“Poof!”
After a full day, a spark the size of a fingernail suddenly rose from Jiang Yun's outstretched right index finger, emitting a faint warmth.
Looking at the flickering spark that could extinguish at any moment, Jiang Yun's face showed excitement, but this excitement only lasted for a moment before turning into confusion.
Jiang Yun frowned, staring at the spark and muttering to himself, “According to the book, a cultivator in the Tongmai Realm, third level, can condense Spiritual Qi within their body to produce a fireball the size of a palm. I am already in the Tongmai Realm, fifth level, and my Spiritual Qi can be released externally, forming a fireball large enough to reach the size of a watermelon. But why can I only produce such a small spark?”
“The process and method are correct, so where exactly did the problem occur?”
As he mumbled, Jiang Yun continued to produce sparks from his fingertips while carefully pondering.
At the same time, Dongfang Bo, who was in his room, suddenly smiled faintly and softly said, “Second Senior Sister, aren't you going to offer some guidance?”
Second Senior Sister's voice immediately rang out, “I said, if his Cultivation of the Dao can impress me, I might offer some guidance, but right now, no! Moreover, the Master leads the way, but Cultivation is up to the individual! If he needs others to guide him through such a small problem, then he won't achieve much in this lifetime.”
Dongfang Bo, however, shook his head and said, “He doesn't have a Master yet!”
Second Senior Sister said coldly, “There are over ten thousand Disciples in Wen Dao Sect who don't have a Master. Am I supposed to guide each and every one of them?”
Dongfang Bo chuckled dryly, “Hehe, I was just saying. If you really did guide him, I wouldn't agree anyway! After all, Cultivation, besides one's own effort, truly emphasizes 'Comprehension Ability'. Just like us back then, we all walked step by step! I just don't know how long Jiang Laodi will need to discover the problem!”
Second Senior Sister was silent for a moment before speaking again, “Among us back then, Third Junior Brother was the fastest, taking three days. Let's wait and see how long he needs!”
Another day later, a cheer suddenly came from Jiang Yun's room: “I understand!”
After a day and night of sleepless pondering and research, although Jiang Yun's eyes were bloodshot and his face extremely pale, a joyful smile adorned his face as he looked at the egg-sized flame in his palm.
“Spiritual Qi!” Jiang Yun exhaled a long breath and said, “While releasing Spiritual Qi externally can increase its power, most of the Spiritual Qi is wasted after being released externally, which is why only a small spark was formed initially!”
“In other words, if I want my techniques to be effective, I must first learn to control the Spiritual Qi within my body, ideally without wasting even a single bit!”
“But how can I better control my Spiritual Qi?”
As Jiang Yun once again fell into deep thought, Dongfang Bo's voice quietly sounded from Hidden Peak: “He discovered it in one day. This child not only Cultivates with astonishing speed, but his Comprehension Ability is also remarkable!”
“Not so!” Second Senior Sister said softly, “I can't say how his Comprehension Ability is, but the fact that he discovered the problem so quickly should be attributed to his keen observation. I'm suddenly very curious about what his life was like before joining Wen Dao Sect. A Mortal who has never encountered Cultivation shouldn't possess such observational skills!”
“I'm curious too!” Dongfang Bo nodded and said, “However, Master said not to inquire about a person's past, so unless he brings it up himself, we shouldn't ask!”
Second Senior Sister said indifferently, “Perhaps, he truly might become our Fourth Junior Brother!”
This time, Dongfang Bo did not speak again, merely looking in Jiang Yun's direction with a hint of anticipation on his face.
At this moment, Jiang Yun suddenly rushed out of his room, rummaging around on the ground in the courtyard for a long time, and now held a pile of small stones, each about the size of a fist.
Jiang Yun didn't go back into the room; he directly sat down on the ground, spreading the pile of small stones in front of him. After placing a stone bowl beside them, he stared intently at the stones. A stream of Spiritual Qi shot from his fingertip, suddenly rushing into the stones.
Just like a whirlwind, the scattered Spiritual Qi immediately stirred the stones apart. Then, Jiang Yun's fingertips continuously shot out Spiritual Qi, entering the stones.
This scene naturally attracted the attention of Dongfang Bo and Second Senior Sister.
“What is he doing?”
“It seems he's trying to use Spiritual Qi to pick up all the stones and put them into the bowl.”
