Chapter 313 - 301: Practicing the Blade Under the Moon
Chapter 313: Chapter 301: Practicing the Blade Under the Moon
After the match ended, Zhou Hongfang and Elder Nie quickly departed. The other disciples dispersed as well, leaving only Elder Wu and Zhao Lin behind.
During their first year in the sect, disciples focused on raising their cultivation level and mastering Basic Skills. Only in their second year did they begin to learn combat.
Zhao Lin lacked experience in this area, so Elder Wu had him stay behind for some personal instruction.
"You won decisively, but you didn’t use a single Magic. Why is that?"
Elder Wu was seated on a long bench in front of the corridor and gestured for Zhao Lin to sit as well.
"My proficiency with Magic is only at the ’Skilled’ level, far inferior to Senior Brother Yun’s. I felt it would be useless, so I decided to rely purely on martial arts."
Zhao Lin stated his thoughts frankly.
"That’s a huge misconception!"
Elder Wu shook his head repeatedly. "Offensive Magic isn’t just for attacking. It can also be used to disrupt and restrain your opponent."
"As long as you can affect their casting, you gain an advantage in the battle!"
"Take your last fight, for example. If you had used the Ice Blade Skill at the start, Yun Jinda’s Divine Movement Skill would have been hindered."
"Even a fraction of a second’s delay would have bought you time to close the distance. Remember, you don’t have to stand still to cast Magic!"
Zhao Lin thought back on the fight and had a moment of epiphany. He said respectfully, "I understand now. Thank you for your guidance."
Elder Wu nodded. "Only by moving beyond your reliance on martial arts can a Martial Cultivator truly walk the path of cultivation. Do you understand?"
"I understand!"
"Good. Now, back to the topic of combat..."
Elder Wu then proceeded to explain the mindset, strategies, and key points of combat in detail.
Combat had many similarities to martial arts duels, so Zhao Lin grasped the concepts immediately, quickly understanding the essence of it all.
"As expected of a Martial Cultivator. I was prepared for a long lecture, but I’m finished in just half an hour. Since that’s the case, you can head back and get some rest."
Elder Wu said with a smile and a wave of his hand.
"Thank you, Elder."
Zhao Lin stood up and took his leave.
Back in his room, he didn’t rest immediately. Instead, he took out twelve Spirit Stones from his storage pouch.
Initially, Zhao Lin hadn’t cared about winning or losing the match in two days; he mainly wanted to gain practical combat experience. But with merit points, pills, and Spirit Stones on the line, he had to fight for it.
Besides, Zhou Hongfang had chosen him to fight because he wanted a victory.
To increase his chances of winning, Zhao Lin decided to cultivate one of his offensive Magic skills to the Minor Achievement stage.
The Spirit Cultivation Map required four Spirit Stones to analyze a Magic skill to the ’Skilled’ level and sixteen for Minor Achievement. These twelve Spirit Stones were to cover the difference.
He had originally planned to wait until his second year to upgrade his Magic, but he was facing disciples who had been cultivating for three years and were at the fourth or even fifth layer of Qi Refining. On top of that, there were two tough nuts to crack—a Sword Cultivator and a Body Cultivator. He wasn’t confident he could win with martial arts alone.
Reaching Minor Achievement in a Magic skill within a single year would inevitably attract a lot of attention.
But he could explain it away as natural talent; after all, there was precedent.
Excellent, but not out of line.
He had two offensive Magic skills. Should he choose the Ice Blade Skill or the Flame Stream Arrow?
After a moment’s thought, Zhao Lin quickly made his decision: the Ice Blade Skill!
The Flame Stream Arrow was an area-of-effect attack, lacking in single-target power. In a duel, the Ice Blade Skill posed a much greater threat.
With that thought, he picked up a Spirit Stone...
A familiar scene unfolded. The Spirit Cultivation Map extended dozens of tentacles, instantly draining the Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Stone.
One, two, three... In a matter of moments, all twelve Spirit Stones had turned to dust.
