Practicing a Spell

After steadying his emotions, Xu Yan set the Formation Disk on the ground and injected a stream of magic power into it. A fiery red light shone from the Formation Disk.

In moments, it turned into a mass of blazing fire within the cave.

Delight crossed his face at the sight. He hurriedly took out three Low-Grade Spirit Stones and placed them on the Formation Disk.

With the Spirit Stones supplying spiritual power, the blaze swelled in the breeze. In the blink of an eye, it formed a ring of fire, its ends joining to encircle Xu Yan.

Feeling the heat radiating from the flames, he inwardly clicked his tongue. The earthfire produced by this first-rank, low-grade Fire Array could already inflict fatal injuries on Qi Refining cultivators.

He had no choice but to proceed carefully, lest he injure himself while practicing the spell.

Once everything was ready, he took the fiery red stone containing the Redfire Burning Art into his hand.

By now, the fiery red stone had begun to grow scorching hot. The densely packed, tiny characters of flame on its surface roamed incessantly, like fiery runes unfolding the true essence of fire. Xu Yan had coveted this spell for a long time. It was the reason he had gone to Separation Valley Market, and he had even survived an ambush on his return journey. The price he had paid was far from small.

Although the Redfire Burning Art is a Low-Tier Spell, mastering it will greatly increase my strength.

Spells in the Cultivation World were generally divided into low-tier, mid-tier, and high-tier spells according to their difficulty and power. Low-tier spells were the most basic, and also the oldest and most widely circulated spells in the Cultivation World.

Mid-tier spells were rarely seen outside established powers. They were generally held by Immortal Sects, cultivation lineages, or alliances.

High-tier spells were rarer still. Each was a supreme legacy of the major powers, and only their innermost successors were qualified to practice them.

Above spells were Divine Abilities, methods of truly inconceivable power. Even the whole of Fufeng Commandery might not possess more than a handful of such legacies. Every Divine Ability was a sect's restricted legacy, available only to its master and a few of its most trusted elders.

With that thought, Xu Yan immersed his entire mind in the Redfire Burning Art and began studying and practicing it.

The key to the Redfire Burning Art lay in the assistance of earthfire. A cultivator had to repeatedly expose his body to its searing heat until he could withstand the flames' scorching touch. Otherwise, casting the spell would injure him before it harmed his enemy.

As the Fire Array operated, the temperature throughout the cave rose sharply.

Surrounded by flames, Xu Yan felt scorching heat spread through his entire body. Without the constant circulation of magic power within him counteracting most of the heat, he could not have remained there at all.

"Time to begin!"

Xu Yan gritted his teeth and slowed the circulation of magic power throughout his body. The temperature around him soared, and intense pain instantly shot through his skin.

"Aah!"

Without the protection of magic power, his robes immediately caught fire, turning his whole body into a burning figure.

Unbearable, stabbing pain flooded Xu Yan's mind.

But there was no other way. To practice this spell, he could only endure it head-on, grit his teeth, and hold out. This was also a step every cultivator had to undergo when first practicing a fire spell.

The agonizing pain had already begun to blur Xu Yan's consciousness. Once he lost consciousness, he would be done for. He had been too impatient. He should have allowed his body to adjust to the process gradually.

Just then, he sensed a strange change between his brows. A thread of cool energy flowed out, clearing his mind considerably. At the same time, this energy roamed through his flesh and blood, brimming with vitality.

After devouring the Golden Light Daoist last time, the Mysterious Green Pearl also released a surge of energy. That was what allowed me to cultivate successfully and reach the peak of the first layer of Qi Refining. This time, it happened after devouring the deadly poison...

A flash of inspiration struck him at the sight, and this thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. But he would have to wait until he reached the Third Layer of Qi Refining to verify it.

"Hss!"

When Xu Yan came back to his senses, the searing pain forced a muffled groan from him.

This time, however, his body had already changed. The pain was now within the limits of what his mind could endure.

The process lasted a full ten days, during which he replaced the Spirit Stones three times.

The first step is finally complete!

Ten days later, his body had fully adapted. Even exposing his entire body to the flames' searing heat would no longer cause him any harm.

Next, I need to try casting the spell!

This art allows me to condense flames to attack an enemy. Depending on my aptitude and magic power, I can condense up to nine masses of flame at once. Condensing a single mass means I have truly crossed the threshold. But the real key to this spell lies in the word "burning." The condensed flames can be controlled with Divine Sense, then compressed together. Finally, under the cultivator's control, they erupt in a fiery explosion, inflicting tremendous damage.

Although this was a low-tier spell, the Blazing Fire Sect had selected it to screen prospective disciples. Naturally, it had its own distinctive merits.

According to the records, if I can condense nine masses of flame, combine them into one, and detonate them, their power will rival a mid-tier fire spell! Recalling the description of the spell, Xu Yan could not help yearning for that prospect.

The secret text of the Redfire Burning Art slowly surfaced in his mind, and he studied it word by word, sentence by sentence. The spell was mysterious and unfathomable. As the tiny characters appeared in his mind, he felt them transform into streaks of flame that rushed toward his consciousness.

At that moment, Xu Yan felt as though he stood in a world of fire. His perception of the Fire Elemental Power between heaven and earth grew considerably clearer. Streaks of flame danced around him, expounding the simplest truths of the great Dao of fire.

In an instant, roaring flames sprang up over Xu Yan's body, yet they caused him no harm. His expression grew dazed and entranced. Like a long-parched desert blessed with sweet rain, its endless yellow sands gradually stirring with life, his understanding of fire suddenly became clear.

As though unaware of what he was doing, Xu Yan slowly raised his right hand and formed a finger seal. A terrifying heat immediately gathered in his palm.

Boom!

With a flick of his finger, a mass of flame the size of a millstone struck the cave floor with a tremendous roar.

Xu Yan felt heaven and earth shake, instantly jolting him out of that strange state.

Once he regained his senses and saw the scorched ground, his mouth went dry.

The flames had blasted a large crater half a foot deep into the ground. Its interior was charred black, and terrifying heat radiated from it.

Fortunately, the first-rank, low-grade auxiliary Fire Array in the cave had kept all the commotion from escaping.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the Formation Disk on the ground exhausted its spiritual energy and shattered completely.

The Fire Array promptly dissipated in a final explosion, blasting several chunks off the boulder he had used to block the cave mouth and exposing most of the entrance.

He paid it no heed and began consolidating his mastery of the spell.

Only after another half month could he cast and withdraw the spell at will.

It's time to leave.

Xu Yan stood up, took a fresh set of robes from his Storage Bag, and changed into them.

"Stop!"

"Don't run!"

Just then, a clamor arose not far away, drawing closer and closer to him.