Chapter 299 - 287: Proficiency and Minor Achievement
Chapter 299: Chapter 287: Proficiency and Minor Achievement
Next to the words "Rock Armor Skill," there was a plum blossom.
The flower had four grayish-white petals.
The Spirit Cultivation Map had completely imprinted the magic, and this plum blossom was its sigil.
The four petals represented the different levels of mastery for the magic: Entry, Skilled, Minor Achievement, and Mastery.
As long as he provided enough Spirit Stones, the Spirit Cultivation Map could "analyze" the magic for him.
At this thought, Zhao Lin was eager to return immediately and test the Spirit Cultivation Map’s abilities.
’But I still have to go through the proper procedures,’ he thought. ’If I don’t even officially learn the magic, how could I dare use it openly in the future?’
After the demonstration class, Yan Yuan took Zhao Lin to the Transmission Hall and formally imparted the Rock Armor Skill to him.
Zhao Lin listened attentively, asking questions from time to time and showing a keen interest in the magic.
Yan Yuan was greatly gratified. He kept Zhao Lin talking for over two hours, yet still seemed to have more to say. If the bell for the midday break hadn’t rung throughout the Spirit Dao Institute, it looked as if he had no intention of letting him go.
"Thank you for imparting this magic, Senior Brother. I will return and cultivate diligently, so as not to let your good intentions go to waste."
"Excellent, excellent. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can come ask me anytime..."
Sometime after noon, Zhao Lin returned to his quarters.
He took out his wooden box and counted out sixteen Spirit Stones.
He now had a total of ninety-one Spirit Stones. Cultivating the Rock Armor Skill to Minor Achievement required sixteen of them.
To choose an offensive magic and cultivate it to the Mastery level would require another sixty-four Spirit Stones.
The two magics would consume eighty Spirit Stones in total, and he would save the rest for emergencies.
With magic, quality was more important than quantity. The Spirit Cultivation Map could only hold nine Tier One magics, so he planned to first spend some time figuring out which ones suited him best before making any decisions.
If he got carried away every time he saw a decent magic and quickly filled up the slots, he would be left sighing in regret when he later found one he truly desired.
Besides, mastering too many magics would be suspicious. No matter how much of a genius one was, it was impossible to cultivate several magics to the Minor Achievement level in a single year.
"Let’s begin!"
With that thought, Zhao Lin grabbed a Spirit Stone.
The Spirit Cultivation Map reacted in an instant, like a wild beast that had smelled blood. It brandished dozens of tendrils that lunged for the Spirit Stone to absorb the Spiritual Qi within.
At the same time, the plum blossom in the first slot began to flicker as Spiritual Qi faintly circulated within it.
A moment later, the Spirit Stone crumbled to dust.
The surface of the plum blossom flashed, and one of its four petals turned a vibrant crimson.
Zhao Lin knew this meant the Spirit Cultivation Map had finished analyzing all the experience required to reach the Entry level of mastery.
He didn’t reach for a second Spirit Stone, instead waiting quietly.
’One hand pays the price, the other receives the goods.’ He wanted to see if the Spirit Cultivation Map would actually work.
Unable to absorb any more Spiritual Qi, the Spirit Cultivation Map quickly retracted its tendrils.
Then, as if a light breeze had swept by, a stream of light shot out from the center of the plum blossom and flew into Zhao Lin’s Forehead Acupoint.
A stream of memories instantly flooded his mind.
Actually, to call them memories wasn’t entirely accurate. The influx contained everything Yan Yuan had experienced while cultivating the Rock Armor Skill to the Entry level.
How to adjust his breathing, how to circulate his Spiritual Power, how to form the hand seals for the Spell, and even the associated muscle memory... he experienced every detail as if it were his own!
When the torrent of information receded, Zhao Lin looked down at his own hands. The feeling was wondrous. He had clearly never practiced this magic before, yet he had suddenly learned it.
"Rock Armor Skill!"
Zhao Lin shouted, and in one smooth, unbroken motion, he regulated his breathing, circulated his power, and formed the hand seals!
A breath later, a cloud of yellow smoke rose before him, rapidly condensing into thick sandstone that enveloped him completely.
"It worked!"
Zhao Lin relaxed his fingers, dispelling the magic. A flicker of excitement crossed his eyes.
To master a magic, the crucial points were the smooth circulation of Spiritual Power, the rhythm of the Spell’s hand seals, and the timing of its release.
Only when all three were perfectly coordinated could the Spiritual Qi in one’s body "resonate" with the qi of the five elements in the outside world, thereby casting the magic.
Mastering all of this normally required thousands of repetitions.
With the help of the Spirit Cultivation Map, Zhao Lin had skipped the tedious practice and grasped it all in an instant.
’This is perfect! The effect is even better than I imagined!’
Reassured, Zhao Lin picked up the Spirit Stones and began to absorb them one by one.
The Spirit Cultivation Map quickly drained the Spiritual Qi from fifteen Spirit Stones, and three of the plum blossom’s four petals were now crimson.
As the memories flooded in, Zhao Lin’s understanding of the magic deepened by two more levels.
But when he excitedly cast the Rock Armor Skill again, he found he was only a fraction faster than the first time, nowhere near the Skilled level of mastery.
The two key metrics for the Rock Armor Skill were casting speed and durability. If it couldn’t be cast quickly, the magic was meaningless.
The requirement for the Entry level of this magic was to cast it within one breath, while the Skilled level required casting it within half a breath.
