Chapter 40: Mooching Off Relatives

Following the main mine shaft, he continued downward. Before long, it became pitch black.

Cheng Buzheng's footsteps did not falter; he continued descending, which posed no issue for a cultivator.

Upon reaching the junction between the main shaft and a branch shaft, Cheng Buzheng used his divine sense to scan the area thoroughly. Seeing no sign of any people, a flash of yellow light erupted as he directly tunneled into the rock layer, three zhang beneath the surface.

Three zhang beneath the rock layer, a streak of yellow spiritual light sped along, arriving at a secret chamber after a short while.

Cheng Buzheng surveyed the chamber. Seeing that the several pieces of raw spirit stone ore had not been moved and that there were no traces of other cultivators, he finally felt at ease.

Without hesitation, he used his divine sense to envelop the remaining raw spirit stone ores and connected his will to the Small Jade Plate.

In an instant.

The pieces of raw spirit stone ore within the chamber turned into ordinary stones, and the panel floating above the Small Jade Plate changed.

Master of the Jade Plate of the Heavens: Cheng Buzheng Realm: Qi Refinement Level 3 Tier 1 Cultivation Method: Low-grade (Exquisite) Starry Sky Manual + Tier 1 Spells: Low-grade (Ultimate) Amethyst Carving +; Low-grade (Ultimate) Earth Escape Technique +; Low-grade (Common) Concealment Technique (Not yet mastered) + Spiritual Power: 4

Seeing that his spiritual power had increased from one to four—an increase of three points—Cheng Buzheng, having grown accustomed to vast quantities of raw spirit stone ore, did not take such a small increase to heart.

However, there was no need to let it go to waste; he was incredibly generous when it came to his own various improvements.

Suddenly.

Memories regarding the "Concealment Technique" surged. He immediately condensed the entire memory of this spell into the shape of a seed.

He then placed it into the central indentation of the Small Jade Plate. The tiny figure formed from his three-colored soul reached out a finger and lightly tapped the "Concealment Technique" on the panel.

In an instant, two points of spiritual power were deducted, and the patterns on the surface of the Small Jade Plate glowed faintly.

Countless wisps of white light enveloped the seed. As the Small Jade Plate performed its deduction, the patterns on its surface flashed continuously.

Before long.

The patterns on the surface of the Small Jade Plate gradually calmed, and the white light enveloping the seed slowly dispersed.

A transparent bead appeared in the central indentation of the Small Jade Plate.

Cheng Buzheng reached out and caught it in his hand. It was his first time seeing a transparent bead, though its size was no different from the previous ones.

He speculated that this was likely due to the unique nature of the spell; even the text inside was so subtle that one would not notice the countless transparent characters swimming within unless they looked closely.

Seeing no other special changes, Cheng Buzheng simply opened his mouth and swallowed it.

Immediately.

Countless transparent characters enveloped his soul, yet he could still see the three-colored soul figure within.

An arcane truth transmitted into his soul. Countless experiences and profound meanings of the Concealment Technique merged into his soul, acting like a diligent gardener who tirelessly taught him all the knowledge bit by bit.

As time passed, the transparent characters surrounding the three-colored soul gradually diminished, and the somewhat illusory three-colored hue gradually became real.

Only when he had completely comprehended the technique did the transparent characters surrounding his soul vanish entirely.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Cheng Buzheng suddenly opened his distinct black-and-white eyes and performed a hand seal.

He gave a low shout.

"Conceal!"

The spiritual pressure that was originally released at Qi Refinement Level 3 instantly weakened to that of Qi Refinement Level 2.

Seeing this, he marveled inwardly.

"The Concealment Technique after deduction... the ability to hide one's cultivation is indeed quite good. But it still cannot hide from a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator! It seems I must continue to improve..."

Then, he sank his consciousness and entered his soul...

