Cultivation Method (Part Two)

With the element of surprise, it would not have been difficult for Lu Qingshan to take down two low-level Magic Cultivators while they were off guard.

But the prerequisite was having a suitable weapon. Even if it was not suitable, he at least needed something sharp.

Taking down two cultivators bare-handed in an instant? What did they take him for, Tyson?

And there lay the problem. Lu Qingshan's current situation was that not only was he unarmed, but judging from the icy sensation coming from every inch of his skin, he also seemed to be stark naked.

A true blank-slate start.

Setting everything else aside, this Corpse-Strengthening Fluid was fucking cold.

Lu Qingshan grumbled inwardly.

Under these circumstances, Lu Qingshan needed to carefully plan how he would make his move.

Obviously, Lu Qingshan could not think for too long. He had to act as soon as possible.

Qi Refining cultivators had yet to master Spiritual Sense Perception, so Lu Qingshan could still pretend to be a corpse for the time being. However, he had no way to conceal his heartbeat or body temperature.

The moment either of those Magic Cultivators touched his body, no matter how off guard they were, they would discover that Lu Qingshan was no longer a dead corpse.

Song Qing and Xie Shi began moving, carrying the corpses from the Corpse Pool out of the cave one by one.

Neither of them realized that within the Corpse Pool, an old schemer was eyeing them like a tiger watching its prey.

The two did not carry corpses at the same time. Their trips were staggered, so there would always be a stretch of time when only one person remained in the cave containing the Corpse Pool.

Lu Qingshan understood that this was his chance to strike.

Breaking them one by one would always be easier than fighting one against two.

The first target Lu Qingshan planned to deal with was Song Qing.

The reason was simple.

Under the effects of the Heavenly Eye Technique, Lu Qingshan had noticed Song Qing's profession: Rank One Talisman Master (Secondary).

There were a hundred arts in cultivation. In "Nine Heavens," aside from the six combat-oriented main professions, there was also an extremely rich array of secondary professions.

Alchemists, formation masters, artifact refiners, and the like—Talisman Masters were one of those many secondary professions.

Talisman Masters could inscribe spells onto Spirit Talismans. When needed, they could rapidly unleash Spirit Talismans and instantly cast all manner of spells against their enemies.

In his previous life, some wealthy players had leveled by buying enormous piles of high-level Spirit Talismans from Talisman Masters, then relying on them to kill monsters far above their level.

As long as they threw money at it, their leveling speed was lightning-fast.

Therefore, if Song Qing had stockpiled enough talismans, this Qi Refining Second Layer cultivator could pose an even greater threat than Xie Shi, who was at the Qi Refining Third Layer.

It was especially important to eliminate this unknown factor before he could react.

Lu Qingshan ran through his plan of attack several times in his mind. Once he confirmed that it had a high chance of succeeding, he calmed himself and waited for the right moment.

As the two men carried corpse after corpse out of the Corpse Pool, the bodies they were moving gradually drew closer to the area where Lu Qingshan lay.

Song Qing bent down and laboriously lifted a corpse beside Lu Qingshan out of the Corpse Pool.

At that moment, Xie Shi had only just left the cave with a corpse.

Although Lu Qingshan did not know where they were taking the corpses, based on his earlier observations, Xie Shi would not return for at least another thirty breaths.

Now!

Without hesitation, two pale hands reached out of the black pool like ghosts, seized Song Qing by the head, and dragged him into the water.

"Get down!"

Song Qing had been bent over, moving corpses from the pool. Given his posture and utter lack of preparation, Lu Qingshan's sudden attack sent him headfirst into the Corpse Pool.

Qi Refining cultivators had not yet escaped the bounds of mortals. They could not even fast.

When a mortal suddenly fell into water and lost access to air, their first instinct was naturally to struggle and thrash their head above the surface, even though a brief lack of air would not actually do much.

Song Qing was no exception.

Although he quickly realized he had been attacked and tried to open the Storage Bag hanging at his waist to retrieve a Spirit Talisman and counterattack—

It was already too late.

