Chapter 30: Astounding Talent
Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Astounding Talent
The reason the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill was considered a trash Cultivation Technique was that it required one to simultaneously practice Alchemy to absorb the so-called ’Innate Qi’ during a pill’s formation.
This meant a Foundation Establishment Cultivator had to achieve the level of Tier Two Upper Grade in alchemy just to reach the Peak of Foundation Establishment and attempt a breakthrough to the Core Formation Stage.
Furthermore, throughout this process, the Cultivator couldn’t consume any Cultivation Elixirs. They could only rely on painstakingly meditating to refine their Magical Power and advance their Cultivation.
A Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s lifespan was, at most, two hundred and forty years.
Even with outstanding talent in Alchemy, it would still take at least a hundred and fifty years or more of painstaking research to become a Tier Two Upper Grade Alchemist.
In the remaining few decades, without the aid of Cultivation Elixirs, could one really reach the Peak of Foundation Establishment and attempt a breakthrough to the next stage?
Perhaps only a Cultivator with a Celestial Spiritual Root could manage that!
In other words, under the restrictions imposed by this so-called ’Innate Qi’, one would need both a Celestial Spiritual Root and exceptional talent in Alchemy to cultivate the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill to the Peak of Foundation Establishment!
Of course, if one’s talent for Alchemy was truly unrivaled in the Cultivation Realm, allowing them to become a Tier Two Upper Grade Alchemist in less than a hundred years...
...then a Cultivator with an Abnormal Spiritual Root might also be able to accomplish it.
However, the probability of possessing such talent for Alchemy was perhaps even lower than that of being born with a Celestial Spiritual Root.
...
Theoretically speaking, someone with a Celestial Spiritual Root and exceptional talent in Alchemy should be able to cultivate the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill.
But here came the catch.
Although Li Ping didn’t know what this so-called ’Innate Qi’ produced during pill formation actually was, the predecessor who created the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill had explained its effects with perfect clarity in the Cultivation Technique’s introduction.
Innate Qi had a miraculous effect on helping Cultivators break through bottlenecks!
As long as one absorbed enough Innate Qi, breaking through minor-stage bottlenecks was virtually guaranteed, and it could even increase the success rate of breaking through major-stage bottlenecks by a full fifty percent!
It was nothing short of heaven-defying!
But for a Cultivator with a Celestial Spiritual Root, this effect was completely useless; their success rate for Core Formation was already one hundred percent.
And while it could also boost the success rate for Nascent Soul Formation by fifty percent, Tier Three Alchemy was far more abstruse and difficult to master. Furthermore, High-tier Spirit Grass suitable for refining Tier Three Pills was exceedingly rare in the Cultivation Realm.
Even if one became a Tier Three Alchemist or higher, there would be practically no opportunities to practice Alchemy.
Therefore, it was certain that no Cultivator would ever choose to practice this Cultivation Technique.
Even though its effects were heaven-defying.
The most effective divine medicine for aiding Foundation Establishment, the ’Foundation Establishment Pill,’ only increased a Cultivator’s success rate by twenty to thirty percent, yet it sold for over three thousand Spirit Stones.
A Spiritual Object capable of increasing a Cultivator’s success rate for Core Formation by fifty percent was enough to incite a war across the entire Western Wilderness Cultivation Realm.
...
Li Ping, however, was an exception. Although he only possessed Three Spirit Roots, an aptitude that couldn’t compare to a Celestial or Abnormal Spiritual Root, he possessed an unrivaled, ’world-shaking talent’ for Alchemy!
With his ’world-shaking talent,’ he could instantly master Tier Two Upper Grade, or even High-tier, Alchemy techniques.
Furthermore, according to the predecessor’s introduction, while the greatest benefit of ’Innate Qi’ was increasing the success rate of breaking through bottlenecks, it also had a few minor side benefits.
Strengthening one’s constitution and prolonging one’s life!
In other words, if he cultivated the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill...
...as long as he wasn’t killed instantly, he could recover from any injury, no matter how grievous, by relying on ’Innate Qi’ to restore his Origin. He could live out his full two-hundred-and-forty-year lifespan.
He could even maintain his body’s functions at their absolute peak until the very day he passed from old age!
