Exchange

After one successful trade, Li Shiming and Fan Yiyang became much more cordial with each other.

"Fellow Daoist, you're heading to the Central Capital to attend next year's Immortal Ascension Gathering, aren't you?" Fan Yiyang asked after taking a sip of tea.

Li Shiming truly had not expected the first piece of news Fan Yiyang brought up to be this.

He did not deny it either, and smiled as he refilled Fan Yiyang's tea.

"As long as your background is clean, with your age and Qi Refining Second Level cultivation, joining a sect through the Immortal Ascension Gathering won't be difficult. However, you must clearly explain the origin of the art you cultivate, and it has to withstand the sect's investigation!" Fan Yiyang thought his judgment was correct, and continued speaking.

Li Shiming thought it over. His art, the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art, had come from the Mighty Escort Agency, and he had obtained it in his own family's garden at that. There was no need to worry on that front.

Even if the sect had some method of Heart Inquiry, he could calmly admit where he had obtained the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art.

"I imagine your first choice is to join the Sky Ocean Sect. That's also the choice of the vast majority of people with spiritual roots. As for what your spiritual root is like, it will still need to be tested at the Immortal Ascension Gathering. But since you can cultivate to the Qi Refining Second Level at your age, I imagine your spiritual root won't be poor!" As Fan Yiyang spoke to this point, he seemed to think of something and could not help falling into a slight daze.

This was the first time Li Shiming had heard of spiritual roots. Previously, all he had known was that cultivating immortality required talent. This talent, he supposed, was the spiritual root.

"How is the quality of a spiritual root judged? Besides testing spiritual roots at the Immortal Ascension Gathering, are there any other methods?" he asked at once.

"Of course, the fewer spiritual roots, the better. A Single Spiritual Root and a Dual Spiritual Root are both talents, but they make up an extremely small proportion of those with spiritual roots. After that are Triple Spiritual Roots; these cultivators are the main force of the Cultivation World. Of course, even more common are Quadruple Spiritual Roots and Quintuple Spiritual Roots. The vast majority of discovered spiritual roots are one of these two types.

"Quadruple Spiritual Roots are still somewhat all right and still have a sliver of opportunity. Quintuple Spiritual Roots are useless spiritual roots; even if one cultivates for an entire lifetime, they almost always remain stuck at Early-Stage Qi Refining.

"As for testing spiritual roots, there is actually another method. If, when you cultivate a Fire-Attribute Art, you can sense Fire-Attribute Spiritual Qi, then you have a Fire Spiritual Root.

"It's just that arts can't be tried casually, especially when laying the foundation. One careless mistake could destroy your foundation." Fan Yiyang introduced it in a solemn voice.

Only now did Li Shiming realize just how lucky he was.

He had only had one art, the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art, and had also obtained the Spirit Gathering Disk, allowing him to enter the threshold and successfully condense a Spiritual Qi Vortex.

If he had known early on that arts could not be practiced casually, he might not necessarily have had the courage to cultivate the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art.

In addition, he guessed that he had at least three spiritual roots, because when he cultivated the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art, he had sensed three kinds of spiritual qi.

"If you enter the Sky Ocean Sect, Fellow Daoist, you'll have to look after me a little when the time comes. My life is just like this!" Fan Yiyang said with a soft sigh.

"Fellow Daoist is a disciple of the Sky Ocean Sect?" Only then did Li Shiming learn Fan Yiyang's background.

"I'm only a Servant Disciple, assigned outside to purchase some mundane supplies from the secular world!" Fan Yiyang stated his identity.

Li Shiming did not look down on him for it. A Servant Disciple was still a disciple of the Sky Ocean Sect. Besides, for a Servant Disciple to be sent out on a purchasing mission, he must certainly have some sort of backing.

Purchasing missions were generally lucrative posts. This had been true in both of Li Shiming's lives, and he imagined the Cultivation World would not differ much.

Perhaps Fan Yiyang had gone too long without exchanging with fellow Daoists, or perhaps Li Shiming's age put him at ease. Aside from some particularly Secret Matters, he told Li Shiming the general state of the Cultivation World as he knew it.

