Spell Mark

Inside the inn room.

On the table lay a white crystal, the thin Introduction to Spells, the Azure Paper Crane, and three innate spiritual objects bearing spell spirit markings.

"So this is a spirit stone. According to Daoist Chongyun's notes, spirit stones are the currency of the cultivation world and contain pure Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. Doesn't that mean I can absorb it directly to cultivate?"

Wang Yu picked up the crystal, which was the size of his little finger, and turned it over several times. Its surface was exceptionally smooth, its interior crystal clear, with faint threads of white light flowing within.

After some thought, he placed the spirit stone against his dantian, closed his eyes, extended his divine sense, and silently circulated the first-layer formula of the Yin Water Art.

To his senses, if Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy during ordinary cultivation was a sparse scattering of colored specks, then the spiritual energy drawn out of the spirit stone by his cultivation art was strands of milky-white mist. Not only did it bring a much stronger chill into his body, but the Yin Water Art could also channel it into his spirit seed more easily.

The spiritual energy in spirit stones really could aid cultivation!

After nearly an incense stick's worth of time, Wang Yu opened his eyes, his face full of delighted surprise.

Cultivating the Yin Water Art with this spirit stone was far more efficient than usual. This short session equaled many days of ordinary cultivation, and its assistance far surpassed even the yin spirit energy.

With enough spirit stones to aid his cultivation, he could reach the second layer of the Yin Water Art in less than a month.

Strange. Why hadn't Daoist Chongyun told me about this method before? Or were spirit stones so precious that he had none to spare?

As Wang Yu pondered this, he looked at the spirit stone in his hand and discovered that nearly half its white threads of light had vanished. It had already become somewhat clear and transparent. He estimated that one more use at most would exhaust all the spiritual energy inside.

Feeling a little regretful, Wang Yu could only put the spirit stone away and sit in meditation to rest.

Half a day later, once he felt considerably refreshed, he got up and picked up the Azure Paper Crane to examine it. Apart from some blood-thread-like patterns on its wings, he found no difference between it and an ordinary paper crane.

The thing was worth seven spirit stones, so Wang Yu naturally dared not take it apart to study it. He could only put it down and pick up Introduction to Spells for a careful read.

The book was only a dozen or so pages long, and he finished it in just an hour. When he closed the final page, understanding dawned on his face.

The contents of Introduction to Spells were very simple, but they finally let him understand how to learn spells.

According to the book, learning a spell was essentially a process of comprehending its spell spirit markings, then visualizing them within the Divine Sense Sea.

The book explained that spell spirit markings visualized within an immortal cultivator's Divine Sense Sea were generally called "spell marks." Once visualized there with the aid of the appropriate incantation, they could resonate with the cultivator's own dharma power and produce the corresponding spell.

Thus, the book emphasized the two main difficulties in learning spells: first, comprehending spell spirit markings, and second, visualizing "spell marks."

It explained that those gifted with strong spiritual perception could comprehend the Spell Pattern with twice the result for half the effort, but those with exceptional comprehension could also progress at astonishing speed.

As for visualizing spell marks, this mainly depended on how well an immortal cultivator could control their divine sense. Of course, other factors might also affect the visualization, such as the complexity of the Spell Pattern, how well the cultivation art matched it, the attributes of one's spirit root, and even certain conditions of time and place.

Overall, however, control over divine sense was the primary factor affecting the visualization of spell marks.

Introduction to Spells also briefly introduced the classification of spell ranks.

Spells composed of fewer than six Spirit Inscriptions had spell marks that were simple to visualize. Most had little power to speak of and resembled the tricks performed by mortals, so they were collectively called Parlor Trick Arts.

Spells composed of more than six Spirit Inscriptions posed a threat to other immortal cultivators and were combat spells that Qi Refining Realm immortal cultivators could master. These began to be called Entry-Level Spells.

Introduction to Spells said little about higher-ranked spells, only that they required astonishing amounts of dharma power and could generally be mastered only by cultivators at Foundation Establishment or above. The Divine Sense Sea of an ordinary Qi Refining Realm immortal cultivator could not sustain higher-ranked spell marks.

Wang Yu guessed that higher-ranked spells were probably more complex spells composed of more Spirit Inscriptions. It seemed that to master powerful spells, he would first have to learn a great many basic Spirit Inscriptions.

Unfortunately, apart from the "cloud pattern" in the White Cloud Scripture, he had encountered very few Spirit Inscriptions. It seemed he would have to collect more when opportunities arose.

With that thought, Wang Yu set Introduction to Spells back on the table, picked up the Red Beast Hide, and probed it with his divine sense.

The Firefly Spell, a Parlor Trick Art Qingfeng had demonstrated before, was naturally his first choice to study.

To his senses, five crimson Spirit Inscriptions lay at the center of the hide. Each constantly shifted and swayed, with faint red threads connecting them, as though they were all living things. He could not make out the true appearance of the complete Spirit Inscription diagram at all.

Having comprehended the cloud pattern before, Wang Yu did not find this particularly strange. Instead, he concentrated his divine sense to "gaze" at one of the crimson Spirit Inscriptions, slowly sensing its changes...

But a short while later, Wang Yu withdrew his divine sense from the Red Beast Hide, his expression exceedingly grim.

The shopkeeper of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion had not been talking nonsense. The Firefly Spell's Spirit Inscriptions were far harder to comprehend than the "cloud pattern" in the White Cloud Scripture.

When he had studied the "cloud pattern," he had needed time to slowly grasp it, but at least comprehension had been possible. With the spell spirit markings on this hide, however, even a slightly prolonged attempt left him dizzy. At its worst, he even felt like vomiting, making it impossible to continue studying them normally.

