Creating a paradise in an ant nest

Chapter 71 The Ways to Seek Personal Gain

When Fu Shuai was still a menial disciple, he was selected to enter the Spirit Tree Garden of Spirit Plant Peak.

The forest area he was guarding was adjacent to Guo Chengyi's forest area.

At that time, Guo Chengyi was at the fifth level of Qi Refining. He took good care of Marshal Fu, and the two had a good relationship.

A few years later, Fu Shuai reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, and Guo Chengyi reached the sixth level.

In fact, Guo Chengyi was very talented. He had a medium-level spiritual root and an earth-type spiritual body called "Rock Spiritual Body". Logically speaking, as long as he cultivated steadily and step by step, it would not be difficult for him to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage in the Qian Yuan Holy Sect.

Fu Shuai has a lower-grade spiritual root and a wood-type spiritual body.

Those selected for the Spirit Plant Peak are all people with some talent, not ordinary cultivators.

Fu Shuai was distressed because he only had a low-grade spiritual root and his progress was slow. With his meager monthly salary, he couldn't afford many resources, so he found some ways to earn spirit stones that violated the sect rules.

At first, it was just a small-scale operation, earning a little bit of spirit stones.

Until one day, Guo Chengyi needed some spirit stones to buy elixirs, so he asked Marshal Fu for some.

Instead of lending him the spirit stone, Fu Shuai recruited him to join him in "doing big things".

Commander Fu gave him some "White Jade Cicada" nymphs to raise.

The White Jade Cicada is a type of cicada that, during its metamorphosis, also known as "the cicada shedding its shell," produces a translucent, white jade-like molt.

It has many uses; cicada molts are a valuable medicinal material, and adult cicadas are a delicacy enjoyed by some cultivators.

Like ordinary cicadas, the nymphs, or larvae, of the White Jade Cicada feed on the sap of spirit tree roots underground.

The advantage of the White Jade Cicada is its rapid growth.

The nymphs of common cicadas need to live underground for two or three years, or even five or eight years, or even more than ten years.

The nymphs of the white jade cicada can emerge from the ground and molt into adults in just one year if they have sufficient nutrition.

As for the drawbacks?

Its nymphs are easily discovered by wood-type and earth-type wood-type diagnostic techniques, and the adult insects that have emerged from the ground are even more easily seen.

As the forest rangers of Lingmu Garden, Fu Shuai and Guo Chengyi found the White Jade Cicada to be perfect for them to secretly raise and profit from.

Unless there are many cicada nymphs, their effect on large spirit trees is negligible and difficult to detect.

They selected those ancient trees that were over a hundred years old and had strong vitality and good growth, and released two or three nymphs of the white jade cicada into them.

In the first year, they harvested a large number of high-quality cicada molts and adult white jade cicadas, earning hundreds of spirit stones, equivalent to their annual spirit salary!

The following year, they intensified their efforts, especially Guo Chengyi, who was about to break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining and would need even more resources. He released spirit cicada nymphs into almost every spirit tree in his forest area.

This time, he was still not discovered, and Guo Chengyi earned more than 300 spirit stones.

Because they guard the forest area, as soon as the white jade cicada emerges from the ground to molt and emerge as adults, they collect the molts and adult cicadas immediately. Therefore, the white jade cicada does not spread to other areas and is not easily detected.

By the third year, Guo Chengyi had released even more nymphs. There were only so many spirit trees in the forest, so he increased the number of nymphs released on each tree, releasing three or four or even more nymphs per tree.

Even so, it went unnoticed until one day when people from Wanqi Peak came to the Spirit Wood Garden to collect timber, they discovered cicada nymphs at the roots of the spirit trees in Guo Chengyi's forest area, and the matter was exposed.

It was Guo Chengyi who made a mistake; he used the wrong spirit wood when cleaning the nymphs.

The consequences were severe: Guo Chengyi was fined two hundred spirit stones and expelled from the sect.

He didn't implicate Fu Shuai, even though Fu Shuai found the channels for purchasing the nymphs of the White Jade Cicada, as well as the channels for selling the molted cicadas and adult cicadas. It was Fu Shuai who initially encouraged him to raise the White Jade Cicadas.