Master of the Jade Plate of the Heavens: Cheng Buzheng Realm: Qi Refinement Level 3 Tier 1 Cultivation Method: Low-grade (Exquisite) Starry Sky Manual + Tier 1 Spells: Low-grade (Ultimate) Amethyst Carving +; Low-grade (Ultimate) Earth Escape Technique +; Low-grade (Exquisite) Concealment Technique + Spiritual Power: 2

Seeing that the spiritual power on the panel was a pitiful two points, Cheng Buzheng knew it was time to go "scavenging" again.

This time was slightly different from before. He planned to pack up all eight spirit stone ore storage points and bring them back. Originally, he had intended to take them bit by bit, waiting until the mission was nearly over to take everything at once, then pack up and leave.

However, after a year of using a low-grade Tier 1 cultivation method, the gap in cultivation progress compared to a high-grade Tier 1 method would certainly be massive. It would be better to deduce cultivation methods first.

Now that he had the Concealment Technique, he no longer needed to cultivate in secret. With such favorable cultivation conditions here, if he didn't cherish and utilize them, he deserved to be struck by lightning.

But the deduction of cultivation methods was a massive drain. The first deduction had consumed a full nine points, and that was only for a low-grade Tier 1 method. He didn't know how much spiritual power mid-grade or high-grade methods would consume.

This tailor-made cultivation method was not only his foundation for cultivation but also concerned his grand cause of longevity; he could not afford even a hint of carelessness.

Furthermore, the spirit stone ore in those eight storage points was not just for taking in; there was certainly consumption.

He had also noticed that the amount of ore in the eight storage points had not been increasing, but was instead slowly decreasing, indicating that the consumption of spirit stone ore was rising.

To prevent any accidents, it was better to take the ore from these eight storage points first to deduce cultivation methods.

A hundred birds in the forest are not as good as one bird in the hand.

Without hesitation, Cheng Buzheng gave a thought, and a yellow spiritual light enveloped him as he directly tunneled out of the secret chamber.

Three zhang beneath the rock layer, a streak of yellow light sped toward the eighth branch shaft.

Before long.

Cheng Buzheng arrived three zhang beneath a stone cave. He carefully sensed the area and found no cultivators inside the cave, but there were two Qi Refinement Level 2 cultivators guarding the entrance.

He cautiously approached a corner of the cave, extended a sliver of divine sense to investigate, and once certain, he carefully tunneled beneath the pile of spirit stone ore.

He then silently filled a basket, moved to a location ten zhang underground nearby to drop the ore, and returned to the cave to fill another basket. He made over a dozen trips before he had stealthily moved all the spirit stone ore away.

Cheng Buzheng arrived at his temporary storage point, spread his divine sense, and enveloped the large pile of ore before connecting his will to the Small Jade Plate.

The Small Jade Plate glowed with a white light, which lasted slightly longer than usual, and the pile of ore in the distance turned into ordinary stones in the blink of an eye.

At the exact moment the ore turned into stones.

The panel floating above the Small Jade Plate changed.

Master of the Jade Plate of the Heavens: Cheng Buzheng Realm: Qi Refinement Level 3 Tier 1 Cultivation Method: Low-grade (Exquisite) Starry Sky Manual + Tier 1 Spells: Low-grade (Ultimate) Amethyst Carving +; Low-grade (Ultimate) Earth Escape Technique +; Low-grade (Exquisite) Concealment Technique + Spiritual Power: 321

Seeing an increase of over three hundred points, Cheng Buzheng couldn't help but feel greatly excited. The amounts stored in the other seven spirit stone ore storage caves were roughly similar; if added together, they would amount to nearly two thousand spiritual power points.

He paid no mind to the pile of ordinary stones in front of him; after all, having a pile of stones within a rock layer was perfectly normal.

He did not delay and immediately tunneled toward the seventh branch shaft. Time was tight and the task was heavy.

If they were to alert one another, the spirit stone ore would slip away from him.

While the possibility was small, it was still possible.

After all, they were all mine overlords; they certainly had eyes and ears among them, and perhaps there were even masterminds controlling them from behind the scenes.

One must play it safe in everything.