First Cultivation and Arrangements Left Behind from a Previous Life

Two seconds later, the world returned to normal, and Zhao Sheng instantly "fell" out of the time-stop state.

Too miraculous, too wondrous! Though it had clearly lasted only two seconds, Zhao Sheng felt as if the entire process had gone on for at least a minute.

Two seconds versus one minute!

In a sense, that meant the flow of time had slowed by a full thirtyfold.

What did that mean? Zhao Sheng did not fully grasp it at once, but he knew that in any world, any ability or talent involving time was exceedingly rare.

He had used a single Yellow Grade draw and obtained the Talent Bullet Time.

He had to say, he had made an absolute killing this time!

After testing his newly acquired talent, Zhao Sheng calmed himself and began cultivating for the first time in this life.

Inside the quiet room, Zhao Sheng sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his mind. His consciousness swiftly entered a state of perfect clarity.

It seemed as though a long time had passed, yet it also seemed to have happened in an instant.

In the darkness surrounding Zhao Sheng's body, densely packed spiritual energy particles suddenly appeared, glittering in every color.

Some were fiery red like flames, some jade green like wood, some profound black like an abyss, some brilliant like gold, some grayish yellow like earth. There were also a few pure white like ice, deep blue like lightning, and blue-green like wind.

Zhao Sheng was overjoyed at the sight. He knew that he had successfully completed the first step: sensing spiritual energy. The next step was to use the Nourishing Spirit Art to drive the spiritual power vortex within his Dantian, draw in the surrounding spiritual energy particles, and begin refining and merging them.

The Nourishing Spirit Art Zhao Sheng cultivated was called "Colorful Clouds Chase the Moon." The spirit was the moon, and spiritual energy became clouds. It was called Colorful Clouds Chase the Moon, but in truth, when the moon moved, the clouds followed.

Simply put, it used one's consciousness and spirit—the embryonic form of Divine Sense—to drive the spiritual power vortex, drawing spiritual energy particles into it. The vortex refined and merged spiritual energy of the same attribute while casting out "impurities," ultimately strengthening one's spiritual power.

The entire cultivation process could be summed up in eight words: nourish the spirit, refine the qi; discard dross, preserve essence.

Why was it that cultivators with fewer spiritual roots cultivated faster?

That involved "discarding dross and preserving essence"—put more plainly, purification and impurity removal.

Given the same amount of time and the same quantity of spiritual energy particles absorbed, someone with Five Spiritual Roots would absorb five types of particles at once, yet could only refine one of them. The other four were impurities.

A person with a Single Spiritual Root, on the other hand, absorbed only one type of particle, skipping the impurity-removal process altogether.

Setting aside all other factors, based on this point alone, a Single Spiritual Root cultivated at least five times faster than Five Spiritual Roots.

This was also one reason why all cultivation factions regarded cultivators with Single Spiritual Roots as priceless treasures.

Zhao Sheng possessed metal, water, earth, and wood Four Spiritual Roots, and cultivated the water-element Mystic Spirit Art.

The Mystic Spirit Art was not of a particularly high grade and was not considered an especially precious cultivation method in the Cultivation World, but it was widely circulated.

Many cultivators used it as their primary cultivation method because the Mystic Spirit Art was balanced and peaceful, making it unlikely to cause deviation, while the spiritual power it cultivated was renowned for its purity and depth.

However, the Mystic Spirit Art's shortcomings were equally obvious: it was slow. Not only were purification and fusion slow, but advancement in cultivation was even slower.

But in Zhao Sheng's eyes, cultivating slowly with the Mystic Spirit Art was not a flaw, because he had all the time in the world. If this life was not enough, there was always the next.

In his inwardly focused state, Zhao Sheng "saw" the profound-black spiritual power vortex deep within his Dantian slowly begin to "turn" under the urging of his consciousness.

Streams of invisible pulling force formed along with it. Gradually, the four types of metal, wood, water, and earth spiritual energy particles in the air were drawn into the vortex.

Then the gold, green, and yellow particles were "flung" out of his body, while the water-element spiritual energy was crushed bit by bit and slowly merged into his spiritual power.

Time passed little by little, and Zhao Sheng felt his consciousness gradually grow weak and feeble. A faint swelling pain came from between his brows.

As he continued cultivating, the swelling pain between his brows became increasingly pronounced, eventually turning into a needle-like stabbing ache.

