Chapter 13: Chapter Thirteen Spells

Only then did the purple-clad youth feel fear; his eyes darted around before he slumped to the ground, motionless.

Zhao Chun saw through his act of feigning unconsciousness but did not expose him. Picking up her cloth bag, she headed straight out the door. She had many matters to attend to today and had no time to waste here.

The outer sect of the Lingzhen Sect covered a vast area. While the Xuancao and Qingzhu gardens were relatively close to the disciple residences and lecture halls, she would still have to walk for an hour or two. The Wancang Pavilion, where she was to collect her techniques, was located in the center of the valley; while she could see it in the distance, actually getting there would take at least a day or two of travel.

Fortunately, the Lingzhen Sect was aware of this situation and had established Smoke-Boat Stations within the sect for disciples' travel. Regardless of the distance, boarding a boat required two萃石 (Cui Stones).

A pre-disciple with three spiritual roots like Zhao Chun was only issued twenty Cui Stones per month, enough for five round trips. Consequently, unless they had urgent business, pre-disciples rarely traveled to distant locations.

It wasn't that the sect was being greedy; rather, it was because the production of transformation talismans was time-consuming and laborious. Unlike Fireball or Water Bullet talismans, which were discarded after a single use, these types of talismans could be reused more than twenty times, and a single one cost three hundred Cui Stones.

Upon arriving at the Smoke-Boat Station, Zhao Chun registered Wancang Pavilion as her destination. Once twenty people had gathered, a gray-clad handyman tossed out a talisman, allowing everyone to board.

Among the group, she was traveling the furthest. By the time they reached Wancang Pavilion, she was the only one left on the boat. Once Zhao Chun disembarked, the Smoke-Boat fulfilled its purpose; its mist dispersed into a single beam and flew back along its original path.

Wancang Pavilion spanned across the Guantian River, with the East Tower housing the outer sect's books and the West Tower housing the inner sect's. The thousands of techniques and secrets contained within were the foundation of the Lingzhen Sect, and thus, security was extremely tight. Zhao Chun first presented her identity plaque and then underwent two inspections by the guards before entering the building.

"Pre-disciples may take one mid-grade mortal-tier technique or two low-grade ones. For anything exceeding this, a mid-grade technique costs four hundred Cui Stones per volume, and a low-grade one costs one hundred Cui Stones per volume," the handyman at the entrance counter reminded her.

Zhao Chun had a total of eighteen Cui Stones in hand. Since she would need two more for her return trip, she couldn't afford to learn more even if she wanted to. She pondered this as she walked upstairs. Wancang Pavilion had nine floors, structured like a traditional walled residence—hollow in the center and straight on the outside, with natural light pouring vertically down from the top.

Zhao Chun could only choose from the first three floors; anything higher was beyond her eligibility.

However, the books in just these three floors were enough to make her eyes spin. The first floor contained lifestyle techniques like Dust-Clearing Spells and Voice-Amplification Spells, which were outside her scope of interest. On the second floor were various saber and sword techniques and different weapon forms. Zhao Chun raised an eyebrow, not expecting that cultivators would also practice these.

The techniques on the third floor leaned toward the self-improvement of the cultivator, such as the *Tiger Strength Manual*, which could triple one's strength upon mastery, or the *Serpent Step*, which increased speed by twenty percent. These two techniques complemented each other, capable of significantly boosting one's strength during the early stages of Qi Refinement, making one nearly peerless among contemporaries; however, they were of little use against those in the middle or late stages of Qi Refinement.

The techniques displayed on the shelves only showed partial contents to prevent disciples from stealing the knowledge.

A mid-grade technique was not necessarily superior to a low-grade one; it depended on the specific circumstances of the cultivator. For example, the mid-grade *Armor Attachment Manual* formed a layer of Qi armor around the joints upon mastery, providing defense against external injuries. However, it only protected the joints, neglecting vital areas like the head, neck, chest, and abdomen; a single strike to a vital spot could end a fight instantly. Its rating as mid-grade was due to the high difficulty of practicing the Qi armor itself, but once mastered, blades and swords would find it difficult to penetrate. When paired with the *Thick Armor Manual*, which specialized in protecting vital areas, its power would increase immensely.

In Zhao Chun's view, the low-grade *Falling Leaf Swordplay* was no less beneficial to a cultivator than a mid-grade one. Its moves were simple and continuous, capable of both offense and defense, making it highly suitable for beginners with decent power and quick results.

However, in the Hengyun World, the foundation was always the cultivator's spiritual Qi, with external techniques serving as supplements. In their eyes, only mortals and people from small worlds relied on external objects to establish themselves.

Zhao Chun nodded. She indeed needed to focus on the basics for now, but having a few techniques that could rapidly increase her combat power would be beneficial.

The purple-clad youth had already offended her. He acted erratically, and there was bound to be someone backing him. However, seeing that he did not follow up with threats, either his backing was not influential enough, or he did not value the person enough to be sure they would stand up for him. It was an undeniable fact that he had struck first. Zhao Chun was not afraid of him attacking her openly; the most hateful kind of person was one who used underhanded tricks from the shadows, which were difficult to guard against.

How to increase her combat power in a short time was her primary concern. Regarding the mid-grade technique slot, Zhao Chun was leaning toward the *Qi Burst Manual*. Unlike the *Tiger Strength Manual* or *Serpent Step*, which directly enhanced physical capabilities, this technique mobilized spiritual Qi to flow through the entire body, allowing a cultivator to burst with twice their strength for a short duration.

