“Five Elements mutual generation and mutual restraint?”
Li Shangyan quietly chewed on the phrase, finding some insight, yet still not truly clearing away the confusion.
It felt like a membrane… clearly, one poke and it would break.
Yet he had no idea where to poke.
Ye Ziyuan continued, “Let’s return to the question from before: why are people with multiple attributes stronger than those with only one attribute?”
“Because techniques also follow mutual generation and mutual restraint. Imagine a scene where a cultivator with both water and fire attributes fights a cultivator with only the fire attribute.”
“The fire-attribute person can only use fire-attribute-enhanced techniques, while the water-and-fire person can both fight with fire-attribute techniques and use water-attribute techniques to restrain him.”
“On top of that, cultivators with multiple attributes also need more spiritual energy.”
“So, the more types of spiritual energy attributes one has, the stronger one is in theory!”
“This is the result of Five Elements mutual generation and mutual restraint.”
After saying that, she emphasized again, “In theory!”
“But in reality, pulling this off is extremely difficult! Especially for you, a Five Elements Perfectionist!”
Li Shangyan had already vaguely guessed the answer. He tried to explain, “To do that, I would need to cultivate more techniques.”
“Preferably, I should learn all Five Elements techniques so I can truly become the strongest within the same realm.”
“However, a person’s time and energy are limited. By the time I finish learning all the techniques, everyone else will already have surpassed me in realm.”
“Even if my techniques counter his, a higher realm can still crush that difference.”
Ye Ziyuan nodded in approval and said, “That’s right! In ancient times, when resources were abundant, there were many ways to increase cultivation speed.”
“So in that era, the more attributes a cultivator had, the stronger they became!”
“However, now resources are extremely scarce, and even the spiritual energy between heaven and earth has become much thinner.”
As she said this, a trace of longing and confusion flashed through Ye Ziyuan’s eyes.
But she quickly came back to herself and continued, “For you, there’s another huge obstacle: Five Elements spiritual energy also follows mutual generation and mutual restraint.”
“Just now, in the Li Fire Grand Formation, you should have sensed that once a single attribute becomes too strong, it triggers a spiritual energy riot.”
“If this goes on for too long, at best you become a cripple; at worst, you go into Qi deviation, or even self-detonate and die.”
“To solve this problem, you need to cultivate Five Elements cultivation techniques at the same time.”
“This also means that you not only need to cultivate five cultivation techniques, but also need more resources to support your advancement.”
“So if you want to achieve anything, resources, comprehension, cultivation techniques, effort, and talent are all indispensable!”
Hearing this, Li Shangyan finally understood.
To sum it up in one sentence: Five Elements cultivation is extremely difficult!
No wonder those stewards said on the day they recruited outer disciples that the more spiritual energy attributes one had, the cultivation difficulty would rise geometrically.
Still!
Li Shangyan was very confident.
As for resources, he had plenty.
He could resell specialty goods from the Two Worlds and obtain a huge amount of jade.
As for comprehension and talent, this body seemed to have been greatly improved after his transmigration.
As for effort, his body could also cultivate on autopilot, giving him twice as much cultivation time as other people.
Now only one problem remained: cultivation techniques.
So far, he had only cultivated the most basic Qi Refining Art, and even that was a flawed copy, not the complete version.
The other was the Blazing Fire Art he had just received from Ye Ziyuan.
Li Shangyan immediately looked pitifully at the Peerless Beauty Master and asked, “Master, do you have any suggestions for the cultivation techniques I should practice?”
Ye Ziyuan sat on the long couch, resting her chin on her right hand in thought.
Her right leg was crossed over her left, and the hem of her skirt had fallen aside, revealing a patch of fair, straight leg.
Legs for days!
Li Shangyan quickly averted his gaze, not daring to look any longer, though he could not help thinking: She really is a temptress…
Although Ye Ziyuan’s aura was still very strong and her expression still proud, she also seemed to somewhat enjoy the feeling of being a master.
