Longevity by Grinding Skills

Chapter 403: Chapter 403: Cultivation

’Just the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation.’

The disciple on duty’s loud laughter echoed from behind, grating on the ears in the desolate mountains.

On his way down the mountain, Xu Yunfan reflected on what he had seen and heard in the Primordial Sect over the past few days. He was beginning to understand why the outside world called the Primordial Sect a Demon Dao Sect.

This place didn’t raise seekers of the Dao; it bred a pack of Demons with twisted personalities and shattered morals. They fed their Cultivation with the suffering of their sect-mates. Their law of survival was to harm others, even if it brought them no benefit. Betrayal and backstabbing were as common as breathing.

In a den of demons like this, the most unhinged were the ones who thrived.

But now that he had chosen this path, there was no turning back.

Xu Yunfan clenched his fists, his gaze firm as he looked toward the Joyful Courtyard in the northeast corner of Hundred Desires Peak.

’To survive in the Primordial Sect, you have to be more ruthless and more cunning than everyone else.’

As night fell, a faint mist drifted over Hundred Desires Peak, shrouding its dark corners in even greater mystery.

Xu Yunfan’s figure gradually vanished into the mist. All that remained was the bronze bell on the eaves of the Scripture Pavilion, chiming crisply in the wind as if mocking another poor soul snared in the Primordial Sect’s trap.

As twilight settled, the lingering chime of the Bronze Bell still echoed through the mountains.

The disciple on duty, Zhao San, hummed a little tune as he descended the stone steps, playfully tossing the Jade Token with his day’s earnings of Contribution Points between his fingers.

The post at the Scripture Pavilion wasn’t very lucrative, paying a daily wage of a mere six Contribution Points. Compared to the high-risk, high-reward Sect missions, it was downright pathetic.

But its main advantage was security. He didn’t have to worry about being backstabbed by his sect-mates. Even better, he got a daily show of the wonderfully devastated expressions of the new juniors who’d fallen for the scam.

Watching them go from full of hope to ashen-faced with despair gave him a twisted pleasure far more satisfying than earning a few extra Contribution Points.

Just as he rounded a bend in the mountain path, a bone-chilling coldness suddenly prickled the back of his neck.

"Who—"

A hammer fist whistled through the air and smashed into his temple. His Protective True Essence popped like a bubble, and the blow landed squarely.

Zhao San’s vision exploded in a flash of crimson. The True Essence in his body instantly scattered, and he collapsed like a sack of potatoes into the roadside bushes.

Through his blurry vision, he saw Xu Yunfan crouch down. With a blur of fingers, Xu Yunfan had already ripped all three Storage Bags from his waist.

"You were having a good laugh earlier today, weren’t you, Senior Brother?"

A wisp of dark golden True Qi ignited on Xu Yunfan’s fingertip. He viciously plunged it into Zhao San’s Dantian. "Three hundred Contribution Points for a look at a few Erotic Paintings?"

Zhao San’s body convulsed like a shrimp as black blood trickled from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

He realized with horror that the True Martial Demon Suppression True Essence Xu Yunfan had injected was now rampaging through his meridians, grinding his hard-won Hundred Desires True Essence to dust like a millstone.

He tried to scream, to beg for mercy, but a hand like an iron vise clamped around his throat.

"Don’t worry. I’ll make it quick. You won’t feel a thing."

Xu Yunfan whispered in his ear, his voice colder than the mountain wind. "Senior Brother, we disciples of the Demon Sect are all drowning in a Sea of Suffering. We’re all struggling. So why do things that harm others for no personal gain? See? This is what happens."

With a finger strike that shattered his third vertebra, Xu Yunfan’s Demon Suppression True Essence engulfed the True Essence Zhao San had painstakingly cultivated for years and drew it out. Zhao San’s body collapsed like a boneless heap onto a pile of rotting leaves. His Vitality rapidly faded, and he turned into a desiccated corpse that crumbled to dust, which then scattered through the forest.

Xu Yunfan weighed his loot: three bottles of Jade Marrow Heart Nourishing Pills, seventy Contribution Points, and a Jade Scroll inscribed with *Initial Understanding of Array Dao*.

