Chapter 26: Cultivation

Wang Hong returned to the large square with a big sack on his back, filled with Spirit Grain.

This was the output from his Space over the past half-year. After negotiating with a merchant who purchased Spirit Grain, he finally sold it for a hundred and thirty-five Spirit Stones.

Locating the book stall where he had previously bought a book, Wang Hong planned to purchase a Cultivation Techniques book. With Wood, Fire, Earth, and Water as his four Spiritual Roots, he could practice techniques from each of these four elements.

Each element had its own characteristics, with no clear superiority or inferiority. For instance, the Wood Element exhibited vigorous vitality, the Fire Element was fierce, the Metal Element focused on killing, the Earth Element was sturdy, and the Water Element was gentle and continuous.

"Come and see! Don't miss this great opportunity! Each book is a treasure. Hurry, don't miss out!"

From a distance, Wang Hong heard the enthusiastic shouts of the Thin Tall Person.

"Hey! Long time no see, my friend. I've missed you. What kind of book are you looking for today?"

Just as he approached the book stall, Thin Tall Person greeted him. Wang Hong thought to himself; he had just bought the "Cultivation Basics Encyclopedia" from here the day before yesterday, and now it seemed like he had been missed, missed like his Spirit Stones.

"No need to miss me. If you could give me a discount, that would show some sincerity. I'm looking for a Cultivation Techniques book for the Wood Element," Wang Hong replied with a smirk.

After careful consideration, Wang Hong found that he still preferred Wood Element techniques. Since each element had its pros and cons, he chose the one he liked the most.

"Oh, my friend, I'm just making a modest living. Feel free to inquire, but my books are already the lowest price in the whole city," Thin Tall Person complained.

Wang Hong sifted through the pile and found several Wood Element technique books, including "Wood Art: Ethereal Decision," "Green Wood Eternal Life Technique," and "Eternal Spring Technique."

After comparing them, Wang Hong ultimately chose "Wood Art: Ethereal Decision." This technique was widely popular, with no notable advantages or disadvantages. It was relatively easy for someone like Wang Hong, a self-taught cultivator, to grasp.

Wang Hong also picked up a copy of "Catalog of Spirit Medicines." Although the "Cultivation Basics Encyclopedia" covered information about Spirit Herbs, it was too basic, and the herbs listed were limited. "Catalog of Spirit Medicines" detailed over a thousand Medicinal Herbs, their characteristics, and uses.

Since his Space could cultivate Spiritual Medicine, Wang Hong anticipated dealing with various Spiritual Medicines in the future. It was better to familiarize himself with them in advance.

Thin Tall Person spoke warmly but was firm when it came to collecting the Spirit Stones. He took forty Spirit Stones for the two books, not willing to give even half a stone less.

With the techniques in hand, Wang Hong didn't linger in the city for long. He hurried back to the camp and gathered the five squad leaders. He instructed them to enter the city in batches, familiarize themselves with the environment, especially the market, and learn about the items and their prices.

He gave each of them two Spirit Stones to buy supplies, especially clothing. After months of battles, dozens of people were dressed in tatters, resembling beggars.

Wang Hong advised them not to disturb him for the next few days and then retreated into his Space. He first placed a Spirit Stone on the ground and another on a wooden shelf.

Carefully observing the changes in these two Spirit Stones, after a quarter of an hour, the Spirit Stone on the ground lost a small corner, leaving only a bit of powder behind.

The reason Spirit Stones served as currency in the cultivation world was their rich Spirit Qi content, absorbable by Immortal Cultivators and usable in refining, alchemy, array formations, and more. When the Spirit Qi in a Spirit Stone was depleted, only a bit of powder remained.

The Spirit Stone on the wooden shelf, however, remained unchanged, indicating that the ground was absorbing Spirit Qi.

Despite the absorption, there was no noticeable change in the ground. "Perhaps it absorbed too little," Wang Hong speculated.

He tossed ten Spirit Stones onto the ground and allowed them to be slowly absorbed while he turned his attention to reading.

After a while, all the Spirit Stones disappeared. Decisively, Wang Hong threw fifty Spirit Stones onto the ground.

When all fifty Spirit Stones had vanished, Wang Hong carefully sensed his Space. This time, he finally made a discovery, and a smile appeared on his face involuntarily.

As an innate expert, Wang Hong's senses were extraordinarily sharp. The Space had expanded slightly.

Wang Hong pondered; absorbing over seventy Spirit Stones only resulted in this small expansion. Considering that many Qi Cultivation stage self-taught cultivators couldn't earn this many Spirit Stones in a year, expanding the Space seemed to be an arduous task. Slow and steady, he thought.

In the Space, Wang Hong thoroughly studied the first layer of "Wood Art: Ethereal Decision" before emerging.

