Chapter 29: Wetland Water Nourishing Skill
Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Wetland Water Nourishing Skill
Upon reaching the second floor, Li Ping found the space was noticeably smaller than the first.
In the middle of the entire second floor sat a solitary wooden table, making the room feel vast and empty. The eleven cultivators who had arrived before him were currently gathered around it. Evidently, the high-tier cultivation techniques were on that very table.
But in the next moment, before Li Ping could even get close, he saw one of the eleven cultivators who had come up before him slam his palm heavily onto the wooden table.
Clearly, he was desperately trying to suppress his rage.
If they weren’t still on the Wang family’s ancestral grounds, with the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment ancestor of the Wang family just downstairs, the man probably would have already erupted in a string of curses.
A sense of foreboding washed over Li Ping. He strode forward and swept his Divine Sense across the dozen or so Jade Scrolls laid out on the table. The introductions to the cultivation techniques within them immediately flooded his mind.
A single glance left him momentarily stunned.
Then he began to laugh—an exasperated laugh. He was actually amused by the Wang family ancestor’s outrageous stunt.
There was no doubt about it; he had fallen for the old man’s trick again.
There were indeed more than ten high-tier cultivation techniques on the table. One of them even claimed to allow cultivation up to the legendary Divinity Transformation Stage.
But most of these cultivation techniques were widely known in the Cultivation Realm as complete duds!
What made a technique a dud? Either the cultivation requirements were impossible for the vast majority of cultivators to meet, or the technique harbored such immense hidden dangers that no one dared to practice it.
What use were these duds to them?
First, the old man had used the Immortal City’s Secret Skill Pavilion as bait. Then, he’d brought them to this loft, letting them get angry in the mistaken belief they had been scammed.
Then, at the crucial moment, the Wang family’s ancestor had appeared and candidly told them the truth.
Going to the Immortal City’s Secret Skill Pavilion was impossible, he’d said, but their trip to the Wang family’s Secret Skill Pavilion wouldn’t be a total loss.
The second floor of the Secret Skill Pavilion held over a dozen high-tier cultivation techniques, and they could go upstairs to select one to take with them.
Then, he’d used that as an opportunity to set a condition: once they went up to the second floor and viewed the cultivation techniques, their Spirit Stones would not be refunded.
It was one scheme layered upon another, all with the ultimate goal of scamming them out of their Spirit Stones!
Li Ping couldn’t help but curse inwardly, ’Scumbag! What an absolute scumbag! You’re a better con artist than the greatest swindlers!’
He knew that among the twelve cultivators present, besides himself, there was more than one Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
If everyone wasn’t too afraid to make a move inside the Immortal City, the Wang family’s ancestor would have earned himself death eight times over for his actions.
...
Getting his Spirit Stones back was most likely a lost cause. Li Ping could only resign himself to examining the cultivation techniques on the table, hoping to salvage some value from his investment.
Most of the dozen or so cultivation techniques on the table were unusable duds. The remaining few were even more terrifying.
Drifting Blood, the Blood Sea Skill... just from the names, he knew they were Demon Dao cultivation techniques. He had no idea where the Wang family had procured them.
The nations surrounding the Immortal City were all under the influence of Righteous Sects. Anyone who practiced a Demon Dao cultivation technique would instantly become a public enemy to all cultivators, hunted down and annihilated by the combined forces of the Sects, the Immortal City, and the Cultivation Clans.
Of course, becoming an enemy to the world, constantly fleeing from pursuing High-tier Cultivators, making breakthroughs, and turning the tables on your attackers... that did sound exciting.
But that path to enlightenment was far too dangerous. The slightest misstep would lead to a premature death. It was a path only traversable by those blessed with immense destiny.
Li Ping figured the "Gou Cultivator" path of lying low and developing safely was a much better fit for him.
Besides, the Wang family’s few Demon Dao cultivation techniques were woefully incomplete. Most only contained the first few levels, allowing one to cultivate only to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment. They didn’t even include the technique for Core Formation, which didn’t meet Li Ping’s selection criteria at all.
...
Having reviewed the Demon Dao techniques and with a renewed sense of caution in his heart, Li Ping turned his attention to the so-called dud techniques.
