Unlimited priesthood

Chapter 121 Cultivation
According to the man's confession, his name is Liang Feng, and he was originally an ordinary fisherman in the vast Dongting Lake.

But a hundred years ago, while fishing, he accidentally pulled a corpse from the water and found a martial arts manual and this storage bag on the body.

He also knew a little about the matter of immortal destiny, so he kept it a secret. On the surface, he continued to act as a fisherman, but in secret, he used his martial arts skills and experience to collect treasure fish to support his own cultivation.

But nothing stays hidden forever. Eventually, his unusual behavior was discovered and reported to the Iron Palm Gang.

That's right, the Iron Palm Clan. He obtained his immortal destiny a hundred years ago, when there was no Goldfish Clan, only the Iron Palm Clan.

Upon hearing the news, the Iron Palm Gang arrived at his home, captured his wife and children, and led their men to surround and kill him. Although he managed to break through the encirclement, his entire family perished at the hands of the Iron Palm Gang.

After that, he resolved to destroy the Iron Palm Clan, hid in Dongting Lake, and diligently practiced the martial arts in that secret manual. Finally, he was able to cultivate the Gang Yuan and used the Gang Yuan to open the storage bag that had not been opened for decades.

With some pills and talismans in his storage bag, he sneaked into the Iron Palm Gang's lair in the prefectural city and went on a killing spree, massacring the entire Iron Palm Gang. However, this also alerted the cultivators hidden in the prefectural city.

He had only practiced martial arts before, and was no match for cultivators who practiced magic and had magical artifacts. He only managed to escape with the help of a few talismans in his storage bag.

At this point, he realized how terrifying cultivators were, and once again went into seclusion in Dongting Lake to cultivate diligently. He acted under the name of "Fisherman," searching everywhere for those who had been persecuted by the Fishing Gang or other forces to the point of losing their families and lives, training them as disciples, and secretly developing his own power.

His purpose in training disciples and developing his power was simple: to help him capture a cultivator, extract information about the cultivation world from him, and then open the gates of the cultivation world.

That's why we had that big battle on the lake today.

His original target was not the fox-fur-clad young master who wielded a flying sword, but the young master of the Goldfish Gang and other wealthy young men. He wanted to use them to lure out a few cultivators with the "Gathering Spirit" cultivation level.

Unexpectedly, among this group of wealthy young men was a formidable figure, a sword cultivator whose cultivation had reached the "cultivation of magic" realm, and who also possessed a mid-grade magic weapon-level flying sword.

The flying sword was sharp and its attack was unparalleled. The power of that mid-grade flying sword was more terrifying than that of ordinary high-grade magic weapons. If he had not cultivated the Gang Yuan and had not kept a few life-saving talismans, he would probably have been killed by that fox-fur young master with a single sword strike.

Next, he was seriously injured and fell into the water, but was rescued by Shen He.

Life is full of strange twists and turns. Years ago, he rescued a dead man and gained a destiny with the immortals. Now, the same story is repeating itself, only this time his identity has changed; he has become someone else's destiny with the immortals.

But this was something he did himself; who told him to insist on targeting Shen He?

In fact, Shen He understood his actions. After all, poor and remote places breed wicked people. Under the pressure of a difficult life, many evils in human nature are amplified, and the fishermen of Dongting Lake are no exception. Countless people are acquiescing to the strong and bandits to the weak. They fish by day and kill and rob at night. It is not uncommon for them to be treated to wontons with a knife.

Liang Feng did a lot of things back then.

Given this, and considering his own experience, it's understandable that he would strike first to ensure his own safety when facing a colleague like Shen He.

Shen He can totally understand.

But his understanding doesn't mean he's tolerant!
Having lived several lifetimes and experienced countless vicissitudes, Shen He has come to understand many things in this world.

But understanding is one thing, and tolerance is another.

Just as existence is reasonable, the existence of things must have a reason, but having a reason does not mean that it is reasonable, and being reasonable does not mean that people should tolerate and accept it.

The same goes for Liang Feng; his reasons cannot change the fact that he took action, nor can they change the fact that he became the breakfast of the alligator gang.

