Chapter 102

Mo Hua thought: I deliberately made the book title so large, visible from several zhang away—yet you still ask what book it is? How much more fake can this pretentious act be?

"No need, I'm just looking." Mo Hua said.

The more Mo Hua refused, the more anxious Zhang Lan became; he leaned closer to look, then feigned just noticing the title, saying:

"'Collected Spells for Qi Refinement,' not bad—want to learn spells? You've reached Qi Refinement fifth layer?"

"Just reached fifth layer, I'm just browsing, no rush." Mo Hua pretended to be calm.

"How about it? Want me to teach you?" Zhang Lan raised an eyebrow.

"Uncle Zhang, are you a spirit cultivator?"

"Hmm, sort of."

"Sort of… what does that mean? Oh, you're half-baked?" Mo Hua said.

Zhang Lan's face darkened. "What half-baked? You're just a kid—where did you pick up such nonsense?"

"I can tell your blood qi isn't weak, but I didn't sense much spirit power—are you just hiding it from me?" Mo Hua asked.

Zhang Lan smirked. "I've concealed my aura with a spell—you wouldn't notice. If you could detect it, wouldn't all my cultivation be wasted?"

"Ohhh, so you're a dual cultivator of spirit and body?" Mo Hua asked curiously.

"Dual cultivation of spirit and body isn't that easy—I've just strengthened my body a bit, to avoid being overpowered by body cultivators in combat. My main focus is still spells. Dual cultivators need extraordinary talent, lineage from a prestigious clan, and immense wealth—you won't meet one in your entire life."

Mo Hua gasped. Talent, lineage, wealth—each of these three conditions was as distant as a celestial abyss to him; even if he reincarnated ten thousand times, he'd never hit the jackpot once.

"Then, Uncle Zhang, are your spells powerful?"

Zhang Lan boasted, "Not bad, pretty decent."

"So they're not that great, then."

Zhang Lan, furious, tapped Mo Hua's head. "That's humility, do you understand? Humility!"

Mo Hua rubbed his small head and asked, "Between you and Aunt Xue—who's stronger?"

"Well," Zhang Lan hesitated, "we've never sparred—how would I know?"

"Can you use illusion spells?"

"Of course… no."

Mo Hua said, "Aunt Xue can use illusion spells, you can't—so you're definitely not as strong as her! I'll ask her later, see what spells I should learn."

Zhang Lan protested, "I just can't do illusion spells—other spells aren't weaker than hers."

"Really?" Mo Hua eyed Zhang Lan skeptically.

"For Qi Refinement spells, ask me anything."

"Alright then—if I want to learn spells now, which one should I start with?"

"What do you want to learn?" Zhang Lan asked.

Mo Hua handed Zhang Lan the 'Collected Spells for Qi Refinement.' "I picked out a few spells—take a look, which one should I learn first?"

Zhang Lan took the book, flipped through a few pages, and saw several spells circled in pen.

Fireball Spell, Water Arrow Spell, Metal Blade Spell, Earth Stone Spell…

All could be learned at mid-Qi Refinement, not difficult, and didn't require much spirit power to cast.

Zhang Lan nodded. Starting with basic spells, not reaching too far—this kid had decent taste.

Many cultivators, when first learning spells, only want high-rank, powerful, or rare ones. But high-rank spells demand more spirit power, powerful ones take longer to cast, and rare spells have impossibly strict requirements.

Never mind whether you can even learn them—if you do, one spell drains over half your spirit power. If you miss your target, you're basically defenseless.

Zhang Lan stared at Mo Hua for a moment, then realized something. "You picked only attack spells?"

Mo Hua blinked. "If I don't learn attack spells, what else should I learn?"

"Don't you think about how to survive?"

"Oh right," Mo Hua suddenly understood. "I need to survive first—if I'm dead, who am I attacking?"

The Qian Xing incident had taught him: cultivators must have survival techniques. Otherwise, sudden danger leaves them helpless and trapped.

"What survival spells are there? Golden Bell Shield?"

"Golden Bell Shield isn't bad—but it won't help you much."

"Why?" Mo Hua didn't understand.

Zhang Lan gave Mo Hua a slightly disdainful look. "Don't you realize your spirit power isn't strong?"

"That's because my cultivation is low," Mo Hua argued.

"Partly because your cultivation is low, but your elemental affinity is mediocre to begin with—and I assume your cultivation technique adds no bonus to spirit power. So your dantian's spirit power must be weaker than peers of the same realm."

Mo Hua didn't want to admit it, but it seemed to be true.

Zhang Lan looked at Mo Hua and thought: Good thing your elemental affinity is mediocre—if your talent for arrays matched your talent for spirit power, what would become of you in the future?

Indeed, the Dao is relatively fair.

Zhang Lan continued: "With weak spirit power, even defensive spells like Golden Bell Shield won't last long. Once your spirit power runs out, you're still defenseless."

"And Golden Bell Shield requires you to anticipate danger and activate it in advance. If you're ambushed and can't cast it in time, it's as good as never learning it."

Mo Hua frowned. "Then what should I learn?"

You finally have something to worry about, huh? Now you won't ask me!

Zhang Lan secretly gloated for a moment.

All problems in Qi Refinement are minor… unless they involve arrays.

Zhang Lan put on a slight air of superiority, then said to Mo Hua: "You should learn a movement technique."

"Movement technique?"

"If you learn defensive spells like Golden Bell Shield, you can only take hits…" Zhang Lan glanced at Mo Hua, "but your body and spirit power can't handle it."

Mo Hua nodded in deep agreement.

"So you see, if you learn movement techniques, you can advance to attack, retreat to dodge, and if all else fails, you can still run." Zhang Lan said.

"Aren't there any drawbacks?"

"Drawbacks definitely exist. If you use defensive spells, before your spiritual power runs out, you can at least take a few hits. But if you use movement techniques to dodge, either your footwork is clever and you escape unscathed, or if not, the moment you're careless and someone catches your opening, it's basically a death sentence."

"So it's equivalent to taking someone's attack completely defenseless, is that right?"

"Not bad."

Mo Hua hesitated for a moment, then said: "Defensive spells, once spiritual power is exhausted, leave you at the mercy of others; movement technique spells, once someone catches your opening, likewise make you fish on the chopping block. But movement techniques at least let you advance or retreat. If you learned something like the Golden Bell Shield, then you really wouldn't be able to block or run…"

"Have you decided?"

"Mm, I'll learn movement techniques."

Zhang Lan nodded, "Fairly clever. Since you can't have everything perfect, you can only play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses."

Zhang Lan picked up the *Compendium of Qi Refining Spells* and flipped through it, then picked up the brush on the table and circled a few movement techniques, preparing to let Mo Hua pick one to practice, when he suddenly realized something was off.

These few movement techniques were common ones from the Qi Refining stage. Letting Mo Hua learn them wasn't a problem, but since they were common techniques, he could teach them, and so could others—how would that show he was a cut above?

Still five updates today.

Happy May Day, everyone.