Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

He sped all the way, not daring to stop for a moment, and finally arrived at Wang's house. He took out his badge, broke the barrier, and returned to his own residence. Finally safe, he breathed a sigh of relief and fell asleep. He slept for two days and two nights, waking up refreshed and invigorated.

Only then did he feel like sorting out his gains. First, the core goal of this trip was the "Ten Directions Qi Gathering Art." The power of the late Jindan stage was beyond his reach, a feat he couldn't even imagine. The technique he had created was truly extraordinary. He took out the art and read it over again. Although many parts were still obscure and difficult to grasp, requiring considerable time for contemplation and practice, he was confident that with the time and dedication, he would eventually achieve success. He longed to retreat immediately, but work commitments kept him on his toes. Later on, he would have to practice while working, living and eating in the workshop, making the most of his time. Once he had mastered the Qi Gathering Art, he could avoid the eyes and ears of the Wang family and unbridledly cultivate the "Ice Water Art," striving to push his cultivation to the Great Perfection of Qi Training and pursue the opportunity to establish his foundation.

There were also two top-grade magical instruments, treasures coveted by even those in the Foundation Establishment stage. During his battle with the Ba brothers, he clearly felt the superiority of top-grade instruments over superior ones. Given equal magical power, he crushed them. The Jade Wave Sword possessed astonishing attack power, capable of unleashing a hundred thousand sword beams, creating the might of a surging volley of ten thousand swords, like a raging sea. His current magical power wasn't sufficient, but once he reached the peak of Qi training and wielded the Jade Wave Sword with all his might, even those in the early Foundation Establishment stage would be forced to retreat. The Yunluo Umbrella possessed extraordinary defensive capabilities. Its ribs were crafted primarily from celestial black iron, and its canopy was forged from the hide of the third-level demonic beast, the Swallowing Cloud Python. Its immense toughness allowed it to easily block a single blow from even a Foundation Establishment stage expert. Furthermore, the canopy was large enough to easily cover two people. These were all excellent treasures, well worth the money. As long as his magical power reached the twelfth level, he wouldn't have to be so fearful of facing the Wang Family Master. Even if he couldn't defeat him, he could still retreat gracefully.

Cultivating immortality is truly a money-burning endeavor. Money allows you to purchase top-tier techniques, magical instruments, and elixirs. It allows you to arm yourself to the teeth and cultivate your own power. Money is the most important prerequisite for cultivation. It's just like the mortal world: with money, you can thrive, but without it, you can't even take a single step.

Then he poured all the contents of the Ba brothers' storage bags onto the ground. There was a huge pile of miscellaneous things, about 500 spirit stones. Liu Xing happily collected them and replenished his own wallet.

There were four top-grade magical instruments, and a dozen mid- and low-grade ones. With two top-grade instruments, none of them caught his eye. Only the top-grade net bag was of some interest. Woven from silkworm silk, it was both strong and flexible, and could be enlarged and shrunk, making it a great tool for catching people and animals, or trapping enemies. He refined it and saved it for later use.

There were also bottles and jars containing drugs, poisons, and the like. Seeing these insidious items, Liu Xing felt a bit terrified. Fortunately, he had used lightning-fast tactics to seize the initiative, otherwise, falling prey to these insidious tactics would have been a source of endless trouble. Liu Xing identified several antidotes and anti-poison pills and sorted them into categories for future use.

Finally, there were some cultivation manuals, which Liu Xing greatly enjoyed. What he lacked most right now was an understanding of the world of cultivation; he needed to acquire a vast amount of knowledge. He couldn't enter the second floor of the Wang Family Library, but he had a keen interest in the cultivation methods and spells. The Ba brothers practiced basic cultivation methods with wood and fire attributes, respectively, which were very valuable to Liu Xing. The spells in them, especially those like the Fire Technique and the Wooden Stake Technique, were terrifying to contemplate.

The Ba family boss's storage bag held five cubic meters of space, much larger than his own, so he unceremoniously took it for himself. After packing everything, Liu Xing was content. This time, his harvest was exceptionally large. He calmed himself down and refused to be distracted by external things. Improving one's own mana and realm was the fundamental purpose of cultivation.

At the same time, Liu Xing also summarized his combat experience with the Ba brothers. His profound magical power was a hidden means to easily paralyze the enemy, allowing him to defeat the strong with the weak. Secondly, the efficiency of activating talismans was higher than the efficiency of casting spells by pinching fingers and chanting incantations, which could buy time, but it was too expensive. Finally, the quality of the magic weapon was also a crucial tool, buying time for defense and gaining an advantage in offense. Although fighting was a reflection of comprehensive ability, it ultimately relied on the depth of magical power. Therefore, when facing an enemy with much greater magical power, it was best to flee immediately. However, the problem was that he lacked powerful escape techniques and flying magic weapons, which greatly reduced his escape skills. He needed to find a way to improve this as soon as possible.

After sorting out all this, Liu Xing went to report to Manager Wang.

"Brother Liu, you are finally back. Did you encounter any trouble on the way?" Wang Fu finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Liu Xing coming back, and asked with concern.

"Thank you for your concern, Brother Wang. Everything went well. I have learned a lot from this trip." Liu Xing was touched to see that Brother Wang cared so much about him.

"During the time you were away, the output of our talisman department has been much lower. I will give you more tasks from now on. You must submit 100 finished talismans every month, otherwise your wages will be deducted." Wang Fu just finished his concern and immediately gave stern orders, revealing the capitalist's face of exploiting the workers' surplus value.

"Yes." Liu Xing answered loudly, showing a positive and capable attitude.

He knew full well that his three years of learning and the honeymoon period at the Wang family were over. Next came the pressure of greater performance and constant exploitation. Fortunately, he didn't rely on wages to survive; he had a side hustle. Otherwise, the ten years he'd worked for the Wang family would have been wasted. Looking at his fellow workers in the workshop, many had seen their magic power stagnate, unable to improve, losing faith in the path of cultivation and their will to fight. Staying here, idling away, supporting two or three mortal concubines, living a life of meager food and waiting to die—how pitiful! Here, he had a skilled and comfortable job and spirit stones to support himself. Outside, he'd be unable to move, and at any moment, he'd perish, becoming a tonic for demonic beasts and evil cultivators. If he hadn't had the bamboo flute, a rare treasure that transformed his spiritual power, he might have ended up like them, Liu Xing lamented.

"There will be extra rewards for exceeding the task. Work hard and get busy." Wang Fu saw that Liu Xing's work attitude was as high as ever, so he also encouraged him.

From then on, Liu Xing entered a state of arduous cultivation. His monthly work assignments were easily completed, and he spent most of his remaining time practicing. As long as he completed his monthly tasks on time, Wang Fu ignored him and never visited his workshop. This was ideal for Liu Xing, as it prevented him from disturbing his cultivation.