Chapter 54: Learning Skills!

You replied that you felt your natural talent was limited, and even with diligent cultivation, you would not reach your expectations; it would be better to specialize in the Dao of Alchemy, and if you could become a high-level Refining Medicine Grandmaster in the future and be respected by others, it would not be a wasted life.

The alchemist sighed that everyone has their own aspirations, then advised that since that was the case, you should even less seek him out; he was only a Second-rank Alchemist, and studying under him would at most only allow you to become a Third-rank, so it would be better to find a more powerful alchemist to be your master.

Your tone was sincere, saying that those with great strength have many disciples and would not focus their energy on you, while you only sought to apprentice to learn alchemy; as long as you could focus on studying the Dao of Alchemy, everything you gained within a hundred years would belong to your master, and you would have no complaints or regrets.

The alchemist was moved by your sincerity and accepted you.

While cultivating, you did chores in the alchemist's Pill Room; half a month later, the Innate True Qi in your body completely transformed into Spirit Qi, and your realm reached the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. You began to learn the spell knowledge and fire control techniques of the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

At twenty-one, you officially began to learn alchemy, and the alchemist bought a cluster of Earth Fire for you to use for alchemy.

Because of the foundation laid by the Refining Medicine Grandmaster skill, you progressed very quickly; not only did you successfully refine your first furnace of first-grade Spirit Pills in half a month, but your success rate was also very high, and the alchemist was very happy, praising you for having talent.

Half a year later, you took on the majority of the alchemist's orders, and the alchemist therefore had more time to cultivate, reaching the Qi Refining Perfection realm ahead of schedule, but he was somewhat indecisive about whether to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill to assist in Foundation Establishment; the Foundation Establishment Pill is a third-grade Spirit Pill, and taking it can increase the probability of successful Foundation Establishment, and most importantly, even if Foundation Establishment fails, one can still preserve their life and cultivation, whereas if one does not use a Foundation Establishment Pill, one might lose their life after a failed Foundation Establishment, and be limited to the Qi Refining Layer Nine for the rest of their life.

If he did not take the Foundation Establishment Pill, he would still need half a year or a year to stabilize his cultivation before he would dare to attempt a breakthrough. You advised the alchemist that money could be earned again, but one only has one life, so it would be better to spend a large sum to buy the Foundation Establishment Pill as a safeguard for himself, since he could continue to refine pills and earn money in the future anyway. The alchemist felt that what you said made a lot of sense, but he did not have enough Spirit Stones to buy the Foundation Establishment Pill, so he changed his contract with Wanbao Tower and increased the quantity of pills supplied, and the two of you began refining pills day and night, and your alchemy experience increased.

At twenty-two, the alchemist finally saved enough Spirit Stones, bought the Foundation Establishment Pill, and successfully achieved Foundation Establishment; he was very happy, saying that half the credit belonged to you, and that for the pills refined next, he could set aside a portion of Gathering Qi Pills for your cultivation, but you refused, saying you only wished to focus on alchemy and did not want to distract your energy, and the alchemist did not force you, only saying that when you were older and increasingly frail, it would not be too late to regret it and start cultivating again.

You advised the alchemist to leave this place and move to a large town to live, but the alchemist refused, saying that a Second-rank Alchemist like him would not be able to earn Spirit Stones or survive in a large town, and that he still had a contract with Wanbao Tower that could not be terminated at will; seeing this, you said nothing more, but instead seized every moment to refine pills.

At twenty-three, Evil Cultivators invaded, and the City Lord led all the Cultivators in the city to defend; you also went to the city gate with the others and witnessed the arrogance of the Evil Cultivators; black clouds pressed down on the city as if to crush it, and the protective barrier, which looked like an eggshell inverted over the town, was tottering under the attacks of the Evil Cultivators, and after struggling to resist for less than a quarter of an hour, it was on the verge of shattering; the Evil Cultivators breached the town, and you died.

【Simulation ended】

Although the Qi Refining Sixth Layer realm was very tempting, Ruan Xing still chose a random skill.

【Congratulations, you have obtained the alchemy experience from age twenty-three.】

【New skill added: Alchemy (First-rank), already integrated with the Refining Medicine Grandmaster skill】

Ruan Xing looked at her character panel, and it had now become like this.

Name: Ruan Xing

Age: Six years old

Skills: Gambling Entry, Talisman Entry Level, Dance Basics, Weaving Basics, Horsemanship Basics, Alchemy (First-rank) Techniques: Blood Refining Art Realm: Post-Heaven Perfection

Points: 4003920. It was just that the words "Alchemy" looked golden, but when her consciousness was actually placed on them, they were gray, which meant that they could not be used at the current stage; this might be because she currently had no cultivation and no Earth Fire.

However, the introduction could still be read; the rank of Alchemy is not linked to cultivation; theoretically, even at the Qi Refining stage, there is a possibility of becoming a ninth-rank big shot, but in reality, it is not that easy; alchemy requires controlling the furnace fire, and the higher the grade of the pill, the higher the requirements for furnace fire and Spirit Qi; an alchemist with low cultivation easily suffers from Divine Sense exhaustion halfway through refining, unable to guide the furnace fire and Spirit Qi, leading to alchemy failure.

