Chapter 159: The Sub-Profound Spirit Tree
Li Mu directly scanned his Technological Watch against the security cabinet.
After spending 32,000 Contribution Points, the security cabinet opened automatically.
Li Mu took out the Cultivation Art Stone for the Three-Character Dao-Pattern Seal and crushed it on the spot.
Ordinary Martial Artists would need to find a quiet environment before carefully comprehending the profundities of this cultivation art.
But Li Mu no longer needed to do that.
The system automatically deepened his understanding by three hundred years. The fact that Li Mu could close his eyes and stand there to savor it for a moment, instead of comprehending it while walking, was already giving this cultivation art quite a lot of face.
Very quickly, Li Mu fully grasped the mysteries of the Three-Character Dao-Pattern Seal.
Moreover, this was clearly an incomplete version.
It had obviously evolved from the Daoist Nine-Character Mantra.
Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing.
Each character, when combined with seal incantations and heart methods, possessed endless marvelous uses.
After being mystically adapted by Martial Artists, they were applied to all kinds of cultivation arts.
However, very quickly, Li Mu no longer felt that this was an incomplete version.
He had to admit that the person who invented the Three-Character Dao-Pattern Seal cultivation art was definitely an unparalleled genius!
That was because, according to the three hundred years of understanding provided by Li Mu’s system, although he had deduced the abilities of the other seal incantations...
The ones with the deepest effect in defensive cultivation arts were actually the three seal incantations: Lin, Dou, and Zhen.
Although the others each had their own effects, if they were cultivated as defensive cultivation arts, the result would be twice the effort for half the result, or even minimal results.
Concentrating all one’s effort on these three seal incantations instead allowed one to advance further along the path of defense.
Even if Li Mu used it now, he would still use these three seals for defense.
In other words, the person who invented this cultivation art had discovered this point at least two hundred years ahead of the system.
That showed just how extraordinary their talent was.
He wondered whether this person was still alive.
If there was a chance, he absolutely had to visit them.
That was because although Li Mu could not apply the other seal incantations to defensive cultivation arts...
The Nine-Character Mantra itself could be evolved into all kinds of cultivation arts!
However, even with three hundred years of understanding, Li Mu still lacked some practice and experience.
He vaguely felt that if he could communicate with the creator of the Three-Character Dao-Pattern Seal, or learn some other cultivation arts related to the Nine-Character Mantra, it would give him even more inspiration.
As long as he could perfect the Nine-Character Mantra secret art...
Li Mu felt that he could develop nine kinds of cultivation arts...
And they definitely would not be ordinary cultivation arts!
It was just that using only a defensive cultivation art with three hundred years of understanding to study the Nine-Character Mantra was like looking at a leopard through a tube.
He was still far from enough.
With this thought in mind, Li Mu could not wait to test the strength of the Three-Character Dao-Pattern Seal.
It was now nine-thirty at night.
The Abyss had become even more dangerous, which made it the perfect opportunity to test a new cultivation art.
Li Mu then walked outside at an unhurried pace.
When he passed by the weapon section, Li Mu noticed a very beautiful Premium Long Saber.
The blade was long and slender, resembling an elongated Tang saber.
The dark-gray blade and ancient-looking scabbard appeared very textured.
Li Mu currently had a saber, which he used to help him dismantle monster corpses.
In truth, it was enough.
However, blades that caught his eye were not very common, and this one was not expensive either.
It only cost 1,200 Contribution Points.
So Li Mu took the saber and waited at the front to pay.
A weapon of this level did not need to be placed inside a security cabinet.
While waiting to pay, the quiet conversation between the two people in front of him reached Li Mu’s ears.
“Hey, are you going to the Sub-Profound Spirit Tree later? I heard the Spiritual Energy is very abundant today.”
“I... am not going. I do not have the money. It is too expensive.”
“How much are you short? If it is not too much, I can sponsor you a little! We can look after each other after we go in.”
“You have money?”
“I do. I only just sold the weapon I exchanged with Contribution Points yesterday for a sum of money.”
“Even so, I still think it is expensive. I am still not going. I always feel like the Liang Family is targeting the Abyss-Suppressing Army a little.”
“Many social institutions get discounts when they go to their Sub-Profound Spirit Tree, but we of the Abyss-Suppressing Army are charged full price.”
“What a scam!”
“Ah, is it not because the Liang Family used this matter as a bargaining chip back then, wanting to meddle in the Abyss-Suppressing Army’s resource development?”
“The Military District did not agree, so the Liang Family has borne a grudge ever since. Do not even think about discounts.”
“For the sake of improving our strength, we will endure this little grievance for now.”
Li Mu reached out and gently patted the shoulders of the two people in front of him.
The two turned back in confusion. First, they froze, then their expressions changed slightly.
One of them asked tentatively, somewhat uncertain, “Tiger... Tiger Marquis Li?”
Li Mu smiled and nodded.
The two instantly stood at attention.
