Unlimited priesthood

Chapter 129: Cultivation
Shen He sat on the back of the Iron Feather Eagle, using the Spirit Control Technique to mobilize his spiritual power and simultaneously activating his martial arts essence, pouring it all into his storage bag. Soon, the golden thread swam away like a dragon, and the tightly tied bag opening opened.

Shen He probed with his spiritual sense and found a space about ten square meters in size, containing various items, all neatly organized and clearly separated, requiring no further effort from him.

After some calculation, the result was obtained.

First, there are the magical artifacts. Ding Shengji is quite wealthy. Besides the Thunderfire Magic Sword and Xuanjin Magic Shield he used before, he also has several mid-grade magical artifacts and a high-grade magical artifact for escaping and traveling—the Flying Shuttle.

Secondly, there were pills, talismans, and consumables such as spirit stones. Because he used the Thunderous Dragon, a martial art of form and intent, Ding Shengji was killed instantly, so many pills and talismans were not used in time, and there was a huge pile of spirit stones, about five thousand.

For a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining, this wealth is already considered extremely extravagant.

Although Shen He had never been in contact with the cultivation world, he had been in contact with cultivators. After all, during this period, he acted under the name of the Fisherman and committed many major crimes in the five prefectures of Dongting, destroying several gangs and families, which would definitely attract some cultivators.

He arrested several people early on and, using some less-than-harmonious methods, extracted information about the cultivation world and some knowledge related to cultivation from them.

Therefore, Shen He also had some understanding of the value of these magical artifacts, talismans, elixirs, and spirit stones.

In short—generous!
The value of Ding Shengji's magical artifacts, talismans, pills, and spirit stones has exceeded that of ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, and is almost comparable to that of some Foundation Establishment cultivators who came from independent cultivation backgrounds.

Why are they so extravagant?

Shen He quickly found the reason among a pile of cultivation technique jade slips.

"Thunder and Fire Thunderclap Technique!"

"Basic Weapon Forging Techniques!"

"Basic Talisman Making Techniques!"

"Initial understanding of the formation!"

"The Great Compassionate Ode to Yin and Yang..."

After looking at this pile of cultivation techniques jade slips, Shen He's doubts were immediately resolved.

This Ding Shengji is actually a weapon refiner!

Danfu Qizhen (丹符器阵) is a prominent field of cultivation, known as one of the four major origins of all cultivation arts.

Whether one is an alchemist, talisman master, weapon maker, or array master, as long as one masters one skill, one can establish oneself in the cultivation world, and even become wealthy and build a career.

Ding Shengji was a weapon refiner, a genius weapon refiner with the spiritual root of thunder and fire. His weapon refining skills had reached the third level, and he was able to refine high-grade magic weapons. The Thunderfire Magic Sword was his masterpiece.

In addition, he also has a sect. Although it is only a small sect at the Foundation Establishment stage, as the core member, he still needs to be nurtured. Therefore, his storage bag contains not only various pills and spirit stones for cultivation, but also many protective talismans and magical artifacts.

It was only because Shen He's Xingyi Shenwu was powerful enough to pierce through the shield and break through the spell to kill him in one strike; otherwise, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator might not have been able to save his life if the battle had continued.

It is evident that his identity as a "weapon refiner" brought him many benefits.

"Of the three high-grade magic weapons, the Thunderfire Sword and the Profound Gold Shield were damaged by me. Although they were not completely destroyed, they were no longer of great use and could only be reforged."

"The flying shuttle is intact, but it's stolen goods. This person has a sect behind him, plus the temptation of the Dongting Fisherman's Path and the immortal treasures. It can't be shown to anyone easily, and even those few mid-grade magic weapons are hard to sell."

"Fortunately, pills, talismans, and spirit stones do not have this hidden danger and can be used directly. However, it is necessary to identify the medicinal properties and distinguish between poisonous pills, elixirs, and talismans."

"leftover……"

Shen He turned his gaze to the remaining items, which were mostly materials and miscellaneous items.

Needless to say, as a weapon refiner, collecting materials is a professional instinct, and Ding Shengji is no exception. He has stored up a large number of spiritual items of different grades and types.

Shen He selected a few suitable pieces of gold and iron wire to reinforce his fishing rod, leaving everything else as is for later.

He rummaged through the remaining odds and ends and finally found an ancient book.

The Travels of Xu Xiake

It turned out to be a geographical book compiled by a cultivator, recording the customs, traditions, and anecdotes of various countries and regions.

Shen He then took out another map and laid it flat on the back of the iron sculpture, comparing it with the contents of Xu Xiake's Travels.

He drew this map himself, corroborating information he obtained from interrogating several cultivators, and finally created this map, which marks the location of the "Cultivation World".

It's called the cultivation world, but it's really just a few markets and towns.

According to the travelogue of Xi Jinping and the accounts of those cultivators, the inland areas are mostly mortal lands, with only a few places possessing high-level spiritual veins. However, these places are all occupied by several major Golden Core sects and are considered forbidden areas, inaccessible to outsiders.

Only some lesser spiritual lands are used for market operations or occupied by small Foundation Establishment sects and families.

However, there is no difference, because these small Foundation Establishment sects and families will also open up spiritual lands as markets in order to earn spirit stones. Unaffiliated cultivators mainly gather in these markets.

