Chapter 273: Chapter 272: Spirit Smelling Technique and Returning Ruins Hidden Essence Skill
"I’ll take this *Spirit Smelling Technique*."
Fang Han made his decision. This technique was perfect for searching for Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in terrains like forests and mountains.
"True Inheritor Fang has a discerning eye! This art is indeed an excellent tracking method!"
The Steward quickly offered the compliment, then swiftly turned and entered the library room on the third floor to retrieve the secret manual.
"True Inheritor, please place your Identity Token on the Inheritance Jade Inkstone."
Fang Han handed over his Token. The Steward swiped it gently, deducting 150 Contribution Points, and passed the manual to Fang Han.
"True Inheritor Fang, here is the manual. It cannot be copied or shared. Please return it within half a month."
"Thank you."
Fang Han took the manual and tucked it away. He didn’t leave immediately, but instead turned toward the stairs leading to the fourth floor.
The fourth floor was as quiet as ever. Elder Mo was just as he always was, sitting behind a counter with a scroll in hand, his expression focused.
Sensing someone coming upstairs, he slowly raised his eyes. Seeing it was Fang Han, a faint smile appeared on his placid face.
"Fang, back to exchange for another Cultivation Technique today?"
"You see clearly, Elder Mo."
Fang Han took a few steps forward and bowed with his hands clasped.
"Elder, the Breath Concealment Secret Technique this disciple was practicing is now somewhat lacking. I’d like to ask you to recommend a Top Grade Breath Concealment Secret Technique."
Just like his Perfection level *Spirit Nose Technique*, his Perfection level *Ten Thousand Transformations Concealing Breath Technique* was proving insufficient against Spiritual Objects with extraordinary senses or High Grade Martial Artists with keen Spiritual Sense.
He needed to exchange for a more advanced Breath Concealment Secret Technique to learn.
Elder Mo nodded slightly, set down his scroll, and rose to walk toward a bookshelf in the depths of the fourth floor marked with the character "Secret." He took down a light gray manual and handed it to Fang Han.
"*Returning Ruins Hidden Essence Skill*. It is one of the best among Top Grade Breath Concealment Secret Techniques. Cultivated to Perfection, it can make your aura almost return to nothingness, merging into the void."
"Even those with extraordinary Spiritual Sense would find it difficult to detect you. The exchange requires 1,800 Contribution Points."
Elder Mo explained succinctly.
"This disciple will exchange for this technique."
Fang Han took the manual, flipped through a few pages, and felt quite satisfied. He decisively took out his Identity Token and handed it to Elder Mo to exchange for the Secret Technique.
Elder Mo quickly deducted 1,800 Contribution Points from Fang Han’s Identity Token.
’18,900 Contribution Points.’
Taking back the Identity Jade Token from Elder Mo, Fang Han infused a wisp of Inner Qi into the Identity Token.
The Token flashed faintly, displaying a line of numbers: 18,900.
He still had 18,900 Contribution Points left!
This was an enormous sum of Contribution Points.
Such a massive amount was more than enough to exchange for another top-level Cultivation Technique.
At this thought, Fang Han’s heart stirred.
His Swordsmanship and Body Technique were already top-level, but his Inner Power Heart Method, the *Profound Wind Technique*, was still only Top Grade.
Inner Power was the foundation of a Martial Artist. If he could switch to a higher-grade Cultivation Technique, his cultivation speed and Inner Qi quality would surely rise to another level.
He looked up at Elder Mo, his tone filled with a hint of anticipation as he asked,
"Elder Mo, I was wondering, does the Sect have any... top-level Inner Qi Cultivation Techniques available for disciples to exchange?"
Hearing this, a flash of understanding passed through Elder Mo’s eyes. He then slowly shook his head and asked in a calm tone,
"Fang, do you know what ’Top Martial Arts’ are?"
"This disciple has heard that they are transitional Martial Arts, falling between Top Grade Martial Arts and Grandmaster Martial Arts. Their power and cultivation difficulty far exceed Top Grade ones, but they are still far inferior to Grandmaster Martial Arts."
Fang Han was slightly taken aback, not understanding the reason for Elder Mo’s question, but he answered nonetheless.
"Correct."
Elder Mo nodded.
"For Swordsmanship, Saber Technique, Fist and Foot Techniques, Body Technique, and even some special Secret Techniques, a predecessor of great talent created Top Martial Arts as a transition because the corresponding Grandmaster Martial Arts are too difficult to cultivate."
