Chapter 42: The Art of Cultivating Spirit through Nian

After learning most of the market prices, Chen Mobai felt a bit uneasy.

It was only now that he realized the things he thought were just ordinary goods could actually be worth so many spirit stones.

No wonder cultivators in this world openly talked about fencing stolen goods. Killing and arson for wealth, he had nearly fifty spirit stones just from picking up the bags of two ordinary Qi Practitioners.

Unfortunately, he had come to the Nanxi Market mainly to understand the market and gather information.

Due to the impression the Eastern Wasteland had left him, a lawless and brutal world of cultivation, he had only brought items that could be used in battle, such as the needle box, hand crossbow, and the old man's short knife, all obtained from a disciple of the Flying Needle Sect.

Although it was a bit reluctant, he knew that Dharma artifacts were just external possessions, and it was better to exchange them for spirit stones to enhance his own cultivation.

However, Chen Mobai, being cautious by nature, did not rashly set up a stall to sell them.

He clearly remembered that the needle box was a Dharma artifact of the Flying Needle Sect, and according to the sect's manual, it was a powerful force with Foundation Establishment cultivators. Moreover, such Dharma artifacts were rare in the entire Eastern Wasteland. If he encountered a disciple of the Flying Needle Sect, he would be unable to explain himself and would definitely be accused of killing and robbing.

He dared not sell the needle box for the time being, but the hand crossbow and the short knife were different.

He found that there were quite a few stalls selling these two items in the market, especially the hand crossbow, which was very popular among low-level Qi Practitioners.

Probably because cultivators below the third level of Qi Practitioners could not withstand a single shot from a crossbow.

These crossbow bolts were not ordinary iron-tipped arrows but specially made with spells like Sharpness, Explosion, and Swift Wind.

However, since the bolts were less convenient to carry than talismans, they were much cheaper, selling for ten taels of gold each in the market.

Bolts were consumables, but the crossbow itself was different. A good one could last a long time.

The hand crossbow Chen Mobai obtained from the Flying Needle Sect disciple was of good quality, foldable, easy to carry, and enchanted with spells like Durability and Aiming, making it durable and accurate.

After another round at the various stalls, Chen Mobai confirmed the market price.

500 taels of gold.

The short knife was not worth much, only two taels of gold, and he saw that it was often used for personal grooming, usually given as a bonus when buying Dharma artifacts.

After understanding the Dharma artifact market and seeing that the time was right, he decided to return.

Out of caution, Chen Mobai did not immediately sell the Black Water Technique and the hand crossbow. Gold had little use for him, and bringing too much back to the Immortal Sect could attract the attention of the market regulatory department.

After all, the resources of the Immortal Sect were limited, and gold mines were state-controlled. If too much gold entered the market, causing price fluctuations, it would definitely draw attention.

Therefore, the best and safest method was to convert all the proceeds from sales into spirit stones that could be absorbed.

Before leaving, he also visited the stalls selling elixirs, but there were fewer people here. He observed that all the elixir vendors had a sign: "Defective products from a certain pharmacy."

Basically, no one claimed to have refined the elixirs themselves, indicating that the attitude towards elixirs was the same in both worlds.

Elixirs not refined by famous alchemists were generally not consumed.

Let alone those "three-no" products, which were even more questionable. They had to be sold under the name of a large pharmacy, or few cultivators would inquire about the price.

It seemed that the bottles of elixirs he had would be hard to sell.

Chen Mobai thought of the loot he had stored at the bottom of his bedside cabinet and shook his head.

After understanding the general situation, he left the Nanxi Market without lingering, disappearing into the twilight.

At the entrance, he encountered the young man in the hemp robe who wanted to be a guide to earn money. The young man bowed humbly when he saw Chen Mobai. This gesture made Chen Mobai, who had intended to greet him, pause, and he couldn't help but shake his head and smile.

"Indeed, the ancient practice of breaking the old in our Deyuan Star had its reasons. Such a feudal society is wrong."

But he was just a visitor, a mere sixth-level Qi Practitioner, and he wouldn't criticize the social environment that had shaped the people here.

Chen Mobai walked out of the market gate in silence and disappeared into the array mist.

The Nanxi Market was surrounded by an array, but the array's power was not fully activated, only preventing ordinary people from approaching.

On his way back, Chen Mobai had a sudden idea.

If he did not return to the Water Mansion to use the "Return" function, would it still work?

He stopped, found an uninhabited valley, and took out his phone. Sure enough, the "Return" button in the Gui Bao app was still lit and could be pressed.

This meant that in the Tianhe Realm, he was not limited to the Water Mansion. As long as he had his phone, he could return home anytime, anywhere.

But then another question arose.

Would the "Return" location change? Would he appear here next time, or still at the Water Mansion?

Chen Mobai thought for a while but ultimately decided not to try.

He returned to the Water Mansion.

However, before leaving, he had a sudden idea and went to the side hall.

This way, he could see where he would appear next time.

If he still appeared in the main hall, it would mean the teleportation location was fixed. If he appeared in the side hall, it would mean he would return to wherever he used the "Return" function.

In a flash of silver light, Chen Mobai returned home.

He felt that he had missed something in his logic about "Teleportation" and "Return," but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what it was, so he shook his head and gave up for the moment.

Looking at the time on his phone, it was almost dinner time.

His mother had already gone to work in the afternoon, so he had to cook for himself again.

But he was already used to it.

While cooking the spirit rice, Chen Mobai logged into his main account, Qingdi, on the National Library's app.

He used his points to download the "Art of Cultivating Spirit through Nian."

Although he was very interested in the physical cultivation method for spirit awareness and wanted to try it, he couldn't buy second-stage incense, and his main account, Qingdi, couldn't exchange for the "Spirit Soaring Technique," so he had to follow the orthodox path.

But this was also good. The spirit awareness cultivated this way would be more harmonious and wouldn't require daily incense burning to stabilize it.

While cooking, Chen Mobai read through the "Art of Cultivating Spirit through Nian" and compared it with the insights uploaded by experts on the auxiliary cultivation app, understanding it roughly.

However, even with the experience of predecessors, he still found it difficult to practice.

To cultivate nian, one must first "enter a meditative state," and after entering the meditative state, one must "visualize."

This visualization could be anything, any object in the universe, but according to predecessors, it was best to visualize something that matched one's mental state.

This image should be powerful but not too shocking, a very contradictory requirement.

Fortunately, the auxiliary cultivation app provided detailed explanations: visualizing powerful things could quickly strengthen a cultivator's mind, but if it was too shocking, it would cause mental fluctuations and intense emotional swings, which would be more harmful than beneficial.

Therefore, cultivators must grasp the right balance when visualizing.

Chen Mobai, comparing it to his own experiences, scratched his head and finally thought of the "Jade Green Phoenix Tree" he had seen that morning.