Effects of Cultivation Methods Stack

Yue Shuo checked the changes in his cultivation and Divine Sense.

[Cultivation: 2.2/500 (+12/ten days)]

[Divine Sense: 10/15]

"Cultivating once consumes 5 points of Divine Sense and adds 1.2 points of cultivation. Twelve points every ten days? And my breakthrough chance is..."

[Breakthrough Chance: 50%]

Yue Shuo: "..."

Either success or failure—this probability was practically meaningless.

Yue Shuo glanced at the sky beyond the window. It was already deep into the night. Of course, he would not sleep and waste both time and Divine Sense.

He had originally planned to continue cultivating the Wood Essence Art.

But then a thought stirred.

He recalled the Spirit-Drawing Entry cultivation steps of the Evergreen Method, closed his eyes, and sensed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth once more.

The first time was unfamiliar; the second came naturally.

Having already experienced sensing spiritual energy and drawing it into his body once before,

he seized the lingering state of mind.

His second Spirit-Drawing Entry naturally went exceedingly smoothly. Once again, he awakened from meditative cultivation with no sense of how much time had passed.

The sky was still dark.

Nor was he hungry.

Unless something unexpected had happened, it should still be the same night.

He needed something to tell the time.

Yue Shuo checked the changes in the panel data and noted down each of the entries that had changed.

[Cultivation: 3.6/500 (+14/ten days)]

[Divine Sense: 5/15]

[Cultivation Methods: Taiji, Wood Essence Art, Evergreen Method]

[Evergreen Method (Tier One): 1/100 (Beginner)]

This round of cultivation had added 1.4 points of cultivation!

Though 3.6 was still as far from 500 as the ends of heaven and earth,

at least his efficiency had improved.

This meant that the cultivation speed +2 described in the method's introduction began right from the Beginner stage!

The only regret was that the +2 referred to the increase over ten days.

Per day, that was only 0.2 points.

But that was not right either.

He cultivated far more than once a day!

So the panel merely displayed the increase rate based on cultivating once a day, ten times over ten days?

Was that not looking down on him a little too much?

Still, he did not dwell on that minor issue with the panel.

What Yue Shuo immediately thought of were the five—no, four—cultivation methods he had noted down that could increase cultivation speed!

Though all of them were Tier One cultivation methods,

once he cultivated every one of them to the Beginner stage, they would increase his cultivation speed by a total of eight points every ten days!

His initial cultivation speed had only been ten points!

It was practically doubled!

If he could obtain even more Tier One cultivation methods... the disadvantage of his Five-Element Spirit Root would become his greatest advantage!

Yue Shuo was thrilled.

He forced himself to calm down.

He did not immediately begin cultivating the next Tier One method. He knew that a person in such a state could not enter meditation.

The prerequisite for Spirit Induction cultivation was meditation!

Only after entering meditation and calming one's heart could one sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the unseen, then seize it and draw it into the body.

Yue Shuo already had experience in calming his mind and entering meditation.

He continued practicing calligraphy.

This time, however, he tried using ordinary brush and ink to practice Foundational Talisman patterns.

He was writing anyway. What difference did it make what he practiced?

Ordinary brush and ink, ordinary white paper.

Naturally, they could not meet the requirements for Talisman Crafting, but Yue Shuo's goal was not to complete talismans. It was to enter meditation.

First, he traced out the talisman patterns stroke by stroke.

Little by little, he became more proficient at drawing them.

After spending a stretch longer than before to enter meditation through calligraphy practice, Yue Shuo successfully entered meditation once more and brought the Thousand Waves Formula to the Beginner stage.

[Cultivation: 5.2/500 (+1.6/time)]

[Divine Sense: 1/15]

[Thousand Waves Formula (Tier One): 1/100 (Beginner)]

His Divine Sense had recovered a little during his calligraphy practice, but Yue Shuo was still exhausted. He went to the bed and slept without removing his clothes.

He did not even notice certain changes in the panel data.

Not until certain sounds entered his ears.

The sky was faintly bright.

Yue Shuo rolled over and sprang up. After listening, he confirmed that it was Gu Jiu busily at work.

He swept his gaze over the panel data.

[Divine Sense: 15/15]

His Divine Sense had fully recovered, and Yue Shuo did not want to waste it.

He first practiced calligraphy to enter meditation.

He successfully brought the Water Spirit Formula to the Beginner stage.

[Cultivation: 7/500 (+1.8/time)]

[Divine Sense: 10/15]

[Water Spirit Formula (Tier One): 1/100 (Beginner)]

This time, Yue Shuo noticed that the cultivation efficiency figure after his cultivation had changed.

It had shifted from being measured by ten-day periods to being measured per session.

That made it much easier for him to calculate.

So it could be adjusted according to his own wishes?

As he pondered,

he ate the breakfast Gu Jiu had prepared. He did not hurry to plant the Gathering Spirit Grass seeds, because they needed to soak in well water for an entire day.

Tier One Gathering Spirit Grass was a spirit plant used to refine Spirit-Gathering Pills.

The Treatise on Spirit Plants contained the steps for planting it. As long as one followed them methodically and tended to it diligently,

the success rate of planting was very high.

That "very high" referred to following the steps in the Treatise on Spirit Plants perfectly.

And among those steps,

some could not be completed without at least Qi Refining Level One cultivation.

Therefore,

Mortal Spiritual Root bearers had only a ten to twenty percent success rate when planting Gathering Spirit Grass.

For those without Spiritual Roots, fewer than one in a hundred would survive!

Yue Shuo flipped through and studied two booklets related to spirit plants, then had Gu Jiu find a timekeeping device.

Estimating the time himself,

he discovered that during the day, when he was not cultivating, his Divine Sense recovered at roughly one point per hour.

That was around three times faster than on Lesser Desolate Island.