Second Senior Sister rarely let out a laugh, saying, “Haha, he hasn't learned to walk yet, but he's already thinking of running! Although this is a clumsy method, and it can indeed enhance control over Spiritual Qi, it's missing a step!”
After countless attempts, several times exhausting the Spiritual Qi within his body, yet still unable to pick up even a single stone, Jiang Yun stopped his actions and once again fell into deep thought.
This time, his eyes quickly lit up and he said, “No, Spiritual Qi is ethereal, like wind. If I want to pick up the stones, I should first be able to make the Spiritual Qi transform into the shape of fingers!”
The fastest update is on Z.
Next, Jiang Yun no longer stubbornly tried to pick up stones with Spiritual Qi, but instead diligently tried to make the Spiritual Qi emitted from his fingertips condense into a certain shape.
One failure, two failures, ..., ten failures!
It wasn't until three days later that the Spiritual Qi emitted from Jiang Yun's fingertips actually condensed into the shape of two fingers in the air. Although incredibly rough, they slowly picked up a stone and shakily placed it into the bowl beside them.
“Clang!”
The sound of the stone falling into the bowl was, for Jiang Yun at this moment, simply the most beautiful music, and it greatly boosted his confidence.
At the same time, Dongfang Bo also let out a long breath and said, “Spiritual Qi Transformation! He did it! But, has he already reached the Tongmai Realm, sixth level?”
The nine minor Realms of the Tongmai Realm each have a standard. For example, the fifth level is being able to release Spiritual Qi externally, while the sixth level allows for Spiritual Qi Transformation.
In fact, Jiang Yun was only at the fifth level at this time, and logically, he shouldn't have been able to achieve Spiritual Qi Transformation. However, his Meridians were much larger than others', and the amount of Spiritual Qi he contained was naturally much greater. Coupled with his keen senses, he was able to achieve this step ahead of time.
Second Senior Sister's voice did not sound, and Jiang Yun, like a madman, continuously condensed Spiritual Qi into various shapes, constantly grabbing stones and putting them into the bowl!
Ten days later, the Spiritual Qi released by Jiang Yun could already transform into various shapes at will; half a month later, he replaced these fist-sized stones with walnut-sized ones; twenty days later, the stones were replaced with grape-sized ones; after a full month, the stones had been replaced with sesame-sized ones.
“Success!”
When the last stone was placed into the bowl, Jiang Yun's eyes were extremely bright. He took a deep breath, and his wrist suddenly flicked up!
A huge fireball, as tall as a person, flew out from his palm and slammed into a stone bench with a bang.
Amidst cracking sounds, the stone bench was instantly completely engulfed in flames and burned for a full fifteen minutes before gradually extinguishing.
Carefully examining the charred stone bench, Jiang Yun muttered to himself, “No, there's still Spiritual Qi being wasted. Because my Meridians are larger than others', and naturally contain more Spiritual Qi, the fireball I release should be even larger!”
Just as Jiang Yun was about to continue grabbing stones, Dongfang Bo appeared before him with a wry smile, gently sniffing and saying, “Jiang Laodi, I can give you Bigu Pills, but I can't help you wash your body. Rest a bit!”
Upon hearing Dongfang Bo's words, Jiang Yun was stunned for a moment before realizing. For the past month, he had been completely immersed in controlling Spiritual Qi. He slept when he was tired and continued when he woke up, but he hadn't felt hungry, because whenever he was hungry, a Bigu Pill would appear on the ground beside him.
At the time, he hadn't paid attention, only knowing to grab and eat it. Now that he thought about it, it was naturally Dongfang Bo who had quietly prepared it for him.
“Thank you, Senior Brother!”
Jiang Yun felt even more grateful and quickly stood up to bow deeply to Dongfang Bo.
“Don't be polite. Cultivation is important, but there should be a proper limit. You, you truly have the demeanor of your Second Senior Sister! Hurry and go wash up!”
“Yes!”
As Jiang Yun rushed to the stream to wash up, Second Senior Sister's voice suddenly sounded in his ear: “Controlling Spiritual Qi cannot be perfected overnight, so you don't need to be so concerned about it now. If you have any questions about techniques in the future, you can come to me!”
Jiang Yun quickly bowed deeply in the direction of the voice and said, “Thank you, Second Senior Sister!”
Dongfang Bo, standing atop the peak, smiled faintly and said in a voice only he could hear, “To be able to impress Second Senior Sister, hehe, Jiang Laodi, you have quite the fortune!”