Filthy Cultivation: I Pierced the Heavens with the Merit System

"I'm here to sell some things."

Now that she had been recognized, Li Fuyao no longer tried to hide it. She took off her hood and stepped forward to greet him gracefully, recounting her experiences since entering the Hundred Treasures Pavilion in detail without any embellishment.

"Hmm, you weren't lying at all, you're an honest boy. You weren't as timid as before when you saw me, you've regained your composure, and you speak logically and clearly. Not bad, not bad, it seems you've made quite a bit of progress these past few days."

Ye Wuxin stroked his beard, smiling as he looked at Li Fuyao's two large dark circles under her eyes. He knew she had put in a lot of effort these past few days, and he felt even more satisfied.

No elder dislikes a diligent student, and Ye Wuxin was no exception.

Even if he thought the little guy was lacking in talent and not particularly outstanding, he couldn't help but offer a few more pointers because of his diligence and hard work.

“I know that Baibaoge doesn’t accept low-grade items. Don’t be too discouraged. It’s already quite good that you’ve made several finished products so quickly. It’s normal that the quality isn’t up to the mid-grade level.”

"It just so happens that I have some free time today and can give you some pointers. Come, let me see what you've made."

Upon hearing this, Li Fuyao quickly handed over the remaining pills and talismans with both hands.

Seeing Ye Wuxin raise an eyebrow in surprise, she lowered her eyelashes to conceal the sly anticipation in her eyes and added:

"The rest have been sold; these are what's left."

"These are the rest?" Ye Wuxin repeated incredulously, his eyes narrowing slightly as he asked.

"How many did you sell to Baibaoge?"

"There are quite a lot, this many!"

Li Fuyao raised her hands and made a circle, a look of reminiscence appearing on her innocent face:

"I forgot the exact number that pretty lady mentioned, but she gave me fifty-one low-grade spirit stones and sixty-five gold coins. I've never seen so much money in my life, hehe~"

As she spoke, she shyly took out twenty spirit stones and proudly showed them to Ye Wuxin, holding them in the corner of her clothes like a treasure:

"But now I only have twenty spirit stones left, I used the rest to buy materials."

The colorful glow of the spirit stone made Li Fuyao's eyes appear even more adorable and full of spirit. Ye Wuxin looked at the pair of pure, dark eyes in front of him and was speechless for a moment.

One hundred documents is neither a lot nor a little.

He originally thought that even if this little girl's soul power was much more solid than that of ordinary people, with her mixed spiritual root talent, it would be quite good if she could make three to five low-grade finished products within seven days.

After all, even the inner disciples who specialize in this art within the sect could only produce about ten out of a hundred materials when they first came into contact with alchemy and talisman drawing.

When I left, I left her some money for her daily life, but for her safety, I didn't give her nearly as many spirit stones.

Although Qingyatou was kind-hearted, there was no way she would give this little girl spirit stones to coax her.

Therefore, these spirit stones must be what she just sold.

Based on the price offered by Baibaoge, this little girl's output rate is at least 70% to 80%.

This, how is this possible!

To ensure his authenticity, Ye Wuxin immediately had someone bring several documents to Li Fuyao, instructing her to refine elixirs and draw talismans on the spot.

Li Fuyao had been pondering these steps repeatedly these past few days and had long since mastered them, so upon hearing this, he knew it was absolutely true.

Identify the medicinal materials, extract their essence, blend their medicinal power, and condense them into a pill.

She performed each step skillfully and smoothly.

Soon, the fragrance of several high-grade Rejuvenation Pills wafted out from the spiritual fire in his palm.

When it comes to drawing talismans, spiritual energy is used as the brush and spiritual liquid as the ink. The brush moves like dragons and snakes without the slightest pause, even smoother than if an enema had been used.

In just a short while, a superior purification talisman was drawn by her in a flash of inspiration.

Even Ye Wuxin, who was used to seeing countless geniuses, was dumbfounded.

Although Li Fuyao's movements were swift and efficient, they had also greatly depleted her spiritual energy. She wiped the thin layer of sweat from her forehead, her face showing some trepidation and nervousness, while the little voice inside her was jumping for joy like a grasshopper:

Silky smooth, isn't it?

Seven days without sleep—that's what I got!

