Starting Qi Condensation

"Yan Family? The Yan Family that Zhang Tie Zhu went to clear land for?" Li Ji'an had some impression of this Yan Family.

He wanted to tell Chen Qingling that unless there were major conflicts of interest, or a completely overwhelming disparity in strength, in a world where everyone held their own truth, well-adjusted adults wouldn't act irrationally like these children and get into unnecessary conflicts.

Chen Zhao'hu, a Body Cultivator at the mid-stage of the first tier, was someone even a Qi Condensation sixth-layer Cultivator had to be wary of in close combat.

"You underestimate your brother's strength!" In the end, he didn't explain much.

After this minor interlude, Chen Qingling was no longer in the mood to take Li Ji'an sightseeing around the market. He led him directly back to the dojo area near the outer perimeter on the east side of the market.

The so-called dojo was actually a block of rental housing planned by the market managers, specifically for rogue cultivators like Chen Qingling who had no backing.

The closer they got to the core area of the Spirit Vein in the west, the denser the Spiritual Energy became, and vice versa.

The rent for the dojo also varied accordingly.

A private courtyard in the most core area cost upwards of three hundred Spirit Stones per year. In contrast, the area Chen Qingling rented cost around ten Spirit Stones per year. However, it wasn't a private courtyard but a connected two-story building, with one unit per floor.

Coincidentally, there was an empty room upstairs from Chen Qingling's, and Li Ji'an rented it.

"Fortunately, Chen Zhao'hu gifted me ten Spirit Stones, otherwise the pressure would have been too great. These twenty-four Spirit Stones should be just enough for my plans for the next year." Li Ji'an smiled and nodded as he sat alone in his room, organizing and planning his Spirit Stones.

The next morning, Li Ji'an dragged Chen Qingling along again, taking him to the street stall area on North Street.

First, he had to choose a Cultivation Method.

He didn't dare to hope for a mid-grade Cultivation Method like the one Chen Qingling practiced. According to Chen Zhao'hu, he had spent a full fifty Spirit Stones to buy it from a client, and it even had a Spirit restriction on it, meaning only Chen Qingling could cultivate it.

"Once you choose a Cultivation Method, for people like us, there's no room for regret. You won't get a chance to re-cultivate, so how you choose is very important. Of course... for you, it's not that complicated, you can only cultivate fire-element Cultivation Methods." Although he looked very reluctant, Chen Qingling still brought Li Ji'an to the stall area. When he learned that Li Ji'an wanted to buy a Cultivation Method, he carefully explained some precautions.

"No room for regret?" A smile flickered across Li Ji'an's lips.

It didn't matter in this life. If he could preliminarily understand the situation of cultivation and accumulate some experience for the next life, it would be a success.

It didn't matter what Cultivation Method he cultivated; he could just treat it as an experience.

Besides, Chen Qingling was right. His fire Spiritual Root was the only one that sensed two wisps of Spiritual Aura, while the others only sensed one. There was no need to overthink it.

He would try a fire-element Cultivation Method first in this life.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait! Take a look at this magic artifact I obtained by braving dangerous secret realms, trading my life for it. It's genuine high-grade quality..."

"Step right up, don't miss out! These are talisman papers meticulously cleansed by young maidens using secret methods, guaranteed to increase your talisman-making success rate by thirty percent, esteemed Talisman Masters."

"Secretly made Grain Abstinence Pills, prepared using ancient methods and infused with top-grade Spirit Rice. Not only do they help abstain from grain, but they also replenish Spiritual Energy."

As soon as they entered the street stall area, the calls of vendors were endless, along with sounds of bargaining, swearing oaths, and sarcastic scolding. It was a bustling scene.

The not-so-wide street was thronged with people, very lively.

"How much are you planning to spend on a Cultivation Method?" Chen Qingling asked.

Li Ji'an waved his hand dismissively, "Let's take a look first. If nothing else, I'll just buy a copy of the Nine Yang Art."

The Nine Yang Art and a few other Cultivation Methods were considered common in this world. Besides their lower cultivation efficiency and weaker Magical Power after refinement, the main reason was that they had been spread too widely, rendering them commercially valueless.

