Mid-grade Spirit Root

Earning the 100 Destiny points made Will happy. 

However, it was still not enough to upgrade his spirit root to mid-grade.

'He grasped the Sky Streaming Sword easily. He should be able to learn the sword technique I used in my past life.'

After catching his breath, Will grabbed his sword once again.

He was still using his left hand to practice but somehow, it didn't bother him at all.

For him, as long as it was a sword, handling it would be easy because of his advanced sword aptitude.

Will began practicing again and this time, his body was more stable and the strikes were sharper.

Rasha stared at him with amazement. 'What is this sword technique? This is the first time I've seen it.'

Lucas' eyes didn't blink while he was watching Will's every move.

Swoosh!

The last sword strike was delivered.

Will gasped and sat on the floor. 

'Advanced sword aptitude is really great. A few more practices and I would be able to master this technique.'

[ Lucas Greyrain learned the rare-grade sword technique, Bursting Silent Sword, from a young age. You have received 100 Destiny points. ]

"Great."

'I'm only 100 points short. But I don't have any more sword techniques on me.'

'Profile.'

[ Will Sundersky - First Level Qi Sensing ]

[ Spirit root - Low

Sword Aptitude - Advanced

Qi Cultivation - Harmonious Cloud Cultivation Technique

Techniques - Seven Divinity Sword, Sky Streaming Sword, Bursting Silent Sword, Chasing Wind Steps

Destiny Points - 200

Destiny Store ]

He walked towards Rasha and Lucas.

"I'm amazed by your proficiency in the sword, Young Master." Rasha praised sincerely.

He knew that Will had some talent in the sword because even before his spirit root was damaged, he showed some potential in the sword.

However, Rasha was surprised to see that not only Will's sword aptitude retained, but it was way higher than before.

"Thank you."

"The other technique you practiced, where did you learn it? I have never seen that before." Rasha asked.

"Oh, that. I dreamt about it." Will smiled as he answered. 

Rasha laughed it off and Lucas offered a towel to Will.

"Lucas is now my aid. I want him to learn cultivation techniques and sword techniques."

Will turned to Rasha and continued. "Can you please teach him?"

Rasha responded. "Of course. There are some techniques that knights of the household can learn. Lucas will receive all of them."

Will nodded. "Good."

"Learn them quickly."

Lucas bowed slightly. "I will, my Lord."

"Stay here and learn the techniques. I'll go see my mother."

Will returned to the mansion and Will went to see his mother.

"Mother, I have a few things to ask from you."

Silva put down the scarf she was sewing.

"What are they, Will?"

"I need a Rejuvenation Pill and a Body Tempering Pill."

A Rejuvenation pill was a common grade pill that heals wounds. He needed it to cure his broken arm.

The Body Tempering Pill, on the other hand, was a Rare grade pill used to temper the body.

He needed it to start cultivating the body cultivation method, Bronze Skin Sutra.

Silva smiled and replied.

"The Rejuvenation pill, we don't have any of it. If we have, I've already given it to you."

"As expected." Will sighed.

"But the Body Tempering Pill, I remember that we still have two pieces of those."

Will became excited. 

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll go get them for you."

Silva went out for a moment and returned with two small boxes.

"Here they are. These are the last stocks that we have in our storage. After your father went into seclusion, the supply of pills became scarce in our barony."

She closed her eyes and sighed.

Will sat near her.

"Mother, what is happening to our barony? I want to know everything."

Silva turned to her son and seeing his determined eyes, she began recollecting the events of the past few years on the barony after Wilhelm went into seclusion.

Two years ago, Wilhelm Sundersky reached the peak Ninth Level of the Core Condensing realm. 

He was only a step away closer in becoming a Nascent Soul powerhouse.

Because he couldn't find any clue about the cure for Will's damaged spirit root, he decided to break through to the Nascent Soul realm so that he could expand his influence and find the cure for his son.

However, when the first year of his seclusion passed, the nobles around them began speculating that Wilhelm failed his breakthrough and died.

They began slowly eating the Sundersky's territory, taking advantage of Wilhelm's absence.

But his family never believed those rumors and still hoped that their Patriarch would return.

Still, the other nobles continued to be aggressive against the Sundersky barony.

This caused many residents to leave the barony and thus further slowed the progress of the area.

Without people to farm the lands and hunt the beasts, the Sundersky fiefdom slowly became desolate.

Now, apart from five hundred residents and the Sundersky household, everyone left the territory.

Despite the dispute and aggression from the other nobles, the Count was doing nothing and it made Silva and the others angrier.

They tried to appeal to the Duke Family handling their territory but was blocked by the Count's guards everytime.

Just hearing the story enrages Will.

"Those bastards." he gritted his teeth in anger.

"Don't worry, mother. I will take care of the barony while my father is not here."

Silva smiled. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I will upgrade our territory so that when my father returns, he won't be seeing his territory desolate."

"Then I will help you."

"Mm. But first, I'll cultivate my body."

Silva nodded and let Will return to his room with the Body Tempering pills.

He immediately sat and popped a pill in his mouth and began to cultivate the Body Skin Sutra.

His muscles felt hot and his skin slowly changed its color to bronze-like.

Will took the second pill and continued cultivating his body.

It was already dark outside when he was done cultivating.

When he opened his eyes, he checked his muscles and felt that they were stronger than before.

His skin too was tougher and more durable now that he was able to cultivate the Bronze Skin Sutra, increasing his defense.

