Chapter 91: Body Technique

After putting away the "Red Xiaojue ," Zheng Fa asked Han Qi, "Senior Brother, how much does it cost to choose another technique?"

The Ninth Mountain Patriarch told him he needed to master a pure yang body cultivation technique to cultivate the Green Yang Dao Body.

"That’s hard to say," Han Qi frowned. "What kind of technique do you need?"

"A pure yang body cultivation technique usable before Foundation Establishment."

"There are plenty of those—most body cultivation methods are pure yang," Han Qi nodded. "About a few dozen spirit stones."

"……That expensive?"

The price exceeded Zheng Fa’s estimate; he had assumed technique scrolls would be cheap.

"That’s still cheap! A few hundred years ago, you couldn’t buy these techniques for less than a hundred spirit stones!"

"What about that one from Senior Sister Zhang?"

"The 'True Person Zhang’s Treatise on Talismans'? That’s Senior Sister Zhang’s decision."

"Huh?"

"Books on cultivation crafts are much cheaper than technique scrolls—one consumes spirit stones, the other earns them. That’s a huge difference," Han Qi explained. "Besides, Senior Sister Zhang set the price of the 'True Person Zhang’s Treatise on Talismans' at only eight taels of gold."

"Then what about you?"

Zheng Fa remembered how these men had originally priced it at ten taels of gold.

"That’s why I’m here."

"……"

Zheng Fa could roughly understand why technique scrolls had dropped so much in price—what was lacking now wasn’t techniques, but spirit materials.

It was clear the Immortal Sect tightly controlled spiritual energy, spirit materials, and spirit stones, but was relatively lenient with techniques—this small building clearly wasn’t valued.

But he didn’t have dozens of spirit stones!

Without selling the talismans and spirit ink he held, his assets were only eleven spirit stones and thirty taels of gold.

"Is there anything cheaper?"

"Sure—even cheaper than one spirit stone," Han Qi answered bluntly.

"Then I—"

"Not finished. These body cultivation techniques are either incomplete or impossible to master."

Han Qi pulled Zheng Fa to a dusty corner shelf.

The scrolls there were crooked and unattended.

"This one, 'Earth-Fire Forged Golden Body,' is best suited for someone like you who cultivates fire-element techniques—mastering it could even help you break through bottlenecks—but you need an earth-fire vein. We used to have one here at Ninth Mountain, but it collapsed."

"This one, 'Bodhi Dao Body,' enhances comprehension—but you need Bodhi fruit, which are said to be extinct across the entire cultivation world."

"……"

Zheng Fa fell silent. He’d heard cheap goods were poor quality.

But these weren’t just expired—they were ancient relics.

Seeing his gloomy expression, Han Qi picked up a book with a teasing grin. "Actually, this one is my top recommendation: 'Five Thunder Body.'"

"Why?"

"Our Ninth Mountain Sect excels in talisman arts, and among them, thunder talismans are the most powerful. The 'Five Thunder Body' was created by our ancestors. Legend says mastering it not only makes your body hard to damage, but greatly amplifies the power of your thunder talismans."

As Han Qi spoke, he seemed genuinely admiring—he added two more sentences: "Back when our sect was at its peak, our disciples used this technique to draw five-thunder talismans by hand and dominated duels among the Hundred Immortal Alliance disciples, even earning the title 'Number One Mystic Thunder Talisman'—that was our greatest era."

His expression carried a trace of longing.

"……Can’t be practiced?"

"You’ll turn to charcoal!" Han Qi tossed the book back onto the shelf. "The final step requires heavenly thunder to refine the body. You need mystic thunder stones—using their thunder energy to purify your flesh, gradually acclimating it until it can withstand heavenly thunder."

Wait!

"Mystic thunder stones?"

"A spirit mineral containing thunder energy. The thunder within isn’t even a fraction of true heavenly thunder—but it’s perfect for Qi Refining stage cultivators, letting the body strengthen step by step until it can endure heavenly thunder."

"Has that vein been depleted too?"

"No, but they’re extremely rare," Han Qi sighed. "Mystic thunder stones aren’t just for the 'Five Thunder Body.' In the marketplace, they’re astronomically priced—practically unattainable for Qi Refining disciples."

Zheng Fa nodded.

Suddenly he asked, "How much is this technique?"

"Before, this was a sect secret—you couldn’t even see it for five hundred spirit stones. Now? One spirit stone."

"I’ll take it!"

"Wait, Senior Brother— I meant it was valuable before. Now it’s useless!"

Zheng Fa froze, looking at Han Qi.

He could sense this man hadn’t liked him before.

Ten taels of gold changed everything?

Was kindness this cheap?

Still, Han Qi meant well, so Zheng Fa replied, "I want to try."

"Do you have a mystic thunder stone mine at home?"

"No!"

"Listen to your senior brother—don’t try. If spirit stones bother you, just give them to me!"

Zheng Fa still took the "Five Thunder Body" scroll.

He didn’t have a mine at home—but Senior Brother Han had never studied history, so he didn’t know the term "electric revolution."

…

Han Qi returned home with a frown.

He lived in a modest, weathered bungalow.

"Senior Brother!"

Two followers waited inside, and seeing his expression, they grew agitated.

"Did that kid give you trouble?"

Han Qi said nothing, waved them off, sat down, and seemed lost in thought.

"Let’s just leave in a couple days! We’ve saved enough—let’s buy three big houses, each take a few wives, and live well!"

One tall, thin follower said.

"Exactly! We don’t have to take this crap! We scammed money, sure—but the big cut went to Elder Yuan! Now we get dumped like trash by a new disciple!"

Han Qi still said nothing; the two grew frantic.

"Senior Brother?"

"He didn’t trouble me," Han Qi said slowly. "He gave me ten taels of gold."

"Ten taels of gold? So what?"

The tall one snorted.

"The geniuses we’ve met before—when they wanted money, they handed it over fast. When did any ever give it back?" Han Qi sneered. "We need to cultivate, and so do these geniuses… they won’t even give us the broth!"

"Then why are you worried? Didn’t we agree to leave Ninth Mountain in a few days?"

"This Zheng Fa… he chose the 'Five Thunder Body.'"

"That thing hasn’t been practiced in a thousand years? Is he stupid?" The tall one blinked, then shrugged. "Let him be stupid—it doesn’t matter to us."

Han Qi looked at the gold in his hand, then stood and walked toward the door.

"Senior Brother, where are you going?"

"I’m going to pay my respects to Senior Sister Zhang."

Behind him, the two disciples exchanged glances. The tall one muttered under his breath, "Ten taels of gold? Really?"