First Glimpse of the Immortal Path, Knocking on the Immortal Gate

"Going out? That's a pretty good excuse!" Qin Haoxuan secretly suspected that it wasn't the Sect Master who was going out, but that the Sect Master probably already knew about this matter. It's all about the Purple Seed... both sides of his hand are flesh and blood. Since the Law Enforcement Hall is willing to offend people, the Sect Master probably wants to hide the most!

"Oh, right, Elder Xuyunzi also gave me quite a few Spirit Medicines." Xu Yu took out several Spirit Medicines of excellent quality from her small backpack and handed them to Qin Haoxuan, saying, "He said he didn't want to punish you like this. So he's using these as compensation, so you won't fall behind in your basic cultivation during your confinement."

Qin Haoxuan could only force a bitter smile. He pushed the Spirit Medicines back. Ever since he consumed the Golden Lotus leaf, he had been on the verge of exploding... If he ate more Spirit Medicines? He might really die! He absolutely couldn't accept these Spirit Medicines.

"Why not accept them? Are you afraid of owing him a favor?" Xu Yu stared at the Spirit Medicines in her hand. "I know Elder Xuyunzi wants me to calm my anger and get closer to him. He's willing to give them, and I'm brave enough to take them. But I won't forget about this matter because of these Spirit Medicines..."

Qin Haoxuan reached out and gently patted Xu Yu's head, smiling, "You're quite clever! But it's not because of that. It's just that it would be a waste to eat them here now, but I'll find a good opportunity to eat them later."

Xu Yu put the Spirit Medicines away this time and asked with concern, "I heard that people who come here are bullied by the older disciples. Have they bullied you? If they have, tell me! I'll get revenge for you..."

"Wherever I go, I'm the one bullying others." Qin Haoxuan took the notebook and a few books that Xu Yu handed him through the gap in the iron door with one hand, while gently stroking her head with the other, a doting smile on his face.

"We get along very well. They are very kind. Seeing that I'm new, they even gave me extra food! Right?"

Qin Haoxuan turned his head and said to the group of old foxes with a smile.

"This junior brother and we hit it off immediately, feeling like we've known each other for a lifetime!"

"Yes, yes, we feel like we've known each other for a lifetime!"

Having just been beaten up, and now realizing that Qin Haoxuan was a Martial Dao Innate expert, the old foxes were starving. They didn't even have the strength to speak. Each of them wished they could grind Qin Haoxuan into ashes. They secretly vowed to get revenge after they reached the Eight-Leaf stage, but for now, they didn't dare to offend him, so they could only agree with whatever he said.

"Oh, that's great." The meticulous Xu Yu saw the injuries on the faces and bodies of the old foxes and their submissive attitude. She quickly guessed that they had followed Yuan Shanhu's path, and instead of bullying Qin Haoxuan, they had been taught a lesson by this freak. She couldn't help but chuckle.

Staying in the Lava Cellar for another second was another torment for the less powerful Xu Yu. She glanced at Qin Haoxuan, who seemed to be enjoying himself, and quickly left the accursed place.

Qin Haoxuan opened the notebook, and his eyes fell on Xu Yu's delicate handwriting, which filled more than ten pages. He felt touched. She was so thoughtful, knowing that he had slept in the morning and was confined in the afternoon, and had missed the lecture. She had recorded Elder Chu's lecture content without missing a single detail.

The first line of the notes was about the first two realms of cultivation: the Immortal Root Planting Realm and the Immortal Seedling Realm. Qin Haoxuan knew very little about these topics, so he began to read from the very first word.

"Before the Immortal Root Planting Realm, there is a step called Seed Introduction. One feels the existence of the Immortal Seed within their body, and then guides Qi into the body to break open the Immortal Seed, entering the Immortal Root Planting Realm. The Immortal Root Planting Realm is divided into three stages: Seed Breaking, Rooting, and Sprouting."

"Rooting is much more difficult than Seed Breaking. It requires absorbing or cultivating a large amount of spiritual power to irrigate the Immortal Seed, allowing the nascent Immortal Seedling within the Immortal Seed to grow roots and anchor itself in the Dantian."

