Martial Cultivators and Cultivators Cooperate

In this battle, Yang Shi, at Body Tempering Stage 8, shone brightly with the Flowing Water Sword, personally slaying two Fetal Breath stage cultivators.

Second only to the MVP, the Iron Spine Azure Wolf.

After all, it was a Qi Refinement stage spirit beast; it first reduced the enemy's numbers by one, then tied up the strongest, Miao Renfeng, buying Yang Shi the time to kill Miao Er, who was at Fetal Breath Stage 7.

"This Mid-grade Magic Tool, the Flowing Water Sword, is a real treasure. It fits my Traceless Sword Technique perfectly."

Yang Shi stroked the Flowing Water Sword, deeply pleased.

Its built-in phantom effect and Water Blade lethality had greatly boosted his strength.

Without this sword, he could never have slain Miao Er; at best, he could have held him off.

Jiang Xiaobai touched the Moonlight Mirror, now devoid of any spiritual power, his face full of heartache.

"I'll have to save up for half a year before I can use it again."

"Better than letting him escape; otherwise, we wouldn't get a single peaceful night's sleep."

They brought the three corpses back to the teahouse, and Jiang Xiaobai, pained, went to clean up the mess that had become of the place.

Huzi skillfully went to loot the bodies.

"Hey! Brother Shi, these three thieves have a lot of good stuff on them!"

Huzi laid the spoils out in a row on the ground.

A small pile of Low-grade Spirit Stones, thirty-eight in total.

A pouch of miscellaneous hidden weapons.

Two pieces of a shattered Turtle Shell.

A Cultivation Technique Jade Slip for the "Five Elements Moving Technique."

Four Spirit Replenishing Pills.

A sturdy Bronze Dagger, flickering with spiritual light—a Low-grade Magic Tool.

Through his Attribute Card, Yang Genshuo could see the dagger's properties.

[Law-breaking Dagger]

[Quality: Low-grade Magic Tool]

[Extremely sharp, with a special effect against defensive magic tools and talismans.]

"No wonder that second brother's dagger always seemed unimpressive. Yang Shi had no defensive magic tools, and his attacks never reached the threshold to trigger the three Defensive Talismans Murong Ziyan gave him."

The reason Yang Shi dared to take the risk and actively engage one enemy was those three Defensive Talismans—they gave him the courage. These were high-grade Defensive Talismans capable of blocking attacks from Qi Refinement stage cultivators!

If he activated one, the combined force of these three couldn't even break through his defense.

Looking at the spoils, Yang Genshuo found it somewhat amusing that the man who had been knocked unconscious by the Azure Wolf at the start was carrying a large number of hidden weapons that looked quite lethal—probably not inferior to pepper spray or a stun baton—yet he died without using a single one.

Among them, Miao Renfeng carried the most valuable items.

Spirit Replenishing Pills were Grade 1 Pills, used to quickly restore spiritual power. In a cultivator's duel, one pill could change the course of battle.

The reason Miao Renfeng, at Fetal Breath Stage 9, could suppress the Qi Refinement Stage 1 Azure Wolf was that, after using this pill, his spiritual power was inexhaustible.

If sold at the Marketplace, each pill would cost at least five Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Xiaobai's current ability was too low; taking such a high-quality pill would be a waste, so Yang Shi put them away for now.

Additionally, the most valuable item was that Cultivation Technique Jade Slip.

Jiang Xiaobai held it in his hand, used his spiritual power to explore it, and read its contents.

"The Five Elements Moving Technique is a Qi Cultivation Technique specifically designed for cultivators with Five Spiritual Roots, allowing cultivation up to the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"Since ancient times, Five Spiritual Roots have been called Waste Spiritual Roots, making it difficult to walk the great path of immortality. Most cultivators hit a bottleneck upon reaching the Qi Refinement stage and exhaust their Lifespan without breaking through to Foundation Establishment."

"However, a brilliant Foundation Establishment senior with Five Spiritual Roots believed that Five Spiritual Roots were not without merit. On the contrary, because the spiritual roots encompass all five elements, they can form a self-sustaining Five Elements Spiritual Power cycle. Thus, he created this technique."

"One only needs to spend five times the time of a cultivator at the same level to form a Five Elements cycle spiritual power vortex within the body, becoming invincible at the same level, and even capable of cross-tier combat."

