Chapter 75: Just Keep This to Yourself

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Just Keep This to Yourself

"That makes sense. If Advanced Magic were that easy to learn, we wouldn’t recommend waiting until the Meridian Passage Late Stage to start. I’ll write down a Cultivation Technique for you. Take it to Liu Chen tomorrow."

The Grand Elder sighed. Yang Haichen’s talent was acceptable, but he wasn’t the kind of prodigious genius who could defy convention at every turn, as the Elder had once imagined.

However, he wouldn’t demand his disciple achieve things that he himself had failed to accomplish. Although he had placed his hopes on his disciple, Yang Haichen was his student, not his puppet, and certainly not a tool to prove his own worth.

"Thank you, Master."

Yang Haichen nodded. He had been too embarrassed to even mention this to Junior Brother Liu today, afraid it would tarnish his image in his junior’s eyes.

"Magic is divided into Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. Basic Magic is mostly for convenience in daily life, but that doesn’t mean it’s weak. Reaching Minor Success in a Basic Magic Technique is more than enough in the Body Tempering Realm. If you reach Great Success, you can even dominate the Meridian Passage Realm.

The main difference between Intermediate and Advanced Magic lies in their learning difficulty. Intermediate Magic is generally an upgraded version of a Basic Magic Technique, and while their effects vary, most are created for combat.

Advanced Magic, on the other hand, represents a further refinement. An Advanced Magic isn’t necessarily stronger than an Intermediate one, but a Cultivator who can master Advanced Magic will, under normal circumstances, have also mastered a similar Intermediate Magic, and their Realm won’t be low."

The Grand Elder explained this as he wrote out the Cultivation Technique for the Divine Movement Technique.

Yang Haichen, standing to the side, nodded slowly. Following his master’s explanation, he was finally starting to get a clear understanding of Magic. He had previously assumed that Intermediate Magic was always stronger than Basic Magic, and Advanced Magic was always stronger than both.

But now it seemed that his previous understanding wasn’t wrong, just incomplete.

"Master, what if a Cultivator masters a Basic Magic Technique to the point of Perfection?"

Yang Haichen voiced his final doubt. Although he felt it was an unlikely scenario, he still wanted to ask.

"If they’ve achieved Perfection in a Body-Protecting Technique, don’t engage them unless you are an entire major Realm above them. If it’s an Attack Technique they’ve perfected, just run. The power of a Magic doesn’t diminish with one’s Realm; you can think of Magic as the transformation and application of Spiritual Power. The more Spiritual Power you have, the stronger the Magic you cast."

The Grand Elder glanced at Yang Haichen. While a Basic Magic Technique at Perfection was indeed powerful, he didn’t want Yang Haichen to stubbornly grind away at them.

Yang Haichen wasn’t some Loose Cultivator with no resources; he was his disciple. In the time it would take to research a Basic Magic Technique to Perfection, he could more than easily master one or two Intermediate or even Advanced Magic.

"Achieving Perfection in a Basic Magic Technique is incredibly difficult. For Cultivators of ordinary talent like you and me, reaching Great Success is already our limit. Some Loose Cultivators in the Meridian Passage Realm can’t perfect a single Basic Magic Technique in their entire lifetime.

By the way, if you ever see someone cast a Basic Magic Technique that looks completely different from any you’ve seen before, ignore their Realm and Cultivation level. Just run."

"Why?"

Yang Haichen was confused. ’How can a Basic Magic Technique be different? Even if there are minor variations, the general effect should be the same.’

"In cultivation, Perfection in a Cultivation Technique doesn’t mean Perfection of one’s Realm. As for Basic Magic, the reason it’s called ’basic’ is because most people can learn it. In that process, many things are inevitably sacrificed to ensure the Magic can be passed down, until eventually, the Magic is altered beyond recognition.

You might think the Basic Magic Technique they’re casting is incompatible with what others use, but it’s highly likely they have developed their own insights based on that Basic Magic. It’s like reaching the Body Tempering Peak in terms of Realm; you could say they’ve created a new Magic that is perfectly suited to themselves.

