The spiritual artifact Lin Chen had drawn from the lottery wheel was an ancient guqin of the Luoxia style, its entire body a deep, ink-green color. Two small characters were engraved upon it: Fengyuan.
Lin Chen’s knowledge of musical instruments extended little further than the modern piano. He had never even tried traditional instruments such as the guzheng, much less a guqin from the cultivation world.
He reached out and brushed his fingers across the strings, casually plucking one. The note rang out as clear and lustrous as a pearl, its lingering resonance stretching far into the distance.
It was an excellent instrument. Unfortunately, if he could only admire it without putting it to use, it was far less practical than the cultivation technique he had received as a mission reward.
Lin Chen returned the guqin to his System Inventory and turned his attention to the healing cultivation manual—Withered Wood Returns to Spring Art.
The technique was divided into three stages: Spirit Condensation, Rejuvenation Invocation, and Flower-Guarding Invocation.
Spirit Condensation, the introductory stage, was also its most important component. It could be integrated with any cultivation method used to draw qi into the body, compressing the spiritual energy within the dantian until its density far surpassed that of cultivators at the same realm.
The latter two stages were spells. In simple terms, Rejuvenation Invocation was a skill that restored spiritual energy, while Flower-Guarding Invocation was a single-target healing skill. Neither had a cooldown. However, the spiritual energy consumed by successive uses within a single shichen would increase each time.
So he really was going to be a healer.
If that was the case, wouldn’t anyone who teamed up with him to fight monsters become practically invincible? Where in the orthodox cultivation world did people suddenly recover all their strength in the middle of a fight?
Of course, the weakness was equally obvious. He had no offensive capabilities.
[Host can look for conventional cultivation techniques in Yuntian Sect’s Scripture Pavilion! The sect has collected tens of thousands of cultivation manuals and scrolls. As long as Host successfully enters the inner sect, you’ll be allowed to choose any cultivation technique from the first floor.]
Dabai offered this reminder at precisely the right moment, then deliberately emphasized its next words.
[The Fengyuan Guqin isn’t useless! It’s a spiritual artifact! When playing it, you need to channel spiritual energy into your fingertips. The spiritually infused music can affect people whose cultivation is lower than Host’s.]
Put that way, it really was a valuable treasure.
[But if Host doesn’t know how to play the guqin, you’d better practice a little…]
Dabai imagined Lin Chen, his expression utterly impassive, holding the Fengyuan Guqin and assuming an elegant, otherworldly posture—only to prove incapable of playing a single decent melody. The fight would not even have begun before his opponent died laughing.
Dabai’s exaggerated laughter echoed throughout Lin Chen’s sea of consciousness. There was no need to ask what it found so amusing.
Every undertaking was difficult at the beginning. The Fengyuan Guqin was far too conspicuous. Lin Chen decided that, if he intended to learn, he should first buy an ordinary guqin to practice with.
A Qi Refining brat who had barely set one foot upon the immortal path somehow possessing a Heaven-grade spiritual artifact—just imagining how many people would covet it was enough.
Huaiyu Zhenren had once been hunted down over a single medicinal herb. Naturally, Lin Chen could also become a target because of this guqin. Murdering someone to seize their treasures was an occurrence that would never become uncommon.
[Ding——]
[Mission issued.]
[Main Mission Two: Host must achieve first place in the Newcomers’ Competition.]
[Time Limit: Six months.]
[Mission Rewards: Profound-grade spiritual artifact — Falling Rain Sword; low-level cultivation technique — Falling Rain Sword Art; 20 Points; System Inventory upgrade.]
[Failure Penalty: Host will be unable to speak for ten days.]
The mission appeared so suddenly that Lin Chen, still absorbed in studying Withered Wood Returns to Spring Art, had no choice but to turn his attention to it.
Being unable to speak for ten days hardly counted as a punishment for him. But judging by the System’s usual behavior, there was no telling what strange penalties might appear in the future.
Dabai chuckled.
[That’s how missions work! Naturally, there has to be a penalty if you fail. The missions issued at this stage have all been carefully designed according to Host’s abilities. As long as Host takes them seriously, you’ll be able to complete them.]
The Newcomers’ Competition sounded respectable enough when described as an opportunity for friendly exchanges and sparring. Put less politely, it was simply a group of half-grown children wrestling with one another.
Ordinarily, there was not much worth watching. Still, there would inevitably be a few who successfully drew qi into their bodies and reached the Qi Refining realm.
Battles between Qi Refining cultivators emphasized the collision and application of spiritual energy: controlling objects with qi, exerting force through qi, and subduing opponents with qi. Such contests were considerably more entertaining than ordinary fistfights.
Another half month passed.
By now, the weather had gradually grown cooler, especially in the early mornings. Seated upon the bed in a bamboo residence was a handsome young boy. It was Lin Chen.
Since successfully drawing qi into his body, his cultivation had remained at the first level of Qi Refining. After practicing Spirit Condensation alongside his regular cultivation for several days, the spiritual energy within his dantian had grown considerably more abundant. Yet there was still no sign of a breakthrough.
Lin Chen rose and headed toward the marketplace at the foot of the mountain.
New disciples wishing to descend the mountain first had to register with a steward. Registration did not mean they could leave immediately, either. The steward still needed to arrange each departure according to the circumstances.
Lin Chen had submitted his request ten days earlier. Only the previous evening had a steward finally arranged for a disciple to deliver his travel permit.
