Chapter 59: Little White Begins Cultivation (Part One)
Li Yan had no idea at this mont that his little cleverness couldn’t possibly fool soone who had lived for hundreds of years.
Right now, his Seventh Senior Brother was enthusiastically giving him a crash course on basic knowledge. It was unclear whether Lin Daqiao had simply lacked soone to talk to these past few years, or if he was being especially conscientious but he took the task assigned by Li Wuyi very seriously.
He seed determined to pass on every bit of common knowledge he had about the cultivation world. And this approach allowed Li Yan to absorb a wealth of information he had previously never encountered.
To start, Lin Daqiao spoke of the hierarchy within the cultivation world, things like spiritual roots and divine sense, which Li Yan technically already knew. However, he couldn't let that show. If he did, it would contradict the impression he had given earlier.
Still, listening attentively gave him a refreshed understanding and allowed him to learn new details.
Lin Daqiao explained everything in detail, from the classification of cultivation realms down to small matters like fasting practices. Li Yan was utterly engrossed.
For example, once realms are established, the way cultivators address each other changes accordingly. It’s not like the mortal world, where age determines seniority.
In cultivation, it’s all about power. A single major realm of difference ans you’re the junior. An eighty-year-old at the Qi Condensation stage must respectfully call a twenty-year-old Foundation Establishnt cultivator “Senior.”
If they’re from the sa sect, then it becos “Martial Uncle” or “Elder Brother.” Failing to do so could an death at the raise of a hand. The hierarchy in the cultivation world is even more ruthless than those of mortal empires.
One must also never scan others with divine sense, it’s extrely disrespectful. A hot-tempered cultivator might attack on the spot.
Looking a senior in the eye can also be fatal, unless you have a powerful backer, or the senior happens to be particularly lenient, it’s practically courting death.
Two realms higher calls for the title “Ancestral Senior”; three realms, “Supre Patriarch.”
As for four realms above, Lin Daqiao said no cultivator in the mortal realm had ever reached the Soul Transformation stage. Past the late Nascent Soul stage, one must ascend to the Spirit Realm, as the mortal world’s rules and spiritual density can no longer sustain further progress.
The Wraith Sect currently had only five Nascent Soul stage Ancestors, two of whom were said to be in the late stage. As for why they hadn’t ascended, soone like Lin Daqiao, with his low cultivation, had no access to such inner secrets of the sect.
Li Yan was finally beginning to understand just how reckless so of his earlier behavior had been. After entering, he had carelessly observed everyone, not understanding that if soone had decided to kill him on the spot, he would have died without even knowing why.
Seniority in the cultivation world also applied to taking disciples. Normally, a cultivator only took on disciples a realm below them, unless the disciple was exceptionally talented. In rare cases, one might accept soone several realms lower as a in-na disciple.
That’s what had happened with him and Lin Daqiao, they were only registered disciples for now. Only when they reached higher realms would they be officially taken under their master’s wing.
This also explained why it was usually senior brothers of the sa stage or slightly higher masters who taught techniques, very rarely would soone teach across realms.
Li Yan now understood why Senior Brother Lin from the Duty Hall looked so surprised when Li Wuyi called him “Junior Brother.” And he saw more clearly just how much his chubby master was looking out for him, not only assigning Li Wuyi to teach him but also explicitly stating that he could co to him with any problem.
Yet the more kindness he received, the more uneasy Li Yan felt. Why did his new master care so much about him?
He couldn’t help but recall all that had happened in the Strategist’s valley.
Still, after surviving death, Li Yan had learned to better control himself. No matter what he was thinking, he kept his expression calm and composed.
Lin Daqiao didn’t notice his unease and just kept talking. Eventually, Li Yan had no choice but to put aside his thoughts and focus on listening.
The next topic: spirit stones. The three stones in Li Yan’s storage pouch were indeed spirit stones.
Spirit stones are minerals birthed by heaven and earth, forming parts of vast spiritual veins. Each stone contains spiritual energy of a specific attribute, essential for cultivation.
Most spirit stones only contain one attribute. Rare exceptions have multiple types of spiritual energy, but these are extrely scarce.
