Cultivation: Beginning with the Heart Reflecting Heaven and Earth

Ten points of Daoist cultivation are too little. It's practically impossible to exchange them for any real cultivation technique. At most, you can exchange them for a secret technique, a fragment of a spell, a spell manual, or a cultivation notebook.

Ultimately, Lu Qian still needed to see if he could find anything useful, provided he could afford it.

"The Burning Body Technique, a desperate method that burns one's life force... it costs thirty cultivation points, forget it!"

"The Soul-Capturing Technique only works on mortals. Ten levels of cultivation are affordable, but basically useless."

In places like the Western Continent, only ruthless individuals can survive; there are no ordinary people among them.

Lu Qian continued his search, specifically looking for corners. Corners usually contained obscure martial arts techniques and secret arts, which were rarely practiced for various reasons and were naturally placed in corners. These techniques were often effective and inexpensive.

"The Three-Step Seed Condensation Technique?"

"It's actually a secret technique specifically designed to assist in condensing magic seeds?"

"The price is only ten levels?"

The so-called seed of magic is the original seed of magic that can only be formed when magic is cultivated to a perfect and flawless state.

Once the seed of magic is condensed and activated, it can be released instantly, and its release and control are entirely at the user's command. Furthermore, special spiritual objects and secret techniques can be used to refine the seed of magic, thereby enhancing the power of the spell.

There is a lineage within the Holy Land called the Myriad Laws Seeds Spirit Scripture, which is a technique specifically for utilizing law seeds, but unfortunately, almost no one learns it.

Because it is extremely difficult to perfect a spell, it often requires time and effort, and one may not even reach the point of condensing a spell seed in a lifetime, let alone condensing a bunch of spell seeds to cultivate the Myriad Spell Seeds Spiritual Scripture.

However, this so-called Three-Step Seed Condensation Technique is specifically designed to assist cultivators in condensing their Dharma Seeds. Such a secret technique is quite rare, and Lu Qian couldn't help but take a look at it.

"After successfully casting the spell, immediately disperse it, retaining half of your true energy. Cast the spell again, disperse it again, cast the spell again, disperse it again, cast the spell again... Repeat this three times. If you can succeed using only one-eighth of your true energy, the spell will be complete and a seed of magic will be generated."

This is just a brief introduction; you'll only know the specific details after redeeming the item.

"It sounds simple, but once the spell is successfully cast, it immediately dissipates... If someone actually does this, they might suffer a backlash and end up bearing the power of the spell. It seems that the key to the Three-Step Seed Condensation Technique lies in how to successfully dissipate the spell while still preserving one's true energy."

After pondering for a while, Lu Qian finally decided to exchange for the secret technique. If it could really help him condense a magic seed, it wouldn't be a loss.

After returning to his cave, he began to study it carefully, hoping to glean the secret to condensing the Dharma seed.

"Spells can also be divided into three layers: skin, flesh, and bone. The outer appearance is the skin, the inner power is the flesh, and the network connecting the inside and outside is the bone!"

In the Three-Step Seed Condensation Technique, spells are likened to flowers. Ordinary people can only observe the flowers when they cast spells, seeing only a fleeting moment of beauty. Those who condense the seed of spells, however, can see the flesh and bones of the spell.

In each of the three steps, half of your true energy must be released at each step. Only when you successfully release the spell with the remaining half of your true energy can you be considered successful. You will reach the point of perfection when you successfully release the spell with one-eighth of your true energy.

However, if one wants to continue this process, it should still be possible, but that would be beyond the capabilities of ordinary people, so it all depends on one's own thoughts.

"Although the Three-Step Seed Condensation Technique means that after three steps, any spell can condense a seed, it is mostly only applicable to low-level spells. For me, it is enough."

Some powerful spells, no matter how skilled one is, are probably difficult to unleash using only one-eighth of one's true energy; of course, this could also be explained by a lack of proficiency.

Lu Qian didn't think about it anymore. The most essential part of the Three Steps to Condensation Technique was how to disperse half of the true energy while maintaining the stability of the spell. If it got out of control during this process, it would cause serious consequences.

But for Lu Qian, doing all this in his inner world was enough, so he naturally wasn't worried about getting hurt.

Time continued to move forward, and finally on this day, everyone gathered together in the school again. Today was the day to set off for the Western Continent.

All the people Lu Qian knew—the Mu siblings, Lin Guihai and Xiong Kaishan, both with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, and Lei Yunxing—were determined to go to the Western Continent.

As for the others, Lu Qian wasn't very familiar with them, but he guessed that some of them would also go, though he couldn't say exactly how many.

With a face full of excitement, Lei Yunxing shouted loudly, "Have you heard? This time we're going to take a teleportation array, no need to take a flying boat anymore. We'll be there in the blink of an eye, without wasting time on the road..."

Even in sacred places, teleportation arrays are not used casually. Generally, they are not open to low-level cultivators. Usually, only Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivators can use teleportation arrays. This is a strict requirement.

After all, activating a teleportation array once consumes hundreds of mid-grade spirit stones. One mid-grade spirit stone is equivalent to one hundred low-grade spirit stones, which translates to tens of thousands of spirit stones. No one who is not a Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivator can withstand such a consumption.

Moreover, the cost of activating a teleportation array is fixed, whether it's one person or a dozen people, the cost is the same. So even if a Golden Core cultivator wants to use a teleportation array, they have to wait for someone to accompany them so they can share the cost.

However, for the Holy Land, this amount of money is nothing, and the status of these Holy Land disciples is not much lower than that of Golden Core cultivators, and there are quite a few of them. Rather than letting these people waste time on the long journey, it is better to use the teleportation array directly.

