10 White Jade Mantra

Over the past three years, Lu Qingfeng had never slackened his pace.

First came the Aucuba Scorching Sun Classic.

Enhancing it four times in a row cost him a total of 150 experience points, directly enhancing the Aucuba Scorching Sun Classic to the Refined grade.

The quality of techniques in the Refined grade and the Preliminary grade were intrinsically different.

First:

Techniques in the Preliminary grade could only be cultivated to the Foundation Building stage, while techniques of the Refined grade could go as far up as to the Golden Core stage. This was very rare throughout the entire Elephant King City and even across the 1,200 cities in the 800 mountains of the Seven Sword Ridge.

Second:

The Chi Control that was born of every level of a Refined-grade technique wasn't something that Preliminary-grade techniques could even begin to compare with.

When Lu Qingfeng was cultivating in the original version of the Scorching Sun Classic, when he reached the apex of Level 1 of the Fetal Phase, his Chi Control was only 10 points.

However, when he began to cultivate in the Aucuba Scorching Sun Classic, that had been enhanced four times, at the apex of Level 1 of the Fetal Phase now, he'd attained 20 points in Chi Control, which was the double of what he'd had previously and equal to the total amount in Chi Control that he'd had when he was at the apex of Level 2 of the Fetal Phase for the Scorching Sun Classic.

Accumulating the multiplied increment of Chi Control at each Level, his increase of strength wouldn't be as simple as just being doubled.

His durability, explosiveness, and everything else would be boosted.

Aside from that, the grade of his inner Chi had also been improved from Preliminary to Refined and enhanced to the property of the Power of the Scorching Sun, further elevating his combat power.

"Similarly, in Level 1 of the Fetal Phase, even if I do not use any physical martial arts techniques or magic, with the powers that I have now: with my Chi Control doubled, Refined-grade Inner Chi, and the property of the Power of the Scorching Sun, I can still win even if I'm matched with three to five persons like me who are cultivating in the Scorching Sun Classic."

Lu Qingfeng may seem to have stagnated in his Level, but, in fact, his accumulation of power had never halted for even a second.

The Power of the Scorching Sun might sound ordinary, but its effects were exceptionally remarkable.

Inner Chi that embodied the Power of the Scorching Sun was even more powerful and explosive. It could also provide a great bonus toward fire attribute martial arts techniques and spells like Fire Ball and Smoldering Palm.

With Fire Ball and Smoldering Palm working together, in addition to the prowess of Refined-grade techniques, Lu Qingfeng in the Fetal Phase could match up to those several stages higher than him in cultivation.

"Fire Ball, Shifting Steps, and Smoldering Palm: with these three techniques working together, I am able to deal with opponents in offensive contests. The only thing I'm lacking now is a defensive spell."

Lu Qingfeng sat in front of a stall and contemplated spell combos.

Despite having the benefit of a 100 times time difference, he still cherished his time very much and wouldn't waste it easily.

For a wastrel with an Innate Talent Level: 1 like Lu Qingfeng, three years wasn't all that long. Subtracting the time he wasted in real time, the time Lu Qingfeng had used was only two years.

In these two years, he had had to handle herbs to exchange for Fasting Pills and Yellow Dragon Pills in order to survive and cultivate. What's more, he had had to cultivate in techniques and study the arts of Pill Refining. Hence, he didn't have much time to spare to cultivate in magic.

Therefore, he couldn't cast his net all over the sky, but could only make targeted choices.

Among the low-ranking spells that one could master in the Fetal Phase, Fire Ball was one of those with a great destructive force. With two enhancements and the boost provided by the Power of the Scorching Sun, it was made even more extraordinary and suitable for long-range attacks.

Smoldering Palm was a fire attribute palm technique. With two enhancements and the boost provided by the Power of the Scorching Sun, its power at melee-range was not to be reckoned with. With a strike of the palm, like a red-hot soldering iron, it could blast through one's heart and lungs.

Shifting Steps was a Lightness Skill, flexible and versatile when facing the enemy. If one couldn't defeat one's enemy, one could use it to get away easily.

As for the last spell, Celestial Eye, it was a must-have for cultivators. Being able to examine the cultivation attainments of a cultivator, one could remain undefeated by knowing one's enemy.

Being able to master four spells in such a short period of time was already at the limit of what Lu Qingfeng could achieve. That being said, he wasn't quite proficient in Shifting Steps and Smoldering Palm, which were the latest that he had picked up. He needed to do a lot of practicing in them.

"Brother Qingfeng, two bottles of Fasting Pills, please."

While he was thinking things over, a middle-aged man came up to him where he was standing in front of the store.

Lu Qingfeng snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the man who'd come up.

"It's you, Big Brother Jiu. How did your trip to Silver Light Mountain go?"

Big Brother Jiu person was an experienced, older player who Lu Qingfeng had met six months ago. His name was Fang Jiu, and he was rugged in appearance and already more than 40 years old. He had been stuck at Level 3 of the Genuine Chi Phase for ten long years.

Now, he was looking for opportunities everywhere in an attempt to improve his cultivation.

