1. First Step of the Journey
Volume-1 : Speed Run Cultivation
As the carriage rumbled through the dense forest, Tyler inside peered out the window, his eyes scanning the trees for any sign of danger. The guards around him on the horses were a little tense and alert, their hands resting on their weapons.
Tyler could hear the rustle of leaves and the distant chirping of birds, but otherwise, the woods were quiet. The guards around his carriage remained silent, their expressions stern and watchful, ready for anything that might come their way. He felt reassured by their presence and he settled back in his seat, knowing that they would protect him no matter what lay ahead. He hired a mercenary with a good reputation with a lot of money.
He was alone in the carriage. He took out half a baseball size copper pot.
"Big" He said.
The copper pot size increased.
"Expand.. Expand"
The copper pot size increased to a basketball size and it couldn't increase the size anymore.
While reading some books about cultivation he found out some artifacts can be owned by dropping a blood on it. And it worked.
He did some experiments. The copper pot can increase and decrease sizes to a certain level. Now it is easy to carry.
After some time the carriage stopped for a break. Tyler left a glass jar of soil in the sunlight. Then he ate breakfast with others. He saw some ants on the ground. He took an ant and went back to the carriage and closed the doors and placed it in the copper pot.
He took the ant out.
He got a copy of the dead ant.
The real ant is still alive, the copy just doesn't have life.
He poured the ant out.
From experiments and tests he conducted he had a basic idea of how copper pot works.
"It can't copy living things." He mumbled.
But does it only not work on animals and insects? What about the plants?
He looked at the glass jar of soil. There is a copy of radish seed in there.
Radishes are a fast-growing vegetable that can be grown in small containers such as a windowsill planter. They have a short germination period of about 3-7 days and can be ready to harvest in as little as 3-4 weeks.
He wanted to find out whether the copy of radish seed can sprout or not.
"Shrink" He whispered lightly. The Copper pot began to shrink.
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After three days' travel the party finally reached the nearby town. This is not the destination of Tyler. But he decided to have a little sightseeing.
He looked at the glass jar on his hand and grinned. There is a sprout on it.
In the center of the town was often a public square or market, where merchants and craftsmen sold their wares and locals gathered to socialize and trade news.
He paid some gold coins to get some information and news.
His goal is to find out 'if there is anything that could make mortals have a spiritual root'.
Tyler's one of the biggest worries is that he doesn't have a spiritual root. He was unable to cultivate. He heard of some natural treasures that can make normal people cultivate. But it cost more than a mortal Kingdom.
The last thing Tyler cares about is money.
He found out there is a witch in the Willow town in the east. They say she has some clue about natural treasure that can make mortals to cultivate.
Tyler's destination is on the exact opposite side.
"No, we got a commission for Cloud City. Not the Willow town." said the mercenary's head. The mercenaries have another client to attend. They don't want to break the contract and spoil their reputation.
"Aight. You just drop me at Willow town and we can close the contract." Tyler simply replied.
They made an agreement.
Soon, the carriage traveled through the east and reached the Willow town. There were some dangerous situations while heading to Willow town. A man lost his arm during fighting the bandits. Tyler gave him some gold coins, even though he already paid his fees. This made the mercenary group feel little regret for not continuing the contract. It's not everyday the mercenary gets a kind and generous client like Tyler White.
Willow town is nothing special. It even lacks population. Most of the people are farmers and hunters.
Tyler and the mercenaries separated after they reached Willow town.
Tyler stayed in an inn. He asked around and found out about the witch. She is the town lord.
That's a little surprising for him.
He went to the town lord mansion. It is easy for him to meet the town lord with some gold coins. The town lord is an old lady in her 50s. While her actual age is more than 100. That's why she has the nickname 'witch'. The rumors are she ate a fruit that gave her longevity. After a small dine, they spoke random things before they started talking about actual business.
"I'll give you my life savings. All I need is the natural treasure that could help mortals cultivate." Tyler begged the lady.
"I have one. But I need enough gold to build roads and make this town prosperous." The lady replied.
"3 million gold coins. But how do we do transactions?" Tyler asked.
"Where are the golds?"
"Where is the treasure?"
After some serious discussion, they both agreed to have a transaction in the town. She even explained how she got the natural treasure.
It was given to her by her husband who is a cultivator. She got the more life span than ordinary person by eating a ginseng given by her husband. She also got four pieces of Nevermelting Ice. Her husband also wanted her to become a cultivator like him. But fate said otherwise.
---
The following day Tyler bought five pure gold bars using gold coins.
He rented a courtyard and hired many temporary bodyguards. He chose the local hunters with a good reputation.
He made the copper pot grow into its maximum size. Put the gold bars in it and began to take out the copy.
Two weeks later...
The Town lord is not sure how he brought so many gold bars into the town. She thought it might be smuggled under rice and vegetables. She doesn't care about that. She got gold bars worth 3 million gold coins and that's all that matters. She gave a small chest to Tyler.
Tyler opened the chest. A blue glow shined on his face. There is a vial in it. Inside the Vial, is a small ice crystal.
"This is a tiny portion of Nevermelting Ice. After consuming it, one might have a 10% chance of getting a low level ice spirit root." The witch town lord said.
"Only 10% ?" Tyler is a little disappointed.
"Yes. It's all up to luck. I tried 3 pieces before. Didn't get the spirit root. That's why you can buy this only using gold. Or else even if you have lots of spirit stones you might never be able to buy this. This is an extremely rare one. You are already lucky enough to own one." The lady patted his shoulder with emotion. She was also like him hoping to get spiritual roots.
"How to use this thing?"
"Just eat it. If you are lucky you might get ice spirit root." She said and left with servants who were carrying the gold bars.
She doesn't believe that Tyler White can awaken the spiritual roots. He is already forty years old.
---
He told the bodyguards not to let anyone in and closed the door.
He took his copper pot.
He first opened the vial. He took the piece of ice. It is cold as normal ice except it doesn't melt even though the weather is hot.
He placed the ice in the copper pot.
He is not sure whether the copy function works on cultivation items. He took a deep breath and took out the ice crystal nervously.
He got a copy of the ice crystal.
He sighed in relief and happy as he ate the ice.
The Nevermelting Ice melted the next second when he placed it in mouth.
A wisp of energy passed through his body.
He felt chill in this hot weather.
He didn't feel anything different.
According to the town lord, he could feel the spiritual roots awakening if the Nevermelting Ice worked.
But He didn't feel disappointed and took another Nevermelting Ice piece.
Another one.
And another one.
Finally after 15 pieces of ice, he felt a jolt and the area one meter around him was covered in ice.
"YES! Ice Spiritual Roots! Ice Spiritual Roots!First step of my journey is complete", he was on cloud nine as he looked at the copper pot and Nevermelting ice inside it, " First step is.... half complete"
How could the human heart say 'enough'.
He took out another copy and consumed it.
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