Let's leave aside the matter of the dead for now.

First, look at the storage bag in front of you.

This is a spatial artifact, similar to the Spirit Ring in the Spirit Control World.

However, the Spirit Rings in the Spirit World are not crafted by Spirit Masters.

To be precise, all the tools and weapons in the Spirit World were not crafted by the Spirit Masters alone, but rather by borrowing the power of spirit beasts and spirit crystals.

For example, a Spirit Ring requires a Void-attribute spirit crystal as a material, and a Void-attribute spirit beast to cooperate with it. The power of the Void spirit beast is injected into the Void spirit stone in order to refine a Spirit Ring.

To put it bluntly, the technology involved is extremely low; it relies entirely on materials and the spirit beasts to withstand the attack.

However, this is understandable, since it is just a small world, and various methods are still under development, so it is only natural that the technology is not advanced.

This storage bag is different.

The cultivation system in the real world also has storage bags, but they are already ancient relics.

Advanced cultivators have invented even more advanced storage rings, as well as various spatial magic treasures and even immortal artifacts. They can store not only small items, but also entire landscapes, lakes, seas, and even planets.

Furthermore, these spatial magical artifacts are highly technical. Although they require certain material support, they are not entirely supported by materials; technology accounts for half of their success.

Low-level magical artifacts like storage bags don't require any materials at all. A single void talisman can turn something rotten into something magical, transforming an ordinary sack into a storage bag.

But that was the real world, the cultivation professions of the human empire.

this world……

Shen He looked at the storage bag in front of him, condensed his internal energy into a protective aura, and then entered it.

The moment the Qi Yuan touched it, a flash of light appeared, and the storage bag, which was tightly tied without any rope or strap, instantly loosened its grip.

"It's a bit rudimentary. It doesn't even have an identification system. Can it be opened simply by inputting enough energy?"

"However, it's understandable. After all, it's just a low-level magic artifact, and this world is only at the middle thousand level. The technology is rudimentary, so it's to be expected."

Shen He murmured to himself, then opened the bag. Inside, there was a space with a chaotic appearance. Various items were placed inside, clearly organized and arranged.

Shen He took them all out, counted them one by one, and finally came to the conclusion.

A pile of gold and silver is of no importance.

The manual, Hunyuan Qigong, is a martial arts technique that can be cultivated to the fourth level of True Yuan realm, but it is of no value to him.

One jade slip contained a cultivation technique called the Spring Breeze and Rain Technique. Finally, there were some miscellaneous items—various rare treasures that Liang Feng, the old fisherman, had collected in Dongting Lake, as well as spoils from eliminating the Iron Palm Gang and other minor forces.

Spirit stones? No.

No elixirs.

There were no talismans or magical artifacts either.

However, that makes sense. Even if he had consumables like spirit stones and pills, Liang Feng would have used them all up long ago. The same goes for talismans and magical artifacts. After escaping death several times, how could there be no price to pay?

The results were mediocre.

But Shen He didn't care. He rummaged through the pile of junk and finally found a bundle of snow-white, flexible rope.

It was called a rope, but it was actually more like some kind of spider silk or silkworm thread. It was dozens of meters long and emitted a faint fragrance of grass and trees. Shen He pulled hard and found that it was extremely flexible. With his strength, he could not break it without moving his internal energy.

"nice one!"

This pleased Shen He greatly, and he immediately put it back into his storage bag.

He happens to be short of fishing line right now. Hemp rope is fine for catching ordinary fish, but it can't hold up well for small fish, making every fishing trip a dangerous one for him, as he's always afraid the rope will break after he hooks a fish.

Now that he has this long line, he can build upon his fishing career and make it bigger and stronger.

But having a line wasn't enough. Shen He rummaged through the pile of junk again and finally found several fishhooks made of black iron and fine steel, which looked incredibly sturdy.

Needless to say, it must be a fishing tackle specially made by Liang Feng, the old fisherman, specifically for catching the spirit fish in Dongting Lake. Now that it has fallen into Shen He's hands, it is a perfect coincidence that it has been cleverly compiled into a book.

