The Journey of Projection Upgrading
Chapter 181: Cultivation and Appraisal

When the Bai family expanded in Shangyuan County, Chen An wasn't idle either.

What was he doing?

Cultivating.

Yes, cultivating.

Although his cultivation had already reached the innate level, cultivation couldn't be relaxed in any way.

Over the years, cultivation had become an instinct ingrained in Chen An's bones, something he couldn't erase.

In addition to his daily cultivation, Chen An was also thinking about other things.

Like cultivation.

Yes, cultivation.

Bai Qing was currently cultivating, and now that she no longer had the Empress of Luoshan hindering her, she seemed to be on the right track.

After entering the sect, she directly passed on the techniques to Chen An, asking for help with comprehension.

Of course, she passed on the nameless ancient scriptures she had obtained, not the scriptures given by the Empress of Luoshan.

If it were the scriptures given by the Empress of Luoshan, Bai Qing wouldn't dare to give them, and Chen An wouldn't dare to practice them.

So she gave Chen An her own cultivation scriptures.

Although it may not be as profound as the scriptures given by the Empress of Luoshan, at least it was safe and reliable, allowing for cultivation with peace of mind.

This was a good thing.

In this sense, Bai Qing was more generous than Princess Liang Yao.

She directly told him her only set of cultivation scriptures without any hesitation.

On the other hand, Princess Liang Yao clearly wanted to enlist Chen An's help but hadn't given him anything so far.

She definitely had some top-notch cultivation scriptures with her, but so far, she hadn't shown any intention of giving them to Chen An.

Even if she did give them to him, whether Chen An would dare to practice them was another matter.

When it came down to it, Bai Qing's scriptures were more trustworthy.

During the period when the Bai family was actively expanding, Chen An was also actively cultivating.

He was indeed a warrior, and although he had come a long way on the path of martial arts, he didn't mind dabbling in cultivation as well.

After all, cultivation sounded much more advanced than martial arts.

However, a regrettable event occurred once again.

Perhaps the current environment was not suitable for cultivation, or perhaps Chen An's aptitude didn't measure up to Bai Qing's.

In any case, no matter how hard he cultivated, he couldn't even make a breakthrough with these scriptures.

Yes, he couldn't even make a breakthrough.

To be honest, this was truly a first.

In the past, Chen An had experienced many difficult martial arts techniques, and although he might have practiced them very hard, he could always make a breakthrough.

Like this time, not being able to make a breakthrough was truly a first.

And then the problem arose.

In order to add some cheats to his upgrade template, Chen An needed to make a breakthrough in a certain lineage.

And now, he couldn't even make a breakthrough.

In other words, even if he wanted to cheat, he couldn't.

This was frustrating.

But Chen An was still Chen An.

Seeing that he couldn't make a breakthrough on his own, he didn't hesitate and went directly to Bai Qing without any airs of a Master of the Innate Realm.

And then he was once again struck with disappointment.

"Cultivation?" Facing Chen An, Bai Qing looked puzzled. "It seems quite simple."

"It doesn't feel difficult at all."

As soon as these words fell, like a sharp arrow piercing his heart, Chen An couldn't help but twitch his mouth.

Are you speaking human language?

Suppressing the urge to turn and leave, Chen An smiled and spoke out about his problem.

Bai Qing shook her head in confusion. "This problem of yours is something I've never encountered before."

The scriptures she gave to Chen An definitely had no problems, they were the same ones she used for her own cultivation.

But why was it that while she had no problem cultivating with those scriptures, Chen An found it so difficult?

Both of them were puzzled.

In the end, it was Empress of Luoshan who came forward to answer their difficulties.

"Feeling difficult is normal," Empress of Luoshan spoke up. "This world has just undergone a recovery, with the energy being dormant, cultivation is naturally difficult. Even the most self-focused warriors can only reach the innate level, let alone cultivators."

"You can cultivate successfully because your aptitude is top-notch, allowing you to cultivate successfully under the heavy suppression of the world. But the kid here can't."

