Unveiling the Veil

After Wen Kangle left, Bi Changsheng used his sword to sweep aside the vines and weeds blocking the cave entrance, then walked in with a torch.

The cave was not deep, and Bi Changsheng soon reached its end.

Illuminated by the torchlight, Bi Changsheng clearly saw the situation at the cave's end. The space was small, only a dozen or so square meters. Against the wall on the right stood a stone platform, upon which sat a skeleton cross-legged in meditation.

This skeleton should have been the cultivator Wen Kangle and the others had mentioned.

Bi Changsheng walked over and searched the skeleton, finding a book amid the nearly disintegrated clothes covering its body.

The material of the book was somewhat unusual. Bi Changsheng guessed that was why it had survived until now.

He held the book close to the flame and examined it carefully. Written across the cover were several large characters: "Taiyin Qi Condensation Method." This was the Cultivation Technique Wen Kangle and the others had spoken of.

With the technique in hand, Bi Changsheng carefully searched the surroundings. He found that nearly everything else had been ruined by the passage of time, so he gave up.

After placing the technique in his Storage Ring, Bi Changsheng used his sword to dig a large pit in the ground and buried the cultivator's remains inside.

After all, he had inherited the technique this person had left behind. Bi Changsheng decided he might as well let this cultivator rest in the earth.

Since he did not know the cultivator's name, he did not erect a gravestone.

Only after finishing all this did Bi Changsheng return the way he had come.

When he left the cave, Bi Changsheng also restored the vines and weeds outside the entrance to their original state, lest anyone discover the place, enter it, and disturb the dead.

Only then did he activate his movement technique and hurry back to Qingshan Town.

Early the next morning, after informing Uncle Fu and the others, Bi Changsheng went to the teahouse next to the inn. As he reached the second floor, he found that the old Daoist and his disciple were already waiting for him.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting."

Bi Changsheng strode over and spoke to the old Daoist.

Upon seeing Bi Changsheng, the old Daoist rose to greet him as well. After exchanging pleasantries, the two sat back down.

"This old Daoist is Su Gaoyi, and this is my disciple, Qiao Heyu. Thank you for saving our lives yesterday, Young Hero."

Bi Changsheng and Wen Kangle had left in a hurry yesterday, and only now did the old Daoist have the chance to properly thank Bi Changsheng.

"My name is Bi Changsheng. I intervened to save you and your disciple yesterday because I had some questions to ask."

After introducing himself, Bi Changsheng got straight to the point.

"Young Hero Bi saved the lives of my disciple and me. Please, ask whatever you wish. I will hold nothing back from what I know, and tell you all I can; even if I do not know, this old Daoist will do his utmost to inquire for you."

Seeing that they had finally come to the main matter, Su Gaoyi spoke sincerely to Bi Changsheng.

"You overstate it, Daoist Su. I have admired cultivators since I was young, but I do not know much about such matters, so I wished to seek your guidance."

Bi Changsheng directly asked what he wanted to know.

"Haha, I never expected Young Hero Bi to harbor aspirations toward cultivation as well."

"The spiritual energy concentration in Great Gan is rather low, so there are not many cultivators here. It is only natural that Young Hero Bi does not know much about them."

Though he said this aloud, Su Gaoyi was somewhat surprised inwardly. Bi Changsheng had reached the Qi and Blood Realm at such a young age, and judging by how easily he had slain that strange creature, he was at least in the middle stage of the Qi and Blood Realm.

In his view, only a major power could nurture such a prodigy as Bi Changsheng. Yet any major power should know something about cultivators.

Bi Changsheng's words now left him rather unable to make heads or tails of the matter.

"Still, while cultivators are few in number, there are some. Even among Great Gan's ten great powers, the Changxiu Xu Family and the Yuanshi Wu Family are led primarily by cultivators."

Suppressing his surprise, Su Gaoyi continued explaining to Bi Changsheng.

"Then are there any requirements for becoming a cultivator?"

Hearing what Su Gaoyi said, Bi Changsheng immediately felt that his decision to save the master and disciple last night had been the right one, and he pressed on with another question.

"Of course there are certain requirements to become a cultivator. One must possess a spiritual root to step through the gate of cultivation. This is also why cultivators are so few—spiritual roots are difficult to find!"

"Spiritual roots are measured in nine cun. Those born with roots of one to three cun possess low-grade spiritual roots; four to six cun, middle-grade spiritual roots; and seven to eight cun, high-grade spiritual roots. The higher the quality of the spiritual root, the easier cultivation becomes."