The Holy Land has already established a bridgehead in the Western Continent, and the teleportation array has naturally been set up. Important supplies or important people are all transported through the teleportation array, as there are too many uncertainties in the flight path.

"Brother Lei, you're too happy too soon. With our cultivation level, we can't withstand the tearing force of spatial transformation. Even riding a teleportation array is somewhat dangerous."

Mu Dong couldn't help but say, "Even if the elders in the holy land protect us with magic and there are no safety issues, it still won't feel very pleasant."

Lei Yunxing said nonchalantly, "What's there to be afraid of? If you're always so timid, what great things can you achieve? I heard that many people originally wanted to go, but then news came that it was a merit-based system there, and instantly more than half of them backed out. I wonder how many people are still able to go now."

Xiong Kaishan slapped his forehead and interjected, "I don't know how many people will go, but I know there's one person who will definitely go."

Seeing Xiong Kaishan's confident demeanor, Lei Yunxing and Mu Dong both nodded, revealing knowing expressions, leaving Lu Qian completely bewildered.

Although Lu Qian had been here for a while, he had no additional information channels and had not interacted with anyone else.

Therefore, he naturally knew nothing about anything that the people Lu Qian knew hadn't discussed.

Actually, there was no motivation to inquire, since under normal circumstances, people from Zhou Tian Academy would have little interaction with each other if they didn't know each other at the beginning.

Now that Zhou Tian Academy is going to establish a branch in the Western Continent, it's not an easy place to get by. They will also be recruiting local geniuses and may have to compete with other academies. For all these reasons, they may need to band together.

After all, they are outsiders to the Western Continent. No matter how powerful the Holy Land is, it cannot change that fact. Therefore, it is still necessary for them to stick together.

If they want to band together, the disciples of the Holy Land who are going to the Western Continent in the same batch are of course the best choice. After all, they are fellow disciples, and with this bond, they can unite in many things and have a natural foundation of trust.

Even within the Holy Land, there are factions, and there is competition among the four palaces. Therefore, people from other academies may not be trustworthy, which makes their fellow disciples all the more precious.

In any case, people tend to follow the crowd. When they change their environment, many people's thoughts will change, which is quite common.

Following the gaze of Mu Dong and the others, Lu Qian saw a thin figure dressed in a black robe with a hood, completely covering his body. His exposed chin looked exceptionally pale, as if he had never seen sunlight since birth.

He exuded a chilling and eerie aura, more like a dead person than a living one. People around him kept their distance, as if afraid that getting close would taint them with something unclean.

If this person hadn't appeared in a sacred place, he would definitely have been identified as a heretic or evil person.

Lu Qian had noticed him before, but hadn't paid much attention to him. After all, this was a sacred place where all kinds of people lived, and there was no need to delve too deeply into it.

But judging from what Mu Dong, Lei Yunxing, Xiong Kaishan and others have said, this man in black robes is clearly not ordinary. In fact, they don't even need to say it; anyone with eyes can see it.

"Is this due to a special cultivation technique, or a special physique?"

Lu Qian's left eye gleamed slightly. He seemed to see countless shadows, some bright and some dark, wandering around the man in black robes, like ghosts howling miserably, which was extremely terrifying.

After his eyesight was opened, even though Lu Qian hadn't mastered its use yet, he still got a general idea. At the same time, he wondered again, was this really a disciple of the Holy Land, or a member of the Demonic Path?

The next moment, the man in black robes seemed to sense something, and he suddenly turned his head, his cold gaze fixed on him.

Lu Qian noticed a hideous ghost face with blue face and fangs rushing towards him, but he wasn't surprised. This mere illusion couldn't fool his left eye. He simply smiled faintly as a greeting.

Since they were classmates, Lu Qian didn't want to leave any misunderstandings, so he naturally had to show some goodwill.

The man in black robes glanced at Lu Qian with a puzzled look, but ultimately said nothing more and simply turned his head away.

Mu Xue looked at the black-robed man in the distance and said calmly, "His name is Shen Chi. He has an Earth Spiritual Root and a special physique. With his talent, he should be even more valued than someone with a Heaven Spiritual Root. However, his position in the Holy Land is actually quite awkward; everyone intentionally or unintentionally ignores him!"

Lu Qian could sense that the man in black robes was focused on him, and must have heard Mu Xue's comments about him, but he didn't react at all.

Mu Xue couldn't possibly be unaware of this, but she still said it out loud, perhaps for Shen Chi's benefit. Otherwise, why would she do it?

So Lu Qian asked, "Is it related to his special physique?"

This wasn't too hard to guess. Even objectively speaking, Lu Qian could sense a sinister aura emanating from Shen Chi, who was clearly not a good person.

If Shen Chi encounters people from the Holy Land outside, he might very well be exorcised and killed.

Mu Xue nodded in agreement. "His special physique is called the Soul-Devouring Ghost Body. It naturally possesses the ability to gather malevolent energy and devour yin souls, and he is also skilled at controlling puppets and refining corpses. In the demonic path, this kind of physique would usually belong to a contemporary holy son, but it just so happens to appear in my holy land. Moreover, the cultivation method he practices, although not demonic, is also hard to call righteous!"

Lu Qian instantly understood. So it was a story of a demonic genius who had fallen into the righteous path. No wonder it felt so strange.

Even though the sect rules prevented the disciples of the Holy Land from actually doing anything to Shen Chi, people are naturally inclined to form cliques and exclude those who disagree with them. Faced with Shen Chi, this outlier, everyone unanimously ignored him.