At the foot of Yuntian Sect’s mountains stood a mortal city known as Yun City, which lay within the sect’s jurisdiction.
Although cultivators traveled through the city, most of its residents were ordinary people without cultivation. Many were people who lacked the aptitude for immortality yet continued to harbor hopes of attaining it. Unwilling to return to the mortal territories, they had settled here instead.
Opportunities to encounter the Great Dao existed everywhere. Who could say that they would not be the exception?
Carrying his Yuntian Sect travel permit, Lin Chen entered the city without obstruction. Noticing that it was his first visit, the city guards even thoughtfully explained where the various marketplaces were located.
Quite a few youngsters like Lin Chen had visited recently, although most traveled in groups of three or five. They were all people with the aptitude to pursue immortality. From the guards’ perspective, earning a little goodwill from them could hardly be a bad thing.
Yun City was far grander than Shifang City. Even the people coming and going were entirely different.
Spirit stones served both as the common currency of the cultivation world and as resources for cultivation. One hundred low-grade spirit stones could be exchanged for one middle-grade spirit stone, while one hundred middle-grade spirit stones were equivalent to one high-grade spirit stone.
Exchanging higher-quality stones for lower-quality ones was relatively easy. The reverse, however—trading low-grade stones for middle- or high-grade stones—was exceptionally difficult.
Between Huaiyu Zhenren’s gift and the cultivation resources distributed by the sect, Lin Chen now possessed six hundred low-grade spirit stones. He could be considered wealthy.
Countless vendors lined Yun City’s streets, so many that Lin Chen scarcely knew where to look. He searched for quite some time before finally finding a restaurant with an empty seat.
The establishment accepted both copper coins and spirit stones, depending upon what dishes a customer ordered. Lin Chen was not extravagant enough to order anything particularly luxurious. He simply chose two ordinary dishes intended for mortals.
Even so, the prices left him speechless. More than half the copper coins the villagers had given him were gone in a single meal.
For some time now, Lin Chen had been living on dried provisions. His mouth had grown thoroughly weary of their blandness. The dishes before him, however, were fragrant, colorful, and appetizing. Just looking at them lifted his spirits. He could no longer bring himself to begrudge spending a little worldly wealth.
“Have you heard? Yuntian Sect recruited a disciple with a Heavenly Spiritual Root this year.”
“What’s so special about that? I even heard the fellow managed to draw qi into his body in a single day. Apparently, the Sect Master has already accepted him as a personal disciple!”
“Are Heavenly Spiritual Roots really that monstrous when it comes to cultivation speed? People like us have wasted half our lives, and we’ve barely managed to get started.”
“Not necessarily. It’s not as though the Eastern Region has never produced Heavenly Spiritual Roots before. Luo Wanqing of Piaomiao Sect and Xiao Beimu of Huanyin Gate both possess Heavenly Spiritual Roots, don’t they? Neither of them was that fast.”
“Then how long did they take?”
“Something like half a month, I think.”
The speaker’s companion could not resist smacking him on the head.
“And you call that slow? Look at us! We spent more than ten whole years!”
The man did not grow angry at being struck. Instead, he grinned foolishly.
“You’re the one who asked! Why hit me? There’s obviously a difference between one day and half a month. It’s not as though every Heavenly Spiritual Root is like Xuanling Zunzhe…”
This time, his companion truly did not hold back. He smacked the man’s forehead hard, glanced around them, and lowered his voice.
“You even dare mention Xuanling Zunzhe? Do you have a death wish?”
“I just let it slip. I couldn’t stop myself.”
Coming to his senses, the man also looked around apprehensively. Fortunately, nobody appeared to be paying attention to them. The pair hastily finished their meal and left.
Lin Chen had been seated right beside them.
After entering the Qi Refining realm, Dabai had regained access to certain basic functions, such as concealing its Host’s cultivation and spiritual roots.
Consequently, the two middle-aged Qi Refining cultivators had assumed Lin Chen was merely an ordinary child and had made no effort to guard against him. Naturally, they had no idea that he had heard every word of their conversation.
Who started that rumor?
Since when had he become the Sect Master’s personal disciple?
Lin Chen was thoroughly puzzled.
As for the Zunzhe the two men had mentioned, he did not pay the matter much attention. Presumably, such a person was not someone he would ever have an opportunity to meet.
What concerned him was the rumor. If he could overhear one or two people discussing it so casually, then it had almost certainly spread throughout the entire city.
| 真人 | zhēnrén | Literally “true person” or “perfected person.” A Daoist designation for someone who has attained spiritual realization and cultivated harmony with the Dao. In cultivation fiction, a respectful title for an accomplished cultivator; the cultivation realm associated with it depends on the setting. |
| 尊者 | zūnzhě | An exalted, venerable, or greatly respected person. An honorific used for individuals of exceptional spiritual accomplishment or authority; in cultivation fiction it frequently denotes a formidable senior cultivator, without universally specifying a fixed realm. |
Luoxia Style Guqin
A Luoxia-style guqin (落霞式古琴, Luòxiá shì gǔqín) is a traditional Chinese seven-stringed zither distinguished by its beautifully curved, wave-like sides.
The name Luoxia (落霞) means “descending rosy clouds” or “sunset clouds.” It refers to the instrument’s flowing silhouette, which evokes the layered clouds of a sunset.