Li Shiming also learned the time of next year's Immortal Ascension Gathering. The Immortal Ascension Gathering would be held in early October.

After ending their first exchange, he did not return to the cabin to activate the Spirit Gathering Disk. On one hand, activating the Spirit Gathering Disk was not something that could be done with Spirit Stones alone; he still needed to study how to activate it.

Now that he had Spirit Stones in hand, how to activate the Spirit Gathering Disk was only a matter of time.

On the other hand, he had learned from Fan Yiyang that magical artifacts capable of gathering spiritual qi were all extremely precious.

Of course, he had not directly asked Fan Yiyang about the Spirit Gathering Disk. Instead, he had made roundabout inquiries about how to gather spiritual qi to accelerate cultivation, and learned of various spirit-gathering methods, among which was the Spirit Gathering Disk.

The Spirit Gathering Disk was very expensive, at least for cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage.

After learning this, Li Shiming naturally would not attempt to activate the Spirit Gathering Disk on the Official Ship.

They were on the same deck, and the Official Ship was only separated by wooden boards. It could not possibly block the Spiritual Power Fluctuation caused by the Spirit Gathering Disk.

He would not use the Spirit Gathering Disk to test Fan Yiyang's humanity. Humanity could not withstand testing.

At dusk, he leaned against the railing and gazed into the distance. The canal the Official Ship traveled along had a special name: the Immortal Severing Canal.

It was said that the Immortal Severing Canal had been cleaved open by a Great Power with a sword. When he first heard the name, he had thought it was only a legend.

After sailing for a period of time, he discovered what was special about the Immortal Severing Canal.

The Immortal Severing Canal was a perfectly straight river, unlike normal rivers, which curved according to the terrain.

Looking ahead from where he stood, he could see straight to where it vanished at the horizon. The canal was entirely a straight line.

The fragrance of Spiritual Rice drifted into his nose. It seemed Fan Yiyang was using Spiritual Rice.

Li Shiming smiled. Meeting a cultivator like Fan Yiyang counted as extremely lucky for him.

Though he could not sense Fan Yiyang's strength, he could judge from Fan Yiyang's behavior that his strength was not actually great.

Especially when Fan Yiyang had spoken of Quintuple Spiritual Roots, the gloom in his eyes could not be concealed.

Li Shiming guessed that Fan Yiyang might have Quintuple Spiritual Roots, which was why, despite looking to be in his thirties, he was still only a Servant Disciple.

Judging age by a cultivator's appearance was inaccurate. Even if a cultivator had not cultivated an art that preserved youth, their speed of aging was still much slower than that of ordinary people.

Over his Low-Grade Magic Robe, Li Shiming had added a scholar's robe, and the Low-Grade Longsword at his waist had also been put into his Storage Bag.

This was Fan Yiyang's suggestion. In the secular world, no one could recognize magical artifacts, but once he reached the Central Capital, because the Immortal Ascension Gathering would be held there, quite a few cultivators would be heading there. Some cultivators might resort to Killing People and Seizing Treasures.

Although the Low-Grade Magic Robe and the Low-Grade Longsword were very low-level magical artifacts, to Rogue Cultivators they were still extremely hard to come by. Killing for two Low Grade Magical Artifacts was worth it.

Li Shiming recalled the contents of the Aura Concealing Art in his mind. Due to a lack of spiritual qi, he had not even practiced the earliest Geng Metal Art and Earth Spirit Art he had obtained.

But the Aura Concealing Art was different. It was a spell capable of hiding his own Spiritual Power Fluctuation.

According to Fan Yiyang, the Spiritual Power Fluctuation on Li Shiming was like a candle flame in the dark in the eyes of cultivators; it could be sensed from very far away.

In the Cultivation World, there were indeed many cultivators who allowed the fluctuation of their spiritual power to run unchecked, but those cultivators all had the strength to protect themselves and did not fear the leakage of their own Spiritual Power Fluctuation.

Instead, they used their Spiritual Power Fluctuation to warn cultivators with ulterior motives, reducing their own trouble.