Entry Evolution

"One, two... seventy-five... two hundred and forty."

He counted them three full times, confirming he had not miscounted. Looking at the glittering pile on the bed, Xu Yuan felt his heart beating faster with embarrassing disobedience.

"Calm down. It's only a couple hundred spirit stones—look at you, acting so hopeless!"

After silently cursing himself, Xu Yuan remembered the true owner of these spirit stones, and a wave of sorrow welled up in his heart.

"Ah, in the end, I'm still just working for someone else."

Just as Xu Yuan was sighing over his lot, he suddenly looked up in astonishment. The tightly shut window to his right had somehow been opened, and a black crow with sleek, glossy feathers and crimson eyes flew inside.

"Been thinking about them, have you...?"

His heart tightening, Xu Yuan hurriedly bowed. "Senior Rong Ling."

"Not bad. You handled things quite well."

The black crow inhabited by Rong Ling landed on Xu Yuan's shoulder. This time, she had not come empty-handed—hanging around her neck was that lotus-leaf bundle from before.

The crow signaled to Xu Yuan with her eyes. He hastily removed the lotus-leaf bundle, then controlled the spirit stones on the bed with spiritual energy and packed every last one into it.

After hanging the bundle back around the crow's neck, its crimson pupils shifted as it looked at him. "What's wrong? Does it pain you to give them up?"

"I wouldn't dare." Xu Yuan immediately replied, "They were Senior's spirit stones to begin with. Xu Yuan was merely keeping them safe on your behalf."

"I chose you over Bi Qiong back then not only because she had found herself a patron, but also because I thought you lad was more honest. Who would have thought that after only a short time in Biyou Market, you'd become so slick-tongued?"

Rong Ling said this with amusement. Then, without needing Xu Yuan's help, the black crow's crimson eyes shifted, and forty lower-grade spirit stones flew out of the lotus-leaf bundle and landed back on the bed.

"I told you before—I, Rong Ling, am one of the rare trustworthy people in these mountains. Since I said this trip would bring you benefits, I naturally won't treat you unfairly."

"And besides," Rong Ling's tone changed, "your cultivation is still too low. You can't do much of anything. I'll reward you with these forty lower-grade spirit stones. Cultivate diligently and improve your cultivation. The next time I come looking for you, don't let me find you still looking so frail and weak."

After giving him those instructions, the black crow flapped its wings and flew away. Xu Yuan bowed toward the direction it had departed in before turning back to the forty lower-grade spirit stones on the bed.

The elder had taken a small portion of this haul, and Rong Ling had taken the lion's share, but what had fallen into his own pocket was still more than enough.

Forty lower-grade spirit stones—he would have had to toil in the mine for over three months to save that much. Exchanged for cultivation resources, they would be enough to give his cultivation a proper boost.

Ever since stepping into the second level of Qi Refining, he had clearly felt his cultivation speed slowing. First, the upper limit of the Little Blue Mountain Essence-to-Qi Art truly was not high. Second, his innate aptitude was simply abysmal.

At last year's Ascension Gathering, his spiritual roots had been wood and fire. Wood had possessed the highest affinity, but it had only reached sixteen—barely enough to cross the threshold for entering the mines.

Besides that, he had far too few cultivation resources. Counting the spiritual items he had consumed since beginning cultivation, apart from the two spiritual fruits from Yaksha Cave, the only thing worth mentioning was the meal he had extorted from Zhang Chao.

Fortunately, the spirit stones he had saved had not gone to waste, but had been invested in his own cultivation. After all this time, he had more or less mastered Spirit-Martial Unity. Once he had fully cultivated it, he could take missions and head down the mountain.

Yes, the reason he had been in such a hurry to cultivate Spirit-Martial Unity, apart from wanting to strengthen his ability to protect himself, was mainly because he planned to take sect missions once he had mastered it.

As for missions being hard to snatch? Heh, once Rong Ling's name was hung up, who would dare compete with him?

He worked himself to the bone mining, only to earn a handful of spirit stones each month. Any random sect mission would pay more than that, not to mention that completing missions also earned contribution points.