Among the mid-grade techniques, many were unremarkable on their own; only by mastering several complementary ones could one achieve true success. Since Zhao Chun only had one slot, choosing the *Qi Burst Manual*—which, while slightly less powerful, could be practiced effectively as a single volume—was clearly the wiser choice.

As for the low-grade slot, Zhao Chun chose the *Swift Swordplay*. Although the *Falling Leaf Swordplay* earlier was balanced in offense and defense, it was only suitable for beginners. In Zhao Chun's eyes, its moves were too simple, relying on brute force to win. The reason she could kick the purple-clad youth away was that he was too weak, not that she was too strong; she could not use the weak as a standard to measure herself. Strength was, and always would be, her weakness.

Zhao Chun was light and small of stature, making her suited for agile moves. The *Swift Swordplay*, true to its name, was not only fast in swordplay but also included footwork and movement techniques, allowing one to be as light as a swallow and as fast as the wind. Finding such a manual in the low-grade section was quite a bargain for her.

Now that she had close combat covered, Zhao Chun decided to select the *Single-Line Flying Dagger* to compensate for her lack of long-range offense. This meant she would have to commission some miniature flying daggers from the sect's Forging Hall; ordinary ones would be too cumbersome for her size.

There were many low-grade sword techniques that made her envious, but since she couldn't afford them, she could only flip through them briefly.

After making her selection, she registered at the counter and marked off her remaining slots. The gray-clad handyman retrieved the complete volumes according to the registered names and handed them to Zhao Chun, saying nothing more than "Here you go."

By the time she returned to the Xuancao Garden via the Smoke-Boat, half the sunset had already been swallowed by the horizon. The courtyard was bathed in an orange-red glow, devoid of any human presence.

After having dinner in the dining hall, Zhao Chun locked herself in her room to continue her repetitive cycle of cultivation.

She rose early the next day and took the Smoke-Boat to the Forging Hall. The round trip cost another four Cui Stones. With the remaining twelve, Zhao Chun planned to buy a small sword and use whatever was left to commission the flying daggers.

Upon entering the Forging Hall, she first saw three walls filled with various implements. After a thorough look, she found that while there were many items and a wide variety, none were the right size for her. It seemed she would have to custom-order a sword as well.

A tall, burly handyman approached her, his face partially covered in stubble. He asked in a low voice, "Is there anything you have your eye on?"

Zhao Chun shook her head and said, "I am small; none of these are suitable."

The man hadn't expected her to be so direct and laughed heartily. "True, you are still just a child!" After laughing, he guided Zhao Chun into the inner room and said, "Tell me your requirements. Once they are ready in three days, someone will deliver them to you."

"About the length of my arm will do. I wonder how much it will cost?"

"Ordinary swords are between eight and ten Cui Stones. Since you need a shorter one, six will suffice!"

Zhao Chun thanked him and then asked, "I also need some flying daggers, about a finger wide and the length of a palm. How many can six Cui Stones get me?"

The handyman thought for a moment and said, "They aren't expensive, but small items are exceptionally time-consuming and laborious. I can give you three flying daggers for one Cui Stone. Is that acceptable?"

Zhao Chun nodded, and the order was settled. Returning to the Xuancao Garden, she was now as penniless as her face was clean; she was completely out of money.

In terms of efficiency, the Forging Hall was indeed impressive. Early on the third day, someone delivered the goods to her door. Zhao Chun took the items to the dining hall for a meal, but upon her return, she saw a squad of black-clad disciples blocking the entrance. They asked, "Where is Zhao Chun, the pre-disciple of the Thirty-Ninth Courtyard?"

She frowned and replied, "I am here."

Seeing that it was just a young girl, the leader of the black-clad group relaxed slightly and said, "Yesterday at the hour of the Sheep, you engaged in a fight with Xu Kuangrui, also a pre-disciple of the Thirty-Ninth Courtyard, injuring his left ribs and causing a bone fracture. Is this true?"

"It is true," Zhao Chun thought to herself, mocking their swift arrival.

Seeing that she did not deny it, the black-clad man nodded. "The sect has laws: disciples must not engage in private combat. Violators are sentenced to six months of confinement. However, considering this is your first offense and you were not the aggressor, the punishment is halved. You are sentenced to three months of confinement. Zhao Chun, do you accept the punishment?"

"May I ask this Senior Brother, has Xu Kuangrui also been punished?"

Seeing that Zhao Chun avoided answering, the black-clad man's expression cooled slightly. "Naturally, there is punishment. He provoked and struck first; he is sentenced to six months of confinement."

That was a fair trade. Zhao Chun gave a light smile and said, "This disciple accepts the punishment."

She had known after striking that she wouldn't walk away unscathed, but she had also guessed the punishment wouldn't be too heavy. She didn't feel the outcome today was unjust; for someone like her, who was accustomed to quiet cultivation, confinement was nothing. But for someone like Xu Kuangrui, who enjoyed worldly pleasures, it was akin to a death sentence. It was only the missed lessons that made her very unhappy.

"In that case, go pack your things and leave!"

The Lingzhen Sect had established a Hall of Repentance for disciples who committed errors. It was located in a remote area with no inhabitants for miles around. This was partly as a punishment and partly because the sect hoped disciples could temper their character and cultivate in peace there.

As Zhao Chun sat in the quiet room, she found it even more peaceful than usual, and her mood regarding her missed lessons recovered slightly.