If you were to classify such a Magic by Magic Level, it would be equivalent to an Advanced Magic. And not an Advanced Magic like the Divine Movement Technique that has already been widely circulated, but a unique Advanced Magic that belongs only to them."

The Grand Elder stared gravely at Yang Haichen. Yang Haichen, who hadn’t taken it seriously at first, swallowed hard. He was increasingly feeling that his survival, despite once being hailed as the number one disciple of the Purple Bamboo Peak’s Outer Sect, was purely thanks to his master’s influence.

’Who knew if such powerhouses were hiding among those senior brothers and sisters all this time?’

"But you don’t need to worry too much. A Cultivator with that kind of talent would most likely focus on Intermediate or even Advanced Magic, not spend so much effort researching Basic Magic. And a Cultivator who doesn’t have access to Intermediate or Advanced Magic wouldn’t have that kind of talent anyway."

The Grand Elder shook his head. If such one-in-a-million geniuses were common, the Cultivation Realm would have long since done away with the classification of Magic. Any Magic could be transformed into an Advanced Magic, so what would be the point of classifying them at all?

"Thank you for clearing my doubts, Master."

Yang Haichen finally let out a breath of relief. After hearing his master’s lecture, he realized that when he’d recalled the other Outer Disciples, every single one of them had started to look like some hidden master.

"Take the Divine Movement Technique to him tomorrow. As for his safety, you don’t need to worry at all. None of the disciples participating in the trial in all of Purple Cloud Valley would allow anything to happen to him. Besides, the other two great Immortal Sects and those various other families wouldn’t want to offend Purple Cloud Valley."

The Grand Elder was very clear on this point. It was currently the time for the Inner Sect Disciple assessment, so Purple Cloud Valley was sealed. Disciples were secretly gathering intelligence from the outside, but no information from within Purple Cloud Valley would leak out.

Therefore, news of the Second Grade Spirit Chef’s appearance was, for the time being, confined to Purple Cloud Valley. Once the assessment ended, information about the Second Grade Spirit Chef would inevitably spread throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty. At that point, Purple Bamboo Peak would likely never be peaceful again.

"By the way, Master, Junior Brother Liu’s talent for cultivation might not be bad. Not long after I gave him the Resting Technique, his cultivation reverted from its original Minor Success in Body Tempering back to the Beginner stage."

As Yang Haichen recalled those events, a sense of powerlessness washed over him. Not only was the other man a Spirit Chef, but he had also mastered the Resting Technique faster than him. And while the only other Magic he had seen Liu Chen use was the Purification Technique, he had to admit that the cleaning effect of his own was no match for his junior brother’s.

"Just keep that information to yourself."

The Grand Elder shook his head. ’So what if Liu Chen’s talent isn’t strong? A Second Grade Spirit Chef is in a league of his own in the Great Xia Dynasty’s Cultivation Realm. Not to mention, he’s Mo Xuan’s disciple. With those two factors combined, not even the Loose Cultivators of the Meridian Passage or even Qi Refining Realms around the Great Xia Dynasty would dare to touch him.’

’Purple Cloud Valley may be the most peaceful of the Three Immortal Sects now, but that wasn’t always the case.’

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「The tenth day of the eighth month, early morning.」

"Junior Brother, the True Disciples on Purple Bamboo Peak would still rather trade with Spirit Stones for Spiritual Cuisine."

Yang Haichen handed a Storage Ring to Liu Chen. It was a ring that had not yet been claimed by a master, so anyone could open it. Four thousand Spirit Stones was too much; if he were to take them all out, it would probably bury the two of them.

"Then we’ll go back to one portion of Spiritual Cuisine per meal from now on."

Liu Chen nodded, not giving it much thought. ’Three Magical Artifacts capable of withstanding a full-power blow from a Meridian Passage Late Stage expert should be about right.’