Immortal Path Space

Chapter 333: Spirit Vein

Sloppy Old Daoist received the massive Lionhead Spirit Mushroom with a grin, inspecting it closely and becoming increasingly satisfied. He praised it repeatedly.

The Lionhead Spirit Mushroom had a unique trait: when planted on a second-tier spirit wood, it could grow to the second tier. If planted on a third-tier spirit wood, it could mature into the third tier.

Wang Hong had planted this Lionhead Spirit Mushroom directly in his own spatial land. Initially, it was only at the second tier, but after eight hundred years of growth in the spatial realm, it had evolved into the third tier. Moreover, when matured in the spatial land, it continued to grow, and this one had reached over a thousand years, making it incredibly huge.

A regular third-tier Lionhead Spirit Mushroom could only grow to half the size of this one, making it quite large.

"You young fellow, you don't show up here for no reason. Just spill it!" Sloppy Old Daoist was clearly very pleased with Wang Hong's gift and went straight to the point.

"You've heard, Senior Chu, that you're skilled at manipulating Spirit Veins. I have a medium-sized Spirit Vein that's quite far away, and I'd like your help in moving it here," Wang Hong requested.

"You sure know how to make big requests. Do you know how difficult it is to manipulate a medium-sized Spirit Vein? If it were that easy, all the nearby Spirit Veins would have already been brought to the sect, and there wouldn't be any left outside," Sloppy Old Daoist responded.

Wang Hong thought about it and realized the validity of his point. If it were so easy, a large sect like Qingxu Sect, after thousands of years of development, would have already claimed all the Spirit Veins in the world. Furthermore, why didn't Gu Qingyang move the Spirit Vein himself?

"Youngster, you truly don't know. To manipulate a medium-sized Spirit Vein, you would need at least five Golden Core cultivators working together, and it would take about a year. Some stages require a continuous output of Spiritual Power, without interruption. Otherwise, all previous efforts would be wasted, and Spiritual Power consumption must be replenished with Spirit Wine. Do you think you can afford the cost and convince five Golden Core cultivators to work for you for a year?" Sloppy Old Daoist explained.

Hearing Sloppy Daoist Master's explanation, Wang Hong felt overwhelmed. Convincing five Golden Core cultivators and providing resources for a year? He did have these Spiritual Objects, but did he dare?

"I see now that manipulating a Spirit Vein is so difficult. I've been too naive," Wang Hong said with disappointment.

"In appreciation of your gift of the Lionhead Spirit Mushroom, I can teach you a method that even a Foundation Building cultivator can use," Sloppy Old Man offered.

While speaking, the fat chicken in the pot had become fully cooked. As he continued talking, he took the chicken out of the pot and placed it on a cutting board.

Wang Hong didn't expect there to be a method usable by Foundation Building cultivators. He quickly took out a bottle of Spirit Wine that had been aged for seven to eight hundred years from his Storage Bag and placed it on Sloppy Old Daoist's table.

"This is Spirit Wine purchased by our trading company. Please have a taste, Senior."

Sloppy Old Man extended his oily hand, grabbed the wine bottle, uncorked it, took a sip, and then exhaled a breath.

"Haha! Good wine! I like your attitude. In fact, the method for transferring a Spirit Vein by a Foundation Building cultivator is less efficient than that of a Golden Core cultivator. Moreover, with a medium-grade Spirit Vein, you can only move about half of it."Sloppy Old Daoist continued to talk while grabbing a kitchen knife. With a series of swift cuts, he carved the fat chicken into large pieces.

"You're in luck, kid. Let's eat together," Sloppy Old Daoist said, pointing to a nearby chair, inviting Wang Hong to sit and eat with him. He had already grabbed a big piece of chicken and was busy enjoying it.

Wang Hong didn't stand on ceremony with the old man either. He took a seat beside him and picked up a piece of chicken, taking a bite.

The chicken was tender and flavorful. Wang Hong couldn't help but admire Sloppy Old Daoist's culinary skills.

"To manipulate a Spirit Vein, you must first understand its composition. A large Spirit Vein can be divided into a hundred medium-sized Spirit Veins, and a medium-sized Spirit Vein can be divided into a hundred small Spirit Veins. When manipulating a Spirit Vein, in order to increase the chances of success, it's often divided into smaller units for manipulation," Sloppy Old Man explained, taking a sip of Spirit Wine to moisten his throat.

"For example, the medium-sized Spirit Vein you want to manipulate, when done by Golden Core cultivators, would be divided into a hundred small Spirit Veins, each pulled separately. However, if a Foundation Building cultivator is doing it, they must break it down into even smaller units. Due to the insufficient Spiritual Power and Divine Sense of Foundation Building cultivators, it will cause the Spirit Qi within the Spirit Vein to dissipate. So, even if you manage to successfully manipulate it, you'd be lucky to have half of it left. Moreover, manipulating a Spirit Vein as a Foundation Building cultivator requires a significant amount of Spiritual Objects."

Wang Hong refilled Sloppy Old Daoist's wine glass and asked, "So, you mean that when you move this medium-sized Spirit Vein to its destination, only half of it will remain?"

"That can only be considered as fifty small Spirit Veins. Even if you manage to collect a hundred small Spirit Veins, it's not a guarantee that you can merge them back into a medium-sized Spirit Vein. Splitting Spirit Veins is easy, but merging them back is difficult. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Spirit Veins are usually not divided," Sloppy Old Daoist sighed, knowing the difficulties involved in Spirit Vein manipulation all too well.

"The method I'm going to teach you involves using a secret technique to condense the Spiritual Energy within the Spirit Vein into a Spirit Source Pearl. Then, you take this Spirit Source Pearl to your desired location, bury it underground, and after a period of cultivation, it will transform back into a Spirit Vein."

After Sloppy Old Daoist had eaten and drunk his fill, he took out a blank Jade Scroll, placed it on his forehead, and after a moment, he stored the information he wanted to impart to Wang Hong in it.

"Senior Chu, may I pass on this technique to the subordinates in my trading company?" Wang Hong asked, hoping that by teaching this technique to others, he could significantly improve the efficiency of moving Spirit Veins.

"You can handle that yourself," Sloppy Old Daoist replied. This technique was somewhat redundant, and even if someone learned it, moving a Spirit Vein would still be challenging. That's why Sloppy Old Daoist was not too concerned about passing it on so easily.

"Thank you, Senior!" Wang Hong expressed his gratitude.

"Don't mention it. In the future, if you come across any good ingredients, remember to send me some. It's more effective than saying ten thousand words of thanks. Well, it's getting late today; you should head back now."

"I'll take my leave then." Wang Hong bid farewell to Sloppy Old Daoist and returned to his cave mansion.

Over the next few days, he took on some Alchemy tasks at the Pill Hall to earn contribution points and then exchanged them for various books at the Scripture Tower. He never seemed to stop, as if he genuinely intended to read all the Jade Scrolls in the Scripture Tower.

A little over a month passed, and three young Foundation Building cultivators came to visit Wang Hong's cave mansion. These three were the juniors recommended by the hall masters Blue Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise.

[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]