Taoist Antecedent of the Yellow Court

Chapter 32: Master of None

Logging into the game, Lu Qingfeng looked at his Attribute Panel.

The attributes listed in the panel in the game were similar to what he had in reality, though his cultivation base was slightly higher in the game.

During the past eight years, Lu Qingfeng had completely stopped working on Talisman Crafting.

As the saying goes, a jack of all trades is a master of none.

Pill Refining, Talisman Crafting, Tool Refining: each of these subjects was extensive and profound. A cultivator mightn’t be able to master all of them even if he spent his entire life trying. Although Lu Qingfeng had plenty of time, he didn’t want to behave irresponsibly.

Otherwise, he could waste his time and accomplish nothing in the end.

Among the three subjects listed above, Pill Refining was the most absolutely necessary.

Bearing in mind the siblings’ innate talent levels, they would basically not have made any progress at all without the benefit of pills. There were always a lot of restrictions when it came to pills, and, what’s more, it could be difficult to find the pills that they needed.

Therefore, for these reasons, it was evident that Pill Refining was a required course.

Talisman Crafting and Tool Refining both involved methods of combat and defense.

Previously, Lu Qingfeng had cultivated in Talisman Crafting because, in the depths of the mountains where he’d been living, there hadn’t been enough resources for him to refine tools. So he had opted for the second-best choice and cultivated in Talisman Crafting as a temporary measure.

Now, though, having already settled in Miaoyin City, he could collect the various resources that he needed for Tool Refining in the city.

And he had decided to leave Talisman Crafting aside for now and focus on Tool Refining.

After all, compared to Runic Equipment and Magical Artifacts, talismans were consumables, and, what’s more, as Lu Qingfeng improved in strength, the pace of his mastering of the crafting of talismans wouldn’t keep up.

For instance, at present, although Lu Qingfeng was still in Level 4 of the Fetal Phase, his actual combat capability could very well match up against those in the Genuine Chi Phase.

Up until now, he could still only refine low-level talismans. That would do if he were up against cultivators in the early and middle stages of the Fetal Phase, but against cultivators in the late Fetal Phase, the talismans wouldn’t be strong enough.

They would be of little value.

They would definitely be no match for Lu Qingfeng’s abilities in refining tools.

Even the lowliest Tier 1 Runic Equipment could provide gains and bonuses to Lu Qingfeng at this moment.

Besides, by mastering the crafting of a few Runic Equipments, he could completely arm himself.

Evidently, this was more suitable than talismans.

Besides, the grade of crafted talismans was closely related to one’s cultivation stage. The important thing was to craft them at one stretch. Lu Qingfeng’s Inner Chi was limited. Hence, the talismans he could craft were at best on the intermediate level, which could pose a threat to cultivators in the late Fetal Phase only.

If one argued that he could win by quantity, all that really did was consume his time.

Thus, since the beginning of this new life, Lu Qingfeng had given up on Talisman Crafting. And, on Pill Refining, he had basically only focused on the pills that were beneficial to cultivation.

For example, the Intermediate-grade Golden Pith Pellet and the Advanced-grade Chi Infusing Pill and Chi Cycling Powder.

The former was suitable to be taken at the later stages of the Fetal Phase, and could increase one’s Inner Chi. The latter two could improve one’s Genuine Chi and were also very helpful to aid one in advancing through the bottleneck from the Fetal Phase to the Genuine Chi Phase.

Lu Qingfeng was constantly training himself in these three pills. Besides, he also had the two top-level Pill Refining Apprentices, Wang Tao and Yue Ran, and the Pill Refining Master, Mu Yuanyi, available to consult with. Thus, it only took him a few years to master them.

In reality, by collecting herbs, he could also commence in the refining of those pills.

All his remaining energy could then be placed on Tool Refining and cultivation.

Mortals live only a short time.

If Lu Qingfeng remained in the Fetal Phase, his life expectancy would be only 68 years. After that, it would take him 16 years to reincarnate. Cultivation and accumulation in the early stages were also things that would hold him back.

Therefore, Lu Qingfeng had decided that, in this life, at the same time as he would train in his professions, he would take care of his cultivation.

After eight years, his cultivation had reached Level 9 of the Fetal Phase.

And this was still under the situation where he had expended a lot of experience points enhancing his pill recipes and the refining method of the Crimson Furnace. Otherwise, he would have already broken into the Genuine Chi Phase.

In Singularity, there were plenty of aces.

Originally, there had been three great cultivators in the Foundation Building Stage. In the past eight years, someone had ascended to the Foundation Building Stage, and another person had been recruited into it. Now, the guild had five people in the Foundation Building Stage.

