Thinking of this, Lin Chang'sheng immediately stood up, picked up the fire tongs and drew a few little stars on the ground, then stared at the stars.

Outer Heaven Meteor experience +1!

Outer Heaven Meteor experience +1!

........

"Huh? It actually works!?"

Seeing the red notification pop up in the corner of the panel, Lin Chang'sheng's eyes lit up.

No need to wait until night to look at the stars!

This is awesome.

Lin Chang'sheng rubbed himself with one hand, played with charcoal in the other, while keeping his eyes on the little stars on the ground. The red notification kept popping up on the panel.

.......

Time passed. Between Lin Chang'sheng's self-rubbing, fire-playing, and star-watching, six days went by.

[Fire Element Technique: Perfection]

[Fire Bomb Technique: Perfection]

"Finally, they're perfected! All these days of playing with fire weren't in vain!"

Seeing the two pop-up notices on the panel, Lin Chang'sheng finally let out a sigh of relief. At that moment, he felt a sudden 'pop' in his mind, as if something shattered.

The next second.

Lin Chang'sheng felt his whole body vibrate, the magical power in his dantian surged, his meridians trembled, and a mighty energy belonging to the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer erupted out from him.

An unprecedented feeling of strength surged through his entire body.

His internal meridians quivered, becoming tougher and broader, and his dantian's capacity more than doubled from before!

"I've finally broken through to Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer!"

Feeling the boundless magical power inside, Lin Chang'sheng was quite satisfied.

With Fire Element Technique perfected, his cultivation naturally broke through to Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer!

But then, he immediately thought of an urgent problem—his Fire Element Technique only had four layers. It was the lowest-level Cultivation Immortality Technique!

Fire Element Technique could, at most, support him up to the peak of Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer!

The Golden Yuan Technique he got from the Tiger-faced Cultivator's storage bag was the same—it was only good up to Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer.

If he wanted to keep improving, he'd have to get a higher-level cultivation technique!

There was another way—just reach Entry Level with Golden Yuan Technique, perfect it, and then fuse it with Fire Element Technique. That should yield a new technique!

"I wonder if I have a Gold Spirit Root?"

Lin Chang'sheng muttered to himself.

To cultivate Golden Yuan Technique, he had to have a Gold Spirit Root.

But he had nothing to test with now, so besides the Fire Spirit Root, he had no idea what other Spirit Root Attributes he had.

As far as he knew, cultivators' spirit roots could be gold, wood, water, fire, earth—the Five Elements—as well as ice, wind, thunder, light, darkness, and so on.

Single-root means Celestial Spirit Root, the fastest to cultivate. Next are Dual Spirit Roots with abnormal attributes, then standard dual roots, then three, four (pseudo spirit roots), and even multiple roots.

For low tier cultivators, Celestial Spirit Root is best, basically no bottleneck up to Nascent Soul Stage.

Lin Chang'sheng knew that, judging by his own cultivation speed, he was definitely not single rooted!

"Let's read this Golden Yuan Technique carefully, see if I can get to Entry Level!"

"As long as I can get started, that means I have a Gold Spirit Root!"

Thinking of this, Lin Chang'sheng acted—his divine sense swept over his storage bag at his chest, a flash of white light, and a ledger appeared in his hand.

It was exactly the Golden Yuan Technique he'd gotten from the Tiger-faced Cultivator.

"Golden Yuan Technique, Five Elements Gold Cultivation Method, Embrace the Origin and Guard the One, circulate magical power through the meridians, absorb gold attribute spiritual energy from heaven and earth...nourish the body and moisten the veins, refine into gold attribute magical power!"

Lin Chang'sheng flipped through the Golden Yuan Technique. It had about 2,000 words—he read it very carefully, word by word, finishing the whole thing.

Because—

If he read it enough times and understood its meaning, the panel would show it as Entry Level.

[Golden Yuan Technique (Entry Level 0/1000)]

After reading the Golden Yuan Technique fifteen times, he noticed a red notification appear on his panel.

"So I have a Fire Spirit Root and a Gold Spirit Root!"

Lin Chang'sheng looked at the notification on the panel, sighing silently—he didn't feel like he was just dual-rooted though; he still didn't know what other Spirit Root Attributes he had.

[Detected Cultivation Immortality Technique Golden Yuan Technique, consume 1 Spirit Stone to simplify?]

At that moment, the panel popped up another red message.

"Simplify!"

Lin Chang'sheng tapped confirm right away.

