Chapter 59: Chapter 55: "Cultivation Treasure Manual"—"Tribulation Cultivation Treasure Manual

"A steel fork forged from Great River Treasured Iron, huh, it’s actually a Top-Grade Dharma Artifact, capable of manipulating the waters of the Great River, both offensive and defensive."

"Fire Flame Fruit, a Middle-grade Spirit Fruit, can amplify Mana, but it’s only useful for Demon Beasts."

"Water Spirit Flower, can enhance eye power, a Middle-grade Spirit Flower, prolonged use might trigger an eye power divine ability, hmm... eighteen blossoms?"

"That damned Water Ape, did it spend all my money on these Water Spirit Flowers?"

Gu Yuan shook the shriveled Storage Bag, but aside from a few broken stones and a black jar filled with bones, there was nothing else.

This left him quite frustrated.

He had thought that the Water Ape was an old Tribulation Cultivator and had sold the Fire Eye Pill, surely it must be wealthy, but unexpectedly, the Water Ape had spent all its money on Water Spirit Flowers to trigger the Fire Eye Technique, not even equipping itself with a couple of extra Dharma Artifacts.

Although Water Spirit Flowers could be resold, once and again, they’d inevitably be devalued, and additionally, it would create an unnecessary hassle.

But as things stood, Gu Yuan could only accept it, he first refined the steel fork simply for emergencies, then opened the Storage Bag of that Beast Taming Youth.

What first fell out of the Storage Bag was not Dharma Artifacts, but a black stone book.

The stone book was icy to the bone, surrounded by a faint black aura, exuding a sinister atmosphere.

However, it was only the appearance and material that were a bit peculiar, the stone book itself had no spiritual energy fluctuations.

On the stone book, there were four large characters written in silver hook and iron scratch:

"Cultivation Treasure Manual!"

These four characters piqued Gu Yuan’s interest, he couldn’t help but open the stone book.

"Murder and arson bring a golden belt, repairing bridges leaves no skeletons!"

"Since ancient times, cultivation follows a step-by-step process, but consistent hard practice barely leads to great achievements!"

"All those who achieve great things have conquered bounds, rising through seas of blood and mountains of corpses, stepping over the bones of countless cultivators."

"In dark places, robbing cultivators, in bright spots, defeating elites, combining light and dark is true wisdom!"

"Unfortunately, my lifetime’s actions have all been shady and dirty, extremely base, ruthless and heartless, unable to enter the elegant halls."

"But having roamed across the world for hundreds of years, robbing and backstabbing cultivators hundreds of times without failure, I have some insights into the Tribulation Cultivation path, so today I write this book as a pastime."

"The way of Tribulation Cultivation, firstly emphasizes four words: strong killing the weak!"

"Secondly, it involves dark stealth, to let the enemy be undefeatable, unable to know where the enemy will emerge from, and then borrowing other’s hands as knives and axes..."

Following this, the stone book was filled with a vast amount of "Tribulation Cultivation experiences" and "dark stealth techniques" as well as various "Tribulation Cultivation small tricks".

In a cursory glance, there were tens of thousands of words, and various techniques and small methods, were innumerable.

The combination technique of "Person-Finding Insect" and "Shiva Fragrance" also appeared inside.

Alongside an unusual "Shape Shift and Flavor Exchange" technique, capable of silently altering someone’s aura, catching the enemy off guard and inciting others to conflict, thereby reaping the benefits as a fisherman.

There were numerous techniques here, not just magic, but many involving unique Demon Beasts and intriguing smoked powders, a mix and combination.

Gu Yuan was so absorbed that it all made sense of the means employed by the youth against him today.

And at the end of the stone book, there was also a passage.

"Remember, remember, the way of Tribulation Cultivation is about the strong killing the weak, if things don’t look good, run immediately, must not have the slightest greed."

"Tribulation Cultivation is a lifetime long career, success lies in persistence, water drop wears away stone, never think of ’completing one’s achievements in one stroke’, if you recklessly ambush someone unfamiliar, otherwise, your life will be forfeit!"

The last sentence seemed to be a deep caution from the book’s author, well felt.

"A lifetime long career..."

Gu Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle as he closed the stone book.

The book’s author, who knows what level they were at, but their insight was indeed sharp, full of experience, by the end of the book, Gu Yuan felt if he were to become a Tribulation Cultivator, he’d be a very seasoned one.

The final caution was also extremely wise, Tribulation Cultivation is about water drop wearing away stone, even a mosquito leg is meat. Wealth is accumulated bit by bit, what matters is stable happiness, certainly not rashness.

