Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

"Hey, Junior Brother, what are you daydreaming about?"

Zhang Jing was watching Senior Brother Yangchu's back when he suddenly felt a heavy pat on his back, followed by the voice of Senior Sister Tong.

Hiss——

He couldn't help but grimace and draw in a cold breath.

He had already felt it, the strength of this senior sister's hand was completely disproportionate to her petite figure, it was simply two extremes.

"Senior Sister Tong, what can I do for you?"

Zhang Jing quickly turned around, slightly lowering his head to look at her, fearing she might slap him again.

"Ahem, Junior Brother," meeting Zhang Jing's gaze, Tong Yao's face turned slightly red. Afterwards, she crossed her arms again and asked in a serious tone, "What's your relationship with Senior Brother Yangchu? You both have the same surname, Zhang."

That's it?

Zhang Jing felt a strange tug in his heart.

Looking at the serious expression on her face, he thought this senior sister would say something important.

Zhang Jing looked at her strangely for a moment, then answered without hesitation:

"Senior Sister, it's just a coincidence."

"Oh——"

Tong Yao drawled out a long note, pretending to be profound, "I understand, senior sister. Since we have some time now, I will briefly introduce you to the Luodu team."

"Please go ahead, Senior Sister." Zhang Jing's attention was immediately aroused.

"Our team ranks third in the Outer Academy, with one team leader and five deputy team leaders. All of them have reached the tenth level of Qi Refinement."

After a pause, she continued:

"Next are the seventeen deacons, with the lowest cultivation level being at the seventh level of Qi Refinement. The deacon we just met, Senior Brother Yangchu, is one of them. Below the deacons are the ordinary team members like us."

Senior Brother Yangchu, a deacon, has a cultivation level above the seventh level of Qi Refinement?

Zhang Jing suddenly recalled the powerful presences he had sensed on the island. None of them were weaker than Senior Brother Yangchu, but the number of presences didn't match what senior sister said.

This means—

Zhang Jing fell into deep thought.

He then remembered that this senior sister just came back from a mission, and curiously asked:

"Senior Sister, how do we normally accept monster suppression missions? Do we all go together?"

"Well, it depends on the case."

Senior Sister Tong pondered for a moment and then slowly answered:

"For low level missions, a few people can band together, and the Tao Merits reward is distributed according to each person's contribution during the mission."

"For high level tasks, a deacon or team leader is needed to lead the team to completion. Of course, they will take the bulk of the reward, but we can obtain a large number of monster corpses, and natural treasures, which results in much higher gains compared to low level missions, although it's more dangerous."

"Also, if your cultivation reaches at least the fourth level of Qi Refinement, the team will allow you to take missions solo. Doing missions alone, naturally, the rewards will be greater. However, this method requires a high level of comprehensive strength, currently only nine of our brothers in the Luodu team prefer to carry out missions alone."

"Senior Sister, how many Tao Merits are rewarded for a typical low level mission?" Zhang Jing asked again.

"Anywhere from fifty to eighty."

Senior Sister Tong responded directly.

"How long does it usually take to complete a task on average?"

"If it's quick, it'll be around ten days, if it's slow, it might even take several months."

Fuh—— Is that so?

Zhang Jing couldn't help but start thinking.

Given the current circumstances where his strength only permits low level tasks, the returns from working with a team are too low. If he were to execute the monster suppression missions alone, with his five-river spiritual abilities and multiple attached properties, he would be able to cope.

Still—

The speed of gaining Tao Merits is too slow.

In order not to delay his cultivation, he could probably only carry out three to five missions a year. The amount of Tao Merits others might consider to be quite a lot, but compared to Zhang Jing's goals, it is simply a drop in the bucket.

Not to mention the limit of the fourth level of Qi Refinement.

After much thought, Zhang Jing felt Senior Brother Liu was right, accumulating enough Tao Merits to exchange for a top-grade legacy by completing missions would indeed be a challenge.

His hope, after all, must be placed on talisman making.

This was the inspiration Zhang Jing had received after chatting with Senior Brother Qiu last time.

