8: The Secret of Hidden Qi in the Mysterious Female, Days of Cultivation

Zhao Shouren looked around the courtyard and clicked his tongue in wonder: "You kid are quite nimble. I've only been out for a few days, and you've already repaired the house."

"Not at all. I asked Old Song from the north to help."

"Song Chengping?" Zhao Shouren curled his lip. "Hmph, that old miser. I asked him to repair my house for free, and he wouldn't even do that."

"..."

The two chatted for a while.

After entering the house, Lu Xian slipped into the kitchen to get busy.

After thinking for a moment, he pulled a common chicken from the backyard and stewed a pot of rich soup.

He also took out two emerald Jade Marrow Eggs and stir-fried a fragrant dish with some fresh chives.

"Ah, haha, the chicken soup is here. Senior Zhao, please eat slowly." Lu Xian placed the dish on the table.

"Not bad!"

After tasting a bite, Zhao Shouren became even more excited. "Was this stir-fried with Spirit Bird eggs?"

"Exactly. I accidentally found a Jade Marrow Chicken in the mountains. Old Zhao, see if it suits your taste. It's just..." Lu Xian smiled, hesitating to continue.

"Go ahead, ask. I've been around for decades, and while I wouldn't dare say I know everything under the heavens, I have some knowledge."

Zhao Shouren chewed the food and mumbled.

"Senior, do you know... is there a way to get the book 'Elementary Introduction to the Way of Formations'?" Lu Xian stated his purpose.

"Hmm? Why are you asking about this? You want to be reckless and learn Formation?"

Zhao Shouren frowned and waved his hand. "Forget it. Formations have extremely high requirements for Comprehension Ability. It's not like raising chickens or farming; if you don't get it, you don't get it."

"Besides, Legacies related to the Hundred Arts can only be purchased through channels in the 'Ten Thousand Laws Department'. Except for those big shots, it's illegal for us Loose Cultivators to privately pass them on."

Lu Xian was silent.

The Immortal Dynasty's regulations were as strict as iron.

Every year, the imperial court would use special Formations covering the entire county to conduct large-scale sweeps for unlicensed Cultivators.

Offenders would be executed immediately without mercy!

Because of this, even those Families and Sects that possessed high-Rank Cultivation Techniques had to symbolically hold a 'quasi-immortal jade token' issued by the authorities to avoid giving others a handle against them.

Furthermore, Legacies involving the Hundred Arts—Alchemy, Artifact, Talisman, Formation, etc.—had to be purchased from official shops.

This was not just considered registration, but also proof to legally earn Spirit Stones with this skill in the future.

If obtained through unofficial channels, the related skills could only rot in one's stomach; one would never dare to show them to others.

The most daunting part was the reporting mechanism.

If someone was found privately teaching Cultivation Techniques or skills, one could report it to the government. Once verified, the reporter would receive a reward of five Spirit Stones!

Don't look down on a mere five Spirit Stones.

For ordinary Loose Cultivators, they didn't dare to gamble.

This cut off the thoughts of ninety-nine percent of Cultivators regarding large-scale teaching for profit. If the buyer turned around and reported them, they wouldn't have earned anything and would have lost half their life.

Unless... the person being taught was someone extremely close, with no possibility of betrayal.

Seeing Lu Xian silent for a long time, Zhao Shouren added slowly: "However, the Immortal Dynasty's supervision of Spells is much looser. After all, as long as you don't actively cast them, who knows what you've practiced?"

"Now that you've started your Cultivation, considering the friendship of us eating together, I'll pass you a small Spell, just as payment for the meal!"

Having said that, he threw out a dusty Jade Slip.

Lu Xian's eyes flashed, and he picked it up to check.

'Xuanpin Qi Concealment Art'!

This technique was actually Profound Rank Medium Grade. Once cultivated to Minor Achievement, one could perfectly hide their aura in front of Cultivators of the same Realm.

If it reached Perfection, as long as one didn't actively leak it, even someone one major Realm higher would find it difficult to see through the truth!

Good stuff!

A moment later, Lu Xian put down the Jade Slip and solemnly cupped his hands: "Many thanks for the teaching, Senior Zhao!"

"No, no, no!" Zhao Shouren almost spat out his food. "Don't put labels on me. You want to use me to exchange for Spirit Stones, right? What happened today, only you and I know!"

"If you get into trouble in the future, just don't mention me."

"This Junior understands."

"The path of the Immortal is difficult. You've just entered the door, and such small Spells are not easy to get. Especially Cultivation Techniques. Why do you think the Immortal Dynasty spreads the Primordial Art? Is it out of kindness?"

"Could it be because this technique is too trashy?" Lu Xian replied.

"What else could it be? This thing just emphasizes balance and neutrality. To put it bluntly, it has no strengths, far worse than those of aristocratic Families and Sects, let alone the imperial Family's Legacy."

"Sigh, the power of the Immortal Dynasty is unfathomable. Even a small Qingyun County has a Golden Core True Person sitting in charge. On the surface, it's a peaceful and prosperous age, but the road ahead for us Loose Cultivators... sigh..."

"Back then, there were even fools who said that Loose Cultivators were all parasites and proposed to slaughter us all. Fortunately, the Immortal Emperor of that time was benevolent and unwilling to waste Heavenly Dao Karma, so it wasn't carried out..."

Zhao Shouren rambled on, saying many old stories and complaints.

From the few words, Lu Xian deduced that the old man should be a great Cultivator at the Qi Refining Late Stage or even Great Perfection.

To advance further was already extremely difficult.

However, Lu Xian had a good mentality.

When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a road; cultivating one day is one day.

...

Zhao Shouren, full and satisfied, burped and hummed an out-of-tune ditty, leisurely walking toward his own small courtyard.

