Immortality and Cultivation: I can extract entries from all things.

Fang He woke up very early.

The sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn, but inside the room it was still dark.

He lay in bed, his mind constantly calculating the remaining time.

The conscription order has been issued for three days, and there are 27 days left in the countdown.

The combination of the three terms does indeed improve cultivation efficiency.

But it's still far from reaching the third level of Qi Refining.

Fang He sat up, washed up quickly, and began to check her savings.

There were only two spirit stones in his purse, which was all his possessions.

I've already spent most of my money shopping at the market these past few days.

He needs more valuable entries.

However, to obtain the entry, you need to find items with historical imprints, which require spirit stones to purchase.

Not enough spirit stones, not enough entries, not enough cultivation level.

A vicious cycle.

Fang He took a deep breath and tied the money pouch back around her waist.

Can't wait any longer.

I'll go to the market again today to see if I can find anything of value.

He took out a few pieces of dry food from the cupboard, put them into a cloth bag, and filled a leather sack with water.

The market town wasn't close; it would take half a day to get there and back, so he planned to stay there a while longer.

Before leaving, Fang He glanced back at the simple thatched hut.

The old wooden door was drafty, the window paper let in the wind, and a few farm tools were piled up in the corner.

This was all his possessions.

If a breakthrough cannot be achieved within 27 days, all of this will be meaningless.

He pushed open the door and walked along the path towards the market.

Qing'ao Island was exceptionally quiet in the early morning.

The sea breeze blew in from afar, carrying a faint salty smell.

On both sides of the road are rolling spiritual fields, and the lush green spiritual valleys sway gently in the morning breeze.

Fang He walked through fields of spiritual energy, occasionally encountering a few familiar rogue cultivators.

"Fang He, so early?"

"Let's go check out the market."

"If you're lucky, bring me two spirit grain seeds."

"OK."

They exchanged a simple greeting and went their separate ways.

The rogue cultivators at the bottom are all busy making a living and have no time to chat.

After walking for about half an hour, the outline of the market came into view.

The market was more lively than a few days ago, with several more stalls and more independent cultivators coming and going.

Fang He slowed down, his gaze sweeping over the various stalls.

He pretended to stroll around, but secretly used his cheat code to examine every item.

The first stall displayed several low-grade spirit stone fragments and a few spirit herbs.

Fang He picked up a fragment of a spirit stone and focused his mind to sense it.

No response.

The second stall sells talismans, mostly low-level fireball talismans and protective talismans.

Fang He explored each area one by one, but still found no historical traces.

The third stall sold a variety of old items, including worn-out wooden boxes, rusted iron pieces, and broken pottery jars.

The stall owner was a thin old man who was sitting to the side, dozing off.

Fang He squatted down in front of the stall, picked up each item, and carefully examined them.

The broken wooden box did not respond.

Rusty iron sheet, no reaction.

The broken pottery jar showed no reaction.

He stood up and continued walking forward.

After inspecting seven or eight stalls in a row, not a single item showed any signs of history.

Fang He frowned slightly, a hint of anxiety in her heart.

While having a knack for finding a way to enhance your skills is helpful, it's not a panacea. Most items at these stalls are either new or have little historical value. Truly authentic and meaningful items are extremely rare.

He circled around a few more times before finally stopping in front of a stall selling fragments of magical artifacts.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man. In front of him were various broken fragments of magical artifacts, including broken sword blades, shattered shield fragments, and some metal blocks that he couldn't identify.

Fang He picked up a piece of rusted iron and examined it carefully.

No response.

He picked up a broken jade bowl, and the moment his fingertips touched the rim of the bowl, a faint sensation appeared in his mind.

Got it!

Fang He was overjoyed. He concentrated, and the panel appeared:

[Retrievable historical traces detected]

Item: Damaged jade bowl

[Historical Imprint: The Collection of Ordinary Nobles (Gray)]

The collections of ordinary nobles?

Fang He was somewhat disappointed. A gray mark, and just an ordinary person's collection—what value could it possibly have?

He tentatively chose to extract.

"Yes."

But a prompt sounded in my mind:

Extraction failed.

[Note: Only historical imprints of unclaimed items or items owned by the user can be extracted.]

Fang He was stunned for a moment.

It turned out to be the case.

The cheat device can only extract unclaimed items or items that already belong to the user.

The jade bowl is still on the stall and belongs to the stall owner, so it cannot be taken away.

To obtain an entry, you have to buy it first.

Fang He looked up and asked, "How much is this jade bowl?"

The stall owner raised his eyelids and looked at him: "Two spirit stones."

"Two pieces?"

Fang He frowned. "This jade bowl is cracked; it's more like half a spirit stone."

The stall owner curled his lip: "Half a piece? You think this is junk? It's at least a piece."

"Five fragments of spirit stones."

The stall owner waved his hand: "Take it, take it."

Fang He took out five spirit stone fragments and handed them over, then put the jade bowl into his pocket.

He went to a secluded corner and focused his mind again:

【Whether to extract? 】

"Yes."

An image flashed through my mind.

In a magnificent mansion, a man in a brocade robe sat upright in the hall, with various rare and precious antiques displayed in front of him.

The jade bowl was one of them. The man played with it for a while, then put it away and never touched it again.

The image fades, and the light spots coalesce:

Extraction successful

[Entry obtained: Introduction to Appreciation (gray)]

[Entry Effect: Apprenticeship (gray), increases judgment of item value by 5%]

Fang He's lips twitched slightly.

