The Perfectionist's Dilemma

"Little brother, you cultivate an earth-element basic technique, don't you?"

Luo Hong picked up a Vermilion Fruit and asked calmly.

"Indeed. I cultivate the Thick Earth Technique. May I ask why you— Ah! This!"

Before the young stall owner could finish speaking, Luo Hong flicked his sleeve, and a pile of Earth Element Spirit Stones appeared on the stall.

There were no fewer than twenty of them!

"Ten to buy your Vermilion Fruits, five for your other spirit fruits, and as for the remaining five, you must first answer a question for me."

As Luo Hong spoke unhurriedly, he placed the spirit fruits into his Storage Bag one by one.

"I picked the Vermilion Fruits in the deep mountains. There aren't any more!"

The young stall owner had never seen so many Spirit Stones at once, much less Earth Element Spirit Stones that were so suitable for him to absorb and refine.

Though he wanted nothing more than to throw himself over them and hug the stones to his chest, he had not forgotten that five of them did not belong to him yet.

"Who asked about the Vermilion Fruits? I want to ask about these Five Elements Fruits. This fruit is harmful to cultivation. You didn't grow them, did you?"

Luo Hong held a Five Elements Fruit before the young stall owner's eyes, making it clear that he was not joking.

"It is indeed as you say, fellow Daoist. I picked these Five Elements Fruits myself. In the past, I only sold them to wealthy families among mortals in exchange for gold to cover my expenses."

Though the young stall owner did not know Luo Hong's purpose, he answered everything he knew.

"Mm. What is your name, little brother, and where do you live?"

"Oh, my name is Zhao Yushu. I live in Mist Mountain. You're welcome to visit, fellow Daoist."

Luo Hong's generosity made Zhao Yushu lower his guard, and he truthfully revealed his background.

"I'm offering these five Spirit Stones because I want Brother Yushu to look after the spirit trees that bear Five Elements Fruits. Please save any future Five Elements Fruits for me as well. I'll come collect them when I have time."

"So that's it. I will certainly not fail your trust, fellow Daoist."

Zhao Yushu patted his sturdy chest in assurance. After putting away the Spirit Stones, he bid farewell to Luo Hong.

Done!

As soon as Zhao Yushu left, Luo Hong took over his stall. Just as he was about to put out some goods for show, he sensed an unusual gaze from the side.

When he turned his head, he found Han Yunzhi staring at him with her watery eyes, looking somewhat resentful.

Hm? What did I do to her?

Trying to guess a woman's thoughts was the most meaningless thing one could do. Luo Hong simply ignored her and took out talismans from his Storage Bag, laying them out across the stall.

"You're selling talismans too?" Han Yunzhi's voice carried a trace of grievance.

"Miss, it is not that I wish to make things difficult for you. It's just that you sell such a wide variety of goods that it is difficult for me to avoid overlap."

Luo Hong pointed at the assorted spirit items on Han Yunzhi's stall. It was practically a small general store.

"You don't need to explain yourself to me." Han Yunzhi knew she had no right to interfere with others, so she turned her head away, out of sight and out of mind.

Yet before long, Luo Hong noticed Han Yunzhi sneaking glances at him again.

Of course, Han Yunzhi was not looking at Luo Hong, the plain-looking Male Cultivator who had made her angry, but at the talismans he had put on display.

Luo Hong noticed that whenever he displayed a talisman identical to one on Han Yunzhi's stall, her brows would furrow. Whenever he put that talisman away, she would let out a relieved breath.

How amusing!

Luo Hong had only been pretending to sell talismans in the first place, so he naturally would not deliberately make himself disliked. After casually displaying a dozen or so low-grade mid-tier talismans that did not overlap with Han Yunzhi's, he lazily reclined in the Grand Tutor's Chair and waited for Old Demon Han to come knocking.

Seeing that Luo Hong was no longer causing trouble, Han Yunzhi relaxed and continued focusing on peddling her goods to the passing Rogue Cultivators.

