“`
The next morning, in a wooden building on the hillside.
Chen Mu stood by the window of the second floor’s quiet room, looking down the mountain.
Three enormous Cloud Bat Flying Boats were breaking through the clouds, spewing rolling white smoke, slowly descending to the ground.
With a twitch of his ears, the scene near the Pingjiang Pier appeared in his mind.
Just like when he had first arrived, disciples from the Lower Institute, with blank expressions on their faces, were led by Elder Liu of the Administrative Affairs Institute, slowly making their way toward Goose Yang Mountain.
“Another collapse of the Lower Institute’s earth veins? Aren’t the elders on Goose Yang Mountain going to take care of it?” Chen Mu furrowed his brows.
Thinking of the Lei Family’s high-profile recruitment for shipbuilding, a faint understanding arose in his heart, “The high cultivators of Qi Refinement on Goose Yang Mountain must have decided to completely abandon the Goose Sheep Path territory and prepare wholeheartedly for relocation.”
With that thought, he turned around, walked back, and sat down on the low bed in the quiet room, taking a careful look at the Mustard Spell Jade Slip on the small table beside him.
“This is also good, the sooner I leave, the safer it will be.”
With the crisis of dissipating Earth Spirit Vital Energy ahead and the clandestine upheaval of the Lock Dragon Courtyard behind, Chen Mu always felt that the situation in Yunzhou was eerily dangerous.
There were twenty-eight talismans for the Mustard Seed foundation, a sizable number, but the difficulty of each individual talisman seemed to be only average.
“No wonder the Lei Family uses this secret technique as an assessment. It’s more convenient to examine someone’s mastery of the talismans one by one in sequence,” Chen Mu realized in his heart.
Having received the Mustard Seed Spell yesterday evening, he had begun to ponder it that night.
At this moment, inside the Jade Seed, a mung bean-sized, dark-silver bead floated, one of the twenty-eight talismans of the Mustard Seed Spell.
With a single thought, a gray wall appeared before his eyes.
Mustard Seed Spell: 33/10000/First Rank;
“Judging by the current progress, three days should be enough to master half of it. Even if the Lei Family’s recruitment requirements are extremely strict, my speed should be sufficient to pass the test.”
…
Three days later.
On the eastern waist of Goose Yang Mountain, there was a cluster of wooden buildings hidden among dense forests.
In the living room of a two-story building, Chen Mu’s right forefinger was pressing on a palm-sized jade token. As mana poured in, three cool, black spots emerged.
Sitting opposite him across a square tea table, Lei Wen revealed a satisfied smile.
“The Mustard Seed Spell consists of twenty-eight talismans, and each one has its difficulties.”
“To master three talismans in three days, Brother Li truly has an extraordinary talent for Artifact Refining,” he praised cheerfully.
Chen Mu shook his head earnestly in correction, “Brother Lei is mistaken, my talent is only average. If I’ve managed to master these three talismans, it’s merely because I’m a bit more diligent than others.”
Lei Wen: “…”
Just humoring you, yet you take it so seriously.
The difficulty of the Mustard Talismans is average at the beginning, only as more talismans are refined does it become difficult due to the talismans’ mutual repulsion.
He had interviewed quite a few Qi Cultivators these past days, and learning three talismans in three days was only considered average.
“I wonder when Brother Li will be able to assist my Lei Family in shipbuilding,” Lei Wen decided to change the subject.
“Any time,” Chen Mu spoke up immediately.
“There’s no rush,” Lei Wen said with a smile: “There are some other fellow Daoists who need to be arranged as well.”
“In that case, Brother Li, please come here again in two days. We will meet with the other fellows and go together to the Pingjiang Dojo to assist my Lei Family in shipbuilding.”
…
On the eastern side of Goose Yang Mountain is Pingjiang.
The river was several hundred feet wide, deep and abyssal, its surface calm with no waves, giving off a chilling aura just by looking at it.
In the deep depths of the water, unnamed semi-transparent clams were scattered across the riverbed. Fist-sized clams emitted specks of luminescence, casting a surreal glow on the pitch-black riverbed, illuminating it completely.
One after another, football field-sized giant turtle shells lay quietly on the bottom of the river.
The numerous Qi Cultivators atop the turtle shell, protected by the Water-Repelling Pearl, are now positioned all over the surface, forming spell gestures with their hands and chanting curse words.
Atop a particular peak of the turtle shell, Chen Mu sat cross-legged with his right hand pressing down on the coarse turtle shell.
The Jade Seed Inner Magical Power surged, and seven dark silver talismans shone brilliantly, as if an invisible brush were painting, a series of intricate black lines began to snake across the shell.
