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**Volume-1: Speed Run Cultivation**
As the carriage rumbled through the dense forest, Tyler peered out the window, his eyes scanning the trees for any sign of danger. The guards riding on horses around him were 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 settled back in his seat, knowing they would protect him no matter what lay ahead. He had hired a well-reputed mercenary group with a lot of money.
He was alone in the carriage. He took out a copper pot the size of half a baseball.
"Big," he said.
The copper pot increased in size.
"Expand... Expand."
The copper pot grew to the size of a basketball, and it could increase no further.
While reading some books about cultivation, he had discovered that some artifacts could be bound by dropping blood on them. It had worked.
He conducted some experiments. The copper pot could increase and decrease in size up to a certain limit. Now it was 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 the others. He saw some ants on the ground. He took one ant, returned to the carriage, 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 was still alive; the copy simply had no life.
He poured the ant out.
From the experiments and tests he had conducted, he had a basic idea of how the copper pot worked.
"It can't copy living things," he mumbled.
But did it only fail to work on animals and insects? What about plants?
He looked at the glass jar of soil. There was a copy of a radish seed inside.
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 the radish seed could sprout.
"Shrink," he whispered lightly. The copper pot began to shrink.
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After three days of travel, the party finally reached the nearby town. This was not Tyler's destination, but he decided to do a little sightseeing.
He looked at the glass jar in his hand and grinned. There was a sprout in 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 information and news.
His goal was to find out if there was anything that could give mortals a spiritual root.
One of Tyler's biggest worries was that he did not have a spiritual root. He was unable to cultivate. He had heard of some natural treasures that could allow normal people to cultivate, but they cost more than a mortal kingdom.
The last thing Tyler cared about was money.
He found out there was a witch in Willow Town to the east. They said she had some clues about a natural treasure that could allow mortals to cultivate.
Tyler's destination was on the exact opposite side.
"No, we have a commission for Cloud City. Not Willow Town," said the head of the mercenaries. The mercenaries had another client to attend to. They did not want to break the contract and ruin their reputation.
"Aight. Just drop me off at Willow Town and we can close the contract," Tyler replied simply.
They made an agreement.
Soon, the carriage traveled east and reached Willow Town. There were some dangerous situations along the way. One man lost his arm while fighting bandits. Tyler gave him some gold coins even though he had already paid the fees. This made the mercenary group feel a little regret for not continuing the contract. It was not every day that a mercenary group got such a kind and generous client as Tyler White.
Willow Town was nothing special. It even lacked population. Most of the people were farmers and hunters.
Tyler and the mercenaries parted ways after reaching Willow Town.
Tyler stayed at an inn. He asked around and learned about the witch. She was the town lord.
That was a little surprising to him.
He went to the town lord's mansion. It was easy for him to meet the town lord with some gold coins. The town lord was an old lady in her 50s, though her actual age was over 100. That was why she had the nickname "witch." The rumors said she had eaten a fruit that granted her longevity. After a small meal, they spoke about random things before getting down to 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.
"Three million gold coins. But how do we do the transaction?" Tyler asked.
"Where are the golds?"
"Where is the treasure?"
After some serious discussion, they both agreed to complete the transaction in the town. She even explained how she had obtained the natural treasure.
It had been given to her by her husband, who was a cultivator. She had gained a longer lifespan than an ordinary person by eating a ginseng given by her husband. She had also received four pieces of Nevermelting Ice. Her husband had wanted her to become a cultivator like him, but fate had decided otherwise.
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The following day, Tyler bought five pure gold bars using gold coins.
He rented a courtyard and hired many temporary bodyguards. He chose local hunters with good reputations.
He made the copper pot grow to its maximum size, put the gold bars inside it, and began taking out copies.
Two weeks later...
The town lord was not sure how he had brought so many gold bars into the town. She thought they might have been smuggled under rice and vegetables. She did not care about that. She had received gold bars worth three million gold coins, and that was all that mattered. She gave a small chest to Tyler.
Tyler opened the chest. A blue glow shone on his face. There was a vial inside. Inside the vial was a small ice crystal.
"This is a tiny portion of Nevermelting Ice. After consuming it, one might have a 10% chance of gaining a low-level ice spirit root," the witch town lord said.
"Only 10%?" Tyler was a little disappointed.
"Yes. It's all up to luck. I tried three pieces myself and didn't get the spirit root. That's why you can only buy this with gold. Otherwise, even if you had lots of spirit stones, you might never be able to buy it. This is an extremely rare item. You are already lucky enough to own one." The lady patted his shoulder with emotion. She had once been like him, hoping to gain spiritual roots.
"How do I use this thing?"
"Just eat it. If you are lucky, you might gain an ice spirit root," she said and left with the servants who were carrying the gold bars.
She did not believe that Tyler White could awaken a spiritual root. He was already forty years old.
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He told the bodyguards not to let anyone in and closed the door.
He took out his copper pot.
He first opened the vial and took out the piece of ice. It was as cold as normal ice, except it did not melt even though the weather was hot.
He placed the ice in the copper pot.
He was not sure whether the copy function would work on cultivation items. He took a deep breath and nervously took out the ice crystal.
He got a copy of the ice crystal.
He sighed in relief and happily ate the ice.
The Nevermelting Ice melted the next second after he placed it in his mouth.
A wisp of energy passed through his body.
He felt a chill in the hot weather.
He did not feel anything different.
According to the town lord, he would feel the spiritual root awakening if the Nevermelting Ice had worked.
But he was not disappointed. He took another piece of Nevermelting Ice.
Then another.
And another.
Finally, after fifteen pieces of ice, he felt a jolt, and the area one meter around him was covered in ice.
"YES! Ice Spiritual Root! Ice Spiritual Root! The first step of my journey is complete," he was on cloud nine as he looked at the copper pot and the Nevermelting Ice inside it. "First step is... half complete."
How could the human heart ever say "enough"?
He took out another copy and consumed it.
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