Soul equipment differs not only in the attributes of the inlaid soul stones but also in level.

  According to this point, spiritual tools can be simply divided into low-grade spiritual tools, mid-grade spiritual tools and high-grade spiritual tools, corresponding to low-level spirit stones, mid-level spirit stones and high-level spirit stones.

  Low-grade spiritual tools only need to be activated with low-grade spirit stones, while mid-grade spiritual tools must have mid-grade spirit stones to exert their full power. High-grade spiritual tools, of course, are inlaid with high-grade spirit stones.

  The power of low-grade spiritual equipment is equivalent to the standard of the Refining Qi period, while mid-grade spiritual equipment can reach the standard of a full-force strike in the Foundation Establishment period. High-grade spiritual equipment, if equipped with high-ranking spirit stones, can exert the terrifying power of a Cultivator above the Core Formation stage.

  Generally speaking, due to the material limitations of the spirit tool itself, low-grade spirit tools cannot be equipped with high-grade spirit stones. If a mid-grade spirit stone is forcibly inlaid into a low-quality spirit tool, not only will the consumption of spiritual power increase greatly, but the effect that can be released will also be similar to when a low-grade spirit stone is inlaid, and because a higher-level spirit stone is used, the spirit tool itself will also be damaged and become unusable after just a few uses.

  On the contrary, if a low-grade spirit stone is inlaid into a medium-grade spiritual instrument, it can only exert an extremely small part of its power.

  In ancient books, it is also mentioned that although the power of spiritual tools is astonishing, the consumption of spiritual stones is also extremely heavy. Equivalent to a high-ranking cultivator in the Qi Refining stage using a spiritual tool with all their might, it would consume one to several low-grade spiritual stones. And to make the spiritual tool's power reach the standard of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, mid-grade spiritual stones must be used. This is simply an unbearable consumption for ordinary cultivators.

  Due to various restrictions, spiritual tools have become almost extinct in the cultivation world.

  But Zhao Di didn't think so, the Ling Stone was precious to others, but to him it was inexhaustible. If he could have a mid-grade spiritual tool, wouldn't that be another way to save his life?

  "Mid-grade ice attribute spirit stones can't be obtained, but low-grade ice spirit stones can still be exchanged for a few pieces. When the time comes, I can upgrade them with a small cauldron." Zhao Di thought to himself, "However, 800 spirit stones is too much, a Qi Refining stage disciple taking out so many spirit stones at once will definitely attract attention, and it would be counterproductive."

  Just as Zhao was contemplating whether or not to make a move, he suddenly heard a familiar cold voice:

  "A mid-grade spiritual artifact with an ice attribute? Let me take a look." The speaker was precisely the "corpse-faced" Cold surname cultivator who had reached the middle stage of foundation building, whom Zhao Di had seen when he first entered. It was unknown when he had arrived behind Zhao Di.

  The onlookers were all Qi Refining cultivators, and they suddenly heard a Foundation Establishment cultivator speaking from behind them, so they hastily made way to the side.

  Zhao Di also quickly retreated to one side. Since there were foundation period cultivators who had taken a liking to it, he definitely didn't dare make a move to buy it.

  The vendor, a young man with a whisker mustache, upon hearing this, immediately held up the crystal clear rhombus-shaped small shield in both hands and said: "Please take a look, Cold Master Uncle."

  Leng Xiu Shi was still a few feet away from the small shield, but when he reached out with his right hand and grasped at the air, the small shield flew into his hand as if it had grown eyes.

  Zhao Di saw this cold Shifu carefully examining the small shield for a long time, suddenly his palm flipped over, and a transparent crystal stone appeared in his palm, emitting several strands of icy white cold air.

  "Mid-grade Ice Spirit Stone!" Someone in the crowd of onlookers softly called out the name of the transparent crystal.

  Leng Xing Shi inserted the ice-attribute spirit stone into a recessed groove on the center of his rhombus-shaped small shield. As soon as it was inlaid, the small shield emitted a faint hum and released a soft spiritual glow. Including Zhao Di, several cultivators immediately felt a chill run down their spines.

  "Hmph! It's just a defective product, look!" The Leng surname cultivator glanced at the rhombus-shaped small shield several times, pointing to a spot on the upper right corner of the shield and said discontentedly to the seller.

  Everyone followed his pointing direction and looked over. Indeed, this corner seemed to have no spiritual power supply, and there was no spiritual light emanating from it.

  The most important thing about defense is integrity, and there can be no dead ends in defense. If there are obvious loopholes, being caught by the opponent's weaknesses and constantly attacking will simply put oneself in danger without care.

  "Ah, Master Uncle is wise and discerning, but I didn't know this was a defective product." The man with the whiskers exclaimed in surprise, hastily explaining himself.

  "Hmph!" The Cold surname cultivator didn't say much either, taking out the middle-grade Ice Spirit Stone and then tossing the small shield to the whiskered man.

