Chapter 5: Immortal Arts — Completely Free
While Zhuge Feng was selecting his immortal arts inside, the two people outside were staring each other down.
"You... you... you......" Xiao Lingxi's eyes went wide, staring at Su Bai in disbelief. She felt as though everything she had encountered tonight had completely overturned her understanding of the world.
She had originally thought she could play the hero and expose a con artist — but it turned out the man was the real deal.
"Little girl," Su Bai said with his hands clasped behind his back, a cheerful smile on his face, "do you still think I'm a fraud?"
"I......" Xiao Lingxi was speechless, her cheeks flushing red. She lowered her head and muttered, "How was I supposed to know you were actually someone capable?"
Su Bai shook his head, not bothering to argue with a young girl.
At that moment, Zhuge Feng walked out of the Immortal Arts Pavilion, cradling a yellow scroll in both hands. He approached Su Bai with great reverence.
"Master, how much in silver taels does this immortal art cost? And if I only want the first level of the Qi Refining immortal art, how much would that be?"
His voice trembled slightly. Xiao Lingxi, standing nearby, also turned her gaze over.
Immortal arts were the very foundation upon which a sect stood!
Many sects treated their immortal arts as priceless treasures — the constant source that drew disciples to them.
Take the Lingxiao Sect, for example. Its signature immortal art, the Lingxiao Formula, was a high-grade technique.
How did one learn the Lingxiao Formula?
First, one had to become a Menial Disciple, spend half a year, pass an official assessment, and become a formal disciple.
Next, one had to complete various sect missions to earn sect points, and only after accumulating enough points would one qualify to exchange them for the Lingxiao Formula.
Finally, even after gaining the exchange qualification, it was not free to cultivate — one still had to pay to purchase it!
First level of the Qi Refining Formula: 100 silver taels.
Second level of the Qi Refining Formula: 300 silver taels.
Third level of the Qi Refining Formula: 100 gold taels.
One gold tael was worth ten silver taels, so 100 gold taels amounted to 1,000 silver taels!
And that was only the first three levels of the Qi Refining Stage technique — the levels beyond that were priced even more outrageously!
As the saying went: if you have no money, what cultivation are you pursuing?
Wouldn't it be perfectly fine to just live as an ordinary Mortal?
With immortal arts being so precious, how could Zhuge Feng not tremble?
This scripture — even before he had begun cultivating it — already gave him a faint sense that it was no ordinary immortal art. Its value was likely no less than the Lingxiao Formula itself.
Yet here the immortal art was, right in front of him, and he had no silver taels to pay for it!
"Silver taels? What silver taels?"
Su Bai was baffled.
In all the novels he had read before transmigrating, wasn't it always the case that disciples joined a sect and could then cultivate immortal arts freely — completely free of charge?
How had it come to this, where his own disciple was expected to pay?
Zhuge Feng paused, thinking Su Bai hadn't heard him clearly, and quickly repeated, "Master, how much in silver taels must I pay to cultivate this immortal art?"
"No silver taels are needed. You are a disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect — naturally, you may cultivate any of our sect's immortal arts freely." Su Bai smiled.
Zhuge Feng froze. His mind felt as though a bomb had gone off inside it, leaving a ringing buzz.
Such a precious immortal art — free?
"Master, does that mean all nine levels of the Qi Refining immortal art require no silver taels?"
He could barely believe it, half-convinced he was hearing things.
The first three levels alone were already astronomically priced, and all nine levels together.........
"What's the matter — are you unwilling?" Su Bai raised an eyebrow, his expression somewhere between a smile and not. "I'm giving you the opportunity to cultivate. Don't disappoint my expectations!"
Zhuge Feng looked up. His Master stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a gentle smile on his face, radiant as the bright moon that hung in the sky tonight.
Moonlight cascaded down like flowing silver, casting him in a glow that made him seem like an exiled immortal descended to the mortal world — a celestial being who had come down to save all living souls.
Recalling the hardships he had endured as a Menial Disciple at the Lingxiao Sect, and all those days of being suppressed and mistreated, the contrast with this moment was like heaven and earth.
