Foundations of Cultivation

As the sun set, Wang Hong met up with a few people at the city gates. While walking, the three of them reported the intelligence they had gathered to Wang Hong.

Qingxu Immortal City was vast, with four gates: east, west, north, and south. They had entered through the east gate, and it would take three days to walk from the east gate to the west gate. They had only explored a small area that day.

The city wasn't entirely populated by immortals; there were also a large number of mortals. Most of them were relatives or descendants of immortals. Outsiders like them, who were mortals, were few. After all, it was extremely difficult for mortals to traverse the Qingxu Mountain Range with their own strength. It was estimated that most of them had already become food for some fierce beast on the way.

Mortals in the city could help immortals with various chores, such as working in shops or tending to medicinal gardens and spirit fields. They could earn about half a spirit stone per month.

The common currency in the city was spirit stones; gold and silver were useless here. Everything from food, clothing, and shelter in the city required spirit stones. Even the mortals in the city used spirit stones. If one only bought mortal goods, half a spirit stone could buy a large pile.

Wang Hong took out a spirit stone from his embrace, holding it in his hand and playing with it carefully. He hadn't dared to take out the spirit stones he had obtained in the city to look at them more closely.

Seeing the spirit stone in Wang Hong's hand, the three men's eyes lit up. They thought, The General is truly remarkable; he obtained such a rare item as spirit stones just after entering the city.

Wang Hong tossed the spirit stone in his hand to the three of them for viewing. The three marveled at it, thinking that in the mortal world, this item would definitely be considered a top-grade gemstone, priceless.

The four of them walked for more than ten li, arriving at a small hillside. Several tents were erected on the hillside, and a small team armed with spears patrolled the surroundings.

Upon seeing Wang Hong, several people saluted him. Wang Hong waved his hand, telling them to call the ten-man squad leaders to his tent for a meeting.

This was their temporary encampment. Since the situation was unclear before, Wang Hong had led a few people to scout the city first.

In a relatively spacious tent, Wang Hong sat in the center, with ten people standing below him.

"Zhao Ning, tell everyone about the information you gathered in the city today."

One of the three people who had entered the city that day stepped forward and explained in detail all the information they had gathered.

Seeing that everyone had digested the information, Wang Hong spoke, "You have all followed me through hardships and near-death experiences, and we even lost many brothers along the way. Now that we have finally arrived at the immortal city, I still want to ask again: will you continue to follow me, or do you wish to find your own way?"

The crowd quickly replied, "We swear to follow the General to the death."

Wang Hong waved his hand to stop them, saying, "You don't need to answer me yet. I am no longer a general of the empire. Now that we have just arrived at the immortal city, I am not much stronger than you. Opportunities are equal for everyone. Perhaps you yourselves can achieve success here and forge your own path. This is entirely possible."

"I hope you will consider this carefully, as it is a matter of great importance concerning your destiny. If you wish to leave, I will never stop you; let's part on good terms. Once you decide to follow me, you are not allowed to be indecisive anymore."

"You all go down and relay my exact words to all the soldiers. Think about it carefully for a day, and give me your answer tomorrow."

After everyone left with various expressions on their faces, Wang Hong took out a copy of the Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation and began to read it seriously.

It turned out that the immortals in the eyes of mortals, more accurately speaking, should be called cultivators. They were still far from being true immortals.

They were all mortals who, through cultivation, gradually shed the impure and retained the pure, transforming from mortals into immortals. Therefore, cultivators could also be called cultivation practitioners.

Cultivation progressed from shallow to deep and could be divided into several major realms. These were: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation. It was said that there were many more realms after these, but the specifics were unknown to ordinary people.

Each major realm was further divided into ten minor realms, ranging from the first to the tenth level. For example, the first to third levels of the Qi Refining stage were considered early-stage Qi Refining, the fourth to sixth levels were mid-stage Qi Refining, the seventh to ninth levels were late-stage Qi Refining, and the tenth level was Grand Perfection Qi Refining, also known as peak Qi Refining.

The lifespan of those in the Qi Refining stage was similar to that of mortals, with a maximum lifespan of 120 years. Those in the Foundation Establishment stage could live for 240 years, Golden Core stage for 500 years, Nascent Soul stage for 1,000 years, and Spirit Transformation stage for 2,000 years.

