Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Spiritual Energy Is the Key?
Never mind whether it was legal for the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect to charge a fee; a massive event that brought all sorts of Cultivators together was, on the contrary, a huge deal.
Song Jiulai was genuinely tempted. "Can those in the Qi Refinement Realm go too?"
Su Huanli nodded. "Of course. As long as you’re a Cultivator, you can go. Even if you can’t afford anything, it’s a good opportunity to broaden your horizons. Besides, didn’t you just ask me about obscure cultivation books? At an event like this, you might just find one or two."
This made Song Jiulai even more tempted.
’Even if I don’t have any money, it’s still good to see what’s out there. Besides, there’s still a month to go.’
’I can even let the players participate in similar events in the future.’
’But it’s probably not feasible this time.’
"So, could we go and sell things there?"
Su Huanli was a little surprised to hear that. "You want to trade as well? Of course, you can."
There were some things she left unsaid, though.
’What could the Longevity Sect possibly have to trade?’
But considering her junior sister had just become the Sect Master, Su Huanli certainly wasn’t going to say anything to discourage her.
She had only come to give Song Jiulai a heads-up. As she left, she took out a kite she had brought with her. "See you later! I’ll come find you when I get back."
This was merely one of Su Huanli’s Flying Magical Treasures. It had no other function; it was just fast.
The Cultivators of the Yunzhou Continent were a diverse bunch. Cultivators could fly on their own, but it constantly consumed Spiritual Energy, making it difficult for those in the Qi Refinement Realm to sustain prolonged flight.
The most common and energy-efficient method was to use a Flying Magical Treasure. With just a single Spirit Stone for activation, one could fly for a long time.
In reality, Cultivators were also fiercely competitive. It wasn’t just about the legendary Sword Control; even their Flying Magical Treasures came in all shapes and sizes.
Her Artifact Refining Sect was especially skilled in this area.
The competition only intensified at higher levels, but it wasn’t about appearance—it was about the Magic Treasure’s safety features.
The principle was the same as modern car manufacturing, where the pursuit of speed had to be balanced with the pursuit of safety.
Many of the players saw Su Huanli fly away.
Only when she was far in the distance did they begin to chatter among themselves.
"What kind of item was that? A kite that can fly?"
"Probably a Flying Magical Treasure..."
"Who cares what it is, as long as it can fly! I have Spiritual Energy now, so why can’t I fly yet?"
"F*ck, I can’t make heads or tails of this mental method in my brain. What am I supposed to do? Don’t tell me I was a failure in school, and I’m going to be one here too?"
Everyone had just unlocked their Spirit Roots and become official Cultivators. They had even started on the mental method, but they were still clueless about how to actually use any of it.
They couldn’t harass the Sect Master, so they all flocked to bother the only senior disciple in the Sect, A Wu.
A Wu could only tell them that to truly cultivate, they needed to find and practice the mantras for specific Cultivation Techniques.
Each mantra corresponded to a single technique.
For example, the most basic techniques were Fire Manipulation and Water Control.
So, A Wu started by teaching them a Basic Mantra.
Memorizing the mantra was like learning how to flip the switch on a technique.
The most fundamental skill was Refining the elements of the world.
For instance, Cultivation Techniques were traditionally divided into Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. In practice, as long as these five elements were present, a Cultivator could make use of them.
"Take this earth, for example—"
A Wu pointed at the ground. As he reached out his hand, a clump of earth in front of him was lifted into the air.
It then dispersed, only to reform into a clump of mud. "This is the basis of using Spiritual Energy. First, you must try to make use of existing natural elements."
"But if you want to create earth where there is none, that’s where Cultivation Technique mantras come in."
"With these Cultivation Techniques, you’ll be able to perform the corresponding Spells. For example, Fire Manipulation and Water Control."
As he spoke, A Wu conjured a fist-sized Fireball out of thin air, causing the eyes of a couple of nearby players to light up.
A Wu scratched his head. "I can only manage this much for now. Even if you master the mantras for these Cultivation Techniques, the power you can produce will differ from person to person. It all depends on your individual proficiency with the mantra. That’s why, generally speaking, it’s enough to focus on a few Cultivation Techniques. It’s impossible to master them all."
"For High-level Cultivation Techniques, you’ll need secret manuals, and each one is complex to practice in its own way."
Wu Dahu and Ma Xiaoniao, the two academic failures, were listening in a daze. But another player quickly caught on. "Holy shit, isn’t this just matter conversion? That’s seventh-grade science!"
"Holy crap! So you’re saying Spiritual Energy is the key to converting matter, and we’ve got the key now?"
"And at a low Level, we can’t do full conversions yet, we have to rely on mantras. So we can only manage basic changes in form?"
Everyone present had at least a basic modern education. They might not have understood the details, but they’d all heard of these theories.
Now that they were discussing it, they realized this stuff wasn’t so difficult after all.
However, once they started practicing, everyone realized there was a good reason they’d been failures in school.
The form of matter could be converted, and Spiritual Energy was the key. But how did you turn the key?
The mantra was the key to turning it.
In other words, without mastering the Basic Mantra, you couldn’t turn the key.
The smarter players also realized something. ’Isn’t this mantra just like a formula?’
’If I know the formula, of course I can apply it! But that led to the next question: why do academic failures even exist in the world?’
This group of players, on the verge of tears, found that by the time they had to log off, they had barely managed to grasp the concept of using Spiritual Energy. Becoming proficient enough to dig up dirt like A Wu would take a lot more time.
This wasn’t at all like the Cultivation they had imagined!
’Shouldn’t it be that once you practice the mental method and memorize the mantra, you can start calling the wind and summoning the rain?’
’Why is this stupid game just as stressful as school?’
Of course, school and Cultivation weren’t the same thing.
’In school, I could try my hardest and still fail.’
’But with Cultivation, I have to succeed!!!’
’Even if I can’t become the strongest Cultivator, I’m damn well going to learn how to call the wind and summon the rain!!’
Alas, all good things must come to an end. The players couldn’t stay online 24/7, after all.
Especially since many of them had to work the next day.
Wu Dahu, for instance, set an alarm. He had already stayed up late playing. If he didn’t get enough rest, he wouldn’t be able to get up in the morning, and being late meant getting his pay docked.
But who could ever get tired of a game like this?
Wu Dahu didn’t want to log off at all. He felt with painful certainty that going to work was pure suffering. For a fleeting moment, he even had the dangerous thought of quitting his job to play for a few months without a care in the world.
But considering his bank account wouldn’t support such a move, Wu Dahu obediently logged off.
Just then, Zhou Xiao’s scheduled playtime arrived, and she was getting ready to log on.
Zhou Xiao sent Wu Dahu a message: [I’m so pissed! Those guys from Charity are just a bunch of sour grapes because they can’t play. They’re insisting we took money to advertise for the game company and stir up hype.]
Wu Dahu stared at the message, completely confused.
’Huh? How much money would the game company even have to pay to hire a big name like Jing Bao Tian?’
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