The people around them also instantly stood at attention in shock.
The people of Wanren Military District had never met Li Mu, but the matter of Tiger Roar Camp had caused such a huge commotion.
He had slaughtered tens of thousands of people from the Divine Elephant Nation. Li Mu’s fame had still spread to Wanren Military District.
Many well-informed people had also shared some videos and photos of Li Mu.
As long as one searched the Military Official Website using the relevant information, one could see them.
Before this, many people had seen Li Mu but had not dared recognize him.
Now that they saw Li Mu admit it, they naturally had to salute.
Moreover, most of them were looking up to him from the bottom of their hearts.
“I want to ask, what is this Sub-Profound Spirit Tree you were talking about just now?”
“I just arrived at Wanren Military District, so I do not understand it very well.”
Li Mu asked the two of them very politely.
One soldier immediately said, “Reporting to Tiger Marquis Li! This Sub-Profound Spirit Tree can be considered a trial mystic realm.”
“It is inside an extremely small Vacuum Zone in the Abyss. It was first discovered and developed by the great family, the Liang Family.”
The other person rushed to explain.
“You can imagine this Spirit Tree as something where monsters surge upward from the root, ranging from Third Grade at the lowest to Ninth Grade at the highest!”
“Humans enter the interior of the Spirit Tree through its branches and kill these monsters, and the monsters will burst out with extremely powerful Spiritual Energy that the killer can absorb!”
“Some people enter once, and it is equivalent to several months of bitter cultivation!”
“The higher the branch, the lower the grade of the monsters.”
“The closer one gets to the roots, the higher the grade of the monsters.”
The other person then continued, “The Liang Family uses a special method to seal the exit, accumulating large numbers of monsters, then opens it once every three days.”
“It is like opening a floodgate. Their own family’s Martial Artists go in first.”
“Every time it opens, there will be a monster peak period lasting several hours. After that, there are very few monsters left, and they need another three days to accumulate.”
“However, the Liang Family cannot digest so many monsters by themselves, so they began opening it to outsiders.”
“Third Grade Martial Artists pay one hundred thousand per entry. For every grade higher, the Martial Artist has to pay another two hundred thousand. Eighth Grade costs one million and one hundred thousand, while Ninth Grade costs two million.”
“People line up every day. In a single day, they can earn at least over a hundred million!”
Li Mu nodded and asked, “The highest is only Ninth Grade? So it is called the Sub-Profound Spirit Tree?”
“Yes! It can be said to be a sacred cultivation ground for those below the Profound Rank.”
“It is just a pity that it is too expensive!”
Li Mu gave a long nod.
“I understand. Thank you!”
“Where is this Spirit Tree? How does one line up?”
One of them quickly opened his Technological Watch, tapped open the map, and said, “This coordinate! Go out through Gate Fifty, then it is sixty kilometers away. You line up on-site. It should still be fairly early if you go now.”
Li Mu opened his watch, recorded the coordinate, and thanked the two again.
Afterward, he paid for his long saber, and also conveniently paid for the two High-Grade Weapons in the hands of those two soldiers.
All added together, it was only 800 Contribution Points.
Li Mu still had 93,000 Contribution Points left.
The two of them went wild with joy on the spot!
The surrounding people also went mad with jealousy on the spot!
That was 800 Contribution Points!
Li Mu treated them just like that?
There was this kind of benefit for answering questions? If they had known earlier, they would have rushed to answer too!
Those two people had never expected Li Mu to be so generous.
They had only answered so eagerly purely out of respect and admiration for Li Mu. Who could have thought that such an opportunity would come with it?
“Brother, do you not usually exchange Contribution Points for weapons and then sell them?”
“I will give you cash. Can you transfer this weapon to me?”
A quick-witted person came over from the side and spoke to one of the soldiers.
That soldier warily hugged the weapon to his chest, his face full of pride.
“Not selling, not selling! This is a weapon Tiger Marquis Li gave me! Even if I sold myself, I could not sell it!”
“You are really trying to scheme for it. Get aside!”
...
Li Mu passed through Gate Fifty, stepped onto the Somersault Cloud, and flew toward the coordinate for only a short while.
Then he saw a huge, brightly lit ancient tree standing atop a small hill.
The moment he entered the airspace above this area, Li Mu felt his aura being rapidly suppressed.
It seemed that this place was a Vacuum Zone.
Li Mu landed and approached through the edge of the hill. As soon as he drew close, he heard a burst of noise.
And beneath that glowing ancient tree, it was like the scenery of some famous tourist attraction. There was a simple entrance set up.
From the entrance outward, a one-meter barrier belt separated a circular, winding queue. There were already more than a hundred people lined up.
Many others were wandering around outside.
Several people wearing conspicuous work uniforms were shouting at the end of the line.
“Come, come, come. Those lining up, come over here. Pay first before you queue. No substitutes, no refunds. Scalpers queuing on behalf of others are strictly prohibited!”