spoils, assembling a total of sixteen Third Rank Magical Treasures for the others to choose from.

The value of these treasures was calculated for merit purposes at a rate of thirty thousand to fifty thousand Spirit Stones [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy] for Third Rank Low Grade magical treasures, and eighty thousand to one hundred thousand Spirit Stones for Third Rank Middle Grade ones.

Leaving aside the Third Rank Low Grade items, the three Third Rank Middle Grade magical treasures were the Thunderbolt Tribulation Pearl, the Flying Sword [a sword that can be controlled to fly and attack from a distance] of the Purple-Spotted Wolf King, and a water-attribute treasure vase.

Upon seeing these treasures, Xavier Xu was overjoyed. He immediately expended two hundred thirty thousand Spirit Stones to exchange for the Third Rank Middle GradeFlying Sword of the Purple-Spotted Wolf King and three Third Rank Low Grade Magical Treasures.

His remaining merit, converted to Spirit Stones, amounted to sixty thousand. He simply exchanged it all for five Foundation Establishment Pills [a pill that aids in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm] at a price of twelve thousand Spirit Stones per pill.

Yang Yuanhe, holding three hundred twenty thousand Spirit Stones, directly spent one hundred eighty thousand to exchange for the Thunderbolt Tribulation Pearl and the water-attribute treasure vase. With one hundred sixty thousand Spirit Stones remaining, he did not opt for any more low-grade treasures. Instead, he exchanged them all at once for thirteen Foundation Establishment Pills.

Eldrin Chen tallied the accounts and found that the Chen Clan's battle merit, when converted, amounted to two hundred sixty thousand. He thus spent thirty-five thousand Spirit Stones first to exchange for the Separated Flame Heart-Piercing Needle for the Old Patriarch.

He then exchanged his defensive magical treasures, the Luofu Diamond Seal [a powerful defensive seal artifact] and the Xuluo Diamond Banner [a rare and potent defensive banner]. Among these two treasures, the Xuluo Diamond Banner was exceptionally precious; together, they cost him ninety thousand Spirit Stones [minerals that store and radiate spiritual energy, used as currency and for cultivation].

Seeing that he still had over one hundred thirty thousand Spirit Stones remaining, Eldrin Chen pondered for a moment and then exchanged for another Third Rank Low Grade [a classification for magical treasures] treasure bell.

This treasure was named the Kunwu Earth-Fortress Bell [a bell imbued with powerful earth-attribute defensive properties]. It was originally the Lifebound Magical Treasure [a magical artifact intimately connected to a cultivator's life force and cultivation base] of a Purple Mansion [the third major realm of cultivation, where one forms a spiritual mansion within the dantian] cultivator from the Green Sun Sect [a major cultivation sect] a century ago, a defensive magical treasure of formidable power.

It was said that earth-attribute defensive treasures were quite rare in the Yan Kingdom. Eldrin Chen planned, after the Beast Tide Calamity [a periodic catastrophe where hordes of demonic beasts rampage] concluded, to find time to travel to the Yan Kingdom to seek a Profound Water Crystal [a crystal containing concentrated water-attribute spiritual essence]. He intended to use this bell for a trade; perhaps it would prove more valuable than one hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

After exchanging for these four Third Rank Low Grade treasures, only five of the original sixteen defensive magical treasures remained. Eldrin Chen made no further exchanges. With the remaining one hundred thousand Spirit Stones, he acquired eight Foundation Establishment Pills [precious pills that aid cultivators in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm].

Seeing that everyone had finished their exchanges, Lyra Jiang collected the Foundation Establishment Pills and said, "After this slaying of the Demonic Beast [a beast that has absorbed spiritual energy and gained monstrous power], we have obtained a considerable amount of materials. I will open my furnace to refine several batches of Third Rank [a classification for pills and treasures suitable for Purple Mansion cultivators] pills, and also craft some Third Rank Magical Treasures [powerful artifacts suitable for Purple Mansion cultivators]." Read the full novel exclusively on audio - novel . com.

"When the time comes, if you require them, I can arrange for you to purchase them through the Heaven's Ruin Pavilion [a major trading and resource distribution organization]."

Upon hearing this, the Purple Mansion cultivators from the Xu and Yang clans showed clear interest. As Purple Mansion Immortal Clans [clans powerful enough to have Purple Mansion realm cultivators as their pillars], the Xu and Yang families' resources far surpassed what the Chen Clan could match. They were fully capable of acquiring several more Third Rank Treasures [a general term for precious items of the Third Rank].

Eldrin Chen harbored no such thoughts. The number of Chen Clan Cultivators was less than one-tenth of either of those two clans. Giving them a few extra Third Rank Magical Tools [another term for Third Rank magical treasures] would be largely pointless, as they lacked the personnel to wield them effectively.

Although he had now acquired four Third Rank Magical Tools, two of these artifacts would have to be stored away for the time being. The reason was simple: his True Essence [the refined spiritual energy cultivated by a practitioner] and cultivation base were insufficient, leaving him with no spare capacity to wield them.

It would be far wiser to take advantage of the current low price of the Foundation Establishment Pill [a pill that aids in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm] to purchase several more, thereby increasing the clan's number of esteemed Foundation Establishment Cultivators [practitioners who have solidified their cultivation foundation] by one or two.

He acted precisely on this strategy. Over the past few years, the Chen Clan had amassed reserves exceeding forty thousand Spirit Stones [minerals that store and radiate spiritual energy, used as currency and for cultivation]. He allocated thirty-six thousand of them to procure three Foundation Establishment Pills [pills that aid in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm] from the Heaven's Ruin Pavilion.

With these treasures exchanged, the entire episode of the recent Beast Tide Calamity [a catastrophic invasion by hordes of demonic beasts] was finally brought to a complete close.

Eldrin Chen delivered the Foundation Establishment Pills [pills that aid in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm] back to the clan, leaving it to the Old Patriarch to decide who would receive them. He then returned to Heaven's Ruin Mountain to assist Lyra Jiang in refining Third Rank [corresponding to the Purple Mansion realm] pills and magical treasures from the harvested materials.

By the time they had finished processing all the Third Rank [corresponding to the Purple Mansion realm] Demonic Beast [monstrous creatures that cultivate and possess spiritual power] materials, the two realized that nearly half a year had passed in their diligent work. For more chapters, visit audio-novel dot com for the complete novel.