Enhancement

Returning to the Inner Residence of the Separate Courtyard,

Zhang Qingyuan shut himself in.

While the memories of the lecture were still clear,

he began practicing and mastering his own spells.

The first thing he cultivated was the newly learned Manifestation Tracing Technique.

This spell had already appeared on the panel, which meant Zhang Qingyuan had already learned it.

All that remained was to practice it into shape.

[You have learned the Manifestation Tracing Technique. You begin attempting to practice and cast it. The Spirit Essence Inside the Body follows the spell, driving the Meridians to surge. Multicolored lights flicker—hiss! White smoke rises. Your spellcasting has failed!]

His first attempt

had failed!

However, Zhang Qingyuan's expression did not change much.

It was Expected.

Anyone who could finish a lesson, return home, and succeed on their first try

was either lucky

or an unparalleled genius at learning spells.

Over the past three years,

Zhang Qingyuan had also come to understand

that when it came to cultivating spells, his aptitude was merely average.

He needed more practice.

His mind remained utterly still.

Forming the Hand Seal,

he began another attempt.

[You begin practicing the Manifestation Tracing Technique—hiss! A puff of white smoke rises. Your spellcasting has failed!]

He failed again.

He did not give up,

instead carefully experiencing the previous sensation and summarizing what he had learned.

He tried again.

[Your spellcasting has failed!]

[Your spellcasting has failed!]

After failing seventeen times in a row,

even though it was only an auxiliary spell,

Zhang Qingyuan was beginning to struggle.

More than half the Spirit Essence Inside the Body had been consumed.

After reviewing the lessons from the previous seventeen failures,

just as he prepared to make one final attempt,

his Hand Seal formed,

and as his Spirit Essence circulated,

suddenly,

inspiration struck.

The Spirit Essence flowed through his hands with unprecedented smoothness!

Buzz!

The Spirit Essence activated smoothly.

A pale white radiance welled up in his eyes, covering his Pupils.

Within his field of vision,

the surrounding world changed!

Faint, chaotic Traces appeared.

He had succeeded!

[You attempt to cultivate the Manifestation Tracing Technique. The first seventeen failures leave your mind exhausted, but you grit your teeth and persist, learning from your mistakes and pressing on.]

[Suddenly, you sense a subtle flash of inspiration. Following that feeling, you wield your Spirit Essence.]

[You have succeeded!]

[Your Manifestation Tracing Technique proficiency +1. After a bout of Hard Cultivation, you have successfully mastered this spell.]

[Your Manifestation Tracing Technique has reached Beginner level!]

The Manifestation Tracing Technique on the panel also changed.

Spring Return Technique: (Level Two: 47/100)
Manifestation Tracing Technique: (Level One: 1/10)

He had finally learned it.

Looking At the line of text on the panel,

Zhang Qingyuan felt joy rise from the bottom of his heart.

The satisfaction and sense of achievement brought by success

after all that hard work and study

made him especially delighted.

Next,

as long as he practiced it a little more,

he could raise the Manifestation Tracing Technique's proficiency Bit by Bit.

But After All, this was only an auxiliary spell.

It had little power,

and Zhang Qingyuan did not place much hope in whether it could prove useful.

In any case, he had no use for it for the time being.

It would not improve his strength by much.

After some rough planning,

unless necessary in the future,

he would only raise it to Level Two.

It could only be considered an accumulation of spells.

Thus,

after that,

Zhang Qingyuan no longer cultivated the Manifestation Tracing Technique.

Instead, he began cultivating his other spells.

Headmaster Liu's lecture

had After All only covered theoretical knowledge from the classroom.

The increased experience progress was likewise only theoretical improvement.

To fully digest and master it all,

he still needed plenty of practical training in his usual time.

It was almost exactly the same as attending class and listening to lectures in his Previous Life, then doing exercises afterward to reinforce his knowledge.

Compared with others,

Zhang Qingyuan possessed the Data Panel. He could immediately inspect his own progress and adjust his cultivation according to the rate at which his proficiency increased.

The advantage this gave him was far greater than what others had.

After all,

how many people, upon the dull road of cultivation,

ultimately gave up on arduous cultivation

because of repetitive, tedious practice

where they could not see any Harvest or progress?

They gave continuously,

yet saw no Harvest.

This was one of the most important reasons people could not persist.

Zhang Qingyuan, who possessed the Proficiency Panel,

happened to make up for this weakness to the greatest extent.

The data-based display on the panel

was precisely the greatest factor allowing Zhang Qingyuan to persevere on the previously tedious road of cultivation.

Though the panel's functions were unlike certain systems,

where adding points made one stronger

and allowed one to soar to the heavens in a single step,

at the very least, compared to others,

Zhang Qingyuan's Qidian was already quite good.

After steadying himself,

resting and restoring the Spirit Essence Inside the Body,

Zhang Qingyuan continued his Seclusion Cultivation.

[You cultivate arduously and digest the knowledge from Headmaster Liu's lecture. Your Spring Breeze Fine Rain Technique proficiency +1.]

[You cultivate arduously and digest the knowledge from Headmaster Liu's lecture. Your Light Body Technique proficiency +1.]

[You cultivate arduously. Your Growth Induction Technique proficiency +1.]

[Your Light Body Technique proficiency +1.]

[Your Spring Return Technique proficiency +1.]

[Your Water Essence Art proficiency +1.]

For several days in a row,

Zhang Qingyuan remained cooped up inside the Inner Residence,

engaged in extraordinarily arduous cultivation.

On the panel,

lines of text refreshed one after another.

Even amid his exhaustion,

Zhang Qingyuan's heart was filled with joy.

