Chapter 4 – The Blackwater Dark Serpent Mortal Shedding Art

Though not of common birth, Mu Lin’s grandfather was ultimately growing old, and he did not wish to add to that elder’s burdens.

Because of this, Mu Lin was well aware that he essentially lacked the means to cultivate through monetary expenditure, which led him to dismiss a large category of cultivation methods. Then, he bitterly discovered one thing: within this vast Scripture Repository Pavilion, the majority of cultivation methods required one or several types of resources.

Those that demanded nothing, requiring only diligent cultivation to succeed, were instead few in number.

Moreover, such methods were mostly weak.

【Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art】

【Grade: Earth Grade, Lower Tier】

【Consume the blood of the Blackwater Profound Serpent, refine the body of the Blackwater Profound Serpent, and finally shed the mortal form to cultivate a Jiao Dragon physique. Upon reaching great completion, one can obtain the supernatural abilities of a Jiao Dragon, possessing the strength to carry mountains and the power to summon wind and rain.】

【Requirement: Blackwater Profound Serpent Essence Blood…】

【Five Organs Five Ghosts Diagram】

【Refine the five organs, manipulate the five ghosts. Upon reaching great completion, one can manipulate the five elements through the five ghosts and nurture five great Dharma Protector Deities.】

【Requirement: Five ghosts, a large amount of spiritual materials that replenish essence…】

【Blood Transformation Divine Blade】

【Refine using one’s own essence blood…】

【Requirement: A large amount of blood-replenishing spiritual materials, or high-quality blood…】

As he looked through one cultivation method after another, Mu Lin discovered with dismay that most of the stronger methods required special resources or a special physique.

Even Sword Cultivators, who had little demand for external objects, needed a good spiritual sword to smoothly cultivate if they wished to learn sword control techniques.

In the end, he could only shake his head, finding a bit of amusement in his hardship: “The cultivation methods with no requirements at all are only a small portion, and most are the lowest Yellow Grade. Mysterious Grade and Earth Grade ones are extremely rare—this at least saves me time in choosing.”

Although, he would rather spend three full days choosing than have this kind of convenience.

…

With few methods meeting his conditions, after the time it takes two incense sticks to burn, Mu Lin had already looked through most of the cultivation methods and narrowed it down to two.

“Next, I need to see if I can cultivate either of these two methods.”

The methods he had kept, from left to right, were 【Nine Revolutions Qi Absorption Art】 and 【Heart-Mind Sword】.

Among them, the Nine Revolutions Qi Absorption Art only required absorbing and refining spiritual energy, needing no spiritual materials whatsoever.

However, such cultivation meant that the spiritual energy cultivated through the Nine Revolutions Qi Absorption Art had no special attributes. The sole reason it ranked as Mysterious Grade was that the nine revolutions of spiritual energy would make it somewhat purer.

Yet this brought another problem… In order to purify the absorbed spiritual energy, he needed to circulate it nine times within his body. The time required to cultivate this method would also be several times that of an ordinary person.

“The Hundred Days Spirit Awakening is best achieved as early as possible. Even if I don’t aspire to an A or B evaluation, I cannot be evaluated as D. The Nine Revolutions Qi Absorption Art is too time-consuming. Cultivating it would inevitably result in the worst evaluation, or even failure to awaken the spirit successfully.”

Shaking his head, Mu Lin turned his gaze to the second method, 【Heart-Mind Sword】.

This was a sword control technique. Compared to ordinary sword arts, this sword technique placed greater emphasis on mental cultivation. Because of this, its requirements for a spiritual sword were quite low, only demanding that Mu Lin nurture a Heart-Mind Sword.

Moreover, the Heart-Mind Sword could directly strike the soul, possessing considerable power. Among all the cultivation methods in the Scripture Repository Pavilion, it was also among the most powerful—although the Dao Palace Library had Earth Grade methods, without exception, they were all Earth Grade, Lower Tier. The Heart-Mind Sword was the same.

However, while this cultivation method boasts countless advantages, it also has a fatal flaw—it is extremely difficult to master.

Other cultivation methods that train mana at least provide a clear path, and at the very least, one can seek guidance from senior masters in the sect.