"I think it's fine. I got some Crimson Spirit Grass, so the trip wasn't for nothing, I guess." Fang Jiu made it seem as if it wasn't any big deal, but his face was already blooming in glee.

"Crimson Spirit Grass? That's good stuff, Big Brother Jiu! Congratulations on that!"

Crimson Spirit Grass was a Spirit Grass that looked like the ordinary herb, Safflower. But the disparity between the two wasn't just large.

An ordinary herb could at most be used to refine low-level pills like the Fasting Pill, the Yellow Dragon Pill, and intermediate-level pills like the Golden Pith Pellet.

But for Spirit Grasses or Spirit Herbs, even a Spirit Grass at the lowest tier was the main component of many advanced and top-level pills. They were extremely precious.

Even with one Crimson Spirit Grass, one could consider Fang Jiu's trip to the Silver Light Mountain as a rewarding and fruitful one.

Based on his glowing face, one could figure out that, aside from a Crimson Spirit Grass, he had probably acquired some other things as well.

"Ha, ha!"

Fang Jiu laughed when he heard what Lu Qingfeng had said.

This trip of his had been a rewarding one, and he was indeed in a good mood.

Taking the two bottles of Fasting Pills from Lu Qingfeng, Fang Jiu pulled out a cloth bag from his waist and handed it to Lu Qingfeng. "Here are 300 portions of basic medicinal herbs, wanna give it a count?"

"You know that I trust you, Big Brother Jiu. But Brother Jiu, next time, please show these herbs a little more kindness. Look at these herbs that are all jumbled up in the sack, jeez..."

Lu Qingfeng opened the bag and saw hundreds of herbs all mixed up together with fresh soil, which was pretty unpleasant to look at.

"Yoh, Big Brother, I have the tip of my sword tainted in blood. Demons and beasts are rampant on Silver Light Mountain. I grabbed those herbs and I left. I didn't have time to spruce them up." Fang Jiu laughed, waved the two bottles of Fasting Pills in his hand, and said, "Gotta go now, I still have stuff to do."

Seeing that, Lu Qingfeng said, "You not gonna get some talismans?"

"Talismans? Fine then, for you, Brother Qingfeng, I'll give Old man Huang some of my business!"

Fang Jiu stopped and bought a pile of Flame Talismans, Ice Talismans, and Golden Talismans from Lu Qingfeng's stall before leaving.

But calling it Lu Qingfeng's stall wasn't quite appropriate.

The stall belonged to Huang Luo, who was the man Lu Qingfeng had met when he first visited the market.

Since then, Lu Qingfeng would visit the market once every few months in the game to adjust himself from all the cultivating he had done. After a few stopovers, he and Huang Luo could be considered as acquaintances.

Lu Qingfeng specialized in the art of Pill Refining. After an extensive period of time, he had roughly mastered the refining of the Fasting Pill.

As for the more complex and precious Yellow Dragon Pill, occasionally when he was lucky, he would be able to refine a few low-quality ones. If he wasn't lucky, he would waste an entire furnace of herbs, and wasting everything was something that happened quite often.

Putting aside the Yellow Dragon Pill...

Since Lu Qingfeng was using the Fasting Pill to practice and improve his expertise in the arts, he himself couldn't actually use so many of them, so he would sell the extra ones at the market.

The rental fee for a stall in the market was expensive, and Lu Qingfeng had no capital to rent one. Fortunately, Huang Luo had a kind heart. After learning about his quandary, he agreed to let Lu Qingfeng use his stall when he was working on talismans and resting.

Huang Luo didn't charge Lu Qingfeng a rental fee either. The only thing he asked him to do was to help him sell his talismans when he was selling his Fasting Pills.

Naturally, Lu Qingfeng was overjoyed, and he agreeably accepted the deal.

Cultivator Huang Luo's talismans weren't of bad quality, and Lu Qingfeng's Fasting Pills had become quite famous as well.

Having passed Enhanced Deciphering Medicine twice, the pill recipe he'd acquired was more delicate than that of the Luo Sheng Pill Refining Workshop and those circulating around Emery Town.

Ordinary Fasting Pills would allow six days of fasting, but the Fasting Pills Lu Qingfeng made with Deciphering Medicine would enable eight days of fasting, and the price was only 20 percent higher.

Having a fair price naturally allowed him to retain a considerable number of repeat customers, and Fang Jiu was one of them.

In this way...

With Lu Qingfeng's Fasting Pills and Huang Luo's talismans sold at the same stall, the results were not bad at all.

"The normal price of a Fasting Pill was ten handled basic medicinal herbs. For an apprentice of Pill Refining who has mastered the refining of the Fasting Pill, it will require less than five portions of handled basic medicinal herbs to refine one Fasting Pill. which already includes the failures. The profit they will gain can be more than doubled."

"The Fasting Pills I refine are sold in bottles of 20 pills at the price of 150 handled basic medicinal herbs. On average, every Fasting Pill can be sold for 12 1/2 portions of handled basic medicinal herbs, while the overall cost is only four handled basic medicinal herbs."

