Thunder Summoning Art

Dong Lin returned to the Immortal Arts Hall and applied to the duty deacon for a spiritual root test.

After successfully entering the Qi Refining Stage, every disciple could apply to the Immortal Arts Hall for an elemental affinity test and select one basic spell.

Cultivators relied on spiritual power to manipulate elements and cast spells of various attributes. Spells were also the most common means of combat between cultivators.

If they did not rely on elemental power and simply attacked with condensed spiritual power, the might would be far weaker.

In battles between cultivators of the same realm, what mattered was whose spells were more powerful and faster to cast.

Spells of different attributes often countered one another, so most cultivators chose to cultivate spells of several different elemental types.

Some prodigies even challenged themselves by cultivating composite spells combining multiple attributes.

Composite spells were difficult and far harder to control than single-attribute spells, but accordingly, they were much more powerful and troublesome than ordinary single-attribute spells of the same level.

Cultivators could learn spells of all attributes, but everyone was born with different spiritual roots, and their affinity for each elemental attribute naturally differed as well.

Thus, disciples of most immortal sects tested their spiritual roots before choosing spells.

This allowed them to roughly determine their overall elemental affinity and which attribute they leaned toward most.

Led by a disciple of the Immortal Arts Hall, Dong Lin arrived before the testing stone.

The spiritual root testing stone was cylindrical and stood in the center of a plaza.

"Please place your hand on the stone pillar and channel your spiritual energy into it."

Following the instructions, Dong Lin fed the pitifully small thread of spiritual energy he possessed into the stone pillar before him.

As spiritual energy slowly entered it, the stone pillar lit up from bottom to top.

At last, the column of light stopped at a point slightly below the halfway mark.

"Hm?" The disciple in charge of the test looked at the stone pillar in confusion.

"Pure violet light? What does that mean?" The testing disciple scratched his head, then used the dedicated recording jade token to send a beam of light containing the test results into Dong Lin's sect jade token.

"Is this for confidentiality?" Dong Lin looked at his jade token, took it out, and used his divine sense to examine the information on it.

Spiritual Root Elemental Affinity: Medium, forty-three

Compatible element, from highest to lowest: Lightning

"Please come with me."

Dong Lin followed the testing disciple to where the Immortal Arts Hall's elder responsible for transmitting teachings was located.

"Elder Xu, this is Dong Lin, an outer disciple who has newly broken through to the Qi Refining Stage. This is his test report, though it is somewhat strange."

The disciple in charge of the test wrote Dong Lin's results on paper and handed them to Elder Xu.

"Hm? Medium affinity, and only lightning?" Elder Xu looked over the results and gave Dong Lin a strange look.

Dong Lin, too, looked at the elder responsible for transmitting teachings with a puzzled expression.

"I've been transmitting teachings for over sixty years, and this is the first time I've encountered someone as unusual as you," Elder Xu said to Dong Lin.

"You must be wondering why we were so surprised by your test results."

"I ask Elder to enlighten me."

"Among the disciples of our sect, your elemental affinity would be considered below average.

Yet you have only a single compatible element—lightning. I have never seen such a case among the thousands of disciples I have tested.

You must understand that lightning affinity is universally recognized in the cultivation world as something that generally appears only in supreme prodigies with elemental affinity above ninety and immortal-grade spiritual roots.

Even those without immortal-grade spiritual roots would at least possess top-tier, high-grade spiritual roots. But for such high-grade spiritual root prodigies, lightning would not be their primary compatible element. It would usually be their second or third compatible element." Elder Xu paused before continuing.

"The heavens and earth are vast and boundless. It is not strange for an exception like you to appear."

"If lightning is my only compatible element, can I still cultivate spells of other attributes?" Dong Lin asked worriedly.

Don't tell me I'll become a lopsided cultivator in the future. I was lopsided in school already—why do I have to be lopsided in cultivation too?

"This is common knowledge that the Immortal Arts Hall's courses would normally cover later, but I'll tell you now."

Elder Xu stroked his beard and smiled. "Most people do not need to know this, because over ninety percent of cultivators have three or more compatible elements.

What are compatible elements? It means you will find it easier to cultivate spells of those attributes, because you can manipulate those types of elements more effectively.

But that does not mean you cannot cultivate spell types whose attributes are not compatible with you. It merely means your progress will be slower than when cultivating compatible elements.

At your current stage, you do not need to think about so much. Just focus on lightning spells, and at most study a few fire-controlling spells as well.

Lightning spells are the domain of prodigies. You should know that those without lightning affinity find it extremely difficult to cultivate lightning-attribute spells.

Because lightning is not one of the Five Elements, cultivating it without affinity is more than ten times harder than cultivating it with affinity.

And lightning spells, which demand so much, possess power beyond that of ordinary spells. Lightning governs slaughter and destruction. It has always been so!"

"Enough. I won't say more. Disciples in the sect with lightning affinity are rare. Take this Thunder Summoning Art and try cultivating it. If there is anything you do not understand, come find me."

Dong Lin accepted the Thunder Summoning Art, thanked him, and left the Immortal Arts Hall.

After returning to the cultivation room, Dong Lin first set the Thunder Summoning Art aside.

Even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice. With the tiny amount of spiritual power Dong Lin currently possessed, he simply could not support the cultivation of spells.

His most urgent task was still to raise his cultivation.

Whenever Dong Lin made even the slightest progress, he would attempt to cultivate the two mythic-grade immortal arts in his mind, yet he seemed unable to advance an inch.

He clearly felt that he thoroughly understood every part of the two cultivation methods, but the moment he tried to begin cultivating them, he had no idea where to start.

With Dong Lin's meager cultivation, he was still unable to master those two cultivation methods.

"Since I can't cultivate them for now, I should hurry up and improve my cultivation instead."

A single unit of spiritual power was simply pitifully little. He could not even attempt to cultivate the most basic entry-level spell, the Thunder Summoning Art.

However, this was also due to the Thunder Summoning Art itself. As a lightning spell, its initial spiritual energy consumption was incomparable to that of basic spells based on the Five Elements.

Before long, Dong Lin immersed himself in cultivating the Breath-and-Spirit Absorption Art.

As he circulated the first Lesser Celestial Circuit for the second time, Dong Lin had already gained some understanding of it.

His speed in guiding spiritual energy had noticeably increased, and he had also developed a rudimentary understanding of the structure of his own meridians.

"If my meridians were tough enough, this would be much easier. I could just guide spiritual energy through them recklessly, and a single meridian could be circulated in moments."

As he cultivated, Dong Lin began indulging in wild fantasies.

Of course, this was not entirely without basis. High-level body cultivators who cultivated both internally and externally could achieve this to a certain extent.

But body cultivators of that level generally already stood at the peak of this world, and few would choose to embark on the path of immortal cultivation again.

This shortcut, possible to a certain degree, was not beneficial for tempering a cultivator's control over spiritual energy.

Without such precise control over spiritual energy, the disadvantages to future cultivation would far outweigh the benefits.