[Item: Basic Meditation Method (Nuoding Academy Version)] [Effect: The most basic meditation method. Its cultivation approach is crude and inefficient.] [Upgrade result: Intermediate Life Meditation Method] [Effect: A life-attribute cultivation method. Whether a Soul Master or a Soul Beast, anyone suited to this method can achieve twice the result with half the effort when cultivating it.] [Upgrade requirement: 1 low-level meditation method, 1 corpse of a ten-year life-attribute Soul Beast]
His expression remained unchanged when he saw this. He was not surprised. Three months ago, when he awakened his Martial Soul, he had asked Brother Tao for the Basic Meditation Method, using the excuse that a clumsy bird needed to take flight early. He had then seen the upgrade panel through his cheat, and it was identical to the one he saw now.
The only difference was that the Basic Meditation Method he had obtained three months ago was the Spirit Hall version, while this one was the Nuoding Academy version.
With that in mind,
Gu Chen opened the Basic Meditation Method booklet before him and studied it closely. Its contents were not complicated; in fact, much of it was very similar to the Spirit Hall version he had obtained three months ago. Once he had finished reading, he could say with reasonable certainty that the two were at least sixty to seventy percent alike, with thirty to forty percent of their contents differing.
Perhaps that was why his cheat distinguished the two Basic Meditation Methods as separate versions.
That made him happy.
Since the Basic Meditation Method could be upgraded, the resulting Intermediate Life Meditation Method could surely be upgraded again. When the time came, the upgrade requirements would likely call for an even higher-level meditation method. If different versions counted separately, it would be easier for him to find one.
What a shame. If Yu Xiaogang hadn't blown Dorm Seven apart with a fart, I could still use the dozen or so ten-year Blue Silver Grass corpses I'd collected. But now he's blown them up. Forget it, I'll find more. I don't want to upgrade the Basic Meditation Method only to catch a whiff of that smell when I read it!
Gu Chen let out a heavy sigh inwardly.
He only wanted to upgrade alone, but he just had to run into Yu Xiaogang, who had thrown his plans into complete disarray.
There was only one class today.
It focused on cultivation. As seasoned veterans, the teachers explained cultivation methods thoroughly, making the profound easy to understand. Even Gu Chen, who had already learned how to cultivate, benefited greatly and gained a great deal.
The cultivation class ended.
The classroom soon emptied out.
Gu Chen quietly put away the Basic Meditation Method and left Nuoding Academy. There had been so many surprises yesterday that he had forgotten to ask at the pharmacy about begonia flowers. Now that he had time, he naturally had to go there first.
Upgrade the meditation method?
There was no hurry.
Upgrading the meditation method required materials, and if he found begonia flowers, upgrading them would surely require materials too. So he could first get his hands on the flowers and determine their upgrade requirements before taking action.
Ye Family Pharmacy.
At the entrance.
Gu Chen withdrew his gaze from the signboard and stepped into the shop. He had already made inquiries: Ye Family Pharmacy was a century-old establishment that never passed off inferior goods as quality products. Its reputation was enough to make everyone give it a thumbs-up.
Speaking of that,
Gu Chen was reminded of something interesting.
Across this continent, the top factions had businesses in various places. Here in Nuoding City, for example, many factions had businesses, including Spirit Hall, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, and the Soul Fighting Arena...
But
among the many factions, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's businesses had the best reputation, the Ye Clan's pharmacies had the best-quality goods, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family tended to look down their noses at people, and Spirit Hall and the Soul Fighting Arena could only be considered adequate.
There was one, however, whose products and reputation were both the worst.
Those were the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's businesses.
Overbearing!
Arrogant!
Passing off inferior products as quality goods!
A reputation worth almost nothing!
That described the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Almost everyone avoided them when buying or selling anything. After all, no one wanted their money snatched back before it had even warmed in their hands!
One could only say that their existence truly made the other factions look like saints by comparison.
But when even a piece of trash with only half a level of Innate Soul Power could be that arrogant, it was no surprise that the rest of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan walked around with their noses pointed at the sky.
"Sir, do you sell begonia flowers here?"
Gu Chen approached the counter and asked an elderly man.
"Begonia flowers? Of course. How many do you need?"
The elderly man glanced at Gu Chen. Although he was a little puzzled that someone so young had come out to buy medicine, he did not ask further. The ancestors had said that a pharmacy should stick to selling medicine properly, not engage in crooked dealings, and certainly not pry into what customers intended to do with their purchases.
By adhering to the ancestors' rules, Ye Family Pharmacy's business had always flourished, and it had never provoked anyone it shouldn't.
"How many do you have? I'll take them all."
Gu Chen waved a hand, showing that money was no object.
How much could a few medicinal herbs cost? He was a wealthy man with several hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to his name.
He was rich, so he could do as he pleased. Got it?!
Hearing this,
the elderly man merely gave Gu Chen another look before looking away. He turned to the medicine cabinet behind him and took out the few begonia flowers that remained.
"These are the last two begonia flowers in the shop. They have several years' medicinal potency. I'll charge you sixty Gold Soul Coins."
Gu Chen glanced at the begonia flowers on the counter.
Their upgrade panel was clearly visible.
[Item: Begonia flower] [Effect: A medicinal herb with several years' potency. It has remarkable effects in treating injuries.] [Upgrade result: Begonia flower] [Effect: A ten-year great medicinal herb. It can be used to treat injuries, and consuming it can slightly increase Qi and blood.] [Upgrade requirement: 1 corpse of a ten-year life-attribute Soul Beast]
Although it was only a ten-year great medicinal herb, it still offered a glimpse of the whole leopard through a bamboo tube. In particular, the begonia flower's effects after upgrading-treating injuries and increasing Qi and blood-were closely related to vitality!
Not to mention that the upgrade requirement was also the corpse of a life-attribute Soul Beast.
And what his Martial Soul needed for its upgrade was likewise largely related to vitality.
Therefore,
he could infer that this was the "begonia flower" he was looking for. To meet the standard of his upgrade requirement, however, he would have to upgrade these begonia flowers several times.
Having more or less determined that these were what he was looking for, Gu Chen readily paid.
After taking the money,
the elderly man placed the two begonia flowers in a jade box and handed it to him.
With payment and goods exchanged,
Gu Chen headed outside Nuoding City. He chose not to buy Soul Beast corpses from the Seven Treasure Pavilion, intending to gather them himself instead. The main reason was that he could collect them faster in person. Through his cheat, no Blue Silver Grass that had become a Soul Beast could escape his detection.
Soul Beasts and weeds could be distinguished at a glance.
He went off cheerfully to pick mushrooms-no, to pull weeds!
Meanwhile,
in Nuoding City's prison,
"Hmm? I think I had a nightmare!"
Yu Xiaogang slowly awoke, but the moment he did, he felt something intense assault him from below. The severe pain made him look around, but all he saw was the cold cell. Then he spotted Brother Scar giving him a crooked smile.
His heart sank, and his face turned deathly pale.
This place-was hell!!!