Yang Genshuo had been listening with interest, but the last sentence made him lose his composure.

"What a stupid technique!"

"'Only five times the time?'"

"Good grief! Others with Five Spiritual Roots take twenty years to reach Qi Refinement, and you're telling me to spend a hundred years preparing for Fetal Breath Great Perfection? Death will always be one step ahead of your cultivation!"

"That's ridiculous."

Yang Genshuo could also see the description when he opened the technique himself.

Besides what Jiang Xiaobai had read, the technique did have some merits.

[If one does not pursue the Five Elements cycle spiritual power vortex, it is not much different from ordinary techniques, coming with one spell from each of the five elements: Golden Sword Technique, Divine Movement Technique, Fire Breath Technique, Spirit Rain Technique, and Entangle Technique.]

These were exactly the spells the Miao Brothers had used in the earlier fight.

"No Refraction Technique or Sleight of Hand, huh? Looks like those were their family inheritance."

Those two skills were clearly great aids for a thief.

As for the Miao family, Yang Shi had heard Liu Wuhen mention them once—they were called a family of parasites within the Da Nai Dynasty, every member a thief, with a terrible reputation. Yet no one had ever seen the Miao family's clan grounds; otherwise, cultivators would surely have banded together to retaliate.

After packing up the spoils, everyone went to rest.

Yang Genshuo, however, stared at Yang Shi's Character Card.

"His talent... upgraded again."

After the last marketplace incident, Yang Genshuo had gone to sleep, letting them develop freely for a few months. At that time, Yang Shi had broken through to Body Tempering Seventh Level, taken a Marrow Cleansing Pill, and immediately advanced to Body Tempering Eighth Level.

The Marrow Cleansing Pill, a necessary elixir for all Cultivators, could slightly improve one's Spiritual Root Aptitude.

Using its Medicinal Power to temper his body, Yang Shi forced a breakthrough by one realm and, in doing so, also elevated his aptitude somewhat.

[Lifespan: 22/77]

[Comprehension: 30]

[Talent: Funster (Mortal Grade), Laugh-Cry++ (Mortal Grade)]

[Laugh-Cry++ (Mortal Grade): Work efficiency fluctuates greatly with mood. Cheerful mood +30%, Depressed mood -30% (Affected by "Clear Heart Art")]

"Lifespan increased by 5 years, Comprehension by 10 points, and the talent upgraded again."

He checked yesterday's event log.

"The Marrow Cleansing Pill gave him lifespan and Comprehension, and as he keeps breaking through realms, the 'Clear Heart Art' keeps improving this talent."

"This Internal Qi Cultivation Method is actually quite interesting."

Yang Genshuo even felt like practicing it himself.

But after a moment's thought... he didn't seem to have any talent at all!

"Right, what if I let Xiaobai practice the 'Clear Heart Art' too? Could her Earth-grade Talent [Wood Affinity] evolve further?"

"This world doesn't say Cultivators can't practice internal energy either."

"Use internal energy to strengthen talents, use talents to boost cultivation speed and spell power."

Yang Genshuo felt like he'd found a link between Martial Cultivators and Cultivators.

At the same time, Yang Genshuo thought the Marrow Cleansing Pill was a good thing. When the marketplace opened next year, he'd need to buy two more—one for himself, one for Xiaobai.

He pressed the Time Acceleration button.

[4 years, 2 days: Three headless Cultivator corpses are dumped outside Yang's Board Game Tea House, shocking the few Rogue Cultivators lingering in Qingshi County. The Iron Spine Azure Wolf crouches outside the tea house daily, deterring those with ill intentions.]

[Jiang Xiaobai begins practicing the "Clear Heart Art."]

[Huzi breaks through to Body Tempering Sixth Level, enters the "Dominating Aura Art," and gains the new talent "Overlord (Mortal Grade)."]

[4 years, 46 days: Spirit Beast Little Fire consumes a Lava Fruit, its aura surging, and advances to Fetal Breath Fourth Layer.]

[4 years, 87 days: Yang Shi achieves an epiphany during sparring with Liu Wuhen, greatly increasing his proficiency in the Traceless Sword Technique, reaching "Mastered."]

[4 years, 97 days: Jiang Xiaobai turns 18 years old.]