Lu Chang’sheng laughed.
Though Xu Zhuqing concealed her cultivation, he still managed to catch a few tells.
After all, the Innate Technique she cultivated was none other than the Five Elents Divine Skill he’d completed himself.
"That’s just what I’d expect from you, Chang’sheng."
Xu Zhuqing gave a soft laugh, her eyes clear as rippling water. Though she was already over fifty, having broken through to the Innate Realm and cultivating the art of beauty, she looked to be no older than her mid-thirties.
By comparison, Qin Wan beside her appeared much more aged.
"For that, I especially have to thank you for your technique, Chang’sheng."
Xu Zhuqing had stepped into the Innate Martial Artist realm just two months earlier.
You could say it was right at the razor’s edge.
For martial artists, once you pass forty, your vital energy begins to decay. The older you get, the harder it is to break through the Mystic Gate and enter the Innate Realm.
For Xu Zhuqing to achieve Innate in her fifties was truly remarkable.
"If I rember right, Miss Qin Wan was never interested in cultivation. I wonder why—?" Lu Chang’sheng glanced at Qin Wan.
This ti, her gaze lacked the strange look it’d had the last ti they t—he felt a wave of relief in his heart.
Qin Wan replied, "Scholar Lu, you can just call Qin Wan. The ’Miss’ is too much for ."
"As for cultivation—" She glanced at Xu Zhuqing, sighing helplessly, "Seeing my good friend’s appearance never age day after day, of course I got jealous. I wanted to try and see if I could still cultivate."
Lu Chang’sheng smiled, not pressing the matter any further.
With Qin Wan’s current age, trying to set foot on the Martial Dao was simply impossible.
Unless, of course, she had a Spirit Root.
But by his knowledge of Spirit Roots, the chance of Qin Wan having one was just about zero.
You had to know, even his own wife, Li Nangua, had a Spirit Root, and her talent in martial arts was exceptional.
Back then, when the folks at the Martial Arts Hall tried to read her bones, they couldn’t figure anything out—most likely because of her Spirit Root.
By that logic, it was all but certain Qin Wan couldn’t have a Spirit Root.
"Chang’sheng, how far have you gotten studying the technique imparted by Immortal ng?" Xu Zhuqing asked just then.
Lu Chang’sheng shook his head. "Still a long way to go."
"Is it really an Immortal Technique?"
"Probably. After all, none of us have ever actually seen true Immortal Techniques."
Lu Chang’sheng replied.
He knew what Xu Zhuqing was getting at—she wanted him to get in touch with Li Nangua in the Spirit Realm to verify, but Xu Zhuqing had no idea about Li Nangua’s difficulties there.
So, he told her as much.
"Seems we’ll just have to work through it bit by bit."
Xu Zhuqing said helplessly.
Qin Wan shot Lu Chang’sheng a lingering look, as if she couldn’t pull her eyes away.
The group buried their heads once more in the study of Immortal Techniques.
anwhile, over at Shi Mansion’s side yard, ng Ping—who’d just sent off two True Qi Realm visitors—was approached by several instructors.
They reported that a group of True Qi Realm martial artists had gathered to study Immortal Techniques together.
"Aren’t they being disrespectful to you by doing this?"
One instructor offered a fawning little smile—sothing truly odd to behold from an instructor of his stature.
Instructors held trendous status—on so levels, their rank was even higher than that of officials. For one to act so sycophantic was almost tragic.
"Heh. I get it."
Grinning, ng Ping waved the instructor off.
Once the man left, a aningful hint of a smile crept onto ng Ping’s face.
"A pack of re mortals... Do they really think my things are that easy to swallow?"
It’s not that those techniques were fakes.
With his second-layer Qi Cultivation strength, not even a Root Source Technique could be cobbled together out of thin air.
Every one of those techniques was the real deal—a genuine Root Source Technique.
So—what’s a Root Source Technique?
To put it simply, it’s the earliest form of Immortal Techniques.
In the Spirit Realm, Immortal Techniques took countless forms—and every single one grew out from the most basic, mundane arts step by step over ti.
Such mundane arts are called ’Root Source Techniques’. They already bear the first hint of an Immortal Technique’s embryonic pattern. Many Outer Sect disciples in the Immortal Sects first cultivate Root Source Techniques before transitioning to true Immortal Techniques.
He took advantage of this information gap—relabeling those Root Source Techniques as Immortal Techniques.
