Chapter 147: Buying a Cultivation Technique with Spirit Stones, the Elm Tree’s Final Gift

Yuxian froze for a moment, then frowned.

This cultivator really knew how to go all in—dropping to his knees so quickly…

“I don’t need a follower,” Yuxian said coldly.

He had no use for anyone trailing behind him. His voice was calm but firm: “Pick another request.”

“Senior!”

Ba Liming quickly looked up, his face full of pleading. “Junior truly wishes to follow Senior! Please don’t despise me! I can wash clothes, do chores, act as an assistant—anything you need!”

“I already said—I don’t need a follower,” Yuxian interrupted, his expression turning colder. “I have too many matters to attend to. I don’t have the time to guide your cultivation. Choose something else.”

Ba Liming had been ready to plead further, but when he saw the icy gleam in Yuxian’s eyes, his heart trembled, and the words died in his throat.

He forced a smile and rubbed his hands together. “Then… Senior, would you be willing to grant me a technique that reaches Foundation Establishment perfection… or perhaps even to the Golden Core Realm?”

Yuxian’s eyebrow twitched.

This kid sure knew how to ask for something bold—Golden Core-level technique?

Such a technique would be worth at least tens of thousands of spirit stones. Among rogue cultivators, that would cause even Foundation Establishment experts to fight to the death.

Seeing Yuxian frown, Ba Liming quickly read the room and amended: “Ah, if that’s too difficult, then… just one that reaches Foundation Establishment perfection is more than enough! I won’t be picky!”

“Get up. Don’t kneel anymore,” Yuxian said flatly.

Ba Liming blinked. “Junior thinks it’s better to kneel. How could I deserve to stand while speaking with Senior—”

“I said get up.”

Yuxian frowned again. “Don’t kneel.”

Seeing that Yuxian wasn’t joking, Ba Liming awkwardly stood up, bowing respectfully. “Junior obeys…”

Only then did Yuxian ask, “Why did you take the tree root, yet didn’t leave? Instead, you agreed to guard the village for two years?”

“Uh…”

Ba Liming was caught off guard, unsure why Yuxian would ask such a thing.

He thought for a moment before cautiously replying, “Junior… Junior values fairness. I couldn’t just take their spiritual root and leave. So I agreed to help the villagers for two years, ensure good weather, and then leave with a clear conscience…”

“Oh?”

Yuxian looked at him with a half-smile. “Is that so?”

Ba Liming straightened up and said with conviction, “Absolutely! I never bully the weak! Taking their spiritual root and leaving—how is that different from theft? That’s not the behavior of a gentleman!”

Yuxian gave a faint smile.

Whatever Ba Liming’s original intention, he did sincerely help the villagers for a year and a half.

For that time, the weather was fair, and the villagers lived comfortably.

That alone was enough.

He nodded. “I don’t have any techniques that reach Foundation Establishment perfection, but you can buy one yourself. Head about 18,000 miles south—there’s a market city. You should be able to find a suitable technique there.”

“Buy?”

Ba Liming looked surprised. “Senior… buying one would cost tens of thousands of spirit stones… how could I afford that…”

“A Foundation Establishment perfection technique isn’t that expensive. Thirty thousand spirit stones are enough.”

Yuxian said plainly, “I’ll give you thirty thousand. Go buy it yourself.”

“Ah?”

Ba Liming froze, stunned. “S-Senior… You’re giving me thirty thousand spirit stones?”

“Correct.”

Without another word, Yuxian waved his hand. A pile of mid-grade spirit stones clattered to the ground, glowing like precious jewels.

There were about one hundred and fifty mid-grade spirit stones—more than enough to exchange for thirty thousand low-grade ones.

This was Yuxian’s way of repaying Ba Liming’s help in bringing rain during droughts and channeling water during floods for the villagers.

Ba Liming stared at the spirit stones, dazed.

It wasn’t like he’d never seen that amount—being a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, his total assets might’ve reached thirty or forty thousand—but…

Mid-grade stones?!

That glowing pile lit up the surroundings and sent his blood pressure soaring. His brain felt like it was spinning.

Was this really for him?

“Se-Senior… these spirit stones… really for me?”

“Mm.”

Yuxian gestured. “Take them and go. No need to stay here.”

Ba Liming’s eyes twitched. He forced a chuckle. “I… I don’t think I should. I didn’t really do much… How could I accept this…”

“You don’t want them? Fine.”

Yuxian made to retrieve the pile.

“I want them! I want them!!”

Ba Liming instantly panicked, shouting as he pounced forward and swept all the stones into his storage pouch.

