Once you choose a cultivation method, it means you have to give up at least two others, as there are at least two methods that are incompatible with it.

For example, if you choose a fire attribute method, water counters fire, and fire counters metal. Hence, water and metal attribute methods will be out of your reach unless you abandon your fire attribute cultivation.

As for the other two attributes, wood and earth, they are still available for cultivation.

After much deliberation, Alaric Ye suddenly noticed a dusty jade slip on an inconspicuous bookshelf. This bookshelf didn't even have a category label, only a diagram of the mutual generation and restriction of the five elements.

Alaric's eyes lit up. He wiped the dust off the jade slip and saw the vigorous and powerful characters "Five Elements Primordial Art"!

Below the jade slip, he found an ancient book covered in dust, which introduced the "Five Elements Primordial Art."

Before the technique in the jade slip was imprinted, his divine sense couldn't penetrate it to view the contents.

Alaric picked up the book, blew off the thick dust, and began to read it carefully. The more he read, the brighter his eyes became.

It turned out that the Five Elements Primordial Art was a special, incomplete cultivation method obtained by the founder of the Top Xuan Sect, the Top Xuan Ancestor, from an ancient cultivator's cave thousands of years ago.

The Five Elements Primordial Art is a cultivation method specifically for cultivators with the Spiritual Root of the five elements. Currently, only the first three levels of this method exist within the Top Xuan Sect.

Cultivating the Five Elements Primordial Art to the first level can increase mana strength by fifty percent. In other words, if Alaric has the mana strength of two fiery horses, with the enhancement of the first level, he could exert the mana strength of three fiery horses in actual combat!

Cultivating to the second level would double the mana strength.

And cultivating to the third level would triple the mana strength!

This made Alaric's mouth dry and his heart pound wildly. If his basic mana strength was the power of three fiery horses, cultivating to the third level would give him the power of nine fiery horses, enough to easily overpower many Qi Refining cultivators at the fourth or fifth level. It was terrifying.

"This is definitely not some low-grade Yellow-tier cultivation method; it doesn't even have a grade label!"

However, this method had many flaws. The incomplete method was not the most fatal; the most fatal flaw was that it was extremely difficult and dangerous to cultivate.

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To advance in this method, one needed to constantly devour the Qi of the five elements, and the amounts had to be equal. Otherwise, if the Qi of the five elements became unbalanced, the body couldn't withstand the chaotic mana, leading to either wasted efforts or death by explosion.

The book also recorded that five cultivators in the Top Xuan Sect had practiced the Five Elements Primordial Art. Most had cultivated for several years, even over a decade, without reaching the first level. Each had experienced the despair of wasted efforts multiple times, though none had died from body explosion.

Despite the many fatal flaws of the Five Elements Primordial Art, Alaric was still enchanted by it, unable to let go of the jade slip.

He knew very well that this was the most suitable method for him and the one that aligned most with his intentions!

Difficult as it was, there was always a way to solve it.

Moreover, this was a mysterious method found by the Top Xuan Ancestor in an ancient cultivator's cave, possibly with a significant background.

At this moment, Alaric heard an old man's cough.

Alaric looked up from the book and saw that the white-haired old man had somehow appeared beside him.

The old man said, "Young lad, you should think carefully. During my tenure as the steward of the Skill Transference Pavilion, at least ten cultivators chose to practice the Five Elements Primordial Art. They spent a lot of Spirit Stones to buy five-element materials to devour the Qi of the five elements, but in the end, they all failed to reach the first level. Greed comes at a price."

Alaric was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you know if any of them died from body explosion?"

The old man replied, "Not exactly, but over a hundred years ago, one person had an accident while practicing the Five Elements Primordial Art and died horribly. That was before I was in charge of the first level of the Skill Transference Pavilion."

Alaric nodded.

"That's not too bad; it doesn't seem extremely dangerous. I'll choose it!"

Alaric's thoughts were simple. The space in his Ancient Ring of the Insect Emperor should be able to grow a large number of Spirit Plants and Spirit Herbs, each with different attributes. He wouldn't need to spend Spirit Stones to buy five-element materials to absorb the Qi of the five elements.

Since this method wasn't as dangerous as he had imagined, he might as well give it a try. Even if he couldn't achieve results, he could always give up and choose another method once he had enough sect contributions.

The cost would just be some wasted time.

The old man didn't try to dissuade him further. Instead, he slowly said to Alaric, "If you insist, I suggest you choose a Body Forging Technique to enhance your physical strength and the toughness of your meridians. This will greatly reduce the probability of body explosion. But in doing so, you won't have many offensive means. Be careful of those Black Shark Society kids."

Alaric nodded.

"To be honest, my ambition is to become an Insect Cultivator at the Spirit Beast Peak, raising Spirit Insects for offense and defense. Spells or sword techniques are not essential for an Insect Cultivator."

The old man stroked his beard upon hearing this.

"Your thinking is quite clear, not bad."

With that, he turned and left.

Alaric bowed respectfully. "Thank you for your guidance, senior."

If not for the old man's advice, he wouldn't have chosen to practice the universally acknowledged useless Body Forging Technique.

But now, for safety's sake, the Body Forging Technique was definitely his first choice.

Alaric took the jade slip of the Five Elements Primordial Art to the miscellaneous section and went straight for the Body Forging Techniques. Without much thought, he first considered a mid-grade Yellow-tier Body Forging Technique.

The so-called Body Forging Technique involves refining the body through certain methods, making it stronger, more vigorous, and highly resilient to attacks.

In the Cultivation World, cultivators who specialize in Body Forging Techniques are often called "Iron Turtles." They are very resilient but have only brute strength, making it hard to approach cultivators skilled in spells or sword techniques. Their ability to fight is almost non-existent.

Because of this, Body Forging Techniques are the least favored methods among cultivators. Alaric saw that the bookshelf for Body Forging Techniques was also covered in a layer of dust, though thinner than that on the Five Elements Primordial Art.

Alaric couldn't help but think, "Why do I feel like I've just entered the cultivation world and already joined the ranks of weirdo cultivators? My cultivation method is one that no one practices, and the Body Forging Technique is also unpopular. I've got both."

However, despite his complaints, Alaric believed his thinking was flawless, so he picked up the books under the jade slips on the bookshelf and started reading.

After a long time, he picked up one of the jade slips. It was titled "Five Elements Vajra Technique"!

This Body Forging Technique was only practiced by the most ruthless in the Cultivation World, and Alaric believed he was just such a ruthless person.