Choosing Cultivation Methods

The library was located in the very center of the academy and had five floors. The first three floors were open to all students for free, while the fourth and fifth floors required a fee for borrowing books.

Wang Hong wandered around the first floor, almost getting lost among the rows of bookshelves.

Everything he saw were Confucian classics, books on Legalist governance, Mohist mechanics, military strategy, philosophical schools, and poetry.

He didn't see a single book on martial arts. He figured this floor was dedicated to scholarly works, so Wang Hong went up the stairs to the second floor.

As expected, the second floor was entirely filled with martial arts books. All he could see were titles like "Iron Sand Palm," "Thirteen Sword Strikes of Life-Taking," "Three Little Tips for Practicing Lightness Skill," "The Story I Must Tell with Big Saber Song San," and "Eight Trigram Palm of the Swimming Dragon."

Wang Hong was dazzled by the sheer volume of martial arts manuals before him. He first took a quick tour of the entire second floor to get a general idea.

Then, he found some techniques suitable for his current level and began flipping through them, comparing them one by one.

"Cloud Smoke Swordplay" had ethereal and unpredictable sword movements, making it difficult to grasp. It had one hundred and twenty moves, encompassing nine thousand six hundred variations.

"Dragon Image Fist" was powerful and heavy. Upon mastery, it could grant the strength of a dragon and an image.

"Water-Cutting Saber Technique" was about drawing the saber to cut water – purely about speed! It was a fast saber cultivation method.

"Thunderclap Spear" was as fast as thunder and as agile as a dragon, making it impossible to defend against.

However, Wang Hong searched the entire second floor and couldn't find a single internal cultivation technique. He figured he'd have to look on the higher floors.

He climbed to the third floor, which also contained only scholarly books. He then ascended to the fourth floor and, as expected, all the books housed there were internal cultivation techniques.

The fourth floor only had a few sparse bookshelves with a scattering of books, totaling no more than a hundred or so.

"Bright Illumination Scripture," "Purple Cloud Cultivation Method," "Yin-Yang Meridian Cultivation Method," "Six Extremes Cultivation Method," "Dharma Strict Heart Sutra," "Muscle-Tendon Cleansing Cultivation Method"...

Wang Hong casually picked up a book, and the first thing that caught his eye were the large red characters on the title page: "Borrowing requires eight taels of silver!"

"Why don't they just rob people? Even bandits aren't this ruthless."

He flipped through other books and found that the required silver ranged from one to ten taels. Zhang Tiemao's expenditure of three taels of silver to learn internal cultivation was likely the cheapest option.

"Never mind, I'll just read it here. It's still free to read within the library."

Wang Hong began to read each book carefully and finally settled on the "Muscle-Tendon Cleansing Cultivation Method." He felt this technique had a sense of continuity with the "Basic Eight Forms of Cultivation" he had practiced before.

However, borrowing "Muscle-Tendon Cleansing Cultivation Method" cost nine taels of silver, and Wang Hong's money had been mostly spent over the past six months.

"Practicing martial arts is truly expensive. It costs me three taels of silver every month now, and it will probably cost even more in the future. I need to find time to go to Qingyang City."

When Wang Hong left the library, he had only borrowed "Thunderclap Spear" and "Spear Technique Basics."

In Qingyang City, a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy with an ordinary appearance, dressed in a blue robe, had the words "Qingyang Academy" embroidered in gold thread on his left chest, drawing envious glances from passersby. However, the large sack slung over his shoulder detracted significantly from his appearance.

Wang Hong carried the large sack into a pharmacy called "World-Saving Hall." Wang Hong had visited this pharmacy half a year ago, and their prices were quite reasonable.

"Shopkeeper, do you buy medicinal herbs?"

"Yes! Of course, we do. Please have a seat, young man." The shopkeeper, a seemingly kind old man, ordered someone to serve Wang Hong tea and then called two young assistants to find a bamboo mat and spread it on the ground before emptying the sack's contents onto it.

Amidst a pile of various herbs, two small wooden boxes rolled out. The assistants opened the boxes, revealing one filled to the brim with ginseng and the other half-filled with Purple Ganoderma.

"This... so much?" The two assistants were so astonished their mouths could have fit an egg. They had never seen so much ginseng and Purple Ganoderma sold at once.

It was rare for ordinary herb gatherers to find even one of these precious medicinal materials in ten days to half a month. They estimated there were over a hundred ginseng plants and forty to fifty Purple Ganoderma plants.

The old shopkeeper also crouched down and began to examine each plant carefully. It took him over half an hour to sort through all the medicinal materials.

