Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments-Chapter 55 - 54: Spirit-Imbued Snow Lotus and Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment
As it turned out, Xiao Chen’s decision to find Elder Chen first was absolutely the right one.
After listening to his report, Elder Chen was completely calm. "Mm, I understand. Leave the rest to me. How has your training in magic been recently?"
Xiao Chen answered humbly, "It’s going well. I should be able to meet the requirements without any issues."
Elder Chen then asked him about alchemy and gave him a few routine words of advice, but didn’t bring up the matter of the Flying Sword again.
He didn’t even ask about the Black Market.
His silence said it all.
’The Chen Family is famous for its Pill and Artifact Dual Proficiency,’ Xiao Chen guessed, ’and there are even members of the Chen Family involved in Artifact Refining within the sect.’
’Could that Flying Sword be the handiwork of some Chen Family clansman?’
’If that’s true, it’s actually not entirely bad news. At least it would mean this is just a common case of embezzlement, and no Outer Disciples have met an unfortunate end.’
Of course, since Elder Chen said he would handle it, Xiao Chen didn’t worry about it any further.
He returned to his room and began to refine the Storage Bag.
This Storage Bag was clearly much harder to deal with than the last one.
It took him a full two hours to finally erase the original Restriction and claim it as his own through refinement.
The good news: there was indeed a small booklet inside the Storage Bag.
The bad news: it wasn’t a magic technique, but a diary.
"Damn it, who in their right mind keeps a diary?"
Xiao Chen was a little disappointed not to have gotten the "All Grass and Trees Are Soldiers" technique, but he opened the diary anyway, hoping to find some valuable clues inside.
"Fifth of the Apricot Month. The Divine Fire Sect has become unstoppable. Big Brother says we must start preparing."
"Eighth of the Peach Month. The Loose Cultivators in Hezhou are dirt poor. We killed three of them and didn’t even get a hundred Spirit Stones." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"Eleventh of the Lotus Month. Big Brother says Hezhou isn’t safe anymore. Small groups of Demon Cultivators have started crossing the border. We’d better head to Li State."
"Nineteenth of the Lotus Month. Two bastards from the Luotian Sect killed Old Five. Fucking hell. From now on, any of these son-of-a-bitch Demon Cultivators we see, we kill them all. Avenge Old Five."
"Third of the Osmanthus Month. The boss finally agreed to pull a couple more jobs. Should’ve done this ages ago. How else are we supposed to get Spirit Stones for cultivation?"
Two pages were torn out from the middle.
"Twenty-first of the La Month. Old Four got taken down. He shouldn’t have gone out alone. The Spirit-Imbued Snow Lotus fell into the hands of some kid named Ye Fei. We have to kill him and avenge Old Four."
Although the diary didn’t cover a long period of time, it contained a great deal of information.
According to the news that had been circulating in Li State, Hezhou—the state adjacent to Quanzhou—had not yet been invaded by Demon Cultivators.
But judging from the diary, the news released by the three Major Sects was likely outdated.
Xiao Chen didn’t doubt the three Major Sects’ ability to gather intelligence for a second, but he had reason to doubt whether they would tell the truth to Loose Cultivators.
’Furthermore, the Luotian Sect is actually a Demon Sect. This is a huge problem.’
’I’d never even heard of this sect before, but Scarface recognized my Profound Fire Crow instantly.’
’Thank goodness I haven’t used this magic in front of anyone else since I learned it. Otherwise, I would’ve been branded a real Demon Cultivator without even knowing it.’
’In that case, the vendor who sold me that fake wine must have been a Demon Cultivator too.’
’Fucking hell. No wonder they tried to rob me. They’re real pieces of work.’
’Looks like I’ll have to use the Profound Fire Crow as sparingly as possible from now on. I’d better keep it hidden as a trump card to avoid misunderstandings.’
’But that leaves me without a go-to magic technique.’
’Hiss... oh, right. Where the hell are my magic techniques?’
Xiao Chen suddenly remembered that he had been in the Inner Sect for four or five months now, approaching half a year.
’The Cultivation Technique I was supposed to get from the Scripture Pavilion still hasn’t arrived.’
’That damned Jiang Family. I’ll add this to their tab.’
’Go on, then. Keep it from me until after I reach Foundation Establishment, if you dare.’
Xiao Chen made up his mind. Once he was stronger than the Jiang Family, he would find them and settle the score.
But that was a long-term solution, and it didn’t solve his immediate problem. He was once again without a go-to magic technique, which was incredibly frustrating.
Then there was the Spirit-Imbued Snow Lotus.
Xiao Chen had actually heard of it. It was a rather famous Tier One Spiritual Object, and knowing about it was basic common sense for an Alchemist like him.
’But their leader called it a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object. How could this thing possibly be related to Foundation Establishment?’
’The main ingredients of the Foundation Establishment Pill were no secret, and the Spirit-Imbued Snow Lotus was definitely not one of them.’
