Gathering Spirit

Zhou Er brought his Spirit Stones to the Wutong District market, hoping to see if he could buy some spells or items with useful attributes.

Lin Shiyu was currently watching the Alchemy Furnace in Elder He Lin's alchemy room, so Zhou Er had to browse alone. But he was already familiar with the place and didn't mind being by himself. He strolled around, looking at the stalls.

He stopped in front of a stall selling talismans.

[Fireball Talisman: Activate it to release a fireball with considerable power.]

[Equipped Attributes: Fire Attribute Amplification (White)]

[Fire Attribute Amplification (White): Increases the power of fire attribute spells by thirty percent.]

[Solidification Condition: Master the Fireball Technique to the Great Accomplishment stage.]

[Equip?]

Staring at the Fireball Talisman's attribute, Zhou Er fell into thought.

It was clearly a combat attribute that could greatly boost his fighting ability. It was a pretty good one.

Besides, Lin Shiyu knew the Fireball Technique. If he bought the talisman, he could ask her to teach him the spell later.

"Senior Brother! How much for the Fireball Talismans?"

Zhou Er asked.

"All these talismans are three for one Spirit Stone. You can pick any three you like."

The stall owner smiled.

Zhou Er looked over the other talismans.

[Godspeed Talisman: Activating it increases your walking speed. You can travel a thousand miles in a night.]

[Equipped Attributes: High-speed Reaction]

[High-speed Reaction: Increases reaction speed by one tenth.]

[Solidification Condition: Travel Ten Thousand Miles.]

[Equip?]

The Godspeed Talisman was extremely common, often used by sect disciples when heading home for a visit. It was worth far less than a combat talisman, so selling it for the same price as a Fireball Talisman would be a poor deal.

But the High-speed Reaction attribute was pretty good.

In a fight, being faster by even a second meant seizing the initiative—and that could decide the victor.

So he could pick this talisman, too.

Then Zhou Er looked at the last one.

[Water Healing Talisman: Activating it casts the Water Healing Technique to heal external injuries.]

[Equipped Attributes: Self-Healing (White)]

[Self-Healing (White): Heals the user, increasing the speed of self-healing by thirty percent.]

[Solidification Condition: Master two water attribute spells.]

[Equip?]

This Water Healing Talisman was pretty good, too. It could speed up the recovery of injuries. He'd pick these three, then. Zhou Er paid the stall owner one Low-grade Spirit Stone.

As he continued on, Zhou Er spotted a stall selling pills.

He was about to buy some Bigu Pills to replenish his supply when he saw a pill with an especially good effect.

[Spirit Gathering Pill: Contains abundant Spirit Energy. Taking it can aid cultivation.]

[Equipped Attributes: Spirit Gathering (White)]

[Spirit Gathering (White): Automatically gathers Spirit Qi, increasing cultivation speed by twenty percent.]

[Solidification Condition: Take one hundred Fine-grade Spirit Gathering Pills.]

[Equip?]

"You look unfamiliar, Junior Brother. You just joined the sect, didn't you?"

Before Zhou Er could speak, the stall owner struck up a conversation.

"Senior Brother, how much is one Spirit Gathering Pill?"

Zhou Er pointed to the gourd of Spirit Gathering Pills and asked the stall owner.

"These are Fine-grade Spirit Gathering Pills made by our Wutong District's Senior Brother Qi Jiale. Just one Low-grade Spirit Stone each."

The stall owner smiled. He was an Outer Sect Disciple helping Qi Jiale run the stall, one of Qi Jiale's underlings.

"Senior Brother Qi?"

Zhou Er thought he'd heard that name before. Qi Jiale was already at the Eleventh Level of Qi Refining, with profound cultivation, nearly at Foundation Establishment.

A Spirit Gathering Pill only lasted two hours, yet it cost one Low-grade Spirit Stone. That was truly expensive. Zhou Er hated to part with his Spirit Stones, but the attribute was so good that he had to take the hit to his wallet and buy one.

"I'll buy one for now!"

Zhou Er said.

"Great! Here you go, Junior Brother. I guarantee you'll come back for more after you try it! You won't regret it. My name's Huang Longyan. I help Senior Brother Qi run the stall right here, and we set up every five days. Just come find me here next time."

The stall owner found a small gourd and put one pill inside for Zhou Er.

"Senior Brother Huang, I'll remember. I'll definitely come back next time."

Zhou Er nodded.

After browsing around once more and finding nothing else he wanted, Zhou Er returned to the courtyard.

Lin Shiyu came back from work looking exhausted. When she saw Zhou Er, she forced a smile.

"Senior Brother Zhou! Long time no see."

They'd both been busy with their own things these past few days and hadn't had time to bother each other.

"Junior Sister Lin, you're off work?"

Zhou Er asked casually.

