Chapter Nineteen: The Laws of Cultivation

Thirdly, over these past eight days, Feng Yisheng had been living on the sweet potatoes growing along the cave’s walls, which replenished the spiritual energy he needed for cultivation.

Strangely enough, during these eight days, Feng Yisheng found that eating just two of these sweet potatoes each day completely satisfied his hunger for the entire day. In the last few days, after observing certain characteristics of these tubers, he deduced that what he had been eating was actually Fo-ti.

According to folklore, Fo-ti is a treasured ingredient in traditional medicine, known for its nourishing and restorative properties. It is said to prolong life, improve complexion, and enrich the blood. Consuming it over a long period is believed to turn white hair black again, restore youth, and offer countless benefits.

There is an old tale from a bygone dynasty of an elderly prisoner with the surname He, who was thrown into jail with no family or friends to bring him food. The prison fare was meager, but by chance, a vine sprouted along the wall of his cell, bearing tubers identical to the ones Feng Yisheng was now eating. The old man survived by eating these every day, and after a time, his white hair turned jet black. Thus, the plant came to be known as Fo-ti, or “He’s Black-Haired Root.”

Feng Yisheng sighed, “I just wonder how old this Fo-ti really is. If it’s thousands of years old, eating it might cause my body to explode from the sheer energy.” As the saying goes, too much of anything is harmful. Feng Yisheng was not greedy—he simply finished off every sweet potato growing on the vines in the cave.

In truth, these Fo-ti roots were not ancient—only a hundred years old. They had grown thanks to the overflow of spiritual power from the Pure Yang Ancestor’s Bagua Spirit Gathering Array, which nourished the vines during each of his cultivation sessions. Each time the ancestor practiced in this cave, some of his spiritual energy inadvertently fostered the growth of these Fo-ti roots.

Whether by accident or design, these century-old Fo-ti roots were just enough to replenish Feng Yisheng’s spiritual energy after his breakthrough in Qi Refining.

Last night, after advancing to the first level of Qi Refining, Feng Yisheng’s heart brimmed with anticipation. Now, he stood by the stone table in the cave, his eyes fixed intently on what lay atop it.

On the table rested the ancestor’s storage ring. Feng Yisheng’s expression was grave, yet a wild joy sparkled in his eyes.

After several breaths, Feng Yisheng finally managed to send a wisp of spiritual energy into the Pure Yang Ancestor’s storage ring. He glanced inside, and what he saw astounded him.

This was wealth beyond belief!

The interior space of the storage ring was as large as a house, occupying an area as vast as a football field. A third of it was piled high with gold bricks, each the size of a regular brick—these gold bars were the lowest form of currency in the cultivation world.

There was also a great heap of what appeared to be diamonds, but these were actually spirit stones, of far higher value than any gemstone in the mundane realm. Spirit stones were an intermediate currency in the world of cultivation, prized not only for their worth but also for the spiritual energy they contained, which could aid in cultivation—a fact that, of course, Feng Yisheng did not yet know.

Just the gold bricks and spirit stones here would drive any man mad with desire. This fortune was enough to buy a small country outright!

I’m rich! Feng Yisheng clicked his tongue in amazement.

Poverty had stunted his imagination; this was the only way Feng Yisheng could express the tumult within his heart.

Further inside the ring, rows of cabinets lined the walls, storing all manner of elixirs and rows of talismans, though at Feng Yisheng’s current level, he had no use for them yet.

Beside the cabinets stood ten weapons, gleaming with deadly sharpness, though Feng Yisheng had no desire to wield them for now.

Next to the weapons was a pile of books and a medallion inscribed with the words “Hall Master.” Feng Yisheng surmised that this must be the exclusive token of the Lingxiao Hall’s master, as the ancestor had mentioned. But now, being far from the cultivation world, the token was of little practical use.

His gaze shifted to the books. With a thought, one floated into his hand.

He leafed through it casually. The book, styled like an ancient tome, was titled “The Laws of Cultivation.”

It took Feng Yisheng about half an hour to browse through “The Laws of Cultivation.” Its contents covered the major realms of cultivation and information about various sects.

Through this book, Feng Yisheng gained some understanding of both the mundane world and the cultivation world. According to its pages, martial arts in the mundane world were divided into three realms.

The lowest was the Acquired Realm, followed by the Innate Realm, and finally, the Martial Grandmaster Realm.

Martial Grandmasters represented the pinnacle of power in the mundane world, but to cultivators, they were only a little stronger than ordinary men—still mere ants to be crushed at will.

Both the Innate and Acquired realms were further divided into three sub-levels: first, second, and third.

In the world of cultivation, the lowest rung was the Qi Refining Stage, itself divided into ten levels. Even the first level of Qi Refining was considered miraculous in the mundane world—practically a living immortal.

That was why the Pure Yang Ancestor had said that, after reaching Qi Refining, Feng Yisheng could walk the mortal world unchallenged.

In fact, only those Martial Grandmasters who reached the pinnacle of perfection could even begin to pose a threat to Feng Yisheng.

Of course, large-scale modern weaponry still posed a mortal danger to cultivators, so caution was always necessary.

Beyond Qi Refining lay the Foundation Establishment Stage, marking the cultivator as a mid-tier practitioner. After that came the Golden Core Stage, then the Nascent Soul Stage, and finally, the Divine Transformation Stage.

Upon reaching the Golden Core Stage, a cultivator became a high-level practitioner, second only to the very highest echelons.

Each major stage—Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Divine Transformation—was divided into early, middle, and late sub-stages.

A cultivator at the Golden Core Stage possessed enough power to rival a modern army of tens of thousands.

A Divine Transformation expert was even more terrifying; though perhaps not able to overturn mountains and seas, he was still more fearsome than the deadliest nuclear weapon known to the mundane world.

Because cultivators wielded such overwhelming power and posed such great threats, the laws governing cultivation had to be strictly enforced.

Legend has it that when Pangu created the heavens and earth, the world was filled with spiritual energy. In those primordial times, all beings practiced cultivation—an era later known as the Age of Cultivation. But after tens of thousands of years, the number of cultivators swelled to trillions, overwhelming the very laws of nature.

Spiritual energy became scarce, surging and spilling chaotically throughout the world. Wars erupted among cultivation nations over vital resources, leading to great upheaval and conflict.