Chapter 165: Choosing the Two-Phase Power

"Senior Brother Hu."

The keeper of the scripture repository was an aged cultivator. Yuan Chiye greeted him.

"New disciples can choose one Qi Cultivation method and one spell from the bookshelves." Senior Brother Hu nodded in response to Yuan Chiye, then held up a book and reiterated the rules to Chen Mobai and the other six. He then waved them off.

"After you've made your selections, come here to register," Yuan Chiye added. Zhuo Ming and the others nodded, then, unable to contain their excitement, eagerly headed towards the neatly stacked books on the tree-walled shelves around them.

Chen Mobai and Liu Wenbo, however, were not in a hurry. The latter even bowed to Senior Brother Hu.

After the other six left, Chen Mobai walked up to the two senior brothers.

"May I choose the 'Two-Phase Art'?" Chen Mobai had a clear goal: his primary objective in joining the Divine Wood Sect was the Foundation Establishment Pill and the Two-Phase Art.

"Are you sure you want to choose the Two-Phase Art? We generally don't recommend this cultivation method for ordinary sect disciples. While it can increase the chances of forming a Golden Core, it requires double the resources and time beforehand," Senior Brother Hu said, frowning in advice.

"Ever since I heard Senior Brother Qi Rui speak of the Two-Phase Art on Qingguang Island, I've longed to learn it. I hope to fulfill that wish today." After Chen Mobai finished speaking, Senior Brother Hu looked troubled and turned to Yuan Chiye.

Yuan Chiye was responsible for guiding this batch of new disciples, acting as a partial mentor. Senior Brother Hu wanted him to try and persuade Chen Mobai.

"As a core disciple, you can receive the Two-Phase Art for free. If you choose this cultivation method now, in addition to making a Dao Heart vow, you must also submit a voluntary statement to prevent future regrets if it hinders your Qi cultivation progress," Yuan Chiye finished. Senior Brother Hu then spoke again, enumerating the disadvantages of cultivating the Two-Phase Art to Chen Mobai.

"I once believed myself to be a heaven-sent genius, capable of simultaneously cultivating two arts and even aspiring to form a Golden Core," he said. "However, thirty years of stagnation since joining the sect have taught me that unless one is exceptionally talented and comes from a wealthy background, it's better to face reality." He continued, "I am now at the ninth layer of Qi cultivation, but because I simultaneously cultivated two Qi cultivation methods—water and wood—using the Two-Phase Art, I missed the optimal age for Foundation Establishment. Now I can only sit idle in this scripture cave."

After these words, Yuan Chiye's expression became a little uneasy. He, too, cultivated the Two-Phase Art, practiced both water and wood Qi cultivation, and faced a scarcity of resources. However, he was resourceful, willing to snatch various tasks as a core disciple, even undertaking tedious duties like guiding new disciples through sect rules. In that sense, he was doing better than Senior Brother Hu.

His water-attribute cultivation method was already at the ninth layer of Qi cultivation, but his Evergreen Immortality Scripture was still stuck at the eighth layer, requiring several years of arduous practice to achieve two-phase balance before attempting Foundation Establishment. Nevertheless, Yuan Chiye already possessed a Foundation Establishment Pill, and with nearly twenty years left until his sixtieth birthday, he certainly wouldn't follow in Senior Brother Hu's footsteps.

Chen Mobai held firm to his decision. After writing a voluntary statement under Yuan Chiye's guidance, he followed Senior Brother Hu to a locked bookcase. When opened, it was filled with a hundred copied volumes of the "Two-Phase Art."

Senior Brother Hu casually pulled out a volume and handed it to Chen Mobai.

"Senior Brother, since these are manually copied, might there be any typos or missing characters?" Chen Mobai opened the book, asking with a worried expression, which earned him an eye-roll from Senior Brother Hu.

"These are directly printed using spells, but because the original was handwritten, they look like copies," Senior Brother Hu explained. "The original was personally written by our sect's Ancestor Fu, and it includes his cultivation insights. You disciples are incredibly lucky! Back when I was in the Five Elements Sect, the Golden Core Ancestors' cultivation notes had to be exchanged with sect contribution points. Unlike now, where they are directly printed on the cultivation methods and given to you."

Chen Mobai listened, his face filled with gratitude. Having the insights of predecessors as a reference would certainly make understanding and cultivating much easier, a point he had come to deeply appreciate through his supplementary cultivation software.

"You can also choose one spell," Yuan Chiye reminded him after they returned.

In the Sky River Realm, cultivation methods and spells are separate. This is precisely why, when Chen Mobai saw He Qun selling the Black Water Art at Nanxi Market, He Qun also sold Water Manipulation Art and Water Elemental Shield separately. It wasn't because He Qun was greedy, but because it had always been the rule in the Sky River Realm.

"Senior Brother Yuan, do you have any recommendations?" Chen Mobai wasn't aware of any famous spells in the Divine Wood Sect. With the Immortal Sect's spell library as his backing, his need for Sky River Realm spells wasn't strong, and he hadn't inquired beforehand, so he boldly asked Yuan Chiye.

"Cultivating the Two-Phase Art requires many resources, and our Divine Wood Sect is famous for its vast medicinal fields. You could cultivate a Spiritual Needle Art or a Falling Rain Art. That way, after finishing your woodcutting duties, if you apply to work in the medicinal fields, many elders would be willing to take you in." If Chen Mobai hadn't asked, Yuan Chiye wouldn't have bothered to say anything. But since he was asked, as someone Yuan Chiye thought highly of, he offered some guidance.

Since the "Falling Rain Art" was most powerful when activated with water-attribute spiritual energy, Chen Mobai ultimately chose the "Spiritual Needle Art," which could be cultivated with any of the five elemental spiritual energies.

Thus, among the seven, Chen Mobai was the first to select his cultivation method and spell.

"Oh, Senior Brother Yuan, I once met a disciple from the Flying Needle Sect. I wonder, which is more powerful, the Spiritual Needle Art or their flying needles?" Seeing that standing around was boring, he decided to chat with Yuan Chiye.

"Flying Needle Sect? It seems there's such a subordinate sect under Golden Light Cliff." At this point, Yuan Chiye took out a thick book from his storage pouch, flipped through a few pages, and found information on a Daoist named Red Needle.

"Found it. The Flying Needle Sect used to be somewhat known, but after their last Foundation Establishment cultivator passed away sixty years ago, they might be on the verge of disappearing now." Chen Mobai watched as Yuan Chiye put the thick book back into his storage pouch after checking the information. This reminded him of the one he had picked up on Qingguang Island, which he still hadn't opened.

"Senior Brother Yuan, can storage pouches be bought within the sect?"

"Of course. Everything the sect offers can be bought at the Treasure Pavilion. The smallest one-cubic-meter storage pouch costs a hundred spirit stones. Do you want one? I happen to have an extra."

"Where did Senior Brother get this extra one?"

"Heh, just some short-sighted rogue cultivators tried to rob me. After I counter-killed them, that storage pouch was left behind. I refined the previous owner's imprint with my spiritual sense and gained over two hundred spirit stones. Having too many of these is useless. If you truly want it, I'll take a loss and sell it to you for eighty spirit stones."

Hearing Yuan Chiye's words, Chen Mobai immediately waved his hand, indicating he couldn't afford it. However, the phrase "refined with spiritual sense" stuck in his mind.