But the Heart Intent Sword technique focuses on cultivating the mind and willpower, which truly relies on personal enlightenment. Others cannot teach it even if they want to.

Yet the mind is unpredictable, and willpower is elusive. Mu Lin himself had no confidence in mastering this cultivation method.

In the end, with no other choice, Mu Lin could only turn his attention back to the Paper Crafting Scripture.

“There’s no other way.”

“Consumption-free cultivation methods are already scarce. Unless I’m willing to practice a Yellow Grade cultivation method, which offers little future prospects… Although the Paper Crafting Scripture has a poor reputation, the Yin Eight Gates is, after all, a lineage that has been passed down for thousands of years. Moreover, the Paper Crafting Scripture is ranked as Earth Grade High Rank, making it the best cultivation method I can find!”

Once he decided to cultivate the Paper Crafting Scripture, Mu Lin immediately retrieved the first cultivation method he had browsed—the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art.

The reason for choosing it was to compensate for the flaws of the Paper Crafting Scripture—more on that later.

With the cultivation method selected, Mu Lin promptly took the jade scroll to the Elder managing the Scripture Repository Pavilion and requested its unsealing.

Of course, only the first three layers were unsealed. To obtain the subsequent layers, Mu Lin and the others would need to exchange contribution points.

It must be said that the Great Spirit Imperial Dynasty established the Dao Palace not out of charity but to recruit capable disciples to work for them. Using the promise of advanced cultivation methods as leverage is one of the ways they compel Mu Lin and the others to contribute.

He did not complain—only the strong have the luxury of complaining. For now, Mu Lin could only abide by the rules.

The unsealing process was uneventful, and the Elder showed no interest in engaging in further conversation with Mu Lin.

Soon, Mu Lin placed the jade scroll against his forehead to memorize its contents.

This step was also straightforward, as the jade scroll inherently possessed the ability to transmit information.

With the jade scroll pressed to his forehead, he quickly recorded the complete Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art.

“Hiss…”

The only thing that made him frown was the sheer volume of information contained within the jade scroll. The Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art was comprehensive, and the sudden influx of a large amount of inherited knowledge left Mu Lin’s head feeling somewhat swollen.

Rubbing his head, Mu Lin made his way to the classroom.

Instead of returning to his own room, he headed to the classroom for two reasons. First, Ma Daoren was there.

As their teacher, this Daoist Practitioner would answer any questions Mu Lin and the others might have.

Second, beneath the Dao Palace classroom was a small spiritual energy node, making the spiritual energy concentration higher for cultivation there.

Holding his head, Mu Lin arrived at the classroom door and was about to enter when, before he could open it, the door swung open on its own.

Then, his teacher Ma Daoren emerged from the classroom, accompanied by a cold and aloof young woman.

“???”

Although curious about what they were doing, it had nothing to do with him, so Mu Lin refrained from prying. Leaning against the wall, he watched them walk away.

Only then did he enter the classroom, where he discovered that his classmates, who had been overjoyed after receiving their cultivation methods earlier, now appeared thoroughly disheartened.

Even the perpetually optimistic little fatty Zong Xiu was visibly dejected.

This scene inevitably piqued Mu Lin’s curiosity.

Approaching Zong Xiu, he whispered, “What happened to all of you?”

“Ah, what else could it be? Just feeling discouraged.”

After saying this, he sighed even more deeply. “Brother Mu, tell me, how can the gap between people be so vast? Why must we Qi Refiners be divided into First-Class Spirit Roots and Second-Class Spirit Roots?”

This made Mu Lin roll his eyes.

“If anyone should complain, it should be me. You’re still fine—your Spirit Root Talent is rated as ‘Good.’ Mine, on the other hand, was evaluated as ‘Average.'”

“Hehe…”

Zong Xiu chuckled awkwardly at this, but having Mu Lin as a comparison did make him feel a bit better.

Then, he told Mu Lin about what had left them so disheartened.

It was related to the aloof young woman from earlier.

From Zong Xiu’s account, Mu Lin learned that the young woman was named Ji Xue, one of the three individuals in the Dao Palace with First-Class Talent.

And she had just successfully undergone Spirit Awakening.

(End of Chapter)