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But when he heard Song Qing speak with such grandiosity, he couldn’t resist asking, as if possessed by some deity, “Is there also any spirit object or secret method that can enhance the wood elemental spiritual root’s aptitude?”

The pleased expression on Song Qing’s face froze over. After pondering seriously for a moment, he asked, “Does Fellow Daoist lean toward wood elemental spiritual roots?”

“Indeed!”

Fang Xi’s heart thumped. Could it be that such a thing really existed?

“Haha, what a coincidence!” Song Qing clapped his hands. “The item Fellow Daoist seeks truly is available within this establishment!”

“Fellow Daoist Song, are you teasing me?” Fang Xi looked him up and down with suspicion.

Perhaps due to his limited experience, was it possible that enhancing one’s aptitude or whatever, was actually quite simple in the southern wilderness’s cultivation world?

“In truth, Fellow Daoist would have known immediately upon hearing my suggestion, which is…he possesses a type of wood elemental spiritual body!” Song Qing didn’t bother with riddles; he cut straight to the point.

Unless Fang Xi hadn’t been drinking spirit tea, he would’ve spit all over Song Qing’s face.

“Cough…this humble one is not a cultivator with a spiritual body, even if it were latent!”

Fang Xi was very certain of this.

“Haha…who said that a spiritual body must be innate?” Song Qing laughed heartily. “The cultivation world contains countless wondrous techniques and secrets; acquiring a unique spiritual body through later-stage cultivation is by no means impossible!”

At this moment, Fang Xi’s heart thumped wildly.

But then he quickly regained his composure and smiled bitterly. “Even if such a method exists, there’s no way to guarantee its authenticity, and furthermore…this humble one likely couldn’t afford it.”

Though the temptation was great, Fang Xi knew something: there was no such thing as a free lunch under heaven!

As long as he didn’t gamble, he would never lose!

“Ha ha…this humble one can swear upon Xin Mo that this technique is genuine.”

Song Qing seemed to have anticipated Fang Xi’s reaction, and he chuckled. “Daoist friend, why don’t you hear me out first? This arcane art has quite the connection to Qingzhu Mountain’s market and the Situ Clan. Have you heard of Violet Serenity Mountain’s Arcane Realm?”

Fang Xi’s heart stirred slightly. “This arcane realm is renowned far and wide. It’s said that the Situ Clan and Red Leaf Valley瓜分了该处, and both families met their demise because of it!”

“Exactly!” Song Qing clapped his hands with a smile. “This secret technique was acquired by my Song family from the Situ Clan’s treasure trove. According to intelligence gleaned from captured souls, it originated within Violet Serenity Mountain’s arcane realm! Unfortunately…this secret technique is suitable only for cultivators who cultivate wood elemental spiritual energy, and its requirements are rather stringent. Otherwise, our clan would never have been willing to sell it.”

As he spoke, Song Qing produced a jade slip so vividly green that it seemed about to drip, upon which a paper talisman had been pasted.

Fang Xi’s gaze burned with unabashed interest. “Is this the jade slip from the Situ Clan’s treasure trove?”

“Of course not; it’s merely a copy, but one stamped with magical techniques to ensure it’s no different from the original!”

To guarantee this, Song Qing even swore an oath of Xin Mo, vowing that the item was genuine.

Every cultivator could potentially encounter Xin Mo, especially during moments of intense emotion or breakthroughs in cultivation realms, which made it quite dangerous.

Song Qing was already at Late Stage Qi Refinement at such a young age, so his Dao path did lend some credibility to his claim.

But Fang Xi sneered coldly. “Medicinal pills, paper talismans, magical artifacts—they all diminish with use… Only cultivation techniques can be infinitely copied. The shopkeeper is quite skilled at multiplication, it seems.”

“Ah, this Daoist friend has mistaken me for someone else; within our family, these replicas are extremely limited, so I won’t sell any more beyond what we have.”

