Chapter 16: The Flawed Cultivation Method

Ningxin Art, Yellow Grade Lower-Tier Mental Method, Wood Attribute.

Yuan Power absorption speed: medium, Yuan Wheel condensation speed: medium, Yuan Wheel circulation speed: slow. It has a calming and focusing effect; cultivating one full cycle takes two quarters of an hour.

"Not my cup of tea," Facing Facing Cang Luo said casually.

Guiyuan Art, Yellow Grade Lower-Tier Mental Method, Water Attribute.

Yuan Power absorption speed: medium, Yuan Wheel condensation speed: fast, Yuan Wheel circulation speed: medium; cultivating one full cycle takes three quarters of an hour.

"This one isn't it either," Facing Facing Cang Luo said, shaking his head.

Ningqi Art, Huiyuan Sutra, Nine Radiance Divine Art, Immovable Golden Body Art...

After a round of selection, Facing Facing Cang Luo discovered that the Yuan Power absorption speed, Yuan Wheel condensation speed, Yuan Wheel circulation speed, and the time required to cultivate one full cycle were the four parameters determining the quality of a mental method.

The first three values were slow, medium, or fast, while the value of the last parameter was one quarter, two quarters, three quarters...

"Hmm, simple and easy to understand. Although it's only a Yellow Grade Lower-Tier Mental Method, the name is quite domineering."

None of these were what Facing Facing Cang Luo wanted; he wanted to find a mental method of the Lightning Attribute or the Space Attribute.

The former was for finding a way to charge his mobile phone, while the latter was to return to Earth; he figured the Space Attribute should have some relation to teleportation arrays.

Although he knew that even if he cultivated a Yellow Grade Lower-Tier Mental Method until death, he could never research a teleportation array; after all, Elder Xuan, with the cultivation of a Wu Di, was still studying it.

But that didn't stop his yearning for the Space Attribute, because whether in games or novels, any skill related to space was extremely awesome.

It wasn't until Facing Facing Cang Luo was nearly done browsing all the mental methods that he saw one of the Lightning Attribute; as for a mental method of the Space Attribute, he hadn't even seen a shadow of a wooden plaque.

Once the disciple who had been checking it walked away, Facing Facing Cang Luo immediately leaned in, grabbed the wooden plaque, and examined it closely.

Leiqi Art, Yellow Grade Lower-Tier Mental Method, Lightning Attribute.

Yuan Power absorption speed: medium, Yuan Wheel condensation speed: medium, Yuan Wheel circulation speed: fast; cultivating one full cycle takes four quarters of an hour.

Facing Facing Cang Luo exclaimed in surprise: "Cultivating one full cycle actually takes an hour? That means if I cultivate this mental method to Warrior Stage 2, the time spent will be double that of cultivating the Ningxin Art?"

After hesitating for a moment, Facing Facing Cang Luo ultimately chose the Leiqi Art, which might help charge his mobile phone; after noting down the name, he walked toward the rack hanging with wooden plaques for fist and foot martial techniques.

Standing at one end of the rack, Facing Facing Cang Luo saw many disciples gathered in front of a wooden plaque, so he moved closer to see what martial technique was attracting so many disciples to stop and watch.

There were not only many people, but they were also discussing in low voices, and the wooden plaque was being held in someone's hand.

Facing Facing Cang Luo couldn't see, so he asked the disciple beside him: "Senior Brother, what martial technique is this? Why is everyone stopping here?"

The disciple asked by Facing Facing Cang Luo said offhandedly: "It's the Tiger-Felling Fist. Because the cultivation difficulty is too high, everyone is hesitating whether to choose it."

"The name doesn't sound that great?" Facing Facing Cang Luo asked again: "Is there any Senior Brother who can read it out for this junior brother?"

As soon as Facing Facing Cang Luo finished speaking, the disciple holding the wooden plaque read out loudly: "Tiger-Felling Fist, Yellow Grade Lower-Tier Martial Technique, Earth and Wind Dual Attributes.

High power, high consumption, high cultivation difficulty; when used, it generates a whirlwind on the surface of the fist, capable of tearing the target's skin..."

