Starting My Immortal Life by Upgrading Buildings

Chapter 121: 【Kitchen】【Wine Cellar】and【Formation Room】

Ji Yuan's first thought was to upgrade the 【Formation Room】.

During his recent return from the Water Dragon Sect, he had considered bringing back a couple of formations, if not for the lack of spirit stones on him.

One was a maze formation to conceal Misty Island, and the other was a standard killing formation for combat.

As for the Yin Ghost Formation he possessed, while it was effective, deploying it would inevitably require taking the opponent's life.

Ji Yuan dared not risk being mistaken for a demonic cultivator on the Water Dragon Sect's territory.

Regarding the 【Kitchen】, it was something he had considered back when he was in Zengtou Market.

He had already seen the effects of this building.

However, the spiritual effect of the 【Kitchen】 did not enhance strength; it merely satisfied culinary desires.

At that time, Ji Yuan felt he wasn't at the stage to spend spirit stones and effort to indulge in food, so he had set aside the idea of upgrading the 【Kitchen】.

Now, he felt it was worth trying.

After all, cultivation was arduous and long; one had to find comfort somehow. Otherwise, what was the point of cultivating?

As for other buildings, he would have to experiment slowly.

With this in mind, Ji Yuan first took out paper and brush, wrote the word "Kitchen," and pasted it inside his small wooden house.

After waiting for a while, the 【Kitchen】 building did not appear above his head.

Since that was the case, he had no choice but to build a new house nearby.

Previously, he rarely cooked, except for that one meal during last year's New Year.

Even then, it was mostly just barbecuing.

Building a house was naturally not something he needed to do himself.

Ji Yuan called back Tu Yue, who was digging soil in the mountains, and had her build the house.

He himself went into the stone cave.

His 【Talisman Room】, 【Pill Refining Room】, and 【Comprehension Room】 were all there. Now, he needed to add an 【Formation Room】. Suddenly, Ji Yuan remembered the unknown hammer technique he had learned.

Since he had learned blacksmithing,

He might as well set up a 【Weapon Refining Room】.

Regardless of whether he would use it, the building could be arranged first.

Then, Ji Yuan summoned the Qingfu Flying Sword and continued breaking through the walls.

A top-grade flying sword cut through stone as easily as slicing tofu.

Moreover, Ji Yuan's physique had already reached perfection, so even the excavated stones could be effortlessly thrown away.

Throwing them into the Yunyu Marshlands, they vanished without a trace.

After working for half a day, he had excavated two new stone chambers.

Especially the 【Weapon Refining Room】, which he dug particularly deep.

Unlike the 【Kitchen】, which required a dedicated structure, Ji Yuan estimated that even after the house was built, he would still need to build a stove.

Otherwise, the panel might not recognize it.

But for the 【Formation Room】, it wasn't that troublesome.

After opening up the stone chamber, Ji Yuan used the flying sword to carve the words 【Formation Room】 on the stone wall. Immediately, the panel refreshed successfully.

【Formation Room: Lv0 (Current)】

There were additional inscriptions.

【Formation Room: Lv1 (Cannot Upgrade)】

【Spiritual Effect: First-level formation comprehension ability +20%, second-level formation comprehension ability +5%】

【Upgrade Requirements: 10 Low-grade Spirit Stones, "Introduction to Formations" ×1, Comprehend a first-level "Qi Gathering Formation" (Not Achieved)】

Ji Yuan glanced at the panel.

Both the spiritual effect and upgrade requirements of the 【Formation Room】 were within his expectations and not exaggerated.

As for the upgrade requirements, he only lacked the "Qi Gathering Formation."

Next time he returned to the sect, he could purchase a "Qi Gathering Formation" and comprehend it thoroughly.

Although formations were challenging, with the 【Comprehension Room】, it wasn't difficult for Ji Yuan.

The Yin Ghost Formation was proof of that.

Then, he did the same, carving the words 【Weapon Refining Room】 on the wall of the adjacent stone chamber.

The panel refreshed again.

