Cultivation of Immortality: This is what unorthodox methods are like.

Boom! Boom!

The waterfall roared as it emerged from the huge hole in the mountaintop.

Hundreds and thousands of cultivators continuously channeled their magical power to gather water vapor on both sides of the waterfall, which stretched for thousands of meters.

The water vapor from this waterfall is one or two times purer than the water vapor from the Nujiang River.

Wang Quan discovered that most of these cultivators were practitioners of the new method, with a small number being innate martial artists.

The monks used magic to collect water vapor.

The warriors used the magical artifacts refined with blood to gather them.

These people were all bound with ropes and carried dry rations with them.

It will only come up after a certain amount of water vapor has been collected.

However, many people have built small platforms on both sides of the waterfall, where they can rest for a while after collecting some water vapor.

"Is the water they collect for their own use, or for the alliance?" Wang Quan asked curiously.

The monk guarding the waterfall hesitated for a moment before saying, "Two-thirds will be handed over to the Alliance, and one-third will go to the individual!"

hiss!

Wang Quan gasped.

Good heavens, the people in the New Law Alliance are really ruthless!

He chatted with the monk and learned that these people had come voluntarily, and even fought amongst themselves for the chance to collect water vapor by the waterfall.

Because spiritual practice is just too difficult.

The cultivator guarding the waterfall sighed, "The new method of cultivation is fast. There's no need to study the headache-inducing Daoist scriptures. As long as you have spiritual roots and a special physique, you can cultivate immortality."

"The only downside is the limited resources and spells."

"I wonder when the bigwigs at the top will be able to take the new law a step further and completely solve these two problems."

The king remained silent.

Some high-ranking members of the New Law Alliance are setting off a sunlit canteen in the second layer of the world.

There's simply no time to address these two issues with the new law.

Moreover, they won't solve it.

The two chatted idly, which gave Wang Quan a deeper understanding of the cultivators at the bottom of the New Law Alliance.

Many new cultivators are confused and, after years of practice, have only learned the spells corresponding to their own spiritual roots.

For example:

Those with a water elemental root find it easier to learn water-based spells, but progress is slower and the spells are less powerful when learning other spells.

Moreover, the more spiritual roots one has, the lower the efficiency of cultivation.

There are dozens of classifications, such as mixed spiritual roots, four spiritual roots, water and fire spiritual roots, heavenly spiritual roots, and earthly spiritual roots.

The monk said, "Actually, everyone is working very hard in their spiritual practice."

"However, due to limited talent, the results of our efforts are not significant."

Upon hearing this, Wang Quan sighed, "If they had put that effort into orthodox spiritual practice, perhaps they would have achieved even greater things."

The monk guarding the waterfall scoffed, "The Drowning Lower Monastery only selects a thousand people from the market each year."

"And in the market, hundreds of thousands, even millions of people compete for these one thousand spots every year!"

"Many people die every year because of this spot."

"And if you don't get a spot, you're not qualified to cultivate immortality!"

"So, everyone was forced to amend the new law!"

The king neither confirmed nor denied this claim.

In the human world, every county town has a Taoist temple that teaches Taoist scriptures for free; moreover, it provides food and lodging.

Anyone can go in and learn.

If the people in the market truly want to pursue orthodox cultivation, they can certainly go to the mortal world to study.

By studying three thousand volumes of Taoist scriptures, one can naturally enter the lower academy.

There's absolutely no need to fight tooth and nail for a spot.

A cup of tea's time...

A stick of incense...

The appointed time is approaching.

Two clouds drifted in from afar, one after the other.

The monk guarding the waterfall looked out and, upon realizing it wasn't the inspector's cloud, breathed a sigh of relief: "Is this the person you've been waiting for?"

Wang Quan looked out and saw Yun Duo, a round-faced Taoist nun.

call out!

The round-faced Taoist nun jumped down from the cloud, and before she landed, a cloud of smoke rose up beneath her feet and supported her.

On another cloud, twenty or thirty cultivators descended.

These monks, men and women, young and old, were all in high spirits.

The leader was a hunchbacked old man carrying a large box.

His eyes lit up when he saw Wang Quan: "Fellow Daoist, let's shower flowers!"

Wang Quan recognized the other person's face: "Who are you?"

The hunchbacked old man chuckled: "I saw you clearing up anomalies in Xijishan!"

"Your methods shocked me back then!"

"I studied it for a long time afterward, and although my methods improved, they were still not as efficient as yours!"

"Fellow Daoist, this anomaly is something even you cannot handle?"

"But...we're not as skilled as you!"

"You're just wasting your money by calling us here."

Wang Quan shook his head: "I haven't seen anything unusual this time!"

"My friend was just worried that I was outnumbered, so he asked you to come and help me, to bolster my position!"

The hunchbacked old man suddenly realized, "I see! They're using us as cannon fodder, as scapegoats!"

Royal power...

Why explain it so clearly?

The round-faced Taoist nun coughed: "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Those anomalies are actually easy to deal with, but there are many of them. I was worried that it would tire Fellow Daoist Sahua out, so I asked you for help."

The hunchbacked old man chuckled: "No need to explain, I understand!"

"Shall we set off now?"

Wang Quan nodded: "Let's go!"

A short while later, Wang Quan rode on a cloud carrying a round-faced Taoist nun, while the hunchbacked old man and his group rode on a cloud, and then headed straight for the central channel of the Nu River.

The Nu River is 800 miles wide, and boats come and go on its surface, making it very lively.

However, with the unusual activity in this area, there are significantly fewer boats now.

Even when there were boats, they tried to stay as close to the riverbank as possible.

However, this can easily affect the collection of evil energy such as "Iron Chain Sha".

The water in the center of the Nujiang River is surging, but not very rapid.

The crowd looked down from the clouds and saw more than a dozen large ships circling on the river.

These large ships are made of high-quality steel, some as large as three to five hundred meters long, and others as small as over a hundred meters.

The large ship was teeming with people and monsters.

Numerous pipes extend deep into the river, drawing water and pumping it into individual furnaces.

Spirits piled firewood under the stove, spewing out their magic and casting spells to fuel the fire.

Glug!

Glug!

The furnace roared, emitting steam, which was then collected by other furnaces and repeatedly refined until finally a kind of malevolent energy, such as the "Jiangyin Sha," could be produced.

call out!

call out!

Wang Quan and his companions jumped down from the clouds and landed on the largest ship.

This ship was specifically for refining a type of malevolent energy called "Water Echoing Aura" for the royal power.

This kind of malevolent energy requires the construction of a special structure deep in the center of the river, drawing the river water from the depths through the hollows in the structure, thus creating a water flow that emits strange sounds.

Ultimately, the cultivators collected these water streams and refined them into wisps of malevolent energy.

The boat captain, who was also the leader of the demon-refining group, quickly explained after learning the identities of Wang Quan and the others: "The special buildings below have all been occupied by anomalies!"

"We can't take back the building now."

"Of the members who went down to collect evil energy, four or five out of ten were killed."

"My lord, I feel that we should abandon this place, rebuild elsewhere, and start over."

"Those anomalies are a bit frightening."

Wang Quan shook his head: "What if something goes wrong again after we change locations? Should we keep changing locations?"

The boat captain remained silent.