Three Years
"Cultivating a seventh-grade Cultivation Method doesn't just stop a cultivator at the middle stage of Qi Refinement. More than that, cultivating a seventh-grade method is more likely to leave a cultivator in despair.
For us cultivators, cultivation also corresponds to lifespan.
Cultivation realms, from lowest to highest, are Meridian Opening, Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Purple Mansion, Golden Core, and Lodge Transformation.
At the Meridian Opening Realm, one's lifespan is one hundred and twenty years;
At the Qi Refining Realm, one's lifespan is one hundred and eighty years;
At the Foundation Establishment Realm, one's lifespan is three hundred years;
At the Purple Mansion Realm, one's lifespan is five hundred years;
At the Golden Core Realm, one's lifespan is over a thousand years.
The grade of a Cultivation Method determines not only one's future combat strength, but also the speed and upper limit of one's cultivation.
I cultivated the upper-tier seventh-grade Mountain Stream Spirit Art and reached the Qi Refining First Layer at thirty-three. Back then, I was so full of high spirits.
But look at me now. I'm already eighty-five, and I've only reached the Qi Refining Second Layer." Kang Cang took a sip of wine, bitterness on his face.
"Cultivation with a seventh-grade method is far too slow," Liu Hanchuan couldn't help remarking.
Kang Cang smiled helplessly and continued his account.
Of the Qi Refinement Cultivation Methods, first-grade methods were the best, and seventh-grade methods were the worst.
First-, second-, and third-grade methods existed only in legend, having long since been lost without a trace. The highest-grade methods still in existence were only upper-tier fourth-grade.
Fame was best sought early, and the same was even truer of cultivation. If possible, cultivators were best off reaching the Qi Refinement Great Perfection before sixty, giving them a better chance of successfully establishing their foundation.
If a cultivator had a Middle-Grade Spirit Root and no shortage of Spiritual Qi or pills, cultivating a seventh-grade method would generally get them to the Qi Refining First Layer at thirty-five and the Qi Refining Fourth Layer at eighty. Their cultivation would stop at the middle stage of Qi Refinement for the rest of their life, and their lifespan would be only one hundred and thirty years.
With an upper-tier sixth-grade method, they could reach the Qi Refining First Layer at twenty, the seventh at fifty, and the tenth at eighty. Their cultivation would stop at Late-stage Qi Refinement for the rest of their life.
With a lower-tier fifth-grade method, however, they could reach Qi Refinement at eighteen, the tenth layer at forty-five, and Qi Refinement Great Perfection before sixty, then attempt Foundation Establishment.
The Xi Household's contracted spirit workers could cultivate the upper-tier seventh-grade Mountain Stream Spirit Art for free. The Xi Household's upper-tier sixth-grade Mountain Stream Clear Spirit Art was for members of the Xi Lineage, while its highest method, the lower-tier fifth-grade Spirit Mystic Jade Flow Scripture, was reserved for the Xi Household's direct line.
"Among all eighteen great cultivation Lineages in the Western Spirit Ten Thousand Islands Region, the highest-grade methods are only upper-tier fifth-grade.
Tens of thousands of li west of the Western Spirit Ten Thousand Islands Region lies the Western Heaven Mystic Spirit Continent.
To learn a fourth-grade method, you have to become a disciple of a cultivation sect on the Mystic Spirit Continent, such as the Purple Sword Sect or the Falling Cloud Sect.
Of course, the four strongest sects on the Mystic Spirit Continent-the Mystic Sword Sect, Heavenly Sword Sect, Holy Cardamom Sect, and Dao Heaven Sect-not only have fourth-grade Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment methods, but also profound methods for cultivating Divine Abilities and becoming a Purple Mansion True Person.
It's just a pity that none of the three of us will have such a fortuitous opportunity in this lifetime." Kang Cang sighed softly.
"Old Kang, Tang Yuan and I both took part in the Purple Sword Sect's entrance selection ten years ago. Unfortunately, neither of us passed..." Liu Hanchuan smiled awkwardly.
Tang Yuan also gave an ashamed smile and sighed bitterly. "Old Kang, I've found a lower-tier sixth-grade method at the Mystic Dipper Market. If I work a little harder, I'll be able to afford it.
What I want to ask is, should I buy it and start cultivating it as soon as possible, or should I wait and see whether I can find a higher-grade method later?"
"Of course you should buy it and start cultivating it as soon as possible," Kang Cang said firmly. "First, once you cultivate a Qi Refinement method, your strength will improve, and you'll be better able to seize any fortuitous opportunities that come your way.
Besides, Xi Shanhu and his lot are no good birds. If you can improve your cultivation, you should do it as soon as possible. With higher cultivation, at least you'll be able to run faster.
Third, if you obtain a better method later, you can switch to cultivating the higher-grade method as long as the methods don't conflict and you haven't reached the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.
Even if you have reached the seventh layer, you can weigh the pros and cons, disperse your cultivation, and start over."
"Thank you for showing me the way, Old Kang." Tang Yuan rose and cupped his fists, an answer already in his heart.
