Bamboo Mound

“One spirit stone per month, that’s twelve a year. The spiritual energy in one spirit stone is enough to cultivate several levels, right?” Ning Chang was very puzzled.

The disciple also looked puzzled: "I see that you've just started cultivating, so it's normal that you don't know. The spiritual energy in the spirit stone cannot be fully absorbed. Almost seven or eight tenths are wasted during cultivation. While being absorbed, the spiritual energy will continuously dissipate."

Ning Chang was even more puzzled. He had not noticed any dissipation when he absorbed the spirit stones before. All the spiritual energy that came out of the spirit stones was absorbed into his dantian without any loss.

"What happens after taking the Spirit Gathering Pill? The Spirit Gathering Pill can accelerate the absorption of spiritual energy."

He sighed and said, "That's about right. It takes more than an hour to refine the medicinal power of the Spirit Gathering Pill, and the remaining medicinal effect will only last for an hour. Accelerating the absorption will still waste almost the same amount of spiritual energy."

"No wonder I found cultivation so easy; it turns out it's because I can utilize spiritual energy without any loss. But why is that?"

Ning Chang did not publicize his special status, and waved his hand to let the disciple leave.

He bowed, turned and walked away quickly, as if afraid that Ning Chang would call him back again.

Ning Chang took out the spirit stone that was not yet used up, absorbed a wisp of spiritual energy from it, and then focused intently on sensing the spirit stone.

A few breaths later, it was discovered that the spirit stone had not dissipated, which led Ning Chang to cross out the reason for the Spirit Gathering Pill, since he had not taken the Spirit Gathering Pill at the moment.

After putting away the spirit stones, Ning Chang decided not to continue exploring. As for the arena, he planned to just take a look from afar.

"Go back, remember to pass by the arena."

Xiao Li responded and walked over from a short distance away to lead the way again.

As he approached the arena area, he turned his head to the right as he walked. Some arenas were empty of disciples, while others were occupied by two people sparring. However, watching their monotonous fights, where they would shout and make a move at the same time, Ning Chang immediately lost interest.

Suddenly, a deafening scream erupted from not far away on the other side.

Ning Chang turned his head and saw a platform surrounded by disciples. Two people on the platform were fighting at an extremely fast speed. Every move they made caused the flow of spiritual energy, creating a visible special effect.

After glancing at it for a few moments, Ning Chang wondered, "Can't they see the dazzling special effects?"

The two people on the stage would dodge each other's attacks, but rarely completely avoided them. They would get grazed or hit directly, and each time this happened, the crowd below would scream and gasp.

They were somewhat different from the outer disciples on the other stages, so they must be inner disciples at the Spirit Fusion Realm.

Finding nothing of interest, Ning Chang withdrew her gaze and followed Xiao Li back to her residence.

When he returned to the courtyard, it was already noon. Sitting in the pavilion, Ning Chang began to study the "Qingyun Step".

Open the book and read it carefully. The book describes the Qingyun Step, a light and agile movement, like clouds swirling in the wind.

The proficiency levels are divided into four stages: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and master.

"First, you need to draw spiritual energy to your calves and feet to form specific patterns."

“Pattern…pattern!” Ning Chang muttered to himself a few times, and suddenly it dawned on him!

"The patterns! That's it!" He understood why his previous experiments with spiritual energy attacks had failed!

"So it turns out that application is not just about filling, but about engraving spiritual patterns similar to circuits!"

"I underestimated this spiritual energy; I didn't even consider the more complex aspects."

Thinking of this, Ning Chang suddenly felt a sense of calm in her mind, followed by a feeling of mental exhaustion.

He suddenly realized a possibility, which startled him so much that he broke out in a cold sweat!

"If that's really the case, then it makes sense!"

He discovered that since he began to come into contact with Reiki, his mind had become sluggish, and some of his cognitive answers were passively processed as Reiki's reasons.

"But why?"

"If spiritual energy makes people simple-minded, then this subtle change is almost undetectable! And the higher the cultivation level, the greater the change will be!"

However, according to various indications, both the patterns and concepts in "Qingyun Steps" and "Qingyun Secrets" refute his conjecture.

He muttered under his breath.

"Spiritual energy... cultivation... hiss! No way?"

Following this line of thought, he suddenly remembered that in the fantasy novels he had read before, the existence of the will of Heaven would always appear at the end.

"So, is this the world's assimilation of me?" he boldly speculated.

He suddenly felt down, his eyes filled with confusion.

His strength lies in his modern understanding and thinking; without these, he would simply drift along like everyone else...

After a while, he regained his usual calm demeanor.

Neither the will of Heaven nor the reasons related to spiritual energy are things he can handle right now. All he can do now is remind himself from time to time, and then get rid of these troubles when he reaches a high enough level.

After calming himself down, Ning Chang began to read "Qingyun Steps" again.

The application of spiritual energy requires patterns, which means that research is not something that can be done overnight. Rather than wasting time exploring in the early stages, it is better to cultivate the established goals first, and then explore the details later.

It wasn't until evening that Ning Chang had barely finished half of it. Looking at the darkening sky, he decided to finish it tomorrow.

After a quick wash, he threw himself onto the bed, and a wave of exhaustion washed over him, enveloping him as he drifted off to sleep.

However, the night was not peaceful, and Ning Chang had another dream.

In his dream, he was submerged in water mixed with flames, enveloped by an endless burning and suffocating sensation, his body rising and falling uncontrollably...

Finally, he suddenly woke up, grabbed a towel from the bedside and wiped the cold sweat from his head. He glanced out the window; it was still midnight.

After calming his trembling body and taking a few deep breaths, he lay back down on the bed and emptied his mind for an unknown amount of time before finally falling asleep again.

When I woke up, the sunlight was already shining on my face.

Having forgotten most of last night's dream, Ning Chang washed up and went to the pavilion to continue reading "Qingyun Steps".

As noon approached, Ning Chang closed his book and let out a long sigh.

There were some things in the latter half of the book that he didn't quite understand; he thought they were problems that would only arise after cultivation.

Following the patterns described in the book, he guided the spiritual energy to spread through his legs. He immediately felt his legs become lighter, tried to take a step, and then fell to the ground.

This fall caused the patterns he had painstakingly gathered to disperse within his body, flowing back to his dantian along his meridians.

It turned out that the sudden feeling of lightness tempted him to take a step forward, thus forgetting the walking techniques required for the "Azure Cloud Step".

Once again, he condensed the patterns, felt them for a moment, and then, following the instructions on the footwork, took a slightly skewed step forward. In a daze, he appeared in front of the bamboo wall on the other side!