Chapter Fifty-Two: Spirit Crystal

“The amount of spiritual energy stored in this spirit crystal is roughly one ten-thousandth of a low-grade immortal stone. It’s about one-tenth the energy of a lower-tier spirit stone mine. But the energy is extremely pure, making it a rare and valuable item. It’s a pity we can’t return to the Spirit Realm; otherwise, just these spirit crystals alone would have made us rich!” Xiao Mei, who had always been the financial officer at T-Rex Printing and Advertising, was obsessed with all things financial. Perhaps it was in her nature, for legend had it that her ancestors bore the bloodline of the Western Dragon God, and dragons were notorious for their greed, even developing the peculiar habit of sleeping atop piles of gold and treasure.

“In this mortal world where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth has dried up, our former advantage as cultivators—being able to draw power from the world at will—is gone. This means that, like Western magicians and newly emerged psychic users, we must first store up spiritual energy. A single spirit crystal like this is probably enough to fully replenish the power of a seventh-grade cultivator. Because of its high purity, it’s absorbed very quickly, making it quite a rare treasure! By equivalence, I’d say this is a seventh-grade spirit crystal,” Ling Mei said, examining the blue marble-sized spirit crystal in her hand with her spiritual sense, her appraisal thoroughly professional.

“What’s with this ten-grade system? What grade are you? And what about me?” Wu Ming was entirely in the dark when it came to the ways of cultivators—an utter novice, if not completely clueless.

“I really wonder how on earth that elder from the One Breath Daoist Sect managed to train you. Seven years, and you know nothing of the basics! You only learned a single spell! Xiao Mei, you explain it to him. I don’t even want to talk to him. Please, none of you ever tell anyone he’s our sect leader; it’s humiliating!” For the first time, Ling Mei couldn’t even muster the energy to tease Wu Ming.

“All right, let me explain it to the sect leader,” Xiao Mei replied, her cheeks tinged with a blush.

“In our Spirit Realm, strength is divided into ten grades: First Grade is Supreme Sage; Second Grade is Daoist Sage, like the Patriarch Hongjun; Third Grade is Sage; and from Fourth to Tenth Grade, it descends from top-level powerhouses to novice cultivators who’ve just begun practicing Qi Refinement. If you’re learning Qi Refinement but can’t yet cast spells, you’re Tenth Grade; if you’ve succeeded at Qi Refinement and can use some spells, like Senior Brother here, you’re Ninth Grade. So the grade corresponds to a cultivator’s level. Each grade is further divided into three ranks: upper, middle, and lower, reflecting how far you’ve progressed within that grade. On top of that, there are three tiers: Heaven, Earth, and Human, which indicate the power level of your attacks at your current stage, dictated by the techniques you cultivate—this generally can’t be improved. In other words, if you practice a Heaven-tier technique, unless you advance to a higher grade, you’ll remain Heaven-tier at the next stage; same for Earth-tier techniques, and so on.”

“Then why would anyone bother to practice Earth- or Human-tier techniques?” Wu Ming asked curiously.

Everyone turned to Wu Ming with an expression that suggested they were watching an idiot.

Xiao Mei clarified, “First, higher-tier techniques are hard to come by. Second, the more advanced the technique, the harder it is to cultivate. Would you rather advance quickly through the grades, or stay stuck at the tenth grade forever?”

“I see! Well, I’m doomed then. But when the elder let me choose a technique, I picked a Heaven-tier one right away!” Wu Ming looked miserable.

“No wonder, you dolt. Seven years and you’re still a mid-stage Ninth Grade! That’s hilarious—someone actually tried to cultivate the legendary Heaven-tier technique! Who do you think you are, one of the Three Sovereigns or Five Emperors?” Director T-Rex laughed, slapping the table.

“It all makes sense now. That elder who was drunk at the time gave me a weird look, kept asking if I was sure, and after confirming several times that I wanted the Heaven-tier technique, he just praised me with a thumbs up, left me to practice on my own, and sped off to drink and visit brothels!” Wu Ming sighed, feeling deeply wronged by the elder’s trickery.

Director T-Rex roared with laughter.

“Incredible! If I’d seen you so determined to pick the sect’s only Heaven-tier technique, the most complicated and useless one at that, I’d have given you a thumbs up too! No wonder that drunk old man ignored you!” Director T-Rex nearly fell off his chair, laughing until tears streamed from his eyes.

“Brother Wu Ming, our sect’s only Heaven-tier technique, ‘Compendium of Daoist Methods of China,’ is said to be the strongest, most comprehensive thunder law in history. But it’s also the only Heaven-tier technique that no one has ever mastered, because it’s just too vast and convoluted—no normal cultivator could ever possibly succeed. It’s like trying to master all three thousand Daoist paths at once—you simply can’t!” Melody explained regretfully.

“Is there still hope for me? Can I still switch to an Earth-tier technique?” Wu Ming still clung to a shred of hope. After all, it was just a technique—if it didn’t work out, he could always start over.

“Are you planning to reincarnate and start from scratch? If you want, I can make sure you die in bliss, and then I’ll bring you back myself—how about that?” Ling Mei’s eyes sparkled with forbidden delight, clearly intrigued by the idea.

“No, thank you, Senior Sister Ling Mei. I’m not done living yet. I’ll just muddle through from now on. With the world so deprived of spiritual energy, no one’s becoming immortal anyway. I’ll just focus on learning some powerful spells—I won’t be any worse off than you lot, constantly chasing after higher grades!” Wu Ming took it all in stride. What was the point of advancing quickly, anyway?

Everyone was speechless. Wu Ming had a point: in a world so starved of spiritual energy, climbing the ranks didn’t matter much. Without the support of ambient spiritual power, even the mightiest spell would drain your reserves dry in an instant, leaving you helpless—a bit of a joke, really. In contrast, Heaven-tier spells that delivered high impact for low energy cost were genuinely advantageous, at least offering great efficiency and endurance.

“Since it’s already a fact that I practice a Heaven-tier technique, there’s nothing more to say. Let’s talk about that old man in the base and his plan to have us train special operations soldiers.” Wu Ming was genuinely curious about the old man’s true identity and the extent of his power. He had always disliked the old man in the underground facility, but the real reason was the instinctive pressure that higher beings exerted on lower ones—an unease that came from deep within. Wu Ming’s sensitivity to spiritual forces made him aware of this, though he mistook it for simple annoyance.

“Fair enough. It’s fine if they want to form the Dream Spirit Guard; at least it spares us the hassle of running around all day. We’ve been so busy lately we can barely keep up.”