And contribution points could be exchanged in the sect for all kinds of spiritual items. Among them were Five-Element spiritual items and the heart's blood of demon beasts at the peak of Qi Refining—all within the range of exchange!

His thoughts ran wild, but after a moment, Xu Yuan suppressed his emotions and focused on cultivating.

Today's Spirit-Martial Unity class was already over. He had wasted the day, so he could only go again tomorrow.

Still, he was rather curious about something else Rong Ling had said earlier. His neighbor Rong Ling had found herself a patron?

No wonder she had not been seen these past days. She was probably cultivating alongside that patron.

After that small interlude, Xu Yuan returned to his old life of attending class, mining, and cultivating. The only difference was that a large basin of spiritual rice had been added to his daily table, while the spiritual meat had been replaced with higher-grade fare.

Three more days passed. At the training grounds of the spell arts hall, with the surrounding students watching, Xu Yuan slowly drew two streams of power out from within his body, then merged them with his will.

In an instant, the red and white streams tangled and collided. Finally, under Xu Yuan's precise control, they fused into a single whole.

Red-and-white energy coiled around his fist. Xu Yuan abruptly opened his eyes and threw a punch. With a bang, the air ahead seemed to compress and tear apart, releasing sharp explosive cracks.

A powerful blast of air surged outward, and several nearby students with weaker cultivation instinctively moved farther away.

A breath later, Xu Yuan opened his eyes again. He could feel it—he had probably completely mastered this power.

Though he was still some way from infusing this power into a weapon like the instructor had... Hmm!

His eyes abruptly widened, but Xu Yuan quickly steadied himself. In everyone else's eyes, he was naturally just trying to conceal the excitement of his breakthrough.

For a moment, all sorts of sour, jealous gazes fell upon him.

"This kid really does have some talent."

At the front, the instructor's gaze rested on Xu Yuan. There seemed to be a flicker of interest in his eyes, but in the end, he made no further plans.

"Forget it. So what if he has some talent in the path of Spirit-Martial Unity? He only reached the second level of Qi Refining at seventeen, his spiritual roots are poor, he has no solid patron behind him, and the one identity he does have is riddled with hidden dangers. There's no need to pay him too much attention."

The instructor withdrew his gaze and did not notice Xu Yuan's earlier expression. He merely used Xu Yuan as an example, reminding the other students to cultivate diligently, before returning alone to the rear courtyard.

Nearly half an hour later, the day's lesson ended. Using the excuse that he had something to do, Xu Yuan declined several classmates who wanted his guidance, then strode out of the spell arts hall.

Along the way, he seemed to truly be in some urgent hurry, his pace growing faster and faster. But he soon realized that this would draw attention, so he slowed down.

Once he returned home, he shut the doors and windows as usual and made sure that Rong Ling had not slipped silently into his room. Only then did he raise his hand and look at the new information upon it.

[Master of Creation: Xu Yuan]

[Status: Innate Martial Bones, first glimpse of the Immortal Dao, Qi drawn into the body, True Soul newly formed]

[Current Trait: Innate Martial Bones (Green) (Evolvable)]

[Traits That Can Be Added: 1/2]

[Selectable Traits:...]

Gazing at the evolvable option, Xu Yuan focused his thoughts on it once more. In an instant, new information surfaced.

[Innate Martial Bones (Green) → Martial Dao Sacred Embryo (Light Blue)]

[Required: thirty-six low-grade spirit stones, one piece of refined black iron ore.]

[Martial Dao Sacred Embryo (Light Blue): You possess an inborn Martial Dao sacred body. You can grasp the fundamental essence of mortal martial arts at a glance, and you can also quickly gain entry into certain Immortal Dao techniques. Your sinews and bones, blood and vitality, and physique are like those of a demonic beast; attacks from the early Qi Refining stage will be unable to harm you, and they will continue to improve as you cultivate. Your blood can ward off evil and repel ghosts. Mortals who drink it will prolong their lives and strengthen their health, while even immortals can gain some slight benefit from it. At the same time, your personal fortune will continue to rise.]