Big Data Cultivation-Chapter 2060 - 2062: A Bold Choice

After obtaining the treasure, True Immortal Huang Shu truly brought it back to the Jinwu Sect and handed it over to an elder in the sect.

This elder was the Dao companion of True Immortal Shenghua, and with cultivation at the Half-Step Emergence Stage. Upon seeing the stele fragment, a flicker of realization crossed her mind, and her aura burst forth, catching True Immortal Huang Shu off guard and causing him minor injuries.

She also realized that she had inadvertently harmed him, but in her urgency, she couldn’t care so much and only said, "Thank you for bringing this item back. First go and heal your injuries. Once I’ve thoroughly investigated, there will surely be rewards."

Just by sensing his aura, she knew the matter wasn’t done by True Immortal Huang Shu, so she needed to quickly find out the perpetrator, and could not afford any delay.

True Immortal Huang Shu felt he suffered an unwarranted disaster, kindly helping to bring back the treasure, only to receive no thanks and instead be injured. He could only return to recuperate gloomily.

However, a mistake led to a fortunate outcome. After healing his injuries, he sensed an opportunity to advance to the Nascent Soul Fourth Layer; it was a breakthrough born from adversity!

It took True Immortal Huang Shu a full thirty years to completely stabilize his realm from recovery to advancement — the delay because he felt quite hurt inside and didn’t wish to see the elder... at least avoiding them for a while could also demoralize the other party.

However, on the first day after emerging from seclusion, he heard that the elder had failed in her Out-of-Body attempt five years ago, and a Great Supreme from the Emergence Stage had protected her for reincarnation.

Two days later, the Jinwu Sect Leader summoned him and bestowed upon him the stele fragment.

It turned out that the elder had sought Huang Shu before, realized he was in seclusion, searched again and found he remained in seclusion, so she began preparing for her own Out-of-Body Journey and left a message.

She said that if she failed in her ascension attempt, the stele fragment would be left to True Immortal Huang Shu — she never owed anyone.

Thus, True Immortal Huang Shu obtained this stele fragment.

The Jinwu Sect Leader did not elaborate on other matters, and he dared not inquire further — after all, this involved grievances of Great Supremes at the Emergence Stage.

Then, the news of True Immortal Huang Shu obtaining the stele fragment spread throughout the Jinwu Sect — the Sect Leader believed he kept his promise, and so did Huang Shu, and such behavior should be publicly promoted as a positive example.

The Sect Leader, who was at the Emergence Stage, analyzed the stele fragment carefully, believing it could assist in breaking through to the Emergence Stage — the elder’s choice wasn’t wrong, unfortunately, she couldn’t grasp such profound Dao intent and ultimately failed in her transcending attempt.

The Jinwu Sect Leader also calculated and warned True Immortal Huang Shu, saying that he also couldn’t wield such overwhelming energy and should take it moderately, lest he ends up with the same tragic result as his predecessor not too far back.

After Huang Shu accepted the stele fragment, two cultivators at the Nascent Soul Ninth Layer had come to pressure him for the opportunity to borrow it for enlightenment — of course, they intended to pay rent, but True Immortal Huang Shu firmly refused.

He said, "This was given to me by the Sect Leader; it’s my rightful gain. It’s not impossible to borrow, but when I reach the Nascent Soul Ninth Layer."

This item is beneficial for the Emergence Stage, but not much help for the Divine Spirit Stage. True Immortal Huang Shu first needed to ensure that he had enough for his own use, secondly, borrowing isn’t out of the question, but timing for lending is crucial.

When he reached the Nascent Soul Ninth Layer, he could command a higher rental price and analyze more clearly whether the Dao intent was sufficient for his own use, and thirdly... in case of any adverse events, he could reclaim it with his strength.

Of course, the Jinwu Sect wasn’t such a mess; one could tell from how they returned the stele fragment — the sect maintained good order.

Yet, as the saying goes, why easily test human nature? After all, it’s his treasure, and how he uses it is his own decision.

A regulated sect indeed has this benefit, others might chafe with resentment, but they truly can do nothing about it.

This time, however, he encountered a challenge; his Dao companion, Master Jiangxia, wanted the stele fragment to calculate the chance of condensing a baby form.

The two were two hundred years apart in age, and significantly different in cultivation, yet... True Immortal Huang Shu truly had no way to refuse. Long ago, when he faced obstacles, she had once helped him — though Master Jiangxia is prone to jealousy and has a bad temper, she was truly good to him.

In all honesty, even if True Immortal Huang Shu no longer cherished past sentiments, to betray someone like that would surely involve karmic consequences.

Reluctantly and with many complaints, he had no choice but to bring the stele fragment and ask Feng Jun to divine.

Feng Jun didn’t know the details, but merely by observing True Immortal Huang Shu’s expression, he could roughly guess what had transpired. Certainly, whatever entanglements between those two had nothing to do with him.

All he knew was that the stele fragment was not a generic treasure, and Jinwu’s prepared treasures did not include this one — in fact, even between different fragments of the same stele, the condensed Dao intent varied greatly.

Therefore, the data on this stele fragment, even if entered into the database, was not very meaningful, but Feng Jun still very much wanted to extrapolate it — such items were exceedingly rare.

The expression on True Immortal Yi Jue’s face became even more colorful. As a person of technical expertise, seeing such a rare treasure made her wish she could seize the fragment and run, but she also knew, that wouldn’t align with the rules, and she might not manage to escape either.

"Mountain Master Feng, please proceed with the extrapolation," Master Jiangxia completely ignored her companion’s reaction, "Um... True Immortal Yi Jue, could you kindly step aside?"

True Immortal Yi Jue silently cast a look at her, as if to remember her by, then her figure flickered and disappeared.