"Oh, finally!"

He beamed as the notifications from the system came.

[ Lucas Greyrain learned the techniques for a knight. You have received 300 Destiny points. ]

"Nice!"

[ Will Sundersky - First Level Qi Sensing ]

[ Spirit root - Low

Sword Aptitude - Advanced

Qi Cultivation - Harmonious Cloud Cultivation Technique

Body Cultivation - Bronze Skin Sutra

Techniques - Seven Divinity Sword, Sky Streaming Sword, Bursting Silent Sword, Chasing Wind Steps

Destiny Points - 500

Destiny Store ]

"System! Upgrade my spirit roots!"

He didn't waste anymore time.

[ Upgrading host's Spirit Root from 'Low-grade' to 'Mid-grade' costs 300 Destiny Points. ]

"Upgrade!"

300 Destiny points were deducted to his profile followed by a pain in his body.

"Aargh!!"

Every strand of his spirit root was like being pricked by ten thousand needles.

They crumbled and were restored a few times.

After an hour, Will finally escaped the pain.

[ Will Sundersky - First Level Qi Sensing ]

[ Spirit root - Mid

Sword Aptitude - Advanced

Qi Cultivation - Harmonious Cloud Cultivation Technique

Body Cultivation - Bronze Skin Sutra

Techniques - Seven Divinity Sword, Sky Streaming Sword, Bursting Silent Sword, Chasing Wind Steps

Destiny Points - 200

Destiny Store ]

"Mid-grade spirit root."

Seeing that it was already nighttime, Will decided to cultivate until morning. 

He slowly went into the lotus position to cultivate.

"Hmm…This is the feeling I'm familiar with."

He now possesses the spirit root he had in his past life.

As he cultivated, the rate of his qi refinement became quicker and more efficient.

He became closer to breaking through the next stage.

…

The next day, he came to his mother and discussed with her his plans for the barony.

"Do you know what we lack right now, mother?"

Silva thought for a second and replied.

"Money?"

"Right. The fields are empty and many of our people are living in poverty. For now, we need to support them so that they can rise up again."

She nodded and asked. "So how can we do that?"

Will then placed a thin green grass with a blue line in the middle.

"With this."

Silva raised her brows.

"A random forest grass?"

He nodded. 

"This is not just a random forest grass."

Will smiled and continued. 

"This is a blue line grass, a common plant found in the mountains. As a single piece, it's nothing. But if you gather ten kilograms of this grass and refine all of its extract, you will have a single drop of…"

Will leaned closer to his mother.

"...a spirit grade essence."

"What?!"

Silva shot up from her seat and looked at Will with wide eyes.

Spirit grade materials were valuable in the kingdom. Although there were known locations where these types of materials could be collected, most of them were already claimed by the powerful families. 

These types of materials could also be found naturally in the mountains but there was the danger of demonic beasts that the collectors would face.

If what Will said was true, then the Sundersky barony could earn a lot of money selling this spirit grade essence.

After all, the demand for spirit grade materials was always high especially for alchemists.

"Are you serious? This grass can produce a spirit grade essence?"

Will nodded. "With the proper refining and extraction technique, it is possible."

Of course he already knew about this blue line grass in his past life.

Just like the people at this moment, the humans in his past life ignored these common mountain grasses that they view as useless plants.

However, a player discovered a way to extract and refine the juices from the blue line grass and the result shocked the entire Great Stellar Continent.

The value of blue line grass skyrocketed and for a few months, every player that wanted to earn money would collect them and receive a handsome pay.

Will was one of these players.

He already discovered the blue line grass the moment he wandered around the mansion and his heart almost jumped when he saw Lucas trampling on them like garbage.

"And what about its effect?" Silva asked.

Will took the grass and spoke, "You see this thing blue line? This line is pure qi. Albeit very little. So little that even an Immortal would have a hard time sensing it. If you extract and refine this grass, you will have a pure qi spirit grade essence. If you concoct a pill and add this essence, the qi quantity of that pill would increase by twenty percent and its quality would increase slightly because the essence would naturally eliminate the impurities of the pill."

Silva's jaw dropped as he heard his words.

"Increasing qi quantity and quality? Is that true?"

Will nodded. 

"Then this is a huge discovery!" she shouted.

"If we take advantage of this, we can earn an enormous amount of money!"

Will then spoke seriously.

"I already have the extraction and refining technique with me but I only know it, not how to do it, so we need an alchemist to do the refining."

Silva rubbed her chin. "We have an alchemist couple in our barony. They are old so they didn't bother leaving like the others. If we hire them, they will surely be happy."

"Great. We also need to collect as many blue line grass as possible. They can be found anywhere but the one on the mountains will surely be abundant."

Silva frowned. "What about the demonic beasts?"

"Me and Lucas will handle them. We will not venture deep in the mountains so you don't need to worry. I would like to take Rasha with me but no one will be left to guard the mansion. I would also like to recall the knights that were defending our borders but that would only leave us more vulnerable."

She wanted to stop Will from leaving but seeing the determination in his eyes, she knew that it would be impossible to stop him.

"For the salary of the workers, we can use the fund in our treasury first. When we make our first sale, we will return them. I will hunt some games myself to provide food for our workers. This way, they won't need to worry about their meals."

The two discussed their plan for more than an hour.

They decided to go to the alchemist couple.

The mother and son left the mansion with Lucas and Layla following them.

On their way to the alchemists' home, they picked up blue line grass.