Chapter 549: Water-Attribute Qi Induction Technique

The next morning, Cheng Feng rose very early.

The spiritual mist in the courtyard had not yet dispersed; Cheng Feng drew a basin of well water to wash his face, changed into the gray-blue Daoist robe he had collected yesterday, tucked his Jade Tablet close to his body, and pushed the door open to leave.

Even without a lovely wife or Concubine to serve him by his side, Cheng Feng believed he could still live very well.

Wouldn't you agree?

Panmian!!!

Zhou Tieyi was already leaning against the stone steps outside the door waiting for him, chewing on half a grass root; seeing him come out, he leapt to his feet.

"Let's go, time to exchange for a cultivation method." He patted the dust off his backside. "I thought about it all night, and I've decided not to spend those ten points yet.

But I want to go see what that Water-Attribute Qi Induction Technique looks like, so you don't get swindled."

Cheng Feng smiled slightly and said nothing; the two walked side by side down the stone steps.

The Outer Sect's Dharma Transmission Pavilion was on the east side of the mountainside, not far from the Martial Arts Arena; it was a five-story building with flying eaves, and a bluestone stele stood before the entrance, inscribed with the four characters "Outer Sect Dharma Transmission."

At this time, the pavilion doors had only just opened, and many new disciples were already gathered in front, some copying notices, others whispering to one another.

As soon as Cheng Feng arrived, someone recognized him.

"That's Cheng Feng, third on the Dazhou Flying Boat. I heard he has a low-grade Water Spirit Root and low-to-mid-grade Root Bone."

"And he still managed to get one hundred points? It's infuriating to compare people."

"Don't mock him; you don't even have a low-grade one right now."

Cheng Feng turned a deaf ear and walked straight into the Dharma Transmission Pavilion.

Zhou Tieyi lagged half a step behind, glared at the few people gossiping, and followed him in.

The light inside the pavilion was slightly dim, and a faint scent of sandalwood floated in the air.

The first floor was the display area for Basic Cultivation Methods and breathing techniques; on several rows of wooden shelves sat scrolls of jade slips, each with a small wooden plaque hanging in front of it, stating the name of the technique, the applicable attribute, and the exchange price.

Cheng Feng scanned the area and discovered that the cheapest one was the Basic Breathing Technique, ten points, which every new disciple could exchange for.

Beyond that, the low-grade Qi Induction Formulas corresponding to the five elements were all between sixty and eighty points; anything above that started at one hundred and fifty points for mid-grade cultivation methods.

"Dark, truly dark," Zhou Tieyi muttered in a low voice.

"A single low-grade Qi Induction Formula is sixty, and mid-grade ones more than double that.

This Outer Sect really wants to squeeze the new disciples dry."

Cheng Feng did not respond; his gaze fell upon a pale blue jade slip. The wooden plaque read: "Water-Attribute Qi Induction Technique · Low-grade, sixty points. Suitable for disciples with Water Spirit Root, to guide Qi into the body, nourish the meridians, usable until Foundation Establishment."

"Just this one?" Zhou Tieyi leaned in to look. "It's only low-grade; you should exchange for a mid-grade one. You have one hundred points, you can afford it."

"I'd only have forty left after exchanging," Cheng Feng said. "And there's still a month to go."

"But the cultivation speed of a low-grade one is just like that; your Water Spirit Root is already low-grade to begin with, and if you use a low-grade Qi Induction Formula on top of that, who knows how long it will take to train?" Zhou Tieyi was anxious.

Cheng Feng did not answer. He walked to another row of shelves and paused.

There also sat a scroll of the Water-Attribute Qi Induction Technique, a high-grade one, priced at one hundred and fifty; the wooden plaque read: "Water-Attribute Qi Induction Technique · High-grade, one hundred and fifty points, suitable for high-grade Water Spirit Root,

or those with mid-grade Water Spirit Root and a deep foundation.

Guides Qi into the body, can widen meridians, cultivation speed doubled."

"Don't even think about it," Cheng Feng said to himself first.

He walked to the counter and handed over his Jade Tablet.

Behind the counter sat a Deacon in his fifties wearing gray clothes, his hair graying, who was dozing off; hearing the sound, he lifted his eyelids to look at him,

then looked at his Jade Tablet and said slowly, "Low-grade Water Spirit Root, the sixty-point one is enough. If I give you the high-grade one, your meridians won't be able to handle it."