Who says competitors are enemies? This person is quite nice, isn't he?
Shen He put all the items back into his storage bag, leaving only the jade slip containing the cultivation technique.

The method of controlling spirits drew upon his mind, and with the infusion of vital energy, the jade slip quickly began to flash with spiritual light. A cultivation technique called "Spring Breeze and Rain Technique" appeared directly in Shen He's mind.

Shen He actually has no shortage of cultivation techniques, because in the real world, the human empire also has a cultivation system, and a very powerful one at that, with a ton of cultivation techniques available for purchase online.

Although he lacked spiritual roots and found cultivation difficult, Shen He still used the funds obtained from the Divine Martial Battle Network to purchase a batch of basic cultivation techniques to enhance his understanding of the cultivation system.

After all, knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle.

You may not choose to cultivate immortality, but you cannot be ignorant of it, since you cannot guarantee that your future enemies will not include cultivators.

Therefore, Shen He has some foundation in cultivation; at least in terms of techniques, he is not lacking at all.

But this did not prevent him from reading the "Spring Breeze and Gentle Rain Manual".

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

There must be differences between the two worlds. Reading these cultivation techniques will make it easier for him to compare the differences between cultivators in the two worlds, and at the same time deepen his understanding of this world.

He quickly finished reading the contents of the "Spring Breeze and Rain Technique".

According to this cultivation method, the first five stages of cultivation are Spirit Gathering, Cultivation of Techniques, Qi Refining, Foundation Building, and Core Formation.

The first level of Spirit Gathering, as the name suggests, is to absorb the free spiritual energy between heaven and earth through cultivation techniques and spiritual roots, so as to gather spiritual energy into the body. Cultivators at this level are not much different from true qi martial artists, except that their primordial spirit is stronger and they can prolong their lives.

The second-tier cultivation method involves refining spiritual energy into magical power based on the foundation of spiritual gathering. Cultivators who have refined magical power can practice various spells and use talismans, magical artifacts, and other items, greatly increasing their combat power and making them veritable "magic masters"!

The third stage of Qi Refining involves further condensing spiritual energy and magical power to achieve the perfect balance of essence, energy, and spirit, preparing for the subsequent Foundation Establishment stage.

As for the fourth stage Foundation Establishment, the fifth stage Core Formation...

Sorry, this "Spring Breeze and Rain Technique" was not introduced.

This is a low-level cultivation technique that can only reach the third stage of cultivation, the Qi Refining realm. Apart from a brief mention in the general outline, there is no content about Foundation Establishment or Core Formation anywhere else.

However, the first three stages are about the same. Shen He compared them and found that the first three stages of the human empire's cultivation system were also described in the same way. However, they did not have the concept of gathering spirits to cultivate, and instead referred to them as the early stage of Qi Refining, the middle stage of Qi Refining, and the late stage of Qi Refining.

Although the names are different, the content is not much different, so there is no need to worry about it.

The real question to consider is how to cultivate immortality!

Does his body possess spiritual roots?
It seems there is, but it seems there isn't.

The reason for this vague explanation is that Shen He had previously tried various cultivation techniques, but they were almost ineffective. The only effect he had was absorbing a little spiritual energy when he ate the spirit fish.

Is it because Dongting Lake has too little spiritual energy, or is it because although he has spiritual roots, they are trashy or even pseudo-spiritual roots, which is why his cultivation efficiency is unsatisfactory?

Shen He couldn't say for sure either.

But it doesn't matter, with cheat codes, qualifications and such are completely insignificant.

The primary task now is to raise the professional rank of the "Spirit Fisherman" and explore the location of the cultivation world, infiltrate it, and lie low to develop.

But how do we improve and explore?
Shen He looked at the storage bag in front of him and fell into deep thought.

Just as he was planning his next move...

"boom!"

A soft sound startled him awake.

Shen He's eyes narrowed as he stepped outside the cabin. There he saw a crocodile dragon shaking its head and slapping its tail in the water, while a large ship and many sampans appeared on the distant lake.

It's... the Goldfish Gang!

(End of this chapter)