The Spirit Cultivation Map pulsed with light. Zhao Lin guided the newly absorbed Spiritual Qi into the third grid, the one for the Ice Blade Skill.
The six-petaled plum blossom flashed, and its third petal turned from gray to a vibrant red.
At the same time, a stream of insights, experiences, and memories containing the details of casting the skill flowed into his mind and body.
’Success!’
A flash of joy appeared in Zhao Lin’s eyes. He felt his understanding of the Magic had deepened by another level.
However, he still needed some practice for the Magic to truly become one with him.
He raised his hand and formed a spell seal, but he hesitated and didn’t cast the Magic.
The room was too cramped to practice in.
’The Deans haven’t rested yet. I’ll wait a while longer.’
After some thought, Zhao Lin sat down on his chair and closed his eyes to meditate and recover his energy.
Around midnight, he pushed open the door and walked out into the front courtyard.
The sky was black as ink, with a crescent moon hanging askew in the night.
Zhao Lin extended his hearing to confirm no one was nearby, then formed a seal and cast the Magic at the empty space above his head.
"Ice Blade Skill!"
The Ice Spiritual Qi rapidly condensed, instantly forming a silver ice blade that streaked across the night sky like a beam of light.
The ice blade didn’t fly in a straight line. It weaved through the air, its tip trembling, swaying left and right, and flipping up and down.
At the ’Skilled’ level, the Ice Blade Skill could only attack stationary targets; once cast, its trajectory was fixed.
But at the Minor Achievement stage, he could attach a wisp of his Divine Sense to it, allowing him to control the blade’s path at will.
It had gone from a simple projectile to a pursuing attack!
At first, Zhao Lin was clumsy, and the ice blade wobbled unsteadily, as if it were drunk.
But after a period of practice, he gradually got the hang of it, and his control grew more and more fluid.
’My Spiritual Power is draining so quickly!’
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Zhao Lin felt his Spiritual Power depleted and his mind grow groggy. He knew it was because he had over-exerted his Mana and Divine Sense.
He sat down cross-legged to recover for a while before continuing his practice.
Only when the sky began to show the first light of dawn did Zhao Lin hurry back to his room to rest.
...
"Everyone says that alchemy, talismans, smithing, and formations are the four great arts, but in truth, Spirit Planting is the foundation of them all."
On the day of the Dharma Assembly, more than six hundred disciples were led by the three Deans to Bitter Bamboo Peak.
The one explaining the Spirit Plant Skill was a lecturing disciple from Han Chi County. He was currently standing by a Spirit Field, speaking with eloquence.
"There’s a saying in the mortal world: ’Food is the first necessity of the people.’ The same holds true in the Cultivation Realm."
"Spiritual Qi alone is not enough for cultivation. A cultivator’s physical body also needs sustenance. Spirit Plants are full of pure essence, free of impurities and turbidity, making them the most important cultivation resource..."
The Dharma Assembly was primarily for first-year disciples. It wasn’t meant to be an in-depth lesson, but rather a general introduction to the various arts.
Many disciples were interested in Spirit Planting. Although the work was a bit strenuous, it was completely risk-free. It also provided ample free time to cultivate in peace and offered a decent amount of merit points.
Zhao Lin was multitasking, listening to the senior brother’s lecture while his eyes searched through the disciples from the other two provinces.
’There’s a Sword Cultivator from Juyan Province and a Body Cultivator from the Western Ox Continent. I wonder which two they are?’
With his Qi Observation Skill at Minor Achievement, he could only inspect the cultivation level of a single cultivator at a time. Only by reaching the ’Mastery’ level could he scan a wider area.
"Gather Qi, Form Clouds!"
The lecturing senior brother waved his hand, and a small dark cloud appeared above the Spirit Field.
Unlike a natural cloud, this one was only a few dozen yards across and hovered very low to the ground, which made for a rather interesting sight.
The disciples who were seeing this Magic for the first time all walked down the slope of the field, stepping forward to watch with curiosity.
Just then, a disciple in the crowd from Juyan Province caught Zhao Lin’s attention. He was dressed in a blue robe, with a sword hanging from his waist.