Chapter 91: Cultivator Zhang Lai

Yan Buji tried for a long time, but he still could not sense the heaven and earth spiritual energy with his gradually strengthening spiritual sense, which made him very doubtful.

"Impossible! Even if I don't have a cultivator's cultivation method, sensing heaven and earth spiritual energy should definitely be possible through spiritual sense. Or is it because I lack the talent of a cultivator?"

Yan Buji's expression changed; if even spiritual energy cannot be sensed, can the ancient martial dao truly reach the level of those great cultivators?

This inevitably made him hesitant; if learning this ancient martial dao only lets him stay at the bottom of the cultivation world, it would be better to find a way to quickly cultivate magical power instead.

Could it be because I have True Essence that I cannot sense spiritual energy?

Are the two kinds of power incompatible?

Because True Essence's power comes from oneself, it is forged by internal energy circulating through the heavens, blending blood qi, internal energy, and spirit together, belonging to oneself!

But spiritual energy comes from the outside world, so having True Essence would block perception of it?

"This won't do; I've come this far without knowing how many times I almost died. If I really had to walk this path to the end, I wouldn't have the confidence to restore the glory of ancient martial dao." Yan Buji's expression turned grim.

Moreover, ancient martial dao nowadays doesn't seem to be the mainstream of the cultivation world; most cultivators focus on cultivating magical power, who has seen cultivators similar to mundane martial artists?

"I need to quickly find a cultivator gathering place, fill in my basic knowledge of the cultivation world, then inquire about the situation of martial dao and spell dao."

The difficulty lies in Yan Buji being a complete novice, knowing little about the cultivation world. But if he could befriend a cultivator who would bring him to a cultivator gathering place, it might not be too hard?

Yan Buji pondered for a long time, then his eyes shifted.

Moments later, Yan Buji strode away, leaving only a mountain forest in utter disarray.

A few days passed.

Yan Buji smiled all over, looking at the young cultivator beside him, and said obsequiously: "Zhang brother, I never expected you to be so proficient in mundane affairs; it really surprises me."

"Hahaha, Yan brother, living deep in the mountains, it's normal not to understand these worldly pleasures. But we cultivators seek only freedom and ease; otherwise, what's the point of cultivation? What other cultivators say about purity and impurity has nothing to do with us. We unaffiliated, sectless wandering cultivators ought to enjoy life to the fullest!"

The young cultivator laughed loudly, wearing a black long robe, with a long scar on his forehead as if he had endured an unimaginable fierce battle; he was slender, with a coarse cloth pouch tied at his waist, unknown what it contained.

Yan Buji quickly nodded: "Yes, yes, yes; I have been cultivating alone in these deep mountains and old forests for many years, originally wanting to find a few like-minded fellows to discuss cultivation matters, but then I forgot that worldly affairs also have their own realm."

Speaking of which, it was also fortunate that after leaving the mountain forest, Yan Buji walked for over half a month and finally discovered an extremely ferocious evil tiger in a mountain valley!

That evil tiger was not of this world; just as Yan Buji was about to test its strength, he saw the young cultivator Zhang Lai forming a spell seal, unleashing a huge ball of flame that burned the evil tiger to death!

Astonished by the opponent's spell strength, Yan Buji stepped forward to chat, relying on decades of experience to portray himself as a hardy cultivator who had leapt out of the deep mountains and old forests, requesting to follow the opponent to gain long-term insight.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Lai was indeed wary, but seeing that Yan Buji had no cultivator items on him, he didn't mind and agreed to let him follow.

After much effort over many days, Yan Buji established a good relationship with Zhang Lai, tacitly accepting the role of his attendant, with all matters led by Zhang Lai, thereby extracting a great deal of information very useful to Yan Buji!

"Zhang brother, you truly are carefree." Yan Buji praised.

"Hehe, alright, carefree is also pretended carefree. We cultivators need not necessarily fight heaven, but we must still secure basic livelihood needs. This time you go with me to the Huo Xiong Zong Fang Shi; remember not to provoke cultivators dressed in red with a bear-head embroidered on their chests. Even though their strength is mostly lower than mine, they are not something we wandering cultivators can provoke." Zhang Lai warned.

"Thank you, Zhang brother, I understand, little brother!"

"Hmm, but you say you have no basic cultivation method and are still at the Lianqi Level; how did you initially draw qi into your body?" Zhang Lai asked doubtfully.

Yan Buji raised his eyebrows, knowing this was a test from the other party.

If this question is answered poorly, Zhang Lai's wariness toward him will likely double, possibly even leading to an immediate attack!

So Yan Buji didn't mind either, and took out the ancient poetry collection he had obtained from Liu Feng earlier.

"Zhang brother, I happened to obtain this ancient poetry collection as a child; at the time I always felt someone whispering in my ear, so I instantly became obsessed and went into the deep mountains to study it painstakingly. Strangely, I could sense heaven and earth spiritual energy, and following some maxims I comprehended, I entered the Lianqi Level. Zhang brother, why not take a look? My talent may only allow me to understand this much, but you are surely stronger than me!"

Zhang Lai looked at the ancient poetry collection, somewhat doubtful, took it and glanced at it a few times.

"This seems to be the Confucian Righteousness Song, right? Yan brother, you are indeed fortunate; this Confucian Righteousness Song cannot be cultivated except by magnanimous gentlemen. Even if we wandering cultivators want to get started, we must also let go of mental obsessions and follow the sage's path to gain any understanding." Zhang Lai recognized the cultivation method in the ancient poetry collection, laughing as he said.

Yan Buji widened his eyes: "Really?"

"Well, the Righteousness Song is one of the foundational methods for Confucian cultivators to attain enlightenment, or rather the enlightenment method personally transmitted by the sage. Throughout history, Confucian cultivators practicing the Righteousness Song have not been few. But.... you have only occasionally grasped it after all these years; it seems your talent is indeed not great." Zhang Lai returned the ancient poetry collection with an indifferent expression.

Seeing Zhang Lai like that, Yan Buji also confirmed that the Righteousness Song had no affinity with him.

After all, expecting someone like him to follow the sage's teachings is completely impossible.

"Oh, thank you, Zhang brother, for clearing up my doubts!"

"Hmm, it seems you know too little about the cultivation world. Let's go, let's go to the market town; I'll explain everything to you one by one."

Yan Buji nodded: "Alright, Zhang brother!"

Soon, Zhang Lai brought Yan Buji to the foot of a majestic mountain, pointing ahead and saying: "Can you sense any abnormality in the terrain ahead?"

If I could sense it, there would be a ghost.

However, Zhang Lai loves to show off; even if Yan Buji knew, he wouldn't refute his face, so he presently worried:

"Little brother, my cultivation is low; I really can't see any abnormality, please Zhang brother, give me some pointers."

Zhang Lai nodded proudly: "This market town is right inside the giant stone nearby!"

"Ah?"

"You can't see it because a bewildering formation to confuse mortals has been set up here; naturally, if a demonic path cultivator wanted to forcefully break in, besides the bewildering formation there is also a powerful offensive formation. Basically, all cultivation market towns set up these two basic facilities." Zhang Lai explained with a smile.

"I see!"

This is pretty much like the cave dwelling on Huang Songshan, right?

They are both for ensuring safety.