Cultivation Practice

Wang Hong arrived at the large square again, this time with a large sack on his back filled with spirit grains.

These were also about half a year's yield from his Mysterious Space. After finding a merchant who bought spirit grains and some haggling, he finally sold them for one hundred and thirty-five Spirit Stones.

He found the same bookstall where he had bought books last time, intending to purchase a cultivation method. Wang Hong possessed spiritual roots of Wood, Fire, Earth, and Water, so he could cultivate methods for any of these four elements.

Each of the four elemental cultivation methods had its own characteristics, with no inherent superiority or inferiority. For example, Wood was known for its vitality, Fire for its ferocity, Metal for its killing intent, Earth for its solidity, and Water for its gentle, continuous flow.

"Come and see, come and see! Every book is a treasure. Don't miss this great opportunity!"

From a distance, he could hear the tall, thin man's shouting.

"Yo! Brother, long time no see, I've missed you dearly. What book are you looking to buy today?"

As soon as he approached the bookstall, the tall, thin man greeted him. Wang Hong scoffed inwardly, thinking that it had only been two days since he bought the "Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation" here, and now it was "long time no see" and "missed you dearly." It was more likely he missed the Spirit Stones.

"No need to miss me. If you could give me a 20% discount, that would show more sincerity," Wang Hong said, seizing the opportunity with a smile.

After careful consideration, Wang Hong felt that he still preferred Wood cultivation methods the most. Since each had its own advantages and disadvantages, he decided to choose what he liked.

"Oh dear, brother, I only earn a meager living. Feel free to inquire, my books are already the lowest price in the entire city," the tall, thin man lamented.

Wang Hong began sifting through the books and found several Wood cultivation methods: "Yi Mu Jue," "Green Wood Longevity Technique," and "Evergreen Technique."

After comparing them, Wang Hong finally chose "Wood Element Technique." This cultivation method was the most widely circulated, with no particular strengths or weaknesses. It was relatively easy to get started with, making it the most suitable for a rogue cultivator like Wang Hong, who had no guidance and had to figure everything out on his own.

Wang Hong also selected a copy of the "Spirit Medicine Illustrated Record." Although the "Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation" also contained information about spirit herbs, it was too simplistic and didn't include many medicinal herbs. The "Spirit Medicine Illustrated Record" provided detailed descriptions of over a thousand medicinal herbs, including their characteristics and effects.

His Mysterious Space could grow spirit herbs, and he would definitely be dealing with various spirit herbs in the future, so it was better to familiarize himself with them in advance.

The tall, thin man spoke with great warmth, but when it came to collecting Spirit Stones, he was not the least bit lenient. He charged him forty Spirit Stones for the two books, not even a half-stone less.

Having bought the cultivation methods, Wang Hong didn't linger in the city and hurried back to his encampment. He summoned the five squad leaders and instructed them to enter the city in batches to familiarize themselves with the city's environment, especially the marketplace, and to learn about the items and their prices there.

He also gave each of them two Spirit Stones to buy some supplies, especially clothing. After months of fighting, the dozens of people were all dressed in tatters, looking like beggars.

Wang Hong instructed them not to disturb him for the next few days and then entered his Mysterious Space. He first placed a Spirit Stone on the ground within the space and another on a wooden shelf.

Then, he carefully observed the changes in these two Spirit Stones. After a quarter of an hour, a small corner of the Spirit Stone on the ground disappeared, leaving behind only a bit of powder.

Spirit Stones became currency in the cultivation world because they contained a large amount of spiritual energy that cultivators could refine and absorb. They could also be used for artifact forging, alchemy, and array formations. When the spiritual energy in a Spirit Stone was depleted, only a small amount of powder would remain.

The Spirit Stone on the wooden shelf, however, showed no change, just like before. It seemed the ground was absorbing the spiritual energy.

However, even after absorbing the spiritual energy, the ground showed no visible change. "Perhaps it's because it absorbed too little."

Wang Hong then threw ten Spirit Stones onto the ground, letting them absorb slowly. He then went to read his books.

After a while, all the Spirit Stones disappeared. Wang Hong gritted his teeth and directly scattered fifty Spirit Stones onto the ground.

After all fifty Spirit Stones had also disappeared, Wang Hong carefully sensed the Mysterious Space. This time, he finally made a discovery, and a smile couldn't help but spread across his lips.

As a Xiantian stage expert, Wang Hong's senses were naturally extremely sharp. The Mysterious Space had expanded by a tiny bit.

Wang Hong muttered to himself, thinking that after absorbing over seventy Spirit Stones, it had only expanded this much. He knew that many Qi Condensation stage rogue cultivators couldn't earn that many Spirit Stones in a year.

It seemed that expanding the Mysterious Space was no easy feat. He would take it slow.

Wang Hong emerged from the Mysterious Space only after he had thoroughly mastered the first layer of "Yi Mu Jue."

Facing east, he sat cross-legged in a posture with his five senses directed towards the heavens. He slowly circulated the cultivation method, simultaneously sensing and absorbing the spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

As the cultivation method circulated, his powerful Internal Energy from the Xiantian stage gradually transformed into wisps of green spiritual energy.

