Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Selecting Spells

Rong Shu tried metal and earth in succession, and the result was the same.

[For now I cannot use anything but wind and fire. Still, if I can condense another attribute for even a single second, it means the road is not completely blocked.]

After the tests, she yanked up the weed she had been using as her guinea pig and picked off the half leaf she had scraped earlier. Battered by the wind vortex and scattered sparks, that half leaf carried the faintest trace of spiritual energy. She went inside, found a fire striker, and burned it to clean ash without leaving a mark.

Although her courtyard was tucked away on Limitless Peak and it was unlikely anyone would come calling, caution cost nothing. She did not want anyone discovering that she had already reached the second level of Qi Refining. [The bird that sticks its head out is the one the hunter shoots. Ordinary and unremarkable is the best camouflage.]

[If I switch the spiritual energy in my dantian to metal, wood, or earth, others should not be able to perceive my true cultivation.]

Faces of her Master and Senior Sister Yu flashed through her mind, and she dismissed both in turn. [Master is the strongest in Heaven’s Evolution Sect. Going to him to run an experiment is too risky, and I have no good reason to disturb him. As for Senior Sister Yu, she was very warm yesterday, but for some reason I simply do not want to get too close to her.]

After weighing it over, she thought of a better candidate.

She returned to her room, took out another unused jade slip, and pressed it to her forehead. This slip recorded the sect’s founding history, its honors, the various rules and prohibitions, and even a detailed three-dimensional layout of Heaven’s Evolution Sect. She changed into her Personal Disciple Robes, tied her identity plaque to her waist with a cord she had prepared herself, then put two jade slips and a porcelain vial containing the remaining three Qi Induction Pills into the Storage Pouch that also held her Spirit Stones. She hid the Storage Pouch in her pocket. This was the most valuable thing she currently owned, and keeping it on her person let her relax.

Before leaving, she carefully latched doors and windows, swept her gaze inside and out, then, after a moment’s thought at the threshold, picked a few shed strands of hair and lodged them in the seams of the door and windows.

With that done, she set out.

After circling more than half of Limitless Peak, she finally spotted Fang Ren watering a spirit-herb plot. She walked over and greeted him: “Senior Brother Fang, good morning,” and at the same time she shifted the qi in her dantian into green wood-attribute qi.

Fang Ren glanced over; seeing it was Rong Shu, he showed a courteous smile and asked: “Good morning, Junior Sister Rong. Did you sleep well last night?”

Rong Shu sighed: “To tell the truth, I spent the night attempting Qi Induction and did not sleep.”

She played a small trick and did not say outright whether she had failed or succeeded. Fang Ren sensed no fluctuation of spiritual energy on her, and did not find that strange. If he had sensed something now, that would have been strange.

“Do not be anxious, Junior Sister Rong,” he counseled. “No one in the sect has ever completed Qi Induction in a single night. Even the best record takes three to five days. With dual spiritual roots, it takes at least seven.”

Fang Ren could understand her mood. When he had first entered the sect, he had fancied himself some peerless genius too, thinking: [One day for Qi Induction, one hundred days for Foundation Establishment, ten years for Golden Core.] Later, life taught him how to act and how to be.

Hearing this, Rong Shu quietly let out a breath. It seemed Senior Brother Fang had not perceived her true cultivation. Her brows relaxed a little and she said: “Your words were like a ladle of cold clarity, Senior Brother. I was too hasty. I need to leave the peak for a bit, so I will take my leave.”

“Very well, Junior Sister. Travel safely,” he said.

Rong Shu came quickly and left quickly, and Fang Ren did not dwell on it. In these ten years he had seen far too many new disciples. They entered the sect full of vigor, and most ended up like him, gradually blending into the crowd. Worse still, those who could not complete Qi Induction within three years were expelled and returned to the mortal world.

He had come to Limitless Peak as a registered disciple because he still harbored hopes for Foundation Establishment, thinking that being closer to Immortal Venerable Ze Yu might one day win him a word of guidance and a sudden leap in cultivation. For that, he had greased palms up and down, spending nearly all his savings, and only three months ago did he secure a slot as a registered disciple on Limitless Peak.

“I wonder how many days it will take this Junior Sister Rong to succeed at Qi Induction,” he thought as he watered the spirit herbs with freshly drawn Spirit Spring Water. As Immortal Venerable Ze Yu’s fifth personal disciple, if she performs too poorly, people in the sect will point fingers behind her back.

Meanwhile, completely unaware that anyone was worrying over whether she could achieve Qi Induction, Rong Shu was already riding the Red Crowned Cinnabar Crane toward Spirit Gathering Peak. Today the new disciples were there to receive their entry stipends, and along the road she saw many who had not yet changed into sect attire and were still wearing mundane clothes.

As she walked, more and more gazes fell on her. Someone whispered: “Look, those are Personal Disciple Robes. Is she a personal disciple?” Another muttered: “Someone like that as a personal disciple? This humble one has not heard of any Dao Lord taking disciples lately.” A third reminded them: “Did you forget? At yesterday’s induction of new disciples, Immortal Venerable Ze Yu publicly accepted a personal disciple. The age lines up.”

Rong Shu listened to idle talk about herself the whole way. The Personal Disciple Robes on her back drew too many eyes. It felt little different from planting a conspicuous target on herself. That not entirely friendly attention persisted even after she stepped into the Library Pavilion.

She gradually grew used to the scrutiny. Keeping her expression even, she began selecting spells on the first floor of the Library Pavilion. For basic spells commonly used by cultivators, such as the Cleansing Art, Object-Control Art, Eye-Opening Art, Breath-Concealment Art, and Shadowless Art, she copied their contents onto blank jade slips provided by the pavilion.

Just earlier on Limitless Peak, there had been a flash of green in Fang Ren’s pupils. That had been the Eye-Opening Art to probe whether she carried any spiritual fluctuations.

Beyond those basics, she moved on to choose spells with combat utility. Considering her unremarkable aptitude and that she should not learn too many at once, she finally selected only three: Gale Step, Wind Blade, and the Fireball Art.

Her favorite among them was Gale Step. It was a movement spell that infused wind-attribute qi into the legs, moving and halting with the wind to multiply speed. Whether in a spar or when hurrying on the road or fleeing danger, it fit perfectly. In short, there was one rule: [When in doubt, Gale Step.]

After choosing spells, she was just thinking of browsing cultivation methods when a familiar face came toward her. She inclined her head and greeted him: “Greetings, Senior Brother.”

It was the same young senior brother she had met in the Library Pavilion yesterday. Seeing several jade slips in her hands, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes as he asked: “Junior Sister, are you here to select spells?” He sensed no spiritual fluctuations from her, which was only natural. It was the first day after entry; how could anyone achieve Qi Induction so quickly?

He had rather admired Rong Shu’s temperament yesterday, but now, seeing her preoccupied with spells before completing Qi Induction, his heart sank. He spoke with the gentle severity of a parent correcting a thoughtless child, tinged with disapproval: “Junior Sister, you have not yet achieved Qi Induction. There is no need to concern yourself with spells so early. Walking each step steadfastly is the proper path.”