After binding with a genius, I became an immortal by exploiting loopholes.

The Sutra Repository is located on the east side of Mingfa Peak. It is a three-story blue stone building with two stone beasts at the entrance, their eyes gleaming.

The middle-aged female cultivator on duty maintained her indifferent expression and, without even looking up, had him register his identity token.

He went up to the second floor and went straight to the spell area.

A dozen bookshelves were lined up in a row, filled with jade slips, arranged according to their five elements.

He stopped in front of the bookshelf of wood-based magic and began flipping through them one by one.

"Fireball Technique" is a basic fire-based spell that condenses fireballs for attack. Its power is average, but it is cost-effective. It is a must-learn for beginners who cultivate with fire spiritual roots.

The Water Arrow Technique condenses water into arrows and shoots them out. It has decent penetrating power and is suitable for cultivators with water spiritual roots, but its power is relatively weak and it is ineffective against enemies with slightly stronger defenses.

The Stone Spike Technique involves protruding stone spikes from the ground, which is a surprise attack and suitable for ambushes. However, casting the spell requires one's feet to be firmly planted on the ground, which limits its effectiveness.

The "Wood Binding Technique" generates vines to entangle the enemy, focusing on control but lacking in lethality; against cultivators of the same level, it can only buy them a few breaths.

Lu Qingchen turned the pages one by one.

These spells all require 50 contribution points to exchange for, and each has its own limitations—some are not powerful enough, some have strict casting conditions, and some can only play a supporting role.

As a means of self-defense, they are better than nothing.

They may not be reliable when real danger arises.

He continued flipping through the pages.

A spell with 70 contribution points is significantly stronger than one with 50 contribution points, and some even come with special effects.

"Wind Blade Technique" is a wind blade attack that is fast and has strong cutting power. It is the most commonly used attack technique by cultivators with wind spirit roots.

"Golden Sword Technique" is a metal-based magic that condenses golden sword light for ranged attacks, with its penetrating power ranking among the top in its class.

Lu Qingchen lingered a moment longer in front of the "Golden Sword Technique"—Chu Yunfeng was a swordsman, and he had personally witnessed the power of this technique in the martial arts arena.

But he quickly looked away.

He possesses five spiritual roots, but his metal spiritual root is short and thin, making it difficult for him to forcibly cultivate metal-based techniques.

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Qingchen's gaze fell upon a jade slip that emitted a faint blue glow.

"Green Wood Sword Manual", exchange requirement: 100 contribution points.

Wood-elemental attack techniques use one's own wood-elemental spiritual power as a guide to condense green wood sword energy and release it for attack.

The sword energy is both sharp and vital; after striking an enemy, it can remain within their body, continuously damaging their meridians for several breaths.

Suitable for cultivators with a wood spirit root. The longer the wood spirit root and the purer the wood elemental power, the more solid the sword energy, the longer it stays, and the stronger the continuous damage.

Lu Qingchen placed the jade slip on his forehead.

The jade slip is protected by a restriction, allowing only the opening introduction and the first three lines of incantation to be viewed—this is the rule of the Scripture Pavilion. Before exchanging for the spell, disciples can only see the basic introduction and introductory fragments to determine if it suits them.

The complete incantation can only be read after the guardian cultivator removes the restriction and deducts contribution points.

He carefully read through the introduction to the sword technique and the beginner's manual.

The incantation is not long, and the path of spiritual energy circulation is not complicated, but each sword aura requires the wood element spiritual energy to be compressed to the extreme in order to condense into shape.

The threshold is the third level of Qi Refining, which he can currently practice.

One hundred contribution points is significantly more expensive than a spell that costs seventy contribution points.

The extra thirty contribution points are valuable because of the "sword energy retention" characteristic.

Ordinary spells either hit or miss, and the effect is immediate.

The situation is different when sword energy lingers—even if the first strike fails to cause fatal damage, the sword energy lingering in the enemy's body will continue to cause damage, which is equivalent to an attack having a continuous damage effect.

For low-level cultivators who don't have abundant spiritual energy reserves, this kind of sustained damage is more valuable than a simple burst of damage.

He put down the jade slip and pondered for a moment.

One hundred contribution points can be exchanged for a wood-based attack spell that can continuously deal damage.

The wood elemental root is the longest of his five elemental roots, giving him a natural advantage in cultivating wood-based techniques. The same techniques will be even more powerful in his hands.

That's it.

He took the jade slip, walked to the door, and handed it to the female cultivator on duty.

The female cultivator glanced at it, took out a token, and gently affixed it to the jade slip. The restriction was immediately lifted.

She made a note in the booklet: "The Green Wood Sword Manual, 100 contribution points, after deduction, 94 contribution points remain. This is a copy, to be kept by the disciple and not to be disclosed without the sect's permission."

Lu Qingchen accepted the jade slip with both hands and thanked him.

He didn't plan to use the remaining 94 contribution points immediately; he would save them, as they might be useful in the future.

......

After leaving the Sutra Repository, Lu Qingchen went to the small market at the foot of Mingfa Peak.

Now that I have the storage bag, it's time to buy the materials needed for transplanting the Earth Vein Spirit Embryo.

He walked slowly along the dozens of stalls set up on both sides of the mountain road, looking at each one one by one.

Bluestone slabs are the primary material.

The bottom and four walls of the pit need to be paved, which will take at least ten or twenty pieces.

This material itself is not rare; it is used in the sect for building houses and paving roads. However, Lu Qingchen had to be particular about the bluestone slabs he wanted—they had to be hard enough and have a fine texture to slow down the penetration of spiritual energy.

Ordinary paving stones have too many pores, making it easy for spiritual energy to leak out through the gaps, which is not enough to seal the underground cave.

He strolled around the market, comparing the quality of several stalls, and finally stopped at an old monk's stall.

The bluestone slabs here are cut neatly, each one is two fingers thick and a foot square, with a fine texture and a faint bluish-gray sheen on the surface.

Lu Qingchen squatted down and tapped it with his hand. The sound was dull, indicating that it was solid and of good quality.

The old cultivator said that these stone slabs were brought from the sect's old mine. They were originally used to build the spiritual medicine warehouse. The texture is much denser than ordinary bluestone, and the effect of blocking spiritual energy penetration is excellent.

Lu Qingchen compared two other companies and finally chose this one—although it was a bit more expensive, it was just right for sealing the underground cave.

The mud sealant is used to seal the gaps between the stone slabs.

This stuff is a bit more expensive than regular mud, but fortunately, you don't need much; a small jar is enough.

He found a jar at a stall selling talisman materials. The owner said it was made of some kind of spiritual soil mixed with talisman ink. After it dried, it became as hard as a stone and could prevent spiritual energy from penetrating.

The best jade for concealing concealment is the hardest to find.

He walked back and forth in the market twice before finally finding a piece at a small stall in a corner.

It's only the size of a thumb, grayish in color, with a rough surface, and looks no different from an ordinary stone.

However, after spiritual energy is injected, the light around it will be slightly distorted, and the fluctuations of spiritual energy will become disordered.

The stall owner was an old array master. He said that this kind of thing is usually used to set up the core of a concealment array. The piece he had was a leftover scrap from setting up an array before, and he was selling it cheaply.

The three items together cost more than twenty spirit stones.