Hehe, this little combo of mine is sure to stun you!

"Ugh, this is really, this is really, sigh..."

Ye Wuxin looked at the little girl in front of him with mixed feelings. He was both surprised to find a genius and regretful to discover that this genius had a useless spiritual root.

Undeterred, he grabbed Li Fuyao's wrist to probe her cultivation level again.

But they discovered that in just seven days, this little girl's cultivation level had risen from the early stage of the Innate Realm to the early stage of the Innate Realm!

Heaven is supreme!

This speed is considered above average among the many disciples of the Yanjian Sect!

He had examined the lotus hammer; it was just an ordinary, low-grade magic weapon. The fact that it could unleash strange fire from the beast's mouth and save the little girl was probably thanks to the village's incense offerings.

Just by looking at the material, you can tell that even if there are any inherited techniques inside, it can't possibly be that powerful.

What's going on with her cultivation speed?

Could it be that the demonic cultivator did something to her that day?

Under Li Fuyao's smiling gaze, he carefully examined the item again, but found no problem. Completely puzzled, he asked, "..."

“Little girl, tell me in detail what you’ve been doing these past few days.”

"Drawing talismans, refining pills, eating, cultivating—I have no time for anything else."

Li Fuyao perfectly embodied the image of an honest and simple village girl. She scratched her head and said with a sincere look in her eyes:

"If there's anything unusual, it's because I grew up in a mountain valley, so I don't know much about cultivation. Since it was my first time in town, I was afraid of breaking some rules and annoying people, so I bought a copy of 'The Customs and Traditions of the Spirit Cultivation Continent' to read. I saw in it that it's most important for cultivators to lay a solid foundation."

"Grandpa, you and Sister Qingqing are both busy, and I have no one to ask. I also feel that I started cultivating too quickly the first time..."

At this point, Li Fuyao hesitated and stammered:

"I was just trying to figure out how to refine my cultivation, and I didn't expect that after I took a nap, I would wake up to find that I had reached the early stage."

"Grandpa, will this haphazard cultivation cause any problems later?"

His cultivation level increased just by taking a nap?!

Ye Wuxin frowned in thought, then suddenly took out a smooth, white jade ruler. Seeing Li Fuyao's curious expression, he handed the jade ruler to her and explained expectantly:

"Don't be afraid, little girl. This is used to test a disciple's talent. There was originally a matching jade ball to test spiritual root attributes, but I lost it. Only this jade ruler is left collecting dust in my Qiankun bag."

"I'll give it to you now. You should input each of your five spiritual energies into it one by one, so I can use it to test your affinity with each type of spiritual energy."

"Spiritual affinity? What's that?"

Li Fuyao asked.

These things are so basic that almost every cultivator who embarks on the path of cultivation knows them, so they are not mentioned at all in that book of local customs.

Upon hearing this, Ye Wuxin thought of how she had grown up in a remote mountain village and it was normal that she didn't know these things, so she patiently explained:

"Spiritual affinity is the speed at which you absorb spiritual energy."

"For example, if you put two cultivators with the same spiritual root attribute in the same room and give them the same cultivation resources, one of them will cultivate faster and the other slower. The one who cultivates slower has a lower affinity for spiritual energy."

At this point, Ye Wuxin sighed regretfully:

"If we compare each person's spiritual affinity to a pot of water, then spiritual roots are the cups that distribute the water. If there are more cups, each cup will receive less water."

"If someone has a lot of water in their pot, that's fine. But if the pot has very little water to begin with, and there are many cups, then even if that person is exceptionally talented, they probably have no chance of achieving immortality."

Upon hearing this, Li Fuyao felt a chill in her heart, but then, remembering that her cultivation speed wasn't actually that slow, she tentatively asked:

"What if there are many cups, but also a lot of water?"

"Then one would be invincible among those of the same level simply by having a vast amount of spiritual energy reserves."

Ye Wuxin stroked his goatee and squinted as he sighed:

"Unfortunately, such prodigies are one in ten thousand years, while there are many people in the world who are trapped by their own talents and waste their lives."

After he finished speaking, he looked down at the thin, dark-skinned girl in front of him and sighed again:

"Just input a little of each of the five elements' spiritual power, let's begin."