Cultivation

Hearing how delighted Wang Yan was, Card Fairy's voice rang out in his mind, saying gravely, "Heh heh, ugly boy, don't celebrate too soon!"

"What's wrong?" Wang Yan's heart jolted at her words, and he hurriedly asked Card Fairy, "Could there be some other trouble?"

"Hahaha! What if you celebrate too soon and get so happy you hurt yourself?" Hearing Wang Yan's nervous tone, Card Fairy suddenly burst out laughing. She had clearly been teasing him... After a pause, she quickly added, "All right! This fairy needs a nap first. Take your time cultivating that art of yours!"

"Oh, right! Card Fairy! What's the name of the cultivation art you gave me?" Wang Yan did not mind her teasing. In fact, he found Card Fairy quite easy to get along with. When she did not answer, he hurriedly asked another question. "Also, what exactly is that Immortal Card? Is it a magic artifact? Or a talisman?"

"How could it possibly be something so low-grade? That's an insult to my Immortal Card!" Card Fairy said indignantly. Her voice rose as she declared with utter pride, "My Immortal Card is no ordinary treasure. Call it whatever you like-it's a super treasure capable of practically anything! How could those lousy magic artifacts and talismans compare to this divine artifact of mine... It's a divine artifact!" She paused, then quickly added, "As for that lousy cultivation art, name it whatever you want!"

"Uh... then what exactly is this Immortal Card?" Wang Yan listened to Card Fairy's furious, endless chatter, but she had never gotten to the point. Just what kind of treasure was this Immortal Card? It certainly sounded impressive...

"All right!" Card Fairy said wearily. "To put it simply, this Immortal Card is a type of divine artifact invented by this fairy. There's only one in the entire cultivation world! It surpasses all the treasures cultivators have now, combining artifact refining, formations, pill refining, spells, incantations, talismans, and more into one incredibly powerful, all-purpose treasure!" Suddenly sounding like an old woman hawking her wares in the mortal world, Card Fairy called out, "My Immortal Card can cast spells, lay formations, summon Demon Beasts, unleash magical treasures, set traps... With my super Immortal Card Artifact, you can do anything you want, as long as you can refine an Immortal Card like that!"

"...!" After listening to Card Fairy go on for so long, Wang Yan was still lost in the clouds, unable to make sense of it... He was just about to speak...

"Ah! Forget it! This is far too profound for a cultivator at your level to understand...!" Card Fairy seemed to know Wang Yan did not understand and could not be bothered to explain further. She quickly said, "What you need to do now is cultivate your magical power first... Once you reach Minor Completion of the Cultivation Realm, I'll show you how powerful my Immortal Card is!"

"Sure! I'll be waiting!" Wang Yan said casually. Though Card Fairy's words had made heavenly flowers rain from the sky, it actually sounded like a special kind of talisman... He did not dwell on it. Whatever the case, cultivating and restoring his cultivation was what mattered. In this utterly cruel world, without magical power or strength, he could only be a mortal left at others' mercy, like livestock awaiting slaughter... Wang Yan would rather die than live that way...

"I'm exhausted... I'm going to sleep!" Card Fairy complained, sounding truly tired. With that, she fell silent...

"Wait... how did Card Fairy get inside my body?" Wang Yan sat cross-legged, and the thought suddenly occurred to him as he remembered this serious problem. Still, he knew he could not let distracting thoughts crowd his mind while cultivating... He had finally found a sliver of hope of cultivating immortal arts again...

Naturally, Wang Yan would not give up. He immediately cleared away his distracting thoughts and began cultivating, circulating the Fire-Type Cultivation Method Card Fairy had given him. He distinctly felt the surrounding air grow hot as wisps of heat, barely visible to the naked eye, continuously seeped into his body. His cultivation had clearly begun. He could feel magical power flowing into the metal tubes that served as meridians near his dantian, then entering that incomparably complex metal space, where threads of red spiritual light steadily gathered.

He could clearly feel that the cultivation art Card Fairy had given him was anything but ordinary. It absorbed magical power several times faster than the water cultivation art, the Water Spirit Art, he had practiced before, and it put far less strain on his body and meridians. In the past, after cultivating the Water Spirit Art for an hour, he could barely endure it. His whole body would ache, and his dantian would feel cold and uncomfortable.

Circulating this art, however, caused no significant discomfort. Instead, his entire body felt pleasantly warm. Threads of red light surged through the metal plate in his abdomen, but nothing felt unusual. As time passed, the warmth in his body grew increasingly hot...

When Wang Yan emerged from meditation.

"Huh? It's already noon?" As soon as Wang Yan opened his eyes, the dazzling light made them ache a little, but he felt wonderfully refreshed. Squinting at the brilliant sunlight, he could not help murmuring to himself. As he spoke, his whole body felt incredibly comfortable, as though all his exhaustion had vanished at once and he had endless strength to spare...

