Chapter 34: A Reminder
Chapter 34: Chapter 34: A Reminder
After finishing the *Evergreen Chronicles*, Li Ping felt his horizons had greatly expanded.
To his regret, aside from the geography of the Western Wilderness, other sections of the travelogue—such as those on famous figures and the powers of various nations—seemed to have been deliberately removed.
Evidently, these sections might have contained something that shouldn’t have been written, thus breaking a taboo and getting censored.
The Immortal City’s bookshops had once printed a novel with a Cultivator protagonist. It described a scene where a Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Bai Xiaosheng recklessly fabricated a scandalous story about a Nascent Soul Ancestor. As a result, the Nascent Soul Ancestor captured him from thousands of miles away, bound him by his collarbones, and hung him in the market square for all to see.
Back then, Li Ping had been very young and was obsessed with this novel.
Unfortunately, the cultivation novel was ultimately abandoned, and no continuation ever appeared.
...
His curiosity sated, Li Ping put away the *Evergreen Chronicles* and turned his attention to studying the *Wetland Water Nourishing Skill*, a Cultivation Technique suspected to have been used by cultivators from Ancient Times.
If, during Ancient Times, the world was truly as the legends of the Tuluo People described—with the ambient Spiritual Mechanism everywhere being even richer than the best Spirit Veins in the Cultivation Realm today—then even a Cultivator with five Spiritual Roots would probably have dared to practice this peculiar Cultivation Technique, as long as their talent for Alchemy was strong enough.
Even a technique like the *Heaven-Burning Skill*, which Li Ping considered a demonic Cultivation Technique, would likely have been practiced by many Cultivators seeking to dominate their peers if Spiritual Fire had been easy to obtain in Ancient Times.
...
The main restriction of the *Wetland Water Nourishing Skill* lay in breaking through bottlenecks.
Li Ping was already a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, so there would be no obstacle for him to convert his Foundation Establishment Magical Power into Early-stage Foundation Establishment Nourishing Life Skill Power.
However, if he wanted to continue breaking through bottlenecks in the future, he would still need to supplement the ’Innate Spiritual Mechanism’ from Tier One Pills.
Therefore, when he performed Alchemy in the future, he would have to start by refining Tier One Lower Grade Pills.
Li Ping wasn’t concerned about this. After all, he had a ’world-shaking talent’—a one hundred percent success rate in Alchemy. He could use this opportunity to earn some resources on the side.
The *Wetland Water Nourishing Skill* had seven levels in total. Levels one to three corresponded to the three realms of Foundation Establishment, levels four to six to the three realms of Core Formation, and the final seventh level was Early-stage Nascent Soul.
The Cultivation Technique ended at the Early-stage Nascent Soul. It was unclear whether the creator hadn’t had time to create subsequent levels or if the version Li Ping possessed was simply incomplete.
However, Li Ping wasn’t concerned about this; the Nascent Soul Stage was far too distant for him.
Besides, due to the difficulty of finding High-tier Spiritual Materials in the current Cultivation Realm, it was highly likely that he would be unable to continue practicing the Nourishing Life Skill by the time he reached the Core Formation Stage and would have to switch Cultivation Techniques anyway.
Sitting cross-legged, Li Ping began to slowly circulate the first level of the *Wetland Water Nourishing Skill*, converting the Magical Power in his body into Nourishing Life Skill Power.
It was worth noting that although Li Ping had practiced the metal-attribute Basic Skill, the *Golden Sword Skill*, during his Qi Refining Stage, Basic Skills were inherently designed to build a foundation for Low-tier Cultivators. Their creators had considered the issue of Cultivators switching techniques later on, and most Basic Skills were modified accordingly.
Therefore, converting the Magical Power from his metal-attribute Basic Skill into the Magical Power of a water-attribute High-tier Cultivation Technique would have no adverse effects.
Of course, converting Magical Power between different attributes would certainly take more time than converting between powers of the same attribute.
As for switching between High-tier Cultivation Techniques, one could only switch to another technique of the same attribute. To switch to a different attribute, the only option was to disperse one’s cultivation and start over.
...
The next morning, Li Ping opened his eyes from his cross-legged position on the bed. A sharp glint of light flashed within them as they opened and closed.