Compared to other practices like alchemy, artifact refining, and formation, talisman making has a lower cost and is more suitable for poor cultivators like Zhang Jing. More importantly, the process of talisman making takes less time, which makes it easier for him to accumulate skill proficiency.

Having thought of this, Zhang Jing had already made up his mind.

Coming back to his senses,

he cupped his hands and said goodbye:

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister, I will go back to settle into my cave dwelling first and visit again another day."

"Off you go, off you go," Senior Sister Tong waved her hand with a laugh, then seemed to remember something and reminded him, "Junior Brother, I'll inform you once we've chosen our mission."

"Alright, Senior Sister, keep busy with your work."

With the sound of his voice fading,

Zhang Jing turned and started heading outside.

However, even before he crossed the threshold, he heard the curious voice from behind. "Oh! Junior Brother, there's something I forgot to ask, how exactly did you cultivate? That's a top-tier Monster we're talking about; even the Dao Institute may not produce one in decades, and yet you are only slightly behind them?"

"Senior Sister, I just cultivated normally,"

Zhang Jing responded, unconsciously quickening his pace.

Once he was far away from the Merit Building, he sighed.

He then took out the Jade Key from within his Spiritual Ornament Space, allowing his Spiritual Sense to probe it.

In an instant, the vague location in front of him appeared in his senses.

With the Jade Key in hand,

Zhang Jing quickly moved towards the location he felt.

About an hour later,

A bronze door veiled in spiritual light appeared before Zhang Jing, emitting a strong ripple of spiritual power.

'West 23 Cave Palace' was written on it!

Connected to a quaint small mountain, the bronze door overlooked a clear and pristine small lake, hidden in the lush forest. Occasionally, the cries of birds and the chattering of monkeys could be heard, adding to the lively environment.

Zhang Jing's eyes brightened.

Nestled against the mountain and near the water, it is abundant in spiritual energy and teeming with vitality.

"Indeed, this is a perfect place for a cultivation cave," he thought.

He walked straight to the bronze door, injected spiritual power into the Jade Key, and then placed it on the door.

At once, the Jade Key lit up brilliantly.

Boom——

The bronze door opened slowly, causing ripples in the spiritual light covering it.

Taming his excitement,

Zhang Jing stepped into the cave.

The moment he entered, he was engulfed by the surging spiritual mist.

The spiritual energy in this cave was so dense that it had condensed into a fog-like state.

Zhang Jing felt a resonant sound of tidal waves within him— it is the effect of this dense spiritual energy that caused automatically the five organs to start absorbing the water elements.

An endless flow of spiritual power integrated into his Dantian.

In an instant, he felt a mere increment in his cultivation.

The incredibly dense spiritual energy in his cave made Zhang Jing's eyes widened.

He had expected the cave to be rich in spiritual energy, but it was far more dense than he could have ever imagined.

Compared to the training rooms in the Longze Market...wait, why would there even be a comparison?

Zhang Jing didn't even know what a training room is.

After a brief tour of the cave, Zhang Jing discovered not only was the spiritual energy dense, the internal space was unbelievably vast as well.

It even had designated areas for cultivating spiritual plants and keeping spiritual beasts.

A cultivation room, Legacy Room, and other types of functional rooms were all available, highlighting the extravagant concept of 'Although if you don't need it, you still ought to have it'.

Zhang Jing quickly unpacked all his luggage and arranged them neatly.

Swiftly after, he couldn't wait to enter the cultivation room.

Not long after,

A low roar of a Sea Dragon resonated through the whole cave.

The dense spiritual energy in the cave flooded into the cultivation room like a tidal wave, while spiritual energy of the earth's veins continuously entered the cave.

...

The next day,

Zhang Jing walked out of the cultivation room with satisfaction.

After cultivating overnight, his cultivation made a firm step forward.

If he maintained this pace,

It wouldn't take two months for his cultivation to advance naturally to the third level of Qi Refinement.

Since cultivating was progressing well beyond expectations, it was now time to add Talisman Making Legacy to his agenda.

With this in mind,

Zhang Jing picked up the middle-grade Legacy exchange certificate, examined it, and then turned to leave.