The youth who ambushed him today, simply wanted exotic Demon Beasts too eagerly, ambushed someone unfamiliar, and "fought the strong with the weak," the result was bound to be self-evident.

"Having obtained this book, it wasn’t a loss, from now on, I shouldn’t be easily ambushed by Tribulation Cultivators again..."

Gu Yuan was hugely pleased in his heart.

The experiences in the stone book were concluded within "seas of blood and mountains of corpses", invaluable, mastering some of these techniques could greatly boost self-preservation ability.

"In that case, these Water Spirit Flowers could indeed be useful."

Gu Yuan looked at the shimmering Water Spirit Flowers at his feet, reminiscent of a lotus, musing.

"In the Cultivation Treasure Manual, there is a technique called ’Heaven-Revealing Spirit Eye’."

This technique requires gathering three types of Middle-grade Spirit Flowers, grinding them into a liquid, supplemented with Spirit Water, to wash one’s eyes for forty-nine days, thereby gaining a peculiar Spiritual Eye.

Heaven-Revealing Spirit Eye can not only see through most Illusion Techniques and stealth methods, but also perceive the trajectories of ’strange fragrances and secret smokes’ between heaven and earth, even detecting the flow of the wind.

Traces linger, this Spiritual Eye can perceive numerous details, most suitable for reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance.

This eye is not a Dharma Seal, nor a Magic spell, yet it surpasses Magic, equivalent to a talent divine power beyond ordinary people.

The author of the Cultivation Treasure Manual had once evaded numerous ambushes relying on this eye.

And Water Spirit Flowers just so happen to be one of the three kinds of Spirit Flowers needed for cultivating this Spiritual Eye, besides requiring "Red Sun Petal" and "Cold Frost Treasure Lotus".

Gu Yuan stored the stone book and the Water Spirit Flowers and continued to look at the other items dumped out of the Storage Bag.

What met his eyes were three Dharma Artifacts sparkling with spiritual light.

"Top-Grade Protective Dharma Artifact, Seal of Mount Yin, can invoke mountain radiance to resist attacks from Qi Refining Eighth Layer."

"High-grade Protective Dharma Artifact, Cyan Lotus Shield, can invoke a Cyan Lotus to resist attacks from Qi Refining Seventh Layer."

"High-grade Attack Dharma Artifact, Yellow Sand Shield, can unleash a mass of Evil Sand, engulfing the enemy, if the means are insufficient, one might be ground to death by the Evil Sand, leaving no flesh and bones."

Three Dharma Artifacts, one Top-Grade, two High-grade, for a cultivator at Qi Refining Sixth Layer, this was already an extremely wealthy possession.

It seems the Tribulation Cultivation Treasure Manual indeed brought this person enormous benefits.

Too bad they encountered Gu Yuan, no matter how good Tribulation Cultivation was, it couldn’t compare to softer measures, the three Dharma Artifacts went unused, failing to play any role.

Apart from this, there was also a crimson Jade Bottle.

Even through the Jade Bottle, one could feel a surge of crimson divine light, constantly flickering inside the bottle.

"This is... the Fire Eye Pill!"

Gu Yuan uncorked the bottle, gazing at the two dazzling treasures within, red with a hint of gold, immediately delighting.

After all the twists and turns, this item still ended up in his hand.

"With this pill, if I encounter the Jade Water Fire-Eyed Ape in the future, I should have the upper hand!"

Currently, this pill held little utility but served as a guarantee for the future.

Gu Yuan’s mood instantly soared.

And beyond this, the youth had no other rare items.

Only a copy of the "Beast Taming Heart Scripture" and a few shriveled Spirit Beast Bags, along with over a hundred Spirit Stones.

Initially, if these Spirit Beasts weren’t dead, Gu Yuan could use the Beast Taming Heart Scripture to forge a "Beast Taming Seal", gaining more helpers.

But with the youth’s death, the Spirit Beasts perished too, taking the "Person-Finding Insect" with them, leaving only their bodies.

The path of Beast Taming was another entirely different cultivation direction, at present, Gu Yuan had no energy to delve into it, so he could only reserve the "Beast Taming Heart Scripture" for future endeavor, hoping it might prove useful.

After sorting these out, Gu Yuan took out a small, inch-high sapling with large leaves, thick branches, and peculiar patterns.

Little Giant Divine Wood.

This was his real objective for this trip.

By planting this wood, his cultivation progress could be more than doubled.

But seeing the sparse Spiritual Qi in the Cave Mansion, Gu Yuan frowned once more.

Then, he took out a jade box, stuffed it with some Spirit Stones and Fire Flame Fruits, before boarding the Flying Shuttle, heading towards Cyan Peak Mountain.