Chapter 5: Plans

A good book, indeed...

One leaf on the Talent Tree carried a spirit pattern like "Sharpness." What about the other leaves? Did they also carry different spirit patterns?

If he could illuminate more leaves, wouldn't he gain knowledge of a greater variety of spirit patterns?

Recalling the Talent Tree's enormous canopy and countless leaves, Lu Ye's heart burned with excitement.

Lu Ye had some faint guesses about how to illuminate the other leaves, but there was no way to confirm them now. He could only wait for a future opportunity.

For now, what he could do was open more spirit apertures as quickly as possible and increase his cultivation.

The first spirit aperture a cultivator opens is located in the Dantian; this is the starting point of cultivation and is called the Source Aperture. How subsequent spirit apertures are opened depends on the cultivation method the cultivator practices.

Different cultivation methods open spirit apertures in different locations. The more spirit apertures opened, the higher the cultivation level.

That Golden Cicada Free-and-Easy Art would finally be put to good use!

Lu Ye slightly calmed his excited mood, picked up Steward Yang's storage bag, and began to organize things. It was only then that Lu Ye was surprised to find that the palm he had just used to imprint "Sharpness" was riddled with holes, as if pierced by countless needles, and had bled profusely.

In his excitement earlier, he hadn't felt it.

Now that he noticed it, a piercing pain constantly stimulated his nerves.

He secretly reflected, concluding that if he acquired any more spirit patterns in the future, he shouldn't easily use them on himself.

Soon, he put away the items he had taken out earlier and moved away from the area covered by the yuan-magnetic field.

Currently, there were two paths before him. One was to leave the mine. Steward Yang had sought refuge here because the Vast Sky Alliance had attacked. With the strength of the Evil Moon Valley at the mine, they couldn't possibly defend it, which was why he had hidden here first.

Otherwise, if the mine were to fall, as a disciple of Evil Moon Valley, his fate would surely be grim.

If he could connect with the cultivators of the Vast Sky Alliance, he could escape this suffering and no longer have to stay here and endure oppression.

But this was clearly not a wise choice.

Steward Yang had already received news and come to seek refuge, so other Evil Moon Valley disciples would surely enter as well. This was the most chaotic time. If he could successfully leave the mine, that would be best, but if he accidentally encountered any Evil Moon Valley disciples seeking refuge, Lu Ye's fate would undoubtedly be the same as the miners Steward Yang had casually killed earlier.

Therefore, he chose the second path: to temporarily stay put and remain here.

This place was extremely hidden, and ordinary people couldn't find their way in. Moreover, it offered both offensive and defensive advantages. If an Evil Moon Valley disciple accidentally stumbled in, Lu Ye could use the yuan-magnetic field to ambush them, so he wouldn't be completely defenseless.

Furthermore, his injuries hadn't healed, making it indeed difficult to move around much.

He recalled what Steward Yang had said to him earlier. If he remembered correctly, Steward Yang had said:

"The Vast Sky Alliance has attacked. The mine won't be held for now. The Vast Sky Alliance won't stay long, but it will take at least a month or two."

The implied meaning of these words was obvious. Steward Yang believed that even if the Vast Sky Alliance could conquer this place, they couldn't hold onto this mine long-term. Therefore, the Vast Sky Alliance would withdraw within one or two months, and the mine would return to the Evil Moon Valley's control.

Considering the information he currently possessed, Lu Ye made a decision.

He would stay here to recover and cultivate, leave the mine tunnel within a month, find members of the Vast Sky Alliance, and escape this suffering!

Having made up his mind, Lu Ye felt much more at ease. The most difficult days were behind him. Now that he had successfully opened a spirit aperture and had a Talent Tree at his disposal, good days still lay ahead. So, there was no need to rush.

Finding a suitable spot, Lu Ye took out a blanket from Steward Yang's storage bag, spread it out, sat quietly on it, and took out the Golden Cicada Free-and-Easy Art to study it carefully.

The mine tunnel was completely dark. Only because Lu Ye had successfully opened his aperture now could he see; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to see anything at all. Soon, he discovered something interesting: when he focused his spiritual power on his eyes, he could see things more clearly.

Unfortunately, he had only opened the Source Aperture, and his spiritual power was limited, so he couldn't maintain it for long.

He ate when hungry and slept when tired. Aside from the poor surrounding environment, there was nothing else of note. Moreover, Lu Ye was currently immersed in the excitement of his newly opened aperture, so he didn't have many demands regarding his surroundings.

It was impossible to track time in the darkness. Lu Ye didn't know how much time had passed, but estimated it had been several days.

The injuries on his legs and hands had mostly healed. After opening a spirit aperture and becoming a cultivator, his physical capabilities seemed to have improved significantly. Before, if he had been stabbed in the thigh with a sword, it would have taken at least ten days to half a month to recover enough to walk.

Of course, this was also related to Lu Ye taking Vitality Pills daily.

By studying the Golden Cicada Free-and-Easy Art, Lu Ye discovered that he couldn't use this cultivation method yet. It wasn't that there was a problem with the method itself, but rather that Lu Ye had only just opened his Source Aperture, and there were certain conditions for opening the next spirit aperture.

If spirit apertures were likened to lakes within a cultivator's body, then the water in those lakes would be the cultivator's spiritual power. Therefore, the more spirit apertures a cultivator opened, the greater the spiritual power accumulated within their body.

However, to open the next spirit aperture, the prerequisite was for the previous aperture to reach a state of completion. Simply put, the spirit aperture needed to be filled to the brim with spiritual power.

For Lu Ye, what he needed to do now was to continuously cultivate and strengthen the spiritual power accumulated in his Source Aperture. Once the spiritual power in his Source Aperture reached its full capacity, he could then open the next spirit aperture, and that's when he would need the Golden Cicada Free-and-Easy Art.

There were several ways to strengthen spiritual power.

The most common method was to consume cultivation-enhancing elixirs. These elixirs would transform into spiritual power and fill the spirit apertures.

The second method was to absorb and expel spiritual energy. Spiritual energy existed in any environment, though its abundance varied. After opening a spirit aperture, cultivators could sense the presence of spiritual energy. Through absorption and expulsion, they could refine this spiritual energy into their bodies and enhance their cultivation.

The third method involved using spirit stones. Lu Ye had only heard of these but never seen them.

And finally, there was the last method: refining essence into qi.

First, one would strengthen their own vital essence and blood energy, then refine this vital essence and blood energy into spiritual power, which could also achieve the goal of cultivation.

Each method had its advantages and disadvantages and couldn't be generalized.

Although Lu Ye had never formally entered the ranks of cultivators before, he often heard other miners discuss cultivation. They would talk about these things with a sense of yearning, hoping that one day they could "fly onto a branch and become a phoenix" (rise in status).

Lu Ye, having been exposed to this information, had consequently learned some basic principles.

Currently, Lu Ye couldn't use the first method. He didn't have any cultivation elixirs. Although he was sure Steward Yang's storage bag contained some, with so many bottles and jars, he had no way to distinguish them and dared not try them rashly.

As for the second method, Lu Ye tried it. He wasn't sure if it was because of the proximity to the yuan-magnetic field or something else, but he didn't sense any spiritual energy. Naturally, he couldn't absorb and expel it.

The only thing he could do was to refine essence into qi.