Some time passed.
Chen Yu walked out of the Scripture Repository.
He had spent 300 points.
The three cultivation arts he had chosen were the Flame-Transforming Art, the Earth-Warding Art, and the Qi-Concealing Art.
The Flame-Transforming Art and the Earth-Warding Art needed little explanation. They were the most basic Qi Refining arts for the fire and earth attributes, respectively.
As for the Qi-Concealing Art, it could hide his cultivation. As long as he did not use the Spiritual Power in his body, even a Foundation Establishment Realm elder would be unable to discern his true cultivation. Of course, if he encountered a powerful cultivator in the Golden Core or even the Nascent Soul Realm, that would be another matter entirely.
He stepped out of the Scripture Repository.
Just then,
At the entrance to the Scripture Repository, the old man reclining in a rocking chair glanced at Chen Yu.
He asked casually,
"Made your choices?"
"Yes."
Chen Yu nodded.
"Cultivating the True Essence Profound Canon requires five arts with different attributes. There aren't many ways to earn points on Emerald Cloud Peak. Getting onto the Outer Sect Genius Ranking is a good option, but... that ranking isn't easy to get onto."
As he spoke, the Scripture Repository's old man looked at Chen Yu with a smile.
"Boy, let me point you toward another promising path."
"Elder Hao of Heavenly Flame Peak, Elder Du of Ten Thousand Mountains Peak, and the Heavenly Union Association jointly established by Outer Sect disciples all offer loans."
"You can borrow from each of them at staggered intervals and reserve some points specifically for repayments. Repay, then borrow; borrow, then repay... keep the cycle going. That way, you only need to make sure you complete your regular monthly assignment and cover your personal living expenses, and you can cultivate without a care."
Wasn't that just taking out loans to pay off loans?
Chen Yu remained expressionless.
"Article 332 of the sect's Code of Conduct Manual: each disciple may have only one outstanding loan. Anyone discovered borrowing through multiple channels will be seized and refined on the spot!"
"So that path is a dead end."
Never mind whether it would actually work.
Even if it did,
who could guarantee they would complete their regular assignment every single month?
Besides, after two years, food, clothing, lodging, and travel would all cost points. Taking out loans to repay loans would most likely end with him borrowing more and more, owing more and more, and finally being turned into a bright red lump of spirit essence.
Beside him, the Scripture Repository's old man froze at Chen Yu's words.
"They have that rule now?"
"They've had it for ages."
Judging by this,
the old man before him clearly hadn't been online in far too long.
Chen Yu brought him up to speed. "The Dao Sect's Code of Conduct Manual now has 981 articles. Many loopholes and shortcuts have already been patched."
"..."
The old man fell silent.
Seeing him sink into thought, Chen Yu did not linger.
Now that he had the arts, he needed to hurry up and cultivate.
He returned to his house.
Before entering, Chen Yu turned to glance at his neighbor's place. The doors and windows were tightly shut, as though nobody was home.
Without giving it much thought, he went inside and closed the door.
He sat cross-legged on the bed.
He began studying the Flame-Transforming Art.
"The normal steps for cultivating the Flame-Transforming Art are..."
"Step one: sense qi and draw in fire. Hold both hands in the 'fire-cradling posture'-cupped loosely before the dantian, as though holding a flame. Sense the crimson spiritual lights between heaven and earth, drifting like scattered stars. Gather them into your hands, then guide them along your meridians into your dantian."
"Step two: transform qi into flame. Once the dantian is filled with spiritual energy, compress it with your will. Visualize it gradually heating up, glowing dull red like charcoal, then guide the 'heat' slowly along the conception and governing vessels."
"Step three: refine fire through a complete circuit. Beginning at the dantian, circulate it through the three hand yang meridians and the three foot yin meridians among the twelve principal meridians."
"When concluding cultivation, shrink the flame within the dantian into a single spark and keep nourishing it..."
That was the normal cultivation method.
"But since my primary cultivation art is the True Essence Profound Canon, I need to circulate my Spiritual Power along its meridian pathways while cultivating."
After working out the specific cultivation method, Chen Yu took a deep breath.
As expected of a Dao Sect Outer Sect cultivation art, the Flame-Transforming Art was more than one level harder to cultivate than the Qi Guiding Art.
Especially for someone with a false spirit embryo like Chen Yu. The first step alone-sensing the crimson spiritual lights between heaven and earth-could hold him up for years.
"Luckily, I only need to go through the motions and imitate the cultivation process to gain Experience Points."
Chen Yu was about to begin his research.
"Hold both hands in the 'fire-cradling posture' and gather Spiritual Power into them... if I hold Ah Zhen in my hands, that should solve the Spiritual Power problem."
"Visualize the dantian gradually heating up... guide the heat..."
At that thought,
Chen Yu frowned.
Suddenly,
he turned toward the quilt beside him.
"Couldn't I just wrap myself in the quilt while cultivating?"
"In weather this hot, after a little while under there, it won't just be my dantian heating up. My whole body will be hot."
"Let's give it a try."
But before trying it, he needed to add his previously accumulated experience to his level.
He had to cultivate the True Essence Profound Canon to the peak of the fourth level of Qi Refining before he could begin cultivating arts of other attributes.
Panel.
Chen Yu called inwardly.
A second later,
the panel appeared.
[Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: Qi Refining, fourth level (9/50).] [Spiritual root: False spiritual root.] [Martial skills: None.] [Cultivation art: True Essence Profound Canon.] [Currently available experience: 40.]
Add all my experience to my level, Chen Yu said inwardly.
A second later,
he immediately felt a powerful surge of spiritual energy appear inside him.
It flowed along his meridians to every part of his body.
Although he had not broken through, there was still a considerable gap between the early stage and the peak of the same level.
[Attributes updated!] [Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: Qi Refining, fourth level (49/50).] [Spiritual root: False spiritual root.] [Martial skills: None.] [Cultivation art: True Essence Profound Canon.] [Currently available experience: 0.]
Since Chen Yu had not yet begun cultivating the Flame-Transforming Art, it did not appear on the panel.
"Let's begin."
Chen Yu draped the quilt over himself.
He took out Ah Zhen.
He settled into meditation.
He imagined that Ah Zhen in his hands was burning hot.
He drew that heat into his dantian.
He was getting hot.
The quilt was doing its job.
He guided the "heat" along the pathways of the True Essence Profound Canon...
[Cultivation in progress...] [Experience Points: +0.00025...] [Experience Points: +0.00025...] [Cultivation concluded.]
Hidden beneath the quilt, he saw nothing but darkness.
Looking at the Experience Points notifications appearing before him in the darkness, Chen Yu made a quick calculation.
"One experience point per hour."
"Not bad."
Chen Yu nodded.
He continued cultivating.
About ten minutes later,
Whoosh!
He whipped the quilt off.
"Huff... huff..."
Drenched in sweat, Chen Yu panted heavily.
Although removing the quilt instantly cooled him down considerably, the closed room was still a little stuffy, so Chen Yu reached out and pushed open the window.
He took a moment to recover.
That was about enough.
Chen Yu pulled the quilt over himself again and resumed cultivating.
Except,
he had forgotten to close the window.
Outside, several Emerald Cloud Peak disciples happened to pass by.
One of them caught the scene out of the corner of his eye and froze.
"Holy shit?"
"What's this fellow disciple doing?"
"It's the height of summer, and you're still getting yourself off under a quilt... you absolute madman..."