A Difficult Problem

Lin Xuan had already mastered the most difficult Ice Needle Technique. The final Wind Control Technique was much easier by comparison, though even so, it took him nearly a week.

Cultivators who had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm could wield Spirit Tools and travel a thousand miles in a day. Spirit Movement Stage disciples did not possess such abilities, but the Wind Control Technique was still truly extraordinary. With a single shift, Lin Xuan could drift nearly fifty meters, and with an upward leap, he could easily reach a height of nearly twenty meters.

Using the Wind Control Technique to travel was already as fast as flying in the eyes of ordinary people. Moreover, after mastering this auxiliary Spell, his body became far more agile as well—still as a maiden, swift as a fleeing hare. The benefits were obvious.

The perfect combination of offensive, defensive, and auxiliary Spells greatly increased Lin Xuan's strength.

After more than a month of cultivation, although he still needed time to break through the fifth layer and enter the late Spirit Movement Stage, the combined aid of pills and diligence had increased the spiritual power within him considerably. Outside his daily cultivation, he continued to explore his Spirit Tool.

Day after day passed, and time flew by.

Holding the Gold Binding Rope, Lin Xuan gave it a light shake and poured spiritual power into it. It immediately lengthened, dancing through the air like a spiritual serpent under the control of his divine sense.

"Bind!"

Lin Xuan pointed, and the Gold Binding Rope accurately coiled around a large tree ahead. This was that mysterious gorge. There was too little room to practice Dharma Treasures inside his house, so Lin Xuan had secretly come to this desolate place.

After much arduous effort, he had finally mastered this mid-grade Spirit Tool. Yet as he looked at the Gold Binding Rope wrapped around the tree trunk, Lin Xuan remained silent.

He stood there in silence for a while before beckoning with one hand and drawing the Gold Binding Rope back into his palm. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"It seems the Object Manipulation Technique truly won't do."

On the surface, Lin Xuan's use of the Gold Binding Rope looked quite impressive. But according to the records in the books and the stories he had heard from the elders of the sect, the power of a mid-grade Spirit Tool was far more than this. At most, he had brought out only one or two parts in ten of its power.

The reason for this was not that Lin Xuan's spiritual power was insufficient, but that there was a problem with the method he used to control it.

Although the Object Manipulation Technique could control Spirit Tools, it was the most basic and rudimentary method, nothing more than an introductory skill. To truly bring out a Spirit Tool's might, one needed to learn more advanced cultivation techniques.

Yet a difficult problem now lay before Lin Xuan: there was no way to learn such cultivation techniques at the Young Eagle Pavilion!

The technique superior to the Object Manipulation Technique should have been the Spirit Control Technique. In the Cultivation World, it was already considered an intermediate cultivation technique. It was stored on the second floor of the Library Pavilion, and to read it, one had to fulfill at least one of two conditions.

The first was to successfully achieve Foundation Establishment and become an advanced cultivator of the sect, naturally gaining the qualifications. But Lin Xuan immediately rejected that option. How could the path of cultivation be so easy? Even with the support of a large amount of spiritual medicine, achieving Foundation Establishment would still take him a very long time.

The second was that although one remained a Spirit Movement Stage disciple, one could apply to the sect leader for access to the second floor to study the books on the Spirit Control Technique, provided one possessed outstanding talent and a Spirit Tool.

On the surface, this seemed like a viable path. But given Lin Xuan's circumstances, it was likewise a dead end. The reason was simple: after applying to the sect leader, he would certainly have to undergo an assessment to gain approval. Though with Lin Xuan's current cultivation, he could be considered outstanding among the disciples who had entered the valley at the same time, and could barely meet the requirements.

But one must not forget that Lin Xuan was not a genius. On the contrary, he was ordinary beyond compare—he did not even possess a Spirit Root.

If word got out that a disciple without a Spirit Root had actually left the majority of his senior and junior brothers far behind, it would be stranger still if those old foxes did not grow suspicious.

What if they discovered the Star Sea in his dantian...

Lin Xuan would never do something as foolish as walking into a trap of his own accord.

Back then, when he had gone to such lengths to become a steward at Danxia Mountain, his primary purpose had naturally been the Waste Pills. But that was not all. He had also wanted to vanish into obscurity and avoid drawing attention.

Since no one normally came to the Waste Pill Room, and the low-level disciples who voluntarily applied to become stewards were all people with no hope of advancing in cultivation, hiding among them would not arouse the slightest suspicion. It was both safe and convenient for cultivation.

In making this decision, Lin Xuan had killed two birds with one stone.

His source of pills was guaranteed, and he could improve his cultivation without anyone noticing.

Of course, it could not be called absolutely safe. The only possible flaw was Lin Xuan's trips to the Young Eagle Pavilion to listen to the instructors teach.

But that could not be helped. He had to learn cultivation techniques, after all. Still, Lin Xuan had been extremely careful, choosing the most secluded corner every time.

Moreover, to discern another person's cultivation, one would at the very least need to use divine sense to inspect them. According to the rules of the Cultivation World, that was an openly hostile act, so few people did such a thing.

Thus, although several months had passed and Lin Xuan's cultivation had leaped from the first layer to the fourth, no one had discovered it so far.

Of the two conditions for entering the Library Pavilion, either he did not meet one, or he did not dare let others discover his cultivation. Lin Xuan had encountered an unprecedented problem.

Could he really rely on the Object Manipulation Technique to control his Spirit Tool? Though it could barely suffice, it could only bring out one or two parts in ten of its power. That was simply casting pearls before swine, and Lin Xuan was unwilling to accept it no matter what.

And even setting aside the Spirit Tool, as his cultivation steadily rose, he would certainly need more advanced cultivation techniques to support it. For cultivators, spiritual power was the foundation, while cultivation techniques determined how it was used. The two had to work together to display immense Supernatural Power; neither could be lacking.

Although Lin Xuan had no Spirit Root, his mind was sharp. Otherwise, he could not have calculated every step before acting and made plans before moving. But now, he had truly encountered a difficult problem.

Of course, Lin Xuan would not brood with knitted brows like everyone else. Depression could not solve problems; it would only make matters worse. Every day, he still cultivated when it was time to cultivate and purified pills when it was time to purify pills, practicing in an orderly fashion.

Only in the intervals between cultivation did he ponder how to solve the difficult problem before him.

Some explanations of terms in this book:

Spells refer to skills through which cultivators use spiritual power to attack, defend, or assist. They are divided into low-grade, middle-grade, and high-grade categories. Generally, only Spirit Movement Stage or Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators use them. Higher-level cultivators possess more powerful Spirit Tools or Dharma Treasures.

Cultivation techniques differ from Spells. They are methods used in conjunction with spiritual power for cultivation. From the initial Spirit Movement Stage to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage before ascension, there are different cultivation techniques for every stage. To make a simple comparison, Spells are like the specific fist techniques, palm techniques, and leg techniques found in martial arts novels.

Cultivation techniques, meanwhile, are like the internal-energy formulas in martial arts novels. Although any internal-energy formula can cultivate internal energy, the internal energy cultivated by precious formulas is certainly more powerful. In the Cultivation World, cultivation techniques are used to cultivate spiritual power. The higher the technique's grade, the purer and more powerful the spiritual power it cultivates. Different stages of cultivation require different cultivation techniques. For example, even when performing the same major heavenly circulation, different cultivation techniques will certainly differ in the order and paths through which the energy circulates in the meridians.