Nowadays, those selling these Cultivation Methods were merely earning the labor costs for imprinting the Cultivation Method and the material costs for the jade talismans.

"You need to think carefully. Once you start cultivating a Cultivation Method, you can't change it," Chen Qingling reminded him again.

Li Ji'an nodded.

Chen Qingling pouted, too lazy to say more. He directly led Li Ji'an to a stall filled with jade talismans imprinted with Cultivation Methods.

"This person specializes in imprinting Cultivation Methods. Apart from those common ones, he doesn't guarantee the authenticity of other miscellaneous ones."

Li Ji'an took his advice and didn't harbor any illusions of finding a hidden gem. He decisively bought only the Nine Yang Art, spending five taels of Spirit Sand.

Seeing Li Ji'an get the jade talisman, Chen Qingling turned to leave.

"Wait, take me to find a place that sells pills too," Li Ji'an called out to him.

The hundred arts of cultivation: Pills, artifacts, talismans, and formations.

The reason "Pills" came first was that no Cultivator in this world could do without them.

If Spiritual Energy was insufficient, Qi Replenishing Pills were needed; to accelerate the condensation of Magical Power, Qi Condensing Pills were needed; to abstain from eating, Grain Abstinence Pills were needed... To break through bottlenecks in cultivation realms, Breakthrough Pills were needed, and Foundation Establishment required Foundation Establishment Pills.

Moreover, they were also the biggest consumables for Cultivators.

"You still want to buy pills?" Chen Qingling was surprised and a little resistant. He had been restraining his urge to buy pills lately because he had consumed too many pills some time ago, and he clearly felt the pressure from Chen Zhao'hu.

Therefore, he wanted to try cultivating without pills, relying on time and effort.

"Just to get a preliminary understanding," Li Ji'an replied.

Having just arrived in the cultivation world in this life, with no one to rely on, he naturally couldn't be a full-time Martial Artist like he was in the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty. An Alchemist was naturally his first choice.

Coincidentally, he cultivated a fire-element Cultivation Method, which could condense Alchemy Fire.

In this world, alchemy wasn't done with ordinary firewood; it had to be Alchemy Fire. Therefore, it greatly raised the threshold for becoming an Alchemist.

Chen Qingling impatiently bit his lip, but in the end, he still brought Li Ji'an to the stall where he had been buying pills previously.

"Yo, little Daoist friend, it's been a while since you've been here. The usual, I presume?" The stall owner saw Chen Qingling and greeted him with a smile, already picking up a white jade porcelain bottle.

"N-no need, I don't need any pills for now," Chen Qingling said with an awkward smile, quickly waving his hands.

Li Ji'an ignored him and crouched down, asking about the pills on the stall one by one.

"Beginner Qi Replenishing Pill, five taels of Spirit Sand each. Qi Condensing Pill, eight taels of Spirit Sand each. Spirit Condensing Pill, ten taels of Spirit Sand each..."

Fortunately, with Chen Qingling vouching for him, the stall owner patiently answered Li Ji'an's questions.

He even chatted with Li Ji'an, revealing some of the secrets of the pill business.

That evening, following Chen Qingling's shared experience of starting Qi Condensation, Li Ji'an attempted to cultivate the Nine Yang Art for the first time.

"The five elements of Spiritual Energy in the world are mixed. To cultivate a fire-attribute Cultivation Method, you need to sense the fire-attribute Spiritual Energy and absorb it into your body according to the Cultivation Method's guidance. The Blazing Spirit Art I cultivate only needs three cycles to refine into Magical Power.

The Nine Yang Art you cultivate truly requires five cycles.

However, the initial difficulty lies not in refining, but in comprehending the Cultivation Method.

Understanding the circulation of Spiritual Energy after it enters your body.

One complete circulation is one cycle.

From my first encounter with the Cultivation Method to completing a full cycle, it only took me one day. For you... don't rush. Completing one cycle in three days wouldn't be considered bad..." Seeing Li Ji'an begin to circulate the Cultivation Method and absorb Spiritual Energy, Chen Qingling continued to explain potential problems and the normal process.

However, before he could finish speaking.

Li Ji'an slowly opened his eyes.

"This is one cycle? Spiritual Energy entering the body, it's truly miraculous..."