"See you later, Hanyuan!" Qin Yu whispered with a quick wave. Without wasting another second, he navigated the maze of shelves, his eyes locked onto a section glowing with a tranquil, cerulean light—the Water Element section.
Hanyuan moved in the opposite direction. He ignored the Sword manuals, and the gleaming saber manuals, walking past two youths who were frantically arguing over a high-rank Human manual. His feet drew him toward the back of the hall, where the air grew noticeably colder. The Ice Element shelves stood there, carved from translucent white jade.
He ran his fingers over the Qi bubbles protecting the scrolls. Back in Spirit Springs City, his Glacial Spear Art was considered a prized possession, yet it was only a Mid-Grade Human rank manual.The Grade of the Techniques were following: Human, Spirit, Earth, Heaven, and Divine.
To his astonishment, almost every scroll on these shelves started at the Spirit Rank.
Hanyuan bypassed manuals for axes, bows, and even exotic frost-whips. His heart was set on the spear. He examined a few aggressive styles that promised to shatter mountains but lacked defense, and some defensive styles that felt too passive. Finally, his gaze settled on a leather-bound manual.
[Silver Frost Spear Art]
Hanyuan's spirit resonated with the title. As he infused a sliver of Qi into the protection bubble, the contents flickered in his mind:
Silver Crescent Horizon: A sweeping horizontal strike that releases a wave of crescent-shaped Ice Qi. It is an ideal move for controlling crowds or keeping multiple enemies at bay.
Star-Point Piercer: An extremely focused thrust. By concentrating a massive amount of Qi into a single, microscopic point on the spear-tip, its destructive power becomes terrifying—enough to pierce armor a full realm above his own. However, at his current 5th Layer, Hanyuan estimated he could only use it twice before his Dantian ran dry.
Whirling Silver Veil: A high-speed defensive rotation. The spear spins so fast it creates a literal curtain of frozen Qi, capable of deflecting projectiles and dampening heavy physical blows.
It was everything the Glacial Spear Art was, but perfected and amplified. As a Low-Grade Spirit Rank technique, the complexity of its Qi flow was ten times more intricate than his old style.
This is it, Hanyuan decided. The familiarity will let me master the basics quickly, but the power ceiling is high enough.
Twenty minutes had passed. He plucked the manual from the shelf, and the Qi bubble popped with a soft hiss.
When Hanyuan emerged from the gold-marble doors, he found the plaza transformed into a marketplace of boasts. Youths were showing off the titles of their manuals, their faces red with excitement. Mu Rongbing was nowhere to be seen—she had likely already retreated to her courtyard to begin her training.
"Hanyuan! What did you find?" Qin Yu called out, approaching with a look of quiet satisfaction.
"The Silver Frost Spear Art," Hanyuan replied, showing him the cover. "It's a Spirit-Rank manual. It suits my foundation."
Qin Yu nodded, his scholarly eyes twinkling. "Good choice. Stability is key in the beginning. I found a Low-Grade Spirit manual as well: the Spiraling Water Combat Art. It focuses on using an opponent's momentum against them."
They walked back toward the Light-Bridge while chatting, "Well, Hanyuan," Qin Yu said as they reached their row of huts. "The next few weeks will be the 'honeymoon period.' The Sect won't bother us while we master our first techniques. But once that month is up... the missions and the rankings begin. We better be ready."
"I'll be ready," Hanyuan said, his hand tightening on the scroll.
He entered his stone courtyard and shut the heavy door, sealing the world outside.
Inside the confines of his private stone courtyard, the air whistled with the sound of steel. Hanyuan stood in a low stance, the Silver Frost Spear Art manual spread open on a nearby stone pedestal. He took a deep breath, visualizing the complex meridian pathways required for the Silver Crescent Horizon.
Unlike his previous Human-rank techniques, this Spirit-rank art demanded a violent surge of Qi through auxiliary meridians he had only recently widened with the Qi Paving Pill.
"Hah!"
Hanyuan swept the blackened steel spear in a sharp horizontal arc. His Dantian spasmed as nearly half of his internal Qi was sucked out in an instant, but the result was frustrating. Instead of a sweeping blade of frost, only a ragged, freezing mist sputtered from the spear-tip. The strike lacked both the razor edge of a crescent and the explosive force described in the scroll.
"Form is lacking... flow is uneven," Hanyuan muttered, his arms trembling from the sudden Qi drain.
He didn't get discouraged. He rested for thirty minutes, circulating his remaining Qi to recover, and then he did it again. By the time half a day had passed, Hanyuan was full off sweat and exhaustion. His mind felt frayed from the constant focus, and his muscles throbbed with a dull ache.
Realizing he couldn't push his cultivation on an empty stomach, he stepped out of his courtyard. The sky was beginning to glow with the soft orange of a rising sun. He made his way toward the communal cafeteria—a grand wooden hall perched near one of the light-bridges.
The hall was bustling with life. Around three hundred and eighty Outer Disciples resided on the island, some old Disciples who had stayed at the Qi Refining realm for years, and some new faces from the trial.
Hanyuan approached the counter and tapped a single low-grade spirit stone onto the wood. "I'll have the Jade-Leaf Steamed Dumplings and the Spirit juice."
The price was steep—nearly seven percent of his monthly allowance—but the quality was worth it. He sat in a quiet corner, his eyes widening as he tasted the first bite. The dough, made from ground spirit-wheat and high-altitude spring water, was impossibly light. Inside, the minced meat of a Tier 1 spirit beast was savory and rich, floating in a hot broth that exploded across his tongue. The dipping sauce—vinegar infused with hundred-year honey and fermented chili—added a kick that made his blood move faster.
As the juice, extracted from a Tier 1 frost-berry, chilled his throat, he felt the medicinal energy of the meal working. His stomach felt warm, his mind cleared, and his Dantian purred as it absorbed the minor spirit particles from the food.
The wealth of a sect is terrifying, Hanyuan thought, leaning back with a satisfied exhale. Even their breakfast is a form of cultivation.
He returned to his stone hut and collapsed onto his mat, falling into a deep, restorative sleep for eight hours. When he finally woke, the sun was sinking beneath the clouds, and the stars were beginning to emerge.
"Start from the beginning," Hanyuan told himself.
He didn't jump back into the Spirit-rank technique. Instead, he spent two full hours on the basics: Thrust, Sweep, Pierce. He did them until his movements were as mechanical and fluid as a machine.
Then, he unleashed the Silver Frost Spear Art.
For eighteen hours straight, the courtyard was a blur of silver-white light. He struck again and again. His clothes grew damp from the dew, then froze solid from his own Qi, but he didn't stop.
Every strike was slightly better than the last. The "Silver Crescent" was beginning to take shape—no longer a sputter of mist, but a faint, translucent blade of cold energy. He still couldn't use it effectively in a real fight, and it still devoured his Qi too fast, but the foundation was being laid.