Chapter 53: The Start of Cultivation

　　Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor:

　　The woman in black felt embarrassed and replied hesitantly, “Something urgent popped up so I couldn’t leave Chang Luo and now I’m unable to find another place to stay.”

　　Mo Wuji answered doubtfully, “I’m sorry that you are unable to find a place to stay but I will not move out of this hotel room.”

　　He was still unable to cultivate but decided to keep trying as he already knew of the cultivation techniques and this was a suitable place for him to try cultivating.

　　The woman in black waved her hand and said, “You will not need to move out, this suite is able to fit two people. Look on the left of the living room, there is another room available.”

　　Mo Wuji had not noticed that room on the left until she mentioned it. He fell asleep straight away when he entered the room last night and left early in the morning today. When he returned, he started trying to cultivate without even stepping into the room.

　　This two-room concept suite was indeed worth the 20 000 gold coins.

　　It was not as if Mo Wuji did not want to help this woman but it was a critical period of time for him. If he was not trying to cultivate, he would have very willingly let her stay as it would not be very pleasant if she were to interrupt his training when he was still trying to cultivating.

　　As she soon realised the reason for Mo Wuji’s hesitation, the woman in black hurried to say, “Don’t worry, I will not disturb you while you are cultivating. In fact, I could help in some areas which you do not understand.”

　　Mo Wuji’s intention was made obvious to the woman in black from the Immortal Mortal manual which he previously threw to one side.

　　“Are you an immortal master?” Mo Wuji asked, out of curiosity.

　　The woman in black replied humbly, “I am not considered an immortal master. I am now only at Channel Opening Stage Level 4 but I’m quite familiar with the fundamentals.”

　　Anyone in the Channel Opening Stage was considered to be an immortal master in the eyes of a mortal. However, the woman in black knew she was nothing extraordinary in terms of her Channel Opening Stage. She would be too embarrassed to call herself an immortal master.

　　Mo Wuji was in awe when he heard this. Han Ning was only at Channel Opening Stage Level 1 and she had mentioned that there would only be a drastic increase in strength after reaching Channel Opening Stage Level 4. He swept across to one side of the door and smiled vibrantly saying, “Elder sister, please come in quickly. It is very windy outside.”

　　The woman in black glanced at Mo Wuji as her impression of Mo Wuji drastically changed after that sentence. How could it have been windy when they were inside a hotel?

　　She hesitate for a split second to enter the room. However, she really had no other place to stay and could not leave Chang Luo city as she had other plans in the city.

　　Mo Wuji waited for the woman in black to enter before shutting the door. He then hurried to pick up the manual embarrassingly. He thought to himself that maybe, in the eyes of the woman, he was nothing but a pile of sh*t in the world of cultivation.

　　“The manual may be cheap but it is not a good book to follow if you want to cultivate efficiently,” The woman in black said objectively as she saw him pick up the book.

　　“Yes, yes. However, I’ve heard that this manual has been passed down for thousands of years and it is one of the most useful manuals for beginners. I believe that if I want to start cultivating and get stronger, I should get my basics right first. Since I have decided to start cultivating, I am not afraid of working long and hard,” Mo Wuji said confidently, even though the truth was that he could not afford any other manual.

　　The woman in black was pleasantly surprised at the words of Mo Wuji. As he was able to afford to stay in this suite, she did not think that he only bought the manual because he could not afford the others.

　　“Yes, you are right. I did not have a peaceful state of mind when I first started cultivating,” The woman in black agreed.

　　If she had seen Mo Wuji throw the manual on the floor in frustration before she knocked on the door, she would have realised that Mo Wuji was nothing but peaceful.

　　Mo Wuji took out some tea leaves and offered to make a cup of tea for the woman in black calmly, “I am Mo Wuji and I just reached Chang Luo recently. I am planning to try my luck at the Spring Immortal’s Gate Conference. How may I address you?”

　　“My name is Shen Lian but you may address me as senior apprentice sister Shen…” The woman in black paused before continued by saying, “I am going to stay here for a long period, should I pay you some rent?”

　　Why would Mo Wuji want to collect rent from Shen Lian? If he had more money on him, he would immediately give some to Shen Lian.

　　“Senior apprentice sister Shen, everyone will go through a tough period in life. Moreover, I wouldn’t be using the room if you did not approach me. It would be too crude to talk about paying rent,” Mo Wuji said with a straight face.

　　Shen Lian looked as though she was not very good with words. Therefore, she stood up and bowed to Mo Wuji upon hearing him.

　　Mo Wuji said quickly, “Not trying to hide anything from you but I’ve barely started cultivating. There are many things about cultivation which I do not understand and will need to learn from you.”

　　This was Mo Wuji’s purpose from the start.

　　Shen Lian looked more comfortable talking about this topic. She also did plan to give Mo Wuji guidance thus she replied, “You can ask me about anything.”

　　Mo Wuji’s spirit was immediately lifted. None of his friends knew about cultivation. His only friend who was able to cultivate was Han Ning. However, the difference in their stature made it difficult for him to ask her more.

　　“Senior apprentice sister Shen, you are currently at Channel Opening Stage Level 4. May I ask how many levels there are in total? And how many spirit channels must be opened to be considered capable?” Mo Wuji asked everything under one breath.

　　Shen Lian did not need to think for long to answer in detail, “The fact that you are trying to cultivate means you possess spirit roots. The next step after having spirit roots would be to open the spirit. The number of spirit channels opened on the first try would represent how strong you can be in the future. Normally, it is considered decent to open about five spirit channels on the first try. Those with top quality roots will be able to open more than 10 spirit channels…”

　　Speaking of top quality roots, Mo Wuji could not help but think of Yan’Er.

　　“How many spirit channels can a genius open on the first try?” Mo Wuji asked.

　　“That is very hard to say. Those who can open more than 10 spirit channels are already considered geniuses. I’ve met a genius who once opened up 17 spirit channels. I heard that he was the first one in over a few hundred years to open up so many,” Shen Lian said in awe.

　　“Will you be in the Channel Opening Stage after having spirit channels?”

　　Shen Lian shook her head, “After having your spirit channels opened, one must cultivate. Channel expansion is the continuous expansion of the spirit channels within your body. The more spirit channels expanded would result in greater power and possible achievements in the future. There are a total of nine levels in the stage. At the ninth level before the promotion to the Spirit Building Stage, if you are able to open 99 spirit channels, you could very well become an expert.”

　　“Does this mean a cultivator can open at most 99 spirit channels?” There were still way too many things that Mo Wuji did not know.

　　Shen Lian nodded then shook her head, “To be capable of opening 99 spirit channels is already very rare. It is considered to be very impressive to have one or two of such people in an empire over a century. However, opening 99 spirit channels is not the limit. There were myths about a genius being able to open the 100th spirit channel and then proceeding to the 10th level. However, this is only a myth and there was no such person capable of doing this.”

　　“What is the purpose of proceeding to the 10th level if it wastes so much time and effort?” Mo Wuji questioned.

　　Shen Lian said, “It is not a waste of time. Do you know about the three realms of cultivation?”

　　Mo Wuji shook his head in embarrassment as he did not know much at all.