Repairing Magic Tools, Techniques Withheld

Elder Qi was usually quite stern and rarely showed herself. Most of the time, no one saw her at all.

Led by Shen Siyue, Xiao Chen had paid her a visit once. In total, she had only said two sentences.

"Since you have come to Azure Water Peak, cultivate diligently. Self-discipline and self-improvement are what matter. How is your lodging? Are you satisfied?"

"This disciple will remember Elder's teachings. The environment here is excellent, and this disciple is very satisfied."

"That is good. If there is anything you do not understand, ask Siyue more often. Siyue, if you have time, take better care of him. Is there anything else? If not, go cultivate."

Elder Qi's tone was cool and detached, making it impossible to tell whether she was pleased or displeased. She seemed like a completely different person from the warmhearted figure who had spoken up so righteously before.

Shen Siyue even reassured Xiao Chen, "Junior Brother Xiao, do not overthink it. Master is like this with everyone. Her temperament is rather cold ordinarily, but she is actually a very good person."

Then, in the blink of an eye, an entire month passed.

Elder Qi had established a rule: any disciple newly joining Azure Water Peak was forbidden from leaving the peak during their first month.

Instead, they had to remain steadily on the mountain, consolidate their cultivation, refine and familiarize themselves anew with their magic tools, and personally copy the Inner Sect Handbook three times before submitting it at the end of the month.

Most of the contents of the Inner Sect Handbook were merely sect rules and etiquette. Only two points were truly important.

First, if an Inner Sect Disciple failed to break through to Foundation Establishment before the age of thirty, they would be sent out by the sect to once again take charge of certain miscellaneous duties.

Xiao Chen had long known about this, and he was not worried about it in the slightest.

The other point was that Inner Sect Disciples could receive a monthly cultivation allowance of five Spirit Stones.

Beyond that, if they wanted better techniques, magic tools, spiritual pills, and the like, they needed to go to the Merit Hall, accept Sect Missions, earn Contribution Points, and exchange them for what they wanted.

Of course, they could also exchange Spirit Stones for Contribution Points, but it would cost twice as much for no reason.

The Merit Hall's rules stated that two Spirit Stones could be exchanged for one Contribution Point, while two Contribution Points could only be exchanged for one Spirit Stone in return.

Unless one was a Family Disciple with backing and money to burn, no one was advised to trade that way. It was a bloodletting loss.

Xiao Chen no longer needed to plant Spirit Fields every day as he had in the past.

Instead, he remained in his own courtyard each day, studying the handbook, refining his magic tools, and reviewing his techniques.

Though it was somewhat quiet without any familiar Inner Sect senior brothers coming to visit him,

he was accustomed to being alone, so his days were still carefree and unrestrained.

Naturally, he had not been idle either. Since Elder Qi had demanded that he consolidate his cultivation and refine his magic tools, he took the chance to familiarize himself thoroughly with every one of them.

Not only did he refine the Golden Light Pearl and the Evergreen Sword, nourishing them with mana every day, he also tried using Azure Wood Spiritual Liquid to repair the Azure Gourd.

Calling it repair was not quite accurate. He simply poured the Azure Wood Spiritual Liquid into the gourd, then infused it with mana and refined it to help it absorb the liquid.

The results of the repair were exceedingly gratifying.

The Azure Gourd had originally required only one strand of mana to activate. Now, after being repaired, it required two strands of mana to summon the Azure Wood Divine General within.

Generally speaking, the amount of mana consumed was basically equivalent to the power of a magic tool.

Normally, a Low-Grade Magic Item required only one strand of mana to activate, a Mid-Grade Magic Tool required three strands of mana, and a High-Grade Magic Tool required no fewer than nine strands of mana.

Furthermore, some carefully crafted magic tools, though they had not yet reached the next grade, still required additional mana to activate.

The Azure Gourd's increased mana requirement happened to show that it was recovering its original grade.

Xiao Chen estimated that if he refined another two or three portions of Azure Wood Spiritual Liquid into it, it should be able to recover to the level of a Mid-Grade Magic Tool.

Knock, knock, knock!

Shen Siyue's voice suddenly sounded from outside the gate. "Junior Brother Xiao, are you there?"

