One month later.
At noon, Zhang Yao finished his day's work and returned to his residence on the west side deep in the valley.
There are 1,200 acres of spiritual land in Qingyunfang City, and there are six stewards. He was assigned to a steward from the Ouyang family and was responsible for taking care of seven acres of spiritual land.
Different from the extensive production in Tiandu Mountain, the spiritual rice here is a treasure and needs to be taken care of every day, rain or shine.
Fortunately, Zhang Yao's spells have been practiced to perfection, and he can finish his work every morning, and the rest is free time that he can use at his own discretion.
"It takes three hours every day to take care of the spiritual field, which is still a bit time-consuming."
"It would be great if I could buy a cave courtyard in the residential area. Then I would no longer be disturbed by things in the fields and could devote myself to practice."
"It's just a pity that even the cheapest Dongfu Villa costs thousands of spiritual stones to buy. It's too expensive."
After returning to the west residential area, Zhang Yao still felt a little regretful.
It was only after he moved in that he learned that there was a separate Dongfu Courtyard on the west side that could be rented or purchased, but even if it was rented, the price was not affordable by ordinary casual cultivators.
The average spiritual farmer in Fang City only earns ten low-grade spiritual stones a year, which is not enough to rent a Dongfu Villa for a year.
"call!"
He returned to the quiet room of his residence, sat down cross-legged, and began to practice breathing spiritual energy.
In the residential area on the west side, the aura is more abundant than in the urban area. This is the result of deliberate control by the two families who control the city. It can be regarded as one of the invisible benefits of spiritual farmers and worshipers.
Of course, the places with the highest aura concentration in Fang City are the mansions of the two major families on the east side.
Afternoon:
Zhang Yao, who had been practicing for several hours, was lying on a lounge chair in the courtyard and was reading a book.
The book was not thick. On the cover were the words "Detailed Explanation of Basic Spirit Patterns". He spent ten spirit stones to buy it from a shop on South Street.
Spirit patterns are a kind of mysterious rune in the world of immortality. They are half like words and half like symbols. They can connect the aura of heaven and earth and produce various wonderful effects.
Among the various arts of cultivating immortals: formations, talismans and weapon refining are common in many places, and the fundamental reason lies in the spiritual pattern.
Different spiritual patterns can be combined, superimposed, and nested to achieve various magical effects. They can be transformed into prohibitions, which can be used to set up formations, carry spells and draw them into talismans, or refine them into magic prohibitions or cast magic weapons.
"good."
Zhang Yao flipped through the classics, reviewing the past and learning the new, and he became increasingly satisfied.
"It's not in vain that I fell in love with you at a glance and almost emptied my fortune."
"If you learn the way of spiritual patterns well, you will have a solid foundation whether you become an weapon refiner, an array master, or a talisman master in the future."
During his years in Tiandu Mountain, he also learned a lot of spiritual pattern knowledge from Fatty Chen.
But Fatty Chen himself is a Yehu Zen, and a lot of his knowledge is incomplete, far from being as comprehensive as this "Detailed Explanation of Basic Spirit Patterns".
"Well, among the twelve basic spiritual patterns of the earth attribute, this one should be the best at coordinating with the fire attribute..."
Sparks of thought flickered in Zhang Yao's mind, constantly deducing the mystery of the spiritual pattern.
His martial arts cultivation is in line with the realm of the middle stage of Qi refining, and coupled with his long life, the strength of his soul is even higher than that of some monks in the late stage of Qi refining.
This unique advantage is equivalent to a natural talent when used to learn the various arts of cultivating immortals, allowing Zhang Yao to improve very quickly.
"Tuk-tuk-tuk."
Just as Zhang Yao was immersed in deducing the spirit patterns, there was a sudden knock on the door.
"Um?"
Zhang Yao raised his eyebrows, as if he guessed the identity of the visitor, and said lazily:
"Lao Qi, come in by yourself."
The courtyard door opened, and a bald old man walked in with a smile.
"Brother Zhang, I just came back from closing the store and my hands are a little itchy again."
"If you're okay, come and talk to me for a few rounds."
"Fine."
