Loose Cultivator Market.
Xu Ping strolled around and finally discovered Polar Insects at a stall.
The Polar Insect was about the size of a pinky finger, pure white all over, similar to the silkworm pupae from his past life.
"How much are these Polar Insects?" Xu Ping inquired.
"One Spirit Stone for two," replied the stall owner, a chubby middle-aged man.
"Then I’ll take sixty," Xu Ping nodded; the price was indeed the market price.
"Alright!" The stall owner’s eyes lit up—a big customer!
"Here, hold on to these," the stall owner cheerfully wrapped the Polar Insects and handed them to Xu Ping.
After Xu Ping paid the Spirit Stones and collected the Polar Insects, he left the market.
By the time he got home, it was already late.
Xu Ping placed the items he purchased neatly.
The wine-making jar was placed in the corner.
"According to the sheepskin book, refining the ’Hundred Flowers Gu’ isn’t hard, but the process must be extremely careful."
"I’ll leave it for tomorrow and start then."
"Once the Hundred Flowers Gu is refined, the rest will be simple. When the Spirit Wine is brewed, if I can’t finish it, I can always sell the wine."
"When I reach Longevity City, I’ll slowly earn Spirit Stones with the Spirit Rain Skill and Spirit Wine; life there won’t be worse than now."
Xu Ping poured himself a glass of plain water, sat comfortably in a chair, and took a satisfied sip.
Thinking about life after leaving the Dongwu Market made him feel lighter all over.
Longevity City, the city beneath the Longevity Sect’s mountain, was far safer than Dongwu Market.
What he needed most now was time to develop.
The full moon was bright as snow, casting a silver glow across the sky.
Lying in bed, Xu Ping tossed and turned, unable to sleep for some reason, so he simply got up.
"Well, I’ll practice swordsmanship for a while," he said, taking out the Qinghe Sword from his storage pouch.
Perhaps practicing swordsmanship would tire him out and make him want to sleep.
The swordsmanship recorded in the "Nourishing Life Skill" was the "Flowing Cloud Swordsmanship," which he had thoroughly familiarized himself with over time.
The Flowing Cloud Swordsmanship emphasized the word "flow," with sword moves like flowing water, continuous and integrated in attack and defense.
Xu Ping swung the long sword, with sword light flickering and the sound of flowing water seeming to echo in the air.
Initially, his movements were still a bit stiff, and the sword moves lacked fluidity, but as time went on, he gradually found his rhythm.
The sword light flickered, and the sound of flowing water seemed to reverberate in the air.
Xu Ping’s sword moves became smoother, like real flowing water, continuous and unbroken.
His mood gradually calmed down, casting away all worries and anxieties.
In this moment, he seemed to enter a state of self-forgetfulness, becoming one with his sword.
Each sword strike was a form of catharsis, a release.
His movements grew more skillful, and the sword moves became increasingly exquisite.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
Xu Ping awoke from this state.
Even with his current physique, he felt every part of his body was sore and limp, his entire body drenched as if soaked in water, with muscles twitching unnaturally.
Xu Ping sheathed the Qinghe Sword, staggered over to the table, and took a jug of water for a hearty drink.
The cold water slid down his throat into his stomach, and he finally felt alive again.
Gasping for air, he looked outside and noticed the morning light had already cast over the land.
"I actually practiced swordsmanship for so long?" Xu Ping was quite astonished.
Immersing himself in swordsmanship, he thought only a few minutes had passed, not realizing it was already daylight.
"No wonder those cultivation realm big shots go into seclusion for years or even decades.
When you start cultivating, you really lose all track of time."
Xu Ping felt sticky, with sweat soaking his clothes and sticking uncomfortably to his skin.
He decided to take a bath.
In his underwear, he went to the small courtyard.
Drew a bucket of cold water from the well.
Had a refreshing wash to clean off the sweat on his body.
Back in the wooden cabin, Xu Ping changed into fresh underwear and threw on a gray hemp robe.
He opened his proficiency panel.
[Flowing Cloud Swordsmanship Entry Level: 22/100]
"It actually increased by twenty-two proficiency points!" Xu Ping was astonished as he looked at the data displayed on the panel.
While practicing swordsmanship, he was aware that proficiency would rise significantly, but he never expected such a dramatic increase.
This was his first time experiencing such significant improvement.
"Could it be that I’m actually a prodigy in swordsmanship?" Xu Ping couldn’t help but have this thought cross his mind.
The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed, and his mood brightened.
"Perhaps one day, I could become a Sword Cultivator too!" Xu Ping thought joyfully.
Becoming a Sword Cultivator isn’t something achieved by just practicing any sword art.
Sword Dao has four stages: Sword Qi Thunder Sound, Sword Light Like a Rainbow, Sword Rainbow Division, Sword Intent Formation.
At the very least, one must comprehend Sword Qi Thunder Sound to be called a Sword Cultivator.
Sword Cultivators, as the most potent combatants in the Cultivation Realm, can challenge superior levels as simply as drinking water. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by NovᴇlFire(.)nᴇt
However, even the first stage of Sword Dao, Sword Qi Thunder Sound, is typically only comprehended by Foundation Establishment Cultivators with a talent for swordsmanship; Qi Cultivators who comprehend it are incredibly rare, with perhaps one appearing in decades or a century.
If a Qi Refining Realm practitioner can comprehend it, they are considered a peerless genius in Sword Dao.
Those sects of the Golden Core and even the Nascent Soul realm would compete to accept them as disciples.
So even with Xu Ping’s talent in Sword Dao and the help of the proficiency panel, he could merely say he might have a chance at understanding it.
The scorching sun hung high.
The sweltering sunlight bathed the earth, and the air was filled with oppressive heat.
"It’s too difficult, refining the Hundred Flowers Gu Insect is really too challenging!" Xu Ping slumped in his chair, his eyes vacant as he stared at the bodies of over a dozen Polar Insects on the table.
He didn’t expect that his lack of talent in insect refining was so striking.
In just one morning, he had already killed ten Polar Insects.
In other words, he had already failed ten times.
Others might have given up by now, for with such a lack of talent in insect refining, one might as well bid farewell to Gu insect refining for life.
But Xu Ping wasn’t one to give up easily, especially when he had the proficiency panel.
Once he succeeded just once, he could grind it out from there.
"I refuse to believe I can’t do it, let’s go again!" Xu Ping gathered himself, took out another Polar Insect, and placed it in a jar full of powder.
The jar’s powder consisted of various Spirit Medicines.
The key to refining the Hundred Flowers Gu was to have the Polar Insect consume all the Spirit Medicine in the jar, thus completing its evolution.
However, unfortunately, the Polar Insect was an extraordinarily lazy Gu insect.
If it took a bite or two, it was already doing you a favor.
To expect it to seize the initiative and complete the evolution was nothing more than a pipe dream.
Hence, this was when mana stimulation was needed, making it eat heartily.
The difficulty lay in this: if overly stimulated, the Polar Insect might not stop and eat itself to death, but if the stimulation was too weak, the effect would barely show.
Xu Ping took a deep breath, closely watching the Polar Insect, and cautiously extended his index finger, slowly releasing mana to stimulate it.