Xiao Chen hurriedly opened the door to welcome her. "Senior Sister Shen, you are here."

Yet the moment he opened the door, he saw that Shen Siyue wore a troubled expression, as though she had run into some difficulty.

Sure enough, Shen Siyue said apologetically, "I am truly sorry, Junior Brother Xiao. The Scripture Pavilion still says that the technique suited to your spiritual roots is still being copied."

"Junior Brother can... can make do with his original technique for now."

Her voice grew softer and softer. Fortunately, Xiao Chen was a cultivator and could barely hear her.

Since paying respects to Elder Qi that day, Xiao Chen had met only two people over the past month.

Other than a Chore Disciple responsible for delivering spiritual rice, Shen Siyue was the only one who had come by, visiting three times in total.

The first time, she had brought him two pots of spiritual flowers, saying that placing them in the courtyard would gather a little spiritual energy and aid cultivation. She had also said that she would immediately help him collect a new cultivation technique.

The second time, she had come to apologize, saying she had failed to obtain the new cultivation technique in time and asking Xiao Chen to wait a few more days.

The third time was now, and there was still no new technique.

Shen Siyue was clearly both furious and ashamed about this. Her face flushed red as she explained, "I am sorry, Junior Brother Xiao. I will go urge them a few more times."

Xiao Chen had already figured it out. He asked directly, "Senior Sister, what is the name of the Elder in charge of the sect's Scripture Pavilion? Does he have any connection with the Jiang Family?"

Shen Siyue hesitated for a moment. "The Scripture Pavilion is overseen by Elder Li. As for the relationships among the Elders... I do not know either."

The matter was not complicated. In order to improve their disciples' Cultivation Speed, the sect had stipulated that Inner Sect Disciples could receive, free of charge from the Scripture Pavilion, a Mysterious-grade technique suited to their spiritual roots.

However, there was no detailed rule stating how many days this technique had to be copied within.

After dragging things out for a full month, coupled with Shen Siyue's hesitation, Xiao Chen could have guessed with his butt that someone was obstructing things behind the scenes—and there was a ninety-nine percent chance it was the Jiang Family.

"Senior Sister Shen, let us forget about this. If there is no technique, then there is no technique. My original technique is quite good. Even if you gave me a new one, I would be reluctant to switch."

Xiao Chen was telling the truth. A Yellow-grade Technique could also be cultivated to Foundation Establishment, so Mysterious-grade techniques were fucking useless to him.

His current Yang Qi Breathing Technique was stronger than any Mysterious-grade technique to him, and its effects suited him perfectly.

If the Yang Qi Breathing Technique had not reduced Breakthrough Difficulty, with that effect further magnified tenfold by Hextech, he could never have broken through to Late-Stage Qi Refining so quickly.

The Jiang Family wanted to hold up his technique, but they had miscalculated.

However, Shen Siyue misunderstood what he meant. "Junior Brother Xiao, I am sorry. Master told me to take care of you, I..."

"Wait!" Xiao Chen hurriedly interrupted her. "Senior Sister Shen, I am telling the truth. I truly do not care whether there is a new technique. I do not lack one."

Shen Siyue still blamed herself. "Junior Brother, I know..."

Xiao Chen interrupted her again. "Senior Sister Shen, I know Elder Chen. He accepted me as his disciple ahead of time—you should have heard about that. So I do not lack techniques. If there is none, then forget it."

Of course, it could not simply be forgotten. He was only saying this for Shen Siyue's sake. After all, the Jiang Family was targeting him; there was no need to make Shen Siyue suffer on his behalf.

Xiao Chen directly added another entry for the Jiang Family in the little ledger in his heart.

A gentleman could take revenge even ten years later. There would be plenty of chances in the future to settle every score.

He then proactively changed the subject. "By the way, Senior Sister Shen, the month is up. I can go out now, right?"

After becoming an Inner Sect Disciple, one could choose a Hundred Arts of Cultivation they liked. He had been looking forward to that for a long time.

Unlike other disciples, who agonized and hesitated over what to choose, their futures shrouded in confusion,

Xiao Chen's goal was clear, and his thoughts were well ordered.

For the past month, he had only hoped to regain his freedom sooner so he could go learn the Pill Dao.