A cultivation technique that doubles efficiency! This is clearly nonsense.
If there really were such a technique, it would certainly be a secret manual that would never be passed on, even the top major sects would treasure it, and its value would be immense. Why would they need to go around looking for people to sell it to?
Lu Ye could tell from the male cultivator's appearance that he wasn't specifically looking for him, but was waiting outside the merchant alliance, randomly choosing targets.
He just happened to be seen by him.
"Not interested." Lu Ye didn't intend to get entangled with him.
However, the man continued to pursue him, constantly introducing the wonders of the technique, saying how easy it was to cultivate, how it had strong compatibility with various low-level techniques, and how anyone could easily get started. He even said solemnly, "If you don't believe me, I can take a Heavenly Oath, every word I've said is true, I will not deceive you."
Lu Ye stopped, frowning at him.
He had taken a Heavenly Oath before, so he knew that this kind of oath, witnessed by the heavens, was no joke.
He couldn't help but be a bit puzzled. Was there really such a powerful technique in the world? Tripling someone's cultivation efficiency, what does that mean?
Seeing Lu Ye's interest, the male cultivator gestured and said, "There are too many people here, it's not convenient to talk. Please follow me."
Lu Ye thought for a moment and followed the man to a less crowded place.
"Take the oath!" Lu Ye got straight to the point.
The man swallowed his words and laughed, "Alright, but if I take the oath, you can't not buy it."
"I'll buy it if the price is right."
The male cultivator nodded, his expression turning serious, and he said solemnly, "Scattered cultivator Chen He respectfully asks the heavens to witness, every word I've said is true. If any of it is false, may I suffer the most severe tortures and die!"
An invisible force descended from the heavens, landing on the back of the hand of the man named Chen He, where his battlefield mark was clearly located.
Lu Ye's expression was stern. This guy was really going all out to sell the technique, even daring to take such a deadly oath.
"Show me the technique." Lu Ye said.
Chen He shook his head, "You're joking, the technique is simple and clear. If you see it, you can memorize it right away. Why would you need to buy it?"
"How much?"
"Thirty spirit stones!" Chen He quoted a price.
Lu Ye turned and walked away.
Although he didn't know what the technique was, and Chen He was even willing to take a Heavenly Oath, he was sure that the technique must have some catch. Otherwise, it wouldn't be sold for thirty spirit stones, even three thousand would be worth it.
"Wait, friend, in business, the seller sets the price, and the buyer pays. You didn't even try to haggle, and you just walked away. You should have some integrity, right?" Chen He quickly held Lu Ye back, earnestly persuading him.
"Three spirit stones!" Lu Ye went along with it and tried to haggle.
"Deal!" Chen He took out a jade slip and slapped it into Lu Ye's hand.
Lu Ye's eyes twitched.
"Friend, I took a Heavenly Oath. You said you would buy it if the price was right. This price of three spirit stones was set by you. You can't go back on your word, can you?"
Lu Ye was speechless. In the end, he took out three spirit stones and handed them to the other party. Chen He, with the spirit stones in hand, left happily.
Holding the jade slip, Lu Ye hadn't even had time to check its contents when a person walked over, grinning, and said, "Got scammed, didn't you?"
Lu Ye looked up at the person, who shrugged, "I was scammed too. That technique is useless."
Lu Ye understood, "You were watching the whole time?"
The person laughed, "It's better for two people to suffer than just one, don't you think? I feel much better now." He even winked at Lu Ye.
Lu Ye said coolly, "If I were you, I'd go into business with him. If he can sell that technique, why can't you? Instead of watching others get scammed, you might as well scam some spirit stones yourself. You might even make a profit."
The person was deep in thought, and after a while, he slapped his thigh, "That makes sense!"
When he looked up, Lu Ye was already gone.
Outside the market, Lu Ye was riding on the back of Big Tiger, already far away, not bothering to deal with the scheming merchants.
Although he was sure he had been scammed, the loss of spirit stones was minimal, only three. He had just traded for over a hundred spirit stones from the merchant alliance, so he wasn't too concerned.
However, Chen He had taken a Heavenly Oath, which meant the technique was indeed as he said, capable of increasing cultivation efficiency. Otherwise, he would have been punished by the oath.
What was going on?
Lu Ye was suspicious and began to investigate the technique.
The technique was called "Taotie Feast."
It was a technique that was difficult to evaluate, as the entire technique only covered fifteen spirit points!
Lu Ye's cultivation technique, the Golden Cicada Freedom Sutra, was already the lowest-level yellow-grade technique, which could open twenty-seven spirit points.
The Taotie Feast only had fifteen spirit points, even less than a yellow-grade technique.
But considering that this was not a cultivation technique but an auxiliary one, it made sense.
As Chen He had said, the technique's cultivation route was straightforward and extremely simple, because it only covered a few spirit points, all of which were located near the lower abdomen, making it highly compatible with all low-level techniques.
The compatibility between two techniques depends on how many spirit points their cultivation routes overlap. The more they overlap, the higher the compatibility.
All low-level techniques open spirit points around the lower abdomen, as the source spirit point is located there. Many low-level techniques open almost identical spirit points, but the differences in their cultivation routes lead to differences in the characteristics of the techniques.
The same nine spirit points, connected in different orders, result in different flow speeds of spiritual energy, which in turn affects the cultivator's strength.
Therefore, the order in which spirit points are connected is a very precise matter.
The fifteen spirit points in the Taotie Feast's cultivation route largely overlap with the twenty-seven spirit points in the Golden Cicada Freedom Sutra, with only two spirit points not included in the Golden Cicada Freedom Sutra. In other words, if Lu Ye completed the cultivation of the Golden Cicada Freedom Sutra and opened those two additional spirit points, he could unlock the secrets of the Taotie Feast.
There was no rush. He would wait until he completed the cultivation of the Golden Cicada Freedom Sutra and then see if the Taotie Feast was as miraculous as claimed, doubling his cultivation efficiency.
Putting away the jade slip, Lu Ye took out a map and compared the distance between Qingyun Market's sections three and five, calculating the time he had spent.
He then looked at the route he had planned to reach the Bi Xue Sect.
After a quick calculation, Lu Ye couldn't help but sigh. At this speed, even without any delays, it would take a very long time to return to the Bi Xue Sect's base.
If there were any delays, it would take even longer.
The road ahead was long, but at least Lu Ye wasn't alone, with Yi Yi and Big Tiger by his side.