Ten years of gaming experience, countless battles, and who knew how many deaths had given Lu Qingshan combat experience so vast that others could scarcely imagine it.

After dragging Song Qing into the pool, Lu Qingshan quickly found the right position to exert force. His hands pressed against both sides of Song Qing's head, then twisted sharply clockwise. With a crisp crack, Lu Qingshan snapped Song Qing's neck.

Swift and decisive!

A row of data appeared before Lu Qingshan's eyes:

"You launched a lethal attack and dealt 11 damage to Song Qing (Lv2)!"

"Target dead. You killed Song Qing (Lv2). Cross-tier kill achieved. Experience reward obtained: 20 (base experience) x2 (multiplier) = 40 experience!"

With Lu Qingshan's blank-slate attributes, killing Song Qing, who had 11 Health, would ordinarily have taken quite some time.

But Lu Qingshan struck with ruthless precision, going directly for Song Qing's vital point. Damage dealt by a lethal attack equaled the target's maximum Health.

Thus, Song Qing fell instantly, without even having time to cry out for help.

And as a level-zero mortal without a rank, Lu Qingshan had killed a Qi Refining Second Layer cultivator across ranks, earning a substantial experience reward.

The experience reward system in "Nine Heavens" worked like this: first, the base experience multiplier was 1. Then, every time one killed an opponent one rank higher, the experience multiplier doubled, stacking infinitely.

Though Song Qing's Qi Refining rank was the lowest among cultivators, Lu Qingshan was unfortunately only a mortal. Thus, killing Song Qing still counted as a cross-tier kill, making the experience multiplier x2.

If he killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator right now, that would mean killing an enemy two ranks above him. The experience multiplier would become 1 x 2 x 2 = 4, and so on.

A moment later.

Xie Shi finished his task and returned to the cave containing the Corpse Pool.

The moment he entered, Xie Shi saw Song Qing lying rigidly at the entrance of the cave, completely motionless.

"Song Qing?! What happened?!"

Xie Shi's heart jolted. He immediately crouched down to inspect Song Qing's condition and see whether there were any signs of life left.

At the same time, Xie Shi remained highly alert, his gaze sweeping in every direction as he carefully listened for movement nearby.

His junior brother had most likely been attacked. He just did not know how the enemy had slipped past their master's formation and infiltrated this place.

Xie Shi was extremely cautious.

Suddenly, an icy sensation touched his neck.

Xie Shi's eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at the short blade pressed tightly against his throat.

It was an old trick, but an effective one. People were always less guarded around the dead.

Lu Qingshan kept the short blade pressed against Xie Shi's neck as he slowly rose from the ground.

After killing Song Qing, Lu Qingshan had swiftly stripped off Song Qing's clothes and put them on himself.

He then threw Song Qing into the Corpse Pool to hide the body, before quickly flopping down at the cave entrance with his back facing up, concealing his face and creating the illusion that Song Qing had been attacked at the mouth of the cave.

In truth, Lu Qingshan's disguise was crude and riddled with flaws.

First, pressed for time, Lu Qingshan had only stripped Song Qing's outer robe and thrown it loosely over himself.

If Xie Shi had looked carefully, he could easily have noticed that Lu Qingshan's clothing was wrong.

Furthermore, Lu Qingshan's build differed considerably from Song Qing's.

Song Qing was small and thin. Lu Qingshan was just as gaunt, but he stood seven chi and eight cun tall—about 1.8 meters—far taller than Song Qing.

Unfortunately, Xie Shi was not a particularly observant man.

"Who are you? Where is my junior brother?" Xie Shi's teeth trembled slightly.

"Hand over the Qi Guiding Technique." Lu Qingshan held the short blade he had searched from Song Qing's body and slowly rubbed it back and forth against Xie Shi's throat.

The chill from the blade made Xie Shi's face twitch involuntarily.

As if realizing something, Xie Shi gritted his teeth and said word by word, "You're not a cultivator. You're just a mortal!"

