“Anyone, who has ever struggled in the path of Dao, knows how extremely costly it is to be an immortal.”

Qai gradually became focused as he listened to Elder Li’s guidance.

Unexpectedly, towards the end of the explanation, the elder pulled a Jade slip then placed it before his glabella and handed it over to Qai.

“Here, consider my debt settled. It’s a kind of branding method I devised myself. It’s not a perfect method but if I say it’s the second-best in the sect, then no one can claim the first for himself.”

Qai had his eyes grow wide in excitement.

He did not how to react.

The elder may be showboating but Qai did not expect the former to go beyond what is necessary. In his heart, Elder Li instantly became the only person he could trust in the sect, by far—not even the somewhat warm Shu Liang can take that place.

Qai thus shamelessly accepted the Jade slip and thanked the elder with a deep bow.

“Take care of yourself, Qai. While we have rules, those rules do not guarantee your safety, even inside the sect, that is.”

Qai understood what the elder meant and expressed to faithfully heed the latter’s advice.

“Thank you for all the teachings. I shall take my leave now, esteemed elder.”

Qai went straight to his valley at that moment and decided to once again go into seclusion. But before he did that, he first inspected his garden plot.

For the second time, he ordered his giant Ant Workers to spread out and look for a new batch of herbs. In Qai’s mind, he would exchange his first batch of herbs into Contribution Points immediately after he emerged from cultivation.

Only by saving Contribution Points would he be able to achieve a lot within the confines of the sect.

And so, when the Spirit Beasts dispersed, Qai proceeded to his room.

The first thing that he did was to study the contents of the 3 Jade slips he acquired from Kamaria Island.

Similarly, he placed the Jade slips one by one before his glabella and extended his Spiritual Sense.

He smiled.

He thought of how miraculous was his ‘Transcending Autumn Arts.’ At just level 7 of the Qi Condensation stage, Qai could already use Spiritual Sense.

Even if Old Bu plotted against him, it was still thanks to him that he learned of the cultivation technique.

Qai shook his head and just continued his study.

The Jade slips apparently did not catch the interest of Shu Liang, who according to her, contained ‘basic’ cultivation methods—in short, low-grade techniques.

Nevertheless, Qai needed them all.

They were, after all, auxiliary techniques that any cultivator must have.

The soul search technique was good.

However, Qai discovered that it should not be used nonchalantly as it was vulnerable to backlash especially when used against anyone with a higher cultivation base.

‘It might still come in handy one day.’

On the other hand, the concealment technique was one that can help a cultivator hide the level of his cultivation base to some extent and but not his presence entirely.

It wasn't the assassin type of skill that Qai expected. At any rate, it would still be very useful if he wanted to avoid drawing attention of others in a larger gathering of cultivators.

The only flaw that Qai found out in it was that it wouldn't affect anyone in a realm higher or more.

‘Of course, how can I hide my cultivation to someone like the sect elders. These are indeed of basic grade.’

Qai could only sigh.

‘At least I got them for free. Maybe one day, I can acquire better cultivation techniques when I get a lot of Spirit Stones or Contribution Points.’

He seemed to understand that even if he already had 400 or so Spirit Stones in his possession, it wouldn't be enough to purchase cultivation techniques.

An inner disciple had once explained to him regarding the prices of cultivation items—and he was aghast upon learning how expensive they were. That was to be expected since cultivation techniques were truly precious treasures.

At any rate, the one that really caught Qai’s attention was the preliminaries to Array formation.

He had been itching to learn something about restrictions. So now that he could use his Spiritual Sense on the Jade slips, he made sure to thoroughly read their content.

Thereafter, he examined the pair of formation Flags he acquired according to the principles contained in the slip.

Qai found out that the flags can produce an average illusion array. It wasn't much but it was enough for Qai’s use.

He excitedly went outside and placed them in the garden then poured some Spirit Stones along with the flags.

Instantly, the garden plot disappeared. What now appeared before his naked eyes was a plain field of grass.

Qai nodded in satisfaction.

He then went back inside his room and finally studied the ‘Sky Piercing Dagger’ manual.

Surprisingly, it only contained one move. This was his first ability-based cultivation technique—and he was surprised how different it was from his ‘Transcending Autumn Arts.’

There was nothing about mantra incantation.

It was all about skill comprehension and it wouldn't raise his cultivation base.

What was being raised was the ‘skill’ itself from early, to mid, late and great circle—just like the several levels in cultivation realms.

Accordingly, one’s flying dagger can be used as a concealed weapon to stab enemies. In short, it was used to create surprise attacks in the same way flying needles were used.

And the efficiency of its effect and the damage dealt would depend upon how profound the achieved comprehension was.

‘Maybe my self-enhanced skills from the ‘Transcending Autumn Arts’ can be comprehended in the same profound way.’

He didn't know if his thoughts were possible.

In truth, he had already done enough to upgrade them but his current realizations were tempting him to experiment a little further.

However, what really surprised Qai from the manual was that it apparently required the use of Spiritual Sense. And thus, it should only be offered to inner disciples.

‘How come this manual was placed on the first floor of the Treasury Hall!?’

Little did he know that the first floor was precisely the designated floor for both inner and outer disciples. And only the core and personal disciples were allowed to step into the second floor for free only once.

So unknowingly choosing a technique suited for Foundation Establishment stage was either a Qi Condensation stage disciple’s luck or misfortune.

In his case, it was truly a fortune.

Qai didn't mind his question and directly attempted to test the skill with his dagger.

Boom!

The dagger blew up.

Qai slapped his forehead as he forgot one major flaw in his overall strength—his weapons.

It happened many times in the past back when he first developed his ‘Raging Beast.’

Since then, he had regularly changed his weapon. And although the better-crafted Guandao lasted longer, the damages it incurred were not negligible so much so that he still had to replace the weapon yet again.

The latest Guandao he brought to the sect was by far the best one his father crafted and had endured well during the Trial by Fire. And it was only because he had never fought again after he arrived in the sect that the Guandao had yet to peak from wear and tear.

Now that Qai had spiritual-Qi-energy-based dagger skill, it only stood to reason that the same thing would happen to his dagger.

He needed treasure-grade refined weapons.

Qai stopped the test and sighed.

‘Cultivation is Gold indeed!’

The immortal path was indeed an expensive venture—in fact, the inner disciples had reiterated it to him many times.

He believed those words but it wasn't to such extent as if he was convinced. But with his personal experiences as of late, he felt that he was just hit by a reality check.

Now, there were only few remaining things left for Qai to do in his seclusion.

One was to enhance the third and last skill provided in his ‘Transcending Autumn Arts,’ the sphere shield.

By now, he had already thought of an object from which he would base his comprehension in order to gain a sort of enlightenment—his Soulflame Cornelia Flower.