"Sprouting is even more difficult than Rooting. It requires allowing the Immortal Seedling, which has already taken root in the Dantian, to emerge from the crack of the Immortal Seed. This step requires more than ten times the spiritual power needed for Rooting!"

After reading this section, Qin Haoxuan didn't feel worried like other weak-seed disciples. Instead, he felt greatly relieved. The Immortal Root Planting Realm was, in essence, a process of accumulation. How to absorb or cultivate a large amount of spiritual power to irrigate the Immortal Seed? As long as there was enough spiritual power, breaking through to the Immortal Seedling Realm was not difficult.

For other weak-seed disciples, this accumulation process was very long, but for Qin Haoxuan, who had the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley as his backing, this was the least problematic issue.

In addition to the detailed explanation of the realms, there were also many basic cultivation knowledge points, such as how burning a pine resin could help one enter a state of meditation faster and better, and how sitting with the five hearts facing the sky could slightly increase the speed of absorbing spiritual power. These pieces of knowledge were very beneficial to the completely ignorant Qin Haoxuan.

In the later pages of the notebook, alchemy was described in detail.

Every cultivator had to learn alchemy. Pills were not only a means to rapidly increase strength but also the food for cultivators.

The food provided by the sect contained only extremely thin spiritual energy, which could not satisfy the needs of the body after Sprouting. Moreover, this supply only lasted for half a year. After half a year, one had to be self-sufficient.

There were only two ways to avoid starvation: first, to refine a basic pill called the Immortal Essence Pill, which was like steamed buns for ordinary people, serving as the staple food for cultivators. Second, to plant Spirit Medicines. After paying the sect's basic contribution, the remaining could be exchanged with alchemist disciples for Immortal Essence Pills to fill one's stomach.

After the sect cut off the food supply, not only did one have to be self-sufficient, but they also had to pay contributions to the sect.

Both disciples who refined pills and those who planted Spirit Medicines had to pay a fixed share of sect contributions every month. At the beginning of the month, the sect would estimate the approximate harvest and pay seventy percent of the estimated harvest. If there were any natural disasters or man-made calamities that resulted in insufficient harvest, they would have to make up the full amount even if it meant selling their pants, otherwise, they would face expulsion from the sect.

Reading this, Qin Haoxuan secretly sighed... It's really black-hearted!

After working hard for a month, seventy percent of the income had to be handed over to the sect, and the remaining thirty percent was for one's own food and property. If the payment was insufficient, one might be expelled from the sect. This was no different from local thugs collecting protection fees!

Qin Haoxuan suddenly thought of a problem: If he, a big eater, were to exist, would thirty percent of the harvest be enough for him to eat?

Since cultivating, especially after practicing the Great Dao Heart Seed Demon Technique, his appetite had increased dramatically. He had easily devoured the food of nearly ten people just now, and now he was like a bottomless pit. If he continued to cultivate the Great Dao Heart Seed Demon Technique and his cultivation deepened, what would happen then?

Qin Haoxuan, who could obtain rare treasures with ease, began to worry about these meager resources. He had originally thought that by joining a major sect like the Taichu Sect, not only would his family be well-fed and clothed, but he also wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing. He never expected it to be like this.

The notebook recorded that only those above the Elder level in the Taichu Sect did not need to plant Spirit Medicines themselves or pay sect contributions. All others, even the potentially limitless Purple Seed disciples, were no exception! Only then did Qin Haoxuan feel slightly better.

It made sense. The various expenses for maintaining the sect's operations, as well as the various expenses required for the daily cultivation of the Elder level, were all derived from sect contributions.

The subsequent records in the notebook gave Qin Haoxuan a deeper understanding of the cultivation world.

All new disciples were ordinary disciples upon entering the sect. Once their sect contributions reached a certain level, they could be promoted to Gray Robe Disciples, who had to pay one less percent of contributions than ordinary disciples!

To become a Gray Robe Disciple, in addition to accumulating sect contributions, there was another way: to reach the tenth leaf of the Immortal Seedling Realm with one's own strength, and they could be promoted.

