The Patriarch (Part Two)

Lei Dong felt envious upon hearing this; a month of guidance from a Nascent Soul Patriarch? Alas, he had no such opportunity...
After the Patriarch finished speaking, he vanished into thin air.
After a moment, the Core Formation Patriarchs exchanged glances, unable to believe this was the final outcome. A draw—this was an extremely rare occurrence in the history of the Yin Sha Sect, for the Patriarch to appear and declare the result. Whether Ding Wan Yan won or Dongfang Fu won, their expressions were not pleasant.
The most delighted was Yan Mo, who laughed so hard her jaw almost dropped:
"I never expected to strike it rich today! Come, hand over the Spirit Stones to this old woman."

A few days later, Lei Dong, in his room, rose from his meditative state. His Meridians and Soul injuries were almost completely healed. This competition also brought him considerable benefits; a Foundation Establishment Pill quota was secured.
The third-place ranking earned him sect contribution points, a high amount of thirty thousand points. If these thirty thousand contribution points were exchanged for Spirit Stones according to the system, he would receive three thousand Spirit Stones.
However, if used to exchange for cultivation methods or various Medicinal Pills, the thirty thousand contribution points would be far more valuable than three thousand Spirit Stones.
His greatest gain, perhaps, was the Nirvana Dharma Wheel. Although its use required extremely high Divine Sense and consumed a massive amount of energy, its power made Lei Dong feel terrified.

After several days of recuperation, Lei Dong had almost fully recovered. Although he achieved third place this time, both in terms of Cultivation Base and actual combat, he was still far behind Dongfang Fu and Ding Wan Yan. Against them, if they unleashed all their Magical Treasures and fought with full strength, even if he summoned his three ghosts, his chances of winning would be very slim.
Their cultivation talent and combat prowess filled Lei Dong with admiration and envy. But envy was envy; things like Spiritual Roots seemed to have never been heard of being changed. As soon as he thought of Spiritual Roots, Lei Dong thought of his Soul Pearl. The Soul Pearl was a heaven-defying item that could change the quality of ghost servants.
Lei Dong had once wondered if this item would be effective on humans. But out of caution, he dared not experiment on himself. Nor did he dare try it on other disciples, even on the disciples in his Cave Abode. Once this matter was exposed, he would not be able to bear the consequences. Even if he wanted to experiment, he would have to leave the Yin Sha Sect and slowly search for someone.
Of course, Lei Dong did not hold too much hope for this item. He believed that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. For if Spiritual Roots could be so easily changed, wouldn't this world fall into chaos?

Strength, his strength was still too weak. Lei Dong watched the two elites battle, and besides feeling a surge of ambition, he also felt immense pressure. Entering the sect at the same time, they now possessed super-strong combat power and were about to enter the Foundation Establishment Realm. But he himself was still only at the eighth layer of Qi Condensation.
Lei Dong secretly and carefully considered that in terms of actual combat power, he was not too weak now. The only thing limiting him now was perhaps his insufficient Cultivation Base. Therefore, increasing his Cultivation Base was the most urgent task.
With an increase in Cultivation Base, his strength would naturally skyrocket. Lei Dong believed that with his current strength, he was equivalent to the peak of the twelfth layer of Qi Condensation. Controlling two or three High-grade Ghost Guards, he might not necessarily be inferior to the two elites. Speaking of Ghost Guards, Lei Dong thought of his Ethereal Ghost Servant.
After devouring the Sacred Demon Left Arm alone, only a day later, that fellow had cocooned itself in the Soul Nurturing Pagoda. He believed that soon, he would acquire his first High-grade Ghost Guard. Was this not a joyous occasion?
Although it was said that a High-grade Ghost Servant advancing to a Ghost Guard was not too difficult, it was not something that could be achieved by simply eating some blood, flesh, or living souls. Lei Dong estimated that if he purely bought the blood and flesh of Demonic Beasts, wild ghosts, and the like, he would probably have to spend tens of thousands of Spirit Stones to upgrade one. As for advancing a Mid-grade Ghost Servant to a Ghost Guard, the cost would be even more enormous.
Therefore, although the Ghost Control Art was good and gave an advantage among cultivators of the same level, the problem was raising ghosts. Unless one was willing to spend a lot of time hunting, it was nothing short of a bottomless pit; no amount of Spirit Stones would be enough. He also had a gluttonous Soul Devouring Shadow Tiger on him; this creature loved to eat ghost souls and living souls. Collecting food for it was also a huge expense. Ordinary tiger cubs ate low-grade ghosts, but their development was too slow.
And Lei Dong, at present, lacked Spirit Stones the most to buy Medicinal Pills for cultivation.
If he didn't buy those expensive Medicinal Pills, his cultivation would be too slow, and he would have no chance of surpassing Senior Sister Ding in this lifetime. Although he still had some contribution points. Thirty thousand, which didn't sound like a small amount. But Lei Dong doubted whether, after deducting the cost to repair damaged Magical Treasures, the remaining twenty-six thousand contribution points, when exchanged for Medicinal Pills, could help him advance to the ninth layer of Qi Condensation.
In short, the more Lei Dong thought about it, the more he felt the need to earn Spirit Stones; then everything would be easy to discuss. Using many Spirit Stones to buy Medicinal Pills and return would allow him to increase his Cultivation Base faster.

Lei Dong also thought that there were several ways for him to acquire many Spirit Stones. One was to sell Spirit Ghosts, but at most, he would only dare to sell Mid-grade Spirit Ghosts, for over a thousand each, and he dared not sell too many, lest he invite trouble and be killed, which would not be most beneficial.
Second, like other disciples, he could honestly complete some sect missions. If he was lucky, he might find Spirit Herbs or treasures during the missions.
Third, he had to set his sights on the Myriad Ghosts Patriarch. After all, that old man had once said he would protect him until he entered the Foundation Establishment Realm. No matter what, he should provide him with Spirit Stones to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Realm, right? After all, judging by Yan Mo's tone, the Patriarch had probably participated in the gambling and had made a huge fortune from his victory over Bai Li Yun. He could casually wave his hand and still have enough to elevate him to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Fourth, he could leave the Yin Sha Sect's territory and cautiously hunt. This was not hunting Demonic Beasts, but hunting people. But going out to plunder would certainly lead to all sorts of unexpected incidents, and it was not without danger.
The more Lei Dong thought about it, the more he felt that perhaps he should go flatter the Patriarch and get some Spirit Stones. If successful, he would endure hardship once and then enjoy a lifetime of ease entering the Foundation Establishment Realm, solving the Spirit Stone problem. Even if unsuccessful, he would suffer no loss.