  "Haha, a damaged spiritual artifact is still selling for 800 spirit stones. You must be crazy for spirit stones!" The voice was from one of the monks who had been arguing with the whiskered monk earlier.

  His whiskers were all a-glow, but in front of Master Leng, he didn't dare say much.

  Since it was a useless and extremely wasteful defective product, the surrounding cultivators naturally lost interest. Including Cultivator Leng, seven or eight people left this stall and went elsewhere.

  Only Zhao Di was left on the spot.

  After the crowd left, he stopped the dejected big man who was about to pack up his stall and said in a low voice: "The defective spiritual tool can't be sold for 800 spirit stones, how many spirit stones are you willing to sell?"

  The big Han was stunned, didn't expect someone to know it's a defective product and still willing to buy this inferior item. He hastily opened his mouth and replied: "Sir, do you want it? If sir wants to buy it, I'll only sell it for 300, no, I'll only sell it for 200 spirit stones." He steeled himself and lowered the price by several times.

  "Alright." Zhao took out two mid-grade spirit stones and handed them over to the big man.

  Dahan happily put away the Ling Stone, handed the small shield to Zhao Di, and also recovered ten pieces of low-grade Ling Stones. In this Kuai Ridge Street, the recognized exchange price for mid-grade Ling Stones was still one hundred and five low-grade Ling Stones.

  Zhao quickly put the small shield into his storage bag and walked away without looking back.

  Soon after, Zhao Di changed his voice a few more times and strolled through several shops and stalls. With an exchange rate of 25 to 30 to 1, he exchanged for several pieces of low-grade Ice Spirit Stones.

  However, his most important goal for this trip - exchanging some elixirs that would benefit his cultivation, had yet to be achieved.

  After all, the majority of Tai Xu's high-ranking disciples in the Refining Qi stage are like him. If such a medicinal pill were to be sold, it would likely be snatched up immediately. Even if it was overpriced, the Tai Xu Sect wouldn't lack wealthy cultivators from large clans who would be willing to spend a fortune of spirit stones on medicinal pills.

  He had searched almost the entire circle, but still couldn't find a suitable elixir. Zhao Di was getting frustrated. Was his cultivation going to stagnate at the eleventh level for half a year? With his spiritual root talent, even using high-grade spirit stones to meditate and cultivate, it would be difficult to advance to the next level in a short period of time.

  Zhao Di thought gloomily as he walked into the last store on Gulou Street that sold dan medicine.

  "Are there any elixirs that can benefit the cultivation of high-ranking Qi-refining masters?" The shopkeeper, a middle-aged woman with a lingering charm, repeated Zhao Di's question and said: "Hehe, fellow Daoist, this question is asked by at least twenty or thirty people every time we have a transaction meeting. Unfortunately, elixirs like Xǐ Suī Dān (Marrow Washing Elixir) and Yì Jīn Wán (Tendon Changing Pill) that are of great help to cultivation are extremely rare in circulation. In most cases, they are snatched up as soon as they come out of the furnace. Our shop currently doesn't have any of these elixirs either."

  "Is there no second dan either? If so, I'll buy some and try it too." Zhao Di asked again.

  "Then Dan? No, this thing is too expensive and nobody wants it. Even if we sell it cheaply, we can't make much profit from it. It's usually given away for free when selling dan medicine." The young woman said regretfully. After a moment, she said: "However, our store has a kind of dan medicine that is also effective for high-level Qi-refining cultivators. It's called Nourishing Spirit Dan. Have you heard of it?"

  "Yāng shén dān? Isn't that a kind of elixir that's supposed to enhance a cultivator's spiritual awareness? But I've heard that the effect is extremely unclear, almost useless." Zhao Di thought for a moment before responding.

  The young woman smiled and said, "Hehe, fellow Taoist, you're mistaken. The Nourishing Spirit Pill can indeed enhance a cultivator's spiritual awareness, but the improvement in spiritual awareness is not as obvious and direct as the increase in spiritual energy! I can guarantee that if you take a certain amount of this pill, you will clearly feel the huge change in your spiritual awareness. This pill has existed for over a thousand years, if it were just a waste of fame, how could it be passed down to this day?"

  "Oh, the shopkeeper is right, how much does this Nourishing Spirit Pill cost?" Zhao Di was still quite interested in this Nourishing Spirit Pill. In the past, he hadn't felt that his spiritual energy wasn't enough, but now after frequently refining equipment, he had discovered that there were too many places where spiritual energy was needed, and not having enough was very inconvenient.

  "Fifty spiritual stones for one piece. If you buy more at once, our store will give away a batch of secondary dan." The young woman quoted a price that Zhao Di thought was acceptable.

  (Third update! Four updates today, and another one around 9 pm tonight. Thank you everyone, and I'll continue to ask for collections and recommendations!)