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Chapter 333: The Cost
Chapter 333: The Cost
October 28, 2024
Late at night, Jiang Cheng unfurled a scroll on his desk.
On the scroll, a man sat cross-legged with his eyes tightly shut, and around him, a golden bell-shaped shadow hovered.
The surface of the bell seemed to be covered in various inscriptions.
After just a glance, Jiang Cheng felt his psychic energy rapidly depleting, and he hastily averted his gaze.
After a day of pill refining, his psychic energy was already low, and he still needed to use it to refine Primal Energy.
This Golden Bell Meditation Diagram, when viewed directly with the naked eye, seemed to drain his psychic energy at an alarming rate. Even if he had been at full capacity, it would have been exhausted within a minute of continuous observation.
"It's no wonder this is a meditation technique capable of cultivating to the Tenth Rank."
Jiang Cheng couldn't help but chuckle.
While this endeavor was undoubtedly risky, even now, it left him feeling a lingering fear. However, having obtained a meditation diagram, he felt it was worth the risk.
If only he could procure more pills in advance, it would be even better...
After a brief rest, he sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, and in his mind, he visualized the golden bell.
A moment later, he opened his eyes.
On the panel, a new line of small text had appeared, indicating the Golden Bell Meditation Technique.
Jiang Cheng focused his gaze.
Even though it was just the introductory chapter, as long as he filled up the experience bar, he could become a Sixth Rank Mind Master.
This also meant that the difficulty was high, and the required experience points were substantial.
He had inquired with Nightingale about the matter, and she had informed him that a Third Rank Mind Master would need to expend at least four to five hundred times their psychic energy to advance to the Fourth Rank.
If calculated at two uses per day, the time required would be around one to two hundred days.
This also assumed that the individual had exceptional talent. If one's talent was average or poor, the time needed would be measured in years—one, two, or even three years or more.
Of course, if one had pills to accelerate the process, it would be much faster. In theory, with sufficient pills, one could achieve a breakthrough within a few days.
Advancing from Fourth Rank to Fifth Rank, using the psychic energy of a Fourth Rank Mind Master twice a day, would still require nearly a year.
The time needed to advance from Fifth Rank to Sixth Rank would be at least double, and the time from Sixth Rank to Seventh Rank would be even longer. Moreover, the higher the rank, the greater the demand for the Mind Master's comprehension and insight.
Nightingale had taken approximately four to five years to advance from First Rank to Sixth Rank, which was already considered fast among Mind Masters. Of course, her resources were limited, and with more resources, she could have progressed even faster.
Jiang Cheng calculated that the psychic energy of a Third Rank Mind Master was 500 to 1000 times that of an ordinary person. A Basic Spirit Nourishing Pill could restore the psychic energy of an ordinary person twice, which meant that to restore the psychic energy of a Third Rank Mind Master, one would need nearly two hundred Basic Spirit Nourishing Pills.
Restoring four to five hundred times the psychic energy would require pills worth around one hundred million, which was just over twice the amount needed to advance from Second Rank to Third Rank.
Advancing from Third Rank to Fifth Rank might cost over two hundred million.
From Fifth Rank to Sixth Rank, it might be four to five hundred million.
If the rank was even higher, Jiang Cheng dared not think about the cost.
Of course, this was the price he was willing to pay for rapid psychic energy advancement.
If he were to cultivate psychic energy through meditation and rest like others, he wouldn't need nearly as much money. The corresponding time required would be much longer, but with the panel's assistance, he wouldn't have to worry about hitting a plateau and spending several days or even months without progress.
However, money was meant to be spent.
Using it to rapidly enhance one's combat power was a worthwhile investment.
Jiang Cheng rolled up the scroll and silently continued refining.
The next day.
What Jiang Cheng didn't expect was that Gu Changkong would personally escort him to the Alchemy Chamber, instead of the Ninth Rank Force Warrior from the previous days.
Gu Changkong, dressed in casual attire, looked completely different from his usual idle and lazy self.
As they walked, Gu Changkong smiled and said, "I heard about yesterday's incident from Old Yang. It was an accident, and I hope you won't take it to heart."
"It's Director Gu being polite," Jiang Cheng replied.
He shook his head and said, "I should be the one apologizing. If it weren't for me, those people wouldn't have died at his hands."
Jiang Cheng had been inside and didn't know what was happening outside. When he came out, he saw the two headless corpses.
He felt shocked and guilty.
"It's okay," Gu Changkong said, patting Jiang Cheng's shoulder. "They were responsible for your safety, and their death is a worthy one. The Black Market will take care of their families, so you don't need to worry."
"As for you..."
"I've already called the Dawn Society and warned them. I believe they won't bother you again from now on. However, it's best if you stay within the neighborhood and don't go out."
"Thank you, Director Gu," Jiang Cheng said hastily.
Gu Changkong smiled and asked about Jiang Cheng's progress in Alchemy.
"I've already reached the beginner level, and I believe I can reach mastery level in three or four days."
Jiang Cheng thought for a moment before continuing, "The production of Calming Spirit Pills is indeed much harder than Spirit Nourishing Pills. If it's the latter, it might take longer."
"That's okay, as long as you're making progress. I look forward to the day you can take this Alchemy Skill to the Great Achievement Realm or even the Perfect Realm."
Gu Changkong smiled.
"I will," Jiang Cheng said, nodding firmly.
The two chatted for a while longer before parting ways when they reached their destination.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
With the success of his pill creation, Jiang Cheng's mind was once again flooded with information.
His Alchemy Skill had reached mastery level.
Jiang Cheng looked at the panel and saw that his experience had increased by about three times compared to before.
When he was at the beginner level, one Beginner Calming Spirit Pill could increase his experience by 0.5%. Now, it was only 0.17%.
Fortunately, with his current mastery level, the pills he produced from ten sets of herbs were mostly Intermediate Calming Spirit Pills, and he might even get Advanced Calming Spirit Pills if he was lucky.
Even if he only produced Intermediate Calming Spirit Pills, one batch could increase his experience by about 3.4%. With thirty batches, he could reach the next level.
However, the loss was still significant.
The cost of ten sets of herbs was 500,000 Currency, but the market price of ten Intermediate Calming Spirit Pills was only 200,000. He would lose 300,000 Currency per batch.
"Thirty batches isn't too many," Jiang Cheng thought.
As his Alchemy Skill improved, not only did the quality of his pills increase, but the time and Psychic Energy required to produce each batch also decreased.
Previously, it took two hours to produce one batch, but now it only took an hour and a half.
Thirty batches would take him about four days to complete, if he worked diligently.
"I hope nothing else goes wrong during this time," Jiang Cheng muttered to himself.
(End of Chapter)
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