The second problem that troubled Shi Jiu was the lack of subsequent Cultivation Techniques for the 8th-10th levels of the Formula of Guiding the Stars.
Although he was still a little short of reaching the Peak of the Qi Refining seventh level, with his ability to Cultivate rapidly with the help of the Vortex, reaching the Peak of the Qi Refining seventh level was a completely foreseeable matter.
He was still short of 200 contribution points to exchange for the Formula of Guiding the Stars. If he continued at his current rate of accumulating contribution points, it would probably take him almost ten more months to gather enough.
By then, he would undoubtedly have reached the Peak of the Qi Refining seventh level much earlier, which would undoubtedly delay him significantly.
Of course, the Helian Family also had a way to exchange Spirit Stones for contribution points: 1 Low-Grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for 1 contribution point. If Shi Jiu was willing to spend 200 Low-Grade Spirit Stones for these 200 contribution points, he could immediately meet the requirement.
However, any Cultivator with a slightly normal mind would not do something like exchanging Spirit Stones for contribution points.
After all, contribution points could always be obtained by spending time doing tasks, and many tasks offered a high amount of contribution points.
For example, the rewards for taking on tasks in the Helian Family usually included both Spirit Stones and contribution points. If more Spirit Stones were given, then fewer contribution points were given.
Similarly, if fewer Spirit Stones were given, then more contribution points were given. There were very few tasks that offered only Spirit Stones or only contribution points.
But Spirit Stones were different; they were hard currency in the Immortal Cultivation world.
Regardless of whether you were a small fry in the Qi Refinement Stage or a Great Cultivator in the Nascent Soul Stage, you needed Spirit Stones for Cultivation or for other activities like setting up formations and purchasing Materials.
Moreover, the Helian Family's contribution points were just a bunch of useless numbers in the eyes of outsiders, but Spirit Stones could buy all sorts of desired resources.
Therefore, Shi Jiu, not to mention having only a mere 20 Low-Grade Spirit Stones in his hand, even if he had 200, he had no intention of exchanging Spirit Stones for contribution points.
His current plan was to approach it from two aspects simultaneously: on one hand, he would diligently Cultivate the Formula of Azure Wood Cultivation Technique to quickly Breakthrough to the Qi Refining fifth level, so he could officially take on tasks at the Task Hall.
And he would try to find tasks that offered more contribution points; it was fine if he received fewer Spirit Stones at this stage.
On the other hand, Shi Jiu planned to quickly Cultivate the Formula of Guiding the Stars to the Peak of the seventh level, because he had found a finger technique called "Falling Star Finger" within the partial Cultivation Technique of the Formula of Guiding the Stars levels 1-7.
The Cultivation of this finger technique was quite peculiar, as it only involved Cultivating two fingers: the left index finger and the right index finger, and the abilities of the two index fingers were completely different.
The left index finger was Cultivated by utilizing the astral Impurities absorbed into the body during the Cultivation process when absorbing the power of the stars.
After reaching Major Achievement, its effect was quite malicious. With a full-power strike of this finger, a large amount of astral Impurities could be silently injected into the opponent's Meridians, causing their spiritual power circulation to become blocked without them realizing it.
They might even be unable to call upon their spiritual power at all, especially during a spell battle; it could be said to be an extremely disgusting move.
Even if the opponent managed to escape, the astral Impurities remaining in their body would be difficult to remove, causing the enemy a great headache.
With the help of the Vortex, Shi Jiu could directly collect the astral Impurities separately and refine them into his left index finger, making the Cultivation process very convenient.
The right index finger, on the other hand, was purely Cultivated using the power of the stars.
The Formula of Guiding the Stars, after all, was a Cultivation Technique for both Spell Cultivator and Body Refining, and its effect on strengthening a Cultivator's physique was extremely obvious. Now that Shi Jiu had only Cultivated to the Qi Refining seventh level, he could even single-handedly lift a thousand pounds and run without breaking a sweat.
Moreover, after Shi Jiu activated his magical power, his body's strength had reached a point where he could withstand metal-element spell attacks from a Low Grade Disciple like Feng Ming, who was at the Qi Refining third level, without any harm.
As for whether he could withstand Low Grade Magical Artifacts, Shi Jiu had never seen a Low Grade Magical Artifact, so he didn't know, but he estimated that he should have the power to fight against them.
Therefore, the Cultivation of the right index finger of the Falling Star Finger could be said to be Body Refining within Body Refining, with a taste of forging steel within iron.
Using a special secret incantation, dense starlight was integrated into one finger, making it indestructible, capable of piercing through all obstacles with a single strike.
Shi Jiu flew while looking at his two fingers with satisfaction, revealing a strange smile.
Upon closer inspection, the left finger was slightly gray, and the right finger was slightly blue. Although it had not reached Major Achievement as described in the Formula of Guiding the Stars, it had already achieved Minor Achievement strength. He estimated that it would greatly surprise his opponent if he had the chance to test it in actual combat.
Of course, he did not intend to use the name "Falling Star Finger." One reason was to prevent anyone with ulterior motives from guessing that he could Cultivate the Formula of Guiding the Stars.
The other reason was that he felt the name wasn't imposing enough, too artistic, and not as resounding as a name like "Kato Golden Finger."
Moreover, if he was truly forced to use this finger technique, especially the left index finger containing the power of astral Impurities, he would probably have to ruthlessly silence the enemy to protect his secret.
As for the third problem, it was that he had no clue about the Cultivation of light and dark power so far.
The Seven Luminaries were divided into Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, totaling seven forces. Because he possessed Five Elements Spiritual Root, with the help of the Vortex, Shi Jiu had, by a fluke, made smooth progress in the Cultivation of the Five Elements power.
Originally, on the day Shi Jiu first began Cultivating the Formula of Guiding the Stars, he had already felt a resonance with the power of the great sun in the sky while on the road during the day.
However, when he had the opportunity to Cultivate during the day later, he found that the magical power transformed from the Cultivation of the great sun's power was still the same as the starlight Cultivated at night, not involving the powers of light and darkness.
But these two powers, light and darkness, which sounded extremely powerful, indeed had no clear path to comprehend.
Shi Jiu couldn't help but wonder, could it be that only Cultivators with mutated Spiritual Roots of light and darkness could Cultivate them? That would be too much of a pity.
It seemed he would have to find an opportunity to search through the Helian Family's scripture pavilion for books introducing light and dark Spiritual Roots. Perhaps he could draw inspiration and find a way to activate these two powers.
These three points were basically Shi Jiu's biggest current problems.
Shi Jiu sorted things out. Since the Formula of Guiding the Stars could not be exposed, he felt it was better to first Cultivate the Formula of Azure Wood to the Qi Refining fifth level so he could take on tasks within the clan. This way, many problems could be easily solved.
Hence the current scene of Shi Jiu flying with the wind, and his destination was the market near the Helian Family mountain.
In fact, this was Shi Jiu's first time going to a market. He had only heard others talk about market transactions before, but had never witnessed it himself.
Shi Jiu had made quite thorough preparations for this trip to the market. He put all his belongings, the 20 Spirit Stones, into his belt, chest, sleeves, and boots.
There was no other way; who told him he was a Low Grade poor Cultivator who didn't even have the smallest Storage Pouch? For safety's sake, he could only carry Spirit Stones this way.