Like the Earth Fire the alchemist bought for her, it is the lowest-level flame; a cluster of Earth Fire has a lifespan of only three to five years; it is more than enough for refining first-grade Spirit Pills, and second-grade is also fine, but third-grade and fourth-grade are a bit of a stretch.

She had already learned all the pill formulas available to her from the alchemist, and there was no need to go back once she brushed her experience to the second rank; it was time to go brush the Talisman skill.

After repeating the simulation several times, Ruan Xing successfully upgraded Alchemy to the second rank, but this Talisman... originally, she only needed to earn Spirit Stones through alchemy in the simulation to buy materials to brush Talisman experience, but all the Talismans she knew came from the "Nether Ghost Record", and the names and effects of those Talismans did not sound like good things; should she find a proper Talisman maker to learn how to draw proper Talismans? However, unlike alchemy, most of the Spirit Pills acquired by Wanbao Tower were contracts signed with individual alchemists, while Talismans were contracts signed with some small sects and markets; it was really not that easy for her to find a Talisman maker on her own.

Forget it, she would just find a market and sign a ten-year indenture, starting as a Talisman apprentice.

Anyway, she wouldn't be able to serve for ten years; in three years, everyone would be dead.

In the simulation, Ruan Xing did the same; first, she raised her realm to the Innate, and after cleansing her Spirit Bone, she converted the True Qi in her body into Spirit Qi, reaching the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, then went to the market to recommend herself and successfully became a glorious apprentice.

An apprentice in this kind of market is even more miserable than working outside; they are provided with food and lodging but no wages, yet they must hand in at least twenty first-grade Talismans every month, otherwise they must owe the market Spirit Stones according to the market price of first-grade Talismans, to be made up in the next month; if they still cannot make it up the next month, it will roll over with interest to the month after that; this model makes small Cultivators who feel they don't have high aptitude for Talisman making shy away, as there are examples of predecessors who didn't become a first-rank Talisman maker even after ten years, and when the contract expires, it automatically renews, and they start paying off the debt of the previous ten years.

It was also from this point on that Ruan Xing learned that it is very normal for one Talisman to be produced out of one hundred for a Talisman apprentice... and that her own success rate being so high was what was abnormal.

Of course, there is no assessment for the first three months after starting to learn Talismans, but from the fourth month, one must start handing in Talismans; most apprentices are in a state of debt for the first year or even the first three years because they cannot stably draw qualified Talismans during the apprentice period, and they are basically small Cultivators below the Qi Refining Fourth Layer; after drawing fifty or sixty a day, their Spirit Qi is not enough, and they can only meditate to cultivate and try again tomorrow; once they can stably produce qualified ones and become a first-rank Talisman maker, the number of Talismans per month can exceed the quota for handing in, and the excess part can be used to pay off debts or exchanged for cultivation resources to improve their cultivation realm.

However, those who have the determination to take on debt to learn Talismans are not willing to stop at being a first-rank Talisman maker; after they become Talisman makers, all their extra income is used to exchange for Talisman-drawing materials to practice second-grade Talismans.

Ruan Xing's cultivation realm was higher than theirs, her Spirit Qi storage was more abundant than theirs, and Ruan Xing was not worried at all about not being able to pay off her debt; every month, she happily received twice the Talisman-drawing materials of others, and under the shocked and surprised gazes of others, she handed in the required number of Talismans in the fourth month, which made the shopkeeper look at her with new eyes and also relaxed the restrictions on Ruan Xing's learning of Talismans. Normally, before they can stably produce qualified ones, apprentices can only choose one type of Talisman to learn, so as not to learn too many and fail to increase their success rate, wasting the market's resources.

Ruan Xing chose many first-grade Talismans to learn in one go: Lightness Talisman, Rejuvenation Talisman, Small Vajra Talisman, Water Avoidance Talisman...

However, the Talisman knowledge in the world of Cultivation was not quite the same as what she understood in the "Nether Ghost Record"; the book said that the ink used for Talismans is best made from the blood of fierce beasts and Monster Beasts, and the carrier is best made of various attributes of animal skin or animal bone, but what the market taught her was Yellow Paper < Spirit Wood < Jade, Cinnabar < Gold Ink < Spirit Marrow; it looked somewhat similar but was vastly different; fortunately, she did not go out and buy a large amount of animal skin and animal blood right away, otherwise, if someone discovered she was doing this kind of thing, wouldn't she have died prematurely and wasted her attempts?

And this also solved a doubt for her: why the main currencies in the world of Cultivation are Spirit Stones and Silver, because Gold... was all taken to refine Gold Ink.

After diligently drawing Talismans for three years, the Evil Cultivators arrived as scheduled, and Ruan Xing couldn't wait to check her character panel after choosing her skill.