This was Chen Mu’s tenth day since joining the Lei Family’s shipbuilding team. His daily task was to inscribe seven Mustard Talismans at specific locations on the turtle shell beneath him, following Lei Wen’s instructions.
Repetitive, monotonous, simple.
After a while, Chen Mu withdrew his hand, let out a fake sigh, and wiped the sweat he had deliberately forced on his forehead. He then pretended to close his eyes to recuperate due to a feigned physical depletion.
It took him three days to learn three Mustard Talismans, and each time after casting spells he had to rest for a while, displaying capability yet also limits. This was the persona he had crafted after observing over thirty fellow cultivators—a Qi Cultivator of average ability in middle age.
“Now that I’ve successfully hitched a ride on the Lei Family’s favorable winds, seeking the limelight is something I’ll certainly avoid.”
During his slacking off time, Chen Mu was not simply sitting idly but allowed his concentration to sink into the Jade Seed.
The Mana churned and seven tiny vortexes appeared. The mist-like mana congregated and condensed into seven dark silver spheres adorned with some simple patterns.
Just as these seven brand-new Mustard Talismans materialized, the previously refined fourteen Mustard Talismans began to vibrate in unison.
In the next instant, seven of the talismans silently disintegrated.
Behind his closed eyelids, images of a gray wall flickered. Chen Mu couldn’t help but glance at it.
Mustard Seed Spell: 5673/10000/First Rank;
“No wonder it’s a spell capable of opening a Mustard Grotto Heaven, to truly master it, I must continue practicing.”
The Mustard Seed Spell is extremely peculiar. The individual foundation talismans—a total of twenty-eight—are not difficult, but the difficulty lies in how to make them manifest simultaneously.
By the fifth day of acquiring the spell, he had already mastered two sets of fourteen talismans. Now, more than ten days later, the number of Mustard Talismans he could condense within the Jade Seed was still fourteen.
“Luckily, as long as I master a set of seven talismans, they are of great use. Otherwise, I would have needed to show more of my abilities to blend into the Lei Family’s Refining Team.”
The Lei Family apparently also understood the difficulty of the Mustard Seed Spell. They did not require complete mastery; as long as one could control a set of talismans and collaborate with other Qi Cultivators, they would recruit them to assist in ferry crafting.
With his eyes closed, Chen Mu continuously refined the Mustard Seed Spell, and in half an hour, undertook the refinement of the twenty-eight talismans ten times in turn.
Seeing that only fourteen talismans could coexist within the Jade Seed, he didn’t pay much attention to it.
The Mustard Seed Spell is capable of opening up a Mustard Grotto Heaven, which is quite magical. But with the Five Ghosts Bag and Thousand Lanterns City at his disposal, he didn’t have much need for a Mustard Grotto Heaven.
Chen Mu was curious about the mysteries of secret techniques, but not overly so. Leveling up was mostly for the sake of securing a backup plan for boarding the Lei Family’s ship.
After glancing at the steadily increasing experience of the Mustard Seed Spell, he turned his attention to pondering the progress of refining the River Chariot.
In recent times, he had completed another Divine Orifice Refinement. According to his calculations, in another three months with five more refinements, the Divine Orifice Talisman on the second layer could be completely transformed.
“For those veteran Qi Cultivators to achieve the Divine Orifice Second Transition, it mostly takes two to three years.”
“My pace is just mediocre,” Chen Mu feigned a modest sigh.
He then gleefully focused on the Dark Cloud True Method projected on the gray wall.
“If only the rate of my body’s transformation could be a bit faster…”
He wasn’t lacking in Primordial Energy, but every Divine Orifice Refinement brought about bodily transformations that required time. This was a major challenge limiting the speed of his Divine Orifice Refinements.
“The Dark Cloud True Method is a core secret transmission from the Li Yang Path; it helps a Qi Cultivator save Primordial Energy and reduces the risks while refining the Divine Orifice, but this isn’t the ultimate limit of this secret technique.”
“According to the feedback from the Gray Wall, the goal of the Dark Cloud True Method is to achieve extremely delicate Divine Orifice Refinements.”
“Reducing the risk and saving Primordial Energy are just secondary effects; improving the efficiency of Divine Orifice Refinements is the key.”
Thinking this, Chen Mu couldn’t help but glance at the experience displayed on the gray wall.
Dark Cloud True Method: 7129/10000/Fourth Rank;
“I’ll try maxing out the Fourth Rank first; perhaps that will reveal a method to accelerate the transformation of the body.”
Using the Truthful Listening Technique, he scanned the surroundings. Many Qi Cultivators were busy chanting spells, while others sat cross-legged and recuperated just like him.
Chen Mu estimated the time he had been resting, knowing he hadn’t overstayed, so he continued to close his eyes and accrue experience for the Dark Cloud True Method.
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