Spellcasting Prodigy

At the beginning of the Hour of the Dragon, golden sunlight dispelled the thin mountain mist, and the spiritual energy between heaven and earth slowly grew restless.

Ji An ended his cultivation and left the bamboo house, refreshed and clear-minded.

The sky was like a blue gemstone, crystalline and flawless, without the slightest impurity.

He strolled near the Spirit Field, crouched in the shadow of the bushes, and began to wait patiently.

Although Old Huang had said he would arrive at the third quarter of the Hour of the Dragon, Ji An could not show up at the exact moment.

He was the one asking for guidance. Arriving later than the other party would cost him points in their impression of him.

He narrowed his eyes and linked his mind to the Stone Turtle.

Master: Ji An

Dao Resonance: 0

Spiritual Aptitude: Kan Spirit 0.5, Kun Spirit 0.4, Xun Spirit 0.2

Spells: Minor Cloud and Rain Art (Minor Mastery 1%)

Thick Earth Art (Proficient 71%)

Wither and Flourish Art (Proficient 8%)

He fiddled with a branch and casually cast the Wither and Flourish Art.

An almost imperceptible glimmer of spiritual light enveloped the branches. Clumps of green radiance, each no larger than a grain of millet, gathered toward his palm.

At the same time, the green leaves rapidly turned withered yellow, and the branches dried out as well.

The Minor Cloud and Rain Art and Thick Earth Art were release-type spells. They only consumed spiritual power during casting, while their effects lasted for a certain period afterward.

The Wither and Flourish Art was different. It was a channeling-type spell.

In other words, after the caster consumed spiritual power to activate it, spiritual power would continue to be consumed.

Until the caster cut off the supply of spiritual power, the spell's effect would remain active the entire time.

When a clump of grass-green liquid the size of a soybean had gathered in his palm, Ji An cut off his spiritual power.

Staring at the liquid imbued with Wood Origin Spiritual Energy, he had a bold thought and stuck out his tongue to lick it.

This bush was not poisonous, so the Wood Origin Spiritual Liquid extracted from it should not be poisonous either. Could he drink spiritual-energy liquid to replenish the spiritual power he expended?

If it worked, he would have found a shortcut for practicing the Wither and Flourish Art.

It was faintly sweet upon entering his mouth, but far more bitter. In short, it tasted awful.

The liquid entered his stomach, and several wisps of spiritual energy dispersed, instinctively absorbed by his immortal veins.

Heh! I really was a genius.

Ji An sat down cross-legged, swallowed the Wood Origin Spiritual Liquid, and immediately began circulating the Clear Origin Scripture.

With the larger dose came an even stronger bitterness, but he did not care in the slightest.

In a sense, this clump of spiritual liquid could be considered a medicinal pill, couldn't it?

As his cultivation technique circulated, the spiritual energy contained in the liquid was swiftly drawn out, refined by his immortal veins into spiritual power, and poured into his Qi Sea Acupoint.

The Stone Turtle seemed to come alive, its mouth moving as half the refined spiritual power was devoured by it.

The spiritual energy in the liquid was quickly refined. Ji An withdrew from cultivation and concentrated on sensing the change in the total amount of spiritual power in his body.

He grinned, flashing white teeth between red lips.

After a rough calculation, refining the spiritual liquid had restored half a tenth of the spiritual power he had used for the spell. Counting the portion devoured by the Stone Turtle, he had recovered a full tenth of it.

The method was workable, but not particularly meaningful.

He wondered whether the Wood Origin Pearl condensed after the Wither and Flourish Art reached Minor Mastery could be swallowed, and how effective it would be. He could test it when the time came.

Just as his thoughts were running wild, he heard a call.

"Little Brother An, we can begin now."

Old Huang walked over with his hands clasped behind his back, facing the morning sun and smiling warmly at him.

"Alright, please instruct me, Senior Brother!"

Ji An cupped his hands and walked to the edge of the half-mu Spirit Field he had opened up.

With an anxious expression but absolute confidence in his heart, he cast the spell with all his strength. A dense white cloud rapidly appeared and soon blanketed the entire Spirit Field.

Holy shit!

Old Huang's eyes widened. Only the third level of the Minor Cloud and Rain Art could have such a vast rain-casting range!

The same cry rose in Ji An's heart. The spell had improved rapidly through refining spiritual aptitude, and this was his first time casting the Minor Cloud and Rain Art at the Minor Mastery level.

