Going out? It was quite a good excuse! Qin Haoxuan secretly suspected that it was not the Sect Master who had gone traveling, but that the Sect Master had probably known about this matter long ago. They were both purple seeds... the palm and back of the hand were both flesh. Since the Discipline Hall was willing to offend people, what the old Sect Master most wanted was probably to hide away, wasn't it?
"Right, Elder Xuyunzi also gave me quite a few spirit medicines." Xu Yu took several superb-quality spirit medicines from her little backpack and handed them to Qin Haoxuan. "He said he hadn't wanted to punish you like that either. So he used these as compensation, so your basic cultivation wouldn't be delayed during your confinement."
Qin Haoxuan smiled bitterly again and again, pushing the spirit medicines back. Ever since taking a page of Golden Lotus, he had practically been about to explode... Eat spirit medicines again? He might truly die! He absolutely could not accept these spirit medicines.
"Why won't you take them? Are you afraid of owing him a favor?" Xu Yu stared at the spirit medicines in her hands. "I know Elder Xuyunzi wants me to calm down and draw closer to him. He is willing to give them, so I dare to take them. But I won't forget what happened this time just because of these spirit medicines..."
Qin Haoxuan reached out and rubbed Xu Yu's head with a smile. "You're quite clever! But that isn't the reason. It's just a bit wasteful for me to eat them here right now. I'll eat them later when I find a good opportunity."
Xu Yu put the spirit medicines away this time, then asked worriedly, "I heard that everyone who comes here gets bullied by the old-timers. Did they bully you? If they did, tell me! I'll avenge you..."
"Wherever I go, I'm the one bullying others." With one hand, Qin Haoxuan accepted the notebook and several books Xu Yu passed through the gap in the iron gate. With the other, he gently stroked her head, a doting smile appearing on his face.
"We get along very well. They're all very friendly. Seeing that I was new, they even gave me plenty of their food! Right?"
Qin Haoxuan turned around and asked the group of old hands with a smiling face.
"This junior brother and we hit it off at first sight. We hate that we met so late!"
"Yes, yes, we hate that we met so late!"
Having just been viciously beaten up and having learned that Qin Haoxuan was a Martial Dao Innate expert, the old hands were starving so badly they did not even have the strength to speak. Each one wanted nothing more than to grind Qin Haoxuan's bones to dust and scatter his ashes. They secretly swore that once they reached Eight Leaves, they would surely avenge this humiliation. But for now, they did not dare offend him and could only agree with whatever he said.
"Oh, then that is naturally good." Seeing the wounds on the old hands' faces and bodies, as well as their submissive manner, the observant Xu Yu quickly guessed that they had followed in Yuan Shanhu's footsteps. They had tried to bully Qin Haoxuan, only to be taught a lesson by this freak instead. She could not help laughing.
Every extra second Xu Yu spent in the Lava Cellar was another measure of torment for someone as weak as her. After giving Qin Haoxuan, who seemed to savor it like sweet honey, a puzzled glance, she quickly left this damned place.
Opening the notebook, Qin Haoxuan saw Xu Yu's delicate handwriting. More than a dozen pages had been densely filled with notes, and his heart stirred with gratitude. This thoughtful girl knew that he had slept in the morning and been locked up in confinement in the afternoon, so he had not attended a single lesson. Yet she had recorded every word of Elder Chu's lecture without missing anything.
The first line of the notes explained the first two realms of cultivation: the Immortal Root Planting Realm and the Immortal Seedling Realm. Qin Haoxuan knew very little about such things, so he began reading from the very first word.
"Before the Immortal Root Planting Realm comes the step of Seed Introduction. One senses the existence of the immortal seed within the body, then draws qi into the body to break open the immortal seed and enter the Immortal Root Planting Realm. The Immortal Root Planting Realm is further divided into three stages: Seed Breaking, Rooting, and Sprouting."
"Rooting is far more difficult than Seed Breaking. One must absorb or cultivate a great amount of spiritual power to water the immortal seed, allowing that thread of immortal seedling still within the seed to grow roots and take root in the dantian."