After circulating the method for seven cycles, all the Internal Energy in his body vanished. Finally, only a small ball of green gas remained in his Dantian, slowly rotating like a vortex.

Although it was only a small ball, it was hundreds of times more condensed and pure than his previous Internal Energy.

After all his Internal Energy had transformed, he continued to sense and absorb the spiritual energy from heaven and earth. With the small ball of spiritual energy in his Dantian as a foundation, absorbing spiritual energy was now much easier.

He could feel wisps of spiritual energy entering his body through his mouth and nose with each breath, then slowly dissipating, leaving only a meager amount within him to transform into spiritual energy. This was likely due to his poor spiritual root aptitude.

Wang Hong didn't get discouraged and continued to circulate the cultivation method, circulating this meager spiritual energy throughout his body. Each circulation strengthened it a little.

After cultivating for an entire day, another small wisp of spiritual energy appeared in Wang Hong's Dantian, merging into the vortex and slowly rotating.

Sensing the results of his day's cultivation, Wang Hong felt a surge of exhilaration. From now on, he was considered a cultivator. In the future, when he mastered immortal cultivation methods, flying through the sky and burrowing through the earth would be within reach.

In the following days, Wang Hong diligently cultivated in his tent. He discovered that the Dragon Tiger Elixirs he had taken earlier still had some effect on his current cultivation.

So, Wang Hong took a few Dragon Tiger Elixirs every day and ate a spirit rice meal. His cultivation progress was not slow.

One day, Wang Hong harvested over ten plants each of hundred-year-old Ginseng, Purple Ganoderma, and White Jade Ganoderma from his Mysterious Space. He wrapped them into over a dozen small packets.

Wang Hong entered Qingxu City alone and visited more than ten spirit herb shops, selling one small packet at each store. Over a hundred Spirit Stones was not a large amount for these major pharmacies, so they wouldn't become greedy.

Hundred-year-old Ginseng and Ganoderma could only sell for twenty to thirty Spirit Stones, while hundred-year-old White Jade Ganoderma, considered a very good healing medicine even in the cultivation world, could fetch eighty to ninety Spirit Stones.

After selling everything, he obtained over two thousand Spirit Stones in total. Unfortunately, he couldn't sell them like this again in a short period, as it would attract too much attention, which would be problematic.

Wang Hong then went to various stalls in the square and casually bought some spirit herbs. He returned to his tent and harvested various medicinal herbs from his Mysterious Space, mixing them together.

He called the five squad leaders together: "Zhao Ning, Xu Lun, Zhang Chunfeng, Luo Zhongjie, Wen Lan, how familiar are your five squads with that marketplace? Are you already familiar with the various medicinal herbs?"

"During this period, we have been frequenting that marketplace every day, and coupled with studying the 'Spirit Medicine Illustrated Record' passed down by the General, we are familiar with the identification of common spirit herbs and their prices."

Wang Hong then tested them with a few more spirit herbs and found that they had mastered the identification of most spirit herbs. Although there were still some areas needing improvement, they could be addressed slowly later on.

Afterward, Wang Hong handed a large bag of spirit herbs and one hundred Spirit Stones to the five of them. He instructed them to take turns setting up stalls in the marketplace starting tomorrow, selling and acquiring goods. The one hundred Spirit Stones would serve as their initial capital, managed jointly by the five of them.

Actually, his main goal was to sell the medicinal herbs in his Mysterious Space and convert them into Spirit Stones.

Since the land in his Mysterious Space could be upgraded and enlarged by absorbing Spirit Stones, he had to find ways to earn more Spirit Stones and increase the area of his Mysterious Space.

The current plot of land was simply too small; he couldn't grow much on it. In the cultivation world, spiritual herbs took decades or even centuries to grow, and a small area made it difficult to manage.

Moreover, what farmer would ever complain about having too much land? Of course, the more the better.

After reading the Spirit Medicine Illustrated Record, he gained some understanding of spiritual medicines. Some were merely ordinary plants from the mortal world that became spiritual medicines by growing in places rich with spiritual energy and absorbing it.

Several of the herbs in his Mysterious Space, such as Ginseng, Purple Ganoderma, and Solomon's Seal, were like this. There were also some spiritual medicines unique to the cultivation world, which he did not yet have in his Mysterious Space.

Spiritual medicines were further divided into several grades, with the grade depending on the type of spiritual medicine and its growth year.

Some varieties of spiritual medicine could reach the second grade after only a few decades of growth, while others only reached the first grade after a hundred years.

As long as the growth year was long enough, even the most ordinary spiritual medicine could become a high-grade spiritual medicine. For instance, a weed, if grown for ten thousand years in a place rich with spiritual energy, could also become an immortal herb. Of course, ten-thousand-year-old spiritual medicine was merely a legend; no one in the cultivation world had yet had the fortune to witness it. Even a thousand-year-old spiritual medicine would be enough to make Nascent Soul cultivators fight tooth and nail.

Wang Hong now planned to sell some of the spiritual medicines in his Mysterious Space and plant some spiritual medicines of slightly higher grade. The Ginseng currently in his Mysterious Space needed to grow for a hundred years to be worth any Spirit Stones, which was too inefficient.