Of course, if these items were placed in the cultivation world, they would be considered extremely low-grade—so low that even newly initiated cultivators at the Innate Realm would not give them a second glance.

Yet even so, in the eyes of ordinary people, these items were treasures of immeasurable value.

Especially for Evan Parker, they represented his only chance to survive better on this alien planet.

On Xuanyuan Star, only by becoming a cultivator—even if just taking the first step on the path of cultivation—could one’s status and position increase a hundredfold.

Setting up a shop selling cultivation world items in this mining district was not an innovation of the Supreme Xuanyuan Sect; others had done it before. These “things,” which were too valuable to discard yet tasteless to keep, were sold to the miners as a kind of welfare measure.

The attendant first glanced sideways at Evan Parker, then, after counting the cloth bag, put on a friendly smile and handed the bag back to Evan Parker, saying, “The minimum amount required to shop on the second floor is three thousand supply coins. Young man, you’ve brought a full five thousand, so of course you may enter. Please, go ahead.”

This attendant was just an ordinary person, having worked here for ten years. He had seen over a hundred miners save up large sums of supply coins to come here and buy cultivation manuals, hoping to embark on the path of cultivation.

Although, of those hundred or so miners who bought cultivation manuals here, only a handful ever managed to set foot on the path of cultivation—the odds were shockingly low—the attendant was a perceptive man. Who could guarantee that this handsome young man before him wouldn’t become a cultivator one day? A friendly face never hurt.

Led by the attendant, Evan Parker entered and was immediately greeted by a spacious interior divided into five main sections: pills, talismans, magical artifacts, yin thunder, and cultivation manuals.

The attendant brought Evan Parker before the elderly The Proprietor, briefly explained the situation, and then respectfully withdrew.

“What do you wish to purchase?”

Though The Proprietor was advanced in years, his eyes shone with a piercing light and his vitality was as fierce as a tiger’s—clearly an Innate Realm cultivator.

Evan Parker fixed his gaze on the cultivation manuals stacked on over a dozen bookshelves to the left and said firmly, “Immortal elder, I am wholeheartedly devoted to the Dao. I have come only to seek a cultivation manual. I hope you will grant my request.”

Seeing Evan Parker speak sincerely and address him as “immortal elder,” The Proprietor couldn’t help but nod slightly. He accepted the five thousand supply coins Evan Parker handed over and nodded, saying, “If you wish to choose for yourself, the cultivation manuals on those shelves are three thousand each. If you want me to provide a list of the manuals among thousands that are the easiest to succeed with, it will be five thousand each. The choice is yours.”

“Please, immortal elder, grant me the list…” Evan Parker replied without hesitation.

“Very well. You’re a straightforward young man. I’ll give you one more piece of advice: your five elements are of fire, so it’s best to choose a fire-attribute cultivation manual.”

Anyone who had reached the Innate Realm could use their spiritual sense to discern a mortal’s elemental alignment. This advice from The Proprietor greatly increased Evan Parker’s chances of stepping onto the path of cultivation.

Generally speaking, there were two ways to embark on the path of cultivation. The first was to be led by a master—this was the easiest, and anyone with even a bit of talent could do it.

The second was self-cultivation, which was much riskier. If three to five out of a hundred succeeded, that was already considered a high rate.

The reason self-cultivation was so risky was threefold: first, the quality of the cultivation manual; second, whether the manual matched the individual’s innate elemental alignment; and third, without a large accumulation of resources, one simply could not afford the vast amount of spirit stones required to reach the Innate Realm.

Evan Parker took the register the old man handed him, which categorized all the cultivation manuals here according to the five elements. Flipping quickly to the fire-attribute manuals, Evan Parker was soon overwhelmed by the hundreds of technique names before him.

“There are so many—which one should I choose?”

With a slight turn of thought, Evan Parker couldn’t help but ask for help: “Immortal elder, could you give me some guidance?”

The old The Proprietor narrowed his eyes slightly and said calmly, “Just choose the sixth technique on page eight. Among the many fire-attribute cultivation techniques, this one is the easiest to master. At your age, you might reach the initial Innate Realm before sixty…”

Following the old The Proprietor’s instructions, Evan Parker found a technique called “Three-Yuan Blazing Fire Art.” Without further words, he nodded and said, “I’ll do as you say, immortal elder. I’ll take this technique!”

Taking a thin booklet containing the “Three-Yuan Blazing Fire Art” and handing it to Evan Parker, the old The Proprietor watched as the young man left, full of confidence, and couldn’t help but sigh softly. He recalled that, back then, he too had been so confident in his ability to succeed in cultivation.

Now, in his seventies, he had only reached the fifth level of the Innate Realm—and that was thanks to practicing a lower-grade Xuan-level technique, which had allowed him to achieve this much.

As for the “Three-Yuan Blazing Fire Art” that Evan Parker had just taken, it was merely a lowly Huang-level technique, far inferior to the Xuan-level technique practiced by The Proprietor, and the chances of success were much slimmer.

Cultivation techniques were the most crucial part of embarking on the path of cultivation. The more profound and advanced the technique, the greater the cultivator’s achievements. Cultivation techniques were divided into four levels and twelve grades: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang, with lower Huang being the lowest and upper Heaven the highest.