Upon reaching the second floor, Li Ping found it noticeably smaller than the first.
A lone wooden table stood in the middle of the otherwise empty second floor. The eleven people who had come up ahead of him were gathered around it, so the high-tier cultivation methods were evidently on that table.
But before Li Ping could approach, one of those eleven cultivators slammed his palm hard against the wooden table.
Clearly, he was struggling to suppress his anger.
Had they not still been in the Wang Family Ancestral Grounds, with the Wang Family Ancestor at the Foundation Establishment middle stage just downstairs, he would probably have unleashed a torrent of curses already.
An uneasy feeling immediately rose in Li Ping's heart. He strode forward and swept his divine sense over the dozen or so jade slips on the table. The introductions to the cultivation methods within them immediately appeared in his mind.
One look left him momentarily stunned.
Then he laughed—a laugh born of anger. The Wang Family Ancestor's outrageous maneuver had really done it this time.
Without a doubt, he had fallen into the man's trap again.
There really were over a dozen high-tier cultivation methods on the wooden table, and one even claimed to allow cultivation up to the legendary Spirit Transformation realm.
But most of these were universally acknowledged as worthless cultivation methods!
What made a cultivation method worthless? Either the vast majority of cultivators could not meet its requirements, or it contained such enormous hidden dangers that no one dared practice it.
What use did they have for these worthless cultivation methods?
First, the Wang Family had baited them with the Immortal City's Secret Arts Pavilion, then brought them to this pavilion, letting them grow furious at the thought that they had been swindled.
At the crucial moment, the Wang Family Ancestor had stepped forward and told them frankly.
There was no way they could visit the Immortal City's Secret Arts Pavilion, but a trip to the Wang Family's Secret Arts Pavilion would not leave them empty-handed.
There were more than a dozen high-tier cultivation methods on the second floor of the Secret Arts Pavilion, and they could go upstairs and choose one to take away.
Then he had seized the opportunity to make an agreement with them: once they went upstairs and viewed the cultivation methods, their spirit stones could no longer be refunded.
One ploy linked to the next, all with the ultimate aim of swindling them out of their spirit stones!
Li Ping could not stop railing inwardly. Beast! What an utter beast! With swindling skills like yours, even Frank would have to take you as his master!
He knew that among the twelve cultivators present, there was more than one Foundation Establishment cultivator besides himself.
If everyone had not been afraid to fight within the Immortal City, the Wang Family Ancestor's actions would have been enough to get him killed eight times over.
He most likely would not get his spirit stones back, so Li Ping could only examine the cultivation methods on the table and see whether he could recoup his losses.
Most of the dozen or so cultivation methods on the table were worthless ones that could not be practiced, and the remaining few were even more frightening.
"Blood Drift," "Blood Sea Great Method"... Their names alone marked them as demonic cultivation methods. Who knew where the Wang Family had obtained them?
The nations surrounding the Immortal City were all under orthodox sects. Anyone who practiced demonic cultivation methods would inevitably become every cultivator's common enemy, hunted down by the combined forces of the sects, the Immortal City, and Cultivation Families.
Of course, having the whole world as an enemy, constantly fleeing high-tier cultivators, breaking through, and turning the tables to kill one's pursuers... that would be quite thrilling too.
But this path to attaining the Dao was far too dangerous. The slightest misstep would mean dying young; no one without tremendous fortune could make it through.
Li Ping felt that the steady-growth route of a cultivator who lay low suited him better.
Besides, these demonic cultivation methods belonging to the Wang Family were badly incomplete. Most contained only the first few levels and could take a practitioner no further than the Foundation Establishment late stage. They did not even include a method for Core Formation, so they failed to meet Li Ping's requirements.
After finishing the demonic cultivation methods, Li Ping turned his attention back to the worthless ones, keeping their dangers firmly in mind.
The first worthless cultivation method Li Ping examined was the "Heaven-Burning Art," which could supposedly take a practitioner to the legendary Spirit Transformation realm.
But after reading it carefully, he shook his head slightly and classified it as a sinister cultivation method.
