Withdrawing Cultivation Method

"Why hadn't I thought of that before? If I'd known, I would've stocked up on a few more Storage Soul Tools. It wouldn't have been a loss anyway."

After hearing Lin Ran's words, the old man could not help but beat his chest in regret. His expression looked as though he had lost a hundred million. He even began to let his thoughts run wild.

"If the capital were sufficient, one could buy Storage Soul Tools in bulk and even drive up their prices. Then there'd be another huge profit to make!"

Lin Ran's eye twitched when he heard that.

This old man truly was a profiteer. Lin Ran had only mentioned it in passing, yet the old man had already drawn inferences from it and was thinking of speculating on Storage Soul Tools like people had speculated on real estate in his Previous Life.

He could only offer a silent prayer for the soul masters of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The more the old man thought about it, the more excited he became. He slapped his thigh and stared at Lin Ran.

"Kid, just how does that brain of yours work? How many more ways to make money do you have in that head? Hurry up and tell this old man. I'll give you a five percent discount on the Deep Sea Jade Silver you're buying—no, a ten percent discount."

At that moment, Princess Vina, who was standing nearby, asked softly in confusion, "Grandpa Liu, according to the rules, shouldn't customers who purchase rare metals worth over ten million already receive a ten percent discount?"

The old man immediately froze.

Lin Ran narrowed his eyes at him.

Sure enough, he knew it. How could this profiteer possibly be so generous?

He turned and smiled at Princess Vina. Her pretty face reddened slightly as she turned her head to the side.

In the end, Lin Ran got his wish and purchased a ton of rare metal for only nine million Gold Soul Coins.

Once he submitted the system mission, he would only have a cold, lonely eleven million left in his pocket.

That old man still wanted to pry a few more ideas out of him, but Lin Ran could not be bothered with him. He was eager to return home and refresh his new number of advances.

"Kid, take care. I won't see you off. If you have any questions about cultivation in the future, you can come ask this old man. I won't charge you."

The old man spoke leisurely as he watched Lin Ran leave.

After returning home and having dinner with Huo Yun'er, Lin Ran eagerly returned to his room.

"System, repay one ton of rare metal."

The next second, one ton of Deep Sea Jade Silver vanished from his soul tool without a trace.

[ Ding, the number of advance transactions has been refreshed. ]

Lin Ran checked his panel.

Host: Lin Ran

Age: Six

Martial Soul: Blood

Soul Power: Rank 13

Available Advance Transactions: 1 (0 same-realm advances, 1 advance transaction)

Pending Mission: Hunt a Bloodline Bat no less than 800 years old. Time Limit: 163 days

Lin Ran began considering what he should advance next.

He would not consider Martial Souls for the time being.

At present, what he needed to focus on was increasing his strength and consolidating his foundation.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ran listed several categories of things he needed to advance.

Soul bones, immortal herbs, medicinal pills, and Cultivation Methods.

In the end, he eliminated soul bones, immortal herbs, and medicinal pills one by one, setting his target on a Cultivation Method.

There was no rush for soul bones. It made no difference when he absorbed them.

As for immortal herbs, Lin Ran decided to wait until he joined the Body Sect and practiced the Body Sect's secret techniques for a while before advancing them. At that time, he would see whether he could use them to achieve a Body Martial Soul Second Awakening.

Besides, wasn't there still the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes? When the time came, he could find an excuse to have Du Busi search the Sunset Forest. Perhaps he would not need to advance immortal herbs at all.

As for medicinal pills, he could advance pills that consolidated his foundation, improved his physical constitution, enhanced his talent, and so on. But none of those could compare to a Cultivation Method.

A good Cultivation Method could provide all of those benefits. Most importantly, a Cultivation Method was knowledge, not a consumable.

Whenever he needed to, he could break it apart or simplify it, then trade it for what he needed.

With the system, he did not need to worry about what would happen if others learned his Cultivation Methods, because he could obtain better ones at any time.