Powerhouses in the Genuine Chi Phase were numbered in the hundreds.

With Lu Qingfeng’s rank in Singularity, if he were to encounter any difficulties in his cultivation and went to others to ask questions, only a few people would actually turn him down.

Under the guidance of these past masters in the Genuine Chi Phase and great cultivators in the Foundation Building Stage, Lu Qingfeng had been able to take an incredible number of detours. Coupled with an ample amount of pills to assist him, his cultivation was progressing very rapidly.

Normally, without the help of pills, an ordinary disciple in a sect with a Level 4 in innate talent can finish the Fetal Phase in approximately five to eight years. For those in Level 3, it would take about 20 years, and those in Level 2, about 40 years.

For those with a Level 1 in innate talent, theoretically, it would be impossible that one would be able to rely on their own hard work to break into the Genuine Chi Phase. They might not even be able to cultivate in the Fetal Phase.

This was also the reason why the first trial that the major sects across the Luminous Spirit Realm had in their recruitment process was a minimum Level 4 in innate talent.

In the Guangyuan Commandery, the requirements that major sects had for their disciple recruitment were much lower.

For instance, in the Truth Sect…

For those with a Level 2 in innate talent, it was possible to ascend into the Genuine Chi Phase before the end of their lifetimes. Hence, they were accepted as labor disciples. The Level 3s and 4s, on the other hand, could even become formal disciples.

However, those with a Level 1 in innate talent were not accepted.

However, the above theories on innate talent were just that, theories.

The world was so big that it wasn’t in short supply of people with extremely low innate talents who’d managed to alter their fates and soar into the sky. There were also those with high innate talents who, due to various accidents and unforeseen events, were stranded in the lower cultivation stages.

Besides, there were still pills in the world, as well as various methods to aid one in cultivation.

This had made it possible that even wastrels with a Level 1 in innate talent could hold on to the hope of one day achieving deity-hood.

“Even for a genius, it is inevitable they will use pills to improve their cultivation speeds. For someone of my innate talent, I need a lot of pills to push up my cultivation base.

“For any person, if they can’t get their hands on a powerful technique, sooner or later, they will fall into a state where their foundation will be useless. After achieving a certain level, it will be difficult for them to make any progress. When one’s foundation is broken, it is very common for one to have their foundation collapse and their cultivation to go backward.

“However, the Authentic-grade Verdant Sword Art is the way of Sword Cultivators that uses its biting Sword Gust to expel pill toxins and condense one’s Inner and Genuine Chi without having to worry about an unstable foundation.”

Lu Qingfeng chuckled.

An Authentic-grade technique was naturally extraordinary.

When you were talking about something that all cultivators in the world and even the realm’s top cultivating sects were eager for, how could the beauty of it be explained in a few words?

Taking the Verdant Sword Art as an example, putting its various other characteristics to the side, the fact that it could clear up pill toxins, which enabled Lu Qingfeng to use pills unscrupulously to improve his cultivation, would make it a top technique across the world.

This was because, during cultivation, it took arduous work for the cultivator to refine the pill toxins, which would slow down the progress of their cultivation. As well, they would have to endure the pain of the refinement by the Sword Gusts.

But compared to its multitude of other benefits, these were absolutely not worth mentioning.

Right now, Lu Qingfeng was only a small step away from the maximum Level 20. Lu Qingfeng was preparing to raise his Level to 21, thus attaining the Genuine Chi phase!

“The difference between the Genuine Chi Phase and the Fetal Phase lies in Genuine Chi and Inner Chi. To advance to the Genuine Chi Phase, one’s Inner Chi must first be purified and compressed into a Genuine Chi. Then, the Genuine Chi will be used to excavate one’s lower elixir field. After the Genuine Chi settles down in one’s elixir field, the Genuine Chi Phase will be attained.”

Lu Qingfeng recalled the guidance of Mu Yuanyi and the others on the key points for breaking through to the Genuine Chi Phase.

He took out a bottle of Chi Infusing Pills from his waist storage bag.

At this barrier that one must pass between the Fetal Phase to the Genuine Chi Phase, the efficacy of the Chi Infusing Pills was only second to the top-level pills, the Chi Condensing Pill and the Chi Amassing Pill.

With Lu Qingfeng’s identity and wealth, it wouldn’t have been difficult for him to have acquired the two latter top-level pills. However, considering the facts that the top-level pills were difficult to refine and the materials to craft them were difficult to find in reality, Lu Qingfeng had decided to use the Chi Infusing Pills to break into the Genuine Chi Phase.

Only in this way could he accumulate usable experience in reality.