Chapter 59: Purchasing Spirit Soil

In a corner of the Scripture Pavilion’s first floor, Fang Qingyuan and Jiang Kui faced each other, both sitting cross-legged on the ground, unbothered by the dust. Fortunately, the Scripture Pavilion was enveloped by an Array daily, so it never got too dirty.

Fang Qingyuan accepted the jade slip, looked at Jiang Kui, and asked,

"Senior Sister Jiang, you said this Cultivation Technique is suitable for me. What’s so special about it?"

Jiang Kui chuckled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear before speaking slowly to Fang Qingyuan.

"The *Earth-Traversing Golden Light Divine Movement Technique*. It comes from the Earth Spirit Peak of the Daoist Qi Yun Sect. Earth Spirit Peak is one of the sect’s Five Elements Peaks, so its origins are quite impressive.

Of course, this is just a technique, not a foundational Cultivation Technique, so we’re allowed to study it. The *Earth-Traversing Golden Light Divine Movement Technique* is divided into three stages. The first is ’Earth-Traversing.’ After mastering this magic, you’ll be able to tunnel underground. As your proficiency with the technique increases, you can even travel over a hundred zhang deep.

At that point, an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator wouldn’t be able to find you. And even if they did, they’d have no effective way to deal with you."

After Jiang Kui finished speaking, Fang Qingyuan was convinced. ’This technique is perfect for me.’ He wasn’t looking for powerful offensive magic; he just wanted more ways to save his own skin.

Tunneling underground was a great idea. If he ever encountered a Cultivator he couldn’t defeat, he could just dive into the earth, leaving his enemy helpless.

A hundred zhang deep... only a Cultivator who specialized in Earth Magic could ever hope to reach that far.

’But tunneling is only the first stage of the technique. What about the other two?’

Noticing Fang Qingyuan’s confusion, Jiang Kui continued,

"’Earth-Traversing’ is the first stage, which you can practice at the Qi Refining Realm. ’Golden Light’ and ’Divine Movement’ are Divine Techniques that can only be learned at the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Stages. You don’t need to worry about those for now."

After listening to Jiang Kui’s explanation, Fang Qingyuan thanked her and immersed his Divine Sense into the jade slip, beginning to slowly absorb the detailed information about the technique.

A moment later, Fang Qingyuan opened his eyes. ’Jiang Kui was right,’ he thought. ’This technique is a perfect fit for me right now.’

However, the jade slip in his hand only contained the Qi Refining portion of the *Earth-Traversing Golden Light Divine Movement Technique*. The subsequent parts for the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Stages were stored on the second and third floors.

With his current status and cultivation level, he couldn’t access the second and third floors yet. But he wasn’t worried. ’If the later versions exist, they’ll be mine sooner or later.’

The Scripture Pavilion was the most important place in any sect, far more critical than any Storage Room or medicinal garden. Therefore, the Array protecting it was also the strongest and most advanced in the entire sect.

The Southern Border Beast Taming Sect’s Scripture Pavilion had already been quite large. And when Lechuan and his disciples migrated from Zongshan, they brought with them a massive collection of books and jade slips, greatly enriching the Pavilion’s collection.

The techniques collected here were far more complete than those sold for exorbitant prices in the outside Marketplace. Best of all, they weren’t expensive.

"The Qi Refining Realm version of the *Earth-Traversing Golden Light Divine Movement Technique* costs eighty Low-grade Spirit Stones plus fifty merit points. Are you renting it or duplicating it?"

"I’ll take a duplicate."

After bidding farewell to Jiang Kui at the entrance, Fang Qingyuan took the jade slip to the counter to pay. Eighty Low-grade Spirit Stones for this technique was an absolute bargain.

Even with the additional fifty merit points, the cost wasn’t high. If this technique were auctioned in an outside Marketplace, it would fetch at least five Middle-grade Spirit Stones.

After paying the Spirit Stones, Fang Qingyuan waited for the jade slip to be duplicated and listened once more to the attendant’s instructions.

"A newly duplicated jade slip cannot be duplicated again, or the slip will be damaged. Also, without the express permission of the Scripture Pavilion, the contents may not be shared with outsiders. If we discover you have done so, you will be banned from the Scripture Pavilion for three years. Furthermore, every jade slip is inscribed with a hidden sect insignia. If it is gifted to another person, the jade slip will immediately self-destruct."

