Bamboo Mound

Ning Chang felt much relieved after hearing this, and said:

"Punch me once, with normal force, not too lightly. Don't worry, I won't punish you."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Li hesitated and said, "Young Master, this..."

He didn't understand why the young master would make such a request.

"You did what I told you to do; I told you to do it."

After Ning finished speaking, he pointed to his left shoulder.

Xiao Li gritted his teeth, finally choosing to hold back some of his strength, and threw a punch.

"Bang!" Ning Chang stumbled and took a few steps back. If it weren't for the wall behind him, he probably would have fallen to the ground.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Li was terrified and immediately knelt on the ground, trembling as he said, "Young master, please forgive me, I didn't mean it..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ning Chang interrupted him.

"Stop, don't be like this. What are you afraid of? It's not your fault!"

Although Ning Chang was somewhat prepared, he still underestimated Xiao Li's strength, which was "greater than average," and was forced to retreat.

The reason for not gathering spiritual energy to cover the area this time was mainly to establish a control group.

After helping Xiao Li up, Ning Chang spent about half an incense stick's time condensing a layer of spiritual energy on his shoulders.

"Punch the same spot again with the same force."

Seeing Ning Chang's actions, Xiao Li finally understood the young master's purpose and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He estimated the force of the punch and threw another one.

"Bah!"

This time, however, the result was quite different. After being hit, Ning Chang only tilted and then regained his balance.

"I never expected that releasing spiritual energy would be so effective. The difference is like night and day!"

"After being protected by spiritual energy, the pain from attacks of the same damage is reduced by nearly 90%, and the impact force is greatly reduced!"

"Of course, it could be due to physical damage."

After thinking for a while, he waved for Xiao Li to go back and then turned and went inside.

After washing up, Ning Chang sat cross-legged on the bed and organized the experimental results from this afternoon.

"First, focus on areas brimming with spiritual energy. Do not attack or defend, as this could lead to misuse."

Then there's the release of spiritual energy. Due to the lack of proficiency, it takes a long time to form a large-scale release each time, so it can't be used in combat for the time being.

When used for portable attacks, the damage is not significantly affected, but the recoil is greatly reduced, which may indicate that the attack was misused.

When used for direct attacks, the damage is relatively weak, and the possibility of misuse cannot be ruled out.

When used for defense against attacks, it provides a special defensive effect against direct physical attacks, greatly reducing damage and impact. Of course, the possibility of its use being coincidental cannot be ruled out.

After all, the manifestations of spiritual energy are diverse, and my combination of them into a thin film may be the result of the defensive effect.

As for its defensive effect against spiritual energy attacks, there are currently no conditions to confirm this.

After summarizing, Ning Chang glanced at the sky outside the window and prepared to go to sleep.

After all, if you don't sleep now, you won't be able to sleep later.

.........

Nothing happened all night.

The next morning, as soon as the sunlight fell on Ning Chang's face, he opened his eyes.

As soon as I woke up, I felt a cool sensation in my lower abdomen.

He looked inward at his dantian and found that the water-attribute spiritual energy had assimilated most of the spiritual energy in his dantian, emitting a moist and slightly cool mist.

A wisp of spiritual energy was drawn out and stopped in the palm of the hand. Compared to the gaseous state used yesterday, this wisp of spiritual energy exhibited more liquid properties.

He released his control over the spiritual energy and found that it did not disperse, but instead condensed into a sphere on its own and floated slowly downwards.

He absorbed them back into his dantian, swallowed a fasting pill, and began washing up.

In his observation just now, he confirmed that this spiritual energy was not enough to be used as water.

"Perhaps some special methods will be needed."

In his view, water-based direct attacks are not as strong as fire-based attacks, but require much higher levels of control. Fire does not require very precise control, while water requires careful shaping.

Today he plans to go down the mountain to take a look around, familiarize himself with the sect, and see what he can do next.

As for the water elemental energy, Ning Chang decided to wait until he reached the seventh level of Spirit Gathering before going to his master. His master had asked him to choose a martial art when he reached the seventh level of Spirit Gathering, so they could do it together then.

Ning Chang called out to Xiao Li, asking him to show her around the sect. Xiao Li immediately agreed.

As we walked out of the courtyard gate, Xiao Li led the way.

On the way down the mountain, Ning Chang could see the square at the foot of the mountain in the distance and several huge buildings around it at a glance.

Apart from the residences of the sect leaders and elders at the summit and halfway up the mountain, there are basically no buildings on the entire Qingyun Mountain; all that can be seen is an endless forest.

Watching the people, no bigger than ants, walking back and forth in the square, going in and out of the buildings, and further away, those neat rows of small squares.

As Xiao Li led the way, he introduced Ning Chang to several areas at the foot of the mountain:

"The Qingyun Sect is centered on the plaza at the foot of the mountain. To its south is Qingyun Mountain, where we are located, and directly opposite the mountain gate to the north."

The Hall of Discipline, the Hall of Resources, and the residences of the inner disciples are all located to the east of the square.

To the west of the plaza were the martial arts arena and the residences of the outer disciples.

In addition, between the southern part of the square and Qingyun Mountain, there are a lecture platform and a scripture pavilion.

Suddenly, Xiao Li pointed to the rows of small squares on the left, which were comparable in size to a town, and said to Ning Chang, "That is where the outer disciples live. Compared to the outside world, it only has one more spirit-gathering array for the entire sect."

Unlike your residence, young master, which has a separate spirit-gathering array!

Then he pulled his arm back: "A little closer to the square, those round platforms are the arenas, a total of sixty-four, for the disciples to use for daily sparring and competitions."

He then turned his gaze to the other side and said, "On the east side of the square, the building to the north is the Discipline Hall, which is used to manage the order of the disciples and punish those who violate the rules. There are dedicated Discipline Hall disciples."

"To the south lies the Resource Hall, where all necessary items circulate, including the quest log. I'll explain the specifics when we get there; I think that will make it easier to understand." With that, Xiao Li gave a forced smile.

"Further south, those houses are the residences of the inner disciples. Compared to the outer disciples, there is an additional spirit-gathering array set up there, and each house comes with a small courtyard. Of course, it still can't compare to your residence, young master."

As they talked, Ning Chang and the others had reached the foot of the mountain. He stopped and looked at the wooden pagoda on one side.

The tower was five stories high, but it had no windows. The main door was tightly closed, and next to the door was a reclining chair. On the reclining chair, an old man in brown robes was resting with his eyes closed.

Xiao Li noticed Ning Chang's actions and hesitated before speaking:

"This is the Scripture Pavilion. I am not qualified to know too much about it. I only know that outer disciples can enter the first floor to select martial arts techniques and skills, while inner disciples can enter the second floor. As for anything else, I know nothing."

As if hearing the noise, the old man slowly opened his eyes, saw Ning Chang, and beckoned him to come over.