Since the first seal was broken by killing a Mountain Armored Beast, Lin Haoming naturally wasn't going to let any future opportunity to slaughter them slip by.
However, aside from Li Shuntian, no one else was going to intentionally give up their quota to him. Consequently, Lin Haoming could only slaughter a maximum of four beasts a day.
Every time he performed the deed, he would recite his little speech. After five or six days of continuous work, he occasionally felt a slight vibration from the Merit Beads, yet the second seal of the Spirit Accumulation Bead remained stubbornly locked.
It wasn't until the seventh day, while he was processing his second beast of the shift, that the Merit Beads in his Dantian finally reacted. The second seal was broken!
Once the seal dissolved, Lin Haoming accelerated his work. As soon as he finished his tasks, he sprinted back to his stone chamber.
Li Haiying watched Lin Haoming activate his protective formation again, a dark, chilling glint flashing in his eyes.
Beside him, his lackey Bao Wenliang noticed the look and immediately began to flatter him. "Senior Brother Li, it looks like Lin Haoming is terrified of you. He's so worried about being cornered alone that he's wasting stones on that formation."
"I know that," Li Haiying muttered unhappily. "But it pains me to see him waste spirit stones on a formation. That array eats one stone every ten days—that's three stones a month! One spirit stone could be traded for three Qi-Circulating Pills or one Qi-Gathering Pill. Every month he stays in there, three Qi-Gathering Pills are essentially vanishing from my pocket!"
In Li Haiying's mind, Lin Haoming's possessions already belonged to him.
Meanwhile, inside the chamber, Lin Haoming was diligently absorbing spiritual energy. Sure enough, with the second seal broken, the Spirit Accumulation Bead held significantly more Qi than before.
From the moment he entered the chamber until someone called him for work the next morning—a full seven or eight hours—the energy within the bead was never fully depleted. Lin Haoming realized he effectively possessed an inexhaustible supply of spirit stones for his personal cultivation. The only drawback was that this spirit stone couldn't be taken out and spent as currency.
Still, Lin Haoming was more than satisfied. His primary goal now was to reach the 7th level of Qi Refining as quickly as possible. Only by reaching the late stage of Qi Refining would he have any chance of self-preservation when facing Li Haiying.
In the days that followed, Lin Haoming did nothing but work and cultivate. Although he continued to chatter at the beasts every day, the Merit Beads showed no further reaction.
However, even though no more seals were broken, Lin Haoming successfully broke through to the 7th level of Qi Refining three days before the one-month deadline. He was now officially a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.
Despite his breakthrough, he had no intention of letting anyone know. When his ancestor was alive, he had been taught several techniques, including one to conceal his aura. Although the technique wasn't top-tier—a Foundation Establishment cultivator or even a Great Perfection Qi Refining cultivator could see through it—he was confident his companions in the slaughterhouse wouldn't notice a thing.
Speaking of which, slaughterhouse was just a name Lin Haoming gave it. Its official name was the Stupa Grotto. The grotto didn't just process Mountain Armored Beasts; while Lin Haoming's group of twenty handled those, there were hundreds of others engaged in slaughtering various different types of spirit beasts.
During these days, Lin Haoming hadn't just been a shut-in. He had quietly slipped some of his old Qi-Circulating Pills to Li Shuntian, asking him to dig up information on Hai Futong and Li Haiying.
The pills were useful for someone at the 6th level, but they were of little help to Lin Haoming now that he was at the 7th, so he didn't mind using them as trash for favors.
Li Shuntian, having taken the bribe, worked hard. He soon discovered that Hai Futong was leaving because his cultivation was nearing the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. Only in his early thirties, he wanted to attempt a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage.
As for Li Haiying, the reason he was taking over Hai Futong's position was that he had secretly bribed the Grotto's Deacon, Kong Xiangming.
Deacon Kong was a genuine Foundation Establishment cultivator. To get someone of that status to speak up, it would cost no less than several dozen spirit stones.
Lin Haoming mused that even if Li Haiying became manager, it would take two or three years of skimming to make that money back—and that was assuming he didn't use the stones for his own cultivation. If he had that many stones, why not just use them to push for Great Perfection himself instead of suffering in this hole?
He suspected Li Haiying hadn't gone through Kong Xiangming directly, but through someone close to him. Unfortunately, his social circle was too small; Li Shuntian had done well to find out this much, but he likely wouldn't know the deeper details.
---
The day to distribute stipends arrived again. More than twenty cultivators stood together.
In front of the crowd stood Hai Futong and Li Haiying. Between them stood a tall, thin man whose presence radiated a superior status.
"Everyone, this is Deacon Kong's disciple, Situ Ping," Hai Futong introduced. "Senior Brother Situ is here today to make an announcement."
When Lin Haoming looked at Situ Ping, he paid close attention to the Inner Sect Disciple robes he wore and the storage bag at his waist.
The Inner Sect uniform was a low-grade artifact in itself, inscribed with formations that kept the wearer cool in summer and warm in winter, and provided a certain level of physical protection. Most mundane weapons couldn't even scratch it. As for the storage bag, the bag alone was worth thirty to fifty spirit stones, not to mention whatever flying artifact might be inside.
The entire outfit was worth at least a hundred spirit stones. Inner sect disciples lived a world apart from outer sect ones. In the Blood Refining Sect, outer sect disciples were disciples in name only; in reality, they were just manual laborers. Everyone wanted to get into the inner sect, but less than one in ten succeeded.
When his ancestor was alive, Lin Haoming had all of this gear. But after his death, he was kicked out of the inner sect on a flimsy excuse. To get back in, one either had to be hand-picked by a powerful senior or reach the Great Perfection of Qi Refining before the age of sixty. Once a cultivator passes sixty years of age, their body begins to decline, and the hope of Foundation Establishment vanishes.
Situ Ping's small eyes swept over the group with indifference. "Your previous manager, Junior Brother Hai Futong, has decided to go into seclusion to strike for Great Perfection. The position of manager will be taken over by Li Haiying. Does anyone have any objections?"
Hearing this, many eyes turned toward Lin Haoming, but he remained silent.
Situ Ping's gaze also brushed past Lin Haoming, but he remained impassive. "Since there are no objections, it is settled. Manager Li, distribute the stipends."
Li Haiying beamed and caught a small cloth bundle tossed from Situ Ping's storage bag. When opened, it revealed a pile of spirit stones and a jade bottle.
This was a Grand Month for the sect, meaning they received an actual spirit stone in addition to pills. Even one stone was extremely precious to an outer disciple.
Lin Haoming was the first to step forward. He reached out with a smile and called out, "Manager Li!"
Li Haiying stared at him. For Lin Haoming to run up first was a blatant show of defiance, a show of strength in reverse. His eyes flared with cruelty.
However, with Situ Ping still standing there, he didn't dare do anything. Instead, he forced a smile and handed over one spirit stone and three Qi-Gathering Pills. The meaning behind that smile was clear: Your days are numbered.
The moment Lin Haoming got his items, he ran over to Hai Futong and stuffed the freshly received spirit stone directly into Hai Futong's hand.
"Senior Brother Hai," he said warmly. "Thank you for taking care of me. This is just a small token of my gratitude—please, Senior Brother, do not refuse!"