Chapter 169

The Imperial Flowing Nectar fell all night, and some creatures on the Chipa Plateau were enlightened, inevitably becoming restless. The Great Wind Army had to go out of the city to patrol and prepare, preventing the newly grown monsters from posing a threat to the fields and farms.

Military orders are like mountains, and Hu Min didn't think much about it, casually taking out the medicine powder. It was actually bright yellow, much better in quality than what He Lingchuan refined himself. The latter scooped out a piece the size of a mung bean: "Many thanks."

He poured a few drops of Imperial Flowing Nectar in exchange. Hu Min immediately said: "I'm leaving first, suit yourself." After saying that, he hurriedly changed clothes and went out.

He Lingchuan waited for two quarters of an hour after taking the medicine, but his body had no reaction at all, as if what he had just eaten was just air.

The experiment failed; long-term enhancement drugs were useless to him.

Sure enough, there is no such good thing in the world. Even though he had anticipated it, he still sighed with regret, then left Hu Min's house and headed straight for the Merit Department.

Since it can be confirmed that the Imperial Flowing Nectar is ineffective for him, let's go exchange it for military merit quickly.

The one on duty at the Pengcheng Office today was still Merit Officer Liu, as busy as ever. Hearing that He Lingchuan wanted to hand over Imperial Flowing Nectar, he just beckoned: "Bring it here."

Although Imperial Flowing Nectar is good, in such a large Panlongcheng, there will always be people who, for various reasons, do not consume it themselves.

Merit Officer Liu took a needle tip to pick a little nectar from the wine goblet, looked at it, sniffed it, and then said to He Lingchuan: "There are impurities, medium-low grade, accepted."

According to his calculation, the merit converted from this pot of Imperial Flowing Nectar exceeded He Lingchuan's rear-guard rescue in the Jieqing River Valley last time. After all, tasks for the Great Wind Army to save people are common, while Imperial Flowing Nectar is hard to come by.

This reward was about the same as the last time, with a few more types of wound medicine, both for internal and external use.

He Lingchuan smiled: "If everyone handed it in, wouldn't everyone be able to exchange for another set of wooden houses?"

Merit Officer Liu was matter-of-fact: "Not many people would choose to hand over this kind of thing."

He Lingchuan looked at him and let out a long "Oh."

That's right, besides self-use and handing it in, it can also be bought and sold among the people.

Merit needs to be accumulated bit by bit; if you don't have enough, you can't exchange for what you want.

"My house is enough to live in. Can you exchange it for a handy weapon for me?" At least in the dream, He Lingchuan's requirements for a place to live were not high. When playing games in the past, others spent money to buy fashion items, but he was stingy in this regard.

"Which category?"

"A blade." He entered Panlongcheng empty-handed and really needed a weapon to increase his sense of security.

Merit Officer Liu went to the back room and soon brought out a ring-pommel saber and a whetstone.

The blade was cold and sharp, with two small nicks on the back, and the handle was a bit old, with the ring buckle missing from the end.

"The owner of this blade sacrificed himself at Mount Baimo last year." He said with a solemn expression, "It is a good blade; I hope you use it well."

He Lingchuan held it in his hand, performed a sword flourish, and found it had a good weight and was very handy to use.

"Many thanks! I also want to use military merit to exchange for a few supernatural powers. Um, I heard that basic mental cultivation methods are free?"

Merit Officer Liu sat back in his original position and waved outside: "Go out and find the Promotion Office opposite."

The Promotion Office was by the river.

Strictly speaking, half of this building was built on the river. As soon as He Lingchuan walked in, he saw a water pavilion where two old men were sitting, one in black and one in white, but they looked exactly the same.

It was now the second quarter of the Chen hour, still early, and because of the sudden appearance of Imperial Flowing Nectar last night, the Promotion Office was deserted. He Lingchuan had sharp ears and heard the two old men whispering about the news from inside and outside the city: someone picked up a large mass of Imperial Flowing Nectar paste, resulting in a neighborhood brawl; there were unusual movements of monsters near the mine, causing injuries to miners, and so on.