"However, while Grandmaster Level Inner Qi Cultivation Techniques are also quite difficult to cultivate, they aren’t as hard to learn as Martial Techniques. Therefore, no predecessor bothered to create top-level Inner Qi Cultivation Techniques for that purpose."
He paused, looked at Fang Han, and continued to explain.
"As for Grandmaster Level Inner Qi Cultivation Techniques, they are the true foundation of a Sect and are extremely precious."
"Let’s not even mention that you don’t have enough Contribution Points. Even if you did, exchanging for a Grandmaster Technique requires a major contribution to the Sect and a joint decision by the Sect Leader and the Elder Council. The status of a True Disciple is not enough."
Upon hearing this, Fang Han understood immediately, though a trace of regret also arose in his heart.
’So Inner Power has no ’top-level’ transitional stage. After Top Grade, it’s straight to Grandmaster.’
And a Grandmaster Technique was clearly not something he could obtain right now.
"This disciple understands. Thank you for clearing my doubts, Elder."
Fang Han suppressed his disappointment, bowed his thanks with clasped hands, and then took his leave, heading downstairs.
As he walked out of the Library Pavilion, the warm sunlight fell upon him, and Fang Han narrowed his eyes slightly.
’I have plenty of Contribution Points, but there’s nothing I want to exchange for at the moment. How can I make the most of this ’huge sum’?’
He strolled along the bluestone path, his mind racing.
’Use them to buy Elixirs?’
Currently, he spent less than 1,000 Contribution Points on Elixirs each month. For an ordinary disciple, this was an absurdly high expense.
Even if they did missions non-stop for a whole month, they might not earn that many Contribution Points, but to him, it was nothing.
On top of that, he had a large amount of Contribution Points coming in every month. Just buying Elixirs wasn’t nearly enough to spend it all.
’So... how should I use them?’
A thought flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning—his family!
In the Fang Family of Liangshui City, besides himself, the strongest member was only the Patriarch, Fang Lingyuan, a Seventh Grade Martial Artist. They didn’t even have a single Middle Third-Grade Martial Artist.
The reason for this was, on one hand, the limited talent of the family’s younger generation, and on the other, more crucially, the limitations of their Cultivation Techniques.
The highest-grade Inner Qi Cultivation Technique the Fang Family possessed was merely Low Grade.
A Low Grade Cultivation Technique resulted in slow cultivation speed and great difficulty in breaking through bottlenecks. This severely limited the growth ceiling for the Fang Family disciples, making it difficult for the family to produce any Middle Third-Grade Martial Artists.
Before, he could only focus on his own needs, powerless to help others.
Now, with abundant Contribution Points, it was time to give back to his family and exchange for higher-grade Cultivation Techniques for them.
Once this idea took root, it quickly became clear and firm.
In fact, when he had previously plundered the forces under Chu Feng, he had discovered many Cultivation Technique manuals in their secret chambers, some of which were better than Low Grade Cultivation Techniques.
But he hadn’t touched a single one at the time.
First, if those Cultivation Techniques appeared in the Fang Family, it would be extremely easy to trace them back to him. The risk was too great.
Second, those forces were subordinates of the Qingxuan Sect. The source of their Cultivation Techniques, in all likelihood, was the Qingxuan Sect itself.
Privately teaching their Cultivation Techniques to his family would be equivalent to privately passing on the Sect’s Cultivation Techniques.
This was a major taboo in the Sect. If discovered, the consequences would be extremely severe.
Only Cultivation Techniques obtained through official channels could be safely taught within the family without worrying about a Sect investigation.
’There are still a few months before I go home for the New Year, so there’s no need to exchange for them right away.’
Fang Han didn’t turn back to the Library Pavilion. Instead, he continued forward, heading back to his residence in the True Inheritance Courtyard.
There was still a long time before he would return to his family for the New Year; there was no need to rush the exchange.
Most importantly, he could use these next few months to carefully consider what kind of Cultivation Techniques would be most suitable for the current Fang Family.
Although he had a lot of Contribution Points now, if he wanted to exchange them for his family, he could only get a few manuals, so he needed to choose carefully.
This was because if he wanted to provide an exchanged Cultivation Technique for family use, the required Contribution Points would increase a hundredfold from the original cost.
This was not difficult to understand. A family often had many members, which was different from a single person cultivating.
...
In the following days, Fang Han did not go out again, instead focusing on his Cultivation within the Sect.