Yuxian calmly withdrew his hand, nodded, and turned to leave.

He left only one sentence behind:

“Go buy your technique. The spiritual energy here is thin. It’s not a good place for cultivation—no need to linger.”

Ba Liming stood still, staring at Yuxian’s fading silhouette in the dark, still a little dazed. He checked his storage pouch again to confirm the stones were real.

This… this powerhouse…

He took back the tree root he had planned to carve into formation tools for his “Ninefold Cloud Thunder Array,” and then… gave him three thousand stones as compensation?

In the world of cultivation, it’s survival of the fittest.

If a powerful cultivator took something from a weaker one and didn’t kill them, that was already considered merciful. Giving compensation? Unheard of.

And yet… this Senior…

Ba Liming couldn’t help but laugh.

He had always thought his kindness to the weak was a kind of sickness—foolish and irrational.

But now, this Foundation Establishment senior seemed to share the same heart.

His resentment faded.

Three thousand stones was enough to buy a third-grade formation array. And who knew if the elm root could even be refined successfully?

In fact, he’d profited.

With a bit of wistfulness, Ba Liming firmed his expression, performed a hand seal, and flew toward the south.

In the shadows, Yuxian silently watched Ba Liming disappear into the night, then turned calmly and walked back to the village.

Having a cultivator stay in Elm Tree Village too long was dangerous. If Ba Liming had enemies, the villagers would be the ones to suffer.

Even Yuxian wouldn’t stay too long. Once he helped finish preparations, he would also leave.

Back in his small house, he sat cross-legged on his bed and closed his eyes.

His consciousness entered the storage pouch.

The elm root had been split into ten segments. Though reassembled, the damage remained. There was no life in it now.

Of course, Yuxian didn’t blame Ba Liming.

Even if Ba hadn’t cut it, that root could never revive.

That old man’s sword back then had severed all vitality.

The sword light had sliced dozens of meters across the air, brilliant and unwavering.

Based on its power, Yuxian estimated the old man must’ve been at least mid-stage Golden Core.

At White Cloud Sect, Yuxian had seen an inner disciple who resembled that old man. Perhaps he was a Golden Core elder? Yuxian had just never met him.

As he pondered, Yuxian raised his hand.

A segment of the elm root appeared in his palm. He gently stroked it.

The wood was incredibly tough—elm wood, among the hardest of all materials.

He whispered, “Elm Mother… you may not have given birth to me, but I’m a little elm knothead too. In that way, we’re the same…”

And right then, the little elm tree tattooed on his chest began to glow faintly.

The root in his hand softened, stretched—as if it were coming to life!

Yuxian’s expression changed instantly. He jumped up and gripped the root with both hands, eyes filled with shock and joy.

“You… you’re still alive!?”

But the root didn’t respond. It kept writhing and stretching…

Eventually, a nearly imperceptible breath of spiritual essence shot from it, entered his palm, and coursed toward his chest, merging with the tiny elm tree tattoo.

That living mark glowed faintly, its branches stretching actively.

At the same time, in his dantian, the small spiritual elm tree growing from his foundation platform grew taller and greener.

The root in Yuxian’s hands then disintegrated into a handful of powder, falling to the floor.

He stood frozen, staring at the wood dust, speechless.

He could feel the change in his body more clearly than anyone. The root had greatly nourished him.

Had he still been at Qi Condensation, this might’ve even helped upgrade his spiritual roots.

As things stood, the root nourished his foundation tree, shortening at least half a year of cultivation.

“…So this is your final gift to me?”

Yuxian whispered, gripping the pendant at his chest.

The main trunk of the elm had died. Its core and spirit pearl had been taken by that old man. Only the root remained.

Unexpectedly, that root had become Yuxian’s greatest tonic.

And since Ba Liming had never absorbed it, it was clear—only Yuxian could do so.

This was his Elm Mother’s final act of love.

Yuxian let out a slow breath, eyes steady.

A gift was meant to be received.

Keeping the root around would change nothing. Only by converting it into spiritual nourishment—watering the little elm within—could he grow stronger. That was her true wish.

Without hesitation, Yuxian flipped his hand and summoned another root segment.

As before, it stretched lazily, and then willingly poured its energy into him.

The power of all ten roots combined exceeded that of a top-tier fourth-grade spirit pill!

And more importantly, this energy was perfectly compatible with him, without the slightest resistance.

The little elm tree grew over three inches taller, its trunk thickened noticeably.

On the foundation platform, the ancient symbols etched around its base became clearer and more profound.

Yuxian had stepped into the peak of Foundation Establishment’s early stage.