Translator: Asuka
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
[If a single leaf on the Skill Tree contains a Spiritual Pattern like Sharp Edge, then what about the other leaves? Will they also contain other Spiritual Patterns!? If I can light up more leaves, then won’t I be able to obtain even more knowledge on Spiritual Patterns!?] Thinking about the huge canopy and the countless leaves hanging from the Skill Tree, Lu Ye couldn’t help feeling fired up.
[How can I light up the other leaves?] He had a few vague guesses in his heart, but there was no way to confirm those conjectures right now. He could only wait until an opportunity arose in the future to confirm those ideas. All he could do right now was to unlock even more Spiritual Points as soon as possible to increase his cultivation.
The first Spiritual Point all cultivators would unlock was the Spiritual Point located at their dantian. This was the starting point of one’s cultivation known as the ‘Source Spiritual Point’. How the rest of the Spiritual Points would be unlocked afterward would depend on the kind of cultivation techniques cultivated by the respective cultivators. Different cultivation techniques would unlock Spiritual Points at different locations. The more Spiritual Points they unlocked, the higher their cultivation.
[The Golden Liberation Technique will come in handy now!] He quietly quelled his excitement a little. Picking up Manager Yang’s Storage Bag, he began packing up the stuff. It wasn’t until this moment that he realized, to his astonishment, that his palm engraved with the Sharp Edge earlier was riddled with holes. It looked like it had been pierced by countless needles and had bled out quite a bit.
Caught up in his excitement, he had not felt anything until now. However, a constant throbbing pain agitated his nerves now that he finally noticed the injury. Thus, he quietly reflected on his actions. [It looks like if I ever obtain any other Spiritual Patterns in the future, I must not use it on my own body so carelessly.]
He soon packed up all the things he took out before and moved away from the range of the Yuan Metal Force Field.
At present, Lu Ye had two options laid out in front of him. The first was to leave the mine. The reason Manager Yang entered the mine was to escape from the dangers outside. The people from Grand Sky Coalition had attacked this place and there was no way the forces of Evil Moon Valley stationed at this mine could defend this place, so he chose to hide away in advance. After all, it would surely bode ill for him due to his status as a disciple of Evil Moon Valley if the mine was seized by the opposing party.
[If I can meet up with the cultivators of Grand Sky Coalition, I will be able to escape from this sea of suffering. I will no longer need to remain in this place and be oppressed again in the future.]
Unfortunately, that was not a wise choice. Manager Yang had escaped into the mine after receiving news of the impending attack. Similarly, there would surely be other disciples of Evil Moon Valley who had entered the mine too. That would mean the current period was the most chaotic period. It would be best if he could successfully get out of the mine. However, if he accidentally ran into any of the other disciples of Evil Moon Valley who had escaped into the mine… He would surely end up with the same fate as those mining slaves that Manager Yang had indiscriminately killed previously.
Therefore, he chose the second option. He was going to stay put and remain here for the time being. This place was extremely hidden. Most people would not be able to enter this place. Moreover, it was easy to attack and defend. If any of the disciples of Evil Moon Valley managed to accidentally barge into this place, he could borrow the power of the Yuan Metal Force Field to ambush his opponents. That would give him some chance of fighting back. Besides, his injury had yet to heal and it was difficult for him to move around.
He recalled the words Manager Yang had mentioned before. If he remembered correctly, Manager Yang had said something along these lines: “The people of Grand Sky Coalition are here. We won’t be able to defend the mines for long. Grand Sky Coalition won’t be able to remain here for long, but it will still take them at least a month or two to leave.”
The meaning behind these words was very obvious. Manager Yang had been certain that even if Grand Sky Coalition managed to capture this place, they could not keep this mine in their possession for long. For that reason, they would leave this place in a month or two. Control over the mine would then fall back into Evil Moon Valley’s hands.
Putting together all the information he had at the moment, Lu Ye concocted a plan in his heart. He planned to stay here to recuperate and cultivate. Then, he would leave the mine within a month to look for the people of Grand Sky Coalition to remove himself from this sea of suffering!
