Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch

Three days later.

Lu Yang wore a fitted outfit, his back ramrod straight and an excited smile on his face now that he had finally memorized the contents of the golden paper.

"Recite it for me."

"'A thousand miles exist, clear before the eyes; when released, they stretch anew...'" Lu Yang recited it fluently without the slightest pause. It was obvious that he had committed the contents to memory.

Yun Zhi nodded. The incantation was obscure, with profound meaning packed into every word, and reciting it consumed an immense amount of mental energy. Lu Yang's performance was proof enough of how deeply he had worked at it.

"This incantation is an introduction. When you're still unfamiliar with the spell, silently reciting it in your mind can help you cast it successfully. Once you can use Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch proficiently, the incantation will be useless."

"Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch is a spatial spell. It's still a little early for you to cultivate it. However, since you're Master's disciple, and Master learned this spell at the same cultivation level you're at now, you might be able to do it as well."

"The most important thing when cultivating spatial spells is safety. The moment space misaligns, you'll end up with your head and body in separate places, or cut in half at the waist. That's why the cultivation world has an unwritten rule: anyone cultivating spatial spells must have a senior who is proficient in space nearby to guide them."

Yun Zhi grew unusually solemn. Seeing this, Lu Yang put away his smile and listened attentively to Yun Zhi's lecture.

"The principle behind the spell Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch is to shrink the earth into an area only a square inch in size, allowing the caster to step over it with ease and cross an endless distance to reach another place. The more proficient your control, the larger the area of earth you can shrink and the farther you can cross. Once you cultivate it to great mastery, even the vast Central Continent won't be able to impede your steps."

"What you need to understand is that cultivating spells requires comprehension. You've never come into contact with spatial spells before, so whether you succeed or fail, you must be mentally prepared."

"A cultivator should remain unmoved by honor or disgrace, and avoid both wild elation and profound grief."

Yun Zhi taught by word and example, passing on her own cultivation experience to Lu Yang.

Lu Yang nodded. He felt that Eldest Senior Sister was the person most qualified to say that. He had never seen her display any violent emotional fluctuations.

He was lacking in that regard.

At first, seeing Eldest Senior Sister always wearing the same expression, Lu Yang had thought she had no emotions. After slowly getting to know her, he discovered that she did have emotional fluctuations—only they were far too slight.

Now, Lu Yang had a certain chance of judging Eldest Senior Sister's mood through the minute changes in her expression.

For example, right now... Hmm, he couldn't tell.

"I'll demonstrate it for you first."

Yun Zhi had no idea what Lu Yang was thinking. She tossed a red flag onto the mountaintop opposite them. Before Lu Yang could see clearly, she took a light step forward and vanished, then appeared again with the red flag in her hand.

"That's all there is to it. Once you succeed, practice a few more times and you'll become as proficient as I am."

Lu Yang stood rooted to the spot and blinked once, then blinked again.

What had just happened?

In Lu Yang's eyes, Yun Zhi had seemed to throw out the red flag and casually retrieve it. He hadn't even seen whether it had landed on the opposite mountaintop, and he couldn't detect any sign that she had used a spell at all.

Yun Zhi rarely frowned. When her master had taught her, he had demonstrated it the same way, and she had learned it in a single attempt.

Afraid that Lu Yang hadn't understood, Yun Zhi demonstrated it again.

Thus, the flag was thrown, she took a step, and she returned, all in one smooth motion, leaving him completely bewildered.

"..."

Sure enough, there were times when even Eldest Senior Sister couldn't be relied upon. When it came to learning, he really had to depend on himself.

Lu Yang met Eldest Senior Sister's gaze. This time, he could tell what mood she was in.

She was hoping he could master it.

But, Eldest Senior Sister, you have to understand that with your teaching skills, no one could learn from you.

Lu Yang secretly sighed. He couldn't count on Eldest Senior Sister anymore, so he would cast the spell according to his own understanding of Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch.

"'A thousand miles exist, clear before the eyes; when released, they stretch anew...'" Lu Yang shut his eyes tightly as he cast the spell, forming hand seals and chanting the incantation.

"Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch!" Lu Yang shouted. His figure vanished at once, and the scenery around him changed. Everything was pitch-black, as though he had fallen into another dimension.

Lu Yang's heart leaped. He had actually succeeded on his first try.

He really was a genius!

Lu Yang had heard Senior Sister say that the principle of Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch was to distort and fold space. The caster walked through another dimension, which was a straight line; by passing through it, one could reach the destination in the shortest possible time.

Just as Lu Yang was about to laugh uproariously, he discovered black matter pouring into his mouth. His body was trapped by it, leaving him unable to move his limbs, and the alternate dimension seemed to have no air. Breathing had become extraordinarily difficult.

After a brief and calm period of thought, he recognized one thing:

He had shrunk into the earth.

Lu Yang now had one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The good news was that he had learned half of Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch—shrinking the earth.

The bad news was that he had only learned half of it.

On the ground, Yun Zhi didn't know what to say. She had watched Lu Yang cast the spell with her own eyes, only for him to shrink into the earth and learn the Earth Escape Technique.

Why had a spatial spell veered into one of the five-element spells?

As the Eldest Senior Sister of the Ask Dao Sect and the Sect Master's first disciple, Yun Zhi's cultivation and talent ranked first among all the Ask Dao Sect's disciples. She could casually create cultivation arts and learn spells at a glance. Her comprehension was peerless, rare throughout history. Any genius would pale before her, and she could only be described as terrifying.

Yet even she couldn't understand Lu Yang's casting principle at all.

These were clearly two unrelated spells.

With a muffled pop, Lu Yang cast Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch again. His head drilled out of the ground like a mole emerging from its burrow, making people want to smash him with a hammer or stomp on him.

Lu Yang coughed, trying to dispel the awkwardness.

Even Lu Yang's thick skin couldn't withstand a situation this embarrassing.

Yun Zhi expressionlessly pulled Lu Yang out of the earth and shook loose a pile of mud.

It was like pulling up a radish.

"That was an accident. I'll try again."

Lu Yang felt that he was about to find the trick.

"'A thousand miles exist, clear before the eyes; when released, they stretch anew...'" Lu Yang formed the hand seals and recited the incantation again, this time even faster than before.

"Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch!" Lu Yang shouted, and the change happened again.

Yun Zhi was tall and slender, but she was still half a head shorter than Lu Yang. Normally, Lu Yang could see the top of Eldest Senior Sister's head, but now things were different.

Yun Zhi's body gradually grew taller. Lu Yang went from looking down at her, to looking straight at her, to looking up at her, and finally to craning his neck as hard as he could.

From Lu Yang's angle, he couldn't even see Eldest Senior Sister's face.

Yun Zhi was like a giant holding up the heavens, her head touching the sky and her feet planted on the earth.

"No, I've become smaller!"

Lu Yang shouted. When he saw the half-person-high stones on the ground, he realized what had gone wrong.

Three-inch-tall Lu Yang bounced up and down on the ground, even his voice much quieter than before.

He had learned a new spell—Becoming an Inch.

Lu Yang's talent for spells was likewise terrifying. A genius like Yun Zhi had learned only Shrinking the Earth to a Square Inch when she studied the spell, but Lu Yang had learned two spells: Shrinking the Earth and Becoming an Inch!

Yun Zhi crouched down to examine Lu Yang, her brows faintly furrowed, as though she couldn't figure out which step had gone wrong.