With a firm expression on his face, Song Qing pushed forward the jade slip he held. “This jade slip contains restrictions, so you may only view a small portion of its contents.”

This was to be expected when purchasing a cultivation technique or similar goods. Otherwise, given cultivators’ excellent memories, they might memorize everything after just a few glances.

Fang Xi accepted the jade slip and placed it against his forehead.

“The Live-Forever Technique!”

He swiftly saw the name of this arcane art.

Upon reading the brief summary, he discovered that much of it had been redacted, but from what remained, he could tell that it focused mainly on cultivating spirit plants, extracting essence from plants and vegetation, etc… It truly was a method for cultivating an acquired spiritual body!

“I can’t believe it’s real.” Fang Xi’s expression was one of shock as he put down the jade slip and looked back at Song Qing. “Could you please tell me how much this ‘Live-Forever Technique’ costs?”

“Ah ha, not too expensive, only five hundred spirit stones.” Song Qing revealed his smile. “If Fellow Daoist does not have enough spirit stones, this establishment also accepts various spirit objects as collateral.”

At last, he showed his true intentions.

Fang Xi hesitated for quite some time before gritting his teeth and producing a bag of holding. With a wave of his hand over its surface, one after another, layers of mythical beast hides emerged.

“Beast materials?” Song Qing’s eyes lit up, and he rapidly began to appraise them. “First-class mid-grade faewolf pelt, well-preserved… What kind of mythical beast is this? Never seen it before, but still first-class mid-grade… Faewolf fangs, somewhat damaged…”

Fang Xi emptied two bags of holding. Fortunately, on his visit to Fatty Han earlier, he had acquired plenty of beast materials; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to come up with such a large quantity.

In the end, he sold these goods for more than 200 spirit stones.

Adding this sum to the revenue from selling golden earl grains, plus the more than 100 spirit stones Fang Xi already possessed, he finally managed to scrape together the full 500.

Song Qing solemnly drafted a contract, creating two identical copies, which he waited until both parties had imprinted their spiritual energies onto before saying cheerfully, “Fellow Daoist Fang, money and goods exchanged!”

After collecting all the spirit stones, Song Qing began chanting an incantation, his hands glowing with light as he tore open the paper talisman on the jade slip.

This was a special kind of restriction—if it wasn’t deactivated according to a specific sequence, it would inevitably self-destruct!

However, there seemed to be something else behind Song Qing’s smile.

At this sight, Fang Xi’s heart couldn’t help but sink. But to him, mythical beasts’ materials were completely worthless; he’d only spent some spirit stones on a chance that might come to pass.

He picked up the jade slip and placed it against his forehead.

Before long, his face turned alternating shades of blue and red, his eyes bloodshot.

Crack!

Fang Xi slapped the table heavily, his eyes furious, their veins filled with crimson. “Song…you cheated me?”

“Does Fellow Daoist mean anything by these words?” Song Qing sidestepped the question with a smile. “This humble one has sworn upon Xin Mo, and the secret technique described within this jade slip is indeed for cultivating a second spiritual body.”

“But—but this fucking…”

Fang Xi stood, seemingly ready to break into violence at any wrong word, then sneered instead. “These strict conditions—this earth’s spiritual roots, along with the considerable time required—are truly too harsh!”

Seeing how Fang Xi managed to control his anger, even Song Qing was somewhat surprised.

“Fellow Daoist, if you act thusly, won’t you fear tarnishing 10,000 Seas Pavilion’s reputation?” Fang Xi asked, his complexion again turning slightly green.

“Have you not read this contract, Daoist friend? This establishment has sold you tier-2 cultivation methods for 500 spirit stones, which is absolutely advantageous to you! How could there be any mistake? We have neither resorted to coercion nor forced sales; it was your choice to approach us!”

Song Qing sneered in response. “If Daoist friend has no solid proof and simply slanders my Wanhai Building’s reputation, know that the Song family is not one to be trifled with!” He deliberately emphasized ‘Song family’.

