txolops Chapter 37 Initial Explanation of the Five Elements Formation
Chapter 37 Initial Explanation of the Five Elements Formation
For the next three months, everything was calm at the mine.
The miners went to work in the mine every day as usual, and occasionally one or two level-one monsters would wander over and try to break into the mine.
Zhang Tie and Zhao Dashan took turns dealing with the monsters. Over the course of several months, most of the monsters they encountered were low-level monsters such as iron-toothed rats and beetles, which were not worth mentioning to Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"These Iron-Toothed Rats have exceptionally hard teeth, which is the only thing worth money. A pair can sell for five spirit stones!" Zhao Dashan skillfully broke off a tooth from the Iron-Toothed Rat.
"A complete beetle carapace is more valuable; a single complete carapace can sell for ten spirit stones. Don't underestimate these things; every little bit counts!"
Watching Zhao Dashan skillfully process the monster materials, Zhang Tie secretly admired him. This senior brother Zhao from the Spirit Beast Peak, after three months of getting along, appeared rough on the surface, but was actually very meticulous!
"Senior Brother Zhao, how are these materials usually handled?" Zhang Tie asked curiously.
They couldn't find an opportunity to make a move in these mountains!
"Every three months, the sect sends its deacons to the mine to collect the stockpiled red jade. At that time, these deacons can help sell it, and they will take a 10% commission. This is an unwritten rule!"
"Of course, you can hoard them and sell them at the sect market after the mission is over. The price will be higher, but it takes time. I find it troublesome, so I usually just let them sell them!"
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Tie decided to do the same as Zhao Dashan and have the materials handled by the arriving steward to save trouble!
Over the past three months, the two of them have dealt with more than a dozen level-one demonic beasts that didn't know their place. Whoever made the move got to keep the beasts, and Zhang Tie has also stockpiled a lot of demonic beast materials.
The total value is roughly fifty or sixty spirit stones. Adding what I had left over from before, I now have nearly a hundred spirit stones.
"Even a small mosquito is still meat!" Zhang Tie thought to himself.
That evening, after seeing off the sect steward, the two sat in the wooden hut at the mine, drinking the spiritual tea brewed by Zhao Dashan and chatting idly.
"Senior Brother Zhao, what hobbies do you have besides cultivation while you're stationed here?" Zhang Tie asked.
Over the past three months, Zhang Tie has used his spirit-seeking technique to search almost the entire twenty-mile radius around the mine, but he has not found anything unusual.
Going any deeper would take you too far from the mine, since guarding and protecting the mine was his job, and he would be held accountable if anything went wrong!
Zhao Dashan grinned: "Hobbies? Junior Brother Zhang, don't let my status as a cultivator from the Spirit Beast Peak fool you. Besides studying spirit control techniques, I also know how to refine pills!"
Zhang Tie was taken aback: "Alchemy?"
He knew that Zhao Dashan had a spirit beast that had reached the peak of level one, but did he really think that this big, burly guy in front of him could also refine pills?
"Yes!" Seeing Zhang Tie's surprised expression, Zhao Dashan directly took out a palm-sized alchemy furnace.
"Don't underestimate me just because I'm only at the early Foundation Establishment stage. My alchemy skills are quite good. I can refine seven or eight kinds of pills for the Qi Refining stage, such as Qi Gathering Pills, Yuan Nourishing Pills, and Spirit Recovery Pills... all of them are no problem for me!"
Zhang Tie gave a thumbs up: "Senior Brother Zhao is amazing!"
"Hey! What's so great about it? Junior Brother Zhang, to be honest, alchemy is easy to get started but hard to master. I've been practicing for decades, and I can still only make pills for the Qi Refining stage. I haven't succeeded in making a single batch of pills for the Foundation Establishment stage, and I've wasted a lot of precious spiritual herbs! What a pity!" Zhao Dashan's face immediately showed a pained expression as he said this.
The spiritual herbs used to refine Foundation Establishment stage pills are not cheap; a single batch costs at least dozens of spirit stones, and a better batch can cost over a hundred.
