The caravan snaked along the dusty and rocky path through the foothills of the King’s Mountains. The trees, rivers, lakes, and random wild animals in the surroundings were all still the same. The mountains and hills were also the same, just in different shapes.

The caravan took more than a week to visit three other villages that were very similar to Blue Lake Village. Each had about the same population, were just as poor, and traded in the same goods as the others. The difference between them was that the people in each village had distinctive complexions. One of them had people that looked like Gray and those of Blue Lake Village while the other two had people of tanned and bronze-colored skin. It wasn’t a big deal to Gray or anyone else since they all spoke the same language. To Amin Baba, they were all opportunities to make money.

Speaking of the fat merchant, that man was a businessman through and through. He didn’t care who was in each village. He treated everyone just as cheaply and tried to rip them off. Most of the time spent was because of him haggling incessantly.

Gray didn’t care about anything as long as his gold ore was safe. Amin Baba kept his word and the caravan was well guarded. The gold ore was even disguised beneath a layer of cheap iron ore as an extra precaution.

Nothing interesting happened along the way. The trip was boring and the only thing Gray could do was practice and cultivate.

He went through the meditations and chants of the Tome of Glorious Fortune just as Xueling taught him. He was proud that he still remembered every single word. He made sure to silently recite every word of the tome each morning. His greatest fear was that he would forget something by accident and it would ruin his chances of seeing her again. He was diligent in this task but when it came to actually cultivating, he struggled.

It was simply too boring and useless.

Along the dusty and well-travel trade road, there was no source of spiritual energy anywhere. It wasn’t like he didn’t try. He tried very hard, focusing on any minute strand of spiritual energy in the surrounding air and focusing it into his body. It was slow and barely amounted to anything. There wasn’t any noticeable improvement in his spiritual sea, even after many days.

He wondered when he could get his hands on some spiritual stone. He thought about the citrine again and idly thought of a peculiar notion, that perhaps he shouldn’t have traded away the gem.

Xueling’s image appeared in his mind, a memory from the time she scolded him about the quality of cultivation arts…

---

“Gray! You don’t understand the value of a cultivation method since you’ve don’t have the experience.” Xueling said earnestly, “In this world of cultivators and spiritual energy, a supremely effective and powerful cultivation method is a treasure in itself. It is equivalent in value to something like this gem, especially for you since you are just starting out.”

She took a stick and began drawing on the ground. Seven characters appeared that Gray didn’t recognize but she explained that they stood for each of the cultivation realms.

“Cultivation arts are graded by what realm they can allow their practitioner to reach. Something like Flame Palm isn’t even a real art so I won’t talk about it. The first real one is the strengthening-grade and cultivation arts at this grade allows someone to cultivate within the Spiritual Strengthening Realm. There are further subdivisions within a grade but they aren’t important. Simply know that the Tome of Glorious Fortune is a sovereign-grade cultivation art. If you master it and have sufficient resources, you will be able to reach the highest Spiritual Sovereign Realm!”

“Wow…”

She nodded smugly, “Now, practice! No slacking off!”

---

Gray smiled to himself as memories of their time together flashed in his mind. He shouldn’t have doubted her. He was simply being a petulant child. He already had her clan’s supreme cultivation art. Who cared if he didn’t have it anymore? He could always find more treasures that were equal or better.

He then recalled a different part of the Tome of Glorious Fortune that he could practice when his cultivation could not be improved. It was the secret ability of the first stage, something that could not be learned through rote memorization or spiritual stones. It required calm thought, comprehension, and patient practice, all things he was terrible at.

This secret ability was called the Golden Body of the Bodhi and it was formidable. When activated, it resulted in a vast improvement in all physical abilities including speed, strength, resilience, and recovery. It relied on complete mastery and control over the spiritual veins, spiritual gates, as well as the muscles, bones, and organs of one body.

Gray recalled the mantra for the Golden Body and began to practice. He summoned spiritual energy from his spiritual sea and sent it into his hands. There, the spiritual energy entered his bone and tendons, strengthening them bit by bit.

The first step of the mantra tempered his hands. He was still a long way off from completion but if he could manage it, he would be able to use a lesser version of the ability in his hands. Once activated, his fingers would be unbreakable like iron rods, his fists would become like hammers, and he would even able to catch sharp blades without drawing blood.

After the hands came the feet, arms, legs, groin, head, neck, chest, and finally his back. When his entire body was forged anew and comprehension of the Golden Body of the Bodhi had reached the pinnacle, his entire body would be transformed to give off a golden light. Xueling had shown this to him once and it was the most impressive thing he had ever seen!

Gray worked diligently on the Golden Body of the Bodhi. Progress was slow but at least he was making some progress, unlike his cultivation. It wasn’t a waste either as complete mastery of the secret ability was a requirement for moving onto the second stage of the tome. This was the best use of time during the monotony of the trade caravan.

He alternated between practicing the secret art and improving his spiritual sea. In the mornings, when his spiritual sea was brimming after a hearty breakfast, he would practice the secret art. His spiritual energy would be depleted by lunchtime, after which he would take a nap and then cultivate his spiritual sea for the rest of the day.

Spiritual energy within his spiritual sea naturally replenished over time. It was a mysterious source of energy that would never deplete. However, the size and capacity as well as the replenishment rate of the spiritual sea could only be improved through injecting external sources of spiritual energy through patient cultivation. Without an external source of spiritual energy, he also had to wait for his spiritual sea to fill up before practicing again.

He passed the days like this in solitude until one day, the caravan reached its final stop before the long trip back to Jade Hill Town. There, his privacy was ruined. He was forced to share his carriage with another passenger.