Chapter 8: Demonstrating Spells in the Courtyard

To save time, the free Q&A sessions were always held in small groups of three or five, gathering friends who shared the same questions to seek guidance together.

Xue Wenzhong wove through the crowd, explaining at times, and at other times letting the clerks demonstrate personally.

Gradually, wind rose, clouds surged, thunder rumbled, and a fine drizzle began to fall in the courtyard, instantly livening things up.

While waiting, Chen Ziyu and Qian Dong also grew restless and began teasing the colleagues around them who were casting spells and cultivating.

"Brother Zhou, why does your 【Wind-Raising】 always blow toward people's crotches? You must have used this trick to seduce plenty of young ladies."

"Brother Ye, your 【Thunder-Striking】 is pretty mediocre—the sound isn't even as loud as your snoring. You need to practice harder."

"Oho, Brother Cao's is the impressive one—his 【Rain-Spreading】 looks like a woman peeing, and it's even forked... hahahahaha!"

"..."

Laughter erupted all around. Those being teased weren't angry either; instead, they teased each other back, bringing a bit of fun to the otherwise dull cultivation.

But as the young men's conversation went on, the topic gradually drifted, veering toward matters between men and women, and they grew more and more excited as they spoke.

"Speaking of this year's Spring Festival, I was passing by a house in the town when I suddenly heard sounds from inside. A man was whispering and groaning, 'Baby, it's almost out, just a little more effort~' Then a woman's coquettish voice complained, 'Father-in-law is on top, I'm on the bottom—how am I supposed to put in effort? Why don't we switch?'"

"Curious, I went closer to look. Guess what happened?" Qian Dong raised his eyebrows and winked at the young men gathered around, then deliberately paused to build suspense.

"Ugh~ father-in-law and daughter-in-law? Could it be some old lecher? Brother Qian, stop right there—don't pollute our ears."

"Brother Cao, you were listening the most attentively just now, and now you're pretending? If you don't want to hear it, go stand aside. I'm a vulgar man—I love hearing it."

"This is killing us—Brother Qian, hurry up and tell us what happened!"

The few chatted and laughed, quite earnest. But Zhao Xing couldn't help but hold his forehead and shake his head—not because of them, but because Old Sicao Xue Wenzhong had unknowingly walked up behind Qian Dong.

"What did you see?"

The sudden appearance of the aged voice startled the young men. Qian Dong turned around, his face flushing pale then red, stammering: "N-nothing."

Xue Wenzhong's wrinkles bunched together as he smiled wryly: "They may listen, but I may not? No, I insist on hearing it. Otherwise, none of you will get any peace—go weed the back mountain for me."

Qian Dong stammered, Chen Ziyu averted his gaze, and the others turned their heads aside. Only Zhao Xing watched the show as if it had nothing to do with him.

Seeing this, Xue Wenzhong called out by name: "Zhao Xing, since they won't say it, you tell me."

Zhao Xing replied unhurriedly: "Xue Lao, what Qian Dong was talking about was actually nothing unusual—just a father-in-law and daughter-in-law digging up a silver box left by their ancestors in a dry well. He made a fuss over nothing."

"Clever boy." Xue Wenzhong gave a dry laugh.

Hearing this, Qian Dong quickly said: "Ah, that was exactly what I was going to say."

"Right, right, right—that's what we heard too." The other youths chimed in one after another.

Seeing that the Old Sicao wasn't going to make things difficult for them, Qian Dong quickly changed the subject: "Xue Lao, when I cast 【Cloud-Rolling】 lately, it always feels a bit off—sometimes big, sometimes small, very unstable. Please give me some guidance."

"Cast it and let me see."

Without hesitation, Qian Dong pointed a finger, and two meters above his head, a grey-white cloud appeared, swaying unsteadily like an umbrella held by a drunkard.

Xue Wenzhong observed for a moment, then waved his hand to signal Qian Dong to stop: "Your qi isn't gathered properly, so the spell's effect fluctuates along with it."

Qian Dong obediently listened.

"But don't worry—it's normal." Xue Wenzhong grabbed Qian Dong's hand, ran his fingers over his wrist twice, then let go. "You're about to enter the second stage of Qi Gathering. Just one final push and you'll break through."

