Chapter 44: Leaving the Island

In the originally empty sea of consciousness, there now existed an island that did not truly exist.

The moment the island took shape, Li Zhirui's heart suddenly became much calmer, and chaotic thoughts ceased to surface.

"Is this the benefit of Visualization?" And this was only the first step!

Li Zhirui shared this good news with Li Shiqing. Li Shiqing was sincerely happy for him and even shared his own cultivation insights with Li Zhirui.

"One must never rush the practice of Visualization, and certainly do not let it delay your primary cultivation."

After offering this warning, Li Shiqing saw him out. Facing the empty room, he murmured, "I wonder if I will live to see him achieve the Golden Core stage."

Li Shiqing was already over two hundred years old. The lifespan limit for a Foundation Establishment cultivator was four sexagenary cycles (240 years); if he failed to break through to the Golden Core, he would only have a few decades left.

"I hope Zhirui can break through Foundation Establishment as soon as possible. Only then can I fight with peace of mind." As his voice faded, no further sound was heard.

...

Time flew by, and more than a month passed quickly.

Having successfully molted and nourished by a large amount of spiritual fruits and pills, Da Qing had fully recovered.

On this day, Li Zhirui brought Da Qing to a desolate, uninhabited area and said, "Da Qing, perform all the spells you know once."

Before a demon beast breaks through to the Golden Core stage and transforms into human form, it is difficult for them to learn spells from the outside world due to insufficient intelligence; the spells they master are actually inheritances obtained from their bloodline.

Generally speaking, as long as a demon beast breaks through a minor realm, they can comprehend one or two spells.

"Ji!"

After responding, Da Qing began to perform his spells. A mass of watery light gathered in his mouth, and after two breaths of gathering strength, he released a water arrow. Its power was quite impressive, directly shattering a large rock into powder.

Next, Da Qing demonstrated numerous water and wood-element spells, such as Water Prison, Water Shield, Wood Armor, Vine Control, Wooden Arrow, and Entangled Roots.

However, there were very few offensive spells—only a handful like Water Arrow and Wooden Arrow; most were for control and defense.

"Good work." After performing all the spells, Da Qing's internal spiritual power was nearly exhausted. Li Zhirui hurried forward to feed him a few Spirit Replenishing Pills, then placed him into his spatial storage to rest properly.

Li Zhirui sat on the ground, considering how he and Da Qing could coordinate to exert even greater combat strength.

"Since Da Qing's offensive power isn't strong, I should learn more high-powered spells, and then use Da Qing's defensive and control spells to assist..."

Li Zhirui continuously refined his thoughts, only snapping out of it when the sun began to set, before rising to return to his courtyard.

Early the next morning, Li Zhirui brought Da Qing back to the same wasteland.

"Da Qing, from now on, we both must train hard to increase our strength!" Li Zhirui said solemnly.

As Li Zhirui's appearance and identity became known to more and more cultivators, a sense of crisis inevitably arose in his heart; he worried that one day he might be targeted.

During his last fight, he had encountered a few low-combat-power evil cultivators, but what about next time? Would he be so lucky again?

To preserve his life, Li Zhirui could only find ways to enhance his own strength.

"Ji!"

Da Qing responded, though he didn't quite understand.

"Today, you will practice the Water Shield and Entangled Roots spells. First, increase your casting speed, and then increase the power of the spells."

After arranging things for Da Qing, Li Zhirui also began practicing spells. He focused entirely on high-power spells, such as Ice Blade, Needle Rain, and Leaf-Plucking Flying Flower.

Li Zhirui formed hand seals, attempting to condense individual droplets of rain as fine as needles. This was the foundation of the Needle Rain spell; if one could not even condense the fine rain, or if the quantity was too small, the true power of the spell could not be unleashed.

This spell required extremely high control over spiritual power. Li Zhirui practiced for several hours, his fingers aching from the hand seals, yet he had not succeeded.

Feeling that success was not far off, Li Zhirui did not want to give up halfway. Seeing this, Da Qing, who was practicing nearby, also dragged his heavy steps to continue his own training.

As he formed the hand seals once more, a sudden moment of enlightenment flashed in Li Zhirui's mind. A burst of spiritual light suddenly appeared before him, and in the next second, countless extremely fine needles flew out from it. By the time the spiritual light was exhausted, the needle-rain had punctured a pit three zhang wide into the earth.

Li Zhirui was overjoyed; his day of bitter study had not been in vain—he had finally succeeded.

However, this could only be considered "learning" it. To use it in combat, he would still need rigorous training, especially since his current casting speed was too slow. If he were truly fighting someone, even if the coverage of the Needle Rain was large, an opponent could easily dodge it.

"You worked hard today too." Li Zhirui forced himself up and walked to the exhausted Da Qing, his eyes full of heartache.

But as a cultivator, if one did not possess sufficiently powerful means to protect their path, one would eventually become nothing more than a withered bone on the road to immortality.

*Ji!*

Da Qing's response was barely audible, showing he was truly exhausted, yet he showed no intention of giving up.

Li Zhirui smiled, patted Da Qing's shell, and let him rest in the spatial storage before slowly walking back to the courtyard.

In the following months, the figures of Li Zhirui and Da Qing could be seen in the deserted wilderness.

One man and one turtle, they moved from training individually to gradually coordinating their spells. Now, they were highly synchronized; even without Li Zhirui speaking, Da Qing knew which spell to cast.

"Knowledge gained from books is always superficial; only through real combat can the effects be seen." Gazing at the vast ocean, Li Zhirui prepared to temper himself in the nearby waters.

Although there were fewer water demons in coastal areas, that was only in comparison to the Boundless Sea. In fact, just dozens of miles away from Big Rong Island, it was very easy to encounter water demons.

This was also one of the reasons why the Yunqing Market could gather a large number of rogue cultivators. If there weren't a vast number of water demons in the sea, how could so many rootless rogue cultivators survive?

When Li Zhirui told Li Shiqing about his plan to go out for tempering, Li Shiqing did not oppose him; instead, he strongly encouraged him to go to sea to improve his combat strength through practical experience.

"I remember that in the market, there are specialized demon-hunting teams. You can look for a suitable team, but the drawbacks of such teams are also very obvious. You must be extremely careful."

When Li Shiqing was young, he had also gone out to temper himself. Although many years had passed, he remembered certain things clearly.

Team members came from various backgrounds and did not possess deep trust in one another; instead, when encountering treasures, the first people they would guard against were their own teammates.

There was also another situation: if a team had been established for a long time and the other cultivators were very familiar with each other, you would be the only stranger. If danger arose, you would be the first one abandoned!

Of course, teaming up for tempering was not without benefits. At the very least, you would be stronger, and before danger or conflicts of interest appeared, you would be safer than being alone.

"Patriarch, I intend to practice combat methods involving coordination with Da Qing." Only then did Li Zhirui reveal what he had left unsaid.

Li Shiqing frowned, but ultimately nodded in agreement. If a fledgling eagle wishes to soar in the sky, one does not know how many times it must leap from a cliff; and for a person to grow, how can they do so without being tempered?