Sensing the change in the Magical Power within his Dantian, Li Ping smiled. "After a hard night’s work, I’ve finally converted a sliver of Magical Power. At this rate, it should only take me about a month to convert all of it into Nourishing Life Skill Power."
Straightening his clothes, Li Ping stood up. "The Spirit Vein in this cultivation abode is only Tier One Upper Grade, which isn’t nearly enough for practicing a High-tier Cultivation Technique. I have to go to the Inner City and rent an abode that’s Tier Two or higher."
A moment later, the courtyard gate opened with a CREAK, and Li Ping walked out.
He had originally planned to go directly to the Inner City to pick out a cultivation abode, but a sudden thought made him change direction and head toward Gumu Sheng’s general store.
Since he now knew that the Wang family’s business was a scam, he naturally had to go warn Gumu Sheng to prevent him from being duped as well.
Although the Wang family had induced him to swear a Dao Heart Oath "not to leak or report the matter of choosing a Cultivation Technique" when he paid the Spirit Stones, Gumu Sheng already knew about this matter; in fact, Li Ping had learned of it from him in the first place. Therefore, discussing it with him would not violate the Dao Heart Oath.
...
It was early in the morning, and Gumu Sheng’s general store was empty of customers.
As soon as Li Ping entered, he gestured for Gumu Sheng to close the shop door.
Gumu Sheng gave a knowing smile, quickly did as he was told, and walked excitedly to Li Ping’s side. "Big Brother, did you manage to pick a suitable Cultivation Technique?"
Li Ping didn’t answer, instead gesturing for Gumu Sheng to sit down.
Only after Gumu Sheng was seated did Li Ping speak with a solemn expression, "After hearing your news yesterday, I went back and thought about it carefully. I believe that sneaking into the Immortal City’s Secret Skill Pavilion to choose a Cultivation Technique is not only extremely risky, but such a furtive act is not befitting of a gentleman."
He looked at Gumu Sheng. "Therefore, I did not use your connection to choose a Cultivation Technique last night!"
Hearing this, Gumu Sheng couldn’t help but be a little surprised. "Big Brother, you didn’t go?"
Seeing the change in Gumu Sheng’s expression, Li Ping couldn’t help but blush inwardly.
There were two main reasons he chose not to tell the truth.
First, being scammed was a deeply embarrassing affair, so Li Ping was too ashamed to tell Gumu Sheng. If his Third Brother were to find out that he had been duped trying to save a little money, it would seriously damage his dignity as the Big Brother.
Although he hadn’t actually lost out in the end—and had even managed to find a suitable Cultivation Technique—he was the only one who knew that. To any other informed party, it would look like Li Ping had simply been scammed.
Therefore, he couldn’t just tell Gumu Sheng it was a scam and to stay away. Instead, he had to exaggerate the risks and highlight the immorality of the act to warn Gumu Sheng against trying to cut corners.
If Gumu Sheng didn’t go, he naturally wouldn’t get scammed.
Second, Gumu Sheng’s original intention had been to help him, his Big Brother, get a Cultivation Technique on the cheap. If Li Ping came right out and said it was a scam, Gumu Sheng might misunderstand and think he was being blamed, which would hurt their brotherly bond.
At this thought, Li Ping’s expression remained unchanged as he nodded. "Not only am I not going, but I hope you won’t go either."
"Oh, so that’s how it is." Gumu Sheng had a moment of realization, then smiled and agreed, "Don’t worry, Big Brother. I’m only at the Qi Refining Seventh Level. Who knows how long it’ll take me to even reach the Qi Refining Ninth Level? How could I possibly waste 100 Spirit Stones to choose a Cultivation Technique?"
In truth, there was something else Gumu Sheng didn’t say.
’If, one day in the future, I really manage to reach Foundation Establishment, I’ll just choose to join the Immortal City as an Honored Guest Elder. That way, I can get a Cultivation Technique and an abode for free.’
’But Big Brother was just rejected by the Immortal City a short while ago. If I said that, it would probably make him unhappy, so I’d better not.’
Seeing Gumu Sheng agree so readily, Li Ping nodded in satisfaction. ’Good.’