Facing Facing Cang Luo hadn't expected martial techniques to have dual attributes; no wonder the attraction was so great, but it simply wasn't his cup of tea.

Facing Facing Cang Luo left the crowd and purposefully searched for martial techniques of the Lightning Attribute.

After a round of checking, finally, a wooden plaque carved with the three characters 'Benglei Palm' was in his hand.

Benglei Palm, Yellow Grade Lower-Tier Martial Technique, Lightning Attribute, medium power, low consumption, medium cultivation difficulty.

This palm technique is famous for its rapid succession of moves; cultivated to minor mastery, it can inflict a paralysis effect on the target...

"Hmm, this one is good; I'll choose you. Now only the movement martial techniques remain."

A few minutes later, Facing Facing Cang Luo chose a movement martial technique called 'Swift Wind Step'.

The reason he chose the movement martial technique so quickly was that most movement martial techniques were of the Wind Attribute, and looking at the introductions, there wasn't much difference, so he just randomly picked one that looked pleasing to the eye.

After selecting all three cultivation methods, Facing Facing Cang Luo was about to leave when he suddenly saw an outer sect disciple shaking his head helplessly and hanging a yellowed ancient book back onto the rack storing the mental methods.

Hmm? Why is there a book? Aren't they all wooden plaque introductions?

Facing Facing Cang Luo saw that disciple leave after putting the ancient book back, and he was mocked by passing disciples.

Curiosity got the better of Facing Facing Cang Luo, so he went over and picked it up to examine.

On the cover of the ancient book, the four domineering and awe-inspiring large characters 'Mieti Shengong' were clearly written, but that wasn't the main point.

The main point was a row of small characters beside it: 'Earth Grade Upper-Tier Mental Method', but this row of small characters seemed to have been added later based on the font and color.

How could there be an Earth Grade Upper-Tier Mental Method here?

And it was a paper manual, not a wooden plaque introduction; was it placed in the wrong spot? Or was it fake?

With doubts, Facing Facing Cang Luo flipped open the first page of the manual; the introduction of the cultivation method on the title page did not look fake.

This is a mental method that consumes one's own essence and flesh to temporarily expand the Lower Dantian, increase Yuan Power, and strengthen the Yuan Wheel; it is of the Yang Attribute, compatible with most mental methods, and the mental method has nine layers.

The direct effect upon activation is to instantly increase one's strength several times, but the cost is also extremely high.

While activating Mieti Shengong, it causes damage to the body: skin cracking, burning, and even internal organ bleeding; after battle, a long period of quiet rest and healing is required.

Facing Facing Cang Luo understood; this was a move that kills a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of one's own.

But why was it placed together with Yellow Grade Lower-Tier cultivation methods and no one had taken it? Was it too difficult to cultivate?"

Flipping to the next page was the cultivation method for the first layer of Mieti Shengong; the cultivation method was presented through text and a diagram of human meridians and acupoints.

It wrote that one must first pass through which meridians, then stop at which acupoints, for how long, and the precautions; it also used dashed lines to clearly mark the meridian and acupoint diagram.

Finally, it wrote: Cultivating the first layer of the mental method for forty-nine full cycles is sufficient to achieve it; after activating the mental method, a martial artist's comprehensive strength can be doubled.

Note: If the practitioner's constitution is average, the activation time should not exceed a quarter of an hour, otherwise meridians may snap and the body may explode, causing death.

"The cost is indeed a bit high, but it shouldn't be that no one cultivates it? As long as the time is calculated well, it can serve as a ultimate move for a counter-kill!"

Facing Facing Cang Luo was somewhat tempted and increasingly unable to understand why no one had taken it, until he flipped to the page containing the content of the second layer of the mental method and finally understood the reason.

It turned out that the manual 'Mieti Shengong' had been stained with ink starting from the fifth page; it looked as if the ink had soaked up from the bottom page of the book.

The content of the last eight layers of the mental method was completely unrecognizable, a pitch-black mess; Facing Facing Cang Luo guessed it had been accidentally dropped onto an inkstone by its previous owner.