【Congratulations, you have obtained the Talisman-drawing experience from age twenty-three.】

【New skill added: Talisman Making (First-rank), already integrated with the Talisman Entry Level skill】

The improvement of Talisman Making took longer than Alchemy; after simulating seven or eight times, Ruan Xing finally successfully obtained Talisman Making second-rank, but the highest grade of Talismans available for learning in the market was fourth-rank; anyway, the simulation point consumption was low now, so Ruan Xing simply simulated nearly one hundred times, raising Talisman Making to the fourth rank, and along the way, she emptied out all the Talisman categories in the market; by the last simulation, she had become the apple of the market shopkeeper's eye, and only then did she end the improvement of the Talisman Making skill with a sense of lingering desire.

But the next choice made Ruan Xing somewhat conflicted; at the Foundation Establishment stage, one can only achieve short-term flight through Talismans, and only at the Golden Core stage can one control a Sword or an artifact; every National Preceptor is a Golden Core True Person from the 【Six Suns Study】, who crosses layers of mountain passes to add new blood to the Sect.

That is to say, either she reaches the Golden Core stage and gets out of this isolated place by herself, or she acts as a servant without any cultivation and spends ten thousand taels of Silver to hitch a ride with the National Preceptor.

But this is very difficult; she had already tried it in the later simulations; without reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, she would always die for various reasons when leaving the city, and breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage... this is very awkward; the Basic Qi Refining Technique she cultivated in the simulation was still the one given by the male lead in the 【Six Suns Study】, and the Basic Qi Refining Technique only goes up to Qi Refining; there is no Foundation Establishment.

At that time, she was already the cash cow of the market shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper was naturally willing to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill for her to use, but she had no Foundation Establishment Technique, and forcing a Foundation Establishment would mean ten deaths and no life.

The market mostly sells spell manuals, and there are very few cultivation techniques; even if there are, they are some abnormal techniques that are not suitable for her to cultivate; if she wants an authentic Cultivation technique, she must leave the city and find a reliable Sect to apprentice.

And without Foundation Establishment, leaving the city means death.

It is a complete dead end.

Unless she returns to the 【Six Suns Study】, that path is safe, but what is the use? Most of the people in the 【Six Suns Study】 are old men, a small part are middle-aged, and the young ones are all in the Outer Sect cultivating the Basic Qi Refining Technique like her; most importantly, except for servants, the 【Six Suns Study】 has almost no women.

There is no need to even think about it; it is one hundred percent a monk's technique.

No wonder the apprenticeship standard for Inner Sect Disciples is old men over sixty; it turns out that only when they reach this age and are pure-hearted and have few desires, unable to mess around, can they be brought to cultivate.

So if she wants to think about the world of Cultivation, she can only hitch a ride with the National Preceptor; if she goes to the world of Cultivation early, she is only... now? Otherwise, she will work hard on Talisman making and alchemy, earn more Spirit Stones, and then she can hire Cultivators through the channels of Wanbao Tower or hitch a ride with Wanbao Tower; it is said that Wanbao Tower is a chain throughout the world of Cultivation, and there must be a way to safely reach other towns.

It is just that she does not know when the current National Preceptor will leave; if he leaves late, Ruan Xing is anxious to go to the world of Cultivation; if he leaves early, Ruan Xing is worried that she won't be able to find an old man to be a disciple and will delay her hitching a ride.

Sigh, it is really troublesome; she can only try to find Master Cai, the former City Lord and current Scholar, tomorrow.

Thinking this way, Ruan Xing fell asleep in a daze again.

When the next morning came, Cui Yurong got up early; she still had to find a way to send daily necessities to her father in prison so that he could live a little better inside, so she tidied up and left in a hurry.

And after eating breakfast, Ruan Xing also went out, inquired about the private residence of Master Cai in the Capital, strolled over slowly, and started the simulation.

In the simulation result, Master Cai was finally persuaded by her to go to the National Teacher Palace to apprentice; Ruan Xing's brows relaxed when she saw this line, but she still chose to look at the memory to see how she managed to persuade Master Cai.

And there was another difference that made her stop in her tracks.

In the simulation, more than ten years later, the official was spotted by the Immortal before he left; after asking the official's age, he sighed with regret, lamenting that such natural talent could not be his achievement this time, which was truly a pity. The official asked him why, and the Immortal replied, "I wish to ferry you to seek the Dao of Immortality, but unfortunately you are in your prime, with a beautiful wife and young children at home; I am afraid you cannot detach yourself from the red dust of the mundane world; thirty years from now, someone else will come to pick you up, so just wait a while." Upon hearing this, the official immediately drew his sword and killed his wife and young daughter in front of the Immortal, asking the Immortal, "Now that I am alone, can I detach myself from the red dust and seek Immortality?" The Immortal clapped his hands and laughed loudly, "With a firm will, undisturbed by the mundane world, you can."

Thus, a few days later, the Immortal took the official and his servant and set off on the back of an eagle; the official had never entered the National Teacher Palace to practice.

Therefore, she also did not know that entering the National Teacher Palace required testing for a Spirit Bone.

Thanks to Youlan Jingxin for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Book Friend 20220328172747561 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Lou Huai for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Book Friend 20211220005339940 for the monthly ticket~(End of this chapter)