What he needed to do was efficiently make use of the system's resources, his foreknowledge of the Original Work, and every resource in the Douluo World to grow stronger as quickly as possible.

That was also why he wanted to join the Body Sect—having backing made things easier.

"System, list the Cultivation Methods that can be cultivated on the Douluo Continent. Make them as suitable for me as possible, and arrange them by categories: qi cultivation, body tempering, soul tempering, blood and qi cultivation, improving aptitude and innate constitution, and consolidating one's foundation."

Very quickly, the system interface displayed numerous Cultivation Methods for him to choose from.

[ Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record: From the Tang Sect of an unknown martial arts world. Extremely comprehensive, but with a low upper limit. ]

[Trade Requirement: Outer disciple Tang San secretly learned the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, eventually severely injuring numerous elders and causing the Tang Sect's decline. Strip Tang San of his cultivation methods, make him repent, then kill him. Time Limit: 10 years]

Lin Ran: "...Forget the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, but I'll take the job. You people from the Tang Sect had better thank me properly."

Lin Ran continued reading—

God of War Record, Longevity Skill, Heavenly Demon Strategy, Nine Yin Nine Yang, I Ching Marrow Cleansing, Void Sword Qi, Red Emperor Blood Scripture, Golden Light Incantation, Feng Hou Qi Men, Demonic Ape Transformation, Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Skill, Burning Skill, and more.

There were martial arts cultivation methods as well as fantasy cultivation methods—some he recognized, and some he had never heard of.

The trade requirements were even more varied. Some were simple; for instance, the Longevity Skill and Marrow Cleansing Scripture could be exchanged for nothing more than money and food. Others were difficult; for example, exchanging for the Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Skill from the Martial Movement World required an attack capable of killing three Reincarnation Realm experts, and the mission time limit was only half an hour.

As for what level the Reincarnation Realm corresponded to in Douluo Continent, Lin Ran had no idea. Still, he guessed it was at least above god-level.

By now, however, he was nearly certain that those trading with him through the system were real people from other worlds. The A1 Laser Gun he had traded for earlier might have come from the Swallowed Star World.

No longer dwelling on the system's mysteries, he advanced the trades for the Longevity Skill and the Marrow Cleansing Scripture. Before long, the methods for cultivating both cultivation methods appeared in his mind. The price he paid was merely some Gold Soul Coins and food.

[Longevity Skill: Left behind by Guang Chengzi from a certain high-martial world. It contains seven diagrams of yin, yang, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, each holding different mysteries. Only those who have never cultivated any cultivation method can master it. One may selectively cultivate according to one's own attributes. At its highest level, one may ascend to immortality and shatter the void.]

[Marrow Cleansing Scripture: From a certain high-martial world. It can cleanse the marrow and temper the body, purify the bone marrow, renew one's blood and qi, transform one's life, delay aging, and enhance recovery. At its highest level, it can touch upon the origin of life, remake one's body, render one indestructible, and cause inner power to continuously generate without end.]

One of these cultivation methods was for cultivating Soul Power, while the other was for tempering the body. Both were excellent cultivation methods for laying a foundation.

The Marrow Cleansing Scripture in particular was perfect for him, incomparably compatible with his Blood Martial Soul.

Of course, the most important thing was that they were cheap enough.

Think about Tang San. He had spent more than a decade before finally managing to secretly learn the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, while Lin Ran had spent only a few dozen Gold Soul Coins to obtain two cultivation methods far superior to the Mysterious Heaven Skill. If Tang San found out, he would probably immediately give Lin Ran a lesson in courting death.

He now had a method for cultivating qi and one for tempering the body. Of the three types of cultivation methods—essence, qi, and spirit—he only lacked a method specifically for cultivating Mental Power.

In truth, both the Longevity Skill and the Marrow Cleansing Scripture could gradually cultivate Mental Power, but having a cultivation method specifically for Mental Power would open up far broader possibilities in the future.

Lin Ran filtered through the system again for cultivation methods specifically meant to cultivate Mental Power. Before long, he settled on a target.