My Portable Spirit Farm: Rise of the Humble Servant

Chapter 232: Spiritual Vein Promotion?

It wasn’t that Chen Ping hadn’t considered other, vastly faster methods of generating capital.

For instance: mass-producing Foundation Establishment Pills.

Inside the Jade Pendant space, the Sunfire Grass and Amethyst Flower trees had been aggressively cultivated by the Black Earth for years. Their medicinal potency had long since breached the three-hundred-year threshold, making them flawless raw materials. While he only possessed eighteen mature True Essence Fruits at present, he had thirty-nine thriving saplings. The supply chain was guaranteed.

Given his current proficiency as a Tier 2 High-grade Alchemist, combined with the extreme heat control of his Tier 3 Top Grade Alchemy Furnace, his success rate and the overall quality of the pills would be terrifyingly high.

If he could refine a few dozen Foundation Establishment Pills and dump them onto the auction block, raising three—or even five—million Spirit Stones would be the work of a single afternoon.

But the very second the thought crystallized, Chen Ping violently crushed it.

“No. It’s suicidal,” he muttered, his brow furrowing into a deep scowl.

What exactly was a Foundation Establishment Pill?

It wasn’t just medicine. It was a strategic resource, the absolute, foundational cornerstone upon which a Sect or an ancient family built its legacy and projected its power!

Its circulation was ruthlessly, violently monopolized by the apex predators of the Cultivation world.

He had briefly entertained the idea of selling them once before, and he had decisively killed the thought then, too. For the temptation to resurface now simply because he was strapped for cash… it was a dangerous lapse in judgment.

Even third-rate hegemons like the Medicine King Sect and the Heavenly Spirit Sect—organizations that ruled vast territories spanning tens of thousands of miles—only allowed a microscopic trickle of Foundation Establishment Pills to hit the public market every year. The overwhelming majority were strictly hoarded for internal consumption to maintain their superiority.

If a nameless, backgroundless Foundation Establishment cultivator like him suddenly flooded the market with ten, or even several dozen, Foundation Establishment Pills? He would instantly become a beacon of meat in a sea of starving wolves.

The elite auction houses in the Marketplace might guarantee his safety while he was on the floor, but what about the second he stepped outside? Who could guarantee they wouldn’t sell his identity to the highest bidder? Who could guarantee he wouldn’t be ambushed by a strike team of late-stage Foundation Establishment assassins the moment he left the city limits?

Selling the pills was tantamount to screaming into the void: I possess a heaven-defying secret and a stable supply chain for Foundation Establishment Pills!

The ensuing bloodbath wouldn’t just claim his life. The ancient monsters who maintained the monopoly would violently eradicate anything associated with him. The Qingyun Sect would be dragged into a catastrophic war they couldn’t possibly win. They would be slaughtered to the last disciple just to plug the leak.

“But if I don’t risk the pills, relying entirely on the alchemy shop’s trickle of income… when the hell will I ever save three million?”

A suffocating wave of powerlessness washed over Chen Ping. Frustrated and irritable, he paced the length of his quiet room, racking his brain for a method that balanced extreme profit with absolute anonymity.

Just as his anxiety threatened to boil over, the defensive Restriction outside his cave dwelling chimed. A familiar, predictably loud voice echoed through the stone.

“Junior Brother Chen? Are you in there? It’s your Senior Brother, Zhao Yuanqi! I’ve come to visit!”

Chen Ping’s immediate, visceral instinct was to ignore him. He was not in the mood for Zhao Yuanqi’s endless chatter.

But he paused. Zhao Yuanqi was a gossip, yes, but he was also incredibly well-connected, genuinely decent, and possessed a wealth of practical experience. He had even offered crucial insights into the Whale Swallowing Technique in the past. Slamming the door in his face was a poor political move.

Furthermore… what if the man actually had a lucrative idea? Zhao Yuanqi was practically attached to Headmaster Li Lingfeng’s hip. He knew the internal mechanics and illicit backchannels of the Sect far better than Chen Ping ever would.

Taking a deep, stabilizing breath, Chen Ping forced his irritation down. He plastered a polite, welcoming smile onto his face and waved a hand, disengaging the stone door’s locking mechanism.

“Senior Brother Zhao! My apologies for not welcoming you at the foot of the mountain. Please, come in.”

Chen Ping ushered the man inside.

Zhao Yuanqi wore his perpetual, easygoing smile. He didn’t bother with formalities, strolling into the cave dwelling and claiming a stone stool for himself. He cast a quick, appraising glance around the Spartan room.