"The rest of you are the same—most of you are about to face this or already have. But don't panic. Go back and properly gather your qi, and it'll resolve itself soon."

"Thank you, Xue Lao."

"Hm?" When his gaze fell on Zhao Xing, Xue Wenzhong let out a soft exclamation, then pulled Zhao Xing's hand over.

The others, not knowing what was happening, all looked over.

After a moment, Xue Wenzhong's brow smoothed and he smiled.

"Not bad—you've indeed entered the second stage of Qi Gathering. You're a step ahead of them."

The others cast envious glances. Chen Ziyu's face showed delight, happy for his elder brother. Qian Dong secretly nudged his shoulder, giving him a look that said "just as expected."

Zhao Xing's expression was calm. With his panel, he knew the moment he broke through—unlike the other clerks, who were still uncertain about their own condition.

The next few took turns asking their questions. When it was Zhao Xing's turn, he mentioned that he had already obtained three new spells at the temple and requested Xue Wenzhong's guidance.

"Wind-Raising and Cloud-Rolling feel the same—both gather qi through yuan and use fixed spell pathways to control the forces of heaven and earth. Wind-Raising is just slightly harder, with directional distinctions, and requires more finesse in casting. Try using one-third of the qi you'd use for Cloud-Rolling to control it, and start with the north wind."

Hearing this, Zhao Xing immediately began casting.

His fingertip sent qi toward the north, and after a moment, wind began to blow.

At first it was only a breeze, but gradually the wind grew stronger, blowing people's hair straight back.

Xue Wenzhong's face showed some surprise, because Zhao Xing's control of Wind-Raising was extremely steady, and the wind was strong enough—it didn't look like a first attempt at all.

If he were a beginner, the wind would have blown his hair flying up and down, not straight back.

"How come I never noticed he had this kind of aptitude before?"

Xue Wenzhong grew interested and said: "Try the other directions."

Zhao Xing nodded lightly, pointing his finger in sequence toward east, south, west, and north. There weren't many people to the north, but the other directions had other clerks casting spells, causing significant interference.

However, the remodeling effects of the Dao Embryo Pill were beginning to show. Zhao Xing's control over qi had become stronger than the others', and he forcefully pushed the interference aside.

At this moment in the courtyard, only he could summon wind at will; the others could only be tossed about in the wind.

"Good, that's enough." Seeing this, Xue Wenzhong was satisfied and told Zhao Xing to stop.

The other clerks had been puzzled at first, but seeing the disturbance was coming from the Old Sicao's direction, they didn't think much of it and continued their own cultivation.

Next, the Old Sicao had Zhao Xing try casting 【Thunder-Striking】.

"Cloud-Rolling involves the yin and yang, clear and turbid qi. Using yuan to control the spell, heavy qi becomes rain, and when combined, it produces thunder. The key lies in..."

"BOOM-CRACK!"

Before he finished speaking, a thunderclap rang out across the courtyard.

The thunder was so loud it was like an explosion right beside their ears.

This time, everyone in the entire courtyard looked over.

A grey-white cloud layer appeared above Zhao Xing's head. Grey and white rolled rapidly from both sides and collided, like war chariots crashing into each other.

The next moment, purple flashed, and another thunderous explosion rang out!

"Ziyu, isn't elder brother's thunder a bit loud?" Qian Dong stared blankly at the sky.

"I think so too. Could the gap between the first and second stages of Qi Gathering really be this huge?" Chen Ziyu was a bit dazed — the shock was mostly influenced by the thunder.

Xue Wenzhong opened his mouth, at a loss for words.

Everything said earlier had been unnecessary.

If Zhao Xing's application documents hadn't been on him, he would have thought Zhao Xing had been practicing for a long time.

Judging from just these two spells, how did Zhao Xing look like a beginner at all?

"Xue Lao, please give me your guidance." Zhao Xing withdrew his technique and waited for Xue Wenzhong's instruction, but the other smiled and said: "Raising wind, summoning thunder — you have quite the talent, and you can already be considered to have entered the door. What I would say is nothing more than what I've lectured about before; with a little practice, you can reach mastery."

"As for the Grass-Tree-All-Soldiers technique… come with me."