Chapter 7: 14 Years of Cultivation, Miraculous Aspects

In Mu Xiaoyu's bedroom.

"Get some good rest, Junior Sister. I'll take my leave now," Li Yinsheng said, turning to leave.

"Senior Brother..." Mu Xiaoyu poked her head out from under the blanket, saying urgently, "Don't forget my Food Mountains... no, my talismanic coins."

"Don't worry, I remember. You'll get your share."

Li Yinsheng stepped over the threshold and waved his hand to close the door. Just before the door shut completely, dozens of talismanic coins of varying values flew in through the crack. Like swallows returning to their nest, they flew toward the desk and stacked themselves neatly. All together, they totaled exactly ten thousand.

Glancing at the Food Mountains she had worked hard for five hours to earn, Mu Xiaoyu closed her eyes in sheer satisfaction and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Outside the door, Li Yinsheng had barely taken two steps when the familiar, love-hate ringing of a great bell echoed in his ears once more. Golden Characters unfurled before his eyes.

[Master of the Cave Heaven: Mu Xiaoyu]

[Cultivation Aspiration: Of the four essentials of Cultivation—Method, Wealth, Companion, and Land—Wealth is the most crucial! As the saying goes...]

[Cultivation Rewards:

Obtain 1,000 talismanic coins, reward: 1 year of Cultivation; (Achieved)

Obtain 3,000 talismanic coins, reward: 3 years of Cultivation; (Achieved)

Obtain 10,000 talismanic coins, reward: 10 years of Cultivation; (Achieved)

Obtain 30,000 talismanic coins, reward: 20 years of Cultivation;

Obtain 100,000 talismanic coins, reward: 30 years of Cultivation;

Obtain 300,000 talismanic coins, reward: 50 years of Cultivation]

[Current talismanic coin savings: 10,100]

As the Golden Characters shifted, the scenery before Li Yinsheng's eyes changed, and he once again stood on the White Jade Platform in the center of the lake.

Everything was so familiar. The full moon still hung high in the sky, the moonlight remained as clear as ever, and the lake rippled just the same. Lotus flowers and leaves sprawled and swayed under the lunar glow.

He had just spent who knew how many years in this wretched place yesterday! Although cultivating without rest or sleep meant that gaining thirty years of Cultivation didn't actually take thirty real years, it was still an agonizingly long period of time.

"What kind of idiotic cheat is this? It doesn't even have a function to let me choose when to claim the rewards..." he cursed aloud.

Looking at the Golden Characters on the White Jade Platform before him that read, [The Master of the Cave Heaven has accumulated a certain amount of talismanic coins, partially fulfilling her Cultivation Aspiration. This reward is 14 years of Cultivation. Please cultivate to claim it], Li Yinsheng gnashed his teeth and sat down cross-legged.

He had anticipated this before giving the talismanic coins to his Junior Sister. But since he desperately needed Cultivation right now, he had no choice but to return to this hellhole and continue cultivating. His current Cultivation was still not enough. Whether it was achieving a B Class or above in the Dao Examination, or obtaining 300,000 talismanic coins within a year, he was still far off the mark.

"Look on the bright side..." Li Yinsheng murmured to himself, gazing up at the moon with hollow eyes as he tried to console himself. "Last time was thirty years, and this time is fourteen years. The sentence this time isn't even half of the last one... Haha... Hahaha... Hahahahaha..."

In the faint morning light, Li Yinsheng stood outside Junior Martial Uncle Jiang's room in a quiet corner of Xuanzhen Temple.

He raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Martial Nephew."

Li Yinsheng pushed the door open and entered. The woman on the soft couch inside was draped only in a plain white unlined garment, holding a scroll in her hands. Her face remained completely pale and devoid of color, but her eyes were bright and full of spirit. Even though she was currently weaker and more frail than a mortal, she was, after all, a former Daoist. She still possessed an ethereal aura, untethered from the Mortal World.

"Come and sit," she said, placing her book face down on the inner side of the couch and patting the empty spot beside her. "You only come over when I tell you to every single time. Why must you be so formal?"

Li Yinsheng sat down beside the couch and said earnestly, "Martial Uncle, I'd actually be much more comfortable sitting on a chair. After all, a chair has a backrest."

Junior Martial Uncle Jiang rolled her eyes at him and ignored the remark. Instead, she simply extended her wrist. "It is time for my treatment again. I must trouble you with my sickly body once more, Martial Nephew."