After a while, she said, “You are the first disciple in the Sect to possess all Five Elements. The Sect does not have a cultivation technique for cultivating all Five Elements simultaneously.”
“But I suggest you gather the cultivation techniques corresponding to all Five Elements and cultivate them.”
“For example, you could choose these five cultivation techniques: Golden Essence Art, Verdant Wood Art, Mystic Water Art, Blazing Fire Art, and Earth Dragon Art.”
“They not only include techniques for using the elements, but also methods for cultivating each type of spiritual energy.”
“However, you need to cultivate these five cultivation techniques at the same time to ensure that the Five Elements spiritual energy does not go out of control.”
“Although these cultivation techniques are rather crude, they are enough to let you cultivate all the way to the perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage. Once you reach the Core Formation stage, you can switch cultivation techniques again.”
“Heh heh, of course, if your talent is sufficient, you might be able to figure out a Five Elements cultivation method on your own.”
“But I do not recommend that!”
Li Shangyan could not help asking, “Why?”
“Because you’ll die faster!” Ye Ziyuan rolled her eyes at him, yet somehow looked dazzlingly charming.
Li Shangyan’s heart skipped a beat, and then he forcibly suppressed that stirring.
“Damn it! If I stay too long around my beautiful master, I’ll easily go into Qi deviation!”
He quickly changed the subject and asked, “Master, where can I get these five cultivation techniques?”
Ye Ziyuan lifted her slender hand, and something flew toward Li Shangyan.
She said, “Since you already gave me a master-taking gift, I’ll return the favor. Take my token to the Sect’s Scripture Pavilion and collect these five cultivation techniques.”
Li Shangyan was overjoyed upon hearing this.
Ye Ziyuan motioned for him to leave. “Go on. Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll teach you how to cultivate.”
Watching Li Shangyan’s departing figure, the red-dressed woman took out that jade bracelet and studied it for a moment.
She suddenly smiled brightly. “He’s an interesting fellow. Life won’t be boring anymore from now on, will it, sister?”
After a while, a gentle voice sounded from her mouth, “Mm. He is our disciple. We should teach him well. I hope he can bring some surprises.”
The Sassy Mature Beauty voice rang out, “Don’t worry. I won’t let him get broken.”
The gentle voice: “…”
Li Shangyan went to the Scripture Pavilion at the mountain peak and used Ye Ziyuan’s token to collect the transcriptions of the five cultivation techniques.
To prevent cultivation techniques from leaking out, the Sect copied each technique onto a strange crystal.
These copied techniques were single-use.
Once he began learning, the crystal would shatter into a streak of spiritual light and enter his soul.
The contents of the cultivation techniques would then feel as though they had been completely engraved into his memory.
“This kind of technique is interesting. If the urban world had this sort of technique, who would even bother studying? Everyone would get full marks on the college entrance exam.”
“Getting into Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, or Jiaotong would be easy.”
“But I suppose refining this kind of crystal isn’t easy. These five cultivation techniques actually cost 1,000 contribution points.”
“One contribution point can be exchanged for one low-grade Spirit Stone. That’s equivalent to 1,000 low-grade Spirit Stones.”
“My beautiful master is generous!”
By the time he returned to his small courtyard, it was already dark.
That day’s experiences had been quite eventful, but in the end he had successfully become a disciple under a master. From now on, cultivation would be a smooth road, right?
As he passed Su Dekuai’s small courtyard, he originally wanted to visit and see whether he could exchange some Qi-Enhancing Pills for gold.
He could not use low-grade Spirit Stones for the exchange, because publicly he only had one per month.
If he took out too many, it would be hard to explain.
Still, after a few days, he could come up with a different excuse.
For example, he could claim he had performed well and received a Spirit Stone reward from his Master.
However, Su Dekuai was not home, so Li Shangyan had no choice but to return to his own courtyard.
After memorizing all five cultivation techniques, Li Shangyan took out an ordinary piece of jade, placed it at his dantian, and entered a cultivation state.
Meanwhile, his consciousness left this place and returned to the Blue Star world.