Fire Control Technique and Wind Calling Technique

Twenty days later, Su Shi'er exhaled a white breath, and every joint in his body crackled like popping beans.

At this moment, his eyes were bloodshot, his frame had shrunk a full circle, and he looked utterly exhausted. Yet a faint smile lingered on his face.

These twenty days had felt like years to him, agonizing beyond measure.

But the effect of refining this single Qi Gathering Pill was unmistakable. The true essence within him had grown from the size of a grain of rice to that of a soybean.

Now, he could truly be considered a Qi Refiner at the first level of the Qi Refining Stage.

"Indeed, pills are the real treasures! At my current cultivation, taking a Spirit Gathering Pill means enduring immense pain. But my training speed has increased more than tenfold. When I think it over, it's still a good deal!"

"I heard from Senior Sister Xiao Yue that Han Yu reached the first level of Qi Refining in just ten days. My speed isn't as fast as his, but compared to ordinary people, I should be about on par."

Su Shi'er clenched his fists, his face brimming with excitement. He didn't intend to compare himself to anyone; for him, raising his cultivation to the first level of Qi Refining in such a short time was already excellent.

Reining in his excitement, Su Shi'er didn't rush to continue training.

"Though I barely managed to refine this Qi Gathering Pill, my meridians have been damaged in the process."

"If I try again without letting them recover, I'll definitely die."

"But this is a good chance to practice those two techniques from the manual. Otherwise, if I run into real danger, I won't even have a way to protect myself."

Su Shi'er pondered silently, swallowed a Minor Restoration Pill meant for healing, then stood up and walked into the courtyard.

Recalling the information about the Fire Control Technique in his mind, he attempted to channel his true essence and formed hand seals.

"Whoosh..."

The next moment, a fist-sized ball of blazing hot flame appeared before him.

The flame flickered rapidly, seeming on the verge of slipping out of his control. Su Shi'er had no choice but to pour in more true essence.

But the more he did, the more unstable the flame became.

In an instant, his true essence was drained completely.

The flame in the air sputtered out with a puff and vanished.

At the same time, Su Shi'er's body went limp, and he collapsed onto the ground in the courtyard, drenched in sweat and feeling as if all his strength had been sucked away.

The difficulty of the Fire Control Technique and its consumption of true essence far exceeded his imagination.

But Su Shi'er wasn't one to give up easily. He sat cross-legged on the spot, silently recovering his true essence.

Once his true essence was restored, he immediately resumed practicing.

He repeated this cycle over and over, a process that was incredibly tedious. Any other child his age would struggle to endure the monotony, but Su Shi'er held onto a stubborn drive and found it anything but boring.

Gradually, his control over his true essence became more and more effortless. In this constant cycle of depletion and replenishment, his true essence even seemed to grow slightly.

This discovery filled Su Shi'er with pleasant surprise.

Before he knew it, half a year had passed since he joined the Yun Ge Sect.

One evening, in the woods beside the Waste Pill Room, Su Shi'er was bent over, leaning against a towering tree, panting heavily.

Compared to half a year ago, his skin had darkened noticeably, and his body had grown sturdier.

In front of him, three low-rank Wolf Demons with blood-red eyes, bodies the size of oxen, and covered in wounds were slowly closing in, baring their fangs.

Facing the crisis, he remained calm, quickly forming hand seals and mustering the last shred of his true essence.

"Summon Wind!"

"Control Fire!"

With a series of low shouts, a fierce gale swept through the forest, sand and dust blinding the Wolf Demons' sight.

Several balls of searing flame took the opportunity to land on the Wolf Demons.

"Bang, bang, bang~"

Amid the sandstorm, sparks flew in all directions.

The three Wolf Demons were already at their last gasp, and this blow finished them off. They whimpered, collapsed, and died on the spot.

Seeing this, Su Shi'er didn't rush forward. Instead, he sat down cross-legged on the spot.

After a moment, he stood up and hurled several more flames, smashing the Wolf Demons' heads to pulp. Only then did he step forward, skillfully string the corpses together with a rope, and head back toward the Waste Pill Room.

In half a year of training, Su Shi'er had not only mastered both techniques but also grown his true essence from the size of a soybean to that of a broad bean.

"I've gotten these two techniques down pat, but the problem is my true essence is still too shallow—I can only activate the spells three times at most. Next, I'll have to rely on bitter cultivation with Qi Gathering Pills. But before that, I need to collect the Foundation Cultivation Pill the sect distributes."

"Even though I have the mysterious pill furnace and can make as many Foundation Cultivation Pills as I want, an entry disciple who never picks up his pills would seem suspicious."

"And if possible, I need to find a way to investigate the true identity of that Man in Black."

Walking along the path, Su Shi'er silently made his plans.

He had always been fairly sharp, and over these six months, taking Foundation Cultivation Pills daily—though his physique hadn't improved—had made his thinking increasingly agile.

After delivering the Wolf Demon corpses and changing into the Disciple Robe issued by the sect, he immediately set off for the Pill Pavilion.

Each peak had its own Pill Pavilion, and in principle, disciples could only collect their pills from the pavilion on their own peak.

The sect distributes pills and other resources once a year, and they can be collected at any time.

In just one shichen, Su Shi'er arrived outside the Pill Pavilion on Luofu Peak.

From the outside, the Pill Pavilion was a simple square courtyard. The open gate bore a plaque inscribed with the words 'Pill Pavilion'.

Through the gate, he could see a massive Pill Furnace over five meters tall standing in the center of the courtyard. Something was burning inside it, sending up curling smoke that carried its fragrance for miles.

Su Shi'er walked straight into the courtyard. As soon as he entered, he saw seven entry disciples around his age, each with a delighted expression, lining up to receive their pills.

Three of them were the children who had joined Luofu Peak alongside him that day.

For the past half year, they had all been learning to read and write. Only today had they finally passed their assessments, and they couldn't wait to rush over and collect their pills.

Compared to Su Shi'er, these people looked far more naive.

When they saw Su Shi'er enter, the three children recognized him at once, each showing great surprise.

That little beggar! He's still alive?

None of them had expected that Su Shi'er could last so long alone in a place like the Waste Pill Room.

Zhu Hanwei, the chubby boy at the very end of the line, raised an eyebrow and widened his eyes.

"Didn't they say there are beasts in the Waste Pill Room? How does this little beggar look even sturdier?"

Muttering quietly to himself, Zhu Hanwei then ignored him.

In front of the children stood a menial disciple in his twenties, stout and with a face full of coarse flesh.

A pile of medicine bottles was set before him. He stared up at the sky, looking impatient as he finished checking one identity token, then shoved three bottles of pills at a square-faced boy at the front of the line.

The square-faced boy was so excited that he opened the bottle the moment he got it, pouring the pills into his palm to examine them.

The next second, the square-faced boy suddenly froze, his expression shifting slightly.