This time, Fang Qingyuan picked up on some extra details. The jade slips in the Scripture Pavilion had been rigged long ago to prevent disciples from cheaply renting them, making copies, and selling them off.

Although most people wouldn’t do such a thing, the sect still took precautions.

A few moments later, the new jade slip was ready. Fang Qingyuan took it and left the Scripture Pavilion.

After leaving, Fang Qingyuan didn’t head straight back to his courtyard. Instead, he went to the Miscellaneous Affairs Peak to find Zhao Liangde and claim his Spirit Stone reward.

Yesterday, Lechuan had promised him twenty Middle-grade Spirit Stones as a reward, and Fang Qingyuan had no intention of forgetting it.

When he arrived at Miscellaneous Affairs Peak and met with Zhao Liangde, the man didn’t look too happy about it, but he still handed over the reward without any trouble.

With twenty new Middle-grade Spirit Stones in hand, Fang Qingyuan quickly rode his humpback skate back to his home in Tianshan Villa.

For the next five days, Fang Qingyuan remained holed up in his courtyard, focusing entirely on studying his newly acquired technique.

After several days of intensive study, Fang Qingyuan realized something. ’If I want to truly master this technique, I’ll need to improve my Earth Spirit Root.’

A Spirit Root’s purpose wasn’t just to sense the world’s Spiritual Qi; it also enhanced one’s comprehension of cultivation techniques.

A Cultivator’s aptitude for any given technique depended on many factors, but the Spirit Root often played a pivotal role.

A Celestial Spirit Root and a Lower-grade Spirit Root of the same element would view a technique from completely different perspectives. For example, where the Lower-grade Spirit Root might see a river or a lake, the Celestial Spirit Root would see a boundless ocean.

Fang Qingyuan’s current Earth Spirit Root aptitude was only at eighteen, two points shy of reaching the threshold for a Middle-grade Spirit Root. At his current level, he estimated it would take him no less than ten years to master the *Earth-Traversing Golden Light Divine Movement Technique* to the Grandmaster realm.

’But if I can reach the Middle-grade Earth Spirit Root, it would probably only take eight years. If I can reach a high-grade one, five years would be enough.’

’As for a Celestial Spirit Root... ’ Fang Qingyuan had never witnessed one’s cultivation speed, but he estimated it would take them only a single year.

A Celestial Spirit Root was too distant a goal, but achieving a Middle-grade Earth Spirit Root wasn’t that difficult. Previously, Fang Qingyuan had focused solely on Wood Element Techniques and didn’t have the spare energy to improve his other Spirit Roots. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, he might as well raise them all.

With this in mind, Fang Qingyuan left his home and headed straight for the Celestial Gate Mountain Marketplace. He spent one Middle-grade Spirit Stone to buy over twenty *fang* of Yellow Sealing Soil.

This was no ordinary soil. It was earth that could only be produced in high-quality Spirit Fields. Cultivators typically bought this kind of soil to improve the growing environment for their Spirit Plants and to enhance the fertility of their land.

Yellow Sealing Soil was considered a Tier One Lower Grade spiritual material—abundant and cheap. Since Fang Qingyuan wanted to improve his Earth Spirit Root, he bought some to test it out.

After spreading all the Spirit Soil throughout the Purple Bamboo Forest and his medicinal garden, Fang Qingyuan looked at the mottled yellow and black earth, feeling quite pleased.

’Before long, the Immortal Mansion Space will absorb this Spirit Soil, and my Earth Spirit Root aptitude will definitely increase.’

Although the Immortal Mansion Space had no quality requirements for the spiritual materials it consumed to enhance Spirit Root aptitude, Fang Qingyuan guessed that the higher the grade of the material, the better the effect would be.

Items that weren’t rich in Spiritual Qi were useless for this purpose. Otherwise, Fang Qingyuan could have just found a massive river and funneled water into his Immortal Mansion Space until his Water Spirit Root became his first Celestial Spirit Root.

After buying the Yellow Sealing Soil, Fang Qingyuan thought for a moment, then slowly flew toward the Turtle Breeding Pool with Yinbao.

Five days had now passed. The turmoil at Black River Square had long since subsided. Fang Qingyuan hadn’t been back in all that time. If he didn’t go soon, that flock of turtles was liable to revolt.