Su Hao and Feng Ling were both individuals who cherished time, quickly clarifying the details:
1. Within three months, Feng Ling would share the foundational cultivation method with Su Hao.
2. Within six months, find basic introductory manuals on ‘Alchemy,’ ‘Artifact Refinement,’ ‘Formation Arrays,’ and similar knowledge for Su Hao.
3. Feng Ling’s independent residence would be given to Su Hao after the ‘Senior Brother Command Competition.’
Both parties agreed to these terms, so they returned to their respective cultivations.
As for the ‘Senior Brother Command Competition,’ it was a traditional event at the Yunzhong Valley held every three years. Almost all disciples from the valley would return to the sect for this competition.
The purpose of the competition was twofold: first, to vie for the ‘Senior Brother Command’ of disciples in the Foundation Establishment, Qi Induction, and Golden Core realms, determining the true ‘Senior Brother’ in these realms; second, since sect disciples often practiced in seclusion, lacking mutual understanding, the competition served as a showcase for each disciple to be known by their fellow sect members.
In simple terms, it was a mix of hierarchy confirmation and a social gathering!
Initially uninterested in this competition, Su Hao changed his mind when Feng Ling mentioned that the ‘Senior Brother Command’ itself was a powerful magical artifact. Intrigued by the concept of magical artifacts, Su Hao expressed his willingness to participate.
***
The book “Wind Art of Deception” documented three fundamental and practical spells: ‘Wind Spirit Protective Shield,’ ‘Windborne Lightness Technique,’ and ‘Wind Dart.’
Although all the names were related to ‘wind,’ Su Hao discovered upon careful study that these spells were actually about ‘protective shields,’ ‘footwork,’ and ‘energy projectiles.’
“I didn’t expect clickbait titles to be a thing in the cultivation world.”
Yet, if one insisted these spells had no connection to ‘wind’ at all, it might not be entirely accurate. The release of these spells required a subtle ‘wind-like’ atmosphere, influencing the practitioner’s mindset.
‘Protective shields’ emphasized omnipresence, ‘footwork’ emphasized agility and grace, and ‘energy projectiles’ emphasized ferocity and endurance.
This ‘wind’ atmosphere gradually altered the cultivator’s mental characteristics, influencing spiritual power to transform into ‘wind attribute spiritual power.’
Regarding spiritual power traits, Su Hao incorporated it into his ongoing research. He then attempted to cultivate the ‘Wind Spirit Protective Shield’ following the method outlined in the “Wind Art of Deception.”
Yes, ‘Wind Spirit Protective Shield’ wasn’t ‘cast’; it was ‘cultivated.’
Initially, Su Hao thought ‘spells’ in this world would function like his runes, following a structured flow to produce various effects. However, he was mistaken. The approach to cultivating spells in this world was straightforward: set the ‘spell program’ in advance, practice extensively, imprint it into ‘spiritual power’ over time, making it an instinctive part of spiritual power. Then, through specific ‘seals,’ connect this instinct to the spiritual power, much like a dog salivating at the sight of a bone due to ‘conditioned reflex.’
This formed the appearance Su Hao observed: cultivators forming seals, instantly releasing spells.
Su Hao could only marvel at the incredible skills of cultivators in this world—more mysterious than ‘mysticism’ itself, and most importantly, they succeeded! The first cultivator who created ‘spells’ was truly admirable, leaving Su Hao in awe.
Su Hao’s face was filled with amazement. “Damn! I could never have thought of that! It’s too impressive! Normally, when people discover such powerful energy within themselves, the first instinct is to use it for ‘crushing the heavens with a punch,’ ‘overturning rivers and lakes with a flip of the hand,’ or ‘bang bang bang, firing a gun,’ right? The cultivator who created spells must be extraordinary!”
“Using ‘mental intent’ as coding software, ‘spiritual power’ as the functional carrier, and ‘seals’ as the activation button – perhaps the ‘technology’ in this world is all about the application of spiritual power!”