It really is a useless entry.

The effect of increasing the perceived value of an item by 5% is so slight as to be almost negligible.

It might be of some use when buying things at the market, but it's of no help to cultivation.

But at least it was a gain.

He continued wandering through the market and stopped in front of a stall selling seeds of spiritual plants.

The stall owner was an old woman, and in front of her were various kinds of spiritual herb seeds, most of which were ordinary goods of average quality.

Fang He casually flipped through the pages, and a withered seed of a spiritual herb caught his attention.

The seeds were shriveled and looked unlikely to germinate.

He focused his mind on probing:

[Retrievable historical traces detected]

[Item: Withered Spirit Grass Seed]

[Historical Imprint: Experience in Cultivating Spiritual Plants (Gray)]

There is a mark, but it's just gray.

Fang He asked, "How much is this seed?"

The old woman glanced at it and said, "That one's withered. If you want it, take three spirit stone fragments."

Fang He took out three spirit stone fragments and handed them over, then put the seed into his pocket.

He found a secluded corner and probed again:

【Whether to extract? 】

"Yes."

The image of a middle-aged man flashed through my mind.

He bent over and worked in the spirit field, carefully cultivating a spirit herb, but due to improper methods, it eventually withered.

The image fades, and the light spots coalesce:

Extraction successful

[Acquired entry: Spirit Herb Sensing (Gray)]

[Affix Effect: Herb Sensitivity (Gray), Sensitivity to herbs +5%]

Fang He looked at this entry and felt both amused and exasperated.

He already has [Plant Affinity (Gray)], which increases his affinity for spiritual plants by 10%.

The effect of this new term overlaps with the former, so it is not very valuable.

An entire afternoon was wasted, and all I got were two useless entries.

Fang He stood in a corner of the market, watching the crowds coming and going, feeling somewhat dejected.

He understood where the problem lay.

Most of the items in the market are "common goods," either newly made cheap products or old items with no real origin.

Things with real stories and value won't appear at these kinds of stalls.

What he needed to find were items with a provenance, those that had actually been used by monks and contained valuable experience.

But such items are often quite expensive.

Fang He touched the money pouch at his waist; there was less than one spirit stone left inside.

Just as he was about to leave, a commotion suddenly broke out at the other end of the market.

Someone was crying loudly.

Fang He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of people gathered in a corner of the market, with a woman kneeling in the middle, crying her heart out.

He took a few steps closer, stood on the periphery of the crowd, and listened for a while.

"My son was only twenty-three years old! He was conscripted by you, and after three months you haven't even found his body!"

"What kind of compensation did the Zhou family offer? A bag of spirit grains? A few kind words? Is that all my son's life was worth?"

The woman's cries were heart-wrenching, and the surrounding monks discussed among themselves.

"Another death from conscription, sigh."

"I heard that less than half of the last group of independent cultivators who went to sea returned."

"With the sea monsters causing such a ruckus, being drafted is just suicide."

"The lives of rogue cultivators are worthless to begin with."

Fang He stood in the crowd, his expression solemn.

He thought of the impending draft notice and the numbers on his countdown.

Twenty-seven days.

If he cannot break through, he will be conscripted.

Being drafted could very well mean death.

The woman's crying continued, but Fang He could no longer hear it.

Only one thought was in his mind:

We must break through!

Fang He turned and left the crowd, continuing to wander around the market.

As dusk fell, the stall owners began to pack up their goods.

As he was about to leave, a corner stall selling miscellaneous items caught his attention.

The stall was inconspicuous, displaying all sorts of junk collected from the sea.

There were broken fishing nets, shattered boat planks, and some other fragments whose names I didn't know.

Fang He's gaze fell on one of the fragments.

It was a dark, palm-sized piece of metal, covered with a thin layer of rust.

Its shape is irregular, and it appears to be part of some kind of object.

He took a few steps closer and focused his attention on probing.

A sense of unease arose in my mind.

It bears the marks of history!

Fang He was overjoyed and was about to take a closer look when the stall owner spoke up.

"Those are fragments of an alchemy furnace, drifting in from the sea, their origins unknown."

Fragments of an alchemy furnace?

Fang He's heart skipped a beat. A pill furnace is an artifact used by alchemists. If this fragment really came from an alchemist's pill furnace, it might be a valuable entry.

How much?

The stall owner held up three fingers.

"Three spirit stones."

Three spirit stones!

Fang He felt his purse; there was less than a dollar left. He frowned and said:

"Too expensive. This thing is so broken, who knows if it's really a fragment of a pill furnace? Half a spirit stone, would you sell it?"

The stall owner glanced at him sideways and sneered:

"Half a spirit stone? Are you trying to fob me off like a beggar? I've had someone examine this thing; it's definitely a fragment of a pill furnace. It might even be able to be refined into some medicinal energy. If you don't have money, don't hold me back from doing business."

"One spirit stone, that's all I have."

Don't give me that crap.

The stall owner waved his hand, ignoring him, "If you don't have money, get out of the way and don't block my way to pack up."

Fang He stood there, looked at the fragment of the alchemy furnace, then at the stall owner's indifferent face, and finally could only give up in frustration.

He memorized the location of the stall and turned to leave the market.

As Fang He walked back to the spirit field, he kept making plans in his mind.

That fragment of the alchemy furnace might be a relic of the alchemist.

If it's truly valuable, it's worth buying at any cost.

But he needs more spirit stones.

Three spirit stones were no small sum for him.

He has to find a way to raise the money.