Although he didn’t invest too much energy into the two Secret Techniques, the *Spirit Smelling Technique* and the *Returning Ruins Hidden Essence Skill*, occasional study and practice quickly brought them to Minor Achievement, making them no weaker than his Perfection level *Spirit Nose Technique* and *Ten Thousand Transformations Concealing Breath Technique*.
On the morning of the last day of the month, just as the sky began to show the first light of dawn, the Quiet Chamber in Courtyard No. 35 was already steeped in silence.
Fang Han sat cross-legged on a cattail hassock, practicing Five Hearts Facing Heaven. His surface aura was like a deep pool, but within, a vast river of Inner Qi surged.
The *Profound Wind Technique* circulated slowly. Under the terrifying enhancement of his one-hundred-and-twenty-eightfold Root Bone Talent, his cultivation efficiency reached a staggering level.
Although after his Cultivation entered the Fifth Grade, the total amount of Inner Qi required to advance through each minor realm was enormous.
Even within the same Great Realm, each step up to a higher minor realm required a significantly larger accumulation of Inner Qi.
But with such an astonishing cultivation speed, the Inner Qi stored in his Shaohai Acupoint still grew visibly fuller.
Under Introspection, the Inner Qi in his Shaohai Acupoint was surging, already over ninety percent full.
’At this rate, by the beginning of next month, I’ll definitely be able to touch the bottleneck of the Late Stage of Fifth Grade, and maybe even try to break through...’
A sharp glint flashed in Fang Han’s eyes before disappearing.
He slowly ended his cultivation session. He didn’t get up immediately, but instead took out a Jade Bottle from his robes.
He uncorked the bottle and tipped out the last elixir inside—a Soul Condensing Pill, the size of a longan, lustrous white in color, and with natural cloud-like patterns on its surface.
’The last one.’
Fang Han’s gaze fell on the elixir, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes, and then he put it in his mouth.
The elixir melted the moment it entered his mouth, and a cool yet vast and pure Medicinal Power instantly dissolved.
It surged into his limbs and bones, and finally, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, it all rushed toward the sea of consciousness between his eyebrows.
BUZZ—!
It felt as if a clear spring was flowing through his mind, or perhaps a gentle breeze was sweeping away the dust.
Fang Han felt his mind become completely clear. His thoughts became sharper and more agile than ever before, and his perception of the outside world grew keener.
The trajectory of the wispy smoke rising from the incense burner in the corner of the Quiet Chamber, the moment a dewdrop on a bamboo leaf far outside the window rolled to the edge, about to fall, and even the most subtle rhythmic changes of the Inner Qi flowing within his own body...
...all of it was as clear as the lines on his palm.
A long time later, this wonderful state of clarity slowly faded.
He slowly opened his eyes. Deep within his pupils were what seemed like two profound, cold springs—calm and rippleless, yet capable of reflecting all things.
’Three bottles of Soul Condensing Pills, all finished.’
Fang Han gently exhaled a breath of turbid air, carefully sensing the changes in his heart and soul.
The strengthening of his Power of Heart and Soul was not like physical strength or Inner Qi Cultivation, which could be quantified and clearly judged.
But judging from his resistance to that bizarre sound wave attack during his battle with Su Yu, and the exquisite, almost "Microscopic" control he now had over his Inner Qi,
Fang Han estimated that the strength of his heart and soul had likely more than doubled compared to before he took the Soul Condensing Pills.
This level of mental and spiritual strength had already far surpassed that of Martial Artists of the same rank.
’No wonder disciples of Major Sects are often a cut above Loose Cultivators or disciples from small families, even at the same Cultivation level.’
’Besides the advantages in Cultivation Techniques and Martial Techniques, these kinds of rare resources that directly strengthen one’s foundation are also key.’
Understanding dawned on Fang Han.
Just by taking elixirs, he could far surpass his peers on a spiritual level. The profound resources of a Major Sect were truly evident.
Gathering his thoughts, Fang Han rose to his feet and stretched his limbs. The joints all over his body emitted soft popping sounds. His qi and blood were abundant, and his spirits were high.
He pushed open the door to the Quiet Chamber, and the morning sunlight, full of warmth, spilled over him.
His maid, Qiu Lan, had already prepared breakfast: simple congee and side dishes, along with a few exquisite pastries.
It looked simple, but it was anything but. Every ingredient had been carefully selected; they were all foods rich in Essence Qi.
Fang Han ate in a slow, deliberate manner, but his mind had already drifted to the day’s upcoming event—the month-end test at the Overall Martial Arts Stele.
Last month, he had set a goal for himself: this month, he would surpass Chu Feng in the rankings!
Today was the day to achieve that goal.
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