Among the duds, the first one Li Ping examined was the technique that claimed to allow cultivation all the way to the legendary Divinity Transformation Stage: the Heaven-Burning Skill.
But after reading the description carefully, he shook his head slightly.
The cultivation requirements for this technique were simply too harsh. To start, only a mortal possessing a ’Fire Element’ Celestial Spiritual Root could practice it. On top of that, in the early stages, the Magical Power it generated was about fifty percent weaker than that of cultivators at the same level.
And each time the cultivator faced a major realm bottleneck, they had to devour a naturally occurring Spiritual Fire to break through!
After devouring a Spiritual Fire to break through, the cultivator’s Magical Power would also increase, eventually becoming much stronger than that of their peers in the later stages.
A cultivator with a Celestial Spiritual Root could normally practice smoothly all the way to the Perfection of Core Formation, only encountering a bottleneck when attempting Nascent Soul Formation.
But by practicing the Heaven-Burning Skill, one would be artificially creating bottlenecks for oneself, requiring the devouring of a naturally occurring Spiritual Fire for every single breakthrough.
According to the technique’s description, these naturally occurring Spiritual Fires were incredibly rare and precious; even a Nascent Soul Cultivator wasn’t guaranteed to possess one. Furthermore, the cultivator had to endure immense pain and risk during the devouring process. The slightest misstep would result in being burned to ash by the Spiritual Fire.
This was, quite frankly, even more dangerous than practicing a Demon Dao technique within the territory of the Righteous Influence.
...
Skipping over the Heaven-Burning Skill, Li Ping continued to read the descriptions of the other dud techniques.
The more he read, the more he found himself shaking his head.
General Theory of the Circadian Stars: Required the cultivator to possess a ’Star System’ Abnormal Spiritual Root and an Indestructible Body.
Li Ping shook his head. ’Does anyone in the entire Cultivation Realm actually meet these requirements?’
Great Freedom Heart Skill: Required great willpower to constantly slay one’s Heart Demon and maintain inner stability; otherwise, there was a risk of Possession by a Celestial Demon. Not recommended for practice without access to ’Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade’ and ’Ten Thousand Year Soul Nourishing Wood’.
Two more Spiritual Objects that Li Ping had never even heard of.
He recoiled at the thought. ’Even if I had the Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade and the Ten Thousand Year Soul Nourishing Wood, I still wouldn’t dare practice this.’
...
As he worked his way through the list, Li Ping’s gaze finally landed on the third-to-last "dud technique."
This technique was called the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill. The name sounded ordinary, but it was actually a high-tier cultivation technique that could be practiced up to the Nascent Soul Stage.
The physical requirement for the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill was simple: one only needed a water-element Spiritual Root, a condition Li Ping met.
Of course, for the Wang family to have placed a technique with such simple requirements here, it was guaranteed to have a massive hidden flaw.
But as Li Ping read about this flaw, a thoughtful expression slowly crept onto his face.
Wetland Water Nourishing Skill: As the Dao says, water begets wood; water is the foundation for the growth of wood-element Spiritual Materials. This venerable one observed the workings of the universe, reversed this principle, and created this cultivation technique by nourishing water with wood. The practitioner must also cultivate the art of Alchemy, absorbing the ’Innate Vitality’ released at the moment a Pill is formed as their sustenance.
...
After reading through the long description, Li Ping had a clear grasp of the cultivation technique’s flaws.
First, the practitioner must master the art of Alchemy. This is because the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill requires the ’Innate Vitality’ released from a Pill of a corresponding tier at the moment of its formation as nourishment. Without it, one’s cultivation would not advance a single inch.
It wouldn’t work even if another person performed the Alchemy and he was merely present to witness the Pill’s creation. The Pill would be tainted by the other’s aura, making it impossible for him to absorb the ’Innate Vitality’. He had to perform the Alchemy himself, alone.
In other words, if his Alchemy skill stagnated, his cultivation realm would be unable to break through as well.
Second, because he would be absorbing the ’Innate Vitality’ from Pills as they were formed, all Pills designed to increase one’s cultivation would be useless to him. He could only improve his cultivation through his own painstaking practice.
Of course, Pills for healing or for breaking through bottlenecks would still be effective.