【Weapon Refining Room: Lv0 (Current)】

【Weapon Refining Room: Lv1 (Cannot Upgrade)】

【Spiritual Effect: Magic weapon success rate +20%, Spiritual weapon success rate +5%】

【Upgrade Requirements: 10 Low-grade Spirit Stones, "Introduction to Weaponry" ×1, Successfully forge a low-grade magic flying sword (Not Achieved)】

After reviewing the effects of the Weapon Refining Room,

He also looked at the other Level 1 【Talisman Room】 and Level 1 【Pill Refining Room】.

He found that the Level 1 effects of these four buildings were actually the same.

Given that, could these four buildings be combined?

If combined, could there be some special effect?

Currently, it was certainly not possible, as there were Level 1 and Level 0 buildings; they couldn't be merged.

He would have to wait until all buildings were at the same level to try.

After settling these two buildings, Ji Yuan didn't rush out.

Tu Yue was building the house alone; it wouldn't be finished so quickly.

Then he went to the nearby Pill Refining Room, refined several batches of top-grade Qi Gathering Pills, and cultivated for an entire night.

Until the next morning.

Before Ji Yuan could go out, he heard the sound of "croak croak croak" from outside.

Oh ho.

The big toad had finally recovered.

Ji Yuan stepped out of the stone cave and indeed found the big toad obediently squatting at the door.

Seeing Ji Yuan come out, it even moved closer to show affection.

Looking at its fully recovered state, Ji Yuan sensed a hint of unusual aura from it.

A hint of dominance.

Commonly known as... the aura of a king.

"Are there no beasts around here that can defeat you?"

Ji Yuan estimated that the large snake that had been killed was probably the big toad’s last opponent.

Previously, there had also been a mid-stage second-tier shrimp demon, which had likewise been slaughtered by the big toad and served as a dish for Ji Yuan.

Upon hearing Ji Yuan's question, the big toad—whether it understood or not—excitedly began croaking, “Croak, croak, croak!”

It even raised its front legs and gestured animatedly as it spoke.

It looked rather ferocious.

Watching this scene, Ji Yuan thought he might need a building that could translate languages.

Otherwise, he really couldn't understand what this big toad was saying.

After the performance ended, Ji Yuan, half-understanding, guessed that the big toad had been ambushed by the large snake while it was out.

Otherwise, with the toad's leaping ability, the snake shouldn't have been able to catch it.

Moreover, if the fight had moved to land, the outcome would have been uncertain.

After watching it finish, Ji Yuan mimed a gesture and asked if there were still any monsters nearby that it couldn’t beat.

This time, the big toad understood and proudly lifted its head,

“Croak!”

Then shook its head.

Ji Yuan mentally muttered, “No wonder.”

It seemed he could let it go hunt low-level second-tier beasts.

Not only would it be relatively safe, but it could also collect demon cores needed for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

This would save him a substantial amount of spirit stones.

But there was no rush.

Ji Yuan turned right and walked to the other buildings. The once vacant space that had only one wooden hut now had another.

He walked in and pasted the prepared “Kitchen” label on the wall, but there was still no response.

It appeared that a stove really had to be built.

He spent another half day—after Tu Yue built a simple stove with mud and stone—the panel finally refreshed.

【Kitchen: Lv0 (Upgradeable)】

【Lv1: Spiritual Effect: Dish deliciousness +20%.】

【Upgrade Requirements: 8 low-grade spirit stones, 5 jin of refined salt, and a total of 200 dishes prepared. (Achieved)】

Unlike the other buildings,

The moment the 【Kitchen】 appeared, it could be upgraded immediately.

Ji Yuan remembered when he first saw the kitchen in Zengtou Market, it was listed as not upgradable.

Apparently, he hadn’t cooked enough dishes at the time.

As for the spiritual effect—it was straightforward.

It directly improved the taste of dishes.

That sounded a bit mystical.

No matter. He would upgrade and cook something to test it.

He initiated the upgrade, and the panel refreshed.

【Kitchen: Lv1 (Not Upgradable)】

【Lv2: Spiritual Effect: Dish deliciousness +40%; consuming food restores a bit of spiritual energy (amount depends on dish quality); produces 1 jin of low-grade spiritual rice daily.】

【Upgrade Requirements: 66 low-grade spirit stones; 10 jin each of flying beast meat, land beast meat, and aquatic beast meat; total of 500 dishes prepared. (Not Achieved)】

Starting from Level 2, the kitchen even granted a kind of basic welfare.

And this welfare was spiritual rice!

Once the 【Kitchen】 reached Level 2, Ji Yuan could truly live a carefree life.

No need to farm, no work, do absolutely nothing—and still have food to eat every day.

What a wonderful life.

Moreover, with the 【Kitchen】’s enhancement, his cooking skills improved further—no complaints there.

Indulging in a beautiful fantasy for a while, Ji Yuan then asked Tu Yue to light the fire.

He wanted to cook a dish and see whether his skills had really changed.

To ensure authenticity, he chose the simplest dish—steamed fish.

Using a perch that wasn’t even a Semi-Spiritual Fish.

This dish didn’t require stir-frying, so no special technique was needed—just steam it until done.

Once in the pot, he waited about half a stick of incense's time before lifting the lid. The moment he did, a strong fragrance hit his nose.

“Damn, looks like I’ll be eating well from now on.”

“Wonder which pretty fairy will get to enjoy this in the future, sigh.”

Lost in fantasies, Ji Yuan devoured the food clean, then even tossed the bones into the big toad’s mouth. It ate everything, especially dishes seasoned by Ji Yuan—it liked those even more.

After a few days on Misty Island,

Ji Yuan found time to return to the Water Dragon Sect.

First, to deal with the corpse of the mid-stage second-tier beast, and second, to buy several formation arrays.

He handled the beast’s remains at the Suspended Demon Shop on Fire Phoenix Island, since everyone there knew he had a Foundation Establishment master.

So handling it wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

And that mid-stage second-tier beast corpse... was valuable!

Even missing the head, poison gland, and demon core, it still sold for 45 middle-grade spirit stones.

With that, he now had money to buy formations.

The Suspended Demon Shop didn’t sell formations, so Ji Yuan went to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

He bought:

One first-tier Qi Gathering Formation—necessary for upgrading the 【Formation Room】, no avoiding that.

One first-tier Mist Formation—for hiding Misty Island.

One first-tier Rain Killing Formation—for combat.

Among the four arts—Pills, Formations, Talismans, and Artifacts—formations were not only the hardest but also the most expensive. All three were only first-tier, but they still cost Ji Yuan a total of 30 middle-grade spirit stones.

As expected, talismans are for the poor, formations for the rich.

Of the four arts, talismans required the least investment and were the easiest to begin with.

Even the most expensive top-grade first-tier talisman only cost a bit over 30 low-grade spirit stones.

Formations, on the other hand, casually cost 10 middle-grade spirit stones each.

The path of formations truly wasn’t something poor cultivators could afford.

After buying those items, Ji Yuan also went to Qianji Island to check things out. He hoped to find a mission where he could get lucky and earn some merit points.

Unexpectedly, he actually found one.

It wasn’t exactly a windfall, but rather a mission marked for repeatable completion.

“【D-rank Mission: Submit a pot of wine that I think tastes good, whether spiritual or ordinary.】

【Time Limit: None】

【Reward: 100 Merit Points】”

Ji Yuan guessed it must have been posted by some old drunkard.

As for the “tastes good” requirement—that was subjective.

If an old drunkard encountered a wine he thought was tasty, he certainly wouldn’t be stingy about 100 merit points.

Besides, it was just a pot of wine—nothing expensive.

Especially since even ordinary wine was acceptable.

Ji Yuan wasn’t an expert in wine, but he figured he could try something using a building—like a 【Wine Cellar】—so he accepted the mission and returned to Misty Island.

This time, he hadn’t been away long, and with the big toad there, nothing had gone wrong.