Looking at that thin back, Lu Xian couldn't imagine that this was actually a great expert.

From beginning to end, the other party did not leak a trace of magical power fluctuation.

Thinking too much was useless; every Cultivator had their own story and way of living. Why wasn't Lu Xian the same?

Sending off Zhao Shouren.

Subsequently, he went to the backyard and stuffed the newly bought common chickens into the Chicken Coop. Added to the existing ones, it was suddenly packed, and the "clucking" of twenty chickens rose and fell.

Scattered grain.

Luck was good; one suddenly evolved!

"Hmm? This time it's not a Jade Marrow Chicken?"

Lu Xian observed for a while and found that the Spirit Bird had three red feathers on its tail.

Three Radiance Chicken?

Evolved into another Bloodline branch?

Just as he was thinking, the newly promoted "supernatural chicken" seemed extremely irritable. It let out a cry, then spat out a small mouthful of fire, setting another Jade Marrow Chicken on fire!

Two kings cannot exist together!

The Jade Marrow Chicken immediately fought back, and they started pecking at each other.

Lu Xian saw his property fighting; wouldn't that be a loss for nothing?

He immediately found a wooden board and separated the Three Radiance Chicken from the other nineteen.

The Three Radiance Chicken had decent combat power, but because its fire attribute was too strong, the meat was dry and fierce, not suitable for eating. The city's purchase price was only 20 Spirit Stones.

Lu Xian needed a richer variety of Spirit Bird, so he didn't mind.

He turned and scanned the Spirit Field; the conditions were already met.

He immediately upgraded the Spirit Field with the remaining 8 Spirit Stones, then looked at the panel.

[Spirit Field: Rank 1]

[Rank 2 Effect: Spiritual Qi concentration in the soil is significantly increased, can grow Rank 2 Spirit Plants. Randomly +1 year of growth for three Spirit Plants daily, with a small chance (< 2%) of mutation. Growth speed + 120%]

[Upgrade Conditions: Low-Grade Spirit Stone * 100, Spirit Soil Base * 10 cubic units, Root of Root-Solidifying Grass * 5, continuously cast 'Minor Cloud and Rain Art' to irrigate for ten days]

The Rank 2 bonus effect was quite good.

But the upgrade conditions were even more harsh, requiring the irrigation requirements of learning a Spell.

This made Lu Xian temporarily shelve the idea.

Now that all four buildings had been upgraded to Rank 1, the effects were quite good, enough for him to develop and utilize until at least the Qi Refining Middle Stage.

Recalling the last few days, his actions seemed a bit too high-profile.

Pretending to be someone else to sell Spirit Bird, buying certificates on the black market, and grandly purchasing building materials...

However, the harvest was also solid and rich!

Not only did his strength reach Qi Refining Level 2, but he also obtained the Body Refining secret technique 'Spirit Devouring Bone Transformation Scripture' and the concealment Spell 'Xuanpin Qi Concealment Art'. He could stay at home and Cultivate for a long time.

Qi Refining Cultivators lived for over a hundred years; closing the door for a month or two was just a snap of the fingers.

The days of Cultivation were not boring for Lu Xian.

In his previous life, he was a homebody, so staying at home didn't matter. Besides, Lu Xian found something to pass the time.

The 'Spirit Net' that he opened under the introduction of Shopkeeper Kong last time!

Lu Xian's Divine Thought browsed through the quasi-immortal jade token. It was divided into several sections. The basic information gifted at the beginning was classified under 'Cultivation Introduction'.

There was also 'Nine Heavens Dao Discussion' where one could post insights.

However, one could only check news in Qingyun County locally, because the large-scale communication Formation consumed a lot of energy, and the coverage of the Rank 3 Spirit Net was only the county town and a radius of a thousand miles.

The first post hanging on it was actually related to him!

"Fellow Daoists, who understands this!"

"Came to this backwater of Qingyun County to visit relatives and accidentally discovered a decent restaurant. The signature dish 'Jade Marrow Drunken Phoenix' tastes quite good, and it's extremely cheap, a mere five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

"Danyang Prefecture, 'Young Master Zhou', left."

Below were all the fawning and flattery of the descendants of various Foundation Establishment Families in Qingyun County.

There was even a message from someone called "Shopkeeper Kong": "Young Master Zhou is talented and suave. It is the Kong Family's honor for Drunken Immortal Tower to serve you."

"Damn it. No wonder Kong Shan was so enthusiastic last time; a Jade Marrow Chicken only sold to him for 40 Spirit Stones. He made a killing."

Lu Xian couldn't help but complain.

He continued to check the rest of the content and found that the small Qingyun County was really lively.

Those holding Dual Cultivation ceremonies and giving out Spirit Stone gift bags, those teaming up to seek Opportunity, those making friends, those holding banquets to celebrate before Breakthrough, those seeking resources, those shouting threats and fighting...

All sorts of strange things.

Most of them were Family members by name and tone, a few were Sect Disciples, and very few Loose Cultivators spoke.

Come to think of it, with a cost of 5 Spirit Stones a month, isn't it better to use it for Cultivation?

The lives of the upper class had nothing to do with ninety percent of Loose Cultivators.

After indulging for a while, Lu Xian turned to another function — 'Ten Thousand Laws Department'.

According to Zhao Shouren, the Ten Thousand Laws Department was an agency specifically for the Immortal Dynasty to sell Cultivation Techniques, Spells, and Hundred Arts Legacies. Unexpectedly, they had a branch on the Spirit Net.

"Identity: Loose Cultivator Han Feiyu. Can only browse Yellow Rank Medium Grade and below classics!"

Lu Xian: "..."

No, brother.

The prompt in his Divine Thought made Lu Xian frown. Can't you buy better Legacies even if you spend Spirit Stones?