"Sprouting is far more difficult than Rooting. The immortal seedling that has already taken root in the dantian must emerge from the tiny crack in the immortal seed. This step requires more than ten times the spiritual power needed for Rooting."
After reading this passage, Qin Haoxuan was not troubled like the other weak-seed disciples. Instead, he heaved a great sigh of relief. The Immortal Root Planting Realm was, at its root, a process of accumulation. The key was how to absorb or cultivate enough spiritual power to nourish the immortal seed. As long as he had enough spiritual power, breaking through to the Immortal Seedling Realm would not be difficult.
For other weak-seed disciples, this accumulation process was exceedingly long. But for Qin Haoxuan, who had the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley backing him, this was instead the least problematic of problems.
Besides the detailed explanations of cultivation realms, there was also much basic knowledge about cultivation. For example, burning a stick of pine incense during cultivation could help one enter meditation faster and better. Sitting cross-legged with the five centers facing heaven could slightly increase the rate at which one absorbed spiritual power. Such knowledge was of great benefit to Qin Haoxuan, who had known absolutely nothing.
The next few pages of the notes gave a detailed introduction to alchemy.
Every cultivator had to learn alchemy. Pills were not only a means of rapidly increasing one's strength, but also food for cultivators.
The food provided by the sect contained only extremely thin spiritual power, unable to meet the body's needs after one reached the Sprouting stage. Moreover, this provision only lasted half a year. After half a year, one had to provide for oneself.
There were only two ways to avoid going hungry. The first was to refine the most basic pill, called the Immortal Essence Pill. Just as steamed buns were food for ordinary mortals, Immortal Essence Pills were food for cultivators. The second was to grow spirit medicines. After handing over the sect's basic contribution, one could exchange the remainder with disciples who refined pills for Immortal Essence Pills to fill one's stomach.
After the sect cut off its food supply, not only did one have to provide for oneself, but one also had to submit sect contributions.
Whether one refined pills or grew spirit medicines, one had to submit a fixed share of sect contributions every month. At the beginning of each month, the sect would estimate the approximate harvest, and then demand seventy percent of that estimated harvest. If natural disasters or man-made calamities caused the harvest to fall short, one had to scrape together every last coin even if it meant selling one's underwear. Otherwise, one would face the danger of being expelled from the sect.
Reading this, Qin Haoxuan secretly sighed... This was truly black-hearted!
After working himself to the bone for a month, seventy percent of his income had to be handed over to the sect. The remaining thirty percent was his food and property. If he failed to submit enough, he could even be expelled from the sect. Wasn't this practically the same as thugs and hooligans collecting protection money?
Qin Haoxuan suddenly thought of a problem. If it was someone like him, such a bottomless pit, would thirty percent of the harvest be enough for him to eat?
Ever since he began cultivating, especially after cultivating the Great Dao Heart Seed Demon Technique, his appetite had immediately grown enormously. He had effortlessly wolfed down food meant for nearly ten people just now. Already eating like a rice bucket, what would happen if he continued cultivating the Great Dao Heart Seed Demon Technique and his cultivation grew profound?
Qin Haoxuan, who could obtain rare treasures with a mere reach of his hand, began worrying over these three measures of rice. He had originally thought that by attaching himself to a great sect like the Taichu Sect, not only would his family be free from worries over food and clothing, but he himself would not have to worry about filling his stomach either. Who would have thought things would turn out like this?
The notes recorded that only figures at the level of elder and above in the Taichu Sect did not need to grow spirit medicines or submit sect contributions themselves. Everyone else, even purple-seed disciples with limitless future potential, was no exception! Seeing this, Qin Haoxuan's mood improved slightly.
Thinking about it, that made sense. The various expenses required to keep the sect running, along with all the expenditures elders needed for their daily cultivation, all came from sect contributions.
The records that followed in the notes gave Qin Haoxuan a deeper understanding of the cultivation world.
All new disciples began as ordinary disciples. Once their sect contributions reached a certain amount, they could be promoted to Gray Robe Disciples. Gray Robe Disciples could submit ten percent less contribution than ordinary disciples!
Besides accumulating enough sect contributions, there was another path to becoming a Gray Robe Disciple: one could be promoted upon reaching the Immortal Seedling Realm Tenth Leaf.
