Zhao Hao put the thousand spirit stones into his Storage Bag.
Not a ripple stirred in his heart.
This was not a gift.
This was a desperate gamble in which Lu Gui had staked his entire fortune.
It was also Zhao Hao's first seed capital for prying open his future.
"Senior Brother Lu, thank you." Zhao Hao nodded to him.
"You're too polite, Senior Brother! Far too polite!" Lu Gui hurriedly waved his hands, bending even lower.
Zhao Hao got straight to the point. "I've just arrived, and I want to improve my strength as quickly as possible. Aside from the Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art, are there any other cultivation arts or spells?"
He needed more "enhancement materials" to enhance the Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art.
Only then could his cultivation speed truly live up to his supposed "heavenly spiritual root."
"You've asked the right person, Senior Brother!"
Lu Gui leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"For those of us in the Qi Refining realm, strength comes down to two things: cultivation level and combat techniques."
"Generally, by the middle stage of Qi Refining, everyone needs to master five basic spells."
"You're only at the first level of Qi Refining right now, but with the speed of your heavenly spiritual root, you'll reach the middle stage in the blink of an eye."
"Which five?" Zhao Hao asked.
"One offensive spell, one defensive spell, one movement spell, plus a breath concealment art and the Qi Gazing Art."
Lu Gui explained, "Offensive spells are the foundation of magical combat. Defense and movement keep you alive. Those need no explanation."
"The last two are the crucial ones!" Lu Gui's expression darkened.
"A breath concealment art is a protective talisman for us Demonic Sect disciples when we venture outside! Our sect's Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art is no ordinary technique. It can disguise your spiritual energy's aura-even let you pass yourself off as a righteous cultivator!"
"The Qi Gazing Art is even more important! If you can't gauge someone's strength out there and blunder into some old monster playing the pig to devour the tiger, you won't even know how you died!"
At this point, Lu Gui's voice grew somewhat grim, as though he had remembered something.
"Senior Brother Zhao, forgive me for saying a little more, but you must remember this."
"Inside the sect, unless you have absolutely no other choice, never use that breath concealment art to hide your strength!"
"Why?" Zhao Hao raised an eyebrow.
Lu Gui sighed, his voice dropping to the hum of a mosquito.
"This happened just last year."
"There was an inner disciple from the Soul Refining lineage, a senior brother with three spiritual roots and ninth-level Qi Refining cultivation. He was only one step away from Foundation Establishment-a genius in his own right."
"But who knows which storybook he got the idea from? He kept thinking he was heaven's chosen son, spending every day dreaming of playing the pig to devour the tiger."
"He mastered his breath concealment art to major accomplishment and forcibly suppressed his apparent cultivation to early-stage Qi Refining. Then he wandered around the sect all day. Even the Foundation Establishment elders couldn't see through him."
Zhao Hao's eyelid twitched.
"What happened?"
"What happened," Lu Gui said, a chill creeping into his voice, "was that a Foundation Establishment Realm elder from the Corpse Refining Lineage happened to want a high-quality 'living corpse.' He had certain requirements for its aptitude."
"While patrolling the mountain, he happened to spot that disciple."
"The elder took one look: early-stage Qi Refining, a bone age of nearly twenty, poor aptitude, no prospects. Keeping him in the sect was nothing but a waste of resources."
"So, under the pretext of 'cleaning house and putting waste to use,' the elder refined him on the spot."
Lu Gui spread his hands, his lips curling into a mocking smile.
"Under sect rules, Foundation Establishment elders really aren't allowed to kill disciples without cause."
"But he'd hidden his own strength and gotten himself labeled 'trash.' His death counted for nothing."
"By the time the elder realized something was wrong, it was already too late to save him. All he could become was a mindless walking corpse that could do nothing but hop around."
"Afterward, that elder from the Corpse Refining Lineage compensated the Soul Refining lineage with some resources. But he didn't lose out, either. A high-quality refined corpse at the ninth level of Qi Refining was worth far more than those resources."
Having finished the story, Lu Gui fixed his eyes on Zhao Hao and spoke each word distinctly.
