Chapter 97: The Secret of Cultivation

Road Saint followed Xiong Zijie and the little Daoist to Mang Mountain. At the foot of the mountain stood a teahouse built of houses, specifically constructed for the mountain to host guests. Since no one could ascend Mang Mountain regardless of their status, this was not a targeted slight against Road Saint.

Upon arrival, Xiong Zijie cupped his fists in greeting. "Brother Road, the little Daoist and I will ascend first. You wait here for me—I will return shortly."

Road Saint dismounted and nodded. "Good."

Xiong Zijie then waved to the two subordinates nearby. "Come here."

"This is my friend. Treat him well."

"Yes, young master!"

One of the men appeared sturdy, while the other looked relatively lean.

After Xiong finished his arrangements, he ascended the mountain. Road Saint took a seat in the teahouse. The two subordinates arranged by Xiong followed closely behind him.

Road Saint felt somewhat uneasy. "Um, you don't need to trail me like this. Sit down together and have some tea."

Seeing that the two remained hesitant, Road Saint thought for a moment. "We are all brothers here. There is no need for such formality."

Under Road Saint's repeated insistence, the two finally relaxed. "Since Brother says so, we will not be polite either."

"Master of the camp said... We're the ones out here doing receptions for Hao Han Camp; we need to follow the rules, this rule, that rule. It's really stifling." The burly man spoke while pouring himself a bowl of tea and then serving Road Saint.

It was a plant for refreshing and clearing the mind, not real tea. After the apocalypse had lasted so long, genuine tea could not appear in such a remote place. What people called tea now were all these plants for refreshing and clearing the mind—roots, grasses, or leaves, as long as they possessed the effect.

The thin man also sat down. "Exactly. The camp master does not know what he is thinking, insisting on building such a grand force. As bandits, we still have to follow so many rules."

The two began complaining as soon as they sat down. Seeing that both were good conversationalists, Road Saint did not hold back and began to inquire about various information. Some pieces of information required a higher level to obtain.

Of course, Road Saint did not have anything particular he wished to know. He simply chatted sporadically, elaborating more when something interested him.

When the topic turned to Zhang Haoran's identity, the conversation shifted toward strength and cultivation. The burly man, upon hearing Road Saint mention Zhang Haoran, showed an expression of admiration. "You mean that Zhang Haoran. Even without mentioning his master, he is an incredible figure. Since I saw him, he has been carrying a five-thousand-jin giant sword, practicing swordsmanship and body refinement in Mang Mountain. Wielding the five-thousand-jin heavy sword is truly not something ordinary people like us can manage, let alone using it with such ease now. His host card is clearly a blue-quality item that should have broken through to the sixth level without issues, yet he took the body refinement path."

Road Saint's interest was piqued. "Body refinement path? What is the body refinement path? I have never heard of it."

The burly man and the thin man both showed some pride and began chatting with Road Saint in turn.

Soon, Road Saint learned the secrets of body cultivation and host card cultivation. He had not expected that breaking through the sixth level came with various restrictions, including comprehending the laws within the host card, which required a quality above blue.

It seemed he would need to spend more time cultivating his relationship with the time-space ant to glimpse the mysteries of the laws belonging to the time-space ant. To clearly perceive the laws within the host card required sufficient tacit understanding with it. By syncing the two on the same channel, Road Saint would have the opportunity to feel the laws belonging to the time-space ant. This was difficult, yet not difficult; it emphasized the word "comprehension."

His own body could summon the time-space ant to carry on him and begin comprehending. Comprehending the laws and power of the host card did not necessarily require reaching the fifth level perfection to sense it. Whenever, the higher one's level, the higher one's cognition of power would be. The higher the level of the host card, the more law origins it would possess, making it easier to comprehend. Moreover, body cultivation struck Road Saint as quite interesting. Perhaps he could find a way to obtain the cultivation method. However, it did not seem appropriate now. Wanting to steal cultivation techniques right after meeting someone would obviously lead to a beating.

When the two revealed these pieces of information, they did not hold back much, as they were not really secret. Road Saint did not know, so he could only say his contacts were too few.

In less than an hour, Xiong Zijie returned with the items Road Saint needed. Road Saint gave all the cultivation resources he had obtained on this trip to Xiong Zijie. What were chicken ribs to him were not to others.

In exchange, he received a 1000-jin gravity iron, a 3000-jin gravity iron, a 5000-jin gravity iron, and finally a 10,000-jin gravity iron.

"Brother Road, I've handled it for you. See you later."

"Good, farewell for now. Thank you, Brother Zijie."

With the gravity irons in hand, Road Saint left. It was purely an interest exchange; nothing more needed to be said. As long as both parties felt it was not a loss, it was a good deal.

He transformed back into his true form and placed the gravity irons into the muscle dog.

Road Saint's next target was Heaven Altar Mountain. He was still thinking about that White Flame Blue Scale Bird; it was a good thing. According to the description on the Toronto News Agency, this White Flame Blue Scale Bird, as a blue-quality monster, not to mention, its combat power was extremely ferocious and hard to deal with. A fourth-level monster, its white flame breath was so fierce that even same-level cultivators could not approach it. When a fifth-level expert tried to get close, the White Flame Blue Scale Bird would directly run away.

If you could beat it, beat it; if not, run on the spot. This was also the reason many forces had not succeeded in so many days.

Whether or not he could, Road Saint planned to go check it out anyway. He could find an opportunity to kill one more powerful monster for himself.

Now the sky was gradually darkening. Road Saint did not want to set out at night, so he found a nearby wilderness camp to spend the night.

Conveniently, in this wilderness camp, he actually met the gatekeeper from the previous wilderness camp.

Upon seeing Road Saint, the man's eyes lit up. "White Horse Hero, Road Saint!"

"I did not expect your White Cloud Horse to really be fifth level. Yesterday I thought you were bullshitting me, really ashamed..."

Road Saint also recognized the young man. "What are you doing here?"

The gatekeeper said straightforwardly, "It's like this: After the incident with the Crazy God Cult in the Return to the Desert, most people had earned enough money and prepared to go to the city to enjoy themselves. Our entire camp was directly disbanded. I did not want to return to the city, so I changed to another camp to guard the gate."

Road Saint understood. "That's quite a coincidence. I'll go in first..."

Putting away the White Cloud Horse, Road Saint entered the wilderness camp and wandered around. This place was also where many hunted and traded in the wild. There were also dedicated stalls selling cards.

Wandering around was also to see if there was any pleasant surprise.

The people setting up stalls here all laid out a piece of cloth on the ground and placed the cards they wanted to sell on the cloth.

The number of stall holders was not too many, about fifty or so. There were over a hundred people wandering around looking at things here, and together it was still quite lively.