Sky Mastery

"I want to learn the arts of the immortals, ride a crane into the sky~

Turn stone into gold, wondrous beyond words~

I must go to Mount Lao to learn the arts of the immortals~~"

On a country lane between fields, a tall, broad-shouldered young man in a gray scholar's robe trudged onward, leaning on a wooden staff as tall as he was, with a book box strapped to his back.

He hummed a strange little tune as he walked.

This was Ling Qing, who had left town and was making his way to Mount Lao.

After bidding farewell to the old man, he first found a pharmacy and bought some medicinal herbs.

He also paid a fee to use the pharmacy's tools and prepared some pills for self-defense: some for treating injuries, some for curing illnesses, some for driving away snakes and insects, and some for countering poison.

He made sure to prepare extra Ghost-Repelling Pills.

Afterward, he bought some dry rations at the market and headed straight out of town.

Once he reached a secluded spot, he took out his map and marked two routes on it.

After comparing them, he decided to play it safe and go through Changyang Town, even if it meant taking a longer route.

Going straight to Miao Mountain would be faster, but he might get caught up in the tiger's man-eating spree and lose even more time.

This time, entering the instance was a little different. After he entered the last one, there had been a countdown beside the instance's name.

This time, there was nothing at all. There was no time limit, no instruction to leave after a certain period, and no option to leave.

Time Fragments weren't a complete world, so it was impossible for anyone to remain here forever.

Just like a movie, it had to come to an end eventually.

Since he couldn't leave now, there had to be a reason for it.

Perhaps he needed to trigger some hidden condition, or perhaps he had to wait for the story of the Lao Mountain Daoist to end.

But he had no clue at the moment, so he planned to reach Mount Lao safely first and figure things out afterward.

In ancient times, the government would conscript laborers to build roads between cities. These were known as official roads.

The official roads were wide, level, and paved with packed earth and stone, but they had two drawbacks. Travelers had to be constantly on guard for people from the government offices.

They were also usually built along the shortest, quickest route between two cities.

So when traveling between villages and towns, unless an official road happened to be on the way, most people wouldn't take a detour just to use one.

As it happened, the road from Jinshui Town to Changyang Town didn't follow an official road.

There was, however, a narrow path that passed through several mountain villages.

As the saying went, "There was no road until people walked it; walk it often enough, and it became one."

Apart from the official roads that saw regular merchant caravans, most everyday routes were rugged trails.

They were usually carved out by people looking to save themselves some effort, and few saw large groups traveling along them.

As a result, weeds choked the paths, and people were few and far between.

Ling Qing wasn't worried about the rough roads, though.

A Druid with Forest Walk could cross thorny thickets and dense forests as easily as level ground. A mere trail was nothing to him.

He had already taken a detour of more than ten days. If he took the main road, it would probably cost him several more.

The paths people made between villages and towns rarely took more than a day to walk, unless a village was particularly remote.

After all, in this era, it was far more dangerous to travel at night or spend the night out in the wild.

So Ling Qing reached the next mountain village in the early afternoon.

Though it was still early, he didn't plan to keep going.

He reckoned he wouldn't reach the next village before nightfall. If he pressed on, he would certainly have to spend the night outdoors.

He went straight to the village head's home, showed him his Identity Token, and asked to stay for the night.

In ancient times, people had household registration documents much like identity cards, which were checked when they traveled or did business.

Ordinary private citizens weren't allowed to put up strangers from elsewhere.

That was when the benefits of choosing the identity of a scholar became clear.

The village head took one look at his proof of identity, asked around, and learned he was a scholar. He agreed at once.

After arranging his lodging, Ling Qing went to the woods behind the village.

He sat cross-legged in the woods and used the Heart of Nature to replenish his own power, then kept balancing the surrounding environment to earn every bit of experience he could.

Along the way, he had done nothing but travel and practice his new spells.

He was trying to record them in his Spellbook as soon as possible.

Before entering the instance, he had scraped together more than two thousand experience points.

After weighing the choice between raising his class level and leveling up Five Animal Frolics to gain attribute points, he chose to raise his class level.

"Character spends 2,250 general experience points. Druid class level increases to level 3."

"Character receives a class baptism. Your overall base attributes increase to a certain degree, and your understanding of the Way of Nature increases to a certain degree."

"Character obtains a new class skill: Traceless Step."

When he leveled up, the Heart of the Druid also unleashed a surge of energy that coursed through his body, making it even stronger.

He also gained a new class skill.

But that wasn't the main reason Ling Qing had chosen to level up.

At level 1, a Druid could learn first-circle spells. To learn second-circle spells, he had to reach level 3.

Spellcasters could learn the next circle of spells every two class levels.

First-circle spells had limited effects, but the Druid's second-circle spell list was another matter.

There were spells like Bull's Strength that temporarily boosted attributes.

There was Barkskin, which increased defense; Bodyguard, which absorbed damage; and Sky Mastery, which let the caster grow wings of air and fly.

All of them greatly enhanced a Druid's ability to survive.

Even the attack spells, like the powerful Thorn Spear and Flaming Sphere, packed a much greater punch.

But he'd been in too much of a hurry to learn all those spells. Now he had no choice but to study as he traveled.

After practicing the spells for a while, he replenished his power and recorded the spells he'd learned in his Spellbook.

It was already growing dark when he finally got up and returned to the village head's home.

Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, Ling Qing left some copper coins, said farewell to the old village head, and continued on his way.

Over the next few days, he studied and practiced his new spells as he traveled.

At times, he even used the power of his spells to speed himself up.

Especially Sky Mastery, which could make a person fly.

"Sky Mastery

Spell Level: Second circle

Casting Cost: 5–20 points of power

Casting Time: Standard action

Spell Components: Verbal (Air), somatic, material

Range: Personal

Target: Self

Duration: 1 round per level

Spell Description: When you raise a feather high and chant the spell, enormous transparent wings unfurl from your back. You leap into the air and take flight.

Spellcasting Component: A feather taken from any bird, or a wing bone from any bat."

As soon as he learned it, Ling Qing eagerly left the path and entered the woods beside it, intending to find some bird feathers.

Since this spell leaned more toward the Path of Elements, Ling Qing couldn't use the Book of Nature to cast it without material components.

And to use Owl's Wisdom, he likewise needed some owl feathers or droppings.

So he had no choice but to impose on the owls a little. Besides collecting some feathers that had fallen into the bushes, he borrowed quite a few from them as well.