He Lingchuan stepped forward to pay his respects and said he needed a basic mental cultivation method.

The old man looked him up and down: "You are not from Panlongcheng, right?"

"I am from Tusu City, but I have already registered my residence here."

"No wonder," the old man said, "Then you need to find Mr. Zhang for a test first." After saying that, he shook the bell hanging over the water.

The bell was very close to the water, only two feet away, and the crisp sound spread throughout the water pavilion.

"Go down and stand still." There was a ramp in the pavilion leading directly into the water. The river surface was half covered by green lotus leaves, and the flower buds waiting to bloom only had a touch of pink at the tips, attracting several dragonflies to stay still.

As soon as He Lingchuan stood by the water, the dragonflies flew away in a hurry.

With a splash in the river, several things like snakes and whips suddenly emerged from under the water and rolled toward him.

He Lingchuan was taken aback and subconsciously jumped back.

"What are you running for? Go over and stand still!" The old man was impatient, "Could Mr. Zhang harm you?"

He Lingchuan then saw clearly that these were actually several long and thick tentacles, with roots thicker than his waist, but the tips were sharp and thin, covered with suckers.

Behind the tentacles floated a large oval head, not smooth, with clusters of sharp ridges turning backward.

The eyes were black and round, larger than a pomelo.

"Zhang..." What a huge tentacle monster! So the old man was talking about Mr. "Zhang" (Octopus), not Mr. Zhang (Surname).

He Lingchuan heard a voice: "Come here, let me touch you."

The fear of tentacles is deeply engraved in people's bones. But he also knew he was powerless to resist, so he could only bite the bullet and stand by the water.

Several tentacles stretched over and rested on him. The cold and sticky feeling unique to mollusks made He Lingchuan shiver. They were more flexible than human hands, sucking onto several key acupuncture points one by one.

He Lingchuan felt a cold force injected, and the true qi in his dantian rose in response, quickly traveling throughout his body.

"The foundation is quite solid, and the filth has been removed, it's acceptable." Mr. Zhang evaluated while poking and prodding him, "Hmm—the muscles and bones are solid."

"Ah—the qi and blood are abundant and vigorous, the essence is full, acceptable, acceptable."

Its tone was very strange, and even with He Lingchuan's thick skin, he couldn't quite handle it. But the two old men didn't take it seriously: "Oh, that means the essence has not been leaked."

Mr. Zhang pressed hard on various parts of He Lingchuan's body again before slowly retracting the tentacles.

The two old men walked over, and the three bald heads huddled together whispering.

He Lingchuan had heard Hu Min say that the Promotion Office would issue tailored mental cultivation methods for practitioners. But he never expected that the tester would be an aquatic monster.

That's right, there are not only humans in Panlongcheng.

But an octopus living in fresh water, and on a plateau at that, the world is truly full of wonders.

However, this monster's eight claws can simultaneously take care of almost all the meridians and acupuncture points on a person, comprehensively grasping the operation of true power, which humans really cannot compare to.

The only sequela was that the suckers left dozens of red marks.

Not long after, the discussion ended, and the old men's tone was unified: "The three of us unanimously decided on the Zi-Wu Formula."

There are five public mental cultivation methods in Panlongcheng, and they chose the Zi-Wu Formula for He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan coughed lightly: "Can I borrow the other four methods to take a look?"

Opposite was again in unison: "No."

"..."

"With your knowledge, how do you know which one suits you best?"

"Mixing mental cultivation methods is harmful and not beneficial."

"What shouldn't be yours, it's best not to even touch it."

"We have chosen mental cultivation methods for over nine thousand people, and none have made a mistake."

The two old men said one sentence after another, their tone, speed, and pitch were exactly the same. If you listened with your eyes closed, it sounded like one person talking.

Mr. Zhang slid back into the river and disappeared. One old man went to the wooden cabinet, took out a jade slip, and stuffed it to He Lingchuan: "The mental formula is here, just probe with your spiritual sense."