[Great Dao is Simple: Cultivation Immortality Technique Golden Yuan Technique is being simplified......simplifying......simplification complete....Golden Yuan Technique == Tomb Raider]

About ten seconds after Lin Chang'sheng tapped confirm, the panel displayed a new notification.

"Tomb Raider?"

Seeing what simplification had produced, Lin Chang'sheng blinked.

Tomb raiding, gain a little experience each time I touch gold?

With that, his divine sense moved, he took out a gold ingot from the storage bag, and started rubbing it.

Golden Yuan Technique experience +1!

Golden Yuan Technique experience +1!

"Touching a gold ingot really works!"

"Fantastic!"

Watching the red notifications pop up on the panel, Lin Chang'sheng's eyes lit up with hope—as long as he perfected Golden Yuan Technique, he could fuse it with Fire Element Technique and get a higher-level technique.

Lin Chang'sheng focused and opened his panel.

[Great Dao is Simple: Qi Cultivation Level]

[Lin Chang'sheng: 17/107]

Cultivation: Qi Refining Stage (Fourth Layer 2/8000)]

[Cultivation Technique: Fire Element Technique (Fourth Layer Perfection), Golden Yuan Technique (Entry Level 23/1000), Five Elements Nourishing Essence Skill (Perfection), Golden Bell Shield Seventh Level (624879/625000)]

[Magic: Fire Bomb Technique (Perfection)]

[Martial Arts: Five Thunders Transcendent Hand (Perfection), Outer Heaven Meteor (Arrow/Hidden Great Success 190098/625000) (Perfection), Thunderous Slash (Perfection), Wind God Leg (Perfection), Cyan Snake Sword Technique (Perfection)]

[Alchemy: Qi Replenishing Pill (Perfection), Dragon Blood Pill (Perfection)]

[Spirit Stones can be used to simplify cultivation techniques, spells, etc.]

[Status: None]

"Actually, Wind Splitting Slash and Gale Flash, even Nourishing Spirit Pill, could be started too, but I need to save some Spirit Stones!"

"Let's perfect Golden Yuan Technique first, then fuse them—one step at a time!"

Looking at the panel, Lin Chang'sheng thought with a hint of calculation.

Your cultivation technique decides whether you can later reach Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer!

This is top priority.

With that in mind, Lin Chang'sheng picked up the gold ingot and kept touching it.

.......

Noon, the next day.

Lin Chang'sheng sat in the yard, rubbing his left hand, touching the gold ingot with his right, and drawing a few little stars on the ground. On the panel, experience points popped up continuously.

After the night, he only slept two hours; when he slept, he hugged the gold ingot, and that still gave him quite a bit of experience.

"Daoist Wei!"

Just then, a figure flickered outside the yard—it was Zhu Zhishan.

"Daoist Zhu, what brings you here?"

Seeing Zhu Zhishan arrive at this moment, Lin Chang'sheng was a little puzzled.

The last time after Trade Market, Zhu Zhishan had invited Lin Chang'sheng to go with him next time, but Lin used an excuse to decline. After killing the Tiger-faced Cultivator, he definitely didn't want to go back.

After all, there were just over ten days until New Year's—he'd be joining Liuyun Immortal Sect soon.

"Daoist Wei, I'm here this time to let you know—something big happened at the Trade Market!"

Zhu Zhishan said, his voice deep.

"Oh? What happened?"

Lin Chang'sheng asked, suspicion in his eyes.

"A Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer cultivator, Yang Zhaosheng, Alchemist Yang's little brother—the one who was selling Qi Condensing Pills last time—was found dead in the woods over ten miles from the Trade Market, his storage bag stolen, body obliterated. The killer still hasn't been found!"

"Alchemist Yang put up a bounty of 20 Spirit Stones for any clues, and swore he won't rest until the killer is caught!"

Zhu Zhishan said seriously.

"20 Spirit Stones as bounty?"

Hearing Zhu Zhishan, Lin Chang'sheng's heart jumped, then he frowned. "That's a hefty bounty, but it's not easy to get!"

"It's really not easy. I wasn't planning to go after it myself, but I heard that Yang's little brother was actually going to cause trouble for someone."

Zhu Zhishan nodded.

"Oh? So he got killed while picking a fight?"

Lin Chang'sheng's heart leaped. He'd burned the Tiger-faced Cultivator to ash with Fire Bomb Technique, so there shouldn't be any clues left.