Above Gray Robe Disciples were Brown Robe, Green Robe, Orange Robe, Red Robe, Gold Robe, and Purple Robe Disciples. With every rise in rank, one could submit ten percent less of one's harvest.
After reading this passage, a rigidly stratified pyramid appeared in Qin Haoxuan's mind, further strengthening his determination to cultivate diligently! The elders of the Taichu Sect had also endured their way through harsh taxes and exactions. If they could do it, why couldn't I?
If he did not strive to become strong, then never mind Zhang Kuang's future revenge—even if he merely clung to life, what meaning would there be if he could not even eat his fill?
Continuing through the notes, Qin Haoxuan discovered that besides the two compulsory courses of growing spirit medicines and refining pills, there was another extremely important course: learning to make spirit talismans.
Spirit talismans were not those paper charms used by charlatans to play at ghosts and gods, but genuine jade slips. Their makers used a special method to carve their own spiritual power into jade slips. Spirit talismans were divided into offensive and defensive types, and auxiliary types.
For cultivators, making spirit talismans was an exceptionally important skill. Even ancestor-level cultivators with extremely profound realms of power could not guarantee that they would never encounter formidable enemies or dangers in the future. During self-rescue, they might need to use prepared spirit talismans.
Qin Haoxuan only gave the crafting methods for offensive and defensive spirit talismans a cursory glance. In the end, his gaze settled on auxiliary spirit talismans.
There were countless auxiliary spirit talismans, each with its own wonders. For example, a Divine Speed Talisman could let an ordinary person travel a thousand li in a day. An Earth Evasion Talisman could allow one to burrow underground, making it simply indispensable for escape! Yet the talisman that interested Qin Haoxuan most was the Spirit Gathering Talisman.
The Spirit Gathering Talisman was one of the most basic auxiliary spirit talismans, but it was not easy to carve. Its function was to instantly thicken the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a small area. Of course, this degree of density was still extremely thin compared to the spiritual energy required for cultivation, so people generally used it to grow spirit medicines and crops. It could increase the yield of cultivated plants, and their medicinal properties would also be better.
This was good stuff! If he could make a few Spirit Gathering Talismans, perhaps he would no longer need to worry about food. But according to the notes, carving spirit talismans was no simple craft. One also needed to understand a great deal of talismanic knowledge, and the learning involved was no less profound than alchemy.
Closing the notebook, Qin Haoxuan secretly let out a long sigh. Cultivation truly was not simple! He had originally thought it was merely sitting in meditation, cultivating spiritual power, and breaking through realms. Now it seemed that cultivation was simply a vast and profound field of knowledge. At his current level, all he had touched was the barest surface of this immense discipline.
The mysterious veil of cultivation had finally lifted a corner for Qin Haoxuan. This half-understanding aroused his curiosity, and the sect's promotion system in particular stirred his competitive nature!
Qin Haoxuan rubbed his slightly sore eyes. Having set the goal of advancing to Brown Robe, Green Robe, and even Purple Robe as soon as possible, he opened the other books Xu Yu had sent and began reading.
These were all textbooks for the initial training of new disciples. Their contents were quite simple, mostly classic cases compiled and summarized by sect seniors from when they had first stepped onto the path of cultivation. They had been published into books to warn new disciples. Not only could they help avoid some detours, they might even prevent one from walking down a road of death.
The road of cultivation was fraught with dangers, and every year quite a few disciples died in cultivation.
One case in particular frightened Qin Haoxuan into a cold sweat.
It recorded an Immortal Seedling Realm disciple who, after obtaining a Vermilion Fruit, greedily sought rapid success. Without refining it into a pill to neutralize its medicinal potency, he swallowed the Vermilion Fruit in one bite and was blown apart on the spot by its violent medicinal power!
After reading the compiler's commentary attached after the case, Qin Haoxuan immediately broke out in a cold sweat and sighed at his own good fortune!
Only then did he learn that Witch Cultivators could directly consume spirit medicines, then endure repeated beatings until the medicinal power they had failed to absorb was driven into their internal organs and meridians!
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