"What?"

Old Xu and the others were stunned.

"Friend, are you serious?"

The Water Spirit Technique roommate, however, was overjoyed.

"Friend, be careful. If you practice this Cultivation Technique, not only will you face all sorts of risks, but you’ll become a hunted rat in the lands of the Righteous Dao."

Old Xu quickly came to his senses and loudly tried to dissuade him.

"It will also be difficult for you to obtain the subsequent parts of the technique. And joining an Immortal Sect or a family? Even more impossible. Unless you’re willing to pay a huge price to start your cultivation over," the other roommate, the one with the Cyan Wood Technique, chimed in.

"Heh, we Loose Cultivators are like ants. Even if we practice a normal Cultivation Technique, aren’t we still hunted by everyone? If not, why were we captured and brought here?"

"Besides, are ordinary Low Grade Cultivation Techniques easy to come by? Aren’t they just as expensive?"

"As for joining an Immortal Sect or a family, that’s pure fantasy for people like us. Unless we can master one of the Hundred Skills of Immortal Cultivation or become a Foundation Establishment Cultivator."

"What’s more, the most important thing for our friend right now is to find a way to escape this mine. The Blood Flame Technique can rapidly increase his strength, which undoubtedly makes it the most suitable for him. Otherwise, what’s the use of having the most orthodox Cultivation Technique if you can’t get out?"

"Besides, for us Loose Cultivators, taking risks is nothing. Increasing our Cultivation is what’s most important."

"Most of us Loose Cultivators only have Pseudo Grade Spirit Roots. But practicing this Demon Technique can increase cultivation speed by about thirty percent. Isn’t that worth the risk?"

"If you don’t even dare to do this, you might as well go home and be a farmer. What’s the point of seeking immortality?"

"And besides, there are definitely plenty of other Mining Slaves in these mines who practice this technique. We could learn from their Cultivation Experience, and they might even have the follow-up techniques!"

The Water Spirit Technique roommate scoffed and launched into a torrent of rebuttals.

He didn’t care what crazy idea had gotten into Zhang Chi; since an opportunity had presented itself, he had to seize it.

"That makes sense."

Even the Earth Element Technique roommate spoke up in support.

If the Water Spirit Technique roommate were chosen, at most he would get one Antitoxic Pill first. He and the other two would still be on the same starting line.

"Heh, easy for you to say. Why don’t you practice this Demon Technique yourself?"

"Exactly."

Old Xu and his companion immediately launched a sharp counterattack.

"Don’t you know? The real reason I was caught by a disciple of the Cyan Cloud Sect and brought here was because I had obtained this Demon Technique and was planning to practice it!" the Water Spirit Technique roommate said.

"You..."

Old Xu and the other man were at a loss for words.

"Are your injuries not severe enough, or is the poison not deep enough? Shut up! I’ve made my decision, so you will cooperate. Recite the Cultivation Technique, now! Don’t waste time!" Zhang Chi had long since lost his patience and immediately shouted them down.

In fact, the Water Spirit Technique roommate’s words had echoed his own thoughts.

The fact that this Cultivation Technique could increase his cultivation speed by thirty percent pleased him greatly.

In the Immortal Cultivation Realm, the quality of one’s Spirit Root was extremely important.

This was especially true for Low Tier Cultivators.

Once a Cultivator reached a High Tier, their aptitude would evolve after long periods of cultivation and multiple breakthroughs.

But with a poor Spirit Root, one could never reach a High Tier in the first place.

The difference between Spirit Roots of varying qualities was enormous.

He had a Middle Grade Spirit Root. His cultivation speed wasn’t slow, but it was nothing compared to true geniuses.

But if he practiced this technique, he could undoubtedly make up for some of that deficit!

A thirty percent increase might not seem like much, but it would be substantial when accumulated over time.

Even an Upper Grade Spirit Root was only twice as fast as a Middle Grade Spirit Root in terms of pure cultivation speed.

Besides, even if he ultimately failed to condense the Blood Flame, he could just switch to another Cultivation Technique.

"Alright, I’ll begin now."

The Water Spirit Technique roommate was overjoyed. He shot a glare at Old Xu and the other man, then immediately began to recite.

Old Xu and the others were helpless. Not daring to interrupt, they could only prepare to compete again when it came to the Magic.