"Yeah! I'm exhausted! But I can secretly practice the Fire Control Technique, and Elder He says I've made a lot of progress."

For the past three months, Lin Shiyu had taken her work seriously every day. She observed the Earth Fire and practiced controlling it like Elder He. She'd made tremendous progress.

"That's great."

Zhou Er nodded.

"By the way, Junior Sister Lin, do you know the Fireball Technique?"

Zhou Er asked.

"Of course! It's a basic spell for fire attribute cultivators."

Lin Shiyu replied.

"Then I was wondering if you'd be willing to teach me. I'd be happy to pay you in Spirit Stones."

Zhou Er asked.

Learning the Fireball Technique was important. After all, he'd have to head out and hunt tigers later, so he needed to learn some ways to attack.

"Of course! But you'll have to wait until I'm off. Elder He only gives me one day off every ten days, and my next day off isn't for another five days."

Lin Shiyu said.

Fire Control Attendants like them had it rough. They hardly ever got a break.

"Sounds good! Teach me when you have time, Junior Sister Lin."

Zhou Er nodded. Five days wasn't long.

After chatting briefly, Zhou Er and Lin Shiyu returned to their respective courtyards and shut their doors.

[Name: Zhou Er]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Second Layer (3.27%)]

[Equipment Slot (3/3): Five Animals Health Technique, Spirit Gathering Pill, Bigu Pill]

[Unsolidified Attributes: Spirit Gathering (White), Five Animals Health Technique (Perfect), Longevity, Taotie (White)]

[Solidified Attributes: Spirit Qi Purification (White), Qi Gathering, Strength Increase (White)]

Zhou Er had equipped the Spirit Gathering Pill. Its effect was quite good. Like the Taotie attribute, it passively increased his cultivation. It wasn't as powerful as Taotie, but it was still pretty good.

What's more, the Spirit Gathering attribute had an active effect, too: it increased Zhou Er's cultivation speed by twenty percent while he practiced.

[Spirit Gathering (White): Automatically gathers Spirit Qi, increasing cultivation speed by twenty percent.]

[Solidification Condition: Take one hundred Fine-grade Spirit Gathering Pills.]

It was just that completing the condition for these one hundred Fine-grade Spirit Gathering Pills would be even harder than for the Taotie attribute.

A single Fine-grade Spirit Gathering Pill cost one Low-grade Spirit Stone.

Zhou Er's monthly stipend was only three Low-grade Spirit Stones. At that rate, fully solidifying the attribute would take at least thirty-three months.

Nearly three years. Zhou Er couldn't afford to wait that long.

"I have to find something to do at the Mission Hall."

Zhou Er thought.

The Xiayun Sect had deliberately set things up this way. The stipend they gave was barely enough to live on. If you wanted to cultivate and obtain cultivation resources, you had to earn them yourself.

The sect didn't keep idlers.

Still, Zhou Er planned to learn the Fireball Technique first. Knowing one more skill would improve his chances of getting a mission.

Having made up his mind, Zhou Er sat cross-legged on an ordinary meditation cushion and began cultivating with the Qi Gathering Technique.

With the Spirit Gathering attribute boosting him, his cultivation went much more smoothly than before.

The difficulty of cultivating at each level increased exponentially. But with the Spirit Gathering attribute, Zhou Er's cultivation speed hadn't slowed by much. He'd probably break through again in less than three months and reach the Qi Refining Third Layer.

Five days later, Lin Shiyu had a day off. She brought Zhou Er to the Dojo, where Outer Sect Disciples could freely practice spells.

The Dojo's facilities were protected by spell formations, so Qi Refining disciples could barely damage them.

Even if something was damaged, someone would come repair it.

"Junior Sister Lin, the usual rate for someone to teach a spell is one Spirit Stone for two hours. Shall we go with that?"

Before the lesson, Zhou Er had asked around about the going rate for this sort of tutoring and mentioned it to Lin Shiyu in advance.

"Senior Brother Zhou, we're good friends. Why bring Spirit Stones into it?"

Lin Shiyu demurred.

"Junior Sister Lin, even brothers have to keep accounts clear. Besides, I think your time is very valuable, and I'm willing to pay you for it. And if I've paid a price, I'll take my studies more seriously, won't I?"

Zhou Er said.

Hearing this, Lin Shiyu considered it and realized he had a point. She smiled.

"Fine! Then you'd better study hard, Senior Brother Zhou, or you'll be out a whole lot of Spirit Stones."

"Of course."

Zhou Er smiled.

"To cast the Fireball Technique, you have to channel fire attribute energy. Senior Brother Zhou, since you cultivate a cultivation method without any attribute, you only need to extract the fire attribute energy from your power. But if you cultivate a method of another attribute, you have to convert your power to the fire attribute before casting. Otherwise, the spell will fail."

After they'd made a few preparations, Lin Shiyu explained.

