nyslfriends Chapter 2 The Power of the Small Cauldron
Chapter 2 The Power of the Small Cauldron
A quarter past noon.
Xiaojianshan Market, Mingzhen Ward.
A cramped wooden hut, out of place, squeezed into the cracks of the alley, barely ten square meters in size. There are many such narrow houses in Mingzhenfang, rented by ordinary people and independent cultivators. The rent is cheap, only five spirit stones for half a year.
Chen Bai pushed open the wooden door and went inside. He turned around and locked the door.
"Oh......"
Chen Bai sighed wearily. Only after returning home did his anxiety ease slightly.
Upon closer inspection, there was only a bed and a table, with a few books piled on the table, and no other decorations.
Don't be fooled by the simple conditions; they are far superior to other places in the city because they are located near the market, allowing you to soak up the spiritual energy overflowing from the market.
It is said that living here for a long time can not only increase the chances of attaining fetal breathing and becoming a "celestial being", but also prolong life and live to be a hundred years old!
I took out the bran cakes I bought this morning and ate a few bites to fill my stomach.
Chen Bai immersed himself in his consciousness and began to study the talisman master inheritance revealed by the old Taoist priest.
"An Initial Explanation of the Mysterious Symbols and Covenants".
The mysterious is spiritual... Dragon and phoenix script, the true text of the Great Dao... have existed since ancient times.
The Immortal Lord gathered the strengths of many, combined them into one furnace, and transmitted the Daoist lineage. During the Xiantian era, the "Divine Talisman" was born into the world, written on jade and silk, embodying the Dao and communicating with the divine, beyond description!
Enduring through countless generations, imbued with divine power, it gave rise to the art of talismans. Future talisman masters must be familiar with it...
The contents here are varied and include almost all the knowledge and insights the old Taoist priest had accumulated over the decades regarding talismans. This section, for example, discusses the origin of talismans.
However, time is tight now, and there's no time to savor it slowly. I'll just have to digest it later.
He quickly skipped to the section on how to draw talismans and patiently read on.
After an incense stick has burned.
"Can someone who hasn't attained fetal breathing and doesn't possess magical power still draw talismans?" Chen Bai murmured, his brows gradually relaxing as he looked at the scene.
"So, it's feasible to set up an altar beforehand, place offerings, and invoke the spirits and constellations through ritualistic steps to harness their spiritual energy and assist in drawing talismans!"
He opened his eyes, lost in thought.
As one of the hundred arts of cultivating immortality, the way of talismans has been a noble and refined path since ancient times.
There are many precedents of independent cultivators being recruited as guest elders or elders by immortal sects and clans because of their high level of talisman cultivation.
Mastering this skill naturally brings many benefits, eliminating worries about labor, money, and material shortages.
Thinking of this, Chen Bai's heart was filled with emotion.
He paced excitedly around the room, thinking, "Fortunately, the materials for setting up the altar aren't rare; the real treasures are the offerings for inviting the gods and the ritual implements for the consecration ceremony."
A thought suddenly struck him, as if he had remembered something.
"Oh, right!"
The next moment, Chen Bai pulled out a pile of tattered items from a satchel hidden under his black clothes.
Swords, halberds, knives, mirrors, banners, lanterns... without exception, they were so damaged that their original appearance was almost unrecognizable, and they had virtually no value.
These fragments were originally magical artifacts refined by cultivators of the Fetal Breathing stage. They contained some spiritual materials, but the crafting techniques were crude, and even low-grade first-tier magical artifacts were rare. Now, only fragments and remnants remain, so they are scattered in the swamp and left unattended.
He first picked up a small, suspicious black substance, which looked like a rag mixed with blood and mud.
After a slight hesitation, I tried to activate the small cauldron.
When he felt a slight suction in his hand, he was overjoyed. He never expected that these scraps could actually be recycled!
"..."
After more than ten breaths, there was still no feedback.
Just as he was somewhat puzzled, the small cauldron in his sea of consciousness trembled slightly in disgust, and began to move.
[Recycling: "Six Crows Black Banner Fragment" *1]
Chen Bai smiled.
Extract: "Black Crow Essence Remnant Soul *1", "Spirit Silkworm Silk *1"
He picked up the silk thread in his hand, grimaced, and exclaimed, "It's just a single strand! It's not even half the length of my finger!"
However, even a small amount is still something, not to mention there's a huge pile of waste waiting to be recycled nearby.
Temporarily set aside the raven-shaped ball of light in your sea of consciousness.
Chen Bai continued the recycling.
