Choosing Spells

Qi Haozhi's feelings were somewhat complicated, but more than that, he was angry and humiliated.

He had begun cultivating from his very first day in the Carefree Sect, only breaking through to the first level of Qi Refining a few days ago. Yet this Ugly Girl, who clearly could not even read a single word, actually had the same cultivation as him!

Didn't that mean Ugly Girl cultivated even faster than he did?

No, that was impossible!

Xu Chunniang frowned. Why was this person as annoying as a fly?

It was only the first level of Qi Refining. Couldn't she break through?

How could these people know how much time and effort she had poured into the path of cultivation?

"Move aside. You're blocking me from choosing spells!"

Xu Chunniang said expressionlessly.

But Qi Haozhi did not move. Instead, he stared intently at Xu Chunniang. "I know now. You must have used spirit stones to cultivate, right?"

Xu Chunniang only found him baffling. What did it have to do with him whether she used spirit stones or not?

Still, there was no need to deny it. She folded her arms and looked sidelong at Qi Haozhi.

"So what if I did? Even if I'd used spirit stones to cultivate from the very first day I tried Qi Introduction, it would be none of your business, would it?"

After hearing her "explanation," a flash of realization crossed Qi Haozhi's face.

No wonder she cultivated faster. She had actually been using spirit stones all along.

And Qi Haozhi quickly thought of why Ugly Girl had directly used spirit stones to cultivate.

It had to be because the dormitory assigned to her was too poor, its spiritual energy so thin that cultivation was impossible, forcing her to use spirit stones.

Having found the reason, Qi Haozhi's expression relaxed again.

Even if Ugly Girl had six more spirit stones than he did, so what? They were merely six spirit stones, yet she had been assigned a dormitory where cultivation was simply impossible. Once she used up the spirit stones in her hand, she could just wait to cry!

Sure enough, she was a mud-legged peasant who could never grace the stage, short-sighted and shallow!

At that thought, Qi Haozhi's mood swiftly improved. He could not even be bothered to look at Xu Chunniang again. He even found his earlier behavior laughable—he had actually become nervous over a mud-legged peasant.

He raised his chin, took the spells he had chosen, and left.

Seeing Qi Haozhi suddenly become inexplicably arrogant, Xu Chunniang was puzzled, but she could not be bothered to care. She continued choosing spells on her own.

She looked at this book, then touched that one. She truly wanted every single one!

But after more than two months in the immortal sect, Xu Chunniang was no longer the ignorant little village girl she had once been. Naturally, she understood that biting off more than one could chew led to indigestion.

More importantly, new disciples were only allowed to choose two spell manuals for free.

She muttered to herself, "I have Water, Wood, and Earth Three-Element Spiritual Roots. It would be best to choose spells of those three attributes.

"During the spiritual root test, they said my Water Spiritual Root was best, with a purity of sixty. My Wood Spiritual Root came next, with a purity of only forty-five, while my Earth Spiritual Root was the worst, with a purity of only thirty-five.

"By that reasoning, water-attribute spells suit me best, followed by wood-attribute spells, and earth-attribute spells last.

"If I can only choose two manuals, then I'll choose one water-attribute spell and one wood-attribute spell!"

Xu Chunniang's gaze fell upon a book titled "Water Arrow Technique." Just as she was about to take it, she paused.

It was obvious at a glance that Water Arrow Technique was an offensive spell. Once she learned it, she would have some ability to protect herself.

But before her cultivation reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, as long as she did not fight anyone, Water Arrow Technique could almost be said to be utterly useless.

The protection period for new disciples was only three years. After three years, regardless of whether her cultivation was high or low, she would have to hand over Contribution Points to the sect.

She had to pay one point a month, a full twelve points a year. Together with the yearly expense of six spirit stones for Grain Abstinence Pills, even if she did not use spirit stones for cultivation, she still had to earn enough Contribution Points and spirit stones every year.