In one sentence, it was the unsuitable environment and inadequate aptitude.

The scriptures themselves were fine, but the person cultivating with those scriptures had issues.

Chen An remained silent in response.

This damned aptitude.

He had suffered enough because of his aptitude when he was practicing martial arts, and now that he finally had the opportunity to cultivate, he found himself facing the same issue.

This was truly...

"Young man, don't be discouraged," noticing Chen An's despondency, the Empress of Luoshan smiled and said, "There is nothing perfect in this world."

"Those with top-notch aptitude on the martial path often have average aptitude on the path of immortality, and vice versa."

"Take Xiaoqing for example, although her aptitude in immortality is top-notch, her aptitude in martial arts is only average, far from comparing to you."

"Comparatively, your aptitude in martial arts is top-notch, while your aptitude in immortality is average, which is quite normal."

She tried to console him, thinking she was comforting him.

However, these words sounded even more distressing to Chen An's ears.

Top-notch aptitude on the martial path?

If that were true, it would be great.

My aptitude is clearly trash on both paths!

And you call Bai Qing's aptitude in martial arts average?

Then what does that make my aptitude?

A piece of garbage in the garbage pile?

He felt uncomfortable and didn't know what to say.

In the eyes of Empress of Luoshan, Bai Qing's aptitude in martial arts was only average, while Chen An's was top-notch.

But in reality, Chen An didn't rely on aptitude.

After being hit hard once again, Chen An chose to give up, quietly retreating to his own residence to recuperate for a while.

For the time being, he gave up on cultivation.

There was no way to overcome the limitations, no matter how hard he tried.

But it was okay.

If he could go to a different realm in the future, in a suitable environment, cultivation should be much simpler.

By then, there might still be hope for his cultivation path.

Well, at least he could make a breakthrough.

As long as he could make a breakthrough, he could add cheats.

It would be the same by then.

Time passed slowly.

Since cultivation wasn't working out, Chen An gave up and focused on recuperating in his own residence.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Unknowingly, the Bai family's influence in Shangyuan County grew stronger, almost on the verge of unifying the entire Shangyuan County and forcibly seceding it from the Great Liang.

In reality, several elders of the Bai family did have such an idea.

They felt that the Great Liang had already lost power, with various rebel forces rising up and noble families seeking their own benefits, showing signs of decline.

In that case, with their current strength, directly establishing control over Shangyuan and establishing a new nation wouldn't be a problem.

Then, the Bai family would be upgraded from a noble family to a royal family.

This was typical daydreaming.

At a timely moment, Chen An held back their impulse and opposed it when it was critical.

Experience told Chen An that those who stood out died quickly.

Past experiences also told him that the fewer nails on a rotten ship, the better.

There were still three nails left on a rotten ship.

The Great Liang Emperor did seem to have weakened, but the issue was that his decline wasn't something that happened overnight.

From the past to the present, the decline of the Great Liang court had already lasted for decades.

During this long period, who knows how many challenges they had faced, yet the imperial court still existed.

This alone spoke volumes.

The Great Liang court clearly still had some foundation and couldn't be underestimated.

Moreover, the Bai family's current situation wasn't much different from that of a country.

Even if they established their own nation, what significant changes would it bring?

There were no benefits, but there were plenty of negative aspects and hidden dangers.

This was something Chen An disliked the most.

So, he decided to let it go.

It was best to stay honest and quiet.

Another morning arrived.

The sunlight outside was perfect.

The outside world was bright.

In Bai Qing's residence, Chen An took out a few things.

"These should be the essence of spirit stones, valuable items that can be used for refining tools or cultivation. When we exchange them, we should at least be able to get a few high-grade spirit stones."

Looking at the ruby in Chen An's hand, the Empress of Luoshan spoke up.

In Bai Qing's courtyard, a strange scene unfolded.

In the center of the courtyard, a large wooden table was laid out with various odds and ends.

