Upon hearing this, Xu Ning hurriedly looked up and immediately saw that although the dark clouds in the sky were dissipating, at the last moment, they formed large characters before finally disappearing.
The Tribulation Cloud asked, "Remember?"
Xu Ning nodded. "I remember!"
Xu Ning possessed a photographic memory, so he memorized the characters at a glance.
However, he didn't quite understand them and subconsciously turned back to ask, "What does it mean?"
The Tribulation Cloud remained silent, seemingly afraid to speak, and flew straight down to Xu Ning's head, closing its eyes to rest.
Xu Ning frowned, roughly understanding the Tribulation Cloud's meaning. It couldn't speak, seemingly because it was wary of something, and could only use the fleeting moment of the dissipating clouds to form characters to tell Xu Ning.
Xu Ning simply stopped asking and walked straight to the thatched hut under the cloud of tribulation. "Thatched hut, what's changed?"
The thatched hut immediately replied, "Xu Ning, I can compress spiritual energy into spirit stones!"
Xu Ning asked, "How fast?"
The thatched hut said, "The speed depends on the size of my space. My current internal space is 42,000 cubic meters. Assuming one spirit stone requires 20 cubic meters of spiritual energy to compress, and after deducting storage space and the area you use, it's about 2,000 per day."
Xu Ning couldn't help but be surprised. "One spirit stone requires 20 cubic meters of spiritual energy? That means the concentration of spirit stones is roughly 20 times the concentration of air, right?"
The thatched hut said, "That also depends on the density of the concentration. Some places have dense spiritual energy, some have sparse, and the concentration of spiritual energy in my internal space changes according to the amount of spiritual energy I store."
"I just calculated based on the current concentration of spiritual energy in the internal space. So in fact, the conversion rate between spiritual energy and spirit stones is even higher compared to the current situation in the cultivation world."
Xu Ning said, "In other words, as you store more and more spiritual energy, the speed at which spirit stones are compressed will be even higher, right?"
The thatched hut replied, "Yes!"
Xu Ning then began to calculate. More than two thousand a day, more than twenty thousand in ten days, sixty thousand a month, and three hundred and sixty thousand a year.
Thirty-six million in a hundred years, and three hundred and sixty million in a thousand years.
So theoretically, it would only take about three thousand years to upgrade to a spirit spring.
Of course, as the thatched hut's spiritual energy storage increased, plus subsequent upgrades, this time would definitely be shortened.
Moreover, Xu Ning also had income from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. Currently, after deducting expenses, he had tens of millions of spirit stones in income every hundred years.
Upgrading to a spirit spring was not far off.
At the same time, the spirit gathering array for the tribulation had also changed a lot. The speed of absorbing spiritual energy had increased again. In the future, it could be used in conjunction with the thatched hut to accumulate and compress spirit stones.
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After packing his things and leaving behind his inheritance, Xu Ning headed towards the direction of the Azure Winter Mountains.
Next, of course, was to find a sect to hide in and slowly develop and plan.
With Xu Ning's current Foundation Establishment cultivation, he could easily find a sect to hide in for five hundred years.
The reason he chose the Qingdong Mountain Range was, of course, because of its stability.
Other mountain ranges were prone to change, and some sects couldn't even last five hundred years.
Moreover, relatively speaking, the sects in the Qingdong Mountain Range were stable, and the spiritual energy inside was relatively rich, which would help with the accumulation and storage of resources in his thatched hut.
He arrived at a village outside the Qingdong Mountain Range and used the same trick as before, transforming himself into a child and waiting for the sect to come and recruit disciples.
However, to Xu Ning's dismay, he waited in the village for five years without seeing anyone from the sect.
Helpless, Xu Ning changed his identity and went to another village to wait.
Another five years passed, and Xu Ning still hadn't seen anyone.
He changed his identity again and waited for another year, and finally, someone came!
"Finally, I've waited for you! I'm so glad I didn't give up!" Xu Ning couldn't help but mutter to himself.
As usual, Xu Ning was recruited as a menial disciple.
The sect was called the Ancient Oriole Sect.
On the way to the sect, Xu Ning overheard the reason why he had waited so many years.
The main reason was that the villages outside the Qingdong Mountains had long been overrun by various sects. Previously, sect recruiters would go there every month.
Later, these places became unpopular and were abandoned by disciples of other sects.
As a result, more than ten years had passed before the Ancient Oriole Sect's responsible cultivator finally remembered this area.
Xu Ning was speechless at this reason.
However, compared to going directly to the cultivation world, his method was actually the best.
Mortals living in the cultivation world all had established backgrounds. Those with spiritual roots had already been recruited.
Entering through the mortal realm would easily arouse suspicion.
Therefore, entering through the mortal realm was the safest option, because it was common knowledge among cultivators that cultivators couldn't stay in the mortal realm for long. This effectively prevented most rogue cultivators from joining.
Therefore, disciples recruited from the mortal realm were the most trusted by the sects.
Upon arriving at the sect, Xu Ning was assigned to Flowing Cloud Peak, a peak reserved for Foundation Establishment elders. His duties there were various chores.
After settling into his lodgings, Xu Ning breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, he could settle down. Now, he just needed to proceed step by step, gradually revealing his cultivation until he fully revealed his Foundation Establishment cultivation and became an elder. Then he could be assigned a peak and live peacefully for five hundred years.
"Let's start absorbing spiritual energy! But I'll go slowly for now!" Xu Ning said, merging his thatched hut into the servants' hut.
The hut said, "Xu Ning, you could actually set up a concealment array to hide my absorption of spiritual energy."
Xu Ning replied, "I've considered that, but with so many people around, even a concealment array would be too conspicuous. I'll set it up after I fully reveal my Foundation Establishment cultivation and have my own peak."
For the next few months, Xu Ning immersed himself completely in his role as a servant disciple.
His cultivation began to reveal itself over time: three months, Qi Refining Level 1; six months, Qi Refining Level 2; and in the first year, Qi Refining Level 3.
In a year, Xu Ning had become very popular among the various servants.
This was naturally due to Xu Ning's sociable nature. After all, in his eyes, these servant disciples were all potential spiritual roots for leveling up.
After a year of observation, Xu Ning had a general understanding of the situation at Flowing Cloud Peak.
The peak master of Flowing Cloud Peak was named Gu Zhuoran, a mid-grade Foundation Establishment cultivator with a high chance of reaching Core Formation.
Gu Zhuoran had four disciples. His eldest disciple had died many years ago. His second disciple was in seclusion year-round, and Xu Ning hadn't seen him in the year he'd been there.
His third disciple, An Lanxin, and his fourth disciple, Dang Xueqing, were two sisters who didn't get along and frequently fought each other.
Therefore, they divided all the menial disciples on Flowing Cloud Peak into two factions, which then engaged in open and covert struggles.
Xu Ning's cultivation was initially low, and neither faction looked down on him.
Xu Ning often secretly rejoiced, thinking, Let them fight! Let them fight! It would be best if they killed a few so I could send them away and acquire their spiritual roots faster.
However, on this day, Xu Ning returned to his thatched hut and was dumbfounded.