However, this is only the inland cultivation world. It is said that the overseas lands are full of primordial spirits, and the cultivation world there is even more prosperous. There are not only Core Formation cultivators, but also Nascent Soul old monsters, and even the legendary Divine Transformation Ancestor. The various immortal islands are also ancient heritages, and there are various relics left by predecessors that can be explored and discovered.

However, the author of "Xia Ke's Travels" did not witness it firsthand, and the cultivators Shen He interrogated had only heard about it. Whether it was true or false remains to be seen.

Shen He has no plans to explore further for the time being. This inland region has three kingdoms and five sects, and all five sects have Core Formation cultivators, which is enough for him to keep busy for a while. It's not too late to explore overseas after dealing with these.

……

After comparing several options, Shen He finally settled on one place: Red Maple Valley!
This place is located in the Hundred Thousand Mountains on the border of Chen and Xing. It was originally a low-level spiritual land where rogue cultivators gathered. Later, it gradually developed into a market town, jointly controlled by several Foundation Establishment forces, rather than being dominated by one. As a result, it attracted more rogue cultivators.

A minor hermit lives in the forest, a major hermit lives in the city.

This place is perfect!

Having determined the direction, Shen He immediately urged the Iron Feather Eagle to head towards Red Maple Valley.

And so it went, half a month later.

The Ten Thousand Mountains are unfathomably deep, teeming with venomous snakes and ferocious beasts, and also shrouded in miasma.

Human traces have vanished here; even hunters and woodcutters dare not venture deeper into this place.

However, one could occasionally see spiritual light rising and falling, as if immortals were walking inside.

On the Iron Feather Eagle, Shen He sat firmly as a mountain, focusing his spiritual power in his eyes. He quickly found a strange place in the vast wilderness and immediately ordered the Iron Feather Eagle to descend.

"Wow!"

The Iron-feathered Eagle descended into the mist, where the mountains and forests no longer resembled mountains or forests.

They had clearly entered a battle formation.

But it was neither dangerous nor complicated. As soon as Shen He opened his Spirit Eye, he saw a narrow path appear in the forest.

He put the Iron Feather Eagle into the beast-taming bag donated by a generous servant, and then walked along the narrow path.

Before long, they came to a mountain with a small opening that seemed to emit light. Shen He walked into it. At first, it was extremely narrow, barely wide enough for a person to pass through. After walking several dozen steps, it suddenly opened up into a bright and spacious place.

Shen He stepped inside, took a breath of air, and immediately felt the difference. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was much more abundant, making him feel comfortable all over and his meridians were at ease.

Shenhe continued forward and saw another gate tower. Two people stood under the gate tower, dressed in uniform, like soldiers guarding the city.

Shen He stepped forward and saw someone raise their hand to block his way.

"Entry fee is ten spirit stones!"

Seeing this, Shen He didn't say anything more and directly took out ten spirit stones and handed them to the other party.

The man took the spirit stone and then took out a jade tablet, continuing his routine: "It contains ten strands of spiritual energy. One strand is consumed each day. There are law enforcement patrols in the valley. Those who run out of spiritual energy must replenish it in time or leave the valley. Those who linger without permission will be severely punished."

Shen He nodded, took the jade token, and went into the valley.

After passing through the gatehouse, the fog completely dissipated, and a pastoral landscape was revealed before Shenhe's eyes.

This is a valley, an exceptionally vast valley.

In the valley, there were fields on both sides, with only a dirt road in the middle. It looked extremely simple and rustic, quite different from the scenery of the cultivation world that I had imagined.

The farmland on both sides was clearly divided, with neat and uniform furrows, and many farmers were working hard in the fields, which seemed no different from the secular rural scene.

But it was just an observation; soon an old farmer stood by the field, his hand forming a hand seal as he channeled his magic: "Rain, come!"

With a soft shout, the wind and clouds suddenly stirred, gathering above the fields and descending a small patch of spiritually rich rain, irrigating the rice that was clearly a spiritual plant, making the spiritual rice even more succulent.

"drink!"

On the other side, a farmer shouted in a deep voice, pointed two fingers together as if shooting out a golden light, and knocked down a strange locust flying in the field. He then hurriedly stepped forward and put it into his bag.

A strange yet ordinary scene.

Turning back to the original scene, after casting the Lesser Cloud Rain spell, the old farmer did not leave. Instead, he sat down in front of the small hut by the field, took out his pipe and began to smoke. During this time, he squinted at his spiritual field, his eyes filled with the joy of an impending harvest.

Shen He withdrew his gaze, not wanting to disturb them, and continued walking forward.

The old farmer behind him didn't notice anything amiss. He merely glanced at it with a puzzled look before looking away and continuing to smoke.

Shenhe continued onward, passing through vast fields, and finally came to a market town. Inside, there were many pavilions, and although it wasn't exactly bustling with carriages and horses, there were people coming and going.

What's even stranger is that outside this market, there is a cluster of low-rise houses that look very simple, even somewhat like "shantytowns." People come and go inside, children play, and clothes are drying in some places. They seem no different from ordinary people's homes.

Shen He didn't look around much and walked into the market. He saw a bustling scene with lights flashing on both sides of the street. Upon closer inspection, he saw the signs of various shops.

"True Talisman Pavilion!"

"The Elixir Rejuvenation Pavilion!"

"Fire Refining Hall!"

"..."

Aside from the various shop signs, the people on the road were also diverse, including monks, nuns, Taoist priests, shamans, scholars, knights-errant, hunters, fishermen, farmers, and even some alluring women dressed in light gauze and thin clothing.

(End of this chapter)