An ordinary cultivator would lose all their wealth after a few failures.
Zhang Tie seemed to be deep in thought.
Without Han Li's little green bottle, ordinary cultivators would have to spend a lot of time, energy, and spirit stones just to prepare the elixirs, consuming enormous resources.
Zhang Tie smiled and offered a few words of comfort.
However, he was thinking about a problem: after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, his cultivation speed had obviously slowed down. During the Qi Refining stage, with the help of Han Li's Yellow Dragon Pill, he could break through several minor realms in a year.
However, the Foundation Establishment stage is different from the Qi Refining stage, which is simply about accumulating spiritual power. It is more about polishing the foundation of one's Dao and making steady progress. Even if one relies solely on hard work, it may not be possible to break through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment in ten years.
He needs new means to enhance his combat capabilities.
Having many skills is never a bad thing. Han Li is a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. He knows a little bit about everything: alchemy, talisman making, formations... Especially with the little green bottle, Han Li is a real expert in alchemy.
However, Zhang Tie did not intend to learn everything like Han Li, but it would always be good to learn one or two things that could come in handy at crucial moments.
Alchemy? Without the little green bottle, I'd probably be as miserable as Zhao Dashan. That's out of the question!
Making talismans? It's easy to get started, but difficult to master. However, making talismans doesn't require special resources; all you need is talisman paper, cinnabar, and spirit ink to practice.
Formations are notoriously difficult to learn, but once mastered, they become invaluable. Learning one formation allows you to easily understand others. Furthermore, formations are extremely useful in actual combat, for trapping, killing, defending, and providing support...
There is also Spirit Taming, one of the main inheritances of Spirit Beast Mountain. However, the time required to cultivate spirit beasts is usually quite long, and spirit beasts with outstanding bloodlines are also very valuable and extremely difficult to find!
Like the Xie family cultivators and Zhao Dashan I met at the Ascension Conference, their spirit beasts had been cultivated for more than ten years to reach level one, and it was hard to say whether they could break through to level two. They were all late-stage techniques.
After careful consideration, Zhang Tie decided to start with either talismans or formations.
That evening, he sent a message talisman to Sun Feng inside the mountain gate.
"Senior Brother Sun, I'm doing well at the Crimson Jade Mine. I have a favor to ask of you. Could you help me find a complete book on talismans or formations? The grade doesn't matter, just make sure it's comprehensive. I'll provide the required spirit stones and contribution points upon returning to the sect!"
The message talisman transformed into a beam of light and disappeared into the horizon.
My best friend in Spirit Beast Mountain is Sun Feng, so I can only trouble him with this matter!
A month later, a level-one spirit beast, the Gale Falcon, pierced the sky and landed at the Crimson Jade Mine, startling Zhang Tie and Zhao Dashan.
However, Zhang Tie quickly realized that this level-one spirit beast was a spirit beast tamed by Sun Feng. He had seen it once when he first came to Lingxian Peak. After explaining the reason to Zhao Dashan, Zhang Tie took the Gale Falcon back to his wooden house.
A package was hanging from the talons of the Swift Falcon.
Zhang Tie tossed a steel-toothed rat to the Gale Falcon, took the package, and opened it. Inside was a thin booklet with a yellowed cover, clearly quite old.
The booklet cover prominently displays six characters: "An Introduction to the Five Elements Formation".
Senior Brother Sun found him a book on formations!
Zhang Tie was overjoyed. He opened the cover and found a note, which was Sun Feng's handwriting.
"Junior Brother Zhang, you have lived up to expectations and found a book on formations. I had someone purchase it from a disciple of the Tianxing Sect in the Yuanwu Kingdom for one hundred spirit stones, which I will cover in advance. Although this book is a basic book on formations, it contains all five elemental formations, making it suitable for beginners... —Sun!"
Zhang Tie felt a warmth in his heart. He had only known Sun Feng for a few months, yet Sun Feng was willing to ask someone to bring him a book on formations from the Yuanwu Kingdom. This man was worth getting to know better.