Qi Yan continued his seclusion for another three days.
Besides consolidating his cultivation, he also put in extra practice with his various witch incantations and Dao Arts.
When it came to "skills," naturally, the more he mastered, the better. They also required diligent practice.
At the very least, greater proficiency would let him recite witch incantations faster and more precisely, effectively shortening them. Moreover, many witch incantations and Dao Arts grew more powerful the better he practiced them. Even how much an aura-concealing incantation could conceal depended on his mastery, not entirely on his cultivation.
This was no longer the early days, when learning a spell gave him a fixed effect.
After coming out of seclusion, he planned to report his progress to his master and ask her to point out any shortcomings in his mastery of Witchcraft and Dao Arts, only to discover that she was in seclusion herself.
By now, Qi Yan understood a little more. His master had spent much of her early years traveling, but later spent most of her time in seclusion and rarely appeared. This was normal for her.
That was why everyone else had thought Perfected Mu would never take another disciple besides Jiang Jinyue. She usually looked as though she had no interest in it.
Others might be used to this, but for Qi Yan, it was a pain in the balls. He was not like Jiang Jinyue, who now needed ages to make even a little breakthrough. As someone at the Qi Refining Stage, he changed every day and might have questions for his master at any moment, yet off she went into seclusion...
If he did not have Little Crybaby to ask, this would really have been hard to bear.
He had even wanted his master to bestow a name on his sword... Forget it.
Qi Yan returned to the outside of his cave abode, stood at the cliff's edge, and suddenly beckoned.
The sword slipped from its sheath, circled before him, and hovered motionlessly. Qi Yan formed a sword seal with his fingers, looking every inch a sword cultivator, then abruptly pointed. In truth, he silently recited, "Swift!"
Sword light shot into the sky like lightning, looking very much like a flying sword.
In reality, it had not half a spirit stone's worth of connection to sword cultivation. This was a magical artifact's power, bestowed by Mu Xunzhen when she forged the sword blank: an explosion of pure energy. If someone tried to parry it like a flying sword, the energy would explode right in their face upon contact. At the very least, it could catch an inexperienced opponent off guard.
Qi Yan suddenly felt his master was rather sneakily wicked. She did not look like that sort of person... But it suited his tastes perfectly. This was exactly how it ought to be.
Whoosh! He recalled the sword, then launched into a close-combat sword routine, swish after swish, carrying his sword cultivator act through to the end.
In fact, the way he exerted strength was completely different from a sword cultivator's. He used the flesh-and-blood strength gained from practicing Witchcraft, a different system from Luo Chaoge's emphasis on astral qi. But anyone unfamiliar with Witchcraft would find it hard to distinguish them. On the surface, both relied more on physical strength than the circulation of ethereal magical power.
Swish! His sword cleaved halfway into a rock by the cliff. Qi Yan secretly circulated his magical power. With a sizzling crackle, lightning darted wildly along the blade, sending electric light coursing over the rock.
Then it exploded with a boom.
Qi Yan exhaled, stroked the sword, and smiled. "I really wanted to call you the Arbiter of Fate Sword, but I don't dare yet. I'm afraid of stirring up trouble... I'll call you Lightning Glow for now. It suits your features."
For now, this whole mishmash of fighting styles seemed to offer both trickery and power. Coupled with sneaky, silently recited witch incantations, it ought to be quite effective in actual combat... His combat experience was lacking, though. Whether he could perform as perfectly in the field as he did in practice was hard to say.
Should I take more missions to hone my combat skills? Surely I won't casually pick up another mission full of schemes like Ye Jingshan's? Can't I get some normal fighting? Little Crybaby got to kill a python on her mission. Wasn't that nice?
While he hesitated, Jing Chuan came bobbing up through the air on an enormous writing brush. "Brother Qi, Brother Qi~"
The moment Qi Yan saw him, he remembered that last spirit stone and said irritably, "What? Treating me to a meal?"
Jing Chuan looked at the mess around him and smiled. "Practicing?"
"Mm." Qi Yan asked casually, "I'm planning to take a few missions to hone my combat skills. What do you think?"
"Uh..." Jing Chuan stared at him as though beholding a miracle. "Don't you know we have an easier way to practice actual combat in the early stages?"
"Huh?"
"The sect is so huge. We have all sorts of internal trial grounds! Whatever level you want, we have it!"
Qi Yan: "..."
Jing Chuan sounded a little sympathetic. "What kind of main peak direct disciple are you? How do you not know something this basic?"
Little Crybaby's assessment flashed through Qi Yan's mind: Old woman.
For the first time, he thought her insult had been somewhat justified.
Perhaps senior brothers and sisters were supposed to guide him through these things. A master really would not hold his hand through every little detail. But she had sent his senior sister away!
Jing Chuan sighed. "I actually came to ask you out for a few drinks... Forget it. I'll take you there. Hmm... Beginners should go to the Furious Sand Illusion Realm. It's actually in the deeper areas around the Ancient Path to Divine Communion you walked when you joined. It uses illusions to create all sorts of sand demons and monsters. Different areas have different strength requirements. Very convenient."
Qi Yan knew the way there, too, and soon reached the entrance with Jing Chuan. Jing Chuan said, "You're at the middle stage of Qi Refining, right? This way... Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going? That side is for the late stage!"
Whoosh! Sword light flashed. A humanoid monster formed from sand had barely poked its head out before Qi Yan cleaved it in two.
Qi Yan frowned. "This is late stage? You're not lying to me, are you?"
Jing Chuan gaped.
This was not merely late stage, but a sand demon illusion at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement. It had not even made a move, and one slash had finished it?