Name: Zhang Qingyuan
Realm: Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level Early Stage
Cultivation Method:
Water Essence Art (995/1000(+3))
Spells:
Spring Breeze Fine Rain Technique: (Level Three: 885/1000(+6))
Light Body Technique: (Level Three: 9/1000(+5))
Growth Induction Technique: (Level Two: 91/100(+7))
Spring Return Technique: (Level Two: 49/100(+2))
Manifestation Tracing Technique: (Level One: 3/10(+2))
Martial Skill:

Combined with Headmaster Liu's lecture,

after several days of hard cultivation, Zhang Qingyuan had raised the proficiency of every spell on the panel, some more and some less.

Frequently exhausting his own Spirit Essence to cultivate spells

also caused the proficiency of the Water Essence Art

to rise by 3 points in only a few short days.

His Harvest was immense!

These increases in proficiency

might seem tiny.

Yet in truth,

it was precisely these Bit by Bit improvements that had allowed Zhang Qingyuan, in just over a year,

to continuously advance his cultivation,

successively catch up to the Outer Sect Disciples from the same Separate Courtyard,

and ultimately reach his current Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level.

He had in turn surpassed Many people.

"Unfortunately, this Lecture did not explain Martial Skill cultivation."

Looking At the Proficiency Panel before him,

Zhang Qingyuan felt somewhat greedily unsatisfied.

"If Headmaster Liu could come give Lectures often, that would be wonderful. At that rate, if I improve by one point a day, I'll have a greater chance of entering the Inner Sect at the Outer Sect Grand Competition half a year from now!"

Unfortunately.

He still wanted more.

Let alone, this lecture was on the cultivation of spell techniques,

Knowledge concerning Martial Skills would not be covered until the next class.

Headmaster Liu was a True Essence Realm expert,

His cultivation experience and insights were immensely precious to Outer Sect Disciples in the Spirit Essence Realm like Zhang Qingyuan.

But unfortunately,

He was not a professional teacher after all,

So there were not many opportunities like the one a few days ago, when he taught genuine substance.

Other than Chaoyang Peak's once-every-three-months preaching session,

Most Chaoyang Peak gatherings were taught by Outer Sect Deacons in his stead,

Leaving the Outer Sect Disciples to cultivate on their own.

Either pairing up to fight and gain experience,

Or learning some basic knowledge of the Cultivation World, and so on.

It was precisely because of this,

That the once-every-three-months lecture was held in such high regard.

"Ah, what am I thinking? I'm being greedy."

Zhang Qingyuan slapped his forehead.

This was no longer Blue Star from his Previous Life.

Although Headmaster Liu would certainly have been considered an unqualified teacher in his Previous Life, among the hundred-odd Separate Courtyards of the Cloud Water Sect's Outer Sect, he was not particularly bad either.

The strong were revered,

That was the theme of this world.

Casting aside the thoughts in his heart,

Zhang Qingyuan once more entered a grueling cultivation routine.

During the day, he cultivated and improved his spell techniques. Once the pace of improvement slowed, he diligently practiced the newly learned Manifestation Tracing Technique. When he grew tired from spell cultivation, he also trained in Martial Skills. At night, he spent several hours meditating and cultivating his Internal Skill.

With unrelenting persistence,

After several days, the data on Zhang Qingyuan's panel improved slightly once again.

The Manifestation Tracing Technique had already reached the second level,

So Zhang Qingyuan set it aside.

He returned to his daily cultivation routine.

Several more days passed,

And the once-every-ten-days gathering of the Seventeenth Branch began.

Unfortunately, the one who appeared was not Headmaster Liu,

But an Outer Sect Deacon at the Spirit Essence Realm Ninth Layer who had come as a substitute.

That Deacon was clearly just going through the motions,

He directly had the disciples undergo a group training session on Chaoyang Peak,

Then there was nothing else.

Once it was over, everyone dispersed.

An entire morning had been wasted.

Though it was somewhat regrettable,

The Outer Sect Disciples had already Expected as much.

Nearly a third of their Fellow Sect Members had not come at all, instead going off to do other things.

Yao Ping, who had previously provoked Zhang Qingyuan,

Was nowhere to be seen either.

According to one Fellow Sect Member,

Yao Ping was preparing to break through the bottleneck of the Mid Spirit Essence Realm and was currently in seclusion.

This gave Zhang Qingyuan a faint sense of crisis.

After the gathering ended,

Zhang Qingyuan pondered for a moment,

But did not return directly to his quarters to cultivate.

Instead, he headed toward the External Affairs Hall.

He planned to take on some Outer Sect missions,

To obtain some Cultivation resources,

And increase the speed of his cultivation.

The next few lectures probably won't be of much use. I can skip them whenever I want. The Outer Sect Grand Competition is only half a year away—it's time to take on some missions and obtain resources to speed up my cultivation.

Half a Month ago,

In order to exchange for One Pill of Spirit Stone,

He had spent all the Contribution Points he had saved over an entire year.

At present,

The Sect's monthly resource allotment had not yet been issued,

And he was basically penniless.

After these days of cultivation, his cultivation at the initial stage of the Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level had stabilized.

At the same time,

Through persistent Hard Cultivation, his primary Cultivation Method, the Water Essence Art, had also reached (Third Level: 999/1000), on the verge of a breakthrough.

Breakthroughs and advancement in cultivation,

Required Cultivation resources.

And now, the only place where Zhang Qingyuan could obtain Cultivation resources,

Was the External Affairs Hall.

Cultivation,

Was a matter of advancing or falling behind.

Zhang Qingyuan had not forgotten,

That behind him,

There was still a powerful challenger lurking.