"My profit is tripled!"

Whether it was Pill Refining, Tool Refining, or drawing talismans, it was an artistry that cost a lot of money.

Take Lu Qingfeng, for instance, despite having mastered the refinement of Fasting Pills and tripling his profit, before that, the medicinal herbs that he had wasted were more than a few thousand.

Even now, as he needed to study the refinement of the Yellow Dragon Pill, the medicinal herbs that he was wasting were more than those that were actually put into use. The basic medicinal herbs that he earned from selling his Fasting Pills weren't enough to fill up this bottomless pit.

For Pill Refining apprentices and masters, except for those who possessed extraordinary talents, almost all of them went through this same arduous process. Those who weren't rich enough simply couldn't afford to do it.

This had led to a scenario where, of all the more than 200,000 cultivators in Emery Town's population of 500,000, the number of Pill Refining apprentices was less than 100 people.

Among these 100 people, more than half of them were low- and intermediate-level Pill Refining apprentices. Only an extremely small number of them could reach the advanced level.

"My talents in Pill Refining are ordinary. Fortunately, I have the Ability Upgrade property to enhance my pill recipes, which allows me to make ends meet."

Lu Qingfeng sighed with emotion, then closed his eyes, and recited the Aucuba Scorching Sun Classic.

In the blink of an eye, evening arrived.

...

"Qingfeng, I found you the Martial Art of Grinding that you wanted," Huang Luo arrived, bringing Lu Qingfeng a piece of good news.

"You found it? Thanks a lot, Brother Luo!"

Lu Qingfeng looked ecstatic.

At present, he was already equipped with skills and techniques in melee combat, ranged combat, Lightness Skill, and a Body Flicker Technique. The only thing he lacked was a defensive technique. Cultivator Huang Luo was an advanced-level apprentice in the arts of talismans and had a broad network.

Hence, Lu Qingfeng had entrusted him to find one on his behalf.

He didn't expect that he would be able to find it in just a few days.

Lu Qingfeng gazed at Huang Luo with earnest eyes. Seeing that, Huang Luo shook his head and said with a smile, "It has only been a while since you entered 'Primitive'. You should be focusing on your cultivation. For things like Tool Refining and Pill Refining, you should very much leave them for later. You must know that something like cultivation tolerates absolutely no delay. As you fall behind, when you…"

As Huang Luo went on in this subject, he couldn't help but start blabbering.

Then, when he finally raised his head and saw Lu Qingfeng's passionate expression about being taught, he hurled out a scroll and said, "Forget it. You won't understand what I'm saying. This White Jade Mantra belonged to my friend. At the maximum level, you will be able to evade all attacks of the Fetal Phase and morph into a formless entity. I guess it fulfills your demands?"

[Magic: White Jade Mantra]

[Grade: Low Rank. Has a total of 3 Levels.]

[Description: A Martial Art of Grinding. At the maximum level, grants your body the property of a White Jade, evading all forms of attacks beneath the Fetal Phase.]

"It certainly is!"

Lu Qingfeng hurriedly took the White Jade Mantra.

With this martial art technique, his last shortcoming could be considered solved.

"Brother Luo, how much did you spend on this White Jade Mantra?" Lu Qingfeng looked at Huang Luo and asked.

"Techniques of the Fetal Phase aren't worth much money. However, the White Jade Mantra is at the pinnacle of techniques in the Fetal Phase. Even after you ascend into the Genuine Chi Phase, it is still capable of giving you a slight increase in strength. I paid five Spirit Stone Fragments," Huang Luo said faintly.

"5 Spirit Stone Fragments?"

Lu Qingfeng was dumbfounded.

As Huang Luo had mentioned, regular spells of the Fetal Phase weren't worth much, for instance, Shifting Steps and Smoldering Palm. None of them were more than one Spirit Stone Fragment.

But the White Jade Mantra was more than five times the two combined.

The purchasing value of one Spirit Stone Fragment was extremely potent. It was enough to buy 100 Yellow Dragon Pills or ten Golden Pith Pellets.

White Jade Mantra!

500 Yellow Dragon Pills?

"All right, you can snap out of it now."

"I've already paid the five Spirit Stone Fragments. Just pay me back in the future. I can see that you have some talent in Pill Refining, but cultivating must still be your utmost priority. You are still lingering around Level 1 of the Fetal Phase after some three to four years. I really wonder how you cultivate!"

Huang Luo shook his head and revealed a speechless expression.

"Thank you, Brother Luo! I'll pay you back as soon as possible."

Lu Qingfeng quickly thanked him. At this moment, he was indeed ashamed.

His failure rate in refining the Yellow Dragon Pill was as high as 95 percent. Having funneled all his resources into this affair, he only had about 20 Yellow Dragon Pills with him now, which was quite some distance away from five Spirit Stone Fragments (500 Yellow Dragon Pills).

"Get going! Stop moving around in front of me. It's annoying to look at!"

Huang Luo waved his hands at him.

Lu Qingfeng smiled and remained with Huang Luo for a little while before he got up and went on his way.

...