Its requirements were harsh: only mortals with a fire heavenly spiritual root could practice it, and when they first began, the magical power they cultivated would be roughly fifty percent weaker than that of others at the same stage.
Moreover, whenever they encountered a bottleneck between major realms, they had to devour a Spirit Flame nurtured by heaven and earth before they could break through!
After devouring a Spirit Flame and breaking through, the practitioner's magical power would increase as well. In the later stages, it could even surpass that of other cultivators at the same stage.
Cultivators with heavenly spiritual roots could cultivate smoothly all the way to perfected Core Formation, only encountering a bottleneck when forming their Nascent Soul.
Practicing this "Heaven-Burning Art" would instead create artificial bottlenecks for them, requiring them to devour a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fire at every breakthrough.
According to the introduction, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fires were exceptionally rare and precious. Even Nascent Soul cultivators might not possess one. Furthermore, devouring such a Spirit Flame entailed immense pain and risk; the slightest mistake would see the practitioner burned to ashes.
This was even more dangerous than practicing demonic arts within the territory of orthodox powers.
All those risks, just to have deeper reserves of magical power than other cultivators at the same stage far down the road?
If their luck was bad enough that they could not find a Spirit Flame, there would not even be a far down the road.
A method that could leave a cultivator with a heavenly spiritual root forever stuck at perfected Qi Refining-the "Heaven-Burning Art" was unquestionably a sinister cultivation method.
Skipping the "Heaven-Burning Art," Li Ping continued reading the introductions to the other worthless cultivation methods.
The more he read, the more he shook his head inwardly.
"Overview of the Celestial Stars": practitioners had to possess both a star variant spiritual root and an Indestructible Body before they could practice it.
Li Ping shook his head. "Does anyone in the cultivation world actually meet these requirements?"
"Great Freedom Heart Art": practitioners had to possess tremendous perseverance, constantly slay their heart demons, and preserve their inner selves, or risk possession by a Heavenly Demon. Those without ten-thousand-year cold jade and ten-thousand-year soul-nourishing wood were advised against practicing it.
Two more spiritual treasures Li Ping had never even heard of.
He shrank back at the prospect. "Even if I had ten-thousand-year cold jade and ten-thousand-year soul-nourishing wood, I wouldn't dare practice it."
As he worked his way through them, Li Ping's gaze settled on the third-to-last "worthless cultivation method."
This cultivation method was called the "Marsh Water Life-Nourishing Art." Its name seemed quite ordinary, but it was actually a high-tier cultivation method that could take a practitioner to the Nascent Soul realm.
The "Marsh Water Life-Nourishing Art" had very simple physical requirements: anyone with a water Spirit Root could practice it. Li Ping met that requirement too.
Of course, if the Wang Family had placed the "Marsh Water Life-Nourishing Art" here despite its simple requirements, it must have contained enormous hidden dangers.
Yet as Li Ping read about those dangers, a thoughtful expression gradually appeared on his face.
"Marsh Water Life-Nourishing Art": the Dao states that water engenders wood; water is the foundation upon which wood-aspected Spirit Materials grow. Having observed the workings of heaven and earth, I reversed this principle, using wood to nourish water instead, and thus created this cultivation method. Practitioners must also study pill refining, drawing upon the "primordial aura" released when pills form to fuel their cultivation.
After reading the lengthy introduction, Li Ping fully understood the hidden dangers of the "Marsh Water Life-Nourishing Art."
First, practitioners had to study pill refining, because the "Marsh Water Life-Nourishing Art" required the "primordial aura" released during the formation of pills at their own stage as nourishment. Without it, they could not advance so much as an inch.
Pills refined by others would not work, even if he stood by and watched them emerge from the furnace. Once the pills carried another person's aura, he could not absorb their "primordial aura." He had to refine the pills himself, alone.
In other words, if his pill-refining skills did not advance, his cultivation realm could not advance either.
Second, because he absorbed the "primordial aura" released when pills emerged from the furnace, all pills that increased cultivation would be useless to him. To improve his cultivation, he could only rely on his own painstaking practice.
Of course, pills for healing injuries or breaking through bottlenecks would still work.