He casually took another sip of Jade Dragon Wine, and it exploded in Luo Hong's chest and abdomen like a Spiritual Qi bomb.

Because of the tyrannical nature of the Spirit Flood Dragon Secret Markings, Luo Hong Could Not Possibly seize Spiritual Qi to cultivate while they were operating.

Thus, he summoned his Physical Examination Table to monitor the changes in his own data while the Spirit Flood Dragon Secret Markings were running.

Name: Luo Hong

Realm: Level 10 Qi Refining (2012/2047)

Stamina: 25

Magic Power: 2012

Divine Sense: 40

Spiritual Root Quality: 1

Meridian Strength: 35 (the current limit of Internal Spirit Pressure the meridians can withstand)

Internal Spirit Pressure: 26 (fluctuating)

External Spiritual Pressure: 1.5 (stable)

Mana Purity: 3.7 (increased Spell power = Mana Purity * 5%)

Mana Control: 4 (Divine Sense determines the upper limit; currently at the limit)

Dantian Capacity: 2012 Magic Power

Qi Refining Great Perfection Countdown: 411 days (calculated based on current Internal Spirit Pressure)

Technique Proficiency: Minor Water Origin Technique Tenth Layer (989/1024), Ice Skin Jade Bone Method Fifth Layer (120/1000), Spirit Flood Dragon Secret Markings First Layer (?/?)

Luo Hong could break through the bottleneck of the Minor Water Origin Technique's Tenth Layer at any time. One reason he had not was that cultivating the Spirit Flood Dragon Secret Markings had delayed him, while the other was that his Dantian was nearing the limit of its expansion.

Though he had only experienced one minor bottleneck and one major bottleneck, Luo Hong's precise control had allowed each one to serve its greatest purpose, expanding his Dantian by thirty percent from its original size.

If he wanted to gain the greatest benefit from his next breakthrough, Luo Hong had to first strengthen the toughness of his Dantian.

There were currently two methods.

The first was to take a Foundation Establishment Pill and use its marrow-cleansing effects to strengthen his Physical Body.

The second was to cultivate the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method to the Sixth Layer.

The Ice Skin Jade Bone Method had twelve layers in total. The First Six Layers were the Ice Skin Chapter. In Other Words, once Luo Hong cultivated it to the Sixth Layer, he would have mastered the Ice Skin Chapter. At that point, both his meridians and Dantian would receive enormous improvements.

Yet compared to cultivating the Ice Skin Chapter to completion, obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill seemed somewhat easier.

That was because after cultivating the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method to Luo Hong's current level, White Lotus Pills could no longer have any effect. No matter how many medicinal baths he took, his proficiency did not increase at all.

To advance further, he had to take a Pure Lotus Pill!

Luo Hong had actually raised another question: how could he bypass the restriction that cultivating the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method required relying on pills?

Before figuring that out, Luo Hong first had to understand what body refinement was, and exactly which part of a Cultivator it refined.

Without question, body refinement was a means by which a Cultivator used external forces to alter their Physical Body.

After three years of research into Silver Runes, Luo Hong could confirm that Silver Runes did not exist solely in the meridians. They were actually spread throughout every part of the human body.

Muscles, bones, internal organs, and so on—everything in the human body had corresponding Silver Runes.

The reason Luo Hong was most familiar with the Silver Runes in the meridians was merely that they were used most often in cultivation and were also the easiest to observe.

When Luo Hong's Ice Skin Jade Bone Method had previously broken through to the Fifth Layer, he was already very familiar with the Silver Runes in his meridians. Thus, he immediately discovered that as the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method broke through, not only had many more Silver Runes appeared in his meridians, but their arrangement had also changed to a certain degree.

If Silver Runes were the manifestation of laws, the underlying code of the Mortal World, then the essence of body refinement was rewriting that code to upgrade and enhance the system's performance.

Therefore, in theory, as long as Luo Hong could deduce the changes the Sixth Layer of the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method would produce in the Silver Runes and replicate them accordingly, he could directly complete the cultivation of the secret method.