I Live Forever In The World of Cultivation World

These were things He Song had not been aware of before.

Although he had known Wei Fan for five years, their gatherings with Meng Guan usually revolved around sharing anecdotes and strengthening their bond.

This was the first time Wei Fan had intentionally explained the inner workings of the Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market to He Song.

As He Song followed Wei Fan around, familiarizing himself with the area, he gradually formed a clearer understanding of Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market.

Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market was under the jurisdiction of the Azure Cliff Immortal City, which in turn was controlled by a Golden Core sect, the Vast Earth Sect Sect.

Within the Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, its internal staff came from two primary sources:

Wandering cultivators like He Song, who were recruited into the Immortal Market and became its internal staff.
Disciples from the Vast Earth Academy, like Wei Fan and Meng Guan.

The Vast Earth Academy was an institution established by the Vast Earth Sect Sect to screen potential disciples.

In the academy, those who failed to reach mid-stage Qi Refinement by a certain age and thus couldn’t qualify to become outer disciples of the sect were sent to various immortal cities or markets to take up positions.

If their performance was good and their cultivation progressed rapidly, these academy graduates could still have a chance to re-enter the sect and become its disciples.

However, within Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, the status between these two groups of cultivators was practically indistinguishable.

At the early stage of Qi Refinement, most cultivators working for the market could only retain 20 or 30 spirit stones for personal use each year.

However, because their cultivation was still at a low level, merely absorbing the spiritual energy within the market would rapidly improve their cultivation.

This was an unspoken rule present in nearly all immortal markets.

The purpose? To filter out cultivators with perseverance, determination, and foresight.

Those who couldn’t endure were free to leave.

For those who chose to leave:

Life as a wandering cultivator often meant earning more spirit stones and avoiding market rents, making them wealthier than internal early-stage cultivators.

However, the 10-spirit-stone monthly rent for the market was deliberately set high.

Its design served two purposes:

To drive away aimless wandering cultivators who lacked talent or skills, forcing them to leave.
To attract skilled wandering cultivators to contribute to the market’s development.

For those who chose to stay:

To reside within the market, early-stage Qi Refinement cultivators had to officially join the market as internal staffs.

Some relied on their annual stipends to cover costs, while others had rent-free accommodations bundled with their positions.

Even though their disposable income was limited, merely living in the market was already a tremendous benefit.

For mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, the resources they received improved significantly compared to their early-stage counterparts.

By this time, most cultivators would have developed some skills to earn additional spirit stones. Combined with their stipends, their standard of living became manageable.

Reaching mid-stage Qi Refinement meant they had overcome one of the most challenging stages in the cultivation journey.

Those who lacked perseverance, determination, or foresight had likely been filtered out during the early stage and were now wandering cultivators with a high mortality rate.

This natural selection process was exactly what immortal markets intended.

Late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators formed the backbone of the market.

They were given more resources, as their presence served as a significant deterrent to evil cultivator.

Moreover, most late-stage cultivators were focused on preparing for the Foundation Establishment stage, which required significant resources.

By retaining these cultivators and encouraging their development, immortal markets not only strengthened their security but also ensured a steady supply of potential future experts.

With Wei Fan’s explanations, He Song came to understand many things that had previously eluded him.

At the same time, a greater motivation to advance his cultivation began to grow in his heart.

Reaching the middle or even late stage of Qi Refinement would undoubtedly bring a much better quality of life than what he was experiencing now.

After Wei Fan showed He Song around the courtyard, arranged for him to stay in one of the secondary bedrooms, and assigned him a quiet room for cultivation, the day was drawing to a close.

“Returning in such a rush today, I could only prepare a simple meal. Tomorrow, I’ll get some good wine and dishes to give you a proper welcome!” Wei Fan said apologetically at the dinner table as he poured He Song a glass of wine.

However, sitting beside him, He Song couldn’t help but feel a little helpless as he glanced at the “simple meal.”

The table was laden with fragrant Spirit Rice, spirit-infused wine, and dishes made from spirit materials and beast meat.

Such an extravagant spread was something He Song had only experienced once at the Osmanthus Tower, and that was when Lin Cong treated him after advancing to mid-stage Qi Refinement.

For a small cultivator like He Song, Spirit Rice was already a luxury, while Spirit Wine and beast meat were entirely out of reach financially.

Yet now, after hearing about the benefits of reaching mid- and late-stage Qi Refinement, He Song felt no jealousy.

These things would come naturally with his cultivation progress.

The beauty of cultivation lay in its promise:

As long as one’s cultivation improved, so would their strength, status, identity, and power.

It was a natural progression. With effort and perseverance, everything was attainable.

This understanding helped He Song maintain a calm and grounded mindset.

His greatest advantage was his longevity.

As long as he lived long enough, his cultivation would inevitably improve.

“Come, let’s drink!” He Song raised his glass without any hesitation, brushing off Wei Fan’s apologies.

With a crisp clink of their glasses, laughter and lively conversation filled the courtyard.

He Song officially moved into Wei Fan’s courtyard.

He no longer ventured to the spiritual farmlands he had tended daily before.

Until the crisis at the Crimson Spirit Gold Mine was resolved, he had no intention of leaving the Immortal Market.

This decision was driven by both his cautious nature and a genuine concern that evil cultivators might exploit the chaos.

However, as a spirit planter for the Immortal Market, failing to meet the planting quotas came with penalties.

If the harvest from the five acres of spiritual farmlands didn’t meet the standard, He Song would be responsible for compensating the shortfall.

Unable to tend to the farmlands himself, He Song hired a familiar spirit planter to care for them.

For a fee of 20 spirit stones, the planter happily agreed.

It wasn’t a hard task; instead of casting the Spiritual Rain Technique for half an hour, he simply extended it to an hour.

The extra income of 20 spirit stones was an unexpected bonus for him.

With this arrangement, He Song resolved one of his major worries and was able to focus entirely on cultivation within Wei Fan’s courtyard.

The spiritual energy in Wei Fan’s courtyard was significantly denser than in He Song’s previous accommodations, allowing him to cultivate faster.

His spiritual energy grew steadily, bit by bit, each day.

While not neglecting his cultivation, He Song also spent part of each day studying the Introduction to Formations Book.

With his newfound environment, He Song’s progress in both cultivation and understanding Formations proceeded smoothly and steadily.