Mortal: I have a gathering technique

After leaving the bearded man's stall, Fang Qing continued browsing for a while. Seeing that the agreed time had arrived, he walked out of the square and went to the meeting place.

Han Li was already waiting here.

Fang Qing glanced at him and noticed that the blue cloth bundle in Han Li's hand was gone, and a small gray bag had appeared on his waist.

This is the lowest-grade storage bag in the cultivation world. It has a space about the size of a dining table inside and costs five spirit stones.

Although it wasn't expensive, Han Li didn't have a single spirit stone on him.

"What did you sell?"

Fang Qing blinked and asked with some curiosity.

"Three-black grass".

Han Li did not hide anything.

"How many spirit stones?"

Fang Qing asked again.

"Ninety-five yuan."

When the topic of spirit stones came up, Han Li couldn't help but smile.

"Not bad."

Fang Qing nodded slightly. The value of the Hundred-Year-Old Three-Black Grass and the Yellow Dragon Grass was about the same, and the price was also a little higher than usual.

"Let's go, let's find a place to stay first. There are still about ten days until the Tainan Small Conference ends."

Fang Qing gave a shout and strode into the market.

The cave dwellings rented outside Tainan Valley are not expensive; a two-story building can be rented for five days for one spirit stone.

The two each contributed a spirit stone and agreed on a ten-day rental period.

Inside the pavilion, Fang Qing activated the protective barrier, and a faint blue light descended from the roof, like an inverted giant bowl covering the entire building.

The two-story layout is perfect, with one floor for each person, so they won't disturb each other.

Second-floor bedroom.

Fang Qing took out the "brick" magic artifact he had just acquired from his storage bag.

The damage, with the piece broken into three sections, is so severe that it is completely beyond repair.

Fang Qing summoned his divine sense, enveloping the three fragments, and slowly stretched out his hand.

[Gold Essence - Gathering!]

As Fang Qing silently chanted, beams of golden light were drawn from the brick, gathered in his palm, and finally condensed into a yellow metal ball the size of a pigeon egg.

Upon seeing the metal sphere, Fang Qing immediately smiled.

This is the real way to make money with gathering skills!

This small piece of gold essence is worth about one or two hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Fang Qing's cost was only two spirit stones.

In the world of cultivation, although the materials of a broken magical artifact can be refined again, it is extremely time-consuming.

Under normal circumstances, even the poorest monks would be unwilling to do this kind of hard labor.

But Fang Qing is different; he has the skill of gathering, so he doesn't need to put in the effort to refine it.

Most importantly, this "brick" is just a magical artifact; if it were replaced with a magical treasure, it would be more cost-effective.

"It seems that what suits me best is scrap metal recycling... oops, I mean, weapon refinement..."

Fang Qing played with the metal ball while silently analyzing it, his heart filled with anticipation for the future.

After the gold essence was extracted, the bricks became riddled with holes and crumbled into a pile of sand at the slightest touch.

Although it looked useless, Fang Qing did not discard it.

This pile of loose sand contains a large amount of "purple copper," which, once collected, is worth at least thirty to fifty low-grade spirit stones.

In the early stages of starting a business, you should still try to save money where possible!

……

In the days that followed, Fang Qing and Han Li spent most of their time browsing the stalls.

However, the two mostly observed and rarely took action.

Firstly, my wallet wasn't thick enough, and secondly, I hadn't encountered anything truly good.

For example, Fang Qing was eager to buy a weapon-refining inheritance manual, but he had never seen anyone selling it.

Han Li also longed for someone to sell the alchemist's inheritance, but his wish was not fulfilled.

Time slips away quietly like flowing water.

That evening, Fang Qing strolled around the square as usual.

Suddenly, a stall owner whose identity was completely different from the others caught his attention.

The man was bald and wore a bright red kasaya. He looked to be about ten years old, but his posture while sitting cross-legged resembled that of a great monk.

