Chapter 18: The Escape Technique is Complete

With this, the objective was achieved.

Cheng Buzheng did not delay further. Holding the two jade slips in his hands, he walked toward the staircase.

Inside the counter, his Martial Uncle was resting with his eyes closed, reclining in a rocking chair. The chair swayed back and forth; from the look of it, he had not moved for quite some time!

Seeing this, Cheng Buzheng bowed and spoke

"Martial Uncle, your disciple has made his selection!"

As he spoke, he reached into his storage bag, retrieved the sect token, and held it out before him.

Upon hearing this, the Martial Uncle lying in the rocking chair opened his cloudy eyes. He raised his withered right hand and gave a slight beckon; the token flew into his palm, and he inspected it.

After a short moment, having finished his inspection, he waved his sleeve, and the token flew accurately back into Cheng Buzheng's hand.

Then, the Martial Uncle extended his withered right hand and flicked his fingers. Two streaks of white light shot out, each entwined with a jade slip. The two slips emitted a faint glow as the white light swirled and shot into Cheng Buzheng's forehead.

The two spells, *Amethyst Polishing* and *Earth Escape Technique*, were imprinted into Cheng Buzheng's mind.

The two jade slips in Cheng Buzheng's hands immediately began to dance automatically, returning to their original positions like radar.

Suppressing the urge to inspect them immediately, Cheng Buzheng bowed once more to the Martial Uncle behind the counter and said

"Martial Uncle, I shall take my leave!"

After a brief pause, seeing no reaction from his Martial Uncle, Cheng Buzheng withdrew on his own.

Arriving at the first floor of the Sutra Pagoda, he took a book from the first row of bookshelves and began to read it intently.

Time flowed slowly.

In the blink of an eye, night fell, and the Jade Rabbit played among the stars.

Cheng Buzheng set down the metal plate in his hand, looked up at the sky outside the pagoda doors, and sighed softly

"Time flows like water; in the blink of an eye, it has turned dark!"

Leaving the Sutra Pagoda, he bid farewell to his two senior brothers and walked out briskly. To a cultivator, the pitch-black night was no different from the sun's presence in the sky. Even for a cultivator who had just stepped onto the threshold of immortality, night and day posed no obstacle.

Cheng Buzheng applied slight force with his hind legs. Suddenly, the air exploded, and he vanished, leaving behind only a straight wake of air.

Inside a house in the canyon basin.

Cheng Buzheng sat cross-legged on the bed. He placed the remaining nine spirit stones in front of him, connected his will to the small jade disc, and enveloped one spirit stone with his divine sense.

Deep within his sea of consciousness, the patterns on the small disc glowed faintly, and the panel floating above the disc changed.

Master of the Heavenly Jade Disc: Cheng Buzheng Realm: Qi Refinement Layer 1 Cultivation Method: Tier 1 Mid-grade (Common) - Red Fire Manual (Beginner) Spells: Tier 1 Low-grade (Common) Amethyst Polishing (Not Started), Tier 1 Low-grade (Common) Earth Escape Technique (Not Started) Spiritual Power: 1

Cheng Buzheng discovered that the spiritual power on the panel was no longer zero, but had become one. Although it was only a single point, it represented a change from nothing to something.

He focused his mind, letting his intent enter his sea of consciousness.

As the memories of the Earth Escape Technique surged, Cheng Buzheng extracted the complete memory of the spell and condensed it into the form of a seed.

He then placed it directly into the central indentation of the small disc. With a thought, the patterns on the disc glowed faintly and then went out.

Cheng Buzheng noticed that the spiritual power value on the panel did not move at all; it remained at one.

He let out a soft sigh, looking pained, but did not stop. He connected his will to the disc again and enveloped the second spirit stone with his divine sense.

The patterns on the small disc deep in his sea of consciousness glowed faintly once more. In an instant, the panel floating above the disc changed again; the spiritual power value shifted from one to two.

His three-colored soul transformed into a tiny figure, which once again tapped "Earth Escape Technique" lightly on the panel.