"Young man, there are a total of one hundred and thirty-seven ginseng plants. Two are twelve years old, and the rest are between three and six years old."

"Fifty-three Purple Ganoderma plants, including three that are ten years old, five that are nine years old, and ten that are eight years old..."

"Forty-two Solomon's Seal plants, three of which are ten years old, nine are nine years old..."

"A total of one hundred and eighty taels of silver. How does that sound?"

Wang Hong waved his small hand and nodded in agreement, though he was inwardly ecstatic. Wang Hong had never seen so much silver before.

Moreover, these medicinal materials were only what he had gathered half a year ago when clearing out the Mysterious Space. Now, the Mysterious Space had a large patch of ginseng and Purple Ganoderma that were over twenty years old.

"It seems I need to go back and pull out those worthless herbs. This large sack only sold for one tael of silver, not even as valuable as a single hair plucked from the ginseng," Wang Hong mused.

"Young man, thank you for your patronage. I'll give you this bottle of White Jade Powder. I hope you'll continue to sell your harvests to our shop in the future." The old shopkeeper handed Wang Hong a small porcelain bottle.

Wang Hong quickly accepted it. This White Jade Powder could heal muscles and mend bones, making it an essential medicine for martial artists.

"Thank you, old shopkeeper. These herbs were gathered by me and a few friends after many trips into the mountains. Of course, I'll bring any future harvests here."

Wang Hong left the World-Saving Hall, the more than one hundred taels of silver in his arms feeling heavy. He found a secluded spot and threw one hundred taels into the Mysterious Space.

At Zhang's Blacksmith Shop on the west side of the city, a bare-chested middle-aged man was sweating profusely as he hammered a piece of iron.

"Master! I want to forge a weapon. Can I order one here?"

The middle-aged man dropped his hammer and threw the iron piece into the furnace, saying, "Follow me!" He turned and walked towards the backyard.

Upon reaching the backyard, Wang Hong saw rows upon rows of weapon racks filled with all sorts of weapons. He saw over a dozen styles of long spears alone.

"Take a look first, see what style you like, and then I'll custom-make it for you."

Wang Hong went over and tried each type of spear. The heavy iron spear weighed over a hundred pounds, and Wang Hong could barely lift it with his current strength. The ones with white wooden shafts felt too light.

He finally chose a type of iron spear with a relatively slender shaft, adorned with cloud patterns for both aesthetics and grip. The spearhead was willow-leaf shaped, eight inches long, and the red tassel was a foot long. Its weight should have been around thirty to forty pounds.

Blacksmith Zhang saw that Wang Hong had made his selection, so he came over to measure Wang Hong's height, arm length, and other data.

Then Wang Hong chose a Hundred Refinements Steel Saber from the weapon rack, costing twenty-five taels of silver. Since the spear would still take two months to forge, he also bought the spear he had just selected for practice, costing forty taels of silver. He also paid a deposit of ten taels. A good portion of the silver he had just acquired was already spent before it could even warm in his hands.

Upon returning to the academy, he immediately went to borrow the Muscle-Tendon Cleansing Cultivation Method.

Back in his small room, he took a few secret manuals and entered the Mysterious Space. Seeing the vibrant medicinal herbs in the space, Wang Hong made a firm decision and pulled them all out.

He only left the Ginseng, Purple Ganoderma, Solomon's Seal, and five Fo-ti plants. Folk legends say that eating Fo-ti that has taken human form after a thousand years can lead to immortality. Wang Hong specifically left a few plants, wanting to see what they would grow into.

He also left a few common detoxification and healing herbs. He hadn't found better ones yet, so he decided to keep a few in case of emergencies.

As for the raspberry plant, Wang Hong couldn't bear to pull it out either. He and his younger brother had a habit of snacking, so he decided to keep it as a treat.

The rice and wheat in the Mysterious Space were growing more and more abnormally. They used to mature every five days, but now it took eight days, and the grains were as thick as a finger.

He harvested several hundred jin in total, all of which were in the Mysterious Space. He didn't dare to sell them, as they were too different from ordinary rice and wheat.

It was also inconvenient to cook and eat them in the academy's communal dormitory, and he didn't know how they would taste when cooked.

Regardless, their appearance was exceptional – each grain was as large as a finger and golden yellow. They felt heavy in his hand.

After peeling off the outer shell, the inner grains of rice were crystal clear and white, emitting a faint aroma of rice. He threw a raw grain into his mouth and chewed it slowly, filling his mouth with fragrance.

Wang Hong couldn't wait to find a place to secretly cook some and eat them.