He Lingchuan couldn't help but fiddle with it. He had entered an immortal's cave at the bottom of County Magistrate Lake and found several jade slips inside, but they were all blank and contained no information.

Unexpectedly, Panlongcheng also uses jade slips.

He probed with his spiritual sense, and sure enough, there was a complete formula inside. Although the font was very different from today's, he could understand it all, word for word.

What's more magical is that after he let go of the jade slip, the formula was still engraved deep in his sea of consciousness, vivid and unforgettable! There was no need to memorize it at all, and this kind of replica-style memory would not be wrong.

He Lingchuan marveled secretly; should this be an invention of ancient immortals? The old man gave him some precautions and then stretched out his hand: "Alright, give it back to me; others need to use it too."

He Lingchuan hurriedly said: "Besides the basic mental cultivation method, I also want to use military merit to exchange for supernatural powers."

"Supernatural powers are divided into 'Arts' and 'Martial' parts." The white-clothed old man pointed to himself, "I am Mr. Ying, in charge of the 'Martial' part."

He pointed to the black-clothed old man: "He is Mr. Man, in charge of the 'Arts' part."

"Supernatural powers are not divided into good or bad, only suitable and unsuitable." Mr. Ying said, "You practice the Zi-Wu Formula, which is suitable for entering the Dao through martial arts. It's not too late to learn some arts after you have mastered it in the later stages."

Mr. Man nodded and added: "As long as you live a few more days."

At the moment, Mr. Ying listed a long book list for He Lingchuan. The latter was dazzled, feeling that this one was good and that one was practical. Mr. Ying then said: "The military merit you have accumulated is only enough to exchange for two supernatural powers."

Then what do you mean by lining up hundreds of sets of cultivation methods in front of me? He Lingchuan smiled humbly: "Mr. Ying, please teach me."

"The foundation of combat is nothing more than two points: being able to fight and being able to run." Mr. Ying pondered slightly, "I will choose a movement technique for you, called 'Swallow Return.' If you can practice it to be as light and agile as a swallow, this technique will be close to perfection."

Mr. Man also said: "Primary arts emphasize solidity; only by laying a good foundation can you be invincible. Don't say it's simple; General Hong is also proficient in the 'Swallow Return' technique."

He Lingchuan's eyes lit up: "General Hong also practices this?"

"Of course. This was copied by him personally and recorded into the jade slip."

"I'll take it!"

However, He Lingchuan thought back and pointed to the list of cultivation methods: "Then, how many supernatural powers did General Hong record in total?"

"Eighteen." Mr. Man didn't hide it from him, "The rest, you can't afford."

He Lingchuan was even more yearning: "Then I'll trouble Mr. Ying to help me find another supernatural power for fighting."

Mr. Ying looked at the long blade at his waist, turned to discuss with Mr. Man for a few sentences, and then said: "Then choose 'Wave Slash'."

The old man stood up and went to the inner room to search for a long time before coming out with two jade slips.

He Lingchuan took them, calmed his mind to remember them, and then respectfully returned them. Mr. Man said from the side: "Come find me when you have mastered these two. Combining arts with martial arts can achieve miraculous results."

"By the way, Lord Zhong requires the Asking Immortal Hall to frequently invite experts to give lectures. Listening more will always be rewarding." Mr. Ying added an extra sentence, "Supernatural powers and arts are good, but they are only external forces. The key to success or failure often lies in the two hearts."

He Lingchuan was solemn: "Please enlighten me, sir."

"Mental cultivation method, state of mind." Mr. Ying said, "Mental cultivation method requires diligent practice; state of mind requires going through life and death."

After several battles of various sizes, He Lingchuan also had a deep understanding of these two sentences. He respectfully thanked them and turned to leave the Promotion Office.

Crossing the threshold of the Merit Department, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

The gatha left by the old turtle monster required him to hide his edge and keep to simplicity in reality. Then, let his first step into the hall start from the dream!

(The volume of "Immortal Spirit" ends here, the next chapter enters a new chapter)

(End of chapter)