“Your cave dwelling is as quiet as a tomb, Junior Brother. Excellent for focused cultivation. It looked exactly like this the last time I visited. You really take frugality to the absolute extreme, don’t you?” Zhao Yuanqi teased.

Chen Ping offered a thin smile, declining to take the bait. A cave dwelling was a bunker for cultivation; treating it like a luxury inn was a waste of resources and drew unnecessary attention.

Seeing Chen Ping wasn’t in a joking mood, Zhao Yuanqi seamlessly shifted gears, getting straight to the point.

“Right, down to business. First and foremost, I’m here representing the Sect to officially, formally thank you again for your monstrous contribution at the Eight Sects Grand Competition!” His tone dropped its usual playful lilt, becoming entirely sincere.

“That ten percent of the tribute you secured? The Sect has already drawn up aggressive, comprehensive expansion plans. We’re funneling it directly into accelerating disciple training, mass-upgrading our Dharma Artifacts and defensive arrays, and aggressively scouting new resource nodes. The Sect’s overall growth trajectory over the next few decades is going to detonate. And you, Junior Brother, are the undisputed architect of that future! Even the Supreme Elders in Secluded Cultivation have sent word expressing their profound approval of your actions.”

Chen Ping smiled politely, pouring Zhao Yuanqi a steaming cup of spirit tea. “Senior Brother is too generous. I merely performed my duty. The disciples can only cultivate in peace if the Sect’s walls are high and thick.”

“Hah! True enough, but credit must be given where it’s due,” Zhao Yuanqi said, waving a hand dismissively before leaning forward, his eyes gleaming. “Which brings me to the second matter. It concerns the Sect’s previous promise to upgrade the ambient Qi environment across the core peaks. The Headmaster has finalized the initiative: we are deploying Large Spirit Gathering Arrays on the primary mountains. We’re going to violently siphon the ambient Qi from the surrounding hundreds of miles and use Spirit Stones to forcefully inject it directly into the local spiritual veins.”

He locked eyes with Chen Ping, a massive grin splitting his face.

“And Green Mountain made the shortlist. Your peak currently sits on a Tier 2 Top Grade spiritual vein. With the array active, the ambient Qi density will instantly spike, stabilizing at Tier 3 Low-grade. Better yet, under the constant, hyper-pressurized nourishment of the array, the Sect estimates that within fifty years, Green Mountain’s spiritual vein will naturally, permanently evolve into a true Tier 3 Low-grade vein! By then, your title as Peak Master will carry some serious, undeniable weight.”

Chen Ping’s eyes practically ignited.

A spiritual vein promotion wasn’t just a prestige symbol; it was a massive, generational economic boom!

It meant the ambient Qi saturating the mountain would thicken exponentially. The Spirit Fields terraced along the slopes would instantly upgrade in quality, allowing him to cultivate vastly more fragile, high-yield medicinal herbs—which translated directly into hard currency.

The spiritual spring near his courtyard even had a slim chance of evolving into a true Tier 3 source, drastically improving the quality of the water he used for the Black Earth!

And most importantly, the ambient saturation would physically accelerate the cultivation speed of his parents and disciples living on the peak.

It was a monumental, foundational upgrade for the future of Green Mountain.

“This is incredible news! Thank the Sect on my behalf, and thank you, Senior Brother, for pushing this through!” Chen Ping said, his gratitude entirely genuine. Zhao Yuanqi had absolutely pulled strings to ensure Green Mountain made the cut.

“Hold your thanks for a second,” Zhao Yuanqi chuckled, holding up a finger. “There’s a catch.”

He took a slow sip of his tea. “The Sect is footing the bill for the initial installation. That’s several hundred thousand Spirit Stones covering the hardware and the array masters. However, the operational overhead—the massive volume of Spirit Stones required to keep the array burning 24/7—is significant. The Elder Council ruled that each Peak Master must shoulder their own operational costs. Based on our projections, it will eat roughly half of your annual stipend.”

Chen Ping’s current salary as an Inner Elder was a flat two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones and one thousand Contribution Points per year.

Half meant surrendering one thousand Spirit Stones and five hundred Contribution Points annually.

He didn’t hesitate for a fraction of a second. He nodded sharply.

“Absolutely acceptable. To secure a permanent spiritual vein promotion for a mere thousand Spirit Stones and five hundred Contribution Points? I consider it a phenomenal bargain.”

It was the understatement of the century. The operational cost was literal pocket change compared to the apocalyptic, long-term economic yield of a Tier 3 spiritual vein. The projected revenue spike from the upgraded Spirit Fields alone would cover the overhead ten times over.