"Senior Brother Zhao, you have a heavenly spiritual root. You're a treasure to the sect! Never imitate an idiot like that!"
"In our Extreme Yin Sect, value is everything!"
"The more value you show, the more secure your position!"
"If you have no value, you're trash!"
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"Trash is fit only to be used for corpse refining and soul refining!"
Those final words nearly froze Zhao Hao's blood.
He thought of Jia Ren's greedy gaze.
He thought of the "weak" low-grade fire spiritual root inside him.
If he hid his strength, he would be disposed of as trash and die.
If he did not, Jia Ren would fatten him up like a pig, waiting for some future day to possess his body or refine him into an even higher-grade living corpse. He would still die.
Death lay on either side!
His only path to survival was to grow at a speed even more terrifying than someone with a genuine heavenly spiritual root!
Then, carefully, he would hide only the portion of his strength that exceeded the limits of a "heavenly spiritual root"!
Until he grew strong enough that Jia Ren would not dare touch him-and could not!
Besides, he could not rule out the possibility that others in the sect, aside from Jia Ren, had designs on him and his "heavenly spiritual root."
His chest felt tight. Zhao Hao thanked Lu Gui sincerely. "Thank you for the warning, Senior Brother. I'll remember it."
To Zhao Hao, this information was worth far more than a thousand spirit stones.
"Where can I learn those cultivation arts and spells?"
"The Scripture Repository!" Lu Gui pointed to an even more timeworn, four-story black building nearby. "As an inner disciple, you can read the Qi Refining texts on the first floor for free. You only need spirit stones or contribution points if you want to make copies on jade slips and take them away."
After bidding Lu Gui farewell, Zhao Hao headed straight for the Scripture Repository.
The disciple guarding the repository checked his inner disciple token and let him enter.
The Scripture Repository's first floor was enormous. Behind a counter near the entrance sat a black-robed elder who gave off no aura whatsoever.
Walking past him felt like passing a cold stone, but that stone seemed to have eyes, making the hairs on Zhao Hao's back stand on end.
He dared not look any longer and hurried farther inside.
The first floor was divided into several sections, including cultivation arts, spells, and the myriad cultivation crafts. Rows of black jade shelves held neatly arranged jade slips.
Zhao Hao had a clear goal.
He wanted to gather every usable cultivation art and spell as "enhancement materials."
His spiritual sense swept precisely across the shelves like a great net.
Before long, he had found seventeen different Qi Refining cultivation arts in the Scripture Repository.
After spending two hours gaining a preliminary understanding of their contents, he found a long list of names added to the system panel.
[Cultivation art detected: Earth Origin Art (Beginner 0/100)] [Cultivation art detected: Blood Baleful Art (Beginner 0/100)]
He did not linger, moving instead to the spell section, where he spent another four hours.
There were thirty-two Qi Refining spells in total in the first-floor spell section. He recorded every last one in the system.
Several caught his particular attention.
The Evil Light Art was an offensive spell whose advantage lay in its extremely fast casting and attack speed. Its drawback was equally obvious: its attack power fell short of offensive spells such as the Explosive Flame Art.
The Spirit Shield Art offered basic defense, simple and practical.
The Light Body Art was a basic movement spell, essential for travel and combat.
The Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art was the technique Lu Gui had emphasized for concealing a demonic cultivator's aura and hiding their cultivation.
The Qi Gazing Art was essential for probing other cultivators' true strength.
The Earth Escape Art allowed travel underground, making it an excellent choice for ambushes and escapes.
Besides these, there was another spell with a distinctly demonic flavor.
The Blood Escape Art burned blood essence in exchange for extreme speed, for desperate escapes.
Having "downloaded" every usable cultivation art and spell, Zhao Hao turned and left without the slightest reluctance.
He returned to his cave abode.
Rumble!
The stone door shut, and the restrictions activated, sealing the interior off from the outside.
Zhao Hao sat cross-legged on the cold stone bed and brought up the system panel.
Looking at the names packed into the panel, his heart, which had been hanging in suspense all this time, finally settled.
His consciousness moved back and forth between the [Spiritual Root] and [Cultivation Art] options.