Li Yinsheng placed his hand on her wrist, and his thick Magical Power flowed into her meridians.

Not only was Junior Martial Uncle Jiang's Cultivation completely ruined, but she was also riddled with many hidden injuries and old ailments. Her body had a lot of issues. For instance, she could not retain Qi Blood, leaving her weak all day long. Her Primordial Energy was also shallow, causing insomnia and excessive dreaming. Because of this, he would regularly use his Magical Power to warm and nourish her body. Although it was difficult to cure her, he could at least prevent her condition from deteriorating further.

"Mhm..." Junior Martial Uncle Jiang hummed softly as she half-lay on the couch. "It seems your Cultivation has improved again, Martial Nephew. And this Magical Power is... growing purer by the day."

Li Yinsheng did not answer, focusing entirely on nourishing and soothing her body.

His Martial Uncle's meridians had been completely destroyed, resulting in an extremely poor tolerance. Therefore, every time Li Yinsheng nourished her body, he would only use a small amount of Magical Power. Had that not been the case, she would have noticed that Li Yinsheng's Magical Power wasn't just purer. His body now held a full sixty-four years of Cultivation, making his Magical Power several times deeper and more profound than before!

However, what made Li Yinsheng feel slightly depressed was that even though he had gained another fourteen years of Cultivation last night, his Qingxuan Scripture was still stuck at the Eighth Layer. He was just very close to reaching the Ninth Layer now. Thirty years of Cultivation could boost the Qingxuan Scripture from the Fifth Layer to the Eighth Layer in one go, but upon reaching the Eighth Layer, fourteen years of Cultivation was not enough to elevate it by even a single layer.

Although he had known all along that this Cultivation Technique was easy at first and difficult later, he truly hadn't expected the later stages to be this hard. Looking at it this way, his previous guess—that reaching the Tenth Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture would allow him to fight for a B Class in the Zhengyang Dao Examination and take the position of Temple Master—might have been too conservative. Perhaps cultivating the Ninth Layer to a profound stage would be enough.

However, despite his Cultivation, his Magic was limited to a few ordinary spells he had practiced over the years. Therefore, he would likely really need to reach the Tenth Layer, or perhaps even higher, to make up for the gap in Magic between himself and his opponents.

Then again, while a Cultivation Technique like the Qingxuan Scripture was difficult to practice, every time one broke through three layers, it would grant additional mystical properties, far surpassing ordinary Cultivation Techniques that could only accumulate Magical Power.

For example, at the Third Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture, it would widen the meridians and Dantian, making one's Magical Power more enduring and profound. The practitioner would be at least thirty percent stronger than Cultivators with the same Cultivation. After reaching the Sixth Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture, the Magical Power would become even deeper and undergo a qualitative change, spontaneously generating a wisp of Clear Spirit Qi. This Clear Spirit Qi could not only clarify the Divine Sense and resist Illusion Skills, but it also had a miraculous restraining effect against evil and demonic entities. Even when not facing evil entities, simply infusing the Clear Spirit Qi into one's Magic during casting would greatly increase its power.

Having reached the Eighth Layer in one breath, Li Yinsheng naturally gained that wisp of Clear Spirit Qi within his body. He had tried infusing a little of it while casting the Artifact Manipulation Skill and the Fire-Burning Skill, and their power instantly doubled.

However, unlike Magical Power, this Clear Spirit Qi was sparse in quantity and recovered quite slowly, so an average person wouldn't use it casually. According to Li Yinsheng's own estimation, once the Clear Spirit Qi was exhausted, it would take a year or two to fully recover.

And the Ninth Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture, which he had yet to reach, held the mystical ability to sublimate that Clear Spirit Qi once more, condensing it into a power called the "Qingxuan Divine Light." Not only would all the previous miraculous effects be further enhanced, but many other wondrous uses would also emerge.

What Li Yinsheng valued most was that the Qingxuan Divine Light could refine the bones of those with poor aptitude, essentially Washing Marrow and purifying their bodies! Although its effects were better than nothing for those with lower-middle Root Devices, its significance was immense for someone like his Junior Sister, who possessed no Root Device at all. After all, she was already at rock bottom, so any direction she moved would be up.

Junior Sister Mu only had two chances left to participate in the Lesser Yang Dao Examination: at the end of next year, and four years from now. If he wanted her to achieve a B Class or even an A Class evaluation before the task's deadline, he had to race against time and not miss a single opportunity to improve her Cultivation and strength.