Instantly, the panel above the disc changed, and its spiritual power value dropped to zero.

The patterns on the disc glowed faintly as streaks of white light enveloped the seed in the central indentation.

As time passed, the white light enveloping the seed formed by the Earth Escape Technique grew thinner. Finally, a crystal-clear yellow bead lay quietly in the center of the disc.

The tiny figure formed by his soul, glowing with three colors, reached out and beckoned; the yellow spiritual bead landed in its palm.

He inspected the yellow bead briefly. It was a round lump, about the size of a pinky finger, with an earthy yellow luster emitting a faint glow. Faint characters were visible within it; it looked excellent, clearly an immortal treasure at first glance.

He raised his hand, opened his mouth, and swallowed in one fluid motion.

Immediately, countless yellow characters surrounded his soul-figure, eventually forming a yellow sphere of text that tightly encased him.

Then, a profound mystery entered his soul; countless methods of practicing the Earth Escape Technique and various experiences flooded in.

In the outside world, Cheng Buzheng's body emitted a yellow spiritual light. While in the midst of his comprehension, he "fell" into the ground as if he were a fish floating on the surface of water, naturally sinking into the earth.

Underground, Cheng Buzheng's eyes were slightly closed. Like a fish swimming freely in water, he moved through various postures—sideways, upwards, and frog-kicks—with ease.

At this moment, Cheng Buzheng was like the darling of the earth, playing wildly under the care of Mother Earth.

Before long, he had completely comprehended the Earth Escape Technique, reaching the state of Perfection.

Currently, he was one zhang beneath the ground, a clear smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

After a moment, a head enveloped in yellow light emerged from the ground inside the house. Cheng Buzheng scanned the room and found nothing unusual.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he realized that after the small disc's deduction, much of the content in the Earth Escape Technique had been trimmed, but one thing had been added.

After the deduction, the Earth Escape Technique had become much more refined, its escape speed had increased significantly, and it had gained the ability to conceal one's aura—a capability it previously lacked.

An Earth Escape Technique that had reached the state of Perfection required no hand seals and could be used for instant escape, greatly increasing his survival capabilities.

Turning his attention back, he calmed his mind and sent his consciousness into his sea of consciousness. At this moment, the panel above the disc changed once again.

Master of the Heavenly Jade Disc: Cheng Buzheng Realm: Qi Refinement Layer 1 Cultivation Method: Tier 1 Mid-grade (Common) - Red Fire Manual (Beginner) Spells: Tier 1 Low-grade (Common) Amethyst Polishing (Not Started), Tier 1 Low-grade (Boutique) Earth Escape Technique (Perfection) Spiritual Power: 0

Seeing that the spiritual power had returned to zero, he did not feel any heartache; the two points of spiritual power spent were well worth it.

However, when Cheng Buzheng realized that evolving a spell from "Low-grade Common" to "Boutique" required two spirit stones, he felt that his wallet would certainly never grow fat. Furthermore, he did not know if there were even higher qualities beyond this.

Every upgrade required at least two spirit stones, and even then, it might not be enough; the possibility of it being insufficient was very high.

While the consumption felt satisfying, the aftermath was painful.

He knew that even if he had spirit stones in the future, he would undoubtedly upgrade his spell qualities without hesitation, but the post-purchase regret was unavoidable unless he had enough spirit stones to not care about such small amounts.

Cheng Buzheng also knew that in the cultivation world, high-quality spells were generally not sold. Even in the Sutra Pagoda, the spells available for disciples to choose were of common quality; boutique quality was even harder to encounter.

As his thoughts raced, he suppressed these distractions, focused his mind, and silently began to recover his mana. His recent excursion through the earth had exhausted his spiritual energy.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed, Cheng Buzheng circulated the Red Fire Manual along the Minor Heavenly Circuit. Immediately, wisps of spiritual energy around him began to gather visibly.

Following the circulation route of the Minor Heavenly Circuit, he operated it repeatedly, and his mana slowly began to recover.