Chapter 120: Special Materials

Gao Jie Ming was not merely strolling; he was "gathering qi."

Within the cultivation system, there exists a unique technique capable of harvesting "the qi of the mortal world."

Of course, that is the more cultivation-oriented phrasing; according to Gao Jie Ming's understanding, it is essentially a technique that can condense special concepts.

This qi originates from the joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures of the mortal realm, from birth, aging, sickness, and death, and from the seven emotions and six desires; it is the concretization of the myriad phenomena of the human world.

Although it cannot directly amplify one's cultivation base or transform myriad things like spiritual power, it serves as an excellent "universal material."

In normal usage, it can temper a cultivator's mental state and intent, making them unyielding and better able to break through heart demons; it can also temper magic treasures to enhance their spirituality, and it remains an essential raw material for arranging the vast majority of illusion arrays.

Furthermore, under certain special circumstances, specific techniques can reverse its nature, allowing it to construct golden bodies, repair souls, or refine magic treasures and elixirs.

When Gao Jie Ming was at Plane Nuolun Academy, he could hardly gather any useful qi of the mortal world.

After all, the wizards there were all research maniacs, each immersed in experiments and meditation, leading monotonous lives with faint mental fluctuations.

Even across the entire Plane Nuolun Plane 13, one could not find a suitable place to collect the qi of the mortal world, for all Plane Nuolun planes had been transformed by wizards into highly ordered "culture media," losing the primitive and heterogeneous "characteristics" of the mortal dust.

But upon arriving at Golden Port, Gao Jie Ming was like a mouse that had fallen into a granary.

Walking through the bustling streets, he felt the joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, loves and hates of the mortals brushing past him.

That rich and heterogeneous concept flowed silently into his body, absorbed by a special seal within his dantian, and ultimately refined into strand after strand of seemingly brilliant qi of the mortal world.

He did not even need to speak much with people; by merely feeling the pulse of their lives, he could draw in vast quantities of power from the mortal world.

However, much of the time, Gao Jie Ming's attention was not on the refined qi of the mortal world, but on the special seal within his dantian capable of refining it.

"Truly miraculous; just a seal that isn't particularly complex, yet it can autonomously store and create concepts out of thin air—" Gao Jie Ming "looked" at a strand of qi of the mortal world being refined from within his dantian and couldn't help but curiously stroke his chin.

Although after so many years of research, Gao Jie Ming himself understood clearly that technologies involving concept extraction and creating something from nothing were not yet within his reach, he still couldn't help feeling somewhat curious.

"Incomprehensible; the fact that it can function identically across completely different planes or even worlds suggests that these things inherently contain rules fixed at a level comparable to a Tier 6 Wizard, representing an absurdly high level of technical proficiency."

His forward stride subtly shifted, altering his body's trajectory to precisely dodge two arms attempting to reach for his money pouch.

Glancing at the two emaciated children whose faces were filled with terror, Gao Jie Ming fell silent for a moment, then pulled out two copper coins and tossed them to the pair.

Turning around to continue pondering his own affairs as he walked forward, he mused, "It seems the technical content of such special techniques in the cultivation world is far higher than that of most offensive spells."

"Fortunately, since most spells in the cultivation system require leveraging heaven and earth's spiritual energy, they perform poorly in the wizard world; I have primarily cultivated these special techniques before, so I can focus all my attention on this aspect from now on," Gao Jie Ming calculated silently in his heart.

After all, his capabilities in both combat and self-preservation were already sufficient for his current stage.

If he truly encountered an enemy he could not defeat, hoping to escape using cultivator spells that could not mobilize spiritual power would be wishful thinking; it was better to focus more attention on these special techniques.

Looking up at the sky, Gao Jie Ming turned and swayed leisurely toward the Adventurers' Guild.

Besides collecting the qi of the mortal world, Gao Jie Ming also planned to post a task at the "Drunken Dolphin" tavern: collecting Hundred Flower Dew.

Collecting this substance was simple; it was merely the dew condensed on flower petals in the early morning, with the only crucial point being that the greater the variety of flowers, the better.

This dew, mixed with the essences of various flowers, could be condensed through a dedicated technique into "Hundred Flower Dew" carrying related concepts; this substance could assist in pill refinement and nourish the soul, making it quite a good material.

Plane Nuolun Academy grew nothing but medicinal herbs; while collection wasn't impossible, the "price" was excessively steep. Collecting a small amount for experiments was fine, but large-scale collection would be purely playing the fool.

Collecting it himself was too troublesome, but fortunately, now that he had stable lodging in Golden Port, he could finally undertake large-scale collection.

The reward Gao Jie Ming offered for his task was extremely generous: every small cup (approximately two hundred milliliters) of Hundred Flower Dew would earn one gold coin.

Among the generally impoverished adventurer community, this was undoubtedly an astronomical price; even the half-orc bartender, who rarely showed any change in expression, could not hold back.

"Jack, have you gone mad? One gold coin for a small cup of dew?!" The half-orc bartender listened to Gao Jie Ming's request, his thick, short eyebrows nearly twisting into a pretzel, his eyes filled with incredulous greed. "Do you intend to strip every flowering plant in Golden Port bare?!"

Gao Jie Ming merely calmly tossed a gold coin serving as a deposit onto the table, where it spun with a crisp clatter on the wooden surface.

"You just post the task; leave the rest to me," he said in a cold tone, carrying a hint of unquestionable authority.