[Recycling: "Fragment of the Sanyang Liuhuo Lamp" *1]
In his hand, a small piece of charred wood turned to dust.
Extract: "Three Yang Wood Branch *1", "Six Si Spirit Fire *1"
Looking at the small piece of wood in his hand that emitted a warm glow, and the faint firelight beside the small cauldron, Chen Bai smiled even more happily.
continue!
He grabbed the remaining scraps and began to refine them fiercely!
"..."
The next moment, the small cauldron trembled violently, as if it had eaten a huge lump of food, and the "chewing" time was also longer.
[Recycling: Fragment of a Hundred-Refined Iron Sword *1]
Extract: "Hundred-Refined Iron Essence *1", "Meteorite White Spirit Iron *1"
......
After about half a cup of tea's time, the small cauldron finally stopped shaking.
A small pile of materials emitting various spiritual lights appeared in front of Chen Bai. Although they were not even half the size of his fist, they were still valuable spiritual materials.
He chuckled and put these treasures into a hidden box for later use.
As for the two intangible entities that were separated: "Six Fires of the Six Si" and "Black Crow's Remnant Soul".
To be on the safe side, Chen Bai didn't plan to touch them until he understood them clearly.
They were immersed in the farmer's joy of a bountiful harvest for only a short time.
He pondered carefully and realized that something seemed off about the small cauldron.
He previously retrieved over a hundred corpses in the Louze Plains! He only successfully extracted them a dozen times, and those were mostly skills and knowledge that were often ridiculed.
For example, there are works like "The Seven Lucky Goddesses" and "The Secret Manual of Mandarin Ducks"; there are also "The Method of Applying Rouge", "The Magic Spell for Guaranteed Success in Dice Throwing", "The Miraculous Hand of Emptiness", and "Ten Methods of Judging Character"...
In comparison, the recovery rate this time was significantly higher, reaching 50-60%, and the amount of resources extracted was also doubled.
Could it be that the little cauldron has been upgraded?
If his guess is true...
This means that the recycling rate will increase with the cumulative number of recycling attempts or by recycling high-value items. Wouldn't that mean you can recover more resources from waste?
Chen Bai's eyes lit up.
What is this? It's gold extracted from poop!
He sat on the stool with a satisfied expression.
Lay them out on the table; the earnings from this trip out of town totaled thirty-five talisman coins. In the market, one spirit stone could be exchanged for ten spirit shells or one hundred talisman coins.
After a brief moment of thought, Chen Bai couldn't help but frown and sigh, "As expected, I haven't even recouped my investment. Today is rent payment day, what am I going to do..."
Even a hero can be stumped by a single talisman.
These spiritual materials obtained from recycling waste are not easy to sell in the short term.
After gritting his teeth and thinking for a moment, he rummaged through his drawers and took out his savings of half a year.
Not much, just three spirit stones. He had originally planned to save them up to buy a breathing technique, but the past six months had made him realize how ridiculous his idea was.
Wealth, law, companion, land.
These are the four essential conditions for becoming a "celestial being".
Spirit stones are the essence of heaven and earth, the spiritual essence of yin and yang, and the gifts of creation.
Most of the spirit stones circulating today come from the spiritual veins within the blessed lands controlled by the "Three Sects and Six Schools".
As the mainstream equivalent for measuring value, spirit stones can not only quickly replenish the depleted vital energy and mana of cultivators, but can also be used to trade various magical artifacts, formations, elixirs, and even cultivation methods... their importance is self-evident.
In addition, the currency circulating in the Changxiao Realm includes spirit shells from all over the world, as well as talisman coins and spirit sand that circulate among low-level cultivators.
It is said that even the simplest embryonic breathing stage cultivation method requires at least 500 spirit stones. The cultivation methods for the innate, foundation building, and core cultivation stages are even more expensive and rare, and are often monopolized by major immortal sects or immortal clans.
After receiving the old Taoist's lifelong legacy of talisman mastery, Chen Bai also managed to glean some fragments of knowledge about cultivation from it.
It involves how ordinary people can cultivate the three treasures of essence, qi, and spirit, meditate to enter a state of tranquility, see the innate spiritual light, try to "guide qi into the body," circulate the qi, and cultivate embryonic breathing, etc.
It left him completely bewildered, and he was itching to see more.
I can't wait to start trying it right away.
Just as Chen Bai was fiddling with the spirit stone in his hand, his mind was unsettled and his thoughts were wandering.
"Bang bang bang!"
Suddenly, a banging sound rang out on the door.