One Contribution Point could be exchanged for one spirit stone, but one spirit stone could not buy even a single Contribution Point.

There were still ways to obtain spirit stones, but Contribution Points could only be earned by completing tasks or commissions. There were no exceptions for any disciple.

Others probably would not worry so much, but Xu Chunniang was different. She had offended Steward Zhang. If Steward Zhang deliberately made things difficult for her, she might truly not be able to earn that many Contribution Points.

Xu Chunniang's gaze passed over "Water Arrow Technique" and landed on "Spiritual Rain Technique."

With her Water, Wood, and Earth Three-Element Spiritual Roots, she was quite suited to developing in the direction of spiritual plants.

Spiritual Rain Technique was likewise a pure water-attribute spell, but it was an entirely auxiliary spell, and one of the essential introductory spells for "spiritual plants," one of the hundred arts of cultivation.

As for the use of Spiritual Rain Technique, it was for watering spiritual plants.

Having made up her mind, Xu Chunniang painfully gave up the powerful Water Arrow Technique and chose Spiritual Rain Technique instead.

For her second spell, Xu Chunniang thought it over and decided to go all the way, choosing the wood-element Spring Growth Technique.

Spring Growth Technique was also an essential introductory spell for the "spiritual plants" specialty. Since she had resolved to develop in the direction of spiritual plants, she naturally could not do without Spring Growth Technique, which could accelerate plant growth.

The steward responsible for copying spell manuals in the Merit Pavilion was a female cultivator. Seeing Xu Chunniang choose for so long, only to finally select Spiritual Rain Technique and Spring Growth Technique, she said nothing.

The female steward quickly finished copying them, handed her two Jade Slips, and said sternly, "Remember, none of the Carefree Sect's spells may be passed on to outsiders!"

Xu Chunniang nodded. She had memorized all the sect rules and knew that privately passing on the sect's spells was a grave crime, punishable by having one's cultivation abolished and being expelled from the immortal mountain.

As for why disciples who privately passed on spells were not killed, Xu Chunniang thought it was probably for intimidation.

After all, making someone who had stepped onto the immortal path become a mortal again was even more painful than death.

After taking the Jade Slips, Xu Chunniang left the Merit Pavilion and headed toward the dormitories. Passing the Lecture Hall on the way, she hesitated for a moment but ultimately did not enter.

The lessons taught by the martial uncles in the Lecture Hall were certainly good, but improving her cultivation was more important to her right now. After all, cultivation was the foundation of everything.

Moreover, the spells taught by the martial uncles were all profound spells that could only be learned in the middle and later stages of Qi Refining. They probably would not even mention introductory auxiliary spells like Spiritual Rain Technique and Spring Growth Technique.

The sun was slanting westward when Xu Chunniang arrived at the foot of the mountain where the dormitories were located. But she did not choose to go up the mountain, instead continuing south.

Although she had only lingered outside the dormitory briefly last time, she had already sensed that the spiritual energy at the mountaintop could almost be described as barren.

Now that she had a better place to cultivate and shelter herself, she naturally had no intention of living in that crumbling shack.

After walking south for half an hour, she finally reached the cave before nightfall.

Seeing that the pile of weeds she had used to conceal the cave entrance showed no signs of being disturbed, Xu Chunniang was quite satisfied.

The only thing that dissatisfied her was that every time she entered from outside, she inevitably fell into the pool...

Fortunately, the disciple robes issued by the Carefree Sect were not only dustproof and warm, but also fairly waterproof. She climbed ashore dripping wet, yet her clothes were dry and fresh.

After her hair had dried, Xu Chunniang began cultivating as usual. Without spirit stones to assist her, her cultivation speed visibly slowed.

Xu Chunniang was no longer as desperate as when she had been trapped before, so naturally she was reluctant to directly use spirit stones for cultivation. Though her cultivation speed was slower, this was all she could do.

Today is the Lantern Festival, so I've posted an extra chapter. Little darlings, be happy!!