Judging from his Divine Sense recovery rate,

he could cultivate once every three or four hours during the day. Now, he needed to test his recovery rate at night.

After Gu Jiu brought over the timer,

Yue Shuo tentatively set himself a schedule.

At present, completing one session of meditative Spirit-Drawing Entry refinement cultivation took him around two hours, which was one shichen.

Cultivating the water-element methods, the Thousand Waves Formula and the Water Spirit Formula,

was around ten minutes faster than cultivating the two wood-element methods.

Furthermore, as he became more familiar with the cultivation methods, the time needed to complete each session was also gradually improving, though not by much.

In the afternoon, during the Hour of the Goat, he completed two more cultivation sessions.

Yue Shuo recorded the data, then went to plant the Gathering Spirit Grass.

[Cultivation: 10.6/500 (+1.8/time)]

[Divine Sense: 2/15]

Working backward, he had likely gotten up at the Hour of the Rabbit, around five in the morning in his previous life.

Yue Shuo personally planted each Gathering Spirit Grass seed one by one.

He did not let Gu Jiu touch the spirit grass seeds.

The Treatise on Spirit Plants stated that contact with Mortals would gradually cause spirit plant seeds to lose their spirituality, making them difficult to germinate.

Those with Spiritual Roots were somewhat better in this regard.

If they possessed a Wood Spirit Root,

the germination rate of spirit plants they personally planted would improve somewhat.

Each Gathering Spirit Grass plant could not be planted too close to the others, because it needed to absorb sufficient spiritual energy in order to grow.

For one mu of Spirit Field, the optimal planting density was one hundred plants.

Only after Yue Shuo had personally buried one hundred spirit seeds and scattered the soil over them did he activate the Spirit Field planting formation.

He observed it for a while, washed his hands, and returned to the small courtyard.

Although it was winter, it would not affect the planting or germination of spirit plants.

Not only was Hemu Island's climate not particularly cold,

but there was also the power of the formation.

The spirit seeds would germinate within three days. If one knew the Lesser Spirit-Nurturing Technique, one could improve both the efficiency and speed of germination.

After three days, any that had not sprouted would need to be replanted.

For the time being, there was nothing else to do over these three days. They did not even need watering.

These three days were perfect for focusing on how to cultivate more efficiently.

Yue Shuo made a rough calculation.

At his current cultivation efficiency, gaining ten points of cultivation per day through full-effort cultivation should not be a problem.

And advancing required 500 points.

In other words, in less than two months, he could attempt to advance to Qi Refining Level One.

If he wanted to go faster,

he would need to obtain more cultivation methods!

Should he go to the External Affairs Pavilion and ask to exchange for cultivation methods?

He was not sure whether it would succeed.

But it would certainly affect how certain people viewed him.

Having just arrived somewhere new, stability mattered more!

He still did not understand the Qin Clan thoroughly enough.

Yue Shuo practiced writing talisman patterns while calming his mind. He actually wanted to practice Tai Chi Fist as well.

Unfortunately, he did not have enough Divine Sense left.

"Besides cultivation methods that increase cultivation speed, are there any methods or treasures that can increase Divine Sense?"

After completely calming down,

Yue Shuo called Gu Jiu over.

He asked where he could learn more about cultivation knowledge, such as cultivation methods, skills, common knowledge, and so on.

Gu Jiu thought for a moment before answering,

"Young Master, once you cultivate to Qi Refining, Fourth Layer, you can enter the first floor of the island's Scripture Pavilion..."

Yue Shuo frowned slightly.

"Fourth Layer?"

If the chance of advancement was one hundred percent, he was confident that he could reach that goal within two or three years.

"Are there any other ways?"

Gu Jiu pondered before saying,

"If Young Master wishes to specialize in spirit plant master techniques, then for every one of the Three Planting Arts you master, you can apply to borrow one spirit plant master inheritance!"

That was not what Yue Shuo most wanted to learn about.

But since Gu Jiu did not know, he planned to think of other ways to inquire.

Just as he was about to dismiss Gu Jiu,

Gu Jiu suddenly thought of something and said,

"If Young Master has Spirit Stones, there is another way—you can buy them from bookstores in the black market or the marketplace... But things bought outside generally are not cheap, so it is not worthwhile!"

"Buying from street stalls was cheaper."

"But there was one problem: it was hard to tell the real from the fake."

Yue Shuo did not reveal his intentions, merely asking a few more questions out of curiosity and roughly learning the prices.

He did not only ask about cultivation manuals and such.

After understanding the situation, he thanked Gu Jiu.

Then, in the evening, he completed another cultivation session.

[Cultivation: 12.4/500 (+1.8/session)]

Aside from practicing the Water Spirit Formula upon waking in the morning, he practiced the Wood Essence Art for the other three sessions.

When Yue Shuo's Divine Sense recovered to six points again at midnight,

he did not carry out any cultivation.

After all, cultivating a technique took around two hours. Tai Chi Fist was quick to practice, but it consumed an enormous amount of Divine Sense.

He tried memorizing the First-Grade Runes from the Basic Talisman-Making Notes.

Six points of Divine Sense consumed five points.

He successfully memorized one rune.

At last, he had squeezed himself dry, leaving only one point of Divine Sense.

Yue Shuo immediately lay down on his bed and fell asleep. Before finding a faster way to restore Divine Sense, this was his only method of rapid recovery.

Yue Shuo did not dare let his Divine Sense fall to zero.

Because that would be extremely dangerous.

He suspected that when he had fallen unconscious for several days as a child, it had been because he had practiced Tai Chi Fist too close to the time limit.

The next day, he rose again at dawn.

His Divine Sense was full.

Yue Shuo adjusted his schedule and had Gu Jiu inquire about the circumstances of the other two people on the island.