Qi Yan's reactions and techniques were actually only average. He had achieved this because his sword was powerful... Jing Chuan swallowed. "Brother Qi, what sword is that?"
"Oh, Lightning Glow."
"...I'm never asking what kind of main peak direct disciple you are again." Jing Chuan practically wanted to cry. "A magical artifact that can unleash Foundation Establishment power at the Qi Refining Stage! You couldn't find ten of those in the whole world!"
Qi Yan: "..."
Little Crybaby was wrong to insult her. Master is a good woman.
Rustle, rustle, rustle... While the two of them chatted idly, countless enormous scorpions crawled out of the barren sand, their ironlike shells gleaming coldly.
* Aren't these just upgraded versions of those scorpions and venomous snakes from the test...? There are just more of them. They look a little creepy.*
Qi Yan raised his sword toward the heavens and chanted, "Mystic powers of the nine heavens, transform into divine thunder..."
Jing Chuan: "?"
What are you saying? We don't have an incantation like that.
Electric light coursed over the sword. Like a lightning rod, it suddenly drew a dense mass of dark clouds overhead, lightning flashing within them.
Rumble! Countless bolts of lightning crashed down onto the charging scorpions.
Their seemingly hard shells were useless against the lightning. Over half were instantly scorched into charcoal, then dissolved into illusions and disappeared.
This attack had also somewhat drained Qi Yan's magical power. He frowned, deeply dissatisfied. "There really are problems when I put it into practice. Not only does this move consume too much power, its aim is off, too. It lets monsters through like a sieve."
Jing Chuan: "..."
This was not some technique beyond his stage, but the most orthodox, foundational lightning art: the Orthodox Five Thunder Arts. Its range and power varied with the user's cultivation. A display like Qi Yan's usually required the Foundation Establishment Stage. How could he produce this at the Qi Refining Stage, and still be dissatisfied?
Could it be because of that strange incantation just now?
Jing Chuan secretly tried forming a spell seal and silently recited, "Mystic powers of the nine heavens, transform into divine thunder..."
It did fuck-all. Not only did it fail to increase the power, he could not even summon lightning.
So it's the sword's special lightning-attracting effect, isn't it? Why recite a fake incantation, you damned fraud?
Swish! While he tested the fake spell seal, Qi Yan had not been idle. Several surviving scorpions suddenly lunged at him. Qi Yan spun gracefully out of the way and swept his sword back, slicing them in two.
Qi Yan exhaled. "Those shells looked intimidating, but they're actually easy to cut."
Jing Chuan could take no more. "Could it possibly be because your sword is too sharp?"
"Uh..." Qi Yan put away the Lightning Glow Sword and held out his hand. "Give me some Qi-Replenishing Powder. I'm out of strength."
He had actually collected some Qi-Replenishing Powder with his monthly allowance and had it on him. He just wanted to make Jing Chuan bleed a little, or he would not feel satisfied.
Jing Chuan silently took out some Qi-Replenishing Powder and handed it over, then suddenly asked, "Interested in joining us on a mission?"
Qi Yan asked curiously, "You invite outsiders on Wondrous Brush Peak missions?"
"It's not a Wondrous Brush Peak mission," Jing Chuan explained. "Remember the first time you went to the External Affairs Hall to collect a mission? I was collecting a Foundation Establishment Stage mission, too."
"Yes, I remember. Don't tell me you still haven't finished it after all this time?"
"That one is best done as a team. It's not easy alone. I already found another junior brother at Foundation Establishment from another peak, and I've been looking for a martial cultivator who can hold the front line. A three-pronged attack would be more suitable." Jing Chuan hesitated. "Before, I thought your cultivation was insufficient, so I never considered you... But now, apart from slightly lacking staying power, your combat strength looks fully qualified to give it a try."
Qi Yan asked, "How many spirit stones is the mission reward?"
"..." Jing Chuan was truly speechless. "There are plenty of rewards. If you want spirit stones, you can have them all. There should be a dozen or so."
"Good, good, good." Qi Yan was quite satisfied. "What kind of mission is it?"
"An affiliated clan outside reported that their family tomb is haunted, possibly by a reanimated corpse. But their ancestor was only at Foundation Establishment, and has been dead for centuries. What corpse could possibly be reanimating? They reported it to the sect, and the sect thought this would be just right for Foundation Establishment disciples to gain experience together, so they issued it as a mission and set some rewards. When you saw me that day, the mission had only just been posted. It hasn't been that long. We can still handle it."
Qi Yan said, "There's some unknown danger involved. No wonder you're reluctant to go alone."
"Yes... Sect missions aren't specifically there for people to run errands and make money, anyway. Their greatest value is the actual combat experience. Quite a few disciples have died unexpectedly on missions over the years. But the sect considers this necessary. Otherwise, having powerful cultivators go in and plow these places flat would certainly be easy, but pointless."
"Mm... That makes sense."
Jing Chuan's expression grew unusually solemn. "The inner sect tournament is starting soon, too. I'm doing my final honing, and this mission suits me perfectly."
Qi Yan had no interest in the inner sect tournament for now, and his master had said there was no need, either. But he was very interested in this sort of exploration. "All right, let's give it a try."
At almost the same moment, that group of nuns arrived at a residence.
"We aren't giving alms here." The gatekeeper seemed a little nervous. "Something has happened in the household recently, and we aren't receiving guests, either. Please leave."
The nun at their head bowed. "We hear your clan is troubled by a haunting. We Buddhists have quite a few methods for dealing with such things, so we came to see whether we could help."
P.S. Thanks to Sumu for the gold. My butt's raised and ready~