This meant that unlike other Cultivators, whose chances of breaking through to Core Formation plummeted as they grew old and frail, Li Ping could attempt his breakthrough to the Core Formation Stage in peak condition, even at the end of his life.
Therefore, for Li Ping, there were only two crucial issues when it came to cultivating the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill.
First, could he find the ’nutrients’—the techniques of a Tier Two Upper Grade Alchemist—to feed his ’Tree of Inheritance’ and unleash his ’world-shaking talent’?
Second, could he reach the Peak of Foundation Establishment within his remaining two hundred years without relying on pills?
...
Just as Li Ping was lost in thought, a Cultivator suddenly picked up a Jade Scroll and left, heading straight for the stairs and drawing the attention of everyone present.
On the wooden table, in the empty spot where he had taken the Jade Scroll, a new one appeared in a flash of white light.
In reality, the Jade Scrolls here only contained introductions to the Cultivation Techniques, not the full methods themselves.
To obtain a technique, one had to take the Jade Scroll downstairs and have the Wang family’s ancestor engrave it.
What surprised Li Ping was that the Jade Scroll the departing Cultivator had taken was, of all things, one that recorded a Demon Dao Cultivation Technique.
He shook his head. ’What others choose has nothing to do with me. As long as I don’t practice demonic techniques myself, it’s fine.’
But before he could turn his attention away, a blood-curdling scream echoed from downstairs, immediately followed by the commanding voice of the Wang family’s ancestor. "A Demon Cultivator! Such audacity, to dare hide within an Immortal City and steal a Demon Dao Cultivation Technique! Today, I must apprehend you and eliminate this evil for the sake of the Righteous Dao!"
With a surge of Magical Power, silence quickly fell downstairs.
The eleven people remaining upstairs exchanged glances, quickly piecing together what had just happened.
The Wang family’s ancestor had placed the Demon Dao Cultivation Technique on the second floor simply to fill out the numbers. But if someone actually took it from him to cultivate, and it was exposed later, the Wang family would inevitably be implicated!
Therefore, even though the Demon Dao Cultivation Technique was available, he would never permit anyone to take it.
Whoever dared to take it was, by definition, a Demon Cultivator, and he would have to ’eliminate this evil for the sake of the Righteous Dao’!
’What an old bastard!’ everyone cursed inwardly. Li Ping, however, looked thoughtful amidst his surprise.
Just then, a voice spoke directly in everyone’s minds. Based on the tone, it was the same Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had taken the lead earlier.
He sent a transmission, "Everyone, let’s go down together in a moment. If that old codger dares to go back on his word, we’ll all attack at once. We’ll fight to the bitter end!"
The others all agreed. "Alright!"
"By the way," he reminded them, "besides these trashy Cultivation Techniques, there are some miscellaneous writings here. They’re still worth a few dozen Spirit Stones!"
...
Li Ping picked up the Jade Scroll inscribed with the introduction to the Wetland Water Nourishing Skill. Then, to the astonishment of the others, he picked up another Jade Scroll from the miscellaneous section before heading downstairs with the group.
Downstairs, the Wang family’s ancestor and the Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivator who had led them in were waiting.
The Wang family’s ancestor smiled. "Fellow Daoists, I presume you have all chosen your Cultivation Techniques. Please, bring your Jade Scrolls here, and I shall engrave the complete texts for you!"
"Ah, yes. I must also ask you all to first swear an oath that the Cultivation Technique you receive will be for your own practice only and will not be taught to others," he added.
Everyone was speechless. ’Swear an oath for this garbage?’
After they swore their oaths, the Wang family’s ancestor said no more and began to engrave the Cultivation Techniques or miscellaneous writings for each person one by one.
Soon, it was Li Ping’s turn. Two Jade Scrolls—one for a Cultivation Technique and one for a miscellaneous writing—floated over to the Wang family’s ancestor, controlled by his Magical Power.
The Wang family’s ancestor shot Li Ping a surprised look, then said coolly, "Fellow Daoist, every Cultivation Technique in this Secret Skill Pavilion was collected by the ancestors of my Wang family at great expense. They are all heirlooms of the Wang family. Taking two, you say... Heh heh... that will cost extra Spirit Stones!"