The sound of distant footsteps reached him. With a flicker, his figure melted into the fog, leaving Zhao San’s broken body to fall silent in the forest.

Xu Yunfan moved like a phantom across the mountain path, the tips of his toes tapping on the moss without disturbing a single dewdrop.

Back in his stone room, he frowned slightly. His Martial Arts Celestial Eye snapped open, its golden pupils reflecting every subtle fluctuation within a hundred-zhang radius.

The tremor of a spiderweb in the corner, the path of a dust mote falling through a crack in the tiles, even the heartbeat of an insect hibernating deep within the Earth Veins—nothing escaped the perception of his Martial Arts Celestial Eye.

Once he confirmed it was safe, he took out the Jade Scroll, which glowed with a faint green light.

Although *Initial Understanding of Array Dao* was only a beginner’s manual, the Spirit Gathering Array it described made his eyes light up.

The Array Dao it recorded was extremely useful for beginners and cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage.

However, constructing the Array was incredibly complex. The Spiritual Power output for each runic symbol had to be precise down to the smallest fraction.

The slightest mistake could result in a backlash from the Array. In a worst-case scenario, the rampaging Spiritual Qi could shatter his Divine Soul.

"Three turns at the Kan Position, a lotus born from Li-fire..."

Xu Yunfan muttered the Array Technique, his fingers tracing patterns in the air before him.

Dark golden True Essence seeped from his fingertips, but as he formed the third Array Base, it suddenly warped.

The threads of True Qi slammed into an invisible barrier, producing the piercing sound of tearing silk. The ambient Spiritual Qi seemed to detonate, exploding around him with a muffled BOOM that echoed through the courtyard.

He grunted, the metallic tang of blood filling his nostrils.

He wiped the blood from his nose, his eyes gleaming.

"Interesting..."

’To think that with his current physique, a small shock like that could actually cause minor internal injuries.’

The next moment, the True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture in Xu Yunfan’s body roared to life. A blinding golden light erupted from his spine, which coiled like a great dragon, and his True Essence surged through his limbs like a torrential river.

A Turtle Shell Pattern appeared on his skin, and a low hum like Buddhist Chanting emanated from deep within his flesh. The minute fractures caused by the Array’s backlash healed at a visible rate as the profound True Essence circulated through him.

He recovered in the space of a breath. His expression unchanged, Xu Yunfan continued to study the *Initial Understanding of Array Dao*.

’You are comprehending *Initial Understanding of Array Dao*. You seem to have gained some insight...’

’You attempted to set up the Spirit Gathering Array but failed. You have gained some experience.’

Xu Yunfan glanced at the notifications on the Attribute Panel in his vision. ’It’s just the basics of the Array Dao for now,’ he thought, ’but every great structure starts from the ground up.’

’Once I get the hang of it, the Attribute Panel will help me master the Array Dao. It will only be a matter of time before I reach a profound Realm.’

This mystical art of the Array Dao placed the greatest importance on fundamentals. It began with simply sketching runes and guiding Spiritual Qi. But with deeper mastery, one could use a small Array Disc as a catalyst to borrow the power of the heavens and the earth.

Then, one could set up an Array with a flip of the hand. Even with a mere Qi Cultivation-level Cultivation, one could wield the power of an Array to challenge a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master.

"The Array Dao is like weaving an inescapable net. A single misplaced thread creates ten thousand openings..."

Of course, that was the ideal scenario. In reality, a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master could bring their palm down and, no matter what world-shaking Array a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator had laid, it would still be annihilated by that single strike.

After forging a Dao Foundation, one is acknowledged by the heavens and the earth and can obtain Lifebound Divine Techniques. Their very existence is on a level beyond the imagination of a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator.

In the following days, Xu Yunfan sealed himself away, immersing himself completely in his Cultivation.

In the mornings, he would circulate the True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture, his spine undulating like a dragon as dark golden True Essence surged through his meridians like a river. In the afternoons, he studied the *Initial Understanding of Array Dao*, his fingers sketching runes in the air, sometimes triggering detonations of Spiritual Qi that made the stone room tremble.

Three months later, on his Attribute Panel, [Array Dao] had appeared in the Skill Bar. The Skill Level for both it and his [True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture] were increasing slowly but surely.