From then on, Xu Yuxiu's daily routine consisted of cultivation and spell practice.
Although she spent less time on cultivation than before, it still took up a full six hours every day.
She only practiced for six hours because, after careful observation, she realized that six hours was her body's daily endurance limit; any longer would cause physical discomfort.
Once her cultivation session ended, she would head straight to a secluded spot on Qingzhu Peak to practice spells.
With her spiritual power reserves at the Qi Condensation 2nd Layer, her daily spell practice could only last for about two to three hours—and that was because she still could not cast spells completely.
However, through massive amounts of practice, her spellcasting gradually grew complete.
As a result, the time she needed for daily spell practice steadily decreased.
Time flew by, and another half-month passed in the blink of an eye.
It was now late August. The scorching heat in the air was gradually fading, and autumn was eager to make its entrance.
Yet for the disciples within the Taixuan Sect, this change was barely noticeable.
Protected by a grand formation, the interior of the Taixuan Sect enjoyed spring-like weather all year round, regardless of the season.
Today, Xu Yuxiu came to her usual secluded spot on Qingzhu Peak to practice spells.
After making sure there was truly no one around, she stood still and began to regulate her breathing.
About a quarter of an hour later, having adjusted her state to the absolute best, she began to cast a spell.
As she lightly raised her small hand, a wave of scorching heat instantly rose around her. Before any flame appeared, a searing warmth could already be felt.
This was a phenomenon that only appeared once spell cultivation reached a certain level.
Basic spells could achieve this too, but the power of a basic spell spoke for itself.
In the Cultivation World, almost no one would waste a massive amount of time practicing basic spells—that would simply be a waste of time.
As the scorching heat around her intensified, a ball of flame suddenly ignited with a soft *poof* in Xu Yuxiu's outstretched palm.
"Go!"
With a soft cry, she flicked her wrist and hurled the fireball away.
The flame struck a green bamboo stalk, bursting into a large sheet of fire before quickly dissipating into nothingness.
When the flames cleared entirely, revealing the struck bamboo stalk, it was clear the bamboo had been burned through. A few lingering sparks flickered at the broken edge until a gust of wind blew and extinguished them completely.
"Five breaths."
Xu Yuxiu murmured, paying no mind to the bamboo cut down by her Flame Technique. Instead, she muttered to herself, "That's one breath faster than yesterday, but it's still a bit too slow!"
A cultivator's casting of spells demanded instantaneous speed, yet after all this long practice, she could only manage to release a Flame Technique in five breaths.
This clearly fell short of her own standards.
Through more than half a month of practice, Xu Yuxiu could distinctly feel that the further along she went, the harder it was to shorten her casting time.
It seemed her current pace was already her limit.
However, limits were meant to be broken. She always believed that through persistent, massive amounts of practice, she would one day be able to cast spells instantaneously, just like regular cultivators.
Her long hours of spell practice had not been without reward. After all, she had started out unable to even cast a complete Flame Technique, yet now she could release one fully—that was progress.
Since her Flame Technique had achieved small success, Xu Yuxiu felt it was time to begin practicing the Water Flow Technique.
With the foundation built by practicing the Flame Technique, Xu Yuxiu did not find the Water Flow Technique difficult to cultivate at all. In fact, she successfully converted her spiritual power into flowing water on her very first try.
The Water Flow Technique was much gentler than the Flame Technique.
At that moment, in the palm of Xu Yuxiu's hand, a clear stream of water flowed like a little snake, cohesive and refusing to scatter.
Water had no fixed shape and could transform infinitely.
Although the Water Flow Technique could not gather a large volume of water, it could shape small objects. However, it placed extremely high demands on a cultivator's meticulous control over their own spiritual power.
Otherwise, anything formed by the Water Flow Technique would appear rigid and fall apart at the slightest touch.
Yet for Xu Yuxiu, this was already something she could easily accomplish.
She reached out her other hand and gently touched the snake-like stream of water with her finger. The water simply flowed around her finger, transmitting a trace of coolness from her fingertip, without scattering.
Seeing that the most difficult part—control—was no longer an issue, Xu Yuxiu dismissed the water in her palm and decided to test the lethality of the Water Flow Technique.
Water was soft, but that did not mean it lacked lethality.
Just like the normally calm sea, once a huge wave rose, it possessed the power to shatter mountains and rocks.
While the Water Flow Technique might not possess such immense power, it could be transformed into water arrows and water blades, and its lethality would not be inferior to the Flame Technique.
The methods for utilizing the Water Flow Technique were not figured out by Xu Yuxiu herself, but learned from attending a lecture at the Dao Transmission Platform that month.
The platform she visited that month specifically taught insights on spellcasting.
When she first went to the Dao Transmission Platform, she had no idea there were different types. Only after inquiring about it later did she realize that different platforms taught different subjects each time.
Fortunately, she had not gone to the wrong place the first time.
The lecturer for the spell Dao Transmission Platform this time was an inner disciple in the Foundation Establishment stage, and his lecture was precisely about insights related to cultivating basic spells in the Qi Condensation stage.
It was precisely by listening to his insights that Xu Yuxiu had managed to master the Flame Technique in just over half a month.
Otherwise, given her own circumstances, she felt it would have taken at least two months or more to master the Flame Technique.
From this, she also realized how important it was to have a guide on the path of cultivation.
Transforming water into a water arrow was not difficult for Xu Yuxiu.
In just a short moment, she had condensed a water arrow over half a foot long in her palm.
With a soft cry of "Go!", the water arrow shot forth from her palm, aiming at a finger-wide green bamboo stalk.
With a *swish*, the water arrow instantly pierced through the bamboo and continued straight through three more stalks behind it before finally dissipating completely.
Seeing the damage caused by the water arrow, Xu Yuxiu was satisfied.
However, the Water Flow Technique shared the same flaw as the Flame Technique: it could not be cast instantly. This was the point Xu Yuxiu was unhappy with.
Just how could one achieve instantaneous spellcasting?
Lost in thought, Xu Yuxiu recalled what the Foundation Establishment senior brother had said that day at the Dao Transmission Platform:
"Spells are different from cultivation techniques. Blindly working behind closed doors will rarely lead to achievement; instead, it often leads to splitting hairs. Spells can only make substantial progress through practical application."
"Practical application of spells..."
Xu Yuxiu chewed on these words. The only thing she could think of was battles between cultivators. Aside from combat, where else could the Flame Technique and Water Flow Technique be used?
Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she thought of a certain place.
That place was outside the Taixuan Sect, but not very far away—only a little over twenty miles—and it was called Wind Wolf Ridge.
It was said that deep within Wind Wolf Ridge lived a Foundation Establishment stage Wind Wolf King. Although it was so close to the sect, the sect left it alone, intentionally using it as a trial ground for the sect's disciples.
Usually, many outer disciples also went to Wind Wolf Ridge to take on tasks, and most of the time nothing went wrong.
Xu Yuxiu felt that Wind Wolf Ridge was just right for her.
However, for a newly inducted disciple like her, leaving the sect was a problem.
For their first year, they did not have to take on tasks, and naturally had no need to leave the sect. Only after the sect's one-year protection period expired would these disciples be required to complete a certain amount of sect tasks.
After pondering for a moment, Xu Yuxiu slapped her hand against her thigh—she had an idea.
If she didn't have a task, she could actively go accept one!
The sect never said that newly inducted disciples weren't allowed to proactively accept and perform tasks.
Having made up her mind, Xu Yuxiu hastily ended her spell practice for the day and hurried back.
Before she could go accept a task, she still needed to make some preparations.