Zhao Huoyan responded immediately.
"You don't need to worry about that. You signed the elite master contract witnessed by the Xiezhi Spiritual Seal, which grants you the right to use dangerous spiritual items in self-defense. As long as the Xiezhi Seal doesn't judge your actions as breaching the contract, then legally, you're in the clear. Both the SEIU and the state will recognize your actions.
That said, I still hope you'll avoid excessive force when defending yourself. Try not to cause fatalities, or else the underworld may record it as a major offense."
With the current situation, any cultivator could potentially nurture a dangerous spiritual item. If these aren't registered, the SEIU has no way of keeping track.
Unlike firearms, dangerous spiritual items can't be controlled by national regulation. So instead, cultivators are bound by the promise of the afterlife's moral judgment and by the constraints of the Xiezhi Seal contract. At the same time, they're also given the legal right to defend themselves using their spiritual items.
And it's not just elite masters like the one in front of him. Even regular cultivators are allowed to defend themselves with spiritual items under the Laws and Regulations Governing Cultivators.
Song Miaozhu was satisfied with that answer.
"Then, could you tell me more about green spiritual energy?" Zhao Huoyan took the chance to ask.
The reason the SEIU focuses so many resources on nurturing certain masters is exactly to help uncover the deeper principles of cultivation.
Only those walking ahead can illuminate the path for those behind.
He hadn't expected that all their effort still couldn't match the progress of a single person—Master Song.
Which made her experience all the more valuable.
"Of course," Song Miaozhu said. She had long wanted someone to help her verify her discoveries.
She didn't want to be too far removed from others. If she veered off the proper path, she might not notice it alone. At the very least, understanding others' progress gave her a point of comparison.
Releasing the Spirit-Gathering Fortune Dolls to the public was not just for profit. That was a major reason as well.
She described in detail the moment she condensed her first azure spiritual crystal, its position within her spiritual platform, and all her research results about green spiritual energy.
Zhao Huoyan took notes without missing a word. "This is extremely important. I'll send the data right away to the Spiritual Power Research Division at headquarters. Any findings will be relayed to you immediately."
"Good." Song Miaozhu smiled. "Shall we move on to registering the spiritual item now?"
Zhao Huoyan nodded and immediately pulled out a registration form. He began filling it out without even needing to test the item's effects.
With so many Fortune Dolls actively working, and the verification results from the Spirit-Mirror Bronze Disc, their function was already clear.
As for production rate, he followed what Master Song had said earlier: "2 units per day." He knew full well that the real number was much higher.
Once the form was completed and the electronic file submitted—thanks to a heads-up he gave the bureau earlier—the approval came almost instantly.
"Congratulations! The Spirit-Gathering Fortune Doll is now officially listed as a Key Spiritual Item," he announced.
Song Miaozhu wasn't surprised in the slightest. If the SEIU didn't try to get a firm grip on something this valuable, that would be the real surprise.
Contribution points were issued by the SEIU, and the currency was printed by the state. The two parties with the deepest pockets were naturally the SEIU and the government.
As long as it didn't interfere with her making money, she didn't care who bought them. After all, it was just a supplementary item. It wasn't even one ten-thousandth as convenient as a spiritual stone.
Everything had gone smoothly today, and Song Miaozhu was in a good mood.
She had noticed from the very start that Zhao Huoyan still hadn't opened his spiritual platform. As the captain of a city's SEIU unit, he had clearly prioritized administrative duties and learning crafting skills over his own cultivation. His progress was far behind.
She couldn't help asking, "Captain Zhao, would you like to buy a few Spirit-Gathering Fortune Dolls for personal use? These aren't part of the one hundred dolls being listed in the Key Spiritual Item Treasury."
At first, Zhao Huoyan looked hesitant. But the moment he heard they were outside of that hundred-unit limit, he immediately said, "I have over 210,000 contribution points right now. Can I buy seven of them? If not, I'm fine buying fewer."
He had neglected his personal cultivation, but accumulated quite a lot of points.
Still, he knew his place. Even though he suspected Master Song's inventory far exceeded what he'd seen, he only mentioned the points in his own account. He never brought up the public account used by Lingcheng's SEIU division.
"Of course," Song Miaozhu replied. "Seven units, right? Would you like to bind them now or wait until your spiritual platform is open so you can use your spiritual energy to claim them?"
According to research from six months ago, spiritual items could now be bound using blood instead of spiritual power.
However, the original creator of the spiritual item still had to assist with the ownership transfer.
"Now," Zhao Huoyan said without hesitation.
He pricked his finger and offered a drop of blood.
"Please wait in the living room. It'll just take a moment," said Song Miaozhu.
This was a reasonable request. She'd noticed that spiritual item sellers in the SEIU app had similar habits. Apparently, the transfer process required high concentration, and having others nearby could be distracting.
Zhao Huoyan wasn't suspicious. He waited in the living room for a few minutes, and soon received his seven Spirit-Gathering Fortune Dolls.
With them, he could finally catch up in cultivation.
In that brief time, the elite master forum lit up with a congratulatory post from SEIU headquarters.
[SEIU Headquarters: Good News! Congratulations to Master Song Miaozhu for nurturing a new Key Spiritual Item, the Spirit-Gathering Fortune Doll! [Image]]
In the Elite Masters Exchange Group chat, everything exploded.
By the time Song Miaozhu opened her WeChat app after seeing Zhao Huoyan off, the group chat already showed "99+ unread messages."
There were only eleven people in the group.
She scrolled through, seeing a flood of messages asking to purchase the dolls. Only the first few showed genuine shock and excitement.
But everyone's requests were far too timid—each person only asked to buy one.
That wouldn't do.
Aside from the official accounts of SEIU headquarters and various regional units, the richest people in contribution points were these elite masters.
Their spiritual items usually sold for over 5,000 points, some even exceeding 10,000, and they were always in short supply.
[Miaow Zhu]:I have a large inventory. I can nurture at least two per day. When placing your orders, you can be a little bolder!(＾▽＾)／
The moment her message dropped, the group fell silent.
Then it became a contest of wealth.
Master Zhang Yunxi responded the fastest.
[Zhang Yunxi]:[image][image] Can I buy 13?(☆▽☆)ﾉ
The first screenshot showed her SEIU app with over 300,000 contribution points. The second showed a bank account balance of 9 million yuan, which could be exchanged for 90,000 points. In total, over 390,000 contribution points.
[Zhang Yunxi]:That's everything I've earned from selling spiritual items, teaching university courses, and completing SEIU missions.(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