Gold-grade cultivation art: "Bright Lamp Spirit-Kindling Art"
"At that standard, inner disciples must have a Physique attribute of at least 12 points, and true disciples probably generally have over 15, or even higher."
Lin Xu clenched his fist, feeling the power flowing through his body, his heart heavy.
Without looking any longer, he strode toward the scripture repository.
Servants swept with their heads lowered along the way, bowing respectfully when they saw Lin Xu. Outer disciples hurried past as well, passing one another with blank expressions and no one speaking.
Lin Xu thought nothing of it. This was the norm in the Spirit Realm.
According to adventurers' experience posts on online forums, the vast majority of creatures in the Spirit Realm were mindless puppets, like NPCs programmed by the system to patrol, work, or fight along fixed routes.
The scripture repository stood on a terrace halfway up the mountain, its roof covered in blue tiles, ancient and solemn.
Lin Xu climbed the steps and pushed open the heavy wooden door. The scent of sandalwood filled his nostrils, and rows of bookshelves reached all the way to the ceiling.
An old Daoist sat cross-legged in the center, guarding the repository. Without lifting his eyelids, he said, "Outer disciples may borrow one cultivation art without spending merit points. Do not overstep."
Lin Xu nodded in acknowledgment and swept his gaze over the rows of bookshelves. Most held works like the "Basic Breathing Method" and the "Daoyin Technique."
But he was not disappointed in the least. Instead, a delighted smile appeared on his face.
In the real world, even these seemingly ordinary arts were not readily accessible. For the past ten years, he had cultivated only the commonplace Basic Meditation Method and a basic fitness technique, introductory methods promoted nationwide to screen for people with cultivation aptitude.
The only other skill he had, talisman drawing, was something he had taught himself from incomplete notes he had spent a great deal of time obtaining from a retired Night Watch member.
In the extraordinary world, knowledge and cultivation resources were the most precious wealth, and ordinary people could scarcely gain access to them in a lifetime.
Now, standing inside the scripture repository, he brushed his fingertips over a volume of "Introduction to Elementary Talismans," and a long-forgotten thrill stirred in his heart.
Every text here was enough to make countless ordinary people in the real world spend their entire fortunes, yet now he was free to take and read them.
He took a deep breath and quickly swept his gaze through the repository.
Time was limited. He had to find the most valuable text to cultivate.
Passing over book after book, Lin Xu used the simplest method to find a suitable cultivation text-checking its grade.
A high-grade art was bound to be more powerful than a low-grade one.
As he moved past the rows of bookshelves, Lin Xu soon noticed that the books in the repository only appeared neatly arranged; in truth, they were in utter disarray.
Body refinement, spells, talisman drawing, artifact refinement—it was all a jumble, with white and blue cultivation arts and skills of different grades mixed together.
To find a suitable cultivation art, he had no choice but to examine them one by one with patience.
A full half hour later, Lin Xu's eyes were swimming from all the reading when the gold before him made him stop short. "A gold cultivation art?"
Until then, his greatest hope had been to obtain a purple inheritance at Xuanwei Monastery. According to the information he had gathered over the years, that would be enough to cultivate to Legendary Tier—in the century since the Spirit Realm's invasion, only seven Legendary Tier cultivators were known to exist in the real world.
These were beings who could hold an entire nation in check, humanity's strongest shield against the Spirit Realm's invasion.
He rubbed his eyes and focused his gaze. Sure enough, it was a gold-grade cultivation method.
"Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art," a path of Soul Refining cultivation.
At the very start of cultivation, one could use a spirit lamp artifact to open the Divine Aperture and cultivate, opening up a personal spirit pool to store magic power (or mana).
After completing the first step, a cultivator who had gained magic power could use the spirit lamp to purify the power of faith, then use faith to speed up cultivation.
Lin Xu's heart raced as he read. Although he had only cultivated the most basic meditation method, he had spent long enough on the Spirit Realm forums to have a basic understanding.
The cultivation methods of this world were broadly divided into three categories: body refinement, Qi Refining, and spirit refinement. Warriors focused on body refinement and Qi Refining, while mages focused on Qi Refining and spirit refinement.
There were also those who combined magic and martial arts, though cultivating both was even harder.
With an art like the "Basic Meditation Method," one had to cultivate to grandmaster level just to qualify to open the Divine Aperture and truly step through the gates of spirit-refining cultivation, but the chance of success was minuscule.
With somewhat more advanced arts, one had to keep searching for the Divine Aperture in the sea of consciousness. Some lucky people found it after a dozen or so attempts, while others were so unlucky that they searched their whole lives and died without finding it.
Even more advanced spirit-refining arts merely increased the chance of opening the Divine Aperture. He had never even heard of anything like the "Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art," which could use external power to open it directly at the very start of cultivation.
Of course, it was also possible that someone in the real world had obtained one but kept it secret.
This was a precious method capable of creating a cultivation family. How could anyone publicize it far and wide?
"I never expected Xuanwei Monastery to have an inheritance of a gold-grade cultivation art!"
Lin Xu's heart raced, and he reached for the art without hesitation.
Name: Bright Lamp Spirit-Kindling Art [Basic Part] Grade: gold legendary Effects: Soul Refining cultivation +30%, casting speed +30%, skill consumption -15%; magic power can be consumed to awaken a guardian deity Requirements: Intelligence 15, Spirit 15 Description: As long as the heartfire burns, the bright lamp shines
"Huh? The first volume?" Looking at the thin skill book in his hand, then at the thick stack of books on the shelf, he suddenly understood. "Outer disciples don't have sufficient privileges, so they can only get the cultivation method in the first volume."
That was enough. He opened the book and learned it directly. A flash of golden light descended into his sea of consciousness.
At once, a wealth of information appeared in his mind, and Lin Xu came to understand this cultivation method.
Spirit-refining cultivation was divided into two broad categories. One focused on spirit refinement, ascending through Spirit Calming, Soul Leaving the Body, Night Wandering, and Day Wandering, all the way to the Yang Spirit level.
A pure Soul Refining cultivator who achieved a Yang Spirit would reach the legendary realm.
The other focused on Qi Refining, progressing from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, then Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and so on. Nascent Soul was Legendary Tier.
The "Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art" was a Soul Refining art. Such arts had relatively low resource requirements, were relatively easy to cultivate, and allowed faster cultivation, but demanded greater personal cultivation talent.
Having obtained the art, Lin Xu cast a lingering glance at the vast number of texts and arts, then headed for the artifact refinement pavilion without hesitation.
Outer disciples cultivating the "Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art" could receive a bright lamp artifact free of charge to aid their cultivation.
Item: Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp Quality: cyan common Category: artifact Lamp oil: 10/10 Effects: "Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art" cultivation speed +10%, casting consumption -5%, Light Mantra Description: An artifact paired with the "Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art," a standard Xuanwei Monastery artifact
Lin Xu ran his hands over the crudely made bronze lamp, unable to stop himself from marveling.
This was the first artifact he had obtained for himself in this world.
Although it was only the lowest-grade artifact, and its only spell was a Light Mantra that dealt almost no damage.
He looked at the lamp, filled to the brim with dark yellow oil, and tipped it over his palm. The liquid-like oil spilled out, only to turn into objects resembling copper coins.
Name: Dharma Coin Quality: cyan common Durability: 100/100 Effect: magic power +100 Description: Refined into form from faith or magic power; can be used as a consumable to restore magic power
"The lamp oil is actually Dharma Coins? Refining Dharma Coins with the power of faith..." Lin Xu's eyes lit up, and he immediately saw a bright prospect.