Chapter 3: The Immortal Cave of a Predecessor
"Besides the huge initial investment my uncle mentioned, Artifact Refining and Alchemy also require guidance from a renowned master. If I were to explore it on my own, it might take five or six years, and I still might not truly get started, let alone make a living from it. However, after observing it today, the Spiritual Plant Master profession seems to have great potential. I'll start with that!"
Due to the Xuan Mo Bamboo, the Bai Family places particular importance on the Dao of spiritual plants. There are no less than a hundred volumes of books related to spiritual plants within the Family.
Especially for various spiritual bamboos, there are complete cultivation methods, and even multiple ways to stimulate spiritual bamboos to advance their grade have been compiled.
Once an ordinary dark bamboo becomes a First-Grade Low Grade Xuan Mo Bamboo, a complete stalk can be sold for thirty-five Spirit Stones. And with more than ten years of cultivation, there is a very small probability that the Xuan Mo Bamboo will advance in grade again, becoming a First-Grade Medium Grade spiritual plant, which can then be exchanged for one hundred fifty Spirit Stones.
For no other reason than that a First-Grade Medium Grade Xuan Mo Bamboo can already be used to refine the lowest-grade Flying Sword, its value naturally skyrockets.
Even though the Ink Bamboo Sword refined from it is of Low Grade among First-Grade Flying Swords and has the disadvantage of being relatively more fragile than metal Flying Swords, it is still one of the Bai Family's most popular specialties. Many Bai Family Cultivators themselves use Ink Bamboo Flying Swords.
Who would have thought that even the most ordinary Flying Sword Magical Artifact would sell for around five hundred Spirit Stones in the market shops set up by the Qingfeng Sect?
For an ordinary Loose Cultivator, there are many Cultivators who, after fortunately enduring until the Late Stage of Qi Refinement, are reluctant to purchase a Flying Sword.
And above the First-Grade Medium Grade Xuan Mo Bamboo, there is a one-in-ten-million chance for this spiritual bamboo to mutate, though the Bai Family's centuries of cultivation have only seen it happen a few times. Five times it became First-Grade High Grade Tortoise Shell Bamboo, and two times it became Second-Grade Medium Grade saint sound bamboo.
With so many Cultivators in the Bai Family, cultivating and planting generation after generation, and with auxiliary Spells like the Yi Wood Azure God Art, only a handful of mutations have been recorded.
The First-Grade High Grade Tortoise Shell Bamboo is one thing, but a Second-Grade spiritual plant and a First-Grade spiritual plant are not the same concept. Don't let the small difference in grade fool you; their value is as different as heaven and earth.
Moreover, saint sound bamboo is a rather rare spiritual bamboo, which can be used as the main material for refining both Flying Swords and Spiritual Artifacts.
One of the two mutated saint sound bamboos that appeared in the Bai Family's history was sold at an auction in the market for the sky-high price of four thousand Spirit Stones as the highlight item.
The remaining one was treated as a Family heirloom by the Bai Family and has been safely planted in the most concentrated Spiritual Qi area of the Family's territory.
"Two pieces a year, four thousand Spirit Stones by relying on basic welfare, that would take a full two thousand years. Hmm, the spiritual plant master profession is quite lucrative!"
Bai Zichen had a scroll spread out before him, which was the cultivation manual for the Yi Wood Azure God Art. Originally, it was only a few hundred characters with a few illustrations, but the margins were covered with dense annotations added by later generations, all of which were cultivation insights from Bai Family Seniors who had read this manual. Various tiny annotations, adding up to tens of thousands of characters, almost filled all the margins.
It's strange to say, but the Yi Wood Azure God Art, such a unique and miraculous auxiliary Spell, although it has no benefit for cultivation or combat, its assistance in the Dao of spiritual plants is obvious. Over time, many surrounding Families became covetous, using all sorts of overt and covert means to obtain the manual.
As the saying goes, there are no impenetrable walls in the world. Whether through soft means like intermarriage and kinship, or hard means like kidnapping and assassination, with all kinds of methods employed, the manual for the Yi Wood Azure God Art inevitably leaked out.
However, it is rumored that no matter how many people in the Families who obtained the Yi Wood Azure God Art cultivated this Spell, they could not grasp it.
Either they couldn't even get started, or they spent a lot of time, and the efficacy of the Yi Wood Azure God Art was far less than imagined, completely failing to exhibit the miraculous effects it had in the hands of the Bai Family members. After much thought, they could only conclude that this unique Spell could only be successfully cultivated by Bai Family members.
Although this situation is rare, it's not unheard of. It is rumored that there is a type of Bloodline Spell that can only be cultivated by the descendants of its founder's Bloodline.
After this incident, these Families began to adopt conciliatory measures, viewing Bai Family women as highly desirable, and came to propose marriage one after another, or invited Bai Family disciples to become live-in sons-in-law.
