The difficult path of cultivation for a grassroots female practitioner

Xiao Han walked out of Sihai Trading Company with a heavy heart.

It seems that Xie Yi was not lying to her about how rare good martial arts are.

However, Xie Yi gave her a rather sinister feeling, and was definitely not a righteous cultivator. Unless it was absolutely necessary, she did not wish to have any further dealings with him.

Good martial arts are hard to come by, and I don’t know how much the so-called rubbish martial arts cost.

Thinking of this, Xiao Han turned around and went to the Treasure Hunting Pavilion again.

The last time I bought a magic weapon, I spent almost all my spirit stones, so I didn’t think about looking at any martial arts techniques. Today I went to see if there were any good martial arts techniques for sale in the Treasure Hunting Pavilion.

As long as the technique was good, even if the price was astronomical, he could still give it a try. After all, sharpening the knife did not delay the chopping of wood. As long as the technique was good and the speed of cultivation was fast, he could naturally make up for the time wasted previously.

The receptionist at Mibao Pavilion today is not the familiar waiter, but someone else.

But they are all equally enthusiastic and polite, which shows that Mibao Pavilion has done a good job in training its employees' service awareness.

I went to the second floor as if I was familiar with the place, but unexpectedly ran into Manager Yin who was also there.

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on your successful foundation building!" Shopkeeper Yin smiled and bowed as an equal.

Xiao Han hurriedly returned the greeting and thanked him sincerely, "I also want to thank you for helping me get the elixir."

Although the Six-Leaf Three-Flower Pill didn't seem to have much of a role in his successful foundation building, perhaps without it, he'd have been just a tiny bit short of success. Regardless, he desperately needed the pill, and they'd found a way to get it. Even if it cost him a fortune, he still had to express his gratitude.

Shopkeeper Yin waved his hand, "I dare not accept this favor. Daoist friend spent spirit stones to buy this. The fact that you were able to successfully build your foundation is just your own good fortune."

Xiao Han sensed Shopkeeper Yin's cultivation level, which was in the late stage of foundation building.

Fortunately, although the gap between him and me is still huge, we are at the same level after all. Since we are equals, I believe that the other party will not be too perfunctory to me.

"Boss, do you have any techniques suitable for foundation-building cultivators to practice?" Xiao Han asked.

Shopkeeper Yin nodded, "Of course we do. After all, our Treasure Hunting Pavilion is the largest and best shop in New Moon City."

After saying that, he led Xiao Han to the counter where the jade slips of martial arts techniques were placed.

The jade slips of martial arts techniques cannot be intuitively felt and introduced like elixirs, talismans and magic weapons, so they are all placed in a forbidden light shield and there is no difference in appearance.

Shopkeeper Yin introduced: "Here are non-attribute techniques that anyone can practice, and there are also five-element techniques that are specifically designed to target a particular outstanding spiritual root attribute."

He took the restriction token from the waiter, opened the formation, looked at the markings on it, and took out six jade slips.

Xiao Han thought about his current financial constraints and asked hurriedly, "How many spirit stones does this technique require?"

Shopkeeper Yin: "A non-attribute technique costs 380,000 spirit stones, and a five-element technique costs 450,000 spirit stones. The five-element technique is the technique corresponding to gold, wood, water, fire, and earth."

Xiao Han: ...

Suddenly I felt that it was normal that there were no Jindan cultivators in Fuyuan City, but only a few Jindan cultivators in Zixiao City.

Not to mention that the concentration of spiritual energy there couldn't compare to that in the middle of the Immortal Mountain, even these rubbish techniques that couldn't be auctioned and were probably barely practicable were difficult to obtain there. Not to mention, they required so many spirit stones to buy them.

I'm afraid that even if the independent cultivators there succeed in building their foundation by chance, they will have to save up for more than ten years to buy a magic weapon or a set of skills.

And there has to be something to sell.

"Well, uh, I don't have that many spirit stones on me, so I can only come back to buy them next time."

Xiao Han felt a little embarrassed. She had expected the technique to be expensive, but she hadn't expected it to be this expensive.

Shopkeeper Yin was very understanding. "It's okay. You can come and buy it anytime you want."

When independent cultivators have just successfully established their foundation and discovered that the method they used to practice Qigong is not working, they rush out to buy the techniques, and then are greatly shocked to find that the techniques are too expensive and they cannot afford them.

But no matter how expensive the price is, they have to quickly accumulate spirit stones to buy it. Otherwise, who can bear to see that their cultivation progress is almost no improvement?

Xiao Han thought about how he still didn't know how to distinguish good and bad skills, so he asked, "Shopkeeper, what's the difference between the skills here and those sold at the auction house?"

Shopkeeper Yin didn't laugh at her for not having any common sense, just a casual cultivator!

He patiently explained, "Kungfu techniques are divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. The worst are Yellow-grade techniques, and the best are naturally Heaven-grade techniques. However, Heaven-grade techniques only exist in legends, and Earth-grade techniques may only be found in large sects like the Juxian Sect and the Huading Sect. Those that can enter the auction house are generally Profound-grade techniques. The techniques in our Treasure Hunting Pavilion are all Yellow-grade techniques."

Xiao Han: "Is it true that the higher the grade of the technique, the faster the cultivation speed?"

Shopkeeper Yin: "This is just one of the options. The most important thing about a technique is its completeness. In other words, even if a technique isn't particularly fast to cultivate, but it can be cultivated from Foundation Establishment all the way to Nascent Soul, then it can be classified as a Ground-level technique. After all, no one wants to have to search for a new technique just to reach a higher realm."

After a pause, he continued, "The higher the level of the technique, the better. The most important thing is to match it with one's own spiritual roots, or in other words, to be able to match it with one's own aura."

Xiao Han had never understood what Manager Yin said before.

She was grateful for the other party's detailed explanation. She immediately bowed and said, "Thank you for your explanation."

Shopkeeper Yin waved his hand. "It's nothing. Just some common sense."

Xiao Han smiled bitterly to herself. For some people, these were the most basic common sense of cultivation, but for a casual cultivator like her, she had no channels to even learn a lot of common sense.

Xiao Han thought of the method he had used to purchase the Six-Leaf Three-Flower Pill, and immediately asked tentatively, "If I want to buy a non-attributed Xuan-level technique, I wonder if the Treasure Hunting Pavilion can get it?"

Shopkeeper Yin shook his head. "No, this isn't comparable to the Six-Leaf Three-Flower Pill. While Xuan-level techniques aren't the highest level, they're still rare treasures within major sects and families, and are strictly forbidden from being passed on to outsiders. Even those Xuan-level techniques that have ended up at auctions for various reasons are extremely rare."