Spiritual veins are divided into active and dead veins.
Active veins are like what Li Yan had sensed at the Wraith Sect, a living flow of spiritual energy deep beneath the earth. These massive veins continuously produce spiritual energy through the five-elent cycle. Over ti, the gathered energy becos denser and rises into the air.
Spiritual veins also have attributes. For example, beneath Four Symbols Peak lies a massive earth-attributed vein, which benefits cultivators of earth-based techniques. Little Bamboo Peak sits atop a water-attributed spiritual vein.
Dead veins, by contrast, have ceased producing spiritual energy due to changes in the world’s laws. Over ti, the remaining energy condenses and solidifies into spirit stones.
Of course, active veins are also made of spirit stones, but the energy within them is much more volatile and difficult to absorb.
Spirit stones are categorized based on energy purity and concentration: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supre-grade.
With a spirit stone, cultivators can train even in areas without spiritual energy. They can also quickly restore energy during battle.
But that’s not all. Spirit stones are used to power formations, activate spiritual artifacts, magic tools, puppets, and are key ingredients in alchemy and forging.
Thus, they are indispensable, both a ans of cultivation and the primary currency of the cultivation world. Gold and silver an nothing here.
Spiritual veins are also ranked as low, mid, and high-grade, depending on the quality of energy they contain.
Spirit stones mined from the sa vein are usually consistent in quality, though especially high-grade stones might appear at the core.
No one would mine an active vein, it would be like killing the goose that lays golden eggs.
Lin Daqiao said the best stones he’d ever seen were so mid-grade ones owned by senior brothers, guarded like priceless treasures.
High-grade stones were likely reserved for cultivators at the Core Formation stage, like their master. Supre-grade stones, anwhile, were only heard of in legends, perhaps the entire sect didn’t even possess a few.
As he spoke of powering spiritual tools and magical items, Lin Daqiao tapped the pouch at his waist.
A flash of rainbow light appeared, revealing a tiny sword only a few inches long and a shuttle-shaped flying craft hovering in the air.
Li Yan’s eyes lit up. This was the third ti he’d seen soone use a storage pouch, and his curiosity burned. What was it really like inside? He knew he had to ask about it later.
“Junior Brother, look, these two are spiritual artifact, both forged by skilled artifact craftsn…”
On Old Lord Peak of the Wraith Sect, they didn’t only refine pills, there was also a group of artifact refiners and talisman makers. These kinds of cultivators could be found in virtually every second-rate or higher sect. Among the four great sects, they even had so of the highest-ranked artifact and talisman masters on the entire continent.
The tools used by cultivators were entirely different from mundane weapons. They had to be capable of channeling various kinds of spiritual energy.
Those so-called “divine weapons” forged by mortals would typically shatter into pieces the mont a cultivator poured spiritual power into them, so even disintegrated into dust on contact. They were completely unusable in actual combat.
Artifact refiners were a unique type of cultivator. They could forge heavenly and earthly treasures into instrunts usable by cultivators.
The equipnt refined by artifact refiners was ranked from low to high as follows: Spirit Artifacts, Spirit Treasures, Magical Tools, Magical Treasures, Immortal Tools, and Immortal Treasures. It was said that in the Upper Realm, even higher ranks existed: Sacred Tools and Sacred Treasures.
For disciples at the Qi Condensation stage in the mortal realm, just owning a single spirit artifact was already an impressive feat. In many third-rate sects, even this was out of reach, many disciples at that stage couldn’t afford even one.
Spirit Treasures were a grade above Spirit Artifacts, more powerful, but still below Magical Tools. They were generally used by higher-level Qi Condensation disciples or early Foundation Establishnt cultivators.
Magical Tools were typically wielded by mid to late-stage Foundation Establishnt cultivators. Their power was said to shake the heavens and the earth.
Magical Treasures, on the other hand, were weapons that only Core Formation grand cultivators and Nascent Soul patriarchs could wield. It was said they could overturn rivers and seas, even reverse the sun and moon.
As for Immortal Tools and Immortal Treasures, Lin Daqiao himself didn’t know whether the sect possessed any. These legendary immortal artifacts were said to be capable of destroying entire region with a single strike.