"Yeah, that's what I heard."

Zhu Zhishan nodded again, then added, "Daoist Wei, there's good news too—Liuyun Immortal Sect is relaxing age requirements a bit for new disciples this spring. As long as you have a Spirit Root, you can get in. I'm planning to give it a try."

"That's great! I believe in you—you'll definitely make it!"

Lin Chang'sheng clasped his fists.

He understood well—with Zhu Zhishan's age, even with relaxed rules, it's still a stretch.

"Thanks for your kind words, Daoist Wei. I'll see you around!"

Zhu Zhishan nodded, cupped his hands, then turned and left.

"Just to be safe—time to move!"

Watching Zhu Zhishan leave, Lin Chang'sheng sank into thought. Yang Zhaosheng, the Tiger-faced Cultivator's big bro, had a bounty of 20 Spirit Stones just to find his trail. That's not good news!

This guy is Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer, one layer higher than Lin Chang'sheng, and 20 Spirit Stones is a fat reward—sure to attract all sorts of low tier cultivators to hunt!

Better to play it safe.

......

Trade Market.

In a small forest over ten miles outside the valley, a thin, sallow-faced middle-aged man with a thumb-sized purple scar on his browbone was searching the area with a dark expression.

Beside him was a weaselly, mustachioed middle-aged man, one hand clutching a gray squirrel-like little beast, the other holding half a broken mask. He let the rat beast sniff the mask.

Then, he patted the rat beast's head, set it down, and said, "Go on, baby!"

After sniffing the half mask, the rat headed straight toward a huge pit in the woods, circled the pit once, then dashed off into the distance.

"Elder Yang, the killer went that way!"

The sleazy man grovelled beside the grim-faced Yang Zhaosheng.

Without a word, Yang Zhaosheng flashed forward, following the rat beast.

The Sniffer Rat Beast ran all the way, soon arriving by a riverbank, where it began squeaking nonstop.

"Hm? Ma Wen, what's up?"

Yang Zhaosheng's face darkened.

"Elder Yang, the killer probably washed or tossed away his clothes and clues in the water. That's why the Sniffer Rat lost the scent here. I'll keep searching with the Sniffer Rat—if there's any news, I'll notify you immediately!"

The greasy man said solemnly.

"Damn! That bastard is cunning! If you find any clues, tell me at once. You'll get the full reward!"

Yang Zhaosheng spat out the words and sped off into the distance.

The greasy man respectfully bowed to Yang Zhaosheng's retreating figure, and once he was out of sight, he picked up the Sniffer Rat and said, "Come on, baby—keep searching. There's a reward in it for you!"

"Squeak squeak!"

The rat beast chirped and went downstream.

......

Jinyong City.

West City.

Lin Chang'sheng sat in his newly rented yard, staring into the distance. The Little White Fox sat beside him, gnawing on a pear.

These past two days, Lin Chang'sheng had fed it five Dragon Blood Pills that had no effect on himself. The White Fox was now lively, and its big tail wagged constantly.

"Time really flies. Four more days and it's New Year!"

"After New Year's, the Liuyun Immortal Sect disciple recruitment begins!"

At the moment, Lin Chang'sheng was feeling a bit of anticipation.

With his current cultivation, he'd definitely be able to enter the sect.

Once he joined Liuyun Immortal Sect, he'd have way more cultivation techniques to choose from.

As long as he got his hands on lots of techniques, he could keep simplifying and fusing them...

With better techniques, his dream of sword control soaring through the clouds, wine in hand and song on his lips, would get ever closer!

[Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer (5109/8000)]

"Only three thousand more experience points... just five more Qi Condensing Pills and I'm set!"

Staring at his panel, Lin Chang'sheng muttered to himself.

Once his cultivation advanced to Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, a Qi Condensing Pill only gave him a bit over 600 experience points, down from over 800 before.

He took the remaining eight Qi Condensing Pills, pushing his experience over five thousand. In turn, his magical power took a huge leap as well—his cultivation reached the middle stage of Fourth Layer.

"Ying ying ying!"

Suddenly, the Little White Fox's body became a white streak, dashing out toward the footpath in the distance.

"Xiaobai!"

Lin Chang'sheng frowned, watching the White Fox dart away—only to spot a little mouse 'squeak squeak'ing as it tried to escape!

Several miles away, behind a courtyard wall, a greasy-looking man flashed forward, reaching for the White Fox to try and snatch the rat!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.