Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 25 First Encounter with the Inscription (Please read further with monthly votes and recommendations)
After Instructor Fang announced the end of get out of class, some disciples took out their food boxes, while others went to the Taoist temple's dining hall in twos and threes.

Zhou Ling looked at Instructor Fang, who was tidying up the desk, walked over, and asked respectfully, "Instructor, this disciple wishes to cultivate inscription techniques, but I don't know which inscription technique would be suitable?"

When Instructor Fang saw that it was Zhou Ling and sensed the change in Zhou Ling's aura, a faint smile appeared on his face. He nodded in satisfaction and said, "Not bad, you have already entered the third level of Qi Refining!"

"Cultivate diligently, and you'll have a great chance of becoming an inner disciple in the future!"

After offering a few words of praise, Instructor Fang added,
"You have the five elements spiritual root and mainly cultivate fire attribute techniques. It is best to choose the basic five elements inscription, which is a relatively standard and universal inscription."

"It's suitable for building a foundation, just right for you."

"Your current weapon-refining skills are considered outstanding among your peers in the academy."

"If you can't understand it right away, practice it a few more times, or just ask me!"

Zhou Ling nodded and respectfully agreed.

With the talents of "the more setbacks, the stronger he becomes" and "basic analysis", even if there are inscriptions he doesn't understand, he can figure them out after practicing a few times.

Fang Lan then summoned another assistant, gave him a few instructions, and the assistant left.

Then Fang Lan reminded him with a smile, "The cost of drawing an inscription is far greater than that of drawing a rune."

"It not only requires high magical power, but also high quality in terms of the writing brush, spiritual paper, and spiritual ink. So you should be prepared for this kind of investment, and don't rush it."

"The current priority is to ensure that I can reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining in the next two years."

"Only in this way can we ensure that we can continue our cultivation at the Taoist academy."

The goal is to reach the fourth level of Qi Refining within the next two years and pass the major entrance exam for the Dao Academy.

Zhou Ling was still very confident. Although he was not as talented or resourceful as those scions of aristocratic families, he worked hard and had talent to back him up.

The chances are pretty good.

At this moment, the young assistant returned again, carrying a jade plate with a jade slip inside.

"These are the Five Elements Basic Inscriptions. There are thirty-six basic inscriptions related to the Five Elements attributes and the key points of drawing them. They are mostly first-tier low-grade inscriptions."

"Furthermore, there are five more mid-grade first-tier inscriptions. With your current cultivation level, it's too early for you to draw them. Don't try it lightly."

"Disciple understands!" Zhou Ling replied earnestly.

Instructor Fang nodded in satisfaction. He was usually a man of few words, but he had noticed Zhou Ling's performance.

He was a rogue cultivator with no outstanding talent, but through his own efforts, he did not lag behind in cultivation and was quite excellent in weapon crafting techniques.

He also greatly admired it.

He was clearly much more enthusiastic about teaching Zhou Ling.

“Inscriptions are all made up of basic inscriptions arranged in a specific way. A basic inscription consists of six inscriptions.”

"The greater the difficulty of inscription, the more numerous and complex the inscription patterns."

"The more varied the strokes and arrangements of the inscriptions, the more difficult it is to connect and combine them."

"But the fundamental principle remains the same: once you've laid a solid foundation, everything else will be easier!"

······.

Instructor Fang handed the jade slip to Zhou Ling and then introduced him to some aspects of inscription cultivation.

Zhou Ling listened attentively.

Finally, Instructor Fang advised, "To become a true weapon refiner, you need to invest a lot of effort and resources, and even more importantly, you need unwavering patience!"

He paused for a moment, then continued:
"At the same time, we must not be overly ambitious and blindly try to cultivate inscriptions that are beyond our capabilities."

"This disciple understands!" Zhou Ling replied respectfully.

Of course, in the end, I paid thirty spirit stones in exchange for this Five Elements Basic Inscription.

Although the sect's fees seem a bit too exorbitant, the price of such basic inscriptions on the market outside is probably much higher.

And importantly, the sect's teachings are included in the tutorial, which contains explanations and annotations of difficult points. This makes them much easier to understand.

It's incomparable to those ordinary techniques outside.

······.

After finishing her classes in the afternoon, Zhou Ling went to the market on West Street and went straight to Old Zhao's stall.

The spirit stones I had saved up for several months were gone in an instant, and I was back to square one.

He was also eager to earn some spirit stones.

Seeing Zhou Ling covered in sweat, Old Zhao greeted him with a smile, "Brother Ling, it's been several days since I've seen you!"

During this period, Zhou Ling earned a lot more money from the artifacts he repaired.

Zhou Ling wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the items displayed on the stall, and asked, "Do you have any low-grade, incomplete, or substandard first-tier magic artifacts?"

"A low-grade, substandard first-tier magic weapon? You can repair it?" Old Zhao glanced at Zhou Ling with suspicion.

"Never mind that! Does it exist or not?" Zhou Ling said.

"Yes, I do." Old Zhao bent down, rummaged through the sack beside him, and then carefully took out a somewhat old three-legged alchemy furnace.

"This is a low-grade first-tier fire-pattern furnace. I've had it for several years, and I don't know what's wrong with it."

"If it can be repaired, I'll give you five low-grade spirit stones!"

"Five low-grade spirit stones! Do you think I'm a beggar?!" Zhou Ling glared at him.

Despite saying that, he still reached out and took the alchemy furnace.

A first-grade low-level alchemy furnace currently costs at least twenty or thirty low-grade spirit stones on the market.

Even if it's a defective product, as long as it's repaired and can be used normally, it will still cost ten or twenty low-grade spirit stones.

Zhou Ling examined the fire-patterned alchemy furnace carefully and discovered that there were inscriptions drawn on its inner wall, two of which were patterns he had never seen before.

[You are observing the Fire Inscription. Basic Insight +1, Fire Inscription Proficiency +1]

With his [Basic Insight], he discovered that among the six inscriptions inside the alchemy furnace, only one was damaged, and the situation did not seem to be very serious.

Although he discovered the problem, Zhou Ling hesitated. If he couldn't fix it and accidentally damaged the alchemy furnace, he would have to pay a lot of spirit stones in compensation.

After all, Mingyin himself had only just come into contact with it.

"Let's take a gamble. We've identified the problem. Let's go back and analyze it carefully, and being extra cautious will prevent us from making a mistake!"

Zhou Ling thought to himself, even if it cannot be repaired, as long as he is careful enough, it should not lead to the destruction of the alchemy furnace.

It's unrealistic to expect to earn more spirit stones without any risk.

"Ten low-grade spirit stones!" Zhou Ling put down the alchemy furnace and smiled innocently.

"Ten yuan? How can you haggle like that, doubling the price?" Old Zhao glared at him.

However, he immediately thought to himself, "If it can really be repaired, this alchemy furnace can be sold for at least a dozen spirit stones, which is better than letting it gather dust in a sack!"

"Are you sure you can really fix it?" Old Zhao asked again, still uneasy.

"I'll give it a try!" Zhou Ling said.

"You'd better be careful, this alchemy furnace is very valuable!" Old Zhao carefully wrapped the alchemy furnace in a sack and solemnly warned Zhou Ling.

"Also, you'll provide the materials to repair the alchemy furnace!" Zhou Ling continued.

"You?" Old Zhao blew on his goatee, speechless for a moment.

······.

(End of this chapter)