Chapter Eighty-Five: Advancement in Spellcraft

The Soul-Devouring, Spirit-Calming, Heaven-Severing Art has another use as well: it can conceal your true cultivation. With this divine ability, as long as no one’s cultivation exceeds yours by more than three major realms, no one will be able to discern your true strength. It works better than any spell meant to hide cultivation. There is one more thing: your cultivation has surged all the way to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, so for the time being it would be best to suppress it, and strive to consolidate and deepen the spiritual energy within you. There are also many Foundation Establishment spells that you should learn in full, so that your overall strength can be raised as quickly as possible in a short time.

Kiu-han, this old man will soon fall into slumber again. This time, I fear it will take at least a year. During that year, do your best to avoid disaster. As for my own matter, if one day you truly reach the Soul Formation stage and are willing to help me, I shall be endlessly grateful. If you are not willing, I will not force you ... Kiu-han, take care in all things.

Nan Gongli’s残魂 was even weaker now, his eyes slowly closing, as though he would sink back into sleep at any moment.

Kiu-han gazed at the soul fragment that was about to fall asleep, recalling what Nan Gongli had just said to him, and fell into thought. After a while, he raised his head solemnly, his gaze once more settling on Nan Gongli’s残魂, and cupped his fists in a deep bow.

“Throughout my life, I have not bowed to heaven and earth, nor revered ghosts or gods. I bow only to my parents and honor only my masters. My life has been short, though in these six or seven years since I began cultivating, I have met a few who have shown me kindness: Master, Senior Brother Zhou Yi, Senior Sister Yi Tong ... and now Nan Gongli. Though our time together has been brief, along this journey he has shown me great kindness more than once. I had not truly taken his request to heart before, but thinking on it now, I cannot help but feel ashamed ...”

“I, Kiu-han, may not dare call myself a gentleman, but I am certainly not a villain. I act only according to my heart, seeking not to be without fault, only to be worthy of my conscience. No matter what, I must repay Nan Gongli’s kindness. As for what he has entrusted to me, even if it costs me my life, I will do it. After all, if not for him, I would have died several times over in this brief month ...”

Kiu-han’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. After a moment, he spoke to Nan Gongli’s sleeping soul fragment: “Nan Gongli, I am not the sort to forget a kindness and betray a benefactor. The matter you have entrusted to me, no matter the price, I will surely help you break free, guard your reincarnated self, and continue until your cultivation is restored!”

With that, he turned and flew out of the inner space. Back in the forest, Kiu-han opened his eyes. After a brief moment of thought, he took out a cultivation manual from his storage bag and sent his divine sense into it, reading the words within.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Kiu-han withdrew his divine sense and returned the manual to his storage bag. His cultivation had now advanced to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and many more powerful spells needed practice. Even the spells he had already learned required advanced incantations, so that their power could be greatly increased.

This included transforming single-target attacks into multi-target assaults, with power multiplied severalfold. There were also spells that only Foundation Establishment cultivators could learn, such as soul searching, spiritual shields, divine sense attacks, and even the art of seizing another body, a technique Kiu-han had never even heard of before.

Practicing these spells was not difficult for Kiu-han at present; he could master them completely in just half a day. But this place was obviously not suitable for training spells. After some thought, Kiu-han decided to leave and find a safer place before making further plans.

He looked ahead, then stepped forward into the depths of the forest. The woodland was vast. The farther Kiu-han walked, the less level the terrain became, and the denser the trees grew around him. He entered a narrow little path of stone and earth, where both sides were overgrown with all kinds of strange flowers and herbs, lush to the extreme, with many uneven trees scattered about as well.

Kiu-han spread out his divine sense to watch for any movement around him. Suddenly, his steps halted. He looked up cautiously, while at the same time patting his storage bag with his left hand, bringing out a low-grade spirit shield and an ice-feather ring. Spiritual energy flowed into them, activating their defenses, and he held them before himself.

Not far ahead, from the flower and grass thickets on both sides, leaped out one small beast after another, each about a foot tall. Their appearance was most peculiar: red noses, large ears, deep blue fur on the upper body, and a brown lower body that was all of one piece, allowing them to walk upright on two feet. After appearing, they bounded and hopped toward Kiu-han.

“Earth-Store goblin beasts! But they are only first-tier beasts, so they are of no concern. Master once said in the jade slip that earth-store beads must be obtained from these creatures, but not every earth-store goblin beast will nurture one. Only a very small number do. For this trial, I need to gather ten earth-store beads.”

As he thought, Kiu-han extended his right hand and formed several seals. Fire Control was unleashed, instantly incinerating the handful of earth-store goblin beasts. On the ground remained only a patch of scorched charcoal, and when Kiu-han swept it with his divine sense, he found no earth-store bead at all.

Shaking his head, he continued onward. Soon a small hill appeared ahead. After some consideration, Kiu-han used the Dark Feather Blade to dig out a large hole, then went inside. He took out a stack of defensive talismans, laid down several layers of protection at the entrance, and then sat cross-legged. From his storage bag he took out the cultivation manual and began practicing the spells usable at the Foundation Establishment stage.

First came Ice Arrow, Ice Needle, Wind Blade, Flight, Small Five Elements Escape, Fireball, Fire Control, and other low-level spells. Now that Kiu-han’s cultivation had advanced to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, their power was somewhat lacking if used against cultivators above Foundation Establishment or second-tier beasts. Thus, he needed to master the advanced incantations of these spells from the cultivation manual, raising their might to achieve the desired effect.

These were not difficult. In merely an hour, Kiu-han had completed the advanced forms of these offensive spells. At present, if he cast Ice Arrow or Ice Needle, he could unleash more than a hundred at once; their range was broader, and their power had increased severalfold.

As for Wind Blade, a relatively advanced spell, once Kiu-han mastered the Foundation Establishment incantation for it, he could now unleash ten wind blades at a time, each far deadlier than before.

As for Small Five Elements Escape, Flight, and Wind-Riding, these were auxiliary movement and escape spells. Kiu-han spent another hour mastering their advanced incantations one by one. After increasing the speed of these spells severalfold, he then began to study the advanced incantation for Fire Control.

Fire Control was itself an advanced form of Fireball. Built upon the foundation of Fireball and guided by divine sense, it could transform into all manner of shapes for group attack. Its power was somewhat greater than that of many other spells.