Zhou Er had heard a certain Elder who was proficient in the Five Elements spells explain this.

Ordinarily, cultivators could only cast spells that matched their own attribute.

But an expert proficient in the Five Elements had discovered that the five elements could be converted into one another.

With the Five Elements Rotation Technique, cultivators with a single spiritual root attribute could cast spells of other attributes as well.

Of course, it took several times longer to cast, since they had to convert their Five Elements power first.

Zhou Er had learned this long ago. He nodded.

"Junior Sister Lin, I've already converted some of my power to the fire attribute."

Besides that, Zhou Er had also read up on the Fireball Technique.

"Great! I'll cast it once for you to see first."

With that, Lin Shiyu formed hand seals and gathered her power at her fingertips.

After more than ten breaths, a fist-sized fireball appeared at Lin Shiyu's fingertips and shot toward the target ahead. It struck the target and exploded like a small cannonball.

An ordinary person or an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator hit by that would lose the ability to fight.

But the casting time was too long, so the spell might not be useful in battle.

After all, real combat wasn't target practice. The enemy could attack or dodge before you'd even finished casting.

But if someone could protect you while you cast, it would be a different story.

Zhou Er focused on learning the spell and put aside thoughts of whether it was useful. He'd learn it first.

It was Lin Shiyu's first time teaching anyone. Though she lacked experience, she was very patient.

They practiced from morning to afternoon. Zhou Er used up all the Spirit Energy in his body and could only manage to coax a tiny flame into existence.

[Fire Attribute Amplification (White): Increases the power of fire attribute spells by thirty percent.]

[Solidification Condition: Master the Fireball Technique to the Great Accomplishment stage. (Beginner 34%)]

At least he'd reached the beginner stage. All he needed to do now was keep practicing and build his proficiency.

"Senior Brother Zhou, you managed to make a flame on your first day. You did much better than I did back then. Once you can make a flame, you're more or less on your way to mastering the Fireball Technique. Go home and work on it yourself, Senior Brother Zhou. You might even master it without me teaching you."

Lin Shiyu said.

"Really? I feel like my aptitude is a little too dull."

Zhou Er said self-deprecatingly. He'd practiced for nearly three hours just to reach this point.

"No! Your comprehension is excellent, Senior Brother Zhou. It took me three whole days to finally see a spark when I first practiced the Fireball Technique. If you're dull, then I must be an idiot!"

Lin Shiyu quickly shook her head and said with a smile.

"Junior Sister Lin, you don't need to comfort me."

Zhou Er didn't quite believe her and thought she was just trying to make him feel better.

"I'm not comforting you. It's true. And your power is really deep, too—it's only just run low. Mine is almost completely used up."

Lin Shiyu said.

Zhou Er hadn't managed to cast the spell successfully, so he hadn't consumed much power with each attempt.

But they'd been practicing for at least three hours since morning. Even if each failed cast didn't consume much, after so many attempts, the accumulated cost still exceeded what an ordinary first- or second-layer Qi Refining cultivator could manage.

"Maybe it's because I broke through to the Qi Refining Second Layer."

Zhou Er said.

He knew the real reason: his Spirit Gathering and Taotie attributes.

The Taotie attribute could convert food into nourishment and strengthen him.

The spirit-gathering effect let Zhou Er's body quietly gather spiritual energy from the surrounding air, which was why he could keep it up for so long.

Spirit Energy and magical power were essentially the same thing.

Magical power was the Spirit Energy a cultivator could freely wield after transforming spiritual energy.

"Is that so?"

Lin Shiyu said, though she felt it was because Zhou Er had good talent.

Everyone had different gifts. Some people were born with broad meridians and could hold more Spirit Energy in their dantian.

"Junior Sister Lin, you taught me the Fireball Technique today. Here, this is your payment."

Zhou Er took out two Low-grade Spirit Stones. Though it pained him a little, he was willing to pay for knowledge.

"You don't need to give me so much. One Low-grade Spirit Stone is enough. Besides, I had nothing to do today anyway. I can earn a few Spirit Stones and come out with Senior Brother Zhou too. I couldn't be happier."

Lin Shiyu took only one and left the other.

"We agreed on one Spirit Stone for two hours. We've definitely gone over two hours now."

Zhou Er explained.

"Well, we certainly haven't reached four hours!"

Lin Shiyu said with a smile.

Seeing Lin Shiyu insist again and again, Zhou Er stopped arguing and took back the Spirit Stone.

"By the way, Senior Brother, you've never had a Spirit Meal! Come on! I'm treating you to a proper feast today!"

Having earned some Spirit Stones, Lin Shiyu had no intention of saving them for herself. Instead, she was eager to spend them.

Zhou Er had meant to refuse, but at the thought of a Spirit Meal, his Taotie Heart stirred with anticipation, and he agreed.