The half-orc bartender immediately composed his expression, rubbed his hands together, pocketed the gold coin, and scurried off to post the notice.

Once the news spread, the entire adventurer community of Golden Port erupted in excitement.

A few days later arrived the day of Gao Jie Ming's first acceptance of Hundred Flower Dew.

A long queue formed outside the tavern; adventurers and commoners of various attire, and even some fellows who looked like suburban farmers, all held bottles and jars of various sizes containing what they believed to be "Hundred Flower Dew."

Gao Jie Ming sat by a window on the second floor, while the half-orc bartender was responsible for calling numbers.

The first to step forward was a lean thief, who smiled obsequiously and handed over a sealed bottle.

Gao Jie Ming took the bottle, his gaze calm.

A necklace quietly appeared in his hand; the gemstone embedded in the necklace emitted a barely perceptible glow, resembling a precise magical detection tool.

In truth, this was merely a cover; the true effect came from the technique Gao Jie Ming was employing.

He gave it just a gentle shake, and the liquid inside the bottle instantly turned cloudy, emitting a faint scent of earth.

"This was dug out of a mud pit, wasn't it?" Gao Jie Ming's voice remained utterly flat.

The smile on the thief's face froze, his eyes flickering; just as he was about to argue, Gao Jie Ming casually tossed the bottle back to him.

"Next."

The next few were much the same: various diluted samples, those mixed with ordinary water, and even some passed off directly as river water.

With just a gentle shake of his "magical item," Gao Jie Ming could distinguish them instantly.

"Hmph! What act are you putting on!" Several burly men resembling farmers began to look displeased.

They had worked hard to collect a large jar of "dew," only to be seen through at a glance by this young man; naturally, they felt unconvinced.

One farmer, with knotted muscles and a face full of ferocity, stepped forward and spoke in a deep, resonant voice, "Kid, don't think that by playing tricks you can refuse to pay! We worked hard—"

As he spoke, a large hand quietly reached for Gao Jie Ming's collar, attempting to use force to renege on the deal.

Gao Jie Ming looked at him expressionlessly; he remained motionless until the very instant the palm was about to touch, then kicked out with lightning speed from beneath, precisely striking the farmer's shinbone.

Crack!

Accompanied by a bone-chilling sound of fracturing bone, the farmer's massive body instantly stiffened, followed by a heart-rending scream; he clutched his lower leg, fell to the ground, and rolled about, his face covered in cold sweat of agony.

The faces of the remaining farmers instantly turned deathly pale; their previously arrogant demeanor vanished in an instant, and they shrank back one by one, daring not to breathe heavily, let alone speak loudly again.

The tavern fell into dead silence once more; everyone had witnessed Gao Jie Ming's ruthless action.

Only a few adventurers who had previously witnessed "Jack's" ruthlessness appeared calm and composed, even displaying a sense of pride as though their broad experience made them superior to others.

Gao Jie Ming had originally assumed he would likely receive no useful materials this time, yet the subsequent inspection delivered an unexpected surprise.

"My lord, this is Hundred Flower Dew collected from my family's garden."

A servant, dressed in clothes washed until pale yet still clean and tidy, respectfully presented a small wooden bottle containing crystal-clear dew.

Compared to the large and small jars offered by others, the quantity in this tiny bottle was truly insignificant.

Gao Jie Ming took it; his necklace flashed, and immediately his eyes brightened.

He discovered the quality of this dew was extremely high, with the various floral scents it contained proving its purity.

"Three gold coins." Gao Jie Ming handed him three gold coins directly, speaking calmly.

Surprise and joy mingled on the servant's face as he thanked him repeatedly.

Immediately afterward, several other servants dressed similarly came forward.

Although the amounts of Hundred Flower Dew they offered varied, without exception, all met Gao Jie Ming's requirements.

Gao Jie Ming narrowed his eyes; he roughly understood that these were servants of minor nobles who were once wealthy but whose incomes had sharply declined due to the urgent war.

To maintain their masters' dignity, these nobles were also willing to accept such high-reward tasks.

Moreover, since they possessed their own gardens, collection was more convenient for them; coupled with the "pride" inherent to nobility, they proved more honest than those greedy farmers.

Finally, a ragged orphan boy, appearing only seven or eight years old, timidly squeezed to the front of the line, holding a dilapidated clay bottle covered in mud.

Inside the bottle lay only a thin layer of Hundred Flower Dew, yet it was extremely clear; the little orphan's eyes were filled with anxiety, as if fearing Gao Jie Ming would discard his "dew" just as he had with others.

Gao Jie Ming took the bottle; under the light of his necklace, this batch of Hundred Flower Dew likewise emitted a pure luster.

He gave the little orphan a silver coin, then added several copper coins: "Well done."

The little orphan stared blankly at the silver coin in his hand, crystal-clear tears instantly filling his eyes, before he snapped out of his daze and ran off clutching the coins.

Witnessing all this, Gao Jie Ming could not help but feel moved.

In the education he had once received, "simplicity" and "peasants" were nearly synonymous.

He had originally assumed those impoverished commoners would bring him surprises, given their greater need for money.

Yet unexpectedly, they were instead extremely cunning, trying every possible method to adulterate their goods.

Conversely, those possessing even a shred of dignity appeared far more pure.

"Moral standards have nothing to do with origin or profession; they relate only to the person themselves—"

Having understood this layer, Gao Jie Ming felt his soul become slightly more translucent.

For him, this panorama of worldly conditions was undoubtedly another form of tempering.