Spirit Planter, Talisman Master

Four-year-old Zhang Yan watched from the side, giggling.

Little did he know, his older brother had already prepared a stack of training plans for him, just waiting for him to enter the academy.

That evening, Zhang Wan sat cross-legged on his bed, circulating his cultivation technique to absorb spiritual energy.

Although Quanjian Village had a mountain spring containing thin spiritual energy, the surrounding spiritual energy was far inferior not only to the independent courtyard of the academy but even to the shared dormitories.

At this moment, circulating his cultivation technique to absorb spiritual energy and accumulate mana was merely a case of "better than nothing."

But besides circulating his cultivation technique, there wasn't much else he could do.

So, he meditated until dawn.

Only after receiving the EXP for the new day did he go to sleep.

The next day, Zhang Wan, Zhang Lingshu, and Zhang Changlin finished tidying up the remaining mu of land and planted Snow Grass.

Zhang Wan then went out to find other children from the village.

It was a pity that among the companions he used to play with, only he had broken through to the Postnatal realm. Among the older children, only four or five had broken through.

However, they were still young, and they gathered together for a period every year, so they weren't estranged.

Some wanted Zhang Wan to guide them in tempering their Blood Essence, but he refused.

It wasn't that he was stingy.

It was because without the academy's medicinal meals, training on their own could easily drain their bodies, causing irreparable damage.

Zhang Lingshu also had his mana to assist her, allowing her to continue training at home.

And they couldn't benefit from the pseudo spirit plants grown in the village.

All the produce had to be handed over to the sect, with not a bit left over.

The reason Zhang Changlin and the people of Quanjian Village were still willing to grow pseudo spirit plants for the Jade Bone Sect was that although they couldn't get the pseudo spirit plants they grew, their descendants could enter the academy, giving them a chance to cultivate the martial path and break through to the Postnatal realm.

However, this rule only applied to mortals.

For someone like Zhang Wan, who had broken through to the Postnatal realm and become an outer disciple of the sect, two-tenths of the pseudo spirit plants grown by his family could be kept for personal use.

A single realm difference led to vastly different treatment within the sect.

When Zhang Wan explained the pros and cons, his young companions sighed and gave up.

Afterward, Zhang Wan sought out other Postnatal martial artists in the village to chat with.

Although he had attended the Beginner Martial Arts Academy for nearly six years, learned a lot of martial arts knowledge, and heard many things about the martial arts world from his supervising martial masters, he had never had direct contact with it.

So, he wanted to learn about the situation from the veteran Postnatal cultivators in the village.

Although he knew from the academy that the Jade Bone Sect was located within the Wu Kingdom, one of the six True Core powers occupying over ten thousand kilometers, and that the Jade Bone Sect was the weakest and had the shallowest foundation among them.

However, regarding the specific relationships between the six sects, the knowledge imparted by the academy only provided a superficial understanding.

From these veteran Postnatal cultivators, he could truly understand the current situation in the Wu Kingdom.

The veteran Postnatal cultivators in the village didn't hide anything. Seeing that Zhang Wan was willing to listen, they told him everything they knew.

The six True Core powers of the Wu Kingdom were the Book Sword Sect, Thousand Corpse Sect, Blazing Fire Sect, Hundred Flower Palace, Mountain Moving Hall, and Jade Bone Sect.

The first five major powers had been established in the Wu Kingdom for nearly a thousand years, possessing immense strength. Only the Jade Bone Sect was an emerging True Core power established by Old Ancestor Jade Bone three hundred years ago.

It had the shortest establishment time, the shallowest foundation, and was the weakest among the six sects.

Furthermore, because Old Ancestor Jade Bone established his sect in the Wu Kingdom, it was equivalent to forcefully snatching territory from the other five sects, which created conflict between the Jade Bone Sect and the other five.

While the six sects wouldn't erupt into battles at the True Core level, disputes among their disciples were constant, and skirmishes would break out from time to time.

