Lin Xiao quickly calmed himself, suppressing the shock and pain in his heart, and said in a composed tone:
"Yes, you're right. Although most of the Spirit Stone Mine has been depleted, it will recover after a few years. Once the Locking Rings can be produced and sold in bulk, our sect will have a significant new income stream."
Though he spoke calmly, his heart was bleeding inside.
Most of the Spirit Stone Mine! That's such a huge expense!
For the sake of preserving the mine, they wouldn't be able to touch it for at least a few years.
After dinner, as Lin Xiao made his way back to his residence atop Lingyun Mountain, he had a conversation with the system:
"Hey system, next time I go into seclusion and need spirit stones, could you deduct from the sect's spirit stone reserves instead of taking from the mine? We only have that one Spirit Stone Mine, and it's still young—it hasn't fully matured yet."
System: …
[Friendly reminder: The host can build a Spirit Stone Vault within the sect's treasury. The system can then allow the host to choose between using the vault or the mine's resources.]
"Great! I'll take care of that tomorrow!"
With this arrangement, Lin Xiao no longer had to worry about the Spirit Stone Mine being overly depleted in the future.
The sect's channels for earning spirit stones were stable, and although he still felt the pinch from the recent expenses, he quickly reassured himself.
Besides, the thought of providing the sect with a new exclusive business—the Locking Ring—brightened his mood again.
The Locking Ring was his first creation, fully designed by combining his knowledge of the four cultivation arts, without relying on the system.
The sense of achievement he gained from this was something he had never felt from simply synthesizing items using the system.
Speaking of the system…
Lin Xiao was surprised that the system had actually been supportive of his independent research on the Locking Ring.
During the process, the system not only blocked notifications to avoid distracting him but also rewarded him when he completed the design.
This showed that the system genuinely wanted to help Lingxian Sect grow independently rather than forcing the sect into overreliance.
As he pondered this, the system's voice interrupted his thoughts:
[The spirit stones required for automatic cultivation have been exhausted. Would you like to renew the subscription?]
In fact, his preloaded spirit stones had already run out several days ago.
However, since he had been so engrossed in his research on the Locking Ring and was busy sharing it with others today, the system hadn't interrupted him until now.
Hearing the cold, mechanical voice, Lin Xiao sighed with a slight ache in his heart and asked:
"How much are the daily spirit stone costs for automatic cultivation now?"
[Since the host has reached the Nascent Soul stage, the daily cost for automatic cultivation is 500 spirit stones.]
"500?!"
Lin Xiao couldn't help but gasp.
That's way too much!
Five hundred spirit stones a day means 5,000 every ten days—50,000 every hundred days!
And the Nascent Soul stage was obviously not a realm he could quickly ascend from.
Who knew how long he would have to remain at this stage? Paying 500 spirit stones a day felt unbearable.
Even as the sect leader, his stipend certainly couldn't cover such a steep fee for automatic cultivation.
Looks like until the sect becomes much wealthier, he would have to cultivate the old-fashioned way—on his own.
Why did it feel like, after coming out of seclusion, all he encountered were spirit stone shortages from every direction?
Ever since they set up various departments and positions within the sect, corresponding stipends had been determined as well.
As sect leader, Lin Xiao had a stipend too, and he wasn't allowed to freely take from the sect's reserves—rules he himself had set. Naturally, he wouldn't break those rules just to cover his automatic cultivation costs.
Especially now, with the Spirit Stone Mine needing time to recover.
"Sigh, maybe cultivating manually isn't so bad after all. As for automatic cultivation… I'll focus on earning more spirit stones first. Once I have enough, I'll consider it again," Lin Xiao consoled himself.
And so,
Thinking he could relax after a year in seclusion, Sect Leader Lin Xiao sat on his bed with a furrowed brow, beginning his daily self-cultivation.
For the foreseeable future, it seemed he would need to diligently carve out time for personal cultivation.
Although Nascent Soul cultivation made him one of the top-tier experts in the mortal world, they still maintained long-term transactions with the cultivation world, and in the future…
In any case, as the pillar of the sect's strength, he couldn't afford to stop progressing.
If necessary, he might even have to bite the bullet and combine both manual and automatic cultivation for better results.
——
Time quickly passed, and it was now the twentieth day since the new disciples had entered Lingxian Sect.
Construction of the new residential area for the newcomers was nearing completion.
That day also marked the moment when all 132 new disciples successfully achieved Qi Gathering.
At noon, just as everyone was taking a break after their morning lessons, Liu Yunan walked in with a broad smile, carrying a storage pouch.
"Everyone, gather around."
Hearing Elder Liu's call, the disciples quickly stood in line before him.
Liu Yunan opened the pouch and with a wave of his hand, sent a stream of green peach leaf pendants flying to each disciple.
The disciples caught the jade-like pendants in their hands, and Elder Liu explained:
"These Peach Leaf Pendants can conceal your cultivation. If you put them in a storage pouch, they won't work."
"Now that you've all developed your cultivation, there's no telling when you might encounter ill-intentioned people. The identities of mortals and cultivators are very different, and for your safety when traveling outside, it's best not to be without this pendant."
Originally, Liu Yunan had planned to distribute these pendants in the second month along with the disciples' next round of stipends.
He hadn't expected everyone to achieve Qi Gathering within the first month.
So, when Lin Xiao sent him a message about it earlier that morning, he had been pleasantly surprised.
Surprised and delighted.
The faster the new disciples progressed, the sooner they could start contributing to the sect's various tasks, which meant fewer demands and complaints from the other departments.
Feeling overjoyed, Liu Yunan decided to hand out the Peach Leaf Pendants a month early, as a reward.
Distributing more than a hundred pendants didn't bother him at all. After all, the sect's treasury still had plenty of these.
If not for the fact that the pendants were made from the leaves of the Ten Mile Peach Tree, they could probably stockpile even more.
The quantity had been calculated based on the expected number of new disciples.
But these pendants weren't made by plucking leaves from the Ten Mile Peach Tree.
Since the tree had saved Mo Yuanjiao and the others, Lin Xiao had been more respectful, no longer casually plucking its leaves. Instead, they had been carefully tending to the tree.
All the Peach Leaf Pendants had been crafted from leaves that had naturally fallen over the years.
However, the Ten Mile Peach Tree didn't shed many leaves naturally. It always maintained its lush, perfect state.