The Rich Cultivator

Chapter 770: 770. Preparation

As soon as Tyler returned to the manor, he gathered everyone in the main hall.

"Lee, Louch, go apply for Outer Passes for all five of us. We’re heading to Schez Town."

Lee blinked. "To watch the Rookie Cultivators’ Assembly?"

Tyler shook his head with a faint smile.

"We’re not going there to watch."

His gaze drifted toward the Pill Maker standing quietly in the corner of the hall.

"We’re going to participate."

The others instinctively followed his line of sight. Their eyes landed on the strange machine, and a strange excitement slowly rose in their hearts. If that machine could really mass-produce Dark Qi Pills, perhaps Tyler wasn’t joking after all.

Nobody questioned him.

After spending the past few days with Tyler, they had already learned something.

Whenever Tyler smiled like that, it usually meant he had already planned everything.

Lee and Louch immediately nodded.

"We’ll go take care of it."

The two hurried out of the manor while Maximus and Shyla returned to their own work. Tyler, meanwhile, walked back to his room.

The crystal coffin stood quietly in one corner exactly where he had left it. The brown-skinned girl inside looked no different from someone peacefully asleep. Tyler walked over, took out several low-grade spirit stones, and casually placed them on top of the coffin.

The moment the spirit stones touched the crystal surface, wisps of spiritual energy slowly disappeared into the coffin.

Just as he expected.

The corpse was absorbing spiritual energy on its own.

Tyler watched silently for a while before smiling.

"Eat as much as you want."

He lightly tapped the edge of the coffin.

"I’m becoming more and more curious about what you really are."

Without waiting for a response that would never come, Tyler turned around and entered the cultivation room.

The stone door closed behind him with a dull rumble. He immediately activated the Spirit Gathering Formation he had personally modified. Formation lines hidden beneath the floor gradually lit up, and rich spiritual energy gathered from every direction until the room was filled with a faint mist. Even taking a single breath felt refreshing.

Tyler took out another bag of spirit stones and emptied them into the formation’s energy container. One after another, the spirit stones dimmed as pure spiritual energy poured into the array.

"I’m leaving the sect soon," Tyler muttered to himself. "Second-stage Qi Refining should be enough."

Before cultivating, however, he took out the cultivation technique Jin had given him.

He hadn’t properly studied it before.

Now that he had some free time, he slowly read through every page.

"Hmm..."

The more he read, the more interested he became.

"This isn’t ordinary corpse control."

Traditional corpse techniques relied on issuing commands from a distance, but this technique was completely different. It taught the user to split off a strand of consciousness and directly enter the corpse, controlling it as though it were another body.

"So it’s more like possessing a clone..."

Tyler rubbed his chin while continuing to read.

The technique wasn’t without restrictions. Compatibility between the cultivator and the corpse was extremely important. The closer the relationship between the two, the easier it was to synchronize. Blood relatives, twins, or people with nearly identical physiques produced the best results.

"No wonder Jin gave this away so easily."

Tyler laughed to himself.

"He wasn’t being generous."

He finally understood Jin’s business model.

Anyone who cultivated this technique would eventually need a highly compatible corpse. Since Jin specialized in finding and selling corpses, those cultivators would naturally become his long-term customers.

"He probably already has a suitable corpse prepared for me."

The thought didn’t bother Tyler.

If the technique was useful, buying another corpse later wasn’t a problem.

Besides...

As he continued reading, he couldn’t help comparing it with the giant mechas he had controlled during his previous Orion Cube trial.

"Interesting."

"The principles aren’t that different."

He casually tossed the scroll onto the table and closed his eyes, intending to cultivate for a while.

The rich spiritual energy gathered around him and naturally flowed into his meridians. The Moon Wood Technique quietly circulated on its own, refining every strand of energy before guiding it into his dantian.

Tyler slowly closed the scroll and placed it aside before entering cultivation once again. Spiritual energy rushed toward him from every direction as the Spirit Gathering Formation operated at full capacity. Pure Yin Wood spiritual energy flowed through his meridians according to the Moon Wood Technique, circulating one cycle after another before finally pouring into his dantian.