Once he landed, Ji Yuan released Tu Yue and sent her to tidy up.

He personally cut a few jin of Spiritual Pig meat to feed the big toad.

Once that was taken care of, he entered the 【Comprehension Room】.

Next, he needed to comprehend formations—starting with the first-tier Qi Gathering Formation.

Once the 【Formation Room】 was upgraded, he would then study the Mist Formation and set it up on the island.

Finally, he would comprehend the Rain Killing Formation to wrap things up.

Fortunately, there was no rush—he had time.

Besides that, the Yin Ghost of the Yin Ghost Formation also needed to continue improving.

After consuming two Yin Pills taken from a demonic cultivator, it had managed to break through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining.

Since then, Ji Yuan occasionally fed it Yin-based items. Its strength did increase, but the progress was slow.

He wondered if he could construct a building similar to a 【Corpse Nurturing Ground】—one that could cultivate Yin energy to help the Yin Ghost grow stronger?

Damn, cultivation was too short and harsh. If only he could make one day feel like two.

No, even two days wasn’t enough. He needed one day to feel like a hundred.

Maybe he could go bold and see if a time-accelerating building could be constructed—but even if triggered, he probably wouldn’t be able to upgrade it, lacking the capacity.

Cultivation, talisman crafting, pill refining—and now he had added formation comprehension.

Thankfully, with Tu Yue's help, Ji Yuan didn’t push her to resume clearing the wilderness. The island was just too vast. Even with cultivation, it would take her a year of digging alone to make significant progress.

“Looks like it’s time to consider creating more corpse puppets. Tu Yue works well, but one helper is still too few.”

“Besides, this ‘Corpse Puppet Art’ also seems incomplete. Logically, corpse puppets should be like Yin Ghosts—they ought to be able to improve.”

Although Tu Yue had been called back from the Spiritual Field, she was still digging—this time to excavate the wine cellar, as Ji Yuan needed to focus on cultivation.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside the 【Comprehension Room】, relying on his exceptional talent, Ji Yuan finally fully comprehended the Qi Gathering Formation and set it up within his cave dwelling.

With the added support of the formation, the spiritual energy concentration within the cave increased by another 20%.

With the bonus from the 【Cave Dwelling】 building as well, the spiritual energy on Misty Island now surpassed that of Hatchling Dragon Island.

The Qi Gathering Formation was complete.

Now the 【Formation Room】 could be upgraded.

At Ji Yuan’s command, the panel refreshed once more.

He looked up.

【Formation Room: Lv1】

After the building upgrade was complete, Ji Yuan called up the panel.

【Formation Room: Lv2 (Cannot Upgrade)】

【Spiritual Effect: First-tier formation comprehension +40%, second-tier +20%, third-tier +5%.

Automatically obtain second-tier killing formation “Stellar Mirage Slaughter Formation”】

【Upgrade Requirements: 40 Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, 5 Meteorite Stones, 6 jin of Illusion Spirit Sand, and upgrade one first-tier formation to second-tier (Not Achieved)】

The Level 2 【Formation Room】 was outrageously tempting!

Just like the Level 3 Cave Dwelling, which could automatically generate the “Stellar Vortex Cloud Barrier” for defense,

Now the Level 2 【Formation Room】 could grant a complete second-tier killing formation.

But the upgrade conditions were a bit tough—it required Ji Yuan to upgrade a first-tier formation to second-tier.

After careful thought, he figured he’d probably have to work on the Yin Ghost Formation.

First, because he was most familiar with that formation.

Second, upgrading the Yin Ghost Formation wouldn’t rely solely on modifying formation patterns—enhancing the strength of the Yin Ghost would help too. So it might be relatively easier.

With the Formation Room upgraded, comprehending the Mist Formation became much easier.

Aside from Ji Yuan’s own talent, he now had a 20% building bonus.

Even so, it still took him ten days to completely grasp the Mist Formation.

Once understood, he took the Mist Formation’s array disk and located several suitable anchor points on the island.