Even a Parlor Trick Art was this hard to comprehend?

Was my spiritual perception and comprehension too poor, or were Primordial Spells simply this difficult to understand?

Wang Yu muttered inwardly. Fortunately, he still had a way to grant himself "exceptional comprehension," so he immediately said silently, Overclocking.

Overclocked synchronization mode activated.

The instant the mechanical response sounded in his mind, crystalline light flickered deep in Wang Yu's eyes. His five senses gradually sharpened, everything around him slowed to a crawl, and his thoughts entered an extraordinarily wondrous state...

Now, within his divine sense, the Spirit Inscription diagram in the beast hide, which had previously offered no clue where to begin, underwent analysis with the system's assistance. One crimson Spirit Inscription rapidly unraveled, first becoming trembling strands of crimson light, then condensing into spherical clusters of light. A moment later, it formed triangles, then transformed again into a tangled mass of countless interwoven threads of light...

A cup of tea's worth of time later, Wang Yu let out a long breath and exited overclocked synchronization mode.

Within his divine sense, one crimson Spirit Inscription had gone from indistinct to clearly visible. It was a translucent, flame-shaped symbol, its surface covered in densely packed patterns, looking like something out of a dream.

So this was the crimson Spirit Inscription's true form? It looked far more wondrous than the cloud pattern.

After studying it for only a moment, Wang Yu unconsciously felt his mouth go dry and his body temperature rise. He marveled inwardly.

The entire process of comprehension and analysis seemed brief, but the fact that it still took this long in overclocked synchronization mode showed how difficult these Spell Spirit Markings were to comprehend.

For someone with ordinary comprehension, who knew how many days it would take to gain even some understanding?

No wonder the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's shopkeeper had sold it so cheaply.

He inwardly cursed the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's shopkeeper as a swindler once more and decided not to continue analyzing the other crimson Spirit Inscriptions. Instead, he hurriedly put everything away and had an inn attendant bring him some food. After eating enough to take the edge off his hunger, he sat beside the bed and considered his current circumstances.

Compared with the modern world on Blue Star, this Otherworld was far too dangerous.

That day, one moment he had been safely gathering information about this world in the abbey, and the next, other immortal cultivators had attacked. In the end, the White Cloud Abbey had been destroyed, leaving only him, an outsider from another world, clinging to life beyond its walls.

He still had a month before boarding the ship. If he carefully planned out what to study, he might well raise his strength another level in a short time.

First, the most important thing was naturally the Yin Water Art. Originally, even with yin spirit energy to assist him, reaching the second layer would take at least half a year. Now, however, with spirit stones aiding his cultivation, he could probably achieve that goal within a month without difficulty. Once he reached the second layer, he could begin learning Parlor Trick Arts.

Second, his tests had shown that the Four Beast Diagram had a remarkable body-tempering effect. Combined with Blood-Refining Soup, it stood a good chance of fully awakening the Iron-Eater Crocodile's bloodline power, so he could not neglect his regular practice.

He already had the recipe for Blood-Refining Soup. Later, he would visit an apothecary to see whether they could prepare some directly.

Then there were the only two martial techniques he had mastered: the Draw-Cutting Art and the Wind-Splitting Sword Technique.

The former was a practical killing technique from Blue Star, while the latter was a sword technique from this other world taught by Daoist Chongyun. If he practiced both more, he believed their power in Overclocking mode would not disappoint him.

Finally, there were the external aids he could draw upon.

The greatest external aid was clearly the Taiyuan Auxiliary System.

Because so little time had passed, his understanding of the system remained limited. He would need to uncover more of its potential in the future. In particular, the more thoroughly he explored overclocked synchronization mode, which could serve as his trump card, the better.

His other external aids amounted to things such as armor and sharp weapons.

He was currently wearing soft armor beneath his clothes, with a blade- and spear-proof glove on his right hand, as well as a thin Silver Rapier that could serve as a belt. It seemed all he lacked now was a suitable long saber for executing the Draw-Cutting Art.

With his current astonishing strength, an ordinary long saber would not survive more than a few uses of the Overclocked Draw-Cutting Art.

Right, there was also the Silver Folding Fan that could whip up fierce winds. If I could learn to use it, it could serve as another means of saving my life.

As Wang Yu considered all this, excitement flared in his heart. After rummaging inside his robes, he took out the Silver Folding Fan and slowly opened it, revealing all the raised and recessed silver patterns across its surface.

Within his divine sense, the patterns on the fan's surface slowly writhed and shifted. They were clearly some unknown kind of "inscription pattern."

Wang Yu let out a soft breath, raised the fan in his hand, and imitated the White-Clad Youth's actions that day, giving it a forceful sweep forward.

Whoosh.

A gentle breeze passed, but nothing unusual happened.

Wang Yu was not discouraged. After some thought, he silently recited the Yin Water Art's formula and began mobilizing the tiny amount of dharma power within his body, slowly channeling it along the meridians of his arm and into the fan.

The instant his dharma power entered, the silver fan trembled slightly, and some of the silver Spirit Inscriptions on its surface began to glow white. Unfortunately, once only two-thirds of the surface had lit up, it abruptly stopped trembling, and the white light on the Inscriptions flashed and died.

Wang Yu grunted, his face instantly paling somewhat. The little dharma power in his body had been exhausted.

It still wouldn't work!

His current dharma power was simply insufficient to activate this magical artifact. He would have to wait until he reached the second layer of the Yin Water Art and converted more dharma power within his body before trying again. Now he had yet another reason to prioritize reaching the second layer of the Yin Water Art.

Disappointed, Wang Yu put the fan away and took out the Black Leather Booklet. He found the three recipes recorded in it and committed them all to memory, then donned his cloak and left the inn.