In the cultivation world, there are Taoist cultivators, Confucian cultivators, and Buddhist cultivators, but Fang Qing remembers that the Buddhist cultivation tradition in the southern region had long since been severed.

During his time in Tainan Valley, Fang Qing had seen many strangely dressed cultivators, but this was the first time he had ever seen a monk.

Moreover, judging from his appearance, he seems to resemble the little monk who instructed Han Li in the art of talisman making in the original work.

With this thought in mind, Fang Qing took a step and walked over.

The little monk didn't have much to sell, just a few dozen blank talisman papers and a few futons woven from celestial heart grass.

While the Heavenly Heart Grass cannot be used for alchemy, sitting on a futon woven from it for cultivation can calm the mind and focus the spirit.

Cultivators who don't lack spirit stones will usually buy one for their own use.

"How much is this cushion?"

Fang Qing squatted down in front of the stall, looking the little monk up and down, and asked with a smile.

The young monk had a sour face, but he was quite warm-hearted; before quoting a price, he even bowed to Fang Qing.

"Amitabha Buddha, this humble monk Kusang greets the benefactor. This Heavenly Heart Futon was woven by my own hands, and it costs only two spirit stones per futon."

Fang Qing nodded. "It's not expensive."

He said it wasn't expensive, but he didn't take out any spirit stones. Instead, he kept staring at the little monk.

Ku Sang looked completely bewildered by his gaze and asked blankly, "Is there something wrong with this humble monk?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Qing deliberately feigned a look of shame and cupped his hands in apology:

"I apologize. I have been traveling in the cultivation world for many years, and this is the first time I have seen a Buddhist cultivator. I was just curious. Please forgive my rudeness, Master."

Ku Sang was clearly an easy-going person, and immediately said that he didn't mind, "Buddhist cultivators are indeed rare in the cultivation world, and it's only natural that you're curious. There's no need to apologize."

"Master, you have a magnanimous heart; I admire you."

Fang Qing cupped his hands in greeting, then asked, "I've heard that Buddhist cultivators are most skilled in body refinement. May I ask, Master, is that true?"

Ku Sang was taken aback, seemingly not expecting Fang Qing to ask such a question. After a few moments of silence, she answered:

"Your knowledge is extensive, I admire it. We Buddhist practitioners do indeed have methods for body refinement passed down through generations, but I am of dull aptitude and have not yet entered the door."

Upon hearing this, Fang Qing's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "Judging from what you're saying, Master, do you possess a method for body refinement?"

Although Ku Sang was young, he could tell that Fang Qing wasn't there to buy the futon at all, but rather for the body-refining method.

Thinking of this, Ku Sang became secretly wary and stopped answering.

Fang Qing frowned, realizing he had been too direct. After thinking for a moment, he apologized sincerely:

"I apologize for my intrusion."

"To be honest, Master, I am extremely interested in the art of body refinement. If you truly possess a method for body refinement, please name your price. As long as the price is reasonable, I will accept it without hesitation."

After speaking, Fang Qing stared intently at the little monk, but unexpectedly, after listening to this, Master Ku Sang closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Seeing this, Fang Qing remained calm and continued to add chips at a leisurely pace:

"Besides spirit stones, I also have some pills that can enhance your magical power. If you are willing to share your cultivation technique, Master, it would be fine to give you some of them."

Fang Qing spoke with extreme confidence, he didn't believe anyone could refuse a pill that could enhance one's magical power.

Sure enough, upon hearing the word "elixir," Ku Sang immediately opened his eyes...

After some haggling, Fang Qing finally traded two bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills plus thirty spirit stones for a body-refining technique called "Ming Wang Jue" from Ku Sang.

Fang Qing glanced at it briefly and confirmed that this technique was the Buddhist body-refining method passed down from the spirit world, namely the "Diamond Mantra".

Unfortunately, Ku Sang only had the first four levels.