Cultivation: From Poor Peasant to Celestial Lord

"I’d be honored, Senior Sister!" Chu Bai said, cupping his fists without a moment’s hesitation.

"Then it’s settled."

Wang Qingli stood up decisively, her skirt fluttering. "Let’s go. We’ll book it right now. For this last month, we’ll hole up in the Cultivation Room. No slacking off."

They hit it off instantly and walked shoulder to shoulder toward the Cultivation Rooms.

Wang Qingli knew the way well and quickly found a Class A Cultivation Room situated over a Spirit Vein node.

The moment they stepped inside, a dense wave of Spiritual Qi washed over them, instantly invigorating their spirits.

The room was a sealed, quiet space. With a mere thought, one could conjure targets of various materials, adjusting their defensive strength and movement speed at will.

Furthermore, the Spirit Gathering Array’s presence nearly doubled the rate at which one’s Spiritual Power recovered.

This made for extremely efficient training.

Chu Bai looked around the spacious Cultivation Room, quite pleased.

"Let’s begin."

"Alright!"

Inside the Cultivation Room, the Spirit Gathering Array hummed to life, and a faint Spiritual Mist began to fill the air.

Standing in the center of the room, Chu Bai took a deep breath and began to channel his newly acquired Wood Element Technique—the Rejuvenation Seal.

With a single thought, the endlessly cycling Little Five Elements Cycle within him responded instantly.

As he formed a series of Hand Seals, the once-balanced Five Elements Spiritual Power inside him rapidly shifted, concentrating on the Wood Element.

A sliver of the Life and Death Qi, imbued with the essence of withering and flourishing, was precisely extracted. It surged through his meridians toward the surface of his skin.

"Condense!"

Chu Bai let out a low shout.

A faint, teal-gray light flashed on his left arm before quickly converging into a fingernail-sized Spell, branding itself quietly onto his skin.

’So this is the Rejuvenation Seal?’

Chu Bai checked his internal Spiritual Power reserves and raised an eyebrow. ’The cost is pretty high... A single Seal used up twenty percent of my Spiritual Power.’

’Thankfully, the cost should go down a bit once I master it.’

He glanced at his status panel.

[Rejuvenation Seal: (Beginner 1/100)]

Even though it was only at the Beginner level, the successful formation of the first Seal proved he was on the right track.

"Again!"

Chu Bai didn’t hesitate. Taking advantage of the abundant Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Gathering Array, he began to furiously grind his proficiency.

One Seal, two Seals, three Seals...

His wood-attribute Magical Power drained like water as he kept up the Sealing, but the swift circulation of his Guiyuan Technique rapidly replenished it.

Gradually, his arms, chest, and back became densely covered in the teal-gray, tree-ring-like marks.

Chu Bai only stopped when the very last wisp of Wood Qi in his body was exhausted.

If he were to take off his shirt now, one would see his torso covered in several Rejuvenation Seals, all emitting a reassuring life-force fluctuation.

Chu Bai sat cross-legged and meditated for a moment. Once his Spiritual Power was fully restored, he stood and looked over at Wang Qingli, who was practicing a Defense Technique on the other side of the room.

"Senior Sister, can you help me with something?"

"Hmm?" Wang Qingli paused and turned around. "What is it? You want to spar?"

"No, I want to test this new Magic Technique."

Chu Bai pointed to his chest. "Senior Sister, hit me with a standard-strength Earth Spike Technique. No need to hold back."

"You’re not going to dodge?" Wang Qingli’s brows furrowed, confused. ’Even for practice, it makes no sense to just stand there and take a hit, does it?’

"I’m not dodging. I want to see the limits of this passive defense." Chu Bai’s eyes were resolute.

"Alright, then be careful."

Wang Qingli was a decisive person herself. Since Chu Bai had asked, she wasn’t going to hem and haw.

With a wave of her fair hand, the ground began to bulge.

WHOOSH!

A sharp, ochre-colored stone spike burst from the earth, hurtling toward Chu Bai’s chest with a whistle.

Although it was just a casual strike, it was still an attack from a Third-Layer Qi Cultivator. Its power was not to be underestimated.

Chu Bai stood his ground, not moving an inch.

Just as the spike was about to strike, a pale golden Guardian Shield materialized before him, its faint color indicating it wasn’t at full power.

A muffled THUD.

After shattering the golden shield, the spike’s remaining momentum carried it forward, and it struck Chu Bai hard in the chest.

Though weakened, the force of the impact still made Chu Bai grunt. His robes tore, and a two-inch-long gash opened on his chest, blood seeping from the wound.

"Are you alright?" Wang Qingli asked, starting to move forward to check on him.

But Chu Bai waved her off, his gaze locked on the wound.

The instant he was injured, one of the Rejuvenation Seals on his chest seemed to be stimulated, suddenly glowing with a green light.

The light vanished in a flash, and the Seal faded and disappeared along with it.

Then, something incredible happened.

Under the green light’s glow, the bleeding wound began to staunch and scab over at a visible rate, until even the scar itself faded into nothing.

In less than two breaths, the wound had healed completely!

"Such a fast recovery speed!"

A flash of astonishment crossed Wang Qingli’s eyes. "Is that... a passively triggered Healing Technique?"

"Exactly."

Chu Bai touched his perfectly restored skin, his eyes filled with delighted surprise. "As long as I don’t actively trigger this Seal and its Spiritual Qi doesn’t dissipate, it can stay on my body for several days. The moment I’m injured, it activates on its own."

"This way, I won’t have to divert my focus to healing during a fight, nor will I have to worry about the casting being interrupted."

"What a great Technique!"

Chu Bai clenched his fist. The Rejuvenation Seal, combined with his highly defensive Guardian Shield, was a perfect match.

’Next, I need to raise my proficiency with it as quickly as possible.’

’And my Body Technique has to keep pace, too...’

Thanks to his Fate Chart, every time he used a Magic Technique, he would see substantial improvement, with no bottlenecks to speak of.

As long as he had enough Spiritual Power and enough practice, he was confident he could hammer these two new Magic Techniques into something miraculous within the final thirty days!