After the small gathering ended in a hurry, Xu Yuxiu, Shen Fengjiao, and Li Xiaolian left together and headed toward Qingzhu Peak.
When they reached a fork in the path, Li Xiaolian parted ways with the other two.
Upon returning to the courtyard where they lived, Shen Fengjiao merely said, "My cultivation for today is not finished yet, so I'll go back to my room to cultivate first."
With that, she went straight into her small room.
Watching Shen Fengjiao's door close, it wasn't long before fluctuations of spiritual energy emanated from within the room.
Xu Yuxiu knew that today's experience had dealt a heavy blow to Shen Fengjiao and the others.
Yet, through what happened today, Xu Yuxiu also recognized her own shortcomings.
In terms of pure cultivation, she was no match for that young man; the only reason he had fled in a panic was that he had mistaken her for an inner disciple with superior talent—she wouldn't always be so lucky.
Although luck was part of strength, there were simply too many unpredictable variables involved to rely solely on luck.
She felt that the young man's cultivation was at least two or three layers stronger than her own. And aside from cultivation level, a cultivator's strength also depended on spells.
Having only cultivation without spells was equivalent to possessing brute force alone; while it could still have some effect, it fell far short of the enhancement that spells provided.
Having realized this point, Xu Yuxiu knew she should no longer focus solely on raising her cultivation level; her mastery of spells must also match her cultivation.
Taking advantage of the fact that it was just past noon and there was still time, Xu Yuxiu did not return to her room to cultivate. Instead, she turned around, walked out of the courtyard, and headed toward the outer disciple Scripture Pavilion.
The Scripture Pavilion was divided into inner and outer sections. The inner Scripture Pavilion was exclusively for inner disciple to select cultivation methods and spells and to consult ancient texts, and its collection was far rarer than that of the outer pavilion.
As for anything beyond that, it involved the sect's core heritage grounds, located solely within the seven main peaks.
It was said that only those who became true inheritance disciples were qualified to touch upon them; inner and outer disciples shouldn't even dream of it. These rules were recorded clearly and plainly in the sect regulations.
Although the outer Scripture Pavilion's collection was not as vast as the inner pavilion's, the outer sect had a hundred thousand disciples, which meant that every day, numerous outer disciple were seen coming and going.
As Xu Yuxiu arrived in front of the Scripture Pavilion, her vision was filled with coming and going outer disciple.
After glancing around for a few moments, she lifted her foot and stepped inside the Scripture Pavilion.
Though the exterior of the Scripture Pavilion seemed somewhat bustling, once she entered the interior, it grew quiet.
No one shouted or made a fuss here; everyone was orderly, selecting the books or Jade Slips they needed.
Most of the book-form items were ancient texts, while Jade Slips had gradually become popular only after the ancient war between immortals and demons. Most Jade Slips were used to record cultivation methods and spells; it was very rare to use them to record miscellaneous matters or secret tales, as that would be far too wasteful.
Carving a Jade Slip consumed not only spiritual power but also divine sense, making Jade Slips much more convenient to use than books.
The interior of the Scripture Pavilion was very large, complete with directional markers.
After identifying the location of the spell section, Xu Yuxiu walked straight toward the area where spells were placed.
The spell section consisted entirely of Jade Slips, yet beside each Jade Slip hung a wooden sign with descriptions meant to introduce the spells recorded within.
Xu Yuxiu glanced up at the nearest few wooden signs and saw names such as Blaze Sun Art, Wind-Fire Annihilation, and Cold Spring Break.
These were all advanced, combination-type spells, and she knew they were not suited for her current level of cultivation.
With her Qi Condensation 2nd Layer cultivation, there were very few spells she could practice.
Xu Yuxiu searched around for a while before finally stopping in front of a selection of basic spells.
Indeed, with her current Qi Condensation 2nd Layer cultivation and the fact that she had never practiced spells before, choosing basic spells to practice was the most appropriate course of action.
Although basic spells were basic, they still came in a wide variety.
Among them, the five elemental basic spells alone numbered five: Golden Ray Art, Water Flow Art, Wood Spirit Art, Flame Technique, and Earth Dust Art.
In addition, there were some basic spells exclusive to mutated Spiritual Roots, such as Wind Whirl Art, Lightning Light Art, and Ice Condensation Art.
Knowing her own Spiritual Root attribute, Xu Yuxiu directly chose the Flame Technique and Water Flow Art from among the five elemental spells.
Picking up the Jade Slips recording these two spells, she walked straight to the registration desk inside the Scripture Pavilion.
Behind the counter at the registration desk sat a recliner, upon which an elderly man with a benevolent expression lay half-asleep with his eyes half-closed.