"This disciple understands," Cheng Feng nodded.

The gray-clad Deacon snorted and took the Jade Tablet, swiping it across a stone disc on the desk.

Cheng Feng saw the water-pattern halo on the back of the Jade Tablet dim for a moment, and when it lit up again, the points had changed.

"Forty left," the Deacon pushed a jade slip over. "Take it, and don't break it. If it breaks, you'll have to re-record it, and another sixty will be deducted."

Cheng Feng took the jade slip and thanked him. The jade slip felt cold to the touch, and held in his palm, it felt like gripping a piece of green jade fished out from a deep pool.

Zhou Tieyi leaned over to look and clicked his tongue twice: "Sixty points, just like that, gone."

"This is a necessary expenditure," Cheng Feng said.

The two left the Dharma Transmission Pavilion and were just about to head back when they bumped into someone head-on.

Zheng Yun and two other disciples were walking up from the stone steps, evidently also here to exchange for cultivation methods.

As soon as Zheng Yun saw them, a smile appeared on his face: "Brother Cheng, you're up early; did you exchange for the low-grade Water-Attribute Qi Induction Technique?"

Cheng Feng glanced at him and said nothing. Zhou Tieyi's expression darkened: "What's it to you?"

"Nothing, just showing some concern." Zheng Yun took a step toward the pavilion, then looked back and said, "I'm just exchanging for a mid-grade Fire-Attribute Qi Induction Technique, eighty points.

Oh, that's right, my Spirit Root is mid-grade, and my Root Bone is decent too. Brother Cheng, you'd better put in some extra effort."

After he finished speaking, the three of them walked in laughing.

Zhou Tieyi's chest heaved, and he clenched his fists.

Cheng Feng patted him on the shoulder: "Can you out-curse them?"

"Can't out-curse them," Zhou Tieyi gritted his teeth, "but I can beat them."

"Then go ahead and do it?" Cheng Feng looked at him.

Zhou Tieyi hesitated for a moment, then deflated: "Forget it. If I beat them up, your points won't come back."

"Glad you know," Cheng Feng said. "Let's go."

"Don't be reckless; have you thought about where he got those eighty points?"

Zhou Tieyi came to his senses: "You mean someone sponsored him?"

Cheng Feng did not speak, but that was likely the case.

Otherwise, there is no explanation for how someone with such a low ranking could have so many points.

It couldn't be that he still has relatives in the Immortal Sect, could it...

If one had such a well-connected relative in the Immortal Sect,

why would one even bother with the ranking tournament!!!

Returning to Jia-3 Courtyard, Cheng Feng closed the door and sat down inside the Cultivation Room.

Zhao Xiaoan had already helped him tidy up this room last night; there was a meditation cushion spread on the floor, and in the corner, a palm-sized Spirit-Inducing Array with a slot in the center for inserting a Jade Tablet.

He inserted the Jade Tablet, and the array slowly activated, emitting a very faint humming sound.

The Spirit Qi in the air began to gather toward his direction, with a concentration about thirty percent higher than in the courtyard.

He took out the scroll of the Water-Attribute Qi Induction Technique and, following the method taught by the Deacon, pressed his fingertip onto the jade slip.

The jade slip grew slightly warm, and a very faint blue light overflowed from it, drilling into his palm along his finger.

"Clear Flow Qi Induction Technique"

He closed his eyes, and a complete cultivation method appeared in his mind, every word distinct, as if carved into his brain.

The opening twelve characters of that method read: Water moistens all things, Qi travels through meridians, the dantian is the root.

It left Cheng Feng inexplicably shaken, as if he had grasped something.

Cheng Feng sat cross-legged and began to circulate his Qi according to the path recorded in the Qi Induction Formula.

The force of his breath started from the dantian, moved slowly up along the Conception Vessel, then turned toward the Belt Vessel, and finally returned to the Bubbling Spring point.

This route was similar to the meridians he used to traverse when practicing martial arts on the mountain,

only it was finer and slower, like drawing water with a bamboo pipe; one could not be the least bit impatient.

Unfortunately, after an entire day, Cheng Feng had not gained a single bit of insight into the description of sensing Spirit Qi in the Qi Induction Formula.

"It seems that my aptitude, even among low-grade Spirit Roots, is ordinary and completely unremarkable."