People in this world had developed the application of spiritual power to an extent that amazed Su Hao!
Su Hao slowly calmed his excited emotions about discovering this new world, sitting cross-legged on the bed. Following the description of the ‘Wind Spirit Protective Shield’ cultivation, he entered a meditative state.
The cultivation process was simple: choose three favorite seals, sit cross-legged, visualize the shape of the ‘Wind Spirit Protective Shield’ with ‘mental intent,’ simultaneously integrate ‘mental intent’ into spiritual power, and activate spiritual power to cover the entire body.
Next was to fervently transmit the signal of the ‘indestructible Wind Spirit Protective Shield’ from ‘mental intent’ to spiritual power while repeatedly forming the three seals.
It could be seen as subtly suggesting to spiritual power or using the unique characteristics of ‘mental intent’ to transform the traits of spiritual power.
This transformation process was extremely slow, making it challenging to master a spell. Days of arduous meditation passed until the characteristics of the spell were imprinted into spiritual power.
This could take as little as three months or as long as over a year, and some might never succeed.
Lacking knowledge in spellcraft, Su Hao couldn’t take shortcuts and had to patiently follow the described method in the book for cultivation.
“Perhaps understanding the principles of transforming spiritual power traits will speed up the spell cultivation process, and I might even be able to design more practical spells according to my ideas!”
Su Hao speculated that the ability of spiritual power traits to change was related to the unique ‘bioenergy structure’ of spiritual power, which wouldn’t work on his blood and flesh.
“Maybe active energy like spiritual power, in specific conditions, randomly changes its own characteristics. The so-called cultivation of spells is just guiding spiritual power transformation in a unified direction with ‘mental intent.'”
Sitting on the bed, Su Hao closed his eyes, furrowed his brows slightly, seemingly contemplating something. Meanwhile, his right hand’s fingers swiftly moved, repeatedly cycling between the three seals he had created: ‘thumb on the tip of the little finger,’ ‘thumb on the tip of the ring finger,’ ‘thumb on the tip of the middle finger’…
Simple and easy to remember!
The reason Su Hao designed three seals for casting spells was that he would learn many spells in the future. With a few seals, he could create various sequences, where each sequence represented a different spell, avoiding confusion.
After an unknown amount of time, Su Hao opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and mumbled, “Damn, the difficulty of cultivating spells is too high! Today’s first attempt successfully guided the transformation of spiritual power, but the progress is too slow! At this rate, it’ll take at least a month to completely master the ‘Wind Spirit Protective Shield,’ and they say this is one of the simplest spells…”
Don’t forget there are also ‘Windborne Lightness Technique’ and ‘Wind Dart’! Calculating, Su Hao realized it would take at least three months to master all three spells.
“No wonder cultivators prefer staying in seclusion to cultivate. It’s not that they like it; it’s just that, whether they like it or not, they have to do it for cultivation.”
Su Hao stood up and went out to find food. The sky had completely darkened at some point.
A radar scan revealed that Feng Cheng, who usually grilled meat for him, had already fallen asleep. Su Hao couldn’t help but think, “Preparing food for myself is too troublesome! I might as well teleport to the other side of Yashan and let Yashan do it for me! It’s also a good opportunity to continue testing the data on spiritual power and runes, quickly organizing the rune system.”
Thinking about it, Su Hao entered the pinball space and used the small black room to transmit a message to Yashan, “Yashan, bring the positioning stone and find an uninhabited place. I’ll continue testing runes tonight.”
Yashan immediately replied, “Okay, Boss Wei, I’ll inform you once I find a location!”
While waiting, Su Hao couldn’t help but start daydreaming, “Perhaps I can establish a storage space over there at Yashan’s place. During meal times, Yashan can deliver the food into the storage space, and I can conveniently take out and enjoy the food using storage techniques!”
The more Su Hao thought about it, the brighter his eyes became. “Seems feasible! Worth a try!”
Then Su Hao directly transmitted, “Yashan, have you had dinner…”