"Sigh!" Facing Facing Cang Luo sighed, feeling a bit regretful; it seemed this manual had been placed here for a long time.

Old disciples all knew that only newly admitted disciples would pick it up to take a look.

Facing Facing Cang Luo put the manual back in its original place and saw many disciples looking at him with a knowing smile, as if to say: You thought you found a treasure?

Facing Facing Cang Luo gave them an awkward smile to indicate this was his first time seeing such a thing, then prepared to leave.

But just then, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Facing Facing Cang Luo.

Just because the Martial God Continent cannot handle the stains on the manual doesn't mean Earth can't?

With Earth's advanced technology, it could surely be perfectly restored!

Thinking of this, Facing Facing Cang Luo's little heart immediately began to thump-thump.

Although the cost of using this mental cultivation technique is great, doesn't he have to cultivate it himself?

He could sell it!

This is a Grade Earth Upper-Grade mental cultivation technique! Anything above that is a Grade Heaven mental cultivation technique; it must be incredibly precious.

The only question is how to take it away?

Seeing another steward pass by, Facing Facing Cang Luo stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Senior Brother Liang Zhishi, may I ask why this 'Meiti Shengong' is placed here? Can I claim it?"

Upon hearing Facing Facing Cang Luo's words, many disciples nearby turned their heads, their eyes filled with confusion and mockery.

One disciple laughed, "Does this person have a problem with his brain? Does he really think this is a Grade Earth Upper-Grade mental cultivation technique?"

"Exactly, can't he see that the six characters 'Grade Earth Upper-Grade Mental Cultivation Technique' were added later? Even if it were real, so what?

A mental cultivation technique with most of its content missing is simply not worth cultivating, let alone if it turns out to be fake; qi deviation would be the end of him.

I guess he's heard too many stories about picking up treasures after jumping off cliffs, hehe."

"It truly isn't worth cultivating. Although the first layer of this technique allows one to fight one or two levels above their own, recovering from the injuries afterwards requires a vast amount of time and pills; it's not worth it!"

"Rather than wasting time and effort cultivating such a defective technique, one might as well steadily cultivate an ordinary mental cultivation technique. This person's martial arts heart is unstable; his future achievements can already be foreseen."

The surrounding disciples voiced their opinions one after another, and that steward held the same view.

He said to Facing Facing Cang Luo, "This manual was left here for sale by an outer sect disciple over a year ago.

Many have looked at it, but no one has been willing to buy and cultivate it. Do you want it?"

Ignoring everyone's idle chatter, Facing Facing Cang Luo asked directly, "How much?"

The steward replied, "That disciple originally intended to sell it for one hundred low-grade yuan stones, but since no one bought it, the price was lowered again and again.

Finally, he said he would sell it to anyone willing to make an offer, so you decide the price."

A joy rose in Facing Facing Cang Luo's heart; he tentatively asked, "O-one... one low-grade yuan stone?"

"One?" The steward was stunned, looked at Facing Facing Cang Luo with amusement, and thought to himself, You really dare to make such an offer.

The steward had intended to refuse, but then remembered this manual had been sitting there for over a year, quite an eyesore and very troublesome.

So he hesitated for a moment and said indifferently, "Fine, one low-grade yuan stone, take it."

Facing Facing Cang Luo was very surprised; he had originally thought this steward would try to extort him like the previous steward Chen, but he never expected the other party to agree without even haggling.

The disciples around who overheard the conversation were shocked and expressed a desire to buy it themselves, even offering two low-grade yuan stones.

In their minds, although this defective technique was useless, buying it for two, or even one, low-grade yuan stone would be a good deal.

They could use it to scam people!

They hadn't bought it before because the price was too high at the time; a group of outer sect Wu Shi disciples like them didn't have spare money to buy something useless.

Seeing this, Facing Facing Cang Luo quickly took out a yuan stone, stuffed it into the steward's hand, tucked the 'Meiti Shengong' into his chest, and rushed out the door amidst the regretful expressions of the crowd.