Even within the sa tier, Spirit Artifacts and Magical Treasures varied greatly in quality. A high-quality weapon could help a cultivator fight beyond their realm, while an inferior one might not even match the power of the user’s own spells.
As he spoke, Lin Daqiao pointed at the two hovering objects in the air.
In an instant, the tiny inch-long sword expanded to nearly seven or eight feet, and the shuttle-shaped flying craft grew over ten ters long, nearly filling the entire living room.
Then he made another gesture in the air, and the two items rapidly shrank back to their original sizes, landing lightly on the table. The sight left Li Yan dazzled.
The little sword, Lin said, was of average power. If Li Yan ever wanted a better one in the future, he’d have to spend his own spirit stones to buy it.
The shuttle-shaped craft was for flying. By pouring spiritual energy into it or inserting spirit stones, it could travel nearly a thousand li in a day. As long as one's spiritual energy or stones held out, it could fly indefinitely.
However, many cultivators, once they reached the Foundation Establishnt stage, preferred to fly on their own using spiritual techniques. That thod was often faster than even most flight artifacts, unless one acquired an especially high-grade flying Magical Tool or Magical Treasure.
As he said this, Lin Daqiao pointed to Li Yan’s dark green robe and his boots.
“These are also Spirit Artifacts,” he explained. “Just low-grade ones. The robe provides a bit of basic protection. The boots can boost your movent speed during combat. They’re considered decent low-end Spirit Artifacts.”
“Our sect’s outerwear is marked with unique emblems at the sleeve cuffs, identifying which of the five peaks you belong to. You can wear them or not, as you like, but most disciples stick with the uniform.”
“With so many disciples spread across five peaks, it’s hard to distinguish who’s from where. These symbols help us recognize each other quickly.”
“If the sect issues a formal order, all disciples are required to wear the uniform to ensure better coordination and managent.”
Upon hearing this, Li Yan finally noticed the golden bamboo symbol embroidered on his sleeve cuff. It clearly marked him as a disciple of Little Bamboo Peak.
Lin Daqiao then patted the storage pouch on the table. With a flash of light, three talismans appeared on the tabletop. He began a new round of explanation—, his ti, without activating anything. After all, each use of a talisman diminished its stored power.
Talismans could be used offensively, defensively, or even for minor spells like summoning light rain or snow. They were divided into tiers: Spirit Talismans, Magical Talismans, Talisman Treasures, Immortal Talismans, and Sacred Talismans.
While cultivators could also use spells to attack or form protective shields, these required constant spiritual energy expenditure.
Talismans, on the other hand, worked differently. They consud only the power of their materials and internal formations, not the user’s energy. This made them faster and more efficient in certain situations.
Talismans were generally divided into two types:
Offensive talismans, such as Fireball Talismans, Wood Spike Talismans, Water Blade Talismans, Wind Blade Talismans, and the like. They required only a small amount of spiritual power to activate.
That ant even a Qi Condensation cultivator could unleash a talisman with the power of a Foundation Establishnt or even Core Formation level technique, depending on the talisman’s grade.
This was sothing ordinary immortal techniques couldn’t do, those required reaching the appropriate realm before one could learn and cast them.
Defensive talismans were the most expensive and highly prized, true lifesavers. Often they couldn’t even be bought at any price.
For example, the three talismans the Wraith Sect gave to Li Yan and the other new disciples were all defensive types, sothing no second-rate sect could possibly offer. This was the strength of a major sect.
According to Lin Daqiao, the Flaming Ironwall Talisman was a top-tier Spirit Talisman. At its peak, it could withstand a full-power blow from an early Foundation Establishnt cultivator. That made it incredibly valuable.
It was the sect’s way of providing the utmost protection for its disciples in the outside world. After all, every talisman required a variety of extrely rare spiritual materials to produce.
Having finished explaining the most fundantal information, Lin Daqiao paused for a mont. Seeing how attentively Li Yan was listening and committing it all to mory, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishnt.
(Chpater End)
Reviews
All reviews (0)