Of course, the above referred to the maximum lifespan. The body could not achieve a perfect state, and injuries were inevitable from fighting with others, leaving hidden wounds. Some drugs or techniques that stimulated potential could also affect lifespan.

Cultivators relied on absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth to cultivate, using this spiritual energy to nourish their primordial spirit and continuously strengthen it.

The divine sense, which could be generated in the Qi Refining stage, was an external manifestation of the primordial spirit's power.

It was said that after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, the primordial spirit could leave the body directly. Without the constraints of the physical body, one could teleport and travel tens of thousands of li in a day.

Wang Hong guessed that the ethereal body he entered into the Mysterious Space each time was likely his primordial spirit.

To absorb the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, cultivators must possess spiritual roots. Spiritual roots were like a bridge between the primordial spirit and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; the primordial spirit could only absorb external spiritual power through the spiritual roots.

Most people did not have spiritual roots and could not cultivate. Even those with spiritual roots had varying degrees of aptitude. Most people only possessed the aptitude of Waste Spiritual Roots (i.e., Five Spiritual Roots).

After reading the introduction to spiritual roots, Wang Hong finally understood his own spiritual root attributes and couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

Back at Qingyang Academy that day, the disk used by the cultivator from the Tai Hao Sword Sect was likely a magical artifact for measuring spiritual roots.

When Wang Hong measured, four colors of light—blue, red, yellow, and black—emitted, which meant Wang Hong possessed four spiritual roots: Wood, Fire, Earth, and Water, similar to Waste Spiritual Roots.

His cultivation aptitude was extremely poor. Without any special opportunities, he would remain in the Qi Refining stage his entire life. No sect would be willing to accept such a disciple and waste resources on him.

His younger brother, Wang Yi, however, was a single spiritual root, the most talented, whom all sects would compete to recruit. He could cultivate directly to the Golden Core stage without any bottlenecks.

The Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation also included much more content, such as spiritual herbs, spirit ores, geography, and so on. Wang Hong spent the entire night in the Mysterious Space and had only read a little more than half of it.

After a night of contemplation, starting the next morning, people began to come to Wang Hong to bid farewell and leave. There were soldiers, squad leaders, and ten-man squad leaders.

Wang Hong did not blame them. After all, the temptation before them was too great. He let them leave with kind words and gave them some supplies.

These were people who had fought alongside him for many years and had made great contributions to him. He couldn't treat them too poorly.

By sunset, out of his original seventy-plus men, only forty-five remained.

"Are there any others who wish to leave? You still have the chance to choose now."

Silence fell below; only the sound of everyone's breathing could be heard. After waiting for a moment, Wang Hong spoke again, "Good! Good! Good! Since you brothers trust me and are willing to follow me, I, Wang Hong, will never treat you unfairly!"

"We swear to follow the General to the death!"

Wang Hong divided the remaining people into five small teams, with each team consisting of a squad leader and eight soldiers, totaling nine people.

He ordered them to be led by their respective squad leaders and to continue practicing their battle formations daily as before. They could also hunt fierce beasts nearby to familiarize themselves with the battle formations and, incidentally, solve their food problem. People cannot be too idle; if they are idle for too long, their spirits will become lax. Wang Hong pondered what he should find for them to do.

For the time being, they could only set up camp here. With so many people, accommodation alone would cost a considerable amount of spirit stones.

Wang Hong returned to his tent and dived into the Mysterious Space.

"Ah! Where are my spirit stones?" Wang Hong's mournful cry echoed in the Mysterious Space. He had casually thrown the spirit stones he had obtained that day into the Mysterious Space. Now, not even a single spirit stone could be seen.

"This is so strange. I distinctly remember putting the spirit stones in this spot. How did they all disappear?"

Wang Hong dug through all the soil in that area and then searched the Mysterious Space again, but he couldn't find even a trace of the spirit stones.

"Could it be that this space eats spirit stones? I'll find a few more tomorrow to test it."

Currently, the medicinal herbs growing in the Mysterious Space were the oldest nearly two hundred years old. There were also many herbs that were several decades or a hundred years old.

Since it wasn't convenient in the military, a lot of spirit grains had accumulated in the Mysterious Space without being consumed. These could all be exchanged for spirit stones, but he would have to take it slow.

After all, wealth could stir people's hearts, and he figured this wouldn't be any different in the cultivation world. He was currently weak and alone, and dared not be too ostentatious.