Feng Jun ran a simulation and was immediately surprised. Oh my... an eighty-nine percent success rate in condensing the infant stage?

By switching to better resources, the condensing rate skyrocketed, but so did the cost, hitting over eight hundred thousand spirit stones.

However, despite the high costs, there are actual benefits. The artifact mainly restrains the influence of the stele fragment on her, and this influence will gradually be released in the future.

In other words, after she condenses the infant stage, her cultivation level will swiftly advance, reaching the Nascent Soul Third Layer within fifty years, and if she takes it easy, achieving the Nascent Soul Fourth Layer won’t be an issue. Once she breaks into the Nascent Soul Middle Phase, the effects she’s under will be fully eliminated.

Feng Jun believes that Master Jiangxia’s upper limit isn’t really high. Even excluding the unexpected events she encountered during the Golden Core Stage, condensing the infant stage is her upper limit. The Emergence Stage is out of the question, but if she can reach the Nascent Soul Middle Phase, she can consider her cultivation life without regrets.

Currently, she can easily reach the Nascent Soul Middle Phase. As for spending eight hundred thousand spirit stones... does that count as a problem?

Spending an extra thirty thousand spirit stones to improve the condensing rate by one percent would be wasteful, but spending an extra forty thousand spirit stones to increase the success rate by over thirty percent, nearing ninety percent, and almost certainly reaching the Nascent Soul Middle Phase within a hundred years—can that be called wasteful?

Clearly, it’s quite economical, isn’t it?

If Master Jiangxia were to succeed in condensing the infant stage through ordinary means, it would likely take around... three hundred years to reach the Nascent Soul Fourth Layer, wouldn’t it?

As a Nascent Soul cultivator, spending four to five hundred spirit stones a month feels quite constrained, right? It’s similar to earning four to five thousand in a second-tier city, just enough to maintain basic living without ensuring a quality lifestyle.

Buying major items requires extensive calculations, like getting a car would be challenging, and thinking about purchasing a house with this amount of spirit stones—you dare think of crafting a True Treasure?

Anyway, monthly expenses amount to four to five hundred spirit stones, sixty thousand over a hundred years.

So, entering the Nascent Soul Middle Phase two hundred years earlier, spending an extra forty thousand spirit stones—is it a loss... is there any need to even ask?

Saving those two hundred years might even give her a chance to break into the Emergence Stage. Although Feng Jun still isn’t optimistic about her reaching the Emergence Stage, he has to admit that different resources lead to different development prospects—talent is less relevant, it’s mainly about opportunity.

Just like that individual on the Kunhao Plane who, despite being over-age for condensing a core under the Immortal Bamboo, seized the opportunity—when the opportunity arises, everything seems feasible, and when it doesn’t, fate is to blame—honestly, why should Huang Shu at mere Nascent Soul Fourth Layer obtain Ancient Stele Shards?

After Feng Jun completed the deduction, Master Jiangxia straightforwardly stated that eight hundred thousand spirit stones... is not a problem.

The day before, Feng Jun deduced a fifty-four percent chance to condense the infant stage, with a cost calculation of seven hundred thousand spirit stones, and she almost cried from anxiety.

But now, she truly doesn’t care anymore; her future is right there, and no one can stop her!

However, Feng Jun inwardly feels that this deal may not be worthwhile. The stele fragment was meant to open the top tier, using it for condensing the infant stage is truly... a bit wasteful.

Although this will significantly enhance Jiangxia’s future prospects, in this world, energy conservation laws are often respected; the benefits she gains from the stele fragment will correspondingly diminish the fragment’s power.

True Immortal Huang Shu is quite concerned about this. He straightforwardly asked with a somber face, "Mountain Master Feng, excuse me for interrupting, I originally intended to use this item to open the top tier. Will Master Jiangxia’s use affect me?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Jun smiled faintly, "If you intend to use this item for the Emergence Stage, it’s certain death... even with the seal, I can sense its power is beyond your control."

True Immortal Huang Shu, however, isn’t bothered and instead nods composedly, "That doesn’t matter, as long as it’s usable for my Emergence Stage."

While they were having a heated discussion here, True Immortal Yi Jue felt quite frustrated. She is ultimately not from Jinwu Sect, and this is Jinwu’s domain. Even though she fearlessly disregards societal norms, it’s inappropriate for her to casually eavesdrop on their conversation.

Seeing that they have reached an agreement, her figure flickered, appearing before everyone once more, this time with a clear demand, "Huang Shu, fellow Daoist, are you selling this stele fragment?"

"If I wanted to sell it, I would have done so long ago," Huang Shu faced True Immortal Yi Jue without hesitation. He possesses some thoughts about her, but this is insufficient to shake his fundamental thinking—in the cultivator’s society, self-improvement is the ultimate rule.

Suddenly, a hint of curiosity arose within him, "If you truly want to buy it, why not make an offer?"

True Immortal Yi Jue can’t even name such a price, though she isn’t short of spirit stones, "Ten thousand high spirit stones?"

Ten thousand high spirit stones equate to a million intermediate spirit stones—factually, it’ll likely be higher. But for individual cultivators, there really aren’t too many who can manage ten thousand high spirit stones!

True Immortal Huang Shu’s lips curled into a slightly disdainful smile, "Yi Jue, fellow Daoist, if Master Jiangxia advanced to Nascent Soul Fourth Layer two hundred years earlier, how much spirit stone will she save on daily expenses?"

True Immortal Yi Jue’s response was rather peculiar, "Once you’ve reached Nascent Soul, saving money becomes unnecessary, doesn’t it? It’s about making money instead."

(Updated to summon monthly votes.)