"Brother Tang, if you become rich and honored, don't forget me." Liu Hanchuan raised his cup as well.
"You two must remember this: under no circumstances should you cultivate Buddhist Cultivation methods.
Even if someone gives you a Buddhist Cultivation method for free, even if you could cultivate a Greater Divine Ability in a single day, you must never cultivate it.
Our Qi Ingestion path of Purple Mansion Golden Core Dao is a method cultivated by people. But those Buddhist Cultivation practitioners who talk about the next life have methods that cultivate people.
Over the decades, I've seen no fewer than thirty cultivators take up Buddhist Cultivation methods for one reason or another, and not one of them came to a good end," Kang Cang warned them solemnly...
...Tang Yuan made several more trips to the Mystic Dipper Market. After weighing his options again and again, he finally spent fourteen hundred Spirit Stones in October to buy the lower-tier sixth-grade Qi Refinement method Metal Pivot Fire Spirit Technique and began cultivating it.
He swallowed and absorbed two wisps of the lower-tier fourth-grade metal-attribute Spiritual Qi Thunder Metal Gui Sha, bought from Luo Ningran's Luo Household Pill Shop in the Demon Realm, and reached the Qi Refining First Layer in the first month of the year 4025 of the New Immortal Calendar.
With the Metal Pivot Fire Spirit Technique bolstering him, Tang Yuan's Qi Forging Technique and Pill Refining Technique also advanced by leaps and bounds.
In the third month of 4025, he refined a Spirit Gathering Pill and officially became an Alchemist for the Xi Household.
In the fifth month of 4025, after wasting all three wisps of Thunder Wood Sha and one wisp of Thunder Water Sha he had bought from the Demon Realm, Tang Yuan finally forged the upper-tier fifth-grade water-attribute Spiritual Qi Moon Xin Stream Tide.
A wisp of Thunder Water Sha cost Tang Yuan one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones at the Luo Household Pill Shop in Loulan City in the Demon Realm. With a trace of Moon Jade Radiance added, the wisp of Moon Xin Stream Tide he forged from it could sell for four hundred Spirit Stones at the Mystic Dipper Market, a clear profit of two hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.
Most cultivators in the Western Spirit Ten Thousand Islands Region had water as their strongest Spirit Root attribute, and most cultivated water-attribute methods, so there was never any trouble selling the upper-tier fifth-grade water-attribute Spiritual Qi Moon Xin Stream Tide.
On top of that, the cultivation Lineages of the Western Spirit Ten Thousand Islands Region were now fighting in one great, tangled mess. They desperately needed to improve their cultivators' cultivation, and demand for Spiritual Qi and pills had surged.
The Xi Household, a middling power among the eighteen cultivation Lineages, was also swept up in it, forced to take a side and join the fighting.
With the Xi Household joining the melee, a shortage of pills was inevitable. As the great cultivation Lineages beat one another's brains out, Tang Yuan's standing in the Xi Household rose with the tide in his role as its Alchemist.
Now Tang Yuan not only had the Xi Household's eldest young lady, Xi Yunshu, backing him, but also enjoyed the favor of its head, Xi Xinfeng. Even Xi Youde had to address him respectfully as "Alchemist Tang" whenever they met.
While the vast majority of cultivators in the Western Spirit Ten Thousand Islands Region were sweating, bleeding, being maimed, and losing their lives, Tang Yuan lived a carefree and happy life, earning enough to fill his pots and bowls to the brim.
In the first ten days of each month, he cultivated, forged Spiritual Qi, and refined pills on Ten Thousand Snakes Island. Around the twelfth, he went to Golden Shell Island to net red spirit eels, then went to the Demon Realm to sell the fish, buy medicine, and cultivate.
When the fighting grew fierce, or even when enemies reached the Xi Household's doorstep, Tang Yuan either ran to the Demon Realm to hide or used the map of the terrain he had memorized to find a safe place and hole up.
Sometimes, Tang Yuan even hoped the fighting throughout the Ten Thousand Islands Region would continue for ten or twenty years.
To make catching and selling red spirit eels more convenient, and also for his own safety-after all, the wind and waves around Golden Shell Island were sometimes terrifying-Tang Yuan carved out a small, concealed cave abode on the island and named it the Golden Cave Abode.
Time flew like a shuttle, and three years passed in the blink of an eye.
On the sixteenth day of the third month in the year 4028 of the Human Realm's New Immortal Calendar, Tang Yuan, still at the Qi Refining First Layer, raised a formation outside his cave abode on Golden Shell Island.
Returning to the cave abode, Tang Yuan moved to the Demon Realm through the mystic spoon in his sea of consciousness with a thought...
The Demon Realm, Loulan City.
Tang Yuan, a nine-faced snake demon at the Qi Refinement Ninth Layer, looked at Hu Mei'er and Huang You'er kneeling on one knee before him. His vertical pupils turned cold as he said icily, "Hu Mei'er, are you certain this earth flood dragon that's about to undergo its Foundation Establishment tribulation has something to do with Dragon Skeleton Jade Mud?"...