’Could it be for the legendary Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment?’
There are three methods for Foundation Establishment: Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment, Earth Dao Foundation Establishment, and Human Dao Foundation Establishment.
Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment involves a Cultivator consuming Treasures of Heaven and Earth corresponding to the Five Elements, using these Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm.
This method of breakthrough has an extremely high success rate and is said to be of considerable help to one’s cultivation after reaching Foundation Establishment.
However, the cost is astronomical. The Treasures of Heaven and Earth it requires are all rare items that cannot be cultivated in large-scale Spirit Fields.
There hasn’t been a single recorded case in Li State for over a hundred years, so it has basically become the stuff of legend.
As for Earth Dao Foundation Establishment, this is the current mainstream method: consuming a Foundation Establishment Pill.
For Cultivators with Middle Grade and Low Grade Spiritual Roots in particular, the Foundation Establishment Pill can significantly increase the chances of a successful breakthrough.
Moreover, even if the breakthrough fails, the pill can effectively protect one’s life essence from being damaged. After a period of recuperation, one can fully recover.
However, the ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill are also extremely rare.
While not as precious as the materials for Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment, they are still limited in quantity, and all supply channels are firmly controlled by the three Major Sects.
A Loose Cultivator with no connections or fortuitous encounters would find it nearly impossible to obtain a single Foundation Establishment Pill in their entire lifetime.
Of course, it is possible to reach Foundation Establishment without the pill.
This is the Human Dao Foundation Establishment Method, which involves using all of one’s Qi Blood to forcefully break through the great bottleneck to the Foundation Establishment realm.
Having access to related Cultivation Techniques or Secret Techniques can also slightly increase the success rate.
But on the whole, Human Dao Foundation Establishment is extremely difficult. Those who succeed are the lucky few, one in a hundred.
The consequences of failure are severe. In mild cases, one’s Qi Blood is greatly damaged, requiring long-term recuperation. In severe cases, one’s cultivation Realm will drop, leaving behind permanent damage that makes it impossible to attempt Foundation Establishment ever again.
’Don’t tell me the Spirit-Imbued Snow Lotus is actually one of the Spiritual Objects for Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment.’
Xiao Chen stared at the white Snow Lotus in the Storage Bag, a little dumbfounded.
Yes, inside Scarface’s Storage Bag, there was also a white Snow Lotus.
It was about a foot long with a thick, erect stem. It was a tubular flower with sixteen petals. Each petal had a long base, and the blades were ovate.
How to put it? You couldn’t say it was just *similar* to the description in the Pill Book... you had to say it was a perfect match.
’So, that Old Four had one, and this Scarface had one... They each had one!’
’Holy shit, what were they doing during those three months?’
Xiao Chen immediately realized the two torn-out pages from the diary must have something to do with these Snow Lotuses.
Something big must have happened during that time last year.
It was a shame that he, a local, hadn’t heard a single whisper about it.
Besides that, Scarface’s Storage Bag also contained a brand-new, low-grade Flying Sword and an earthen-yellow Magic Robe.
One hundred thirty-three Spirit Stones, half a bottle of leftover Qi Gathering Pills, two Black Market Tokens, and the Identity Token of an Azure Flame Sect Inner Sect Disciple.
There were also two Triple Fireball Talismans that hadn’t been used, a storage box containing several unfamiliar seeds.
... and various sundries like Night Clothes, dried beef, and a Wine Gourd.
The most valuable items in the bag were likely those unknown seeds.
Xiao Chen carefully put the storage box away. When he had a chance in the future, he would find someone reliable to appraise the seeds and see what they were.
The amount of Spirit Stones was rather low. Scarface’s main wealth must have been his magic techniques, along with the Talismans and the Earth Puppet he had used up in the fight.
Unfortunately, all of those things had already been expended.
After organizing everything, Xiao Chen began to count on his fingers all the things he now had to do.
First, in the coming days, he needed to cultivate the "Vertical Earth Golden Light" Escape Technique to improve his chances of survival.
Second, he needed to find and cultivate a new magic technique to replace the Profound Fire Crow.
Third, to buy that new magic technique, he would have to earn Spirit Stones, which meant firing up his furnace and doing some Alchemy.
Fourth, he needed to cultivate the "Fire Transformation Treasure Talisman" as an additional preparation for the Secret Realm.
And finally, he had to find some time to ask around for information about Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment.
’Hiss! I’m suddenly so busy.’
Thinking about all the work he had to do, Xiao Chen couldn’t help but take a sharp breath.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
A sudden knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
Steward Chen’s voice followed. "Junior Brother Xiao, Third Uncle has an Alchemy job. Are you free to come lend a hand?"
’Wait, that’s not right!’
’Didn’t I just get back from Elder Chen’s place?’
’Why didn’t he mention needing a hand with an Alchemy job earlier?’
