Learning to Use Spirit Tools

Lin Xuan had only recently mastered the fourth level of the cultivation technique, allowing him to use Spirit Tools. Yet long ago, when he had just acquired Zhang Yu and Zhou Yan's possessions, he had already begun paying attention to Spirit Tools. Asking others would have aroused suspicion, and Lin Xuan naturally would not do something so foolish. Instead, he quietly looked through quite a few books himself.

Although the second and third floors of the Library Pavilion were not open to low-level disciples, and most of the books on the first floor were trash as far as cultivators were concerned, with no cultivation techniques to be found, there were still quite a few books introducing the various common facts of the Immortal World.

The higher the grade of a Spirit Tool, the greater its power, but accordingly, the harder it was to master. Not only did controlling it consume more spiritual power, it also required more advanced techniques.

After learning this, Lin Xuan decided to begin practicing with the Mid-Grade Gold Binding Rope. For a beginner, practicing with a low-grade Spirit Tool would have been best, but unfortunately, he had none in hand. Thus, Lin Xuan could only settle for second best and start with a mid-grade one.

To use a Spirit Tool, one first had to learn the Object Manipulation Technique. In the Cultivation World, this was a basic minor spell. Lin Xuan had already learned it before obtaining the Blue Star Sea and had practiced it diligently, but his spiritual power had been far too low back then, making it incomparably difficult to learn.

Things were different now. Compared to then, Lin Xuan's current cultivation could be described as the difference between heaven and abyss. With ample spiritual power behind him, the Object Manipulation Technique, once so difficult, was now easily mastered in no time at all.

After preparing everything, Lin Xuan took the Gold Binding Rope from his Storage Bracelet.

He examined it carefully. On the surface, it was merely an ordinary golden rope. Lin Xuan gripped one end in his hand and poured spiritual power into it.

At once, the Gold Binding Rope emitted a dazzling radiance and expanded at the sight of wind. In the blink of an eye, it had grown several zhang long. Though he had seen Zhou Yan use a Spirit Tool before, this was his first time experiencing one personally. Its wondrous power left Lin Xuan clicking his tongue in amazement.

But infusing it with spiritual power was merely the first step in using a Spirit Tool. The second was to send one's divine sense outside the body and attach it to the Spirit Tool. Only then could one manipulate the Spirit Tool from afar.

This was the fundamental principle of the Object Manipulation Technique, and also why one had to cultivate the Spirit Movement Stage technique to the fourth level before using Spirit Tools.

This was because the strength of divine sense was directly proportional to one's spiritual power cultivation. Before mastering the fourth level of the cultivation technique, one's divine sense was simply too weak to remotely control a Spirit Tool.

Lin Xuan's expression turned solemn. He drew a deep breath, then flicked his right hand and threw the Gold Binding Rope in his palm outward.

At the same time, he focused his divine sense and attached it to the Spirit Tool from afar. Once the Gold Binding Rope left his palm, it began to fall, but now it crookedly rose into the air. Though its manner of flight was anything but graceful, like a drunkard who had had too much wine, Lin Xuan had indeed brought it under his control.

A trace of delight appeared on Lin Xuan's face, but his mind remained utterly still as he continued cautiously practicing the control of the Spirit Tool through his divine sense.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

The Gold Binding Rope returned to its original form. Lin Xuan lay on the bed, drenched in sweat, unwilling to move even a finger. The spiritual power within his body had nearly been exhausted. No wonder Spirit Tools possessed such immense power—their consumption of spiritual power was simply extravagant. Although the fourth level of the Spirit Movement Stage allowed one to control them, one needed at least the cultivation of the fifth level, perhaps even the sixth, before one had enough spiritual power to wield them as smoothly as one's own limbs.

This practice session had also gone more easily than he had imagined. According to the books, even with the easiest low-grade Spirit Tool, the failure rate for a first attempt at control was very high. In other words, it was difficult to make a Spirit Tool move with divine sense on the first try. Yet Lin Xuan had done it—and with the more difficult mid-grade Spirit Tool at that.

This was naturally not because Lin Xuan possessed a talent for controlling Spirit Tools. He was merely an ordinary, unremarkable person, without even a Spirit Root. The reason he had succeeded on his first attempt was that his divine sense was stronger than that of cultivators at the same level.

Simply put, among these low-level disciples who had all cultivated the Spirit Movement Stage technique to the fourth level, Lin Xuan's divine sense was the strongest, far surpassing those of his peers. There was no other reason: he had shed more sweat than anyone else.

Not to mention that while others performed only three Great Circulation cycles a day, Lin Xuan performed nine. Controlling spiritual power as it flowed through the eight extraordinary meridians was itself an exercise for divine sense.

Secondly, there was the purification of pills. In particular, when purifying Mid-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pills, he had to send his divine sense into the pill and control the points of light. There was no need to think about it to know that this was an even more arduous form of training for divine sense.

It was precisely because Lin Xuan worked harder than others and gave so much more that there was nothing strange about his powerful divine sense. And since divine sense was the foundation for controlling Spirit Tools, it was only natural that Lin Xuan found success more easily.

Though he was too exhausted to move, Lin Xuan's mind had not been idle. Summarizing the insights he gained after cultivation was his habit, and he had analyzed all of the above himself.

Practicing with Spirit Tools was arduous, but Lin Xuan would not give up. The path of cultivation was already strewn with thorns at every step and required unyielding perseverance. Moreover, the tremendous power of Spirit Tools had captivated him. As long as he persisted, one day he would be able to wield one proficiently as well.

But Lin Xuan had also seen his own shortcomings. Although his fourth-level cultivation technique was already quite good among the disciples who had entered the valley at the same time, that little spiritual power was far too inadequate for controlling a Spirit Tool. At most, half an hour would drain the spiritual power within his body dry.

If he encountered an enemy and the battle became one of endurance, he would be finished. How could he make up for this weakness?

Although Lin Xuan's cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds since obtaining the Blue Star Sea, he had not been blinded by his achievements. Instead, he often reflected on his own inadequacies.

The Cultivation World was a cruel place where the strong preyed upon the weak. Only by being good at discovering one's own flaws and promptly making up for them could one live well in this world.

The simplest way to compensate was to increase his strength. As long as his cultivation realm rose, his spiritual power would naturally become more abundant, allowing him to control Spirit Tools for longer.

But this method was not suitable. Cultivation only became harder the further one went. Breaking through to the fifth level and reaching the late Spirit Movement Stage would take at least several more months. What was he supposed to do during that time?

Though it was unlikely that he would encounter danger within the sect, one could never be too careful. Lin Xuan preferred to consider problems in advance—to prepare for a rainy day.

It seemed it was time to cultivate some spells.