The Qi Guiding Technique was merely the most basic, most common cultivation method for the Qi Refining stage. If the man before him wanted such a thing, he could not possibly be a cultivator.

"So what if I'm a mortal? Didn't you still fall into the hands of this mortal?" Lu Qingshan's tone was calm.

"How did you get past the Mist Array?" Xie Shi could not understand it. How could a mortal possibly bypass the Mist Array and enter their Corpse Refining Cave without making a sound?

Clearly, Xie Shi could never have imagined that the man before him had once been a dead corpse in the Corpse Pool.

Lu Qingshan did not answer Xie Shi's question. Instead, he applied a little force with his wrist.

The sharp short blade easily cut through the surface of Xie Shi's neck, and several beads of blood seeped out.

"Don't test my patience." Lu Qingshan's voice was murderous.

Xie Shi's eyes shifted slightly. His voice trembling, he begged, "Stop, stop. I'll give you the cultivation method right now."

Xie Shi placed his right hand on the Storage Bag hanging at his waist.

Lu Qingshan's eyes remained fixed on Xie Shi's right hand.

"Even an instant-cast Spirit Talisman needs a brief moment of Spirit Power infusion to activate. If what you take out is a Spirit Talisman, I'll slit your throat with the short blade in my hand immediately.

"I don't know whether I'll die, but you definitely will. I advise you not to make such a dangerous attempt."

Lu Qingshan's voice was cold and grim.

Xie Shi's expression changed slightly. He had not expected Lu Qingshan to know cultivators' methods so well.

Helplessly, Xie Shi could only obediently take a Jade Slip from his Storage Bag.

Only cultivators could use Storage Bags. That was why Lu Qingshan had not immediately killed Xie Shi, but had instead risked taking him hostage and forcing him to hand over the cultivation method.

Lu Qingshan did not know how large this cave system was, nor how many people were inside.

Only by obtaining a cultivation method and becoming a cultivator would Lu Qingshan have the confidence to escape from this cave.

In a normal game opening, the first thing every newcomer did after entering the game was seek out a cultivation method, practice it to become a cultivator, and then choose a main profession.

This process was not particularly difficult, because it belonged to the beginner quest stage. The focus was on guiding players to become familiar with the game, not making things difficult for them.

Unfortunately, Lu Qingshan's situation was clearly not a normal start. It was more like the opening of a random scenario, so obtaining a cultivation method had become quite a difficult trial.

Fortunately, this small trial could not stump Lu Qingshan, someone who had risen above hundreds of millions of players.

Lu Qingshan took the cultivation method Jade Slip from Xie Shi's hand.

"Qi Refining cultivation method Qi Guiding Technique detected. Spend 10 experience to learn it?"

Qi Guiding Technique (Qi Refining)

Rank: Mortal Rank

Learning Requirement: None

Description: Exhale three inches and draw breath to the heels; seal it dense and unbroken like a bottle. Let the flow of qi surge through the organs, burst open the pores, and man communes with Heaven. A basic Qi Refining cultivation method. Maximum level: 10.

Cultivation Method Effect: For every level increased, maximum Spirit Power increases by 10. At maximum level, gain special effect: Maximum Spirit Power +50.

Note: Though common as dirt, it is quite practical.

In "Nine Heavens," cultivation methods were divided into four ranks. From lowest to highest, they were: Mortal Rank, Spirit Rank, Heaven Rank, and Dao Rank.

The higher the rank of the cultivation method, the more powerful its attached effects naturally were.

The Qi Guiding Technique was merely the lowest Mortal Rank cultivation method, but under the current circumstances, Lu Qingshan had no way to seek out a higher-ranked method. The Qi Guiding Technique was his only choice.

Fortunately, this was only a Qi Refining cultivation method for the beginner stage, so its impact was not significant.

As long as he could successfully escape his current crisis, Lu Qingshan was confident that with his understanding of "Nine Heavens," the cultivation methods he practiced at every rank from then on would never be inferior.