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The path of cultivation was vast. Other than powerful Magic Artifacts and Spirit Tools, there were also a variety of wondrous techniques.
With the support of Spiritual Qi, one could shake the heavens and the earth. Although techniques were not as powerful as Spirit Tools, they did not consume as much Spiritual Qi, they also did not require any mediums, so they were deeply favored by lower-level cultivators.
For example, Ice Needle Spell, Spiritual Sense, and Spirit Shield were all commonly used techniques.
Cultivation levels were split into the Spirit Condensation, Foundation Building, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Separation and Reunion, Profound Grotto, Spirit Severing, and Tribulation Ascension stages. Spirit beasts had the same corresponding stages. But techniques were different, they only had 3 stages, low-grade techniques, mid-grade techniques, and high-grade techniques.
There was only one reason: Core Formation cultivators can have Magic Artifacts with matchless power. They relied on them for both offense and defense without any techniques. In the eyes of these high-level cultivators, techniques were too weak, and were just useless things, so, of course, they wouldn’t use them.
Only Spirit Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators would know techniques. Spirit Condensation cultivators could only practice low-grade or mid-grade, high-grade techniques were for Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators.
In fact, Spirit Condensation cultivators would use them the most, because Foundation Establishment cultivators generally had Spirit Tools, which were more powerful than techniques. Of course, nothing was absolute, and there were a few high-grade techniques that were not inferior to spirit tools. Moreover, even though Spirit Tools were simplified versions of Magic Artifact, they were still very valuable. Some of the declining sects, or the poorer rogue cultivators, even if they reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, would still be unable to acquire Spirit Tools.
Thus, it could be seen that Lin Xuan, having three Spirit Tools, one of which was a top grade, was very rich indeed.
Now, to support the Spirit Tool with his Spiritual Qi was still very straining and barely manageable. The alternative was to then learn some suitable and appropriate techniques. After making this decision, Lin Xuan began to put it into action.
He took out an ordinary book from his storage bracelet. It wasn’t very eye-catching, all of it was handwritten, and did not seem to have much value, but it was important to Lin Xuan.
These were his notes, handwritten personally by Lin Xuan over these past three years.
Because he had no Spiritual Roots, Lin Xuan’s cultivation speed could not keep up with his peers. Without enough Spiritual Qi for support, he could only be envious of the various techniques that were taught. If it was someone else, they would have long ago become disheartened and would stop going to the Young Hawks Pavilion to get ridiculed. But Lin Xuan did not do that, not only did he go to every single session on time, but he also carefully took notes, be it rain or shine.
To others, this might seem to be a very stupid behavior, but Lin Xuan had his own ideas, and now it seemed that it was actually very smart and very far-sighted.
Back then, Lin Xuan thought, even though temporarily he was unable to practice some things, but when he had the cultivation later, he could slowly start to analyze. it. So he wrote it down in his notebook, to not forget these teachings.
It was fortunate that he did copy them down, otherwise, if he wanted to practice these techniques now that he had the cultivation, he would have nowhere to start. This was one of Lin Xuan’s good characteristics: he liked to take precautions before making any decisions.
Over these three years, there have been many techniques taught by many teachers, he could not practice all of them. This was because firstly, there was not that much time, and secondly, it was not all necessary. Being proficient in many techniques was not as good as mastering one. Besides, there were some useless and duplicate techniques, it was better to pick a few suitable ones for himself.
After making such a decision, Lin Xuan began to carefully read his notes. First, he excluded the low-grade techniques. Even though they were easier to learn, they were also limited in power, he did not want to waste precious time learning them.
His goal was mid-grade techniques, and after careful screening, he picked three techniques: Spirit Shield, Ice Needles, and Imperial Wind.
There was careful thought placed into making each of these choices.
Spirit Shield, its name was very clear, was a defensive spell. To learn how to beat someone, one must first learn how to be beaten. When fighting the enemy, the first thing one must consider is how to escape with one’s life. Therefore, Lin Xuan’s first spell to learn was also the defensive spell.
Ice Needles was a five elements spell of the water attribute. It was characterized by its strong attacking power, which was hard to detect. Although relatively, it was harder to practice, that was not an issue, Lin Xuan has never been afraid of hardship, as long as it had enough power, it was fine.
The last spell, the Imperial Wind, was a support type spell. Compared to the Light-Wind spell he learned before, it much more powerful and advanced.
Although all cultivators wanted to have Spirit Tools, and after much practice controlling them, they could fly. But after grasping the Imperial Wind technique, it was equivalent to having shocking Movement Skill. With one maneuver, they can float tens of meters, even the strongest mortal experts would be left in the dust. After all, the Imperial Wind technique used Spiritual Qi as the basis. Cultivators were not within a mortal’s understanding. They were simply at different levels.
Defense, attack, and escaping techniques, Lin Xuan selected one of each. He could move forward and attack, or retreat and defend, this kind of combination should be perfect with nothing missing.
For the next while, Lin Xuan became very busy. Purifying pills, sitting in cultivation, and additionally, he also had to make time to practice techniques. There was really no time to rest. Fortunately, as his cultivation kept rising, he also required less and less time to sleep each day.
One must work harder than anyone else to be better than everyone else. If it was a different person, perhaps they would not be able to endure this difficult cultivation. But Lin Xuan was different, he had no Spiritual Roots and failed over and over again, and had to endure the taunts and jeers of his peers every day. Even the illusions of the Heart Refinement Road could not stop Lin Xuan’s progress. Now that he had the ability to purify and the hope of success, what would the previous bitter days count for?
Focus on cultivating!
Day by day, Lin Xuan’s studies progressed smoothly. His first spell, Spirit Shield, was a defensive spell. It was also the Spirit Condensation, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators’ favorite and most used basic defensive spell.
The principle was not difficult, it could even be said to be very simple. It was to use Spiritual Qi to cover the body, which could block the enemy’s attack.
It was very stable and nothing could get in. Of course, there was a limit, which would differ based on the Spiritual Qi of each person.
To put it bluntly, although Spirit Shield was just a spell, as long as there was enough Spiritual Qi to support it, practicing this spell would be very easy. Even Lin Xuan, who had no Spiritual Roots, because his spiritual power was strong, only spent three short days to become proficient in this spell!
Translated by: James1kd2
Edited by: UnderTheMoon