With Jing Qian's current strength, as long as he held the advantage of terrain, anyone below Dragon-Elephant could not possibly stand against him.
Unfortunately, the Crocodile Dragon Fang could not be brought into the Fate Stele space. Forced to fight barehanded, he lost much of his sharp edge, and his attacks were greatly weakened.
As a result, even though he had long possessed the souls of the Crocodile Dragon and the Snow Maiden, he had never been able to so much as scratch them.
Still, once he could pierce through a foe's defense, he was capable of instantly crushing them, quickly eradicating their souls.
In just half a day, he had completely cleared away the five newly obtained souls.
A flood of Life Essence and memories surged into his mind, taking him another half-day to sort through before he could make sense of it all.
Closing his eyes in meditation, Jing Qian felt his sea of consciousness swelling and brimming with Life Essence.
Looking again at the Fate Stele, his total accumulation of Life Essence had finally broken through ten, reaching twelve.
But as his cultivation increased, the speed of gaining more Life Essence had begun to slow.
This was because the quality of the soul resources was insufficient!
Still, the four shining Life-Casting Opportunities were undeniable.
For many rogue cultivators, merely possessing ten White Fang Life Essences would already qualify them to attempt advancing to Dragon-Elephant, beginning the process of refining and condensing their first Azure Wing Life Essence.
But for Jing Qian, who had only just set foot on the path of cultivation, with countless fundamentals yet unlearned, this was precisely the time to strengthen his foundations.
He certainly would not limit himself by rushing into advancement.
Accumulating more Life Essence and forging new Life Patterns remained his true priority.
Moreover, the vast trove of memories gained from the five souls proved extremely valuable.
After carefully sifting through them, he divided them into three categories:
Secret Arts and Techniques, including Life Pattern refinements, various Essence-Nurturing methods, and all the most precious cultivation knowledge.
From these souls, Jing Qian obtained two more Life Pattern refinements.
In addition to the Heart Ape, he gained the Sheep Skull Life Pattern, which could be refined into the ninth-rank Bronze Ram power.
Wu Yan also contributed a method called the Art of Drawing Yuan, specifically a technique known as Living Bone, which happened to match perfectly with the Heart Ape. It specialized in accumulating life force to condense Life Essence, a highly effective method.
Experiences and Insights, including cultivation comprehension, the practice of secret arts, and professional knowledge.
Common Knowledge covering navigation routes, identification of treasures, and other worldly information.
Though the latter two categories could not directly increase combat strength, they enriched his understanding immensely. Truly, freeloading knowledge was the sweetest gain one could freeload forever and stay happy forever!
After this period of consolidation, Jing Qian's studies of the Rune-Inscription Art finally reached completion.
He was now ready to officially begin cultivating the Art of Drawing Yuan.
Revitalized, Jing Qian leapt out of the Void Realm, stepped onto the waves, and returned to the broken little boat.
From raft to wreck, it was at least an upgrade.
He released part of the silk threads binding A'Bao, freeing his hands and feet, then said:
"Fellow Daoist, you take the helm. We're returning to Hunzhou Island."
The fat man dared not hesitate. He hurried to the stern and grabbed the rudder, but then said anxiously:
"Master, this little boat requires two men to sail. If I steer, I can't row it, still won't move!"
Jing Qian nodded calmly.
"I'll handle the oars. You just steer. Leave the rest to me."
Saying this, he channeled the power of the Tidal Life Pattern into the boat.
All at once, the vessel surged forward on its own.
The fat man at the stern, watching in awe, could not resist flattering him:
"The Jing family's Tidal Life Pattern is truly one of the rare Mountain-Sea Patterns unsurpassed in naval combat!"
"Master, once you reach the Dragon-Elephant realm, the Naval Command Office will surely reserve a place for you in the fleet!"
"The fleet's three core warships, Hunling, which has already been destroyed, and the surviving Hunyi and Hunliang, when their captains' lifespans finally run out, with your Tidal Life Pattern, you'll take the lead in the Dragon Boat contests and win yourself a captain's post!"
The fat man spoke with such enthusiasm as if the post of warship captain were some lofty and glorious office.
But Jing Qian knew almost nothing about Hunzhou Island. From the memories he had obtained, for some reason, there were only fragments of objective knowledge, completely lacking in records of society, culture, and human affairs.
The only reason he kept this fat fellow alive was precisely because the man had a glib tongue, a knack for speaking, and seemed well-informed.
So Jing Qian asked:
"Fatty, tell me everything you know about Hunzhou."
A'Bao hesitated for a moment before replying:
"Master, I… I don't even know where to begin."
Jing Qian thought for a while. Getting to know a new world, even with extraordinary powers, was nothing more than starting from the basics: politics, economy, military, culture, and so on.
He continued:
"We're heading to Hunzhou Island. At this speed, how long will it take us to get there?"
A'Bao replied:
"Master, we're less than eight thousand li from Hunzhou. If we travel day and night without rest, we'll arrive in about half a month."
Jing Qian nodded.
"Then let's set a limit of ten days. Today, start by telling me about the economy. What are prices like on Hunzhou Island? How do its people make a living?"
"Oh, and tell me this first: storage treasures can be bought and sold anywhere? How much are they worth?"
For Jing Qian, other things were of little concern. But storage treasures were rare, and of extreme importance to his Sumeru Life Pattern.
A'Bao quickly replied:
"Master, such storage treasures are far too precious. Please forgive me, I'm of too low a cultivation level to ever have contact with them.
These treasures circulate only among the great cultivation clans, the core of the Fate Islands, the large merchants of the official trading halls, or the high officials of the prefectural courts.
At the very least, only a cultivator at the perfected Dragon-Elephant stage might hope to acquire one.
However, this humble one does enjoy attending lively events. I've been to several of the great merchant fairs.
I recall once seeing a grand cultivator from Yunzhou pass through. He exchanged a ninth-rank storage treasure for an eighth-rank dragon boat.
In Hunzhou, a dragon boat is hard currency!
Even an empty hull is worth a thousand ingots of Yuan Gold.
If fitted with rank-grade armaments or fishing gear, it could fetch as much as three thousand ingots!
By that measure, even the lowest-grade storage treasure is worth its weight in gold, no, worth a fortune!"
Hearing this, Jing Qian rubbed his fingers, silently calculating.
In terms of liquid wealth, he had less than ten gold coins to his name.
It seemed this third storage treasure… would have to be "contributed" by another kind soul.
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