His casting time just now had definitely been longer than half a breath.
’That’s strange. I clearly know how to do it, so why can’t I execute it properly?’
Zhao Lin pondered for a moment before it dawned on him.
Knowing how to do something was one thing; actually being able to do it was another matter entirely.
He had only just been exposed to this magic. He could manage the Entry level, but to reach the Skilled level, he still needed time to adapt and practice.
The principle applied to more than just magic; it was the same for everything.
In his past life, even the skills of a great basketball or soccer player would decline if they didn’t touch a ball for a long time.
To test his theory, Zhao Lin continued practicing the Rock Armor Skill.
Sure enough, after a few practice runs, his casting speed gradually increased, and the Rock Armor grew thicker.
After about the time it takes to eat a meal, he finally reached the Skilled level of mastery!
Zhao Lin was overjoyed. With the Rock Armor Skill as an outer shield and the Turtle Shell Force he’d cultivated through martial arts as an inner layer of protection, he now had a two-layered defense.
Combined with the self-healing ability he’d gained from absorbing the Pipa Catfish’s Essence Soul, not even a cultivator at the Late-stage of Qi Refining could easily kill him.
Just as he was about to press on and cultivate the magic to the Minor Achievement Realm, he discovered that the Spiritual Qi in his body was completely depleted.
As it happened, Zhao Lin was also hungry, so he paused his magic practice, took out his small cauldron, and poured in half a pound of Spirit Rice to cook.
Dong Lingcheng had given him a hundred pounds of Spirit Rice, so he could eat his fill for a long time without having to be as frugal as before.
After eating the Spirit Rice, Zhao Lin took a walk in his courtyard. In under an hour, he felt his body was once again full of Spiritual Power.
Returning to his room, he resumed practicing the Rock Armor Skill.
This time, however, he ran into a new problem: no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t improve the casting speed or the Rock Armor’s durability in the slightest.
After five or six attempts, his Spiritual Power was once again depleted.
Zhao Lin was astonished. ’The consumption rate is way too fast, isn’t it?’ he thought.
But on second thought, he understood what was happening.
Once a magic reached the Minor Achievement Realm, skillful mastery was only one part of the equation; the demand for Spiritual Power also multiplied.
He was currently only at the Qi Refining First Layer. His Mana was too limited to support such a rapid casting speed or maintain a stronger defense.
’So that’s how it is,’ he realized. ’It’s fundamentally impossible for someone at the Qi Refining First Layer to cultivate a magic to Minor Achievement.’
Having figured this out, Zhao Lin was no longer anxious.
He just had to wait until his cultivation reached the Qi Refining Second Layer or Third Layer, and mastery of this magic would come naturally.
Over the next few days, Zhao Lin frequently went to the Transmission Hall and the Demonstration Pavilion to listen to Senior Brother Yan Yuan’s lectures.
’If you’re going to put on an act, you have to go all the way,’ he thought. ’If I don’t pretend to be working hard, how will I explain my explosive progress with this magic later?’
...
That morning, Zhao Lin arrived at the Spirit Dao Institute’s confidential archives.
The archives were located in a northern corner of the Spirit Dao Institute. Though inconspicuous, it housed Han Chi County’s precious scriptures, pill formulas, Spirit Plant Seeds, and the central control hubs for many Arrays.
Not only were there many visible and invisible guards on the periphery, but there were also layers upon layers of restrictive wards inside.
The last time Zhao Lin had been here was when he had first joined the sect, collecting necessities like his access token and storage pouch. Today, his purpose was to collect his merits.
For the Jue Ming Mountain expedition, all disciples who participated in exterminating the locusts received between one and three merit points as a reward.
Because Zhao Lin had slain the high-grade demonic insect, the Whiplash Serpent, and rescued his fellow disciples, Elder Nie had applied for extra merits on his behalf.
The regional commandery’s approval took time, so he had come two days later than the other disciples.
"Zhao Lin, a disciple of the Spirit Dao Institute..."
Guarding the archives were two cultivators in blue robes, one tall and one short. The tall one glanced at the jade token Zhao Lin presented and asked, "What business do you have here?"
"I’m here to collect my merits."
"Do you have an elder’s token?"
"I do..."
The short cultivator, having nothing better to do, took advantage of the conversation to secretly use the Qi Observation Skill on Zhao Lin.
Zhao Lin noticed immediately.
It wasn’t that he himself had the ability to detect it, but rather that his Spirit Cultivation Map had changed.
In the second slot, three words had appeared: Qi Observation Skill!
Next to the words was another plum blossom, this one with only two petals.
Seeing this change, Zhao Lin knew he had been "hit" by the magic, and the Spirit Cultivation Map had automatically imprinted it.
His expression remained unchanged. With a mere thought, he erased the Qi Observation Skill and its plum blossom sigil.
This magic was very useful and, for him, easy to learn. As long as someone used the Qi Observation Skill on him, the Spirit Cultivation Map could record it.
This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
When planning which magics to learn, Zhao Lin had already factored in the Qi Observation Skill.
However, he wasn’t in a hurry to cultivate it. Besides, the short cultivator’s mastery was only at the Skilled level.
Since he was going to learn it anyway, Zhao Lin hoped that one day a cultivator who had mastered the Qi Observation Skill to the Grand Achievement level or higher would use it on him, leaving behind a much higher-grade imprint.
His token was verified, and after a few simple questions, the two guards let him pass.
Zhao Lin walked deeper inside, arriving at the inner chamber of the archives.