"Those born with spiritual roots of nine cun are separately hailed as having Heavenly Spiritual Roots. They are true favored children of heaven, darlings of the Great Dao."

Su Gaoyi spoke at length to Bi Changsheng.

"Then what grade of spiritual root do you have, Daoist?"

After hearing how spiritual roots were classified, Bi Changsheng grew a little curious.

"Cough, cough."

At the question, Su Gaoyi choked on a mouthful of tea. His old face reddened, but since Bi Changsheng was the benefactor who had saved both master and disciple, he still answered.

"This old Daoist is dull of talent, with only a low-grade spiritual root of one cun at birth—and not even a full cun at that. Otherwise, I would not still be languishing at the First Layer of Qi Refining at such an age. With this old Daoist's talent, I fear I have no hope in this life of breaking through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining."

"However, my disciple Qiao Heyu was born with a low-grade spiritual root of two cun, one close to three cun. He may have a chance of reaching the Late Stage of Qi Refining in the future."

"It is a pity that this old Daoist has no artifact for testing spiritual roots on me. Otherwise, I could test Young Hero Bi for you."

The more Su Gaoyi spoke, the more embarrassed he became. Then, as though trying to save face, he brought up his disciple instead. This also showed just how satisfied he was with this disciple.

"There is no rush for that. May I ask, Daoist, how does a cultivator's strength compare to that of a martial artist?"

Waving his hand, Bi Changsheng then asked the question that concerned him most.

"This really isn't easy to compare. However, everyone generally agrees that early Qi Refining cultivators can contend with Qi and Blood Realm martial artists. An old Daoist like me, at the Qi Refining First Layer, corresponds to a martial artist in the Early Qi and Blood Realm."

"That strange creature Young Hero Bi killed last night was called a Vengeful Spirit. Once it fully took shape, it was also equivalent to the Qi Refining First Layer."

"At this stage, if the two sides fought, martial artists generally held the advantage. Martial artists at this realm possessed proficient Martial Skills and abundant combat experience, while early Qi Refining cultivators had insufficient spiritual power and knew relatively few spells, among other reasons. Once they were approached by a martial artist of the same realm, there was basically no suspense to the rest of the battle."

"Just like this old Daoist—I only know three talismans passed down by my sect, so my combat power is extremely limited."

"The Mid Stage of Qi Refining corresponds to a martial artist's True Qi Realm. At this realm, the situation is completely reversed. Mid Stage of Qi Refining cultivators can already wield magical artifacts to fly, and they have basically mastered all manner of spells. Though True Qi Realm martial artists can briefly remain airborne, so long as the cultivator does not act rashly, it will be a one-sided battle."

"The Late Stage of Qi Refining corresponds to a martial artist's Condensing Gang Realm. The situation improves somewhat for martial artists at this realm, because Condensing Gang Realm martial artists can already fly through the air for short periods. Thus, battles at this stage still depend on the methods each side possesses."

"Beyond that, the martial artist's path is cut off. Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator masters are not something this old Daoist can understand."

In one breath, the old Daoist Su Gaoyi poured out everything he knew to Bi Changsheng.

After that, Bi Changsheng discussed some other matters with Su Gaoyi.

One of them was why he had set up an altar and performed a ritual at Steward Zhang's residence yesterday, and whether it had done any good.

Su Gaoyi answered bluntly that he had merely copied the motions of a cat while drawing a tiger, blindly messing about. As for the purpose, of course it was to charge more money.

He also took the chance to complain to Bi Changsheng. Rogue Cultivators like them had an extremely difficult cultivation environment, so in order to save up cultivation resources for his precious disciple, he had to work hard to earn silver.

Bi Changsheng also expressed interest in the inheritance of their lineage. Su Gaoyi immediately declared that Bi Changsheng was their lifesaver, then made a decision that betrayed his ancestors on the spot: at the discounted price of ten thousand taels, he sold Bi Changsheng the ancestral Basic Breathing Condensing Qi Method, along with the methods for drawing three talismans—the Fireball Talisman, Qi Absorption Talisman, and Divine Movement Talisman.

After their chat, the two bade each other farewell. Bi Changsheng returned to the inn, called Uncle Fu and the others, and prepared to set out once more.

Through this exchange, the ever-mysterious cultivators had finally lifted a corner of their veil for Bi Changsheng.