According to the veteran Postnatal cultivators in the village, two years ago, the Jade Bone Sect had a small-scale conflict with disciples from the Blazing Fire Sect, resulting in many deaths.

There were also constant frictions with the other four sects.

After listening, Zhang Wan felt a sense of gravity.

He knew the martial arts world wouldn't be peaceful, but he hadn't expected the Jade Bone Sect's relationship with the other five sects in the Wu Kingdom to be so disharmonious, and the frequency of these clashes was too high.

"At this rate, by the time I graduate from the academy, I might get caught up in it," Zhang Wan muttered. As long as he wanted to continue in the Jade Bone Sect, he couldn't avoid its orders.

If the Jade Bone Sect ordered him to fight against other sects, unless he wanted to flee with his family, he would have to obey.

But this kind of fighting sounded very dangerous.

To protect himself, he would need to use a large amount of EXP to increase his strength.

However, he didn't want to stand out too much and attract attention.

Developing low-key was his current strategy.

"It's best to be prepared and find a logistical position. That way, unless the Jade Bone Sect faces a major disaster and everyone has to fight, the logistics personnel will be much safer."

The conversation with the veteran Postnatal cultivators in the village yielded Zhang Wan a lot of insights.

Indeed, having an elder at home is like having a treasure.

"In this case, cultivating a skill has become imperative."

"To have a decent cultivation technique is the only way to reasonably hold a logistics position."

Zhang Wan spent several days at home, and through conversations with veteran martial artists in the village, he gained a fuller understanding of the Jade Bone Sect's internal workings and the status of martial artists who mastered various skills within the Wu Kingdom's martial arts world.

Ultimately, Zhang Wan decided to first cultivate two skills.

Talisman Master and Spirit Planter.

The six True Core powers of the Wu Kingdom were all mass-producing pseudo spirit plants, so inheritances for Spirit Planters were relatively easy to obtain.

He had also helped plant pseudo spirit plants at home for several years, so he had some experience.

Mastering this skill would be relatively easier.

Once his Spirit Planter level improved, he would then learn to draw talismans.

With the foundation of Spirit Planter abilities, he could cultivate spirit plants himself to make talisman paper, ink, and brushes, which would save a considerable amount of expenses.

At that point, he would only need to find a way to get a talisman inheritance, which would be simpler than learning other skills.

If he had time and sufficient EXP later, he could also learn alchemy.

If he could cultivate spirit plants himself, the expenses for alchemy could also be reduced by more than half.

"First, I'll learn to cultivate spirit plants, and use that to secure a logistics position in the Jade Bone Sect."

"Then, I'll learn about talismans."

"However, I can keep the talisman skill hidden for now, as a trump card."

"If being a pure Spirit Planter is no longer enough to keep me safely in the rear in the future, I'll reveal my identity as a Talisman Master, add weight to my hand, and continue to lie low in a logistics position."

Zhang Wan was very satisfied with his simple plan.

The simpler it was, the easier it was to execute, and the less likely it was to be exposed.

And with the existence of EXP, it wouldn't be difficult for him to master these two skills.

Zhang Wan spent a pleasant month at home.

During this time, he still didn't invest any EXP into his cultivation. He only diligently practiced every day, and occasionally invested EXP into Stacked Force Palm and Nine Step Movement Technique, using the lingering aftereffects to comprehend these two martial skills.

On the system panel, various data had also changed slightly as a result.

Host: Zhang Wan (Ten Years Old)

Realm: Postnatal First Layer (5.5/120)

Realm Bottleneck: None

Cultivation Techniques & Martial Skills: Bronze Iron Art Postnatal Sixth Layer Cultivation Technique (14/114, Postnatal First Layer cultivation technique comprehended), Stacked Force Palm (3.3/155), Bone Piercing Finger (103/103, 1.2/46), Nine Step Movement Technique (4.7/127)

Available EXP: 8105

And at the end of the month, Zhang Wan, along with Zhang Lingshu who had been exercising at home for a month and looked somewhat lifeless, returned to the academy via a rune carriage.