Zhao Sheng knew this was a sign of severe spiritual exhaustion. This cultivation session should end.

He let out a long breath, stopped driving his cultivation method, and withdrew from the state of perfect clarity.

"Ha ha!"

After awakening, Zhao Sheng opened his eyes and suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

At midnight that night, the moonlight was hazy, the clouds sparse, and the breeze gentle.

By Dragon Carp Lake, Zhao Sheng, dressed in a black robe, found a boulder by the shore as tall as two men.

He circled the boulder once, then quickly began digging beneath a horn-shaped protruding stone.

A moment later, Zhao Sheng dug up a bundle from a hole three chi deep.

Opening the bundle, he found more than a hundred milky-white Low-Grade Spirit Stones the size of eyeballs, a three-inch-long bronze flying sword, three black crystals, and a small ghastly green arrow.

The bronze flying sword was a mid-grade first-order flying sword, comparable to an ordinary high-grade first-order magical artifact. It was worth around seven hundred and fifty spirit stones.

It was Zhao Sheng's spoils of war, taken from an Herb Gatherer at Qi Refining Level Four.

The black crystals were a rare first-order refining material called Profound Ripple Crystal. Each piece could sell for several dozen Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

The most valuable item was the ghastly green little arrow. It was a one-use self-detonating magical artifact with highly toxic corrosive properties. Once it struck someone, even a cultivator at Qi Refining Late Stage would suffer grievous injuries; the slightest hesitation would result in poison flaring up and death.

These spirit stones, magical artifacts, and refining materials were among the arrangements Zhao Sheng had left behind in his previous life.

Now, they had indeed come in handy.

One month later, inside the quiet room, Zhao Sheng awoke from meditation and suddenly revealed an excited smile.

After a month of closed-door cultivation, he finally broke through to Qi Refining Level Two.

Of course, the price had not been small—he had downed all six bottles of Spirit Essence Pills in one go.

Six times seven made forty-two.

Forty-two Spirit Stones might not seem like much, but it was enough to buy a low-grade first-rank artifact.

An ordinary Rogue Cultivator at the Qi Refining Early Stage could not earn fifty Spirit Stones in an average year.

Compared to those poverty-stricken Rogue Cultivators, Zhao Sheng was already living extravagantly.

But compared with sect disciples, it was nothing worth mentioning.

These Spirit Essence Pills had been exchanged from the Zhao Family treasury.

The Zhao Family had a clansman named Zhao Ke Ru, the family's only alchemist.

The Spirit Essence Pills came from his hands.

In Zhao Sheng's plans, alchemy was a cultivation art he had to learn.

However, alchemy burned through Spirit Stones too quickly. His current circumstances did not allow for it, so he intended to start with talisman drawing instead.

Among the hundred arts of cultivation, talisman drawing had the lowest threshold. All one needed was a talisman brush, spirit ink, and Talisman Paper.

As it happened, his former self already had a foundation in talisman drawing.

After leaving the meditation chamber, Zhao Sheng suddenly saw his personal servant, Zhao Tai, waiting anxiously outside its door.

The instant Zhao Sheng emerged, Zhao Tai immediately shouted, "Young Master, something terrible has happened! Hurry and take a look! The Masters are about to start fighting with the Second Branch!"

Zhao Sheng frowned at those words and said in a deep voice, "Don't panic. What happened?"

Zhao Tai hurriedly explained, "This morning, the Zhao Clan Elder of the Second Branch brought people from the Wei Family and came knocking without warning, all aggressive and menacing. They insisted on getting a clear accounting from us."

The moment Zhao Sheng heard that the Wei Family had sent people, his brow furrowed even tighter.

The Wei Family of Li Mountain was the Zhao Family's Marriage Alliance clan. Their family grounds, Li Mountain, lay two hundred li southwest of Dragon Carp Lake, and beneath the mountain ran a high-grade first-rank spirit vein.

The Wei Family had one Foundation Establishment cultivator and seven Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators. Their strength surpassed that of the current Zhao Family.

Thinking of Elder Zhao Jingang of the Second Branch and his usual conduct, Zhao Sheng suddenly felt as though a storm was about to break.

The Wei Family's visitors had clearly come with ill intent. They were likely here for the Foundation Establishment Pill—or worse, to target the Zhao Family itself.