Spell Techniques

Returning to the second floor.

Zhu Yu sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. He glanced at the porcelain bowl and several jade boxes and porcelain bottles arranged on the small table before him, then closed his eyes in Spirit Condensing as he recalled the matters involved in cultivating the "Corpse Control Art."

There were mainly two requirements for cultivating a spell technique.

First, one had to find Human Body Dharma Veins compatible with the spell technique's Dharma Veins.

Second, one had to prepare the spiritual materials required to construct the spell technique.

True Sight Eye had already identified the six Dharma Veins most compatible with the "Corpse Control Art," saving Zhu Yu an untold amount of time.

Nor was he lacking spiritual materials. All he needed to do next was follow the proper steps: refine the spiritual materials to Erode and alter the Dharma Veins, then cut out the Dharma Vein Diagram, draw it into his Divine Sea, and nurture it with Spiritual Power into a Dharma Seed.

After reviewing the key points, Zhu Yu picked up the jade bottle containing Spirit Spring water, pulled out its stopper, and tilted it slightly. A stream of clear, cold water fell into the porcelain bowl, fell into the porcelain bowl, shrouded in a hazy spiritual radiance.

He could clearly sense that the Spirit Spring contained dense, pure, attribute-less spiritual energy.

"Dream-Catching Butterfly wing powder..."

Zhu Yu took another jade bottle from the table. Upon opening it, specks of powder shimmering with dazzling rainbow colors sprinkled down. The instant they touched the Spirit Spring water, they dissolved into it.

Once all the Dream-Catching Butterfly wing powder had been poured in,

the Spirit Spring water in the bowl took on a dreamlike, rainbow-colored gleam, and its originally attribute-less spiritual energy became tinged with a different kind of aura.

"Next are the Soul-Parasite Insect's shed shell and the Corpse Beetle's compound eyes..."

Zhu Yu's gaze landed on the two jade boxes on the table. With a wave of his hand, he opened their lids and removed the ice-sealed Corpse Beetle compound eyes and the Soul-Parasite Insect's shed shell, a cocoon-like husk. With a thought, Spiritual Power surged from his palm.

The ice melted into water.

Without hesitation, he placed the two items into the bowl one after another. His fingertip lightly touched the liquid, and a thread of Spiritual Power silently merged into it.

The next moment,

the Spirit Spring water glimmered with hazy rainbow light before immediately beginning to boil. The Corpse Beetle compound eyes and Soul-Parasite Insect's shed shell floating within dissolved at a visible pace.

In just a few breaths, both spiritual materials vanished.

The Spirit Spring water, once rainbow-hued, turned a profound black. Looking into it, no reflection could be seen. Staring too long made one dizzy, with faint hallucinations beginning to rise before one's eyes.

"Phew..."

Zhu Yu let out a soft breath. He tapped the liquid with his fingertip and examined it with True Sight Eye. Once he confirmed that it was the spiritual liquid needed to construct the spell technique, he no longer hesitated and raised the porcelain bowl, draining it in one gulp.

It tasted somewhat sour and bitter. The instant it entered his stomach, a surging, icy aura erupted, as though he had swallowed several chunks of ice in succession. The cold spread through him, making him shudder despite himself.

Zhu Yu knew the spiritual liquid was taking effect. He hurriedly closed his eyes in Spirit Condensing. In the haze of his mind, a humanoid figure formed from densely packed, dazzling rainbow lines appeared before his eyes.

At the location corresponding to the humanoid figure's abdomen,

threads of gray-black aura manifested, passing through Dharma Vein after Dharma Vein and spreading throughout his body. When they reached the edges, they were blocked by a pale golden light, unable to leak out.

"Next, I need to guide this aura to Erode and alter the Dharma Veins..."

With a thought from Zhu Yu, pale white light at the back of the neck on the Human Body Heaven and Earth Meridian Diagram cut out portions of six different Dharma Veins and combined them into a winding, insect-like pattern.

Divine Sense surged, enclosing the pattern. Then Divine Sense condensed into several invisible tentacles, carrying several threads of gray-black aura toward his neck.

With another thought, it was as though he had broken through some invisible barrier.

A thread of gray-black aura manifested within the Human Body Heaven and Earth. The instant it touched one segment of Dharma Vein mainly composed of a Yin Meridian, with wood and water as auxiliaries, intense pain struck him.