Since the Yi Wood Azure God Art is considered a remarkable Spell in the eyes of many Celestial Families, Bai Zichen naturally wouldn't return empty-handed from a treasure mountain. He immediately decided to make this Spell his foundation for establishing his Dao, preparing to diligently study it for several years before coming of age.
This Spell has no grade. According to Bai Jiu'an, even an Early Stage Qi Refinement Cultivator can cast it three to five times a day after getting started, with the effect depending on the depth of their magic power and their mastery of the Spell.
Bai Zichen held the thick book and studied it for three to five days straight. From being completely bewildered at first, he gradually gained a hint of enlightenment. Following the annotations and explanations in the manual, he began to understand the circulation of magic power. A faint green light flickered from his fingertips, but unfortunately, it extinguished in an instant.
"Could it be that I have a talent for Spell cultivation?"
Bai Zichen's spirits lifted. If he could Cultivate the Yi Wood Azure God Art within seven days, he would rank among the top three among all generations of Bai Family members, greatly increasing his chances of cultivating advanced spiritual plants in the future.
Unfortunately, the subsequent progress prevented his joy from lasting more than a few days. The faint green light persisted for more than ten days without change, still unable to take the final step to truly Cultivate the Yi Wood Azure God Art, causing Bai Zichen's expectations to steadily decline.
By the twenty-seventh day, he even began to doubt whether it was because of his Transmigration that his inner Soul was not a descendant of the Bai Family's Old Ancestor, and therefore he simply couldn't learn this auxiliary spiritual plant Spell.
"Zi Chen, hurry up! There's a big event in the Family, don't hide at home!" A chubby boy rushed outside, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Bai Ying, what are you yelling about?"
Bai Zichen walked out of the house with a frown. More than a month had passed, and he still hadn't cultivated the Yi Wood Azure God Art, leaving him frustrated and in a bad mood. The initial excitement of successfully refining Qi had long since faded.
The cultivation of immortals he envisioned in his previous life involved wielding swords in the azure sky and plucking stars and moons, not being troubled by an auxiliary Spell.
If it weren't for an adult Soul residing in his body, he would have long since been like the chubby boy, spending his days catching fish and chasing dogs, not having the patience to ponder so diligently.
Bai Ying, the chubby boy, was similar in age to Bai Zichen. Both his parents were Middle Stage Qi Refinement Cultivators, so after his Spiritual Root was detected, he also moved into the Family early.
The large-scale Spirit Guiding Ceremony for detecting the Spiritual Roots of Mortals hadn't started yet this year, and there were few boys of the same age in the Family. Bai Ying, who loved excitement, ran to Fufeng Ridge every few days and quickly became familiar with it.
"Zi Chen, this time it's a really big deal! Come with me to the main peak to watch the excitement! My dad said yesterday when he came back that the Clan Chief is going to hold a full-Family assembly in the next two days!"
Bai Pangzi's father was in charge of a merchant caravan in the Family, mainly responsible for purchasing a large number of Mortal goods annually and trading some of the Bai Family's produce with other Celestial Families. At the same time, he often went to the Qingfeng Sect's market to buy and sell goods. Therefore, he had a wide network outside and it was not surprising that he could get important news ahead of time.
"Full-Family assembly? Is an Elder going to attempt to break through to Foundation Establishment, or has another Tortoise Shell Bamboo been born in the Family?"
Upon hearing about the full-Family assembly, Bai Zichen's expression became serious. Even for Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators, it was normal to enter seclusion for several months or even years at a time. Therefore, a full-Family assembly requiring 80% or more of the Family's Cultivators to be present would not happen more than once every few years.
Anyway, he had seen in the notes of predecessors he found on the bookshelf that such assemblies were basically only held when major events that would affect the Bai Family's direction for the next few decades occurred.
The two possibilities he mentioned were both positive, but it was equally possible that the Family had encountered great trouble.
"Neither! My dad said that last month, several Loose Cultivators discovered an Immortal Cave of a Predecessor in the mountains. From the Formation layout, it's at least an Immortal Cave left by a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, or possibly even a Golden Core Grand Cultivator! Currently, Cultivators from the entire Black Mountain County are rushing there. It's going to be an extraordinary Opportunity!"
"Immortal Cave of a Predecessor!"
Bai Zichen's eyes lit up. The Bai Family's Old Ancestor was able to achieve Foundation Establishment back then by relying on resources left behind by a Loose Cultivator who had passed away centuries ago, and such stories often happen in the Black Mountain Mountain Range, mostly fabricated with a kernel of truth. But to the point of holding a full-Family assembly, it showed that the Family had already verified the authenticity of this matter.
Cultivation Technique!
Treasure!
Medicinal Pill!
Every time a similar event occurred, it would stir up the waters of Black Mountain County, with countless Cultivators fighting and competing, ultimately giving birth to one or two lucky individuals.
What's more, this suspected Immortal Cave of a Golden Core Grand Cultivator was only five or six days' journey from the Bai Family's territory. No matter what the Bai Family thought, they could no longer stay out of this matter.