When ng Ping had first arrived at Black Mountain Prefecture, he’d considered resorting to force—intimidating the elites and using them to gather oddities and Spirit dicine.
This is what many an Evil Cultivator specializes in. But after so thought, he didn’t go through with it.
First of all, they were hardly invincible.
If the army besieged them en masse, they could still be taken out. And if he stirred things up too much, he’d end up opposed by the entirety of Great Yuan—a situation where even the folk assigned to collect resources might lose motivation.
Even though this was his first ti in a world like this Mayfly World, ng Ping chose caution—focusing on how to gather the most profit with the least entanglent from local ard forces.
After all, who knew if Immortal Sect disciples would eventually notice this world? The longer he delayed, the worse things would get for him and the others.
So, he settled on a subtler approach—barter.
Mundane folk are fanatically eager for anything tied to cultivation. Even in the Spirit Realm, it’s the sa.
So he dug out a few lackluster techniques from the Spirit Realm to trade.
Even those choices were calculated.
In ng Ping’s plan, barter was only the opening gambit—ant to attract everyone who might be hoarding oddities, Spirit dicine, and similar treasures.
Once those people ca to him, they naturally fell into his hunting net.
After enough ti passed, he’d haul in the catch.
Because simple trade couldn’t possibly deliver all the most valuable goods to his hands.
There was one other key point.
That was the Immortal Root.
"Immortal Root" was their term for those who possessed Spirit Roots. With an Immortal Root, you had a ticket into the Immortal Sect.
To Evil Cultivators like them, Immortal Roots were just another resource.
The Spirit Realm is vast—many factions are always in the market for top-grade Immortal Roots, whether for the powerful to prep backup bodies for possession and rebirth, for top-tier evil cultivators to practice Abnormal Techniques, or for declining Immortal Sects hoping to recruit disciples, and so on.
If there’s demand, there’s business.
Flip one for a handso profit in Spirit Stones.
Anyone willing to pay a big price to trade for Immortal Techniques was most likely to have a Spirit Root—or at least have soone with Spirit Root Talent in their group.
One lure, several birds with one stone.
Saved him the trouble of hunting them down one by one.
Pain in the ass aside, it’s just a waste of ti.
True Qi Realm martial artists ant nothing to him as threats—Innate Martial Artists were the only ones who might give him a bit of trouble.
Which is exactly why he didn’t trade pills, Magical Artifacts, or anything that could boost soone’s strength in the short term.
He was cautious enough to avoid introducing variables.
Innate Martial Artists still couldn’t match him, but they might pose enough threat to make things ssy if they got any stronger—and that might botch his fishing operation further down the line.
"Give it another half month and it’ll be ti to close the net."
A month’s ti—no way anyone could fully master a Root Source Technique that fast.
Settled and in control, ng Ping didn’t trouble himself in the slightest over Lu Chang’sheng and the others grouping up to analyze techniques.
If anything, he was happy to see it.
Gather them all in one place, and it’d be that much easier to "solve" them when the ti ca.
Saves him from having to chase them down all over.
······
Lu Chang’sheng had no inkling of ng Ping’s real plans—right now, he was pleasantly surprised.
He’d thought it would take ten days just to finish reading through the Elephant Armor Skill, but thanks to their group study, they’d completed it by the eighth day.
But the mont he reflexively glanced at the illusionary interface, his expression darkened instantly.
"Martial Technique: Elephant Armor Skill"
"Entry requirent: 20 days"
"Minor Achievent: 5 months"
"Great Success: 1.8 years"
"Perfection: 4 years"
······
Martial Technique?
This was a Martial Arts Technique—not an Immortal Technique!
Lu Chang’sheng’s expression flickered—now the last trace of doubt in his heart was blossoming out of control.
He hadn’t suspected ng Ping much anymore, but now he understood—this guy clearly didn’t harbor good intentions.
At the very least, he wasn’t as sincere as he’d seed.
Martial Dao arts labeled as Immortal Techniques.
A new wariness rose in Lu Chang’sheng’s heart.
"Still, though this technique falls under Martial Arts Techniques, its depth far exceeds the Five Elents Divine Skill I’m cultivating."
The data from the panel made it clear.
Ever since his Root Bone talent reached Immortal Root level, the ti to learn Five Elents Divine Skill shrunk to just a few days—and reaching Great Success only took half a month or so.
But with Elephant Armor Skill, it’d take nearly two years!
"Maybe I can use this skill to level up my strength once again!" Lu Chang’sheng’s spirits lifted considerably.
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