After placing the anchors, he also guided the formation’s power and embedded the formation’s core beneath a certain rock on the island.

Then, with dozens of low-grade spirit stones buried, the entire island was instantly shrouded in mist.

A thick, white fog—further enhanced by the merging of the formation’s mist with the island’s natural fog, amplifying the effect of the Mist Formation.

Ji Yuan stood atop the island’s highest peak, on the edge of a cliff.

Normally, around noon, this place would become visible through the mist, but not anymore.

Now, even the surrounding waters were filled with drifting fog.

He summoned the Thunder Falcon Boat and circled the area several times, even ascending above the mist to inspect it from afar.

All he could say was—perfect!

With the formation’s support, an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator wouldn’t notice the island even if passing nearby.

Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would need to actively sweep with their divine sense to have a chance at detecting it.

After resolving the most critical safety issue, Ji Yuan returned once more to Misty Island.

The mist, while it could fool others, had no effect on him as the master of the formation. He could even use it to tease the big toad.

Finally, after spending another ten-plus days, Ji Yuan found time to comprehend the “Rain Killing Formation.”

Once deployed, it would start raining within a ten-li radius.

Each raindrop could become a deadly weapon,

Making it suitable for large-scale damage and for disrupting opponents to expose their weaknesses.

The effect was excellent.

If used during actual rainfall, the outcome would be even more effective.

With the formation complete, Ji Yuan had checked off a major task and finally had time to deal with the 【Wine Cellar】 that Tu Yue had dug out.

The wine cellar was located within Ji Yuan’s cave dwelling and had been excavated by Tu Yue using the Qingfu Sword, strike by strike. However, her work lacked Ji Yuan’s finesse—there were potholes and unevenness everywhere.

But that didn’t matter—as long as it could store wine.

Ji Yuan entered the wine cellar and first tried pasting a paper label.

No reaction. So he had to put wine in it.

But he rarely drank, so he hadn’t prepared much—just a few jars taken from a demonic cultivator’s storage bag.

He brought out the three jars of aged wine, but the panel still didn’t respond.

Could it be that the 【Wine Cellar】 wasn’t considered a building?

That didn’t seem likely.

Even the 【Spiritual Field】 counted, so why wouldn’t the wine cellar?

Maybe it was because he ate more rice but drank little?

Ji Yuan looked around the large stone chamber—only three jars of wine sat there. He guessed the panel didn’t recognize it as a wine cellar due to the lack of quantity.

If he wanted more, he’d have to go out and buy it.

Just as Ji Yuan was about to pack up and leave, a spark of inspiration hit him—wine.

A single jar of wine was still wine.

But if he diluted one jar into a hundred jars,

Would it not still be wine?

At worst, it would just be watered-down wine.

Oh well, a test was worth trying.

He didn’t have enough wine jars, so he went to the other side of the island, chopped down several bamboo stalks, and made bamboo tube wine.

After spending half a day making several dozen bamboo wine tubes and placing them in the stone room—

The panel finally refreshed.

A new building appeared.

A line of text floated in the center of the stone room.

【Wine Cellar: Lv0 (Current)】

The panel updated with the new building.

【Wine Cellar: Lv1 (Cannot Upgrade)】

【Spiritual Effect: Wine stored overnight becomes 20% more delicious, and the longer it remains in the cellar, the richer its aroma becomes.】

【Upgrade Requirements: 10 low-grade spirit stones; 1 jar each of 3 types of spiritual wine; total of 100 jars of wine stored. (Not Achieved)】

It wasn’t all that different from the 【Kitchen】.

One made food taste better, the other made wine taste better.

And the longer it aged, the richer the flavor.

The upgrade requirements weren’t difficult. Spiritual wine was sold at Yunyu Marshlands’ market.

As for 100 jars of wine, Ji Yuan already had 60 to 70 jars. He just needed to buy a bit more.

He would buy a few jars of spiritual wine, let them sit for a few days, and then submit them at Qianji Island to see if they met the quest’s criteria.