Facing east, he sat cross-legged, assuming a meditative posture, and slowly operated the technique. Simultaneously, he sensed and absorbed the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

As the technique circulated, his originally robust Inner Strength at the Innate Stage gradually transformed into strands of green Spiritual Energy.

After circulating the technique through the seven heavenly realms, all Inner Strength in Wang Hong's body turned into nothingness. In the end, only a small cluster of green gas remained in his dantian, swirling slowly like a vortex.

Although it was just a small cluster, it was more condensed and pure, hundreds of times more than the previous Inner Strength.

After the complete transformation of Inner Strength, Wang Hong continued to sense and absorb the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth. With a small cluster of Spiritual Energy in his dantian as a foundation, absorbing Spiritual Energy became much easier.

He could feel strands of heaven and earth Spiritual Qi entering his body with each breath, slowly dissipating, leaving only a small amount behind, transforming into Spiritual Energy. This should be due to his inferior Spiritual Roots aptitude.

Undeterred, Wang Hong continued to operate the technique, circulating the meager Spiritual Energy throughout his body. With each rotation, it grew stronger.

After a whole day of cultivation, Wang Hong's dantian gained another small strand of Spiritual Energy, blending into the swirling vortex.

Feeling the results of a day's cultivation, Wang Hong couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. From now on, he could be considered an Immortal Cultivator. Cultivating Immortal Techniques and soaring through the skies seemed just a matter of time.

In the following days, Wang Hong diligently practiced in his tent, realizing that the Dragon Tiger Pills he had consumed previously still had a certain effect on his current cultivation.

Therefore, Wang Hong took several Dragon Tiger Pills daily, followed by a meal of Spirit Rice, making progress in his cultivation not too slow.

On this day, Wang Hong collected over a dozen plants each of hundred-year Ginseng, Purple Mushroom, and White Jade Mushroom from his Space. He individually packaged them and went to Azure Void City.

He casually visited more than ten Spiritual Medicine shops in the city, selling one package at each store. A little over a hundred Spirit Stones were earned, which, for these large medicinal shops, wasn't considered much, so they wouldn't attract too much attention.

The hundred-year Ginseng and Lingzhi could only be sold for thirty to forty Spirit Stones each. However, the hundred-year White Jade Mushroom, an excellent healing medicine even in the cultivation world, could fetch eighty to ninety Spirit Stones.

After selling everything, Wang Hong accumulated over two thousand Spirit Stones. Unfortunately, he couldn't sell them in a short period, as it might draw unwanted attention.

Wang Hong then went to various stalls in the square and bought some random Spiritual Medicine. Back in his camp, he mixed them with the Medicinal Herbs from his Space.

Gathering the five squad leaders, Wang Hong asked, "Zhao Ning, Xu Lun, Zhang Chunfeng, Luo Zhongjie, Wen Lan, how well do you know that market? Are you familiar with various Medicinal Herbs?"

"In this period, we've been mingling in that market every day, plus studying the 'Catalog of Spirit Medicines' passed down by the General. We are familiar with identifying common Spirit Herbs and their prices."

Wang Hong tested them with a few random Spiritual Medicines and found that they were well-acquainted with recognizing Spiritual Medicine. Although there were still some shortcomings, those could be addressed later.

Subsequently, Wang Hong handed them a large bag of Spiritual Medicine and a hundred Spirit Stones. From tomorrow onwards, they would take turns setting up stalls in that market, selling and buying simultaneously. The hundred Spirit Stones would serve as the starting capital, managed collectively by the five.

His main goal was to sell off the Medicinal Herbs in the Space and convert them into Spirit Stones. Since the Space could expand by absorbing Spirit Stones, he wanted to earn as many Spirit Stones as possible to increase its size.

The current space was too small; it couldn't accommodate much. Spiritual Herbs in the cultivation world often took decades, even centuries, to grow, and the current space was inadequate.

Moreover, as a farmer, why would he ever complain about having too much land? Of course, the more, the better.

After reading the 'Catalog of Spirit Medicines,' he gained some understanding of Spiritual Medicine. Some were ordinary plants from the mortal realm, but due to growing in places rich in Spirit Qi, they transformed into Spiritual Medicine.

The Medicinal Herbs in his Space, such as Ginseng, Purple Mushroom, Astragalus, followed this pattern. Some were unique to the cultivation world and were not present in his Space yet.

Spiritual Medicine was also divided into several grades, with the grade depending on the type and the number of years it had grown.

Certain types of Spiritual Medicine could reach the second grade after just a few decades, while others might take a hundred years to reach the first grade.

As long as the years were enough, even the most common Spiritual Medicine could become a high-grade one. For example, a weed growing for ten thousand years in a place rich in Spirit Qi could become an immortal herb. Of course, the ten-thousand-year Spiritual Medicine was just a legend, and no one in the cultivation world had ever had the chance to witness it. Even a thousand-year Spiritual Medicine was enough to make a Nascent Soul cultivator go crazy.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay