Chapter 3: Evolutionary Cultivation Techniques, Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique
Chapter 3: Evolutionary Cultivation Techniques, Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique
Meng Lang and Zhang Chunqiu were equally surprised by Li Ya's choice, but they remained silent.
Cheng Xuandan looked at Li Ya with approval and nodded slightly. "Good choice. You have an eye for talent and are not impulsive."
He waved his right hand at the table next to him, and three secret manuals appeared on it. He glanced at Zhang Chunqiu, who immediately began distributing the manuals.
Gu An didn't get a chance to say anything throughout this exchange.
Alright, so he was being ignored.
But Gu An was inherently optimistic and didn't let it get to him.
"You may be cold to me now, but sixteen years from now, I will put the past behind me and light incense for you!" he thought to himself.
Gu An took the manual titled 'Nurturing Qi Technique' and forced a smile.
"There have been reports of demons infiltrating the Tai Xuan Gate recently," Cheng Xuandan continued. "Although the Medicine Valley is located at the edge of the Tai Xuan Gate and there are disciples patrolling, there is still a potential danger. Do not leave the Medicine Valley without permission. Dismissed."
With a wave of his hand, Cheng Xuandan dismissed Gu An and the others, who bowed and left the room. Gu An trailed behind and gently closed the door as he exited.
Cheng Xuandan nodded slightly. "That young man, Li Ya, is not simple. He must have cultivated some kind of technique to conceal his true cultivation. His spirit and vitality are not inferior to yours. Keep an eye on him from now on. Also, he comes from royalty, so don't be too harsh on him."
Zhang Chunqiu nodded in agreement. After a moment's thought, he added, "Master, Gu An is the most diligent among us, and with his mediocre talent, he will undoubtedly stay in the Medicine Valley longer..."
"Mmm," Cheng Xuandan acknowledged calmly. "Then it's up to you to guide him well. He's your responsibility now."
Zhang Chunqiu smiled and bowed to express his gratitude.
On the other side,
Gu An and the others returned to their courtyard. Along the way, Meng Lang excitedly chatted about the demons, unfazed by the potential danger.
Li Ya paused and turned to Gu An. "The Nurturing Qi Technique is actually not bad. It can help you conceal your aura and prolong your lifespan. Since I already have a cultivation technique, I don't need it, but for someone like you, it's a better choice."
Gu An's face lit up at Li Ya's words. "Thank you, Brother Li, for your guidance. I expect to spend my entire life in the Medicine Valley, and The Herbal Records won't be of much use to me. I can learn about medicinal herbs by following you, Big Brother."
Li Ya nodded slightly, pleased that Gu An had taken his advice to heart.
The three of them didn't linger and soon parted ways to return to their respective rooms.
With not many daily tasks in the Medicine Valley, they had ample time for cultivation.
Gu An sat on his bed and began to browse through the Nurturing Qi Technique manual.
He had originally been uninterested in this technique, but when Li Ya mentioned its ability to conceal one's aura and prolong lifespan, he became curious and wanted to give it a try, also testing out his lifespan evolution ability.
Over the past year, he had practiced the Spring Wood Technique given to him by Zhang Chunqiu without any progress, so he had given up after only half a month.
He found the tedious practice unappealing and preferred to spend his time in the Medicine Valley's library, reading about medicinal herbs and various travelogues to broaden his horizons.
Days turned into weeks.
Aside from his daily tasks of inspecting the medicinal herbs, Gu An spent most of his time cultivating in his room.
After cultivating for fifteen days, he finally saw the words "Nurturing Qi Technique" appear on his attribute panel, with a note that he had not yet mastered it.
Gu An stared at his attribute panel, his face filled with anticipation.
Using the lifespan evolution ability for the first time made him nervous, and he had no idea how many years of his lifespan it would cost to master the Nurturing Qi Technique.
Although he had already lived for over a thousand years, the thought of spending several decades or even centuries to master a technique pained him.
Gu An focused on the Nurturing Qi Technique in his attribute panel and silently chose to invest his lifespan in its evolution.
[Please enter the number of years of lifespan you wish to invest.]
Without hesitation, Gu An made his choice, and two lines of text immediately appeared before his eyes.
[You have chosen to invest one year of your lifespan to evolve the 'Nurturing Qi Technique.']
[You have cultivated the Nurturing Qi Technique for one year. Due to your mediocre comprehension and talent, there is no progress in your cultivation. However, your essence and vitality have improved.]
Gu An suddenly felt a sense of relaxation throughout his body, but the feeling came and went quickly.
Was that it?
The word "mediocre" stung Gu An deeply.
This was too unfair!
Gu An's confusion grew as he wondered if talent was related to one's spiritual root. Without hesitation, he chose to evolve his spiritual root, investing a hundred years of his lifespan all at once.
[You have chosen to invest one hundred years of your lifespan to evolve your spiritual root.]
[You begin to comprehend the natural laws of heaven and earth, enhancing your spiritual root's perception of nature. After a hundred years, your Five Elements spiritual root's perception has improved.]
After reading these two prompts, Gu An checked his attribute panel again and noticed that his spiritual root had evolved from 'Ordinary Five Elements Spiritual Root' to 'Fairly Good Five Elements Spiritual Root'.
Gu An felt like he had made a bad deal, seeing his lifespan drop from four digits to three. It pained him to see those numbers shrink.
It seemed that evolving one's spiritual root could be a bottomless pit.
"Should I try evolving the Nurturing Qi Technique again?"
The thought popped into Gu An's mind, and he felt an itch to spend more of his lifespan.
"I earned a thousand years by investing just one, so it's fine to splurge a little today and work hard to earn it back later... Yeah, I'll indulge just this once since it's my first time using this ability..."
Gu An took a deep breath and silently chose to invest five hundred years of his lifespan into the Nurturing Qi Technique.
[You have chosen to invest five hundred years of your lifespan to evolve the 'Nurturing Qi Technique.']
[You have cultivated the Nurturing Qi Technique for one year. Due to your mediocre comprehension and talent, there is no progress in your cultivation. However, your essence and vitality have improved.]
[You have cultivated the Nurturing Qi Technique for ten years. Due to your mediocre comprehension and talent, there is still no progress in your cultivation. However, you have successfully mastered the Nurturing Qi Technique, and your qi and blood have been enhanced.]
【Evolutionary Cultivation Techniques, Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique】
【You have practiced the Nurturing Qi Technique for a hundred years. After years of cultivation, you gain insight into the Nurturing Qi Technique, and it begins to transform.】
【You have practiced the Nurturing Qi Technique for two hundred years. Your Nurturing Qi Technique merges with the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy, metamorphosing into a method of cultivation.】
【You have practiced the Nurturing Qi Technique for three hundred years. Your Nurturing Qi Technique advances and transforms into the Nurturing Spirit Technique.】
【You have practiced the Nurturing Qi Technique for four hundred years. One day, you suddenly attain enlightenment, comprehending the true meaning of heaven and earth. You create the Dragon Elephant Nurturing Yuan Technique, and your physical body's qi and blood transform.】
【You have practiced the Nurturing Qi Technique for five hundred years. The Dragon Elephant Nurturing Yuan Technique reaches perfection, breaking through the limits of the art, and evolving into the Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique. Your physique undergoes a qualitative change.】
Line after line of prompts appeared before Gu An's eyes. Before he could finish reading them, a flood of memories poured into his mind.
A cool breeze blew through the window, rustling the curtains by the bed and his black hair. With his eyes closed, he unconsciously opened his mouth, breathing in and out, a faint dragon's roar escaping his lips.
After an unknown amount of time, Gu An slowly woke up.
He opened his eyes, and what greeted him was the dim forest outside the window.
Night had fallen.
Gu An had completely inherited the cultivation memories of the Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique, and he even directly mastered this art.
The Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique was created with reference to the cultivation of a dragon turtle. It could conceal one's aura, hide one's cultivation, and even cultivate the mighty power of a dragon.
The Nurturing Qi Technique was a foundational cultivation method of the Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique, and evolving one's lifespan was equivalent to deducing a complete art from a fragmented one.
Gu An suspected that the Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique had always existed in this world, and that the Tai Xuan Gate had only obtained a fragment of it, hence the name Nurturing Qi Technique.
He wondered what would happen if he invested another three hundred years of his lifespan into the Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique? Gu An forcibly suppressed the urge to spend his lifespan. He felt his new body and could sense a domineering power within, giving him a feeling of limitless strength.
He felt that he could easily smash a pavilion with one punch!
This powerful feeling was truly wonderful!
Moreover, his senses had been greatly enhanced. He could hear Meng Lang and Li Ya's breathing, and he could even hear Zhang Chunqiu and Cheng Xuandan's conversation in the distance.
"That demon has already killed thirteen disciples, most of whom were miscellaneous disciples from various Medicine Valleys. Master, with just the two of us, we may not be able to protect them."
"Don't worry, I've already applied for a sect task, and the sect will send a Foundation Establishment disciple to guard our Medicine Valley."
"That's really great. This afternoon, the spiritual energy in the valley was a bit abnormal, and I thought a demon was coming. Embarrassingly, I didn't even dare to go out."
"You, you've grown up under my knee since you were little, and you've never ventured out to temper your character, so your timid nature is somewhat understandable..."
Hearing their conversation, Gu An broke out in a cold sweat.
He had been too careless!
From now on, when deducing cultivation techniques, he must be more cautious with his actions.
Fortunately, Zhang Chunqiu's cultivation was low, otherwise, Gu An's secret would have been exposed.
Gu An eavesdropped for a while longer, making sure that Cheng Xuandan and Zhang Chunqiu weren't talking about him, before he finally relaxed.
He continued to familiarize himself with his new body, and at the same time, he used the method of the Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique to suppress his aura to the lowest level, and his qi and blood were restrained within his body, appearing no different from before he started cultivating, still weak and frail.
After an hour, Gu An opened his eyes and summoned his attribute panel.
【Name: Gu An】
【Lifespan: 16/402】
【Spirit Root: Fairly Good Five Elements Spirit Root (Can invest lifespan for evolutionary cultivation)】
【Cultivation: Inferior (Can invest lifespan for evolutionary cultivation)】
【Techniques: Fire Control Technique (Unmastered), Spring Wood Technique (Unmastered), Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique (Mastery) (Can invest lifespan for evolutionary cultivation)】
Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique, Mastery!
Gu An was very satisfied, but unfortunately, the Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique was a physical cultivation method and couldn't cultivate spiritual power, so his cultivation was still inferior.
Even so, Gu An believed that sweeping through the Qi Refining Realm should be no problem.
Next, he could wait for his lifespan to increase.
His Dragon Vein Divine Yuan Technique had already reached perfection, and the powerful qi flowing within his body would automatically help him increase his lifespan, although the rate of increase was difficult to determine for the time being.
That night, Gu An found it hard to fall asleep.
However, as he waited until dawn, constantly refreshing his attribute panel, he still didn't see any increase in his lifespan. He could only console himself with the thought that even the most powerful technique couldn't possibly increase his lifespan by a year in a single day.
Yes!
The heavens will eventually reward those who spend their lifespan! A pleasant surprise will come!
Gu An washed up and then walked out of his room, intending to take a walk around the valley and look at the medicinal herbs to calm his mind.
Coincidentally, as soon as he entered one part of the valley, his gaze landed on a white-furred mouse.
It was the same mouse that had eaten the tranquility grass before!
Gu An looked around and confirmed that no one else in the Medicine Valley had left their houses. He quietly approached the white-furred mouse.
The mouse's back was turned to him, and it was about thirty feet away, unaware that someone was approaching it.
When the distance between them was less than seven steps, Gu An pounced like an arrow, quickly closing the gap and grabbing the white-furred mouse with his right hand.
The white-furred mouse was terrified and immediately raised its two small paws in a gesture of surrender.
"Dare to steal my life? Humph, you're finished!"
Gu An laughed triumphantly. As he caught the white-furred mouse, he could see it turning around.
Too slow!
(End of Chapter)
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