He felt a lot more at ease after making up his mind. The most difficult time of his life was over. Now that he had successfully unlocked his Spiritual Point and there was a Skill Tree growing by his side, his future was bright and vast. There was no need to rush right now.
Once he found a suitable location, he brought out some bedding from Manager Yang’s Storage Bag, spread it out on the ground, sat on it quietly, and took out the book titled ‘Golden Liberation Technique’ to study it carefully.
The mining tunnel was filled with pitch-black darkness. Fortunately, he had successfully achieved Enlightenment. Otherwise, he would not have been able to see anything. He soon discovered something interesting. If he gathered his Spiritual Power around his eyes, the things he saw would become a little clearer. It was a pity that he had only unlocked his Source Spiritual Point, so his Spiritual Power was very limited and could not be maintained for a long time.
He ate when he was hungry and slept when he was sleepy. Aside from the slightly lacking environment, there was nothing else he had to complain about. In any case, he was currently immersed in the excitement of unlocking his first Spiritual Point. He did not have many requirements for the environment he was living in.
There was no way to calculate how much time had passed, so he didn’t know how much time had passed. He could only guess that several days had passed. The injuries on his leg and his hand had almost healed completely. Since unlocking his Spiritual Point and becoming a cultivator, it would seem that his physical fitness had improved significantly. If he was stabbed in the leg in the past, he would have needed more than 10 days of recuperation before he could even walk around. Of course, it could also be related to the fact that he was consuming the Qi Blood Pills every single day.
After studying the Golden Liberation Technique, he discovered that he could not use the cultivation technique for the time being. It wasn’t because there was something wrong with the cultivation technique. It was simply that he had only just unlocked his Source Spiritual Point. There were other conditions that needed to be met if he wanted to unlock his next Spiritual Point.
If the Spiritual Points were compared to a lake in a cultivator’s body, then the water in the lake was the cultivator’s Spiritual Power. Therefore, the more Spiritual Points a cultivator unlocked, the greater the Spiritual Power contained in their body. Unfortunately, the prerequisite to unlocking the next Spiritual Point was that the previous Spiritual Point had reached its full potential. To put it simply, it required his Spiritual Power to fill his Spiritual Point to the brim.
In his case, what he needed to do right now was to continue cultivating. He had to strengthen and accumulate his Spiritual Power in his Source Spiritual Point. When his Spiritual Power filled his Source Spiritual Point to the brim, he would finally be able to unlock his next Spiritual Point. Only then would he need to use the Golden Liberation Technique.
There were several ways to strengthen one’s Spiritual Power.
The most common method was to consume Spirit Pills for cultivation purposes. Spirit Pills could transform into Spiritual Power and charge up a cultivator’s Spiritual Points.
The second method was to absorb Spiritual Qi. Spiritual Qi existed in any environment. It was only a matter of how much could be found in any environment. Once a cultivator unlocked their Spiritual Points, they could sense the existence of the Spiritual Qi. They could take the Spiritual Qi into their body and refine it to strengthen their cultivation.
The third method was to use Spirit Stones. That was something he had only heard of before but never saw for himself.
The last method was to refine one’s vitality into Qi. A cultivator could also achieve the purpose of cultivation by first strengthening their own vitality, and then refining that vitality into Spiritual Power.
These methods had their own advantages and disadvantages. It could not be generalized.
Lu Ye had never joined the ranks of the cultivators before. Nevertheless, he often heard the other mine slaves talking about cultivation matters. Everybody would talk about these topics with a great yearning, hoping that they would one day be able to make it big and change their fate. He had picked up some of the talk, so he understood a little of the basics.
In his current circumstances, he could not use the first method. He did not have any Spirit Pills for cultivation. Although he was certain there were some in Manager Yang’s Storage Bag, there were so many bottles and jars. He had no way to differentiate between them and did not dare to experiment rashly. Meanwhile, he had tried the second method. He did not know if it was due to the presence of the Yuan Metal Force Field or some other reason. In any case, he could not sense the existence of Spiritual Qi and could not absorb it as a result. The only method he could use was refining his vitality into Qi.