These items were all different in appearance, many of them looking quite strange, but they had one thing in common.

They all looked quite old, many of them appearing to be antiques.

These were all Chen An's collections.

In the past, while collecting eerie items, Chen An had also collected some items rumored to be related to immortals.

Because the era of immortals had long passed, these items supposedly related to immortals had all fallen into obscurity, showing no signs of any divine power.

So Chen An didn't know if these items were authentic or not, and simply collected them.

Over time, he had accumulated quite a collection.

Now, he had brought all of them in front of the Empress of Luoshan.

Who was the Empress of Luoshan?

She was a powerhouse among former immortal cultivators, a big shot who could even be reborn after countless years of being dead and turning to dust.

For someone like her in the world of cultivation, what hadn't she seen?

So, for Chen An, she was a ready-made appraiser.

Taking advantage of her presence here, he brought all his belongings to her for evaluation.

This way, it would be easier to pack up his things, take the important ones with him, and avoid any trouble.

He didn't have any spatial bags or anything like that, so he carried everything by hand. If he carried too much, it would indeed be troublesome.

So, the evaluation was necessary.

And the Empress of Luoshan seemed quite enthusiastic about this.

After all, she had been asleep for too long, trapped in Bai Qing's body. Other than enjoying the scenery, she could only chat with Bai Qing, which was quite boring.

Now, finally having something interesting to do, it was a form of entertainment for her.

Since she was willing to cooperate, things became much easier.

And so, this evaluation lasted for over an hour.

There were simply too many items.

Over a hundred pieces.

And out of these over a hundred pieces of collection, less than a tenth were truly related to immortals, with even fewer having any significant value.

As expected, the top three items that stood out were revealed in the end.

One was a ruby, which Chen An had taken from a group of people, later gifted to him by Song Ziyang.

According to the Empress of Luoshan, this should be the essence extracted from spirit stones, a valuable item that was good for both cultivation and tool refinement.

Its value was considered good by the Empress of Luoshan, so it should be quite precious.

The second piece was an ancient jade pendant that looked very simple and had a long history. It seemed ordinary, but according to the Empress of Luoshan, it held hidden mysteries, probably containing some kind of heritage, making it a unique item of inheritance.

As the Empress of Luoshan explained, during the peak of immortal cultivation in the past, many small sects preferred to use such items of inheritance to pass down their teachings to the next generation.

The current item indeed seemed to be that kind of object.

Similarly, it was given to Chen An by Song Ziyang. It was believed to have been left by Song Ziyang's master.

Hmm, it fit the definition of a small sect's inheritance provided by the Empress of Luoshan.

These were the two most valuable items, both left by Song Ziyang.

It seemed that Song Ziyang truly was a lucky charm for Chen An, leaving him something valuable almost every time they met.

It's just that Chen An wondered how Song Ziyang was doing now.

Recalling Song Ziyang's appearance, Chen An couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

Deep down, he felt that Song Ziyang wasn't a bad person at all. It's just that he seemed to have a touch of bad luck, always being chased or on the run whenever they met, and always seemed to have something on his mind.

He seemed like a person with a lot of stories.

In the past, Chen An didn't have the ability to help him, but now, with his current strength, he could probably help him.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find him.

It was a bit of a pity.

Besides the two items provided by Song Ziyang, there was another item that stood out.

It was a golden ancient jade left to Chen An by Huang Yuexuan.

This was a gift from Huang Yuexuan before she left, a seemingly ordinary item with a certain origin.

Chen An had only considered it as a common collection in the past, but during this evaluation, he uncovered something unexpected about it.

"This should be a token of a certain cultivation family," the Empress of Luoshan said while looking at the golden ancient jade, a little uncertain. "It's certain that it was refined by a cultivator, but exactly what purpose it serves is unclear."

"It might just be a mere identity token, or it could have other uses."

In other words, its importance lay in its significance as a token, rather than just its physical properties.

(End of the chapter)

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