Guo Chengyi faced extreme difficulties after leaving the Qian Yuan Holy Sect. Fortunately, his cultivation level was not low, which allowed him to barely survive.

The higher one's cultivation level, the more one realizes the benefits of belonging to a sect. Without a background or powerful backer, anyone can bully you, and you'll have to suffer losses and be tolerant in many situations.

Guo Chengyi was filled with remorse. Years of accumulated regret led him to resent Marshal Fu, especially after learning that Marshal Fu had successfully been promoted to an inner disciple and his status in the Qian Yuan Holy Sect had risen accordingly.

He then conceived the idea of ​​"extortion".

Anyway, it's easier for Commander Fu to earn spirit stones than for him. He was expelled from the sect by taking responsibility alone back then, and that's something Commander Fu owes him.

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Faced with Guo Chengyi's blatant threats, Fu Shuai's expression kept changing.

If what happened back then is exposed, Commander Fu will definitely be expelled from the sect.

It's not just about Bai Yubaochan from back then; he has too many secrets to withstand scrutiny.

But he was unwilling to be endlessly taken from. What was the point of risking his life to collect spirit stones in the sect all these years? Was it to support Guo Chengyi?

"At worst, we'll both go down in flames; I'm not going to stay with Qian Yuan anymore!"

Fu Shuai seemed ready to fight Guo Chengyi to the bitter end.

"Oh? You really can bear to part with it? You finally managed to become an inner disciple, your future path to immortality is limitless."

Being a rogue cultivator offers no future; even reaching the Foundation Establishment stage is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Guo Chengyi was telling the truth.

In a major sect like the Qian Yuan Holy Sect, high-level cultivation techniques, elixirs, and magical artifacts for the Foundation Establishment stage, as well as guidance from seniors, are relatively easy to obtain. Unlike the independent cultivators outside, who would fight tooth and nail for a single Foundation Establishment cultivation technique.

"..."

Fu Shuai remained silent. He certainly didn't want to be kicked out of the sect, but he also didn't want to be "exploited."

Guo Chengyi knew Fu Shuai's concerns, and to reassure him, he made this promise: "This is the last time I'll ask you to help me."

After this, I will never again coerce you into giving me spirit stones.

"real?"

"Of course, you've helped me a lot over the years. After I reach the Foundation Establishment stage, I can even secretly help you solve some troubles that are difficult for you to handle."

how?"

Guo Chengyi's words were full of seduction.

Fu Shuai thought for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, I'll help you one last time. But you have to give me spirit stones first, I don't have enough spirit stones to buy Foundation Establishment Pills."

After hesitating for a moment, Guo Chengyi took out a bulging brocade pouch from his storage bag: "There are thirty mid-grade spirit stones and one thousand ordinary spirit stones here, for a total of four thousand."

"If you dare to run away with my spirit stones, hmph, you'll see what happens."

If Commander Fu dares to embezzle these four thousand spirit stones, Guo Chengyi will hunt him down to the ends of the earth and never let him die.

Fu Shuai opened the brocade pouch and glanced at it. The quantity matched, especially the thirty mid-grade spirit stones, not one was missing.

Ordinary spirit stones, also known as low-grade spirit stones, are about the size of a fingernail or half an inch in size, and are crystal clear to the point of being almost transparent.

A mid-grade spirit stone is about an inch in size and has the color of ice mist. It contains far more spiritual energy than an ordinary spirit stone and is worth a hundred times more.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Guo, I wouldn't leave the sect for four thousand spirit stones."

As he spoke, Fu Shuai put away the spirit stones.

The value of keeping it in the Qian Yuan Holy Sect far exceeds four thousand spirit stones.

"When will you give me the Foundation Establishment Pill?"

"One month from now, at Yangjiao Mountain, five hundred miles east of the sect, I will give you a Foundation Establishment Pill there."

"Alright. I'll wait for you there for three days at most. If I don't see you in three days, don't blame me for coming to the Qian Yuan Sect to find you myself."

The two of them made that agreement.