It was like being scalded in boiling water, and like being hacked apart by knives and axes. Zhu Yu's Divine Sense trembled, and the Dharma Vein Diagram enclosed by his Divine Sense nearly scattered.

This was also what made cultivating spell techniques so difficult.

Though the Human Body Heaven and Earth existed in the unseen and intangible, it was intimately connected to the physical body. The pain of Eroding and altering Dharma Veins was no less than truly being cut by blades, and because the contact was guided by Divine Sense, the pain was amplified severalfold.

The slightest moment of Split Spirit would allow the aura transformed from the spiritual materials to Erode other Dharma Veins. The consequence would be extra, useless Dharma Veins when cutting out the Dharma Vein Diagram.

After Nurturing it into a Dharma Seed, the number of useless Dharma Veins would affect the spell to varying degrees when cast. If too many useless Dharma Veins were cut out, it would form a dead seed, and one could only start over.

Zhu Yu endured the agonizing pain and guided the aura transformed from the spiritual materials into the Dharma Veins bit by bit.

Gradually, the Dharma Veins revealed a crystalline luster like glazed glass, and the aura merged into them faster.

Just like that,

Zhu Yu continuously guided thread after thread of aura into the Dharma Veins. The agonizing pain came wave after wave like a rising tide, until even the circulation of his Divine Sense felt somewhat stiff and no more aura spilled from his abdomen.

What appeared before his eyes was a winding insect-like Dharma Chart formed from six Dharma Veins shimmering with a glazed-glass luster.

"Now!"

Zhu Yu did not pause. With a movement of his mind, a thread of Spiritual Power entered the Human Body Heaven and Earth under the guidance of Divine Sense, transforming into a handleless sharp blade that lightly sliced along the edge of the "Corpse Control Art" Dharma Veins.

Agonizing pain, as though flesh were being carved away, flooded his mind. The "Corpse Control Art" Dharma Veins were like a demonic insect freed from its shackles, writhing and twisting as they vanished.

The next moment,

the instant the "Corpse Control Art" Dharma Veins appeared in the Divine Sea space, they were drawn into the center by the rotating ring. The Spiritual Power coiled within pounced upon them in a surge, slowly forming a cocoon of Spiritual Power.

"Now I just have to wait for the Corpse Control Art to finish Nurturing..."

Seeing this, Zhu Yu's tightly strung mind finally relaxed. His consciousness returned to his body, and he glanced at the Human Body Heaven and Earth. The severed Dharma Veins had not regrown, leaving a patch of blankness at his neck.

"Can't it recover...?"

His heart tightened, but he soon relaxed again.

The Dharma Veins occupied by the "Corpse Control Art" amounted to less than one percent of his total Dharma Veins. Even if he cultivated the supplementary spell techniques of the Advanced Visualization Method in the future, he would still have more than enough.

When his consciousness returned to his body, Zhu Yu could no longer hold on. He collapsed onto the bed and fell into deep sleep.

The full moons rose as the waning moons retreated.

Faint, thin moonlight filtered through cracks in the clouds and shone through the wooden cabin's window onto a handsome young man lying on a soft couch. His eyelids trembled, then slowly opened.

"Phew..."

Zhu Yu sat up and rubbed his swollen brow. Feeling that his Divine Sense had already recovered, he summoned his status panel with a thought.

[Technique: First-rank lower-grade Corpse Control Art "Nurturing"]

He stared at the "Corpse Control Art," and a piece of information flooded into his mind.

"It needs half a month...?"

A smile spread across Zhu Yu's face. He dismissed the panel and raised his head to glance at the sky beyond the window. Beneath the clouds, only the dim outlines of two full moons could be seen.

He withdrew his gaze, his eyes thoughtful.

Qi Refining cultivation was like piling grains of sand into a mountain. He had used one hundred and fifty Soul Particles to construct the ring. He still had seven Soul Particles yet to merge, and was only one hundred and forty-three Soul Particles away from the three hundred needed for Middle Qi Refining.

Based on his cultivation progress,

without taking spiritual pills, he could condense three Soul Particles a day. In half a year, he could condense five hundred and forty Soul Particles, but he was still far from Late Qi Refining.