Zhang Chi, meanwhile, focused on recording it on a stone.

Thankfully, the Cultivation Technique was concise. It only covered the Qi Cultivation Early Stage, and even with the introductory summary, it was just over a thousand characters long.

Zhang Chi had prepared many stones, and now that he was a Cultivator, carving characters with the already-sharp mining pick was a simple task.

Thus, in less than half an hour, he had recorded the entire Cultivation Technique.

Next, he had the man recite it two more times and randomly picked out a few lines to test him.

This way, if the roommate was trying to pull a fast one, he would most likely be found out, and there would surely be a flaw in his expression.

As it turned out, the roommate wasn’t trying to trick him.

After all, there was no need to, or rather, the risk was too great.

Then, Zhang Chi had the roommate look over the recording to make sure he hadn’t written any characters incorrectly.

Finally, he had the man share his insights from studying the technique, then read through it himself and raised a few questions.

Of course, this was all thanks to the body’s previous owner, who came from an extremely wealthy family and had been taught to read since childhood.

In order to enter an Immortal Sect, he had even specifically studied related knowledge such as Meridians and acupoints.

Coupled with the knowledge from his previous life, he was just barely able to understand the Cultivation Technique.

’Demon Techniques are truly formidable. If a Low Grade one is like this, wouldn’t Middle Grade and Upper Grade ones be even more heaven-defying?’

Zhang Chi was amazed after studying it.

But he didn’t know that a major reason this Demon Technique was of a low grade was because of its immense side effects.

A Cultivator had a near-zero chance of survival when condensing the Blood Flame; even the Demon Sects could hardly bear such a cost.

After all, Demon Cultivators weren’t fools.

If not for the fact that this Demon Technique was genuinely powerful once mastered, it would have been discarded long ago.

"Alright, now let’s talk about the Magic," Zhang Chi said next.

In truth, he only had a rough understanding of the Cultivation Technique. To actually begin practicing, he would still need to comprehend it slowly.

But he was short on time and naturally couldn’t afford to keep delaying.

"I know the Fire Bomb Technique, the Qi Concealment Technique..."

Old Xu and the others had been waiting impatiently and immediately started shouting over each other.

They even nearly started arguing again.

Zhang Chi shouted them down and made them speak in turns, finally restoring order.

He quickly discovered that the Magic his roommates knew were all Low Grade Magic—very basic, but rich in variety.

Even after setting aside the duplicates and those that couldn’t be taught, there were still as many as eight types.

They were: Fire Bomb Technique, Qi Concealment Technique, Wind Manipulation Technique, Celestial Eye Technique, Earth Spike Technique, Vine Technique, Water Shield Technique, and Water Arrow Technique.

Zhang Chi wanted all of them, but worried he wouldn’t have enough time, so he prioritized the first four.

Those four were the most useful.

The other four were all Earth, Wood, and Water Magic.

Although he could practice them, their power would be mediocre.

His progress in learning them would, unsurprisingly, also be relatively slow.

It proved to be the right choice. Just as he finished recording his first pick, the Qi Concealment Technique, Old Xu and the others were on the verge of collapse.

He took out the Antitoxic Pill, divided it into four portions, and fed it to Old Xu and the others, barely keeping them alive.

Old Xu and the others were overjoyed.

This way, they could all last until the end of the shift in the mines.

After that, they stopped competing and became more cooperative.

Thus, Zhang Chi successfully recorded the Fire Bomb Technique, Wind Manipulation Technique, and Celestial Eye Technique.

DONG DONG DONG...

But before he had a chance to ask about their experience with the Qi Concealment Technique, much less record the remaining four types of Magic, the bells signaling the end of the shift rang out.

"Great!"

The eyes of Old Xu and the others lit up, all of them thinking they were finally about to be saved.

"What a pity. If only there had been a little more time!"

But instead, Zhang Chi sighed faintly, picked up Old Xu and the others, and walked off, soon tossing them into the mine tunnel where the Four-legged Strange Snakes were.

SWISH, SWISH...

A horde of Four-legged Strange Snakes, like sharks smelling blood, rushed out and pounced on Old Xu and the others.

To them, Cultivators were a great supplement, an opportunity they naturally wouldn’t miss.