Chapter Six: Pavilion of Spiritual Architecture

In the eyes of He Song, who had already attained immortality, nothing was more important than safety.

Lin Cong's path was not suitable for He Song. Rather than risk life and limb in the outside world, it was better to cultivate steadily within the Immortal Market. The concentration of spiritual energy in the Immortal Market far surpassed that of the outside world. Cultivation here was much faster than elsewhere. This was why so many wandering cultivators yearned to enter the Immortal Market, and why the rent was so exorbitant.

Spiritual energy was never free.

He Song shook his head, dismissing any thoughts of venturing outside, and pushed open the door to enter his room. He first prepared a meal for himself, then settled into meditation to refine his qi.

Having just performed the Spirit Rain Technique for half an hour, his spiritual power was nearly depleted. Thankfully, the rich aura in the Immortal Market allowed him to recover swiftly, though it still took him half an hour to fully replenish his reserves.

Then came cultivation. At the early stage of Qi Refining, it was only necessary to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in an orderly fashion to increase one’s own spiritual power. Once a certain threshold was reached, one could break through to the next realm. For instance, advancing from the first to the second layer of Qi Refining required only steady cultivation, with no bottleneck to speak of.

True bottlenecks appeared only when breaking from early to mid-stage Qi Refining, or from mid-stage to late-stage. Many cultivators would be stuck at the early stage for decades without progress. Others would struggle in the mid-stage, unable to advance to the late stage.

Meng Guan from the Spirit Herb Pavilion, for example, had been stuck at the sixth layer of Qi Refining for years, unable to break through to the seventh, and thus relegated to a minor managerial post at the pavilion.

Such bottlenecks were a reflection of a cultivator’s aptitude.

In this world, one needed a spiritual root to attract qi into the body and become a cultivator. Spiritual roots themselves were ranked.

There were five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Those with all five were considered false roots, the lowest grade of aptitude.

Missing one element made for four roots, much superior to false roots.

Missing two resulted in three roots, offering faster cultivation and forming the backbone of major clans and sects.

Missing three yielded earth roots, which cultivated even faster and were prized by families and sects alike.

Missing four gave heaven roots, possessing only one element, allowing cultivation of related techniques at astonishing speed—such talents were fiercely contested by every clan and sect.

There were also variant roots, rare and inaccessible to ordinary folk.

Generally, one cultivated the techniques corresponding to one’s spiritual roots. For example, He Song possessed four roots—metal, wood, fire, and earth. Thus, cultivating the Earth Technique, Thick Earth Formula, posed no difficulty for him.

If someone handed He Song a water technique, he would be unable to practice it, because he lacked the water root.

There were distinctions between roots as well. Affinity for spiritual power was crucial—the higher the affinity, the faster one cultivated.

He Song, with four roots, had the highest affinity for earth, as revealed by tests. Thus, his cultivation speed was greatest with earth techniques. If he practiced metal, wood, or fire techniques, his progress would slow accordingly.

Therefore, choosing the most suitable technique became an essential step in overcoming bottlenecks.

If one couldn’t find the right technique and had no other means, when the bottleneck arrived, one could only resign oneself to fate, tormented between life and death.

Reflecting on this, He Song sighed in admiration at his predecessor’s luck.

His highest affinity was for earth, and he lived within the territory of the Thick Earth Sect, easily purchasing, with just one spirit stone, the Thick Earth Formula that could be cultivated up to the ninth layer.

Now, cultivating the Thick Earth Formula, he had no need to worry about technique for the time being.

Following the cultivation path of the formula, He Song quickly fell into deep meditation. Threads of spiritual energy were absorbed and transformed into his own power, gradually strengthening him.

In the blink of an eye, a day and night passed in silence.

Only when hunger gnawed at his belly did He Song open his eyes again.

One session of cultivation had lasted an entire day and night.

Feeling the slight increase in his cultivation, He Song calculated silently. At his current rate, it would take two full years to advance to the second layer of Qi Refining.

Two years to break from the first to the second layer—this was not slow at all. In fact, it was considered quite fast.

He Song's earth root affinity surpassed that of average four-root practitioners. Though not as quick as those with three roots, he was among the elite of his kind.

Moreover, being in the Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, saturated with spiritual energy, granted him such speed. In a place of thin spiritual energy, the process would take even longer.

“Not bad—two years to reach the second layer. This cultivation speed is much faster than most four-root practitioners.”

Satisfied with his progress, He Song nodded, then began preparing another meal.

At the moment, he was still just a minor cultivator at the first layer of Qi Refining, unable to live without food and drink like the more advanced practitioners.

As for Fasting Pills—a bottle of ten cost two spirit stones, and one pill only staved off hunger for ten days. For He Song, they were still a luxury.

The ordinary rice he had bought earlier was more suitable for a novice like him. It was a bit of a hassle, but with only thirty-odd spirit stones to his name, he had little choice.

After eating, He Song once again visited the spirit fields under his care. He performed the Spirit Rain Technique for half an hour, inspected the growth of the spirit rice seeds, and, finding nothing amiss, returned to the Immortal Market.

Today was rent day.

On the first of every month, all cultivators residing in the Immortal Market had to go to the Spirit Construction Pavilion to pay their monthly rent.

Ten spirit stones each month—not a single one less.

If unable to pay, wandering cultivators would be immediately evicted, forced to eke out a living outside where spiritual energy was scarce.

Unless...

“Fellow Daoist, you look unfamiliar—are you newly appointed in the Immortal Market?”