Fusion Conjecture, Purchasing Cultivation Methods

Li Qing continued to inject his essence into it, and in the blink of an eye, seventy percent of the essence within his body had been poured inside.

The iron ball remained completely unchanged.

Could I have guessed wrong?

His mind was filled with questions, and Li Qing helplessly set the iron ball down.

After packing everything away, a thought flashed through Li Qing's mind.

I have five different cultivation methods and spells in my possession: the Black Water Profound Yin Art, Shadow Transformation Art, Blood Swallowing Art, Blood Fusion Art, and Blood Refining Art. I could take these out to trade.

I'll see if the Scripture Tower has anything similar; if not, perhaps I can trade for the cultivation methods I actually want.

Lost in thought, Li Qing rolled over to sit on his bed and slowly circulated his essence, beginning to recover from his recent expenditure.

Ever since he began cultivating, his appetite had gradually increased.

This was primarily because his cultivation method involved extracting essence from within his own body, which differed in direction from the original methods of these arts.

One method involved plundering essence from the outside, while the other involved refining essence from within.

He took a deep breath, and in the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.

Early in the morning, Li Qing sought out Wang Kuohai.

"Brother Wang, there is something I would like to ask for your help with."

Wang Kuohai's expression turned serious. "Please, Brother Qin, speak."

Li Qing produced a sheet of white paper from his hand, on which a dozen or so materials were written.

Hidden among them were the materials required for cultivating the Black Water Art.

One should not have the heart to harm others, but one must have the heart to guard against them.

He did not want anyone to discern his intentions from the items he selected.

"I would like to ask you to help me collect the items on this list. Here is 1,000 taels of silver."

"If it is not enough, come to me for more."

Wang Kuohai took the list, nodded, and said, "Rest assured, Sir, I will have someone handle this immediately."

"Many thanks!" Li Qing cupped his hands slightly.

Inside the Demon Extermination Hall of Jade City, dozens of jade tablets hung on a special wall.

These tablets were divided into three colors—white jade, green jade, and blue jade—representing three different ranks.

At this moment, a man dressed in black selected a white jade tablet.

Upon receiving a dossier from the clerk, the man in the black robe could not help but look surprised.

"A semi-mutated Body Strengthening Rogue Cultivator is dead; investigate the cause."

"Interesting. It has been a long time since I've encountered a homicide involving a cultivator in the city."

"To be able to kill a semi-mutated Body Strengthening cultivator, their strength must be quite impressive."

The cultivator who took the mission had thick eyebrows and large eyes; he was about thirty years old, with slightly bronze skin and a height of eight feet—a rather tall and sturdy man.

Holding the dossier, he left the Jade City Demon Extermination Hall.

In a restaurant across from Hundred Gates Alley, Li Qing had rented a private room.

He ordered a large table full of meat and was currently feasting, devouring it with gusto.

This meal was enough to feed at least six people, yet it had all gone into his stomach.

His belly was stretched tight, and Li Qing silently circulated his essence, squeezing out the essence generated by the digestion of the food bit by bit to recover his expenditure.

There were two effects to extracting essence from food.

One was to integrate it into his bloodline to raise his upper limit, and the other was to convert it directly into essence; the consumption ratio for the two was completely different.

With this meal, he could raise his upper limit by one-thousandth.

But if he were simply replenishing his expended essence, he could restore all of his lost essence in one go.

Raising his essence limit seemed to be a phenomenon of bloodline transformation.

Simple conversion of essence was easy.

In the blink of an eye, it was midnight again. Hundred Gates Alley opened quietly, and Li Qing emerged from the darkness to the side, his entire body shrouded in a black robe as he headed toward Hundred Gates Alley.

The streets were still cold and desolate at this hour, as the majority of the Rogue Cultivators had not yet arrived.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and the cultivators who intended to set up stalls for the day had all arrived.

This time, Li Qing's goal was clear: cultivation methods involving the five internal organs.

Heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—I already have the cultivation method for the kidneys.

As long as I find cultivation methods for the heart, liver, spleen, and lungs, I will know whether the Jade Tablet can optimize and fuse these methods.

His gaze swept across the stalls one by one, searching for those selling cultivation methods.

Soon, he spotted a cultivation manual, the Five Viscera Five Qi Art, which was surprisingly a technique that directly cultivated the five viscera.

His eyes lit up. He walked over quietly and looked at the stall owner.

"How much for this manual?"

The stall owner glanced at him. "Ten Dharma Coins!"

Li Qing frowned upon hearing this. He had observed many people here last night.

Items in the category of cultivation manuals were not particularly expensive; they usually cost only four or five Dharma Coins.

Because most of these people already possessed their own cultivation methods, almost no one would easily switch techniques or practice someone else's.

"That's too expensive, five! I'm just buying it to take a look."

"Hmph, this manual of mine is, after all, authentic Daoist Sect, even if it is only a basic technique circulating outside."

"Charging you ten Dharma Coins is definitely not too much. Even if you went to the Scripture Tower, it would be the same price."

Li Qing furrowed his brows. "May I take a look at it?"

"Hehehe, friend, that's not how this works."

"There are countless spells in this world, and there are plenty of ways to learn the contents just by touching them."

"Trying to take advantage of me for free? That won't do."

The stall owner skillfully refused Li Qing.

Feeling slightly helpless, he realized that everyone selling manuals and spells had similar restrictions; they would only let you see the name and a brief introduction.

It was absolutely impossible for them to let you make physical contact.

Clearly, many people had been burned before, leading to this tacit, unspoken rule.

After a moment of thought, Li Qing took out ten Dharma Coins and bought the manual outright.

As soon as he held the Five Viscera Five Qi Art, the Jade Tablet in his mind immediately recorded it.

Li Qing did not rush to examine it; instead, he turned and headed toward the Scripture Tower. He had not forgotten the purpose of his visit today.

Since I was lucky enough to stumble upon a viscera technique, I'll go to the Scripture Tower to see if there are corresponding cultivation methods for the six bowels, bones, brain, and other parts of the body.

If that doesn't work, I'll transcribe the Black Water Art and the Essence Blood Art to trade for them.

But I'll have to change my identity when I do.

In this world, one must be twelve times as cautious.

Li Qing felt a deep sense of crisis regarding this world; danger seemed to be lurking everywhere.

The Scripture Tower was a place that looked antique, much like a study.

Upon entering, he found himself in a square hall about ten feet wide.

There were six chairs in the hall, and against the wall sat a desk where a middle-aged man in a green robe was reading a book.

A faint smile spread across his face, as if he had found something interesting.

Li Qing said, "Hello, I would like to buy some things."

Hearing Li Qing's voice, the middle-aged man in the green robe turned to look at him, a strange ripple seemingly flashing through his eyes.

His expression showed slight surprise, and with a smile, he put down his book and walked over.

"This guest, please, have a seat!"

Once they were seated, the middle-aged man in green smiled and said, "I am the proprietor of this Scripture Tower, Han Qingsong."

"How should I address you, fellow Daoist?"

"I am Qin Erlang."

"So it is Mr. Qin. I wonder what you would like to purchase?"

Li Qing pulled five scriptures and a piece of animal hide from his robes.

"I have one spell and five cultivation manuals here. I would like to purchase some manuals from the Scripture Tower."

"I wonder what these manuals are?" Han Qingsong asked with a smile.

"The spell Shadow Transformation Art, which allows one to shroud themselves in shadows and pass through walls as if they were nothing."

"The Blood Refining Art, Blood Swallowing Art, and Blood Fusion Art—a three-part integrated technique."

"One Black Water Profound Yin Art."

"One Martial Art, which comes with two minor techniques."

After much deliberation, he had decided to write out the Martial Art as well.

"Do you accept these here?"