He had originally planned to stop after breaking through the Second Level of Qi Refining. After all, leaving the sect at the Second Level wouldn’t attract much attention. As for the upcoming gathering at Schez Town, that level of cultivation was more than enough.

Unfortunately...

Things rarely went according to Tyler’s plans.

Perhaps it was because the spiritual energy inside the room was too pure, or perhaps it was because his foundation had already become unbelievably stable after cultivating in so many different worlds. Before Tyler could even stop the circulation of spiritual energy, the bottleneck that should have taken weeks to loosen suddenly collapsed on its own.

Tyler opened his eyes.

He quietly examined the spiritual energy flowing through his body before letting out a helpless sigh.

"...Third Level."

He looked at the still-operating Spirit Gathering Formation and couldn’t help rubbing his forehead.

"I was trying to keep a low profile."

The words sounded especially powerless.

Other disciples would happily celebrate for days after breaking through a minor realm. Tyler, on the other hand, was wondering how he was supposed to explain another breakthrough after only a few days in the sect.

"If this keeps happening, those old fellows are definitely going to start investigating me."

Fortunately, there wasn’t much to worry about. Every strand of spiritual energy he absorbed had first been refined by the formation before entering his body, leaving almost no impurities behind. His cultivation was stable enough that there was no need to spend additional time consolidating his realm.

Tyler thought for a while before standing up.

"Forget it."

"Since I’ve already broken through, there’s no point pretending otherwise."

He dusted off his robes and walked out of the cultivation room. The moment he stepped into the courtyard, he spotted Maximus leaning against a pillar, half asleep.

"Boss?"

Maximus immediately straightened his back.

Tyler didn’t waste any words.

"Go to market and buy me seeds."

"What kind of seeds?"

"Anything that grows."

Maximus looked confused.

"...Anything?"

"Your choice , just for experiments. Also buy a plant pot."

Although he had no idea what Tyler was planning this time, he had long since learned not to ask too many questions. Boss always had strange ideas, yet every single one of them somehow made money in the end.

"I’ll go right away."

After watching Maximus leave, Tyler narrowed his eyes slightly.

"He noticed."

Although Maximus hadn’t said anything, Tyler had clearly seen the brief surprise on his face. Looks like he still hadn’t learned to conceal the fluctuations of a newly advanced realm.

"I’ll have to be more careful from now on."

Meanwhile, Maximus scratched his head as he walked toward the market.

"...Why do I feel Boss became stronger again?"

He thought about it for a while before shaking his head.

"Nah... probably my imagination."

After all, nobody broke through realms as casually as eating a meal.

Before long, Maximus returned carrying a small sack filled with ordinary seeds along with a clay pot already packed with fresh soil.

"I bought whatever I could find," he said as he handed everything over. "Sweet lemon, orange, some vegetables, and a few flower seeds."

Tyler nodded and accepted them. "Good."

Without explaining anything, he carried the clay pot into his room before entering the attached cultivation chamber. After closing the stone door, he picked out a sweet lemon seed and gently buried it beneath the soil.

He sat quietly for a moment, staring at the pot.

"The skill I had in that magic world..." Tyler murmured. "It manipulated the plants using my DNA directly. I can’t cast it in this world, but the theory behind it should still work. I can also tinker it a bit.."

He slowly recalled every step, replacing blood with his spiritual energy.

"It doesn’t have to be exactly the same. As long as the principle works..."

Taking a slow breath, Tyler placed his palm above the flowerpot. Gentle streams of spiritual energy flowed from his fingertips and seeped into the soil, surrounding the buried seed. Instead of forcing it to grow, he carefully stimulated its vitality, guiding every trace of life hidden within the tiny seed.

Nothing happened at first.

Then the soil shifted ever so slightly.

A tiny green sprout slowly pushed through the surface and unfolded two tender leaves under Tyler’s watchful gaze.

"It worked..."

A smile appeared on Tyler’s face.

"The effect is weaker because I am still weak, but the principle is still the same."

He continued supplying spiritual energy without rushing. The little sprout swayed gently as it absorbed every strand, its stem growing thicker while new leaves gradually emerged one after another. Soon a Sweet lemon appeared.

Tyler grabbed it and bit it.