"Just one night of meditation, and it feels like I've cultivated for over ten days. At this rate, won't my magical power recover completely in just a few days?" Wang Yan stood and stretched his limbs, sensing the trace of Fire-Type Mana within the Immortal Card Artifact in his body. Though it was still faint, amounting to less than a tenth of his former water-type mana, the speed was already astonishing. He could not help murmuring aloud. Looking around, he realized he was terribly hungry and hurried toward the little lake...

He remembered that this little lake had plenty of fish...

With Wang Yan's martial arts skills, he could catch fish even without magical power. Before long, he had caught two large fish weighing several pounds each.

But now he had a problem: he had no fire!

"Right! I'll try a Fire Type spell!" Holding the large fish, Wang Yan suddenly had an idea. With that thought, he circulated his magical power and reached toward the firewood on the ground. Threads of red light rippled out as he made a grasping motion toward it... Wisps of pale smoke rose from the dry wood...

However... Wang Yan's cultivation of the Fire-Type Cultivation Method was too shallow, and he could only produce a few sparks. Still, that was enough. After he added some dry leaves, the fire caught in no time.

"Heh heh, this Fire-Type Cultivation Method really is handy!" Wang Yan thought smugly. He skewered the large fish and began roasting them. Then he remembered Card Fairy and hurriedly called out, "Card Fairy! Senior Card Fairy! Are you all right?"

"Ah!" Only then did Card Fairy's voice sound in Wang Yan's mind. "What do you want? I'm resting!"

"Oh! I'm roasting fish! Would you like some?" Wang Yan's eyes darted about as he quickly asked, "Why don't you come out of my body and let me see what you look like?" Wang Yan was hardly inviting Card Fairy to eat roast fish. He had simply begun to feel that having someone inside his body was rather strange, and he still had no idea what Card Fairy intended. He was really just trying to coax her out.

"Roast fish?" At those words, Card Fairy sounded tempted. "How I miss that taste...!" After a pause, however, she said, "In my current state, I can't eat roast fish... Forget it!"

"Oh! What happened to you?" Wang Yan followed up on Card Fairy's words...

"Wasn't it all for this Immortal Card Artifact...!" Card Fairy answered offhandedly. "Still, telling a boy at your level won't do any good. If you were a True Immortal, then... Forget it. Who knows how many years it'll take you to attain immortality and the Dao!"

"Senior Card Fairy...!" Hearing this, Wang Yan's heart stirred, and he hurriedly asked, "Are there really immortals in this world?" Although Wang Yan was a cultivator himself, how old was he, really? He had spent his days cultivating in the Wang Household and had never traveled far since he could remember. He truly did not know whether anyone in this world had cultivated to immortality...

"Of course there are!" Card Fairy replied firmly. Then, after a pause, she added rather flippantly, "Aren't I a fairy myself?"

"Uh!" Wang Yan hesitated, then quickly said, "Senior Card Fairy, you keep saying this Immortal Card is powerful, but just how powerful is it?"

"Well..." Card Fairy hesitated, seemingly considering how to answer. After a pause, she finally said, "Almost every True Immortal in the immortal world wants to get their hands on it. Would you say it's powerful?"

"Every True Immortal wants it? Then it must be incredibly powerful!" Wang Yan's heart tightened, and he hurriedly replied. He was indeed deeply tempted. Anything coveted even by exalted True Immortals was naturally extraordinary. The strongest cultivators Wang Yan knew of or had heard about were merely in the nascent soul realm. Above them were so many higher levels before one finally became a True Immortal... By that reckoning, it was naturally very powerful... With that thought, he hurriedly asked again, "But exactly what makes it so powerful?" After all that talk, Card Fairy was still keeping him in suspense.

"All right! I'll let you see for yourself!" Card Fairy considered for a moment, then quickly asked, "Do you have any Demon Beast hides?"

"Huh? You need Demon Beast hides too?" Wang Yan froze at her words and asked in surprise.

"Of course! Hurry up, do you have any or not?" Card Fairy urged...

"I don't have any!" Wang Yan said, somewhat embarrassed. He had originally carried some Demon Beast hides and other things, but Wang Ziling had searched him and taken them all. He had nothing left on him... Remembering this made Wang Yan's teeth itch with hatred. Grinding them, he said furiously, "That damned Wang Ziling! I'll settle the score with him!"

"Ah! Then there's nothing I can do!" Card Fairy said helplessly. "My Immortal Card needs a medium. Only Demon Beast hide or certain special materials will work...!"

"It's that much trouble?" Wang Yan asked in surprise. He scratched the back of his head, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration, as though he had spotted something, and hurriedly said, "I've got it!"

"What?"

"I have a beast hide!"