Above Gray Robe Disciples were Brown Robe, Green Robe, Orange Robe, Red Robe, Gold Robe, and Purple Robe. With each increase in rank, they could pay one less percent of their harvest.

After reading this section of the notes, a strict hierarchical pyramid appeared in Qin Haoxuan's mind, further motivating his determination to cultivate diligently! The Elders of the Taichu Sect had all endured harsh taxes and levies. If they could do it, why couldn't he?

If he didn't strive to improve, let alone face revenge from Zhang Kuang in the future, even just surviving and not being able to eat enough would be meaningless.

Continuing to flip through the notebook, Qin Haoxuan discovered that in addition to planting Spirit Medicines and refining pills, there was another very important course: learning to make Spirit Talismans.

Spirit Talismans were not props used by charlatans to deceive people, but genuine jade slips. The maker would engrave their spiritual power onto the jade slips using a special technique. Spirit Talismans were divided into offensive/defensive types and auxiliary types.

For cultivators, making Spirit Talismans was an extremely important skill. Even cultivators of the Ancestor level, with extremely profound strength and realm, could not guarantee that they would not encounter powerful opponents or dangers in the future. In the process of saving themselves, they might need to use pre-engraved Spirit Talismans.

Qin Haoxuan only briefly scanned the methods for making offensive/defensive Spirit Talismans, his gaze finally settling on auxiliary Spirit Talismans.

There were countless auxiliary Spirit Talismans, each with its own unique benefits. For example, the Divine Speed Talisman could allow an ordinary person to travel a thousand miles a day, and the Earth Evasion Talisman could allow one to burrow into the ground, which was simply essential for escaping! What interested Qin Haoxuan the most, however, was a type of Spirit Talisman called the Spirit Gathering Talisman.

The Spirit Gathering Talisman was the most basic type of auxiliary Spirit Talisman, but it was not easy to engrave. Its function was to instantly enrich the spiritual energy in a small area. Of course, the density of this enrichment was still very thin for cultivation needs. Therefore, people generally used it for planting Spirit Medicines and crops, which could promote the yield of plants and improve their medicinal properties.

This was good stuff! If he could make a few Spirit Gathering Talismans, perhaps the food problem would no longer be a worry. However, according to the notebook, engraving Spirit Talismans was not a simple manual labor. It also required knowledge of many runes, and the learning involved was no less than that of alchemy.

Closing the notebook, Qin Haoxuan sighed inwardly. Cultivation was truly not simple! He had originally thought it was just about meditating and accumulating spiritual power to break through realms. Now, it seemed that cultivation was a vast and profound field of knowledge, and at his current level, he was only touching the superficial aspects of this enormous subject.

The veil of mystery surrounding cultivation finally lifted a corner for Qin Haoxuan. This partial understanding piqued his curiosity, and the sect's promotion system, in particular, ignited his competitive spirit!

Qin Haoxuan rubbed his slightly dry eyes. After setting the goal of quickly advancing to Brown Robe, Green Robe, and even Purple Robe, he opened the other books Xu Yu had given him.

These were textbooks for new disciple basic training, and the content was quite basic. Most of them were compilations of classic cases encountered by senior sect members when they first started cultivating, published as books to remind new disciples. This could not only help them avoid detours but also potentially prevent them from heading down a dead end.

The path of cultivation was fraught with danger, and many disciples died during their training each year.

One particular case sent a cold sweat down Qin Haoxuan's spine.

It recorded an Immortal Seedling Realm disciple who, after obtaining a Vermilion Fruit, became greedy for advancement. Without refining it into a pill to neutralize its properties, he swallowed the Vermilion Fruit whole and was instantly killed by its violent medicinal power, his body exploding!

After reading the compiler's commentary attached to the case, Qin Haoxuan broke out in a cold sweat and sighed in relief at his luck.

He then understood that Witch Cultivators could directly swallow Spirit Medicine and then endure repeated beatings until the unabsorbed medicinal power was driven into their internal organs and meridians!