"???"
Li Qi's face was utterly bewildered.
Was it that serious? Could it be?
I just said that the price of one spirit stone per person you offered was too low.
Was there a problem with that?
You're all at the Soul Transformation stage, alright?
Even if you're a little stingy, one spirit stone is too ridiculous.
Just then, his second brother, Zhang Qingfeng, seemed to be losing patience and looked at Li Qi.
"Forget it, we brothers won't hide it from you anymore. The reason we're leaving the Cangyun Realm is that someone offered us a monthly salary of fifty spirit stones. We're going out to make money."
"We're giving you one spirit stone each as compensation. That alone takes us brothers more than half a day of work. You're still not satisfied; your demands are too excessive."
???
Li Qi's bewildered expression never ceased.
Peak Soul Transformation? Fifty spirit stones a month? My demands are too excessive?
Heaven and earth as my witness!
Li Qi couldn't help but examine the two brothers from head to toe.
Both of them had handsome faces and refined temperaments.
As for their skin condition, cultivators at the peak of Soul Transformation were naturally nourished by their cultivation, resulting in a rosy complexion.
"Well... if you don't mind me asking, were you guys black-skinned before? And then you used some methods to change your skin color because you thought black wasn't attractive."
"What black skin or white skin? Our skin color has been like this since birth. What are you talking about? It's inexplicable."
Zhang Qingfeng became even more confused by what Li Qi was saying.
"Eldest Brother, since the lord of this world's plane doesn't want us to enter to restore our spiritual energy, let's endure for a while longer and find another world."
Saying that, Zhang Qingfeng prepared to pull his elder brother, Zhang Qing'an, away.
Seeing this, Li Qi's face showed a hint of suspicion.
Could it be...
Is the Upper Realm really that poor?
Then what's the point of ascending?
But judging by Zhang Qingfeng's agitated emotions, it didn't seem like he was faking it.
Fifty spirit stones a month for peak Soul Transformation cultivators?
Li Qi subconsciously recalled Feng Dengxian and Qi Youhuan, who ascended before him, and the hundred thousand spirit stones each of them carried.
At fifty spirit stones a month, it would take two thousand months to earn a hundred thousand spirit stones.
Two thousand months, that's one hundred and sixty-six years.
Although cultivators at the Soul Transformation stage have a lifespan of about two thousand years.
But a peak Soul Transformation cultivator would have to work for one hundred and sixty-six years to earn a hundred thousand spirit stones.
Is the Upper Realm really this competitive?
"Hey, wait, please stay. I agree to your compensation. Come with me to the Heavenly Dao space to rest."
Li Qi quickly stopped them, becoming increasingly curious about this so-called Upper Realm.
Thus, as Li Qi invited Zhang Qing'an and his brother into the Heavenly Dao space of the Di Xu Realm.
He couldn't help but ask casually.
"You two, you are at least at the peak of Soul Transformation. Can fifty spirit stones a month really support your cultivation? Don't tell me you usually rely on absorbing the spiritual energy of the Upper Realm itself to cultivate?"
Upon hearing Li Qi's question, the second brother, Zhang Qingfeng, his eyes widened again.
"You directly use spirit stones to cultivate? Are you stupid? Even our grandfather, a peak Tribulation Crossing expert, rarely uses spirit stones directly for cultivation. You dare to use them?"
Zhang Qingfeng wanted to say more, but his elder brother, Zhang Qing'an, stopped him.
His brother spoke too carelessly. After all, they were guests in this world, so they should be polite.
Zhang Qing'an smiled.
"Heh heh, Your Excellency, as the lord of a lower realm, you might not understand the Upper Realm."
"Except for a very small number of extremely wealthy cultivators, directly using spirit stones for cultivation is something we cultivators in the Upper Realm do only in dire emergencies."
"Most of the time, our spirit stones need to be saved up to buy elixirs, spirit artifacts... in short, spirit stones are needed for various purposes."
"Even absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth to cultivate requires us to spend spirit stones to go to local spirit gathering formations to cultivate. Otherwise, in the public areas of the Upper Realm, although the spiritual energy is not as thin as in this void, it's not much better."
When Li Qi heard that absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth also cost spirit stones.
Even he was a bit stunned. Cultivating by absorbing spiritual energy costs money?
A breathing tax?
Are you f***ing robbing people?
Immediately after, Zhang Qing'an continued.
Li Qi finally understood what kind of world the Upper Realm was.
The highest power in the Cangyun Realm was guarded by three Immortals.
They were not powerful cultivators in the mortal sense.
But Immortals who had truly reached the Loose Immortal stage in terms of realm.
In the Upper Realm, the realms after Soul Transformation were Void Returning, Dao Integration, Tribulation Crossing, Mahayana, and Loose Immortal.
And those three Immortals were all peak combat powers of the Cangyun Realm who had reached the Loose Immortal realm.
As for all other forces in the Cangyun Realm, they were all subordinates of these three Immortals.
As for cultivating in spirit gathering formations, as mentioned by Zhang Qing'an, it was a long-standing tradition in the Cangyun Realm.
Back then, the entire Cangyun Realm had already suffered from an excessive number of native cultivators and cultivators who had ascended from countless lower realms, leading to a shortage of spirit stones and other resources.
Thus, at that time, spirit gathering formations were established in various parts of the Cangyun Realm to allow cultivators to cultivate.
Later, there were too many spirit gathering formations in the Cangyun Realm, and they fiercely competed for spiritual energy to gather. Spiritual energy could not appear out of thin air.
The effects of all spirit gathering formations became increasingly weak. This led to conflicts between the factions that set up their own spirit gathering formations, and they would destroy each other's formations.
Eventually, the entire Cangyun Realm fell into complete chaos.
Finally, the three Loose Immortals had to intervene to forcefully suppress the chaos in the Cangyun Realm.
Later, a rule was established in the Cangyun Realm: spirit gathering formations could not be arbitrarily built.
If one needed to build one, they would need the approval of the local governing power.
And they would have to state the size of the spirit gathering formation, its lifespan, and all other information.
As for how to get the approval of the local governing power.
That naturally involved the most basic issue of spirit stones.
After obtaining approval, it was the construction of the spirit gathering formation.
Hiring formation masters cost spirit stones, purchasing materials for spirit gathering formations cost spirit stones, and the annual maintenance costs for spirit gathering formations also required spirit stones...
In short, every aspect required spirit stones.
Once all matters were resolved, the spirit gathering formation could finally be successfully erected.
Some were for private use by families and factions, while others were open to all cultivators in the world.
The usage requirements for the latter naturally involved earning spirit stones.
And the sparse spiritual energy in public areas mentioned earlier by Zhang Qing'an.
This was naturally because the numerous spirit gathering formations in the Cangyun Realm had already depleted most of the spiritual energy in the public areas, leaving little for cultivation.
"So this is what the Upper Realm is like."
After Li Qi listened to Zhang Qing'an's description of the Upper Realm.
Even he couldn't help but show a look of shock.
This, this, this...
This Upper Realm... it's too f***ing competitive. Everything costs money.
Compared to the Upper Realm, the level of internal competition in his Di Xu Realm was nothing.
The Upper Realm was truly internally competitive.
It was almost to the point of collapse from competition.