If it worked, he’d have another passive method of income.

Leaving the 【Wine Cellar】, Ji Yuan planned to make a quick trip to Heishui Workshop.

To buy more wine, and also restock talisman paper and medicinal herbs—since he spent his days refining pills and drawing talismans, his material consumption was heavy.

He was out for just one day and also brought back some spiritual pigs.

Now that his physique cultivation had achieved great success, his demand for such things had increased. Plus, the big toad consumed a lot of Spiritual Pig, so—

With the wine brought back, the 【Wine Cellar】 naturally leveled up to Level 1.

The Level 2 effects popped up.

【Wine Cellar: Lv2 (Cannot Upgrade)】

【Spiritual Effect: Wine deliciousness +40%; drinking it slightly enhances cultivation (effect depends on wine quality); produces 1 tael of “Carefree Wine” daily.】

【Upgrade Requirements: 80 low-grade spirit stones; 10 jars each of 10 types of spiritual wine; 10 jin of Spirit Bamboo Water; must master at least 1 spiritual wine brewing method. (Not Achieved)】

Ji Yuan glanced at it. The only new thing was the basic welfare “Carefree Wine.”

The name sounded strange. Who knew how it would taste?

But since it didn’t offer significant cultivation benefits, Ji Yuan didn’t pay it much mind.

After completing the building upgrade, he returned to cultivation.

In a flash, over half a year passed.

During this time, Ji Yuan returned to the Water Dragon Sect only once. The rest of the time, he cultivated on Misty Island.

In terms of talismans, Ji Yuan had become proficient with most top-grade first-tier talismans.

If not for the lack of second-tier talisman spells, he’d have already begun attempting them.

His pill refining was slightly behind due to a later start.

Still, Ji Yuan could now skillfully craft Qi Gathering Pills and Vitality Pills.

With a bit more experience, he might attempt refining the second-tier “Water Spirit Pill.” When the 【Pill Refining Room】 hit Level 2,

He would unlock the method for crafting Foundation Establishment Pills.

During his one trip back to the Water Dragon Sect, he didn’t forget to submit the wine at Qianji Island.

After submission, he didn’t dwell on it.

If it yielded results, great. If not, no harm done.

One day.

During his cultivation, Ji Yuan once again called up the panel.

Currently, the 【Comprehension Room】 was still Level 1. Whether he wanted to break into second-tier talismans or second-tier pills, he needed enhanced comprehension.

So upgrading the 【Comprehension Room】 should be prioritized.

【Comprehension Room: Lv2 (Cannot Upgrade)】

【Spiritual Effect: Comprehension boost increased to 20%; during bottlenecks, gain an additional 10% comprehension.】

【Upgrade Requirements: 20 middle-grade spirit stones, 3 Illusion Heart Flowers, 1 jar of Earth Vein Spiritual Marrow (Not Achieved)】

He had enough spirit stones.

Earth Vein Spiritual Marrow was available at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. It was the Illusion Heart Flowers he hadn’t seen—he’d ask at the Pavilion.

Also, the 【Pigsty】 needed upgrading.

Achieving Foundation Establishment-level mana took years. He might as well beef up his body to Vajra-like toughness and attain Foundation Establishment-level combat power first.

【Pigsty: Lv3 (Cannot Upgrade)】

【Spiritual Effect: Produces 1 tael of Moist Jade Fat monthly; every slaughtered Spiritual Pig yields a “Meridian Tempering Pearl” from its heart.】

【Upgrade Requirements: 40 middle-grade spirit stones, 5 jin of Core Lava, refine a Vitality Pill (Not Achieved)】

Forty middle-grade spirit stones was steep, but manageable.

Core Lava should also be purchasable.

And Ji Yuan could refine Vitality Pills himself.

With that decided, it was time to make another trip to the Water Dragon Sect to purchase materials for upgrading these two buildings.

He could also inquire about news from the front lines. It had nearly been a year since he joined the Water Dragon Sect,

And he had no idea how things were going at the front.