He only felt a powerful suction rapidly drain away the spiritual power within him. His Qi Sea Acupoint quickly became utterly empty.

He had miscalculated! He had not even finished casting the spell.

The casting range of the Proficient-level Minor Cloud and Rain Art was more than twice that of the Beginner-level version, and its spiritual power consumption was doubled as well.

Based on that, he had believed that casting it with his spiritual power fully replenished would be more than enough.

He had never imagined that a Minor Mastery spell's casting range would increase explosively, with spiritual power consumption rising drastically as well. It had drained his dantian dry without even completing the spell.

Damn it, what should he do?

The clouds began to churn—an omen that the spell was about to collapse.

This was the final stage of casting. If he stopped now, he would inevitably suffer spell backlash. More importantly, his grand display would be ruined.

He had still wanted to borrow some Spirit Stones from Old Huang under the identity of a spellcasting prodigy.

He who hesitated was defeated. While he wavered between gain and loss, Ji An felt spasms rise from his dantian. His immortal veins began to shrivel as the spell squeezed every last trace of spiritual energy from his body.

It was over. It was already too late to interrupt the spell.

Martial Uncle Qin Yan had mentioned during one of his lectures that when casting a spell beyond one's level, one must never go all out.

Unless one had fallen into a Desperate Situation, one should never attempt it.

If one lacked sufficient spiritual power to complete a spell and failed to interrupt it in time, one's life force would ultimately be drained to finish the final casting.

At the critical moment, the Stone Turtle within his Qi Sea Acupoint breathed out a wisp of light and nimble energy.

It was as though a spring had been chiseled open, and spiritual power gushed forth.

Like a parched riverbed receiving long-awaited rain, his shriveled immortal veins stretched open once more, and the spell was successfully completed.

The churning clouds swiftly stabilized, and raindrops the size of grains of rice came pouring down.

Ji An wiped at the nonexistent sweat on his forehead, still shaken. Only at this moment did he truly understand the weight behind the saying, "Behind many inconspicuous rules lie blood and tears."

The heart that had been floating high with pride since obtaining the Stone Turtle slowly settled back onto solid ground.

Old Huang patted his shoulder.

"Little Brother An, impressive! You had an epiphany just now, didn't you?

To comprehend the Minor Mastery level of the Minor Cloud and Rain Art at the first layer of Qi Condensation—I've never heard of such a thing."

Ji An pretended to be dejected.

"My cultivation is too weak. My spiritual power was almost not enough."

"Haha, I can tell you lack experience.

In the future, hold back a little when casting. Once the clouds first appear, you can begin changing your hand seals.

Just don't cast with all your strength. The effect will be a little weaker, but it won't matter much."

Old Huang reached a hand into the Spirit Field, letting the rain soak his sleeve.

"Spirit Farmer Disciples pay no field rent in their first year, do not need to hand over Contribution Points, and the sect even provides Spirit Grain seeds.

With Little Brother An's talent, after a year, you'll be able to support your daily cultivation on your own."

His eyes were filled with deep envy. Back then, he had considered his comprehension fairly decent and practiced spells day and night without rest.

As long as he had spiritual power in his body, he spent every bit of it practicing the Minor Cloud and Rain Art.

It had taken him eight months just to barely train the Minor Cloud and Rain Art to Minor Mastery. Among the Spirit Farmers of his batch, he had been one of the best.

Ji An sighed, a cloud of worry appearing between his brows.

"Alas, I have too little spiritual power, and it affects my efficiency in practicing spells.

If my cultivation reaches the Second Layer of Qi Condensation, I'm confident that I can train the Thick Earth Art to Minor Mastery before the Spirit Grain starts heading."

Was this how confident a spellcasting prodigy was? Old Huang felt inexplicably sour inside.

If he had possessed such powerful talent in spell arts, he certainly would have tried to venture down the path to Foundation Establishment.

For Spirit Farmer Disciples, their first year in the sect was especially crucial.

If they could train both the Minor Cloud and Rain Art and the Thick Earth Art to Minor Mastery within that year, the road ahead would become much easier.

Once these two spells reached Minor Mastery, both would directly increase Spirit Grain yield, and their effects stacked. Yet Spirit Grain could be planted for all four seasons of the year!

Ji An read his expression and felt the time was right. Cupping his hands, he said, "Senior Brother, I have an unreasonable request. I ask to borrow one Spirit Stone to buy medicinal pills, so that I may enter the Second Layer of Qi Condensation as soon as possible.

After this season's Spirit Grain is harvested, I will repay it in full."