Chapter 115: The Luxury of the Cultivation World: Immortal Ink

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... It wasn’t that he was unaware the elders had fallen, but rather that all the soul lamps left in the sect had been extinguished. That made it all the more impossible to speak of it openly. The sect barely managed to function; it appeared strong on the outside but was hollow within, with a great many key members vanished. However, the truth couldn’t be concealed for long.

This was the perfect opportunity for him to fish in troubled waters.

As he passed through the outer city of Guan Mountain, Cao Chengyu hesitated for a moment. With his divine sense, he detected that an entire family was gathered in a secluded courtyard within the city—and to his shock, Luo Yuzhu was there too!

Just the thought of it sent a chill down his spine.

Yun Jie was entertaining Luo Yuzhu along with her parents, their laughter and conversation seemingly normal, without any hint of strangeness.

Cao Chengyu could only comfort himself with the thought that Yun Jie's identity was legitimate—she was his second uncle’s wife—and that Luo Yuzhu likely wouldn’t perceive any blind spots.

But what about Yun Jie...?

Could she be aware?

“Forget it, better not go over just yet. Let me finish what needs to be done first, and deal with the rest afterward!” Cao Chengyu quickened his pace, soaring faster. In the blink of an eye, he passed through the outer city and entered the Five Elements Sect.

The familiar Five Elements peaks still stood firm.

Speaking of which, the rapid progress in his cultivation owed much to the abundant Five Elements spiritual energy here; coming here to study had not been a mistake.

While flying toward the Sutra Pavilion, Cao Chengyu took out the collection left by the Yin-Yang Daoist to examine it.

Perhaps considering that the Yin-Yang Daoist was about to “pass away,” he carried with him all the treasures he had accumulated over a lifetime.

“This delivery is quite hefty!”

“Tsk, tsk, Yin-Yang Spiritual Essence. This is excellent material for refining a fourth-grade Yin-Yang Harmonizing Pill. If I gave Zhu Zhu one, she’d probably ascend right on the spot.”

There were many fine items. Cao Chengyu inspected them, clicking his tongue appreciatively.

“Over a thousand mid-grade spiritual stones, which converts to more than a hundred thousand low-grade spiritual stones. Not bad, but I’m still richer.”

“These materials are quite good: third-grade spiritual herbs like Blood Crystal Ginseng, Flowerless Grass Seeds, Purple Dragon Tears, and Three-Leaf Heavy Stalk... not bad at all.”

Though the spiritual herbs were few, their quality was high. There were also some spiritual minerals, mostly rare Yin-Yang types, perfect for strengthening his Yin-Yang Dragon Needles.

All the magical instruments he carried needed to be reinforced.

As a Purple Mansion cultivator, he was still using second-grade magical instruments—it was simply unacceptable.

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“Wait a moment...” Cao Chengyu suddenly stopped and took something out from his storage pouch.

It was a long, black, strip-like object.

It resembled a common mortal’s ink stick, which it truly was—a block of ink.

Among mortals, high-quality ink sticks were almost as valuable as gold, sometimes even more so.

That was because this thing could be used for medicine, as incense, or even as seasoning. Writing was the least significant function. Sometimes he wondered if it was really invented just for writing.

But in the cultivation world, ink sticks were far more terrifying.

They contained a multitude of spiritual materials and traces of heavenly and earthly spiritual resonance. When used in refining artifacts, if one painted the same pattern of the sealing array on the surface of the object, the quality of the artifact would rise an entire grade beyond expectations.

When refining pills, a little powdered ink added to the mix acted as one of the best spiritual medicine neutralizers, greatly enhancing both the success rate and yield.

They could also be used to feed spiritual beasts, draw talismans, and assist in the cultivation of certain spells.

Writing? What writing? Could this thing really be used for writing? Don’t joke—it was his treasure!

In short, this was a luxury item in the cultivation world. In places like the Hundred Nations Domain, there wasn’t even the technique to make immortal ink. Nobody knew where this one came from.

“This third-grade high immortal ink will last me a long time. If I sold it, it could probably fetch several hundred superior-grade spiritual stones, which converts to millions of low-grade spiritual stones. Ridiculous…”

He placed the item into a tiny storage pouch hidden within a fold of his hair, extremely satisfied.

His “Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation” contained a record:

—Immortal Ink

Legend tells of a group of herbalists living in a paradise where even the weeds were spiritual herbs.

One day, a heavenly thunderfire struck, and a fifth-grade spiritual tree called “Golden Body Phoenix Tree” was burned to ashes. Thick black smoke darkened all the spiritual herbs in the paradise.

When the herbalists emerged from their shelter, they found that the black substance on the herbs had crystallized into granules, which could be scraped off and eaten to strengthen the body and grant immense strength.

Thus, the earliest immortal ink was born. Because the paradise was so rich in spiritual herbs, they mixed various odd ingredients into a chaotic stew. After countless years of evolution, the ink gradually met standards and became universally useful immortal ink.

Those who left the paradise, known as ink makers, belonged to one of the Hundred Arts of cultivation. They did not hesitate to pass on their craft, but unfortunately, none of the herbalists who left ever found their way back.

Gradually, the legend faded, leaving only the ink makers’ legacy behind.

Today, making immortal ink requires not only craftsmanship and high costs but also time.

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It often takes a century of aging, and for Nascent Soul and Divine Spirit grade inks, even a millennium, allowing the essence of countless spiritual herbs to settle.

A cultivator might only produce a few batches of immortal ink in a lifetime, which explains its exorbitant price.

The Yin-Yang Daoist probably never saw this item but could sense the vast essence contained within.

Swallowing it raw would bring many benefits, making it one of his treasured possessions.

As for his cultivation methods and spells, they were quite ordinary.

But relatively speaking.

Cao Chengyu’s own top-tier abilities naturally looked down on these, treating them merely as a “database” for accumulating and extrapolating divine skills.

The “Profound Yin-Yang Pill and Artifact Manual” was quite good, containing the essence of the Profound Yin Pill volume and the Solar Artifact volume.

Combining the two should help him advance further.

The “Karma Fire Body Fusion Technique” was a Buddhist method from a holy site in the Western Regions, more than 108,000 miles away. It was a mystery how he obtained it. This technique could fuse and refine foreign flames to strengthen the body.

Mastered deeply, it could produce a Buddhist glass body, a kind of unconventional body refinement technique. Though only rated as high-grade, its ambition was lofty.

For example, the basic body refinement method he currently used had its own strengths. Adding the ability to absorb foreign flames and fuse with the body should allow combination with his Flame Devouring Technique.

The fusion of the three might yield something quite remarkable.

Other techniques were common and not particularly useful. He neatly classified and stored them, planning to unify, refine, and integrate them during future seclusion.

A little time sacrificed.

He arrived at the Sutra Pavilion.

He didn’t recognize the disciple on duty, but it didn’t matter. Showing the Yin-Yang Daoist’s elder’s token, he ascended to the floor housing the high-grade spells.

This section was exclusively for Purple Mansion use, storing over a thousand spell manuals, along with numerous pill formulas, artifact sealing arrays, and other Daoist scriptures. It also contained cultivation experiences left by predecessors, encompassing a vast array without clutter.

The “Golden Core Sweeping Monk” once responsible for maintaining the sealing arrays in the pavilion had also been drafted for war—dead as a doornail, as Cao Chengyu had witnessed personally.

In other words, except for the array restrictions of this place, no one would know if someone forcibly broke through the seals on divine sense jade slips or physical scrolls.

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