Xu Yuxiu glanced at the old man and felt an abyss-like aura emanating from him, making it utterly impossible for her to see through this kind-faced elder.
Startled, she realized that this seemingly benevolent old man undoubtedly possessed terrifying cultivation and strength, and she quickly withdrew her searching gaze.
"Greetings, Elder. I wish to exchange for these two spells."
Standing before the counter, Xu Yuxiu bowed respectfully to the old man and spoke.
The old man opened his eyes, cast a glance at the Jade Slips in Xu Yuxiu's hand, and said, "Basic spells, two spirit stones in total."
With that, he half-closed his eyes once more, reclined back into the chair, and paid her no further mind.
Without hesitation, Xu Yuxiu took two spirit stones from her storage bag, placed them on the counter, bowed respectfully once again, and walked out of the Scripture Pavilion.
Having selected her basic spells, Xu Yuxiu did not return to her courtyard. Instead, she found an uninhabited spot on Qingzhu Peak and began practicing the spells.
First, she used her divine sense to record the cultivation methods of the two spells from the Jade Slips into her mind, then began to ponder them.
After about a quarter of an hour, she had more or less grasped the cultivation of the Flame Technique, and she prepared to attempt executing it for the first time.
Executing the Flame Technique was extremely simple: it was nothing more than following the descriptions of the spell, mobilizing the spiritual power within her dantian, and transforming that spiritual power into flames to release them—it was as simple as that.
Most of the other basic spells were similar.
Xu Yuxiu stood firmly in place, held her breath, and began to mobilize the spiritual power within her dantian.
However, the moment she tried to mobilize her spiritual power, the innate turbulence within her dantian made the movement of her spiritual power extremely difficult.
Often, just as she managed to mobilize a trace of spiritual power, the turbulence inside her dantian would suppress it right back down, causing her to fail repeatedly in drawing even a wisp of spiritual power out of her dantian.
This undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to her.
Fortunately, her state of mind had already changed drastically from when she first entered the sect; this setback did not dishearten her. Instead, it made her calm down, preventing her from blindly attempting to mobilize her spiritual power over and over again.
Pausing for a brief moment, Xu Yuxiu began to recall the sensations she had experienced during her previous attempts to mobilize her spiritual power.
"Turbulence, disorder, and also..."
Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Amidst the turbulent disorder, there seem to be gaps. If I guide the spiritual power along those gaps, would I be able to pull it out?"
Thinking of it, she acted on it.
Thus, she began a new round of attempts.
This time, she sat cross-legged on the ground, closed her eyes, gathered her focus, and sank all her concentration into her dantian to observe the situation within.
After about a quarter of an hour, feeling that she was ready, she began to mobilize her spiritual power once again.
This time, she did not try to forcefully draw all the spiritual power out of her dantian in one go as she had before. Instead, she condensed her spiritual power into a thin wisp of thread, using her divine sense to slowly guide it and move it out of the dantian along the gaps she had discovered.
This process was extremely lengthy. Not only did it require calm and steady patience, but it also heavily consumed her divine sense.
Having lasted for only a short moment, Xu Yuxiu already felt sweat beading on her forehead.
Finally, after expending about an hour of time, she quietly opened her eyes and flicked her hand. A cluster of flames "poofed" into existence at her fingertips.
Seeing this cluster of flames burning at her fingertips, a smile finally appeared on Xu Yuxiu's face. Yet just as her mind relaxed slightly, the flame "snapped" and went out.
"I finally succeeded once, but the time it took to release the spell was far too long!"
Xu Yuxiu understood her own problem.
During duels between cultivators, the release of spells was usually completed in an instant.
If she wanted to achieve instantaneous release of the Flame Technique, she still needed a massive amount of practice to make her method of mobilizing spiritual power instinctive.
Fortunately, now that she had achieved it once, further practice wouldn't be as difficult as it was at the very beginning.
With that, she set to work practicing the mobilization of her spiritual power.
Time slipped away amidst her practice of mobilizing spiritual power.
When Xu Yuxiu finally produced another cluster of flames the size of a thumb, her spiritual power was completely exhausted.
Though her spiritual power had been drained through practicing the spell, her harvest was even greater.
From initially needing about an hour just to mobilize her spiritual power, to now completing it in only half an hour, this was undoubtedly a tremendous improvement.
"Let's end the spell practice here for today."
Exhaling a long breath, Xu Yuxiu got to her feet and walked toward her dwelling.
Though a day of practice hadn't consumed much physical strength, the exhaustion of prolonged mental concentration was far greater than physical fatigue. After sitting cross-legged to recover her spiritual power, she collapsed onto her bed and fell fast asleep.