Others Level Up, but I Pursue Cultivation!

Su Xing, having voiced his doubts inwardly, quickly received a rare response from the simulator.

[Ding, after obtaining ten talents, the host can spend simulator energy to expand the talent slot. Higher quality talents with the same function will automatically replace the old ones, and for different quality talents, the host can freely replace them as well.]

Relieved by the simulator’s reply, Su Xing exhaled; the limit to the talent slots wasn’t ten, which meant he had greater growth potential.

“Sigh, it looks like I’ll be working tirelessly to accumulate energy again!”

After finishing with the simulation, Su Xing didn’t rest but immediately continued with alchemy.

He mainly focused on making Nourishing Face Pills and also produced a small batch of Wound Healing Pills.

Soon, a week passed by.

In one week, Su Xing had manufactured a total of three thousand Nourishing Face Pills and Wound Healing Pills.

The reason he could produce them so quickly was partly that the low-grade elixirs were simple to make, and also, after his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Stage, both his Divine Sense and Spiritual Power had increased immensely; making three thousand elixirs in a week was even manageable with energy to spare.

While conducting alchemy, Su Xing pondered:

“Making low-grade elixirs, I’m now able to multitask with ease. Perhaps I should build a few more Pill Furnaces to significantly speed up the process!”

A thought struck Su Xing; he had once used multitasking in a simulation to simultaneously concoct multiple batches of elixirs. Although the chance of failure and the risk of the furnace exploding increased, the overall speed of alchemy would definitely see a significant boost.

For instance, if Su Xing were to refine elixirs in three furnaces at the same time and one failed, the efficiency of his alchemy would still have doubled.

“Sigh, the only troublesome thing is that ordinary metal furnaces can’t withstand the high temperatures of alchemical flames. The Pill Furnace would probably explode before the pills were even complete… I remember during the simulation, Lu Yuanwu seemed to have crafted a batch of Pill Furnaces for me, using some kind of special metal, was it called?”

“I’ll ask Jin Congxue about the origin of this special metal when I see her later.”

Su Xing stored the freshly concocted elixirs into his storage ring and then made his way to the small villa where he often met with Jin Congxue.

Today, Jin Congxue was dressed in a light blue gown, her long hair carelessly draping down, her clear eyes shining and her teeth gleaming, her body still carrying the fresh scent from her recent bath.

Seeing Su Xing lost in thought for a moment, Jin Congxue rolled her eyes coquettishly and said,

“What, visiting me just once a week and always for work? If you think I’m pretty, you should come to see me more often~”

Su Xing, hearing the playful tone in Jin Congxue’s voice, felt a shiver run through him and replied with a wry smile,

“Sigh, work is still the priority… From the moment I open my eyes each day, it’s all about alchemy, how could I have the time to see you?”

Having said that, Su Xing handed over the elixirs he had prepared in advance to Jin Congxue.

After receiving the elixirs and checking the quantity, Jin Congxue raised an eyebrow and said,

“Your skills in alchemy have improved again, haven’t they?”

Su Xing nodded and said, “These elixirs should be worth three to four billion. In another two weeks, the funds for the first phase of acquiring Lingyun Commerce Guild should be nearly ready!”

Jin Congxue nodded in response and handed a storage ring to Su Xing, saying,

“This week, we’ve only managed to buy a hundred thousand pieces of white quality equipment, and another twenty thousand were drops from our own people. After all, in order to acquire the assets of Lingyun Commerce Guild, we really can’t divert more funds…”

Su Xing took the storage ring and half-jokingly replied,

“So I’ll have to tighten my belt for the next two weeks, huh? When will I finally get to have my fill?”

Remembering Su Xing’s previous comments about consuming equipment, Jin Congxue couldn’t help bursting into laughter, covering her mouth as she chuckled,

“Don’t worry, after these two weeks, I’ll make sure you’re stuffed! I’ve heard that Lingyun Commerce Guild has amassed a large stockpile of white quality equipment over the years, which they’ve failed to sell off. Our acquisition will include that stock, and there’ll certainly be more than enough for you!”

Su Xing’s eyes brightened upon hearing this; if Jin Congxue said there was a large batch, then the quantity must be substantial.

Currently, Su Xing still had two million energy units on hand. If he didn’t exchange them for cultivation levels, it should be enough for the moment, especially since advancing one level in the Nascent Soul Stage required one million energy units…

As long as he could get through these two weeks, a large amount of energy would be credited to his account afterward. Su Xing was confident he could hold on.

After chatting with Jin Congxue for a while, Su Xing asked,

“By the way, A’Xue, do you know about exotic metals?”

Jin Congxue nodded after hearing this and said,

“Exotic metals are one of the essential metals needed for crafting high-quality equipment. Even the lowest first-order exotic metal can be used to create blue-grade equipment. However, they are quite expensive. Why do you ask?”

Su Xing’s eyes lit up again upon hearing this; who could have guessed that exotic metals were materials for crafting equipment? Could it be that exotic metals might also contain substantial energy?

Su Xing wasn’t certain yet, so he said,

“I plan to craft two new alchemy furnaces. That way, I can speed up my alchemy, but ordinary metals simply won’t do, which is why I thought of exotic metals…”

Jin Congxue gave a slight nod upon hearing Su Xing’s words and then directly took out a palm-sized piece of exotic metal from her storage ring and handed it to Su Xing.

“This is second-order exotic metal, enough to craft orange-grade rare equipment. See if you can use it to make the alchemy furnaces you need?”

Su Xing took the exotic metal in his hand and immediately felt a heaviness.

This palm-sized piece of exotic metal, probably weighing hundreds of pounds—what incredible metal density is this?

Feeling intrigued, Su Xing tentatively attempted to absorb the exotic metal as a model energy.

A notification sounded in Su Xing’s ear.

[Ding, 300 kg of second-order exotic metal discovered, can be converted into 60,000 model energy points. Do you wish to convert?]

Su Xing was stunned for a moment, and then overjoyed in his heart; such a small piece of second-order exotic metal contained 60,000 model energy points?

This was definitely an excellent material for providing model energy!

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Su Xing asked,

“Xiao Xue, how much would this piece of second-order exotic metal sell for on the market?”

Jin Congxue thought about it and said,

“The market price for second-order exotic metal is around fifty thousand Great Xia Coins per kilogram, so this 300 kg piece of exotic metal could sell for more than 15 million Great Xia Coins…”

“Of course, that’s the market price. Exotic metals come from special ore in certain dungeons, with scarce production and high market demand. If you’re buying directly from professionals, the price for second-order exotic metals might be about forty thousand per kilogram…”

Upon hearing this, Su Xing did some quick calculations in his mind—one kilogram of exotic metal could convert into 200 model energy points, meaning one model energy point needed around two hundred Great Xia Coins.

The energy exchange ratio was about the same as for white-grade equipment; one piece of white-grade equipment cost seven hundred Coins and yielded about five energy points, and with good luck, even six points.

But the issue was the large demand Su Xing had for white-grade equipment, whereas the exotic metal was smaller in volume and less conspicuous. A palm-sized piece of second-order exotic metal could produce 60,000 energy points.

“Perhaps, this second-order exotic metal could be a good substitute for white-grade equipment in the future?”

Su Xing whispered this thought to himself, then asked again,

“So, do you have any first-order exotic metals here?”