Using entries to cultivate immortality in chaotic times

A middle-aged woman dressed in a cheongsam, exuding an intellectual beauty, followed by two servants, slowly stepped in. After they gave a slight bow, she said with a soft voice, "This servant is the person in charge of the Wentian Pavilion\'s auction house, mainly responsible for the auctions in Wentian Market. I have seen Mr. Chen."

"Mr. Chen is a distinguished guest of Wentian Market and has a dedicated passage to leave the auction house. Please follow me afterwards."

"Are you satisfied with these two maids, Mr. Chen? Would you like to keep them?"

Perhaps noticing the confusion in Chen Qiu\'s eyes, the mature woman smiled slyly as she explained, "It is a rule of our Wentian Pavilion auction house in Wentian Market that only the maids who receive affirmation from the guests on their first appearance are allowed to stay. Today is the first time for both these maids to appear."

"If you are satisfied, then they can stay at Wentian Pavilion to serve as maids for serving tea and water on regular days. If you are not satisfied, they will be expelled from Wentian Pavilion."

The mature woman\'s voice fell.

The two maids serving in the private room immediately knelt on the ground with a thud. Although they didn\'t speak, their eyes were filled with pleading and panic.

Apparently, for an ordinary woman, the monthly salary from Wentian Pavilion was not considered small, and staying as a maid in Wentian Pavilion was a rather decent occupation, certainly better than his initial job of chopping wood.

And the work was also easier.

"Let them stay. They are quite good."

Chen Qiu glanced at the maids kneeling before him, his brows slightly furrowed. After a long pause, he still spoke softly. It was indeed difficult for ordinary people to survive in this world. Perhaps because he had experienced the hardship of chopping wood himself, he could empathize strongly with the impoverished.

But he also felt a bit of disdain for their lack of ambition.

Why settle for chopping wood? He had only chopped wood for 29 days before realizing that chopping wood had no future and that one could only prosper by "chopping people." Why could some people spend a lifetime chopping wood?

He also knew that if he hadn\'t met Fat Long and set foot on the path of cultivation, he might have died from retaliation by a group of local bullies long ago.

There is a myriad of cause and effect in the world; who can make it all clear?

And as Chen Qiu\'s words ended, a flicker of immense excitement passed through the eyes of one of the kneeling girls. Her face was full of gratitude as she kowtowed, and if it were not inappropriate, she might have jumped up right there and then.

For the girls here.

Being able to stay in Wentian Pavilion as a long-term maid rather than being expelled meant that they would receive a substantial monthly salary for many years. Although one day they would age and no longer be able to work for long, the spirit stones they had saved would be enough for a very decent life in their later years.

"Let\'s go."

Under the guidance of the mature woman, Chen Qiu and his companion left the auction house without encountering a single person along the way, thanks to the special passage.

...

By the time they left the auction house.

The sky had darkened.

The number of people on the roads had gradually dwindled, and many from Wentian Market had already settled in the auxiliary city nearby, as staying overnight in Wentian Market was extremely expensive. However, the cost was nothing for Chen Qiu and his companion.

One room for one night cost just one spirit stone.

Two rooms cost just two spirit stones.

By that time, the restaurants were no longer open, so after returning to the inn and parting ways with Fat Long.

Chen Qiu sat cross-legged on the bed and began his cultivation practice for the night, starting with the replacement of his mental method.

He was going to switch his mental method to the premium Foundation Establishment Stage mental method "Seven Lanterns Inquiry."

It didn\'t require too much effort, just needed to circulate Spiritual Energy to cleanse his Heavenly Dao Foundation, run it several times to wash away the name of the original mental method inscribed on the Heavenly Dao Foundation, and then relearn "Seven Lanterns Inquiry."

An hour later.

Chen Qiu exhaled a turbid breath and slowly opened his eyes, his mental method had successfully been changed to "Seven Lanterns Inquiry."

Last time, when only thirty percent of the Spiritual Energy remained within his Tao Foundation, it took an hour and three Spirit Stones to fill it.

This was already because of using Spirit Stones, if he were to absorb the wandering Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth, it would take at least twenty-four hours.

After acquiring the "Seven Lanterns Inquiry," a superior mental method for the Foundation Establishment Stage, he could clearly feel the faster rotation of his Heavenly Dao Foundation and the quicker absorption of Spiritual Energy, similar to the last time when only thirty percent of energy was left in his Tao Foundation.

He estimated it would only take the time it took to drink a cup of tea to fill the Tao Foundation, which was much faster than an hour.

For him, a good mental method was indispensable.

The pool might be large, but if the inlet is too small, no matter how big the pool is, it\'s useless; nobody can stand taking ten days to half a month to fill it just once.

Then Chen Qiu closed his eyes again and began to practice the "Thunder Summoning Technique," a spell.

...

It is only upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage that one truly steps onto the path of cultivation.

At this level of cultivation, there are many ways to improve, unlike in the Qi Refinement Realm where one just needed to increase their cultivation rank; the first thing a cultivator from a formal sect would do after Foundation Establishment is to practice Sword Flight.

Through Sword Flight, one can fluently familiarize with the process of establishing communication between Spiritual Energy and Spiritual Treasures, gaining not only a new mode of travel but also maximizing the power of other Spiritual Treasures.

Besides that, there are also simple protective measures like the external release of Spiritual Energy to form Protective Spirit Qi.

However, Chen Qiu, being an unorthodox Loose Cultivator, had no one to teach him these things; naturally, he had to rely on his own intuition.

Several hours blinked by.

When Chen Qiu opened his eyes again, it was already daylight, and he had finally mastered the "Thunder Summoning Technique," a spell for the Foundation Establishment Stage, and entered the Great Achievement Realm; he also had an obscure awareness of the might of this spell.

Whether it\'s a spell or a mental method, there are five realms of cultivation mastery: introductory, minor achievement, great achievement, entry to the hall, and great perfection.

Introductory level only allows one to release a portion of the power, at this realm, the Thunder Summoning Technique would create a thunder as thin as a thumb out of thin air to strike the enemy, effective only within nine feet, beyond which the power rapidly diminishes and dissipates quickly.

Minor achievement indicates some progress, with power unchanged, but now the attack can reach up to thirty feet.

By the time it reaches great achievement, one can almost perfectly unleash the power of the spell, with thunder as thick as a wrist, capable of striking enemies within ninety feet.

The spells at the entry to the hall and great perfection realms unleash thunder as thick as a hundred-year-old tree, with the capability to attack enemies within three hundred feet, truly a sign of culmination of the Cultivation Technique!

Just that...

To bring a spell to the pinnacle of its realm requires constant usage to comprehend its essence, and the Spiritual Energy within the Foundation is not inexhaustible; it needs time to replenish.

This is why progress at the Foundation Establishment Stage of cultivation is so slow.

Besides cycling the mental method, one also needs to enhance their combat strength through practicing spells, swordsmanship, and so on; otherwise, no matter how high your cultivation level is, if you lack a means of defense, you\'ll shatter at a single touch, rendering mere cultivation fighting useless.