**Chapter 30: Mock Exam (15)**

"Junior Brother Su, are you satisfied with this cave?"

Ji Chang, an inner sect disciple of Danyang Peak, gestured toward the cave before them. It stretched from north to south and was equipped with magical arrays like "Gathering Spirits" and "Guarding." Ji Chang smiled warmly at Su Chen.

"This one will do, Brother Ji," Su Chen replied.

"Good. Take this jade talisman for the cave. Losing it isn't a big deal, but replacing it will be quite troublesome."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

"There's no need to thank me, Junior Brother Su. Since you've joined our Danyang Peak, you're one of us now. We, the disciples of Danyang Peak, are of one blood. I must take care of you—how can that be considered troublesome?"

At this point, Ji Chang began explaining what lay ahead for Su Chen.

"Junior Brother Su, the sect won't place too many demands on you in your first year. Focus on training and studying alchemy patiently.

"After your first year, you'll start completing the sect's missions. One such task involves refining a batch of elixirs every year for the sect's disciples to use in their cultivation.

"You don't need to worry about alchemy interfering with your own training. The sect doesn't ask for too many pills, and the tasks usually take only a few months to complete.

"Additionally, the sect treats us fairly. Every time you complete a mission, you'll earn contribution points as a reward.

"These contribution points can be exchanged for cultivation resources, rare skills, or techniques within the sect. Contribution points are far more valuable than spirit stones here, as you'll come to understand in time.

"Now, do you have any questions, Junior Brother? I'll answer them one by one."

Su Chen, in reality, was looking at Ji Chang's dialogue on the screen of the immersive game he was playing. Without hesitation, his fingers turned into afterimages as he typed his questions into the interface.

"Brother, do you know anything about foundation building?"

Building his foundation was currently Su Chen's greatest concern. Although Jiangnan No. 1 High School had touched on the topic, their explanations were brief and lacked depth.

This omission wasn't due to secrecy but because the teachers didn't want students to grow overly ambitious.

Though Su Chen was only at the fourth level of the Qi Gathering Stage, he knew he could reach its peak in a short time if he wished. Learning more about foundation building now would not be premature.

In response, Ji Chang grimaced and said, "Hiss… Junior Brother Su, that's a tricky question."

"But even though I'm only at the seventh level of Human Foundation Building, I can share some insights."

"As you may know, foundation building is the process of gathering Qi and refining it into a physical form.

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"If we draw an analogy to alchemy, foundation building is like refining medicinal materials into liquid medicine—extracting the essence and discarding the dross.

"The better the quality of a cultivator's spiritual roots, the easier it is to build a foundation, and the purer the resulting spiritual fluid.

"This first step may not be too difficult for most, but for someone with mixed spiritual roots like you… it's a bit of a challenge."

"Why?"

Ji Chang took out a wine gourd, shook it lightly, and offered an example.

"Spiritual roots, in essence, measure a cultivator's affinity for spiritual power.

"The greater the affinity, the higher the quality of the spiritual root.

"But, Junior Brother, mixed spiritual roots mean you have some affinity with most of the five elements of spiritual power.

"On the surface, this allows you to practice a variety of skills and techniques. However, it also means you lack focus and spread yourself thin.

"When it comes to foundation building, the difficulty between single spiritual roots and mixed spiritual roots is worlds apart.

"If a single spiritual root is like a bowl of clear water, mixed spiritual roots are like a bowl of multicolored water.

"With a single spiritual root, one simply removes impurities from the clear water and pours it into a prepared vessel.

"But with mixed spiritual roots, one must not only remove impurities but also separate the water into its elemental components. This must be done in the proper sequence, based on the five elements' principles of mutual generation and restraint, to maintain balance.

"Now, which of these tasks do you think is harder, Junior Brother Su?"

"If you aim for an earth-level foundation or above, the challenge is even greater.

"The first step is to elevate each of your spiritual root attributes to a qualitative level—fire must become extraordinary fire, water must become extraordinary water, and so forth.

"I noticed you've already cultivated a special magical fire for refining elixirs. That's one less thing to worry about.

"But you'll need to cultivate other techniques to enhance your remaining spiritual roots. Only then will you have a chance at achieving an earth-level foundation."

"Of course, foundation building also requires auxiliary treasures, magical arrays, and elixirs. With these and the necessary preparations, you'll be ready to try."

"I hope this explanation helps, Junior Brother Su. Do you understand?"

Su Chen fell silent. He had anticipated that foundation building with mixed spiritual roots would be difficult, but he hadn't realized it would be this daunting.

Even cultivating five special techniques was enough to deter most cultivators. After all, Su Chen had unlocked the Purple Cloud Divine Fire at a significant cost in experience points.

Ordinary cultivators would need decades, even centuries, to achieve this through their own efforts—far beyond the Qi Gathering Stage's maximum lifespan of 150 years.

Without his game's system and the ability to exchange experience points for time, Su Chen doubted he could cultivate five special techniques within his lifetime.

Still, with the system's help, building an earth-level foundation was challenging but not impossible.

He outlined his next steps:

1. Raise his cultivation to the peak of the Qi Gathering Stage to meet the basic requirements for foundation building.

2. Before foundation building, master special techniques corresponding to his five spiritual root attributes to improve the quality of his foundation.

3. Gather auxiliary materials like elixirs and magical arrays necessary for the process.

With these tasks completed, Su Chen felt he'd be ready to attempt foundation building.

While he wasn't worried about reaching the peak of the Qi Gathering Stage—his current cultivation speed guaranteed that—cultivating four additional special techniques gave him pause.

"Of the five qualitative changes, I've already completed one by chance. That leaves four more.

"Finding techniques as powerful as the Purple Cloud Divine Fire Technique won't be easy."

Fortunately, the Qingyun Sect's Sutra Library was renowned for its vast collection of techniques. As a new outer disciple, Su Chen could choose one technique or magical power for free.

"The Five Elements Qi Gathering Art given to me as a servant disciple is stable and compatible with my spiritual roots. I don't need to replace it just yet.

"I'll use this opportunity to pick a magical technique instead."

With his decision made, Su Chen turned to Ji Chang. "Senior Brother, please take me to the Qingyun Sect's Sutra Library."

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*(End of this chapter)*