’The purer the Magical Power, the higher its quality, and the fewer the impurities...’

’As for the body...’

Chu Mu pondered in silence, a faint path already forming in his mind.

The three treasures—Essence, Qi, and Spirit—corresponded to the body, Magical Power, and Divine Soul respectively. As for the Erysipelas contaminating his Magical Power and Divine Soul, the Divine Soul Long Saber was handling it. Based on his observations, he didn’t need to worry too much about them.

Even though his Sword Technique was still stuck at its critical point, given his current Cultivation Realm, the effects of the Divine Soul Saber were far from their limit.

But his body was a different matter. It wasn’t affected by the Divine Soul Saber. The Erysipelas was insidious, hidden deep within, making it difficult for him to even reach, let alone eliminate.

In that case, it seemed...

Chu Mu took out the copy of *Spiritual Ability Basics* that he had purchased when he first set foot on the Immortal Path.

As he flipped through the pages, the information from his memory resurfaced.

According to the book, there were two paths in Cultivation: one was Body Refining, and the other was Qi Cultivation!

Although the names were different, they shared a unified realm designation: the Qi Cultivation Realm!

The reason they were both classified under the Qi Cultivation Realm was that the fundamental goal of both Body Refining and Qi Cultivation was to absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into oneself.

The difference lay in their application. One path used Spiritual Qi to strengthen the body, aiming to overcome all techniques through sheer force. The other used Spiritual Qi to forge Magical Power, following the path of myriad techniques that harnessed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. For example, Magic, Magical Artifacts, and the Hundred Skills of Cultivation Immortal all generally required the support of Magical Power.

Clearly, the mainstream path in the Cultivation Immortal Realm was Qi Cultivation. Body Refining was merely a minor, supportive discipline.

According to the book, these two paths were actually one in ancient times when Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was extremely dense. However, as the Cultivation Immortal Era progressed, resources became scarce and cultivation grew difficult, so it slowly evolved into two separate paths.

The point of divergence between the two paths was undoubtedly the breakthrough from Qi and Blood Cultivation to the Immortal Path.

The path he had taken was clearly the mainstream one of Qi Cultivation and its myriad techniques.

And Body Refining...

Chu Mu recalled the changes his body underwent during his Qi and Blood Cultivation, and his decision was made.

The purer the Magical Power, the fewer the impurities.

The same principle clearly applied to the body.

His past Qi and Blood Cultivation had also been a process of purifying and strengthening his body.

Each session of Qi and Blood Cultivation was like forging iron, tempered a thousand times to remove impurities bit by bit.

And under this forging, his body grew stronger and stronger.

After stepping onto the Immortal Path, he focused on cultivating his Magical Power and Divine Soul. Though his body was nourished by Spiritual Qi and Magical Power, strictly speaking, his body now at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer was not much stronger than it was back at the Qi Cultivation First Layer.

If his guess was correct and Erysipelas was hidden within his body, then his only option now was to take up the path of Body Refining.

By tempering his body through cultivation, he could gradually eliminate the Erysipelas and, at the root, prevent or at least reduce the hidden dangers it posed.

’Dharma and Body Cultivation...’

In the end, all his thoughts converged, and these four words surfaced in Chu Mu’s mind.

Chu Mu frowned, contemplating the pros and cons of Dharma and Body Cultivation.

Even though he didn’t know much about Body Refining, he could imagine countless benefits to Dharma and Body Cultivation just by speculating.

The drawback, however, was obvious and singular.

Resources!

Every era has its own characteristics.

The reason the cultivation path of Ancient Cultivators had evolved into two separate paths today was due to changes in the cultivation environment and the scarcity of resources.

Take his own Qi Cultivation, for instance. If it weren’t for the existence of Spiritual Radiance and his inherited knowledge, he would probably still be struggling every month for a mere three or four Spirit Stones.

Qi Cultivation was already a rugged path. Aside from the few born into nobility, who would dare to even dream of Body Refining, a notorious resource hog?

’Can I dare to hope for it?’

Chu Mu was tempted, but he couldn’t help but hesitate.

Resources were one thing; energy was another.

He might not lack resources now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t in the future. And with resources, the higher one’s Cultivation, the more terrifying the consumption. They would only become rarer and harder to find.

After all, he was currently only in the Qi Cultivation Realm, and the resources he needed were still common items.

As for energy...

There were only so many hours in a day. He had to practice Qi Cultivation, practice Magic, and practice his Sword Technique...

Then there were Puppetry Skill and Alchemy Skill, two knowledge systems as vast as the ocean, requiring countless hours of his energy to explore and master...

He hadn’t even started on Puppetry Skill yet, and already his days felt packed, with almost no free time.

Adding another discipline...

’I’ll just take it one step at a time...’

Sensing the intangible bottleneck in his Cultivation, Chu Mu could only offer himself this meager comfort once again.

He glanced around the room. It was a mundane house, and after ten-odd days of Cultivation, the entire room was covered in a layer of dust. Cobwebs were visible in the corners, and insects crawled about.

Patting the dust off his clothes, Chu Mu stood up. With a slight shift in his thoughts, a gentle breeze seemed to sweep through every corner of the room. Dust and insects were all swept up, finally condensing into a fist-sized ball of gray that floated before him.

He waved his hand, and the gray ball flew out the window, landing in a corner behind the house’s enclosing wall.

’I need to get a barrier Restriction...’

Chu Mu thought to himself. For a Cultivator, these mundane houses offered no privacy whatsoever.