Zhang Yao put away his books, came to the stone table in the courtyard, and gestured:
"Old rules, you are in charge."
"no problem."
The bald old man sat down happily, and soon took the black pieces and started fighting with Zhang Yao on the chessboard.
Lao Qi is the owner of a shop on South Street, specializing in selling some low-level exercises and various classics, and the cultivation of the eighth level of Qi refining.
It’s a coincidence:
A month ago, when Zhang Yao went to buy "Detailed Explanation of Basic Spirit Patterns", he happened to bump into Lao Qi meditating hard, interpreting a chess book, and making a few comments on a whim.
Lao Qi is a man who loves chess as much as his life, but not many immortal cultivators are obsessed with it, so much so that in the huge Qingyunfang city, he can't find a single player who plays the same game.
After finally bumping into Zhang Yao, he was overjoyed and wished he could become his confidant immediately. He even gave Zhang Yao a 50% discount on the spot, and the two became friends. He came to Zhang Yao to play chess when he had time.
After going back and forth, the two became more familiar with each other, and gradually became like true friends.
"you lose."
In less than half an hour, Lao Qi was completely defeated and his face became very ugly.
As a cultivator, he also has a photographic memory and the ability to think like lightning. However, Zhang Yao's chess skills are enough to be called a "chess saint" in the world. He naturally wins less and loses more.
"Damn it! Do it again!"
He waved his sleeves angrily, and all the black and white pieces on the chessboard were reset to zero, and the game was about to start again.
"It's just a shame if you can't do it, right?"
Zhang Yao glanced at him and said slowly:
"The quality of chess is like the character of a person. This shows that you cannot afford to lose."
"Who would want to lose if they can win?"
After Lao Qi replied, he aggressively started making moves again, but in the end he lost to Zhang Yao.
"It's really evil..."
He sat on the stone bench, frowning tightly, still reviewing the details of the previous game.
"That's right, Lao Qi."
When Zhang Yao was arranging the chess pieces, he suddenly said: "I want to ask you something."
"you say."
Lao Qi replied casually without raising his head.
"Um……"
Zhang Yao considered his tone for a moment before speaking:
"You are the owner of the store and you are well-informed. I wonder if you have ever seen the exercises for cultivating spiritual roots with specific attributes?"
"Um?"
Lao Qi was startled for a moment, raised his head and said in surprise:
"Spiritual roots with specific attributes? Why are you asking about this? Do you want to change your skills?"
"of course not."
Zhang Yao waved his hand and said:
"I'm already in the middle stage of Qi training, and I want to switch to Qigong practice now, lest it's too late."
Normally, unless it is a practice that is inherited from the same lineage, switching to another practice means wasting away the practice and practicing again.
But Zhang Yao had to take this step.
The "Thick Earth Technique" he practiced was just a popular one. He could only practice it until the Qi refining period was complete, and there was no follow-up technique at all.
As for the mere Qi refining period, it would be tantamount to wishful thinking to create the subsequent foundation-building stage of one's own techniques.
Since he had to change his cultivation sooner or later, the sooner the better. If the risks in the early stage of Qi refining weren't too high, he would have long wanted to come to Weiguo to seek a superior technique suitable for his own spiritual root attributes.
"makes sense."
"If you change cultivation now, it will be like destroying decades of hard training in one day."
Lao Qi didn't doubt him. He thought for a while and then said:
"Your question is actually very pointed."
"Generally speaking, all exercises in the world can be divided into two categories - seeking the Tao or seeking the Dharma."
"Books on seeking Taoism often break through quickly and have weak bottlenecks, but the magic power they cultivate is relatively weak, and the skills do not come with spells for killing and protecting the body. It is a huge disadvantage to fight with others."
"If you seek legal texts, you will do the opposite. It will be difficult to break through difficulties and bottlenecks. However, your magic power is very powerful, and the high-level spells that are matched with the skills are powerful. You will be unfavorable in battles at the same level, and it is easy to gain a great reputation."
Having said this, he paused and continued:
"Of course, most of the techniques in the world are not that extreme."
"The nine successful methods circulated today are all based on a balance between the two. There is both a door to seek the Tao and a stage to seek the Dharma."