His body shook violently, as though struck by lightning. A surging tide of hot blood erupted like a volcano within him, rushing straight to the top of his head.
Thud.
He dropped to both knees and kowtowed deeply, his voice firm and clear: "Your disciple, Zhuge Feng, gives his deepest thanks to Master!"
Seeing this, Su Bai couldn't help but smile warmly.
Beside them, Xiao Lingxi was completely dumbstruck. Her beautiful, watery eyes were stretched wide open, her mouth opening and closing several times without producing a single sound.
Her heart was flooded with overwhelming shock and astonishment.
A complete immortal art spanning all nine levels of the Qi Refining Stage — free?
Even her own family clan, if they wanted to purchase a complete set of Qi Refining Stage immortal arts, would surely suffer a serious blow to their finances.
Was this really not a con artist?
"Master, what tasks must I complete each day?" Zhuge Feng raised his head and asked.
Upon joining a sect — whether as a Menial Disciple or a formal disciple — one was always required to complete daily tasks first, which typically consumed twelve to fourteen hours of the day.
Failing to complete one's tasks carried severe punishment.
Only after finishing the tasks could one carve out a little time to cultivate.
He wondered: what were the daily tasks in the Heavenly Dao Sect?
"Tasks? Your task is to cultivate diligently. The higher your cultivation, the greater your contribution to the sect."
Su Bai said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Zhuge Feng was stunned.
His task was to cultivate?
What did that amount to?
It was like earning money while lying flat on your back!
"What are you standing there for? Shouldn't you be making the most of your time and cultivating?" Su Bai urged.
Only then did Zhuge Feng snap back to his senses. He gave Su Bai a deep bow and said, "Your disciple obeys!"
As he turned away, tears began to fall unbidden down his face.
When his parents had been beaten to death, he had not cried. He had silently buried them and sworn in his heart that he would have his revenge.
When he had been targeted by Steward Wang as a Menial Disciple — forced to do the most grueling work because he had no money to grease anyone's palms — he had not cried either, vowing in secret that he would one day become an Immortal.
When his spot had been stolen and he had failed the assessment, he still had not cried!
But now, all his strength, all his grievances, dissolved into crystalline teardrops that slid silently down his cheeks.
A man does not shed tears lightly — only when his heart is truly broken!
"Master, for such a great kindness, even at the cost of my life, I will repay it!"
Zhuge Feng murmured in his heart, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, found a spot outside the Main Hall, sat down, and began to cultivate in silence.
He recited the immortal art under his breath, and following the instructions recorded within it, he guided Spiritual Energy inward and began his cultivation.
Spiritual Energy gradually gathered, transforming into a faint silver radiance that enveloped Zhuge Feng's body, then formed a circular ring that revolved around him.
"One, two, three, four... seventeen, eighteen, nineteen — twenty breaths to complete one full circulation cycle!"
Xiao Lingxi's breathing quickened, as though she were witnessing the most unbelievable thing in the world.
She reached up and rubbed her eyes, then carefully observed Zhuge Feng's cultivation again — the timing was exactly the same as before.
How was this possible?!
Xiao Lingxi's eyes went wide, her face filled with shock.
In this world, the quality of an immortal art was linked to the time it took to complete one circulation cycle during cultivation!
Take the inferior immortal arts circulating in the black market — it took two hours just to complete one or two cycles, and reaching the first level of the Qi Refining Stage would take who knew how long.
And yet even those could fetch a high price!
After all, even the first level of the Qi Refining Stage was considered an Immortal in the eyes of Mortals.
Some small sects or small family clans and factions had immortal arts of slightly higher quality — capable of completing ten to twenty circulation cycles per two hours.
Her own family clan was a prestigious noble house of the Great Zhao Empire, and their family's immortal art could complete fifty-two circulation cycles per two hours.
As for the Lingxiao Sect — ranked among the top five hundred of the Immortal Alliance — its signature immortal art, the Lingxiao Formula, could complete sixty-one circulation cycles per two hours!
And what had she just witnessed?