He then tidied up the room, making sure not to leave anything useful behind, before pushing open the wooden door that had been shut for over ten days.

It was a simple wooden door with no Array Restriction, made of ordinary, worldly wood. As he pushed it, it even creaked from the friction.

Pushing the door open, his eyes were met with a street paved with bluestone. Looking around, he saw a town that was a strange mix of harmony and contradiction.

Within his view were quaint courtyards, exquisitely designed pavilions, low and dilapidated houses, and even wretched shacks built from a few random pieces of wood.

This scene was clearly a result of the Longevity Sect’s negligent management.

From what he had gathered, the Longevity Sect’s role in this town outside the Marketplace was merely that of a landlord and a protection racket.

Three Broken Spirits for a month’s rent.

Once the Spirit Stones were paid, they didn’t care about anything else.

This led to many Cultivators choosing to rent with others to save a few Spirit Stones.

The houses uniformly built by the Longevity Sect were clearly unsuitable for co-renting. Thus, some Cultivators demolished the Sect-built houses and constructed smaller ones on the foundations, dividing them into several rooms to accommodate roommates, or even to sublet as second-hand landlords!

Coupled with the motley crew of people in the Marketplace, this chaotic situation became even more apparent.

As for the Longevity Sect, perhaps due to management costs, they didn’t seem to care about such details for the time being.

The so-called protection was even more superficial, amounting to nothing more than a ban on fighting within a two-hundred-li radius.

Although the Law Enforcement Team patrolled, their focus was primarily on the industries outside the Marketplace.

Under these circumstances, while Yuning Town had some order, it was an entirely different concept from the order within the Marketplace.

For the vast majority of Cultivators living in Yuning Town, their goal was likely to earn enough Spirit Stones to move into the Marketplace and enjoy its dense Spiritual Qi and near-absolute safety.

But for him, at this moment, these were not disadvantages.

The limited order could mostly ensure he wouldn’t face any life-threatening danger, while the chaotic mix of people provided a natural disguise.

As for the thin Spiritual Qi, he currently had no great need for it to be dense.

Furthermore, Yuning Town was located outside the Marketplace, only a little over three hundred li from the Jade Emperor Black Market that Wang Mazi had told him about.

It was perfect. At least, for now, it was perfect.

If only... people didn’t randomly dump their feces and urine, it would be even more perfect.

Chu Mu glanced at a nearby shack where a Cultivator was pouring a bucket of filth into a large wooden barrel by his door.

The faint, acrid stench in the air instantly intensified, sweeping over him like a poison gas bomb.

Fortunately, the Cultivator quickly placed the wooden lid back on the barrel, which lessened the pungent odor somewhat.

Watching this scene, Chu Mu suddenly remembered that young girl, Hongyi. Back in the Marketplace, she seemed to have the same job.

However, the conditions in the Marketplace were clearly much better. The large barrels for filth all had barrier Restrictions, and the streets and rooms even had purification Restrictions to cleanse the air and ensure a good quality of life.

’I wonder where she went.’

"Fellow Daoist, did you just move in recently?"

Just as Chu Mu was reminiscing, the door to the adjacent house opened. A voice rang out, and a slovenly old man came into view, seemingly at the Qi Cultivation Third Layer.

He wore a gray robe that looked like it hadn’t been washed in decades—it was splotched with black and white filth. His graying hair was greasy and matted, and even from a distance, Chu Mu thought he could smell a strong stench.

Chu Mu nodded and grunted in acknowledgment.

"Well then, Fellow Daoist, do you know the rules around here?"

The old man’s eyes lit up as he asked immediately.

Chu Mu raised an eyebrow. He glanced at the filth on the old man’s robe, then at the large wooden barrels by each household’s door, and instantly understood.

"Fellow Daoist, you handle this?"

Chu Mu pointed to the large barrel in front of his door.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The old man nodded repeatedly, rubbing his hands together with shining eyes. "I can help you dispose of your filth. One Broken Spirit every three months."

"That’s the standard price, honest and fair!"

"Old Chen, you’re spouting nonsense again. Did you not get beaten enough last time?"

Before Chu Mu could speak, the door of the house across from his opened, and a clear female voice rang out.

Chu Mu turned to look and saw a Female Cultivator in a sheer robe leaning against her doorframe. She looked as if she had just woken up, a seductive languor on her face.

As she raised her hand, the sheer fabric slipped, half-revealing a jade-like arm and offering a glimpse of something ravishing. Though she wore no makeup, her beautiful face and alluring figure stirred an indescribable impulse in him, along with a strange sense of familiarity.

’Familiar?’

Chu Mu froze for a moment. ’I shouldn’t know this woman, should I?’

"Not at all, not at all! Fairy Wang, you mustn’t speak such nonsense!"

Old Chen was clearly a bit afraid of this Female Cultivator. He waved his hands dismissively, then turned to Chu Mu, bowing and scraping.

"Fellow Daoist, look at this memory of mine. I’m getting old, my memory’s not what it used to be. It’s one Broken Spirit every six months, one Broken Spirit every six months..."

Chu Mu chuckled, casually took out a Broken Spirit, and tossed it to him.

Old Chen bowed and scraped, fawning obsequiously.

Chu Mu glanced at the Female Cultivator and nodded. Without another word, he closed his door and started walking toward the Marketplace.

’Familiar?’

Chu Mu couldn’t help but keep thinking about it.

’Why does this strange Female Cultivator feel so familiar?’

A moment later, he seemed to realize something. The corner of Chu Mu’s mouth twitched. He really was familiar with her!

...