“This loss…this humble one will bear, but might I ask if the shopkeeper can return some spirit stones, even just a hundred?”

Fang Xi’s expression kept shifting, like he’d opened up a dye shop. In the end, he squeezed out a smile, bowing pathetically as he begged.

“Heh heh…”

Song Qing’s face resembled an iceberg. “Customer…it’s time for you to leave.”

He had nothing to fear, since Wanhai Building’s defenses were at least tier-2!

“All right, the green waters flow endlessly, and the verdant mountains never change—I look forward to our next meeting!”

With a soul-deep sense of devastation, Fang Xi rose from his seat, then walked out of Wanhai Building.

His footsteps quickened, swiftly disappearing into the crowd.

After changing directions several times and assuming numerous disguises, Fang Xi confirmed that no one was tailing him before finally exhaling a long breath.

As he caressed his bag of holding, sensing the jade slip within, he forcibly restrained himself so as not to laugh out loud.

The Live-Forever Technique was indeed quite deceptive! According to this secret technique, cultivating a spiritual body via cultivation after birth naturally required incomparably strict conditions.

First, forget about wood elemental spiritual roots—its true strictness lay in the need to refine a ‘heaven-and-earth spirit root’ as sustenance, which would become the cultivator’s ‘life essence spirit plant’!

Only then could they continuously cultivate their life essence spirit plant, absorb its vitality essence qi and strength from the sun and moon, and temper their own wood elemental postnatal spiritual body!

This so-called ‘heaven-and-earth spirit root’ had to be made of rare treasures from nature; even a third-order spirit plant would suffice if pressed. To Qi Refinement cultivators, it was nothing short of a pitfall!

Moreover, that spirit plant needed suitable meridians for growth!

That is, you also needed a plot of land with at least third-order meridians to grow the spirit root, whereupon cultivation could commence!

But that wasn’t the most deceptive part of the Live-Forever Technique!

The most deceptive part was that while cultivating this magical technique, cultivators couldn’t leave their life essence spirit plant too far away, nor could they stay apart for too long or the cultivation would fail!

And time, of course, was measured in centuries!

“A hundred years of cultivation yields a Qing Mu spirit body, a thousand years of cultivation yields an Yi Mu dharma body, ten thousand years of cultivation yields an Evergreen body, and all three together make up the legendary ‘Live-Forever Dao Body,’ capable of immortality!”

“This method of cultivation truly…”

To be honest, when Fang Xi first saw this information, he felt speechless.

Even the lowest-level Qing Mu Spirit Body required third-order spiritual roots and a plot of third-order spiritual land upon which to cultivate for a hundred years, during which time the cultivator could not leave!

“Third-order spiritual veins—probably only Profound Sky Sect has any within the entire Yue Kingdom?”

“Even if all those problems were solved, cultivating a second-order spirit body would still take a hundred years! I’d have aged out long before then!”

“And don’t even get me started on the Yin-Yang Wood Dharmalakṣaṇa: only patriarchs with sufficient longevity might have a chance at experimenting with it, let alone Primordial Infant True Monarchs. But since they can already form cores, their spiritual roots must be extraordinary, possibly even possessing innate spiritual bodies. Why bother cultivating a flawed second-order one?”

“This is fucking like adding salt to a snake just to make it longer! What a useless endeavor!”

“Although later on, it does mention that certain specially crafted spirit fluids can hasten the growth of spirit plants, but the cost involved is astronomical… Especially the highest-tier ‘Good Fortune Spirit Fluid,’ which is said to cause a spirit plant to grow a hundred years overnight with a single drop—but I’ve never even heard of such a thing! Perhaps it exists in the Immortal Realm, but there’s probably none to be found in the southern wilderness’s cultivation world!”

Song Qing from 10 was obviously trying to rip off the spirit stones by selling this Live-Forever Technique!

But Fang Xi allowed himself to be ripped off anyway, because he suddenly remembered the Demon Tree from Blackstone City!