Chapter 16: The Techniques Are in Hand

Copying the text line by line, Feng Xue's understanding of the cultivation path became increasingly clear.

If understood through the logic of electrical appliances, Qi is like electric current; if the spirit-soul has not yet formed, the current cannot output stably, and a ritual altar is needed as a voltage regulator to stabilize the voltage.

The ritual procedures of a technique are like a circuit: when Qi flows along a specific path, the technique's effect is activated.

As for the ritual altar's height making spellcasting more powerful, as mentioned by Bai She, this is actually an advanced concept: once the dark cultivator's spirit-soul stabilizes, the altar's role is no longer voltage regulation, but to draw in the Qi and devotional energy of heaven and earth as power sources to enhance one's technique potency.

Due to the relationship between earthly sha miasma and human-generated thoughts, higher places have purer Qi and purer devotional energy, while lower places become murky and impure.

Thus, every inch higher the ritual altar, the purer the Qi it draws, the purer the devotional energy, and naturally, the greater the technique's power.

But all this is ultimately merely auxiliary: after all, when a third-rate sorcerer battles a master, even if the master digs a hole and stands in it, he can still craft a spell by hand and crush the opponent utterly—core ability always lies in the dark cultivator's own cultivation depth.

After copying the sections on ritual altar setup, Feng Xue's gaze finally turned to the four techniques.

【Call Lightning Spell】can convert Qi into lightning; according to the text, its power is weak before Dao is achieved (spirit-soul formed), capable at most of numbing a human body, but it is especially effective against spirit entities—ordinary evil ghosts disintegrate upon mere contact; after Dao is achieved, it can summon heavenly thunder to descend, with immense power.

【Substitute Spell】is a protective technique that redirects targeted curses aimed at oneself onto substitute objects like straw dolls; when used after Dao is achieved, it can even reverse the flow of stars and return an enemy's curse back upon them.

【Attach Spirit Spell】is more complex than the first two, but understood through a game analogy, it is "enchanting": through specific rituals, one attaches one's Qi to an object, endowing it with extraordinary effects; the text only gives one example—how to enchant a peachwood sword to harm ghosts—and says nothing else, merely stating that after Dao is achieved, all things can be transformed into magical artifacts.

As for this final 【Summon Spirit Spell】, it is even shorter: only a single, grand-sounding incantation and its corresponding ritual procedure, plus a large "Use with Caution," making one suspect these two characters may have covered up others.

Still, Feng Xue copied down all the content first, then turned to look at his fellow disciples—only to find the senior brother had vanished without a trace, while the junior brother was still braiding thread.

Feng Xue did not mind and said directly:

"Junior Master, why does this Attach Spirit Spell only mention enchanting a peachwood sword? Isn't it said you can make magical artifacts too?"

"This…" the junior brother replied, first glancing for his senior brother, finding him gone, then forcing himself to say:

"Attach Spirit is simply attaching Qi to an object; the peachwood sword was just convenient. As for magical artifacts… it's the same spell, but enchanting a magical artifact involves injecting other techniques into suitable objects—for example, if you know Call Lightning Spell, you can use Attach Spirit Spell to enchant a yellow paper with it, making a Call Lightning Talisman; the more proficient you are, the better the effect. As for how to enchant… my realm is insufficient, but Master said just copy the ritual procedure."

Hearing this, Feng Xue realized: though he still didn't fully grasp how to copy a ritual procedure onto an object, he could study the peachwood sword enchantment to understand it, so he nodded slightly and immediately asked:

"Then what about Summon Spirit? Just reciting this incantation is enough?"

"No no!"

At that moment, the senior brother finally returned, hearing Feng Xue's question, quickly spoke up:

"You must never use Summon Spirit Spell carelessly!"

Here, as if fearing Feng Xue thought he was withholding secrets, he hurriedly added:

"The key to Summon Spirit Spell is relaxing the body and opening the spirit platform; the ritual procedure merely aids in calming the mind. The core is letting a 【spirit】 possess you—this is essentially the same as spirit-mediumship, spirit-writing, or spirit-invocation; the only difference is which spirit you summon. Look at those spirit-mediums and shamans who shake their heads and stomp their feet—they're doing so because their skill is insufficient to empty their thoughts and relax their bodies, so they stomp until their feet go numb and shake until their heads spin, just to make it easier for spirits to enter. This incantation summons our ancestral master; if you haven't formally taken vows, burned offering scrolls, or offered incense daily, failing to summon is the least of your worries—if some evil spirit takes advantage and possesses you, the trouble will be immense!"

"What if I offered to a protective spirit?" Feng Xue asked casually. Seeing Feng Xue listen, the senior brother sighed in relief, silently cursing himself for forgetting about Summon Spirit, then said:

"You can also use a protective spirit—even skip the incantation entirely; just agree on a secret phrase like 'Disciple XXX requests XXX to possess me.' Open your spirit, and the spirit will take advantage to enter. But protective spirits aren't to be summoned lightly—if the spirit has ill intent and refuses to leave your body after possessing it, it's extremely dangerous! But if, Master, you achieve cultivation and obtain a ghost-immortal body, you may pass this method on to future generations."

"So this Summon Spirit Spell is useless to me?" Feng Xue asked, disappointed but not greedy. At that moment, the junior brother seemed to finally find his chance and boasted:

"Not entirely. Master said that after Dao is achieved, Summon Spirit Spell can borrow the devotional energy of heaven and earth to summon a 【phantom spirit】 to possess you—simply put, it attaches the devotional energy people hold for a certain spirit onto yourself, granting you a portion of its divine power. If you master Substitute Spell, you can even attach the phantom spirit to others or even puppets."

"You talk too much!"

Though the voice was faint, Feng Xue caught the senior brother's quiet rebuke, then saw the senior brother sternly say:

"What my junior brother said is indeed a method, but phantom spirits require prior collection of corresponding devotional energy, which demands Dao achievement—spirit-soul formation—and requires immense time and effort. Shamans use this more often because they wear masks and impersonate spirits to pray for blessings and ward off disasters, so people's devotional energy naturally accumulates on them as a side effect. But for us who haven't achieved Dao, devotional energy isn't beneficial—it's filled with too many conflicting thoughts; casually contacting it may lightly disrupt cultivation, or severely cause demonic deviation, mental breakdown…"

Here, the senior brother elaborated repeatedly on the risks of phantom spirit backlash and devotional energy contamination—even as Feng Xue showed disgust and aversion, he did not stop, becoming even more serious.

This made Feng Xue silently admire the man's goodness while carefully recording every taboo on the back of his copied manuscript.

Seeing Feng Xue take diligent notes, the senior brother finally relaxed. Feng Xue then asked casually:

"By the way, Junior Master, the Cultivation Method says to visualize the spirit-soul's phantom form—is it like visualizing your own face?"

Hearing this, the senior brother sat down beside the table, stepped on the junior brother's foot. Seeing his senior brother glance toward the stove, the junior brother immediately understood and fetched water to brew tea. The senior brother then began explaining:

"This visualization has few taboos: no matter what you initially imagine, as your spirit-soul grows, it will naturally shift toward your own appearance—as long as you don't deliberately imagine demons, monsters, blood-evil spirits, etc., there's no problem."

Here, the senior brother picked up a sheet of leftover paper from Feng Xue's copying and casually drew a black circle:

"Because visualization itself isn't easy, you needn't start with anything complex. If you truly don't know how to begin, just draw a circle like this, stare at it for a while, then close your eyes—you'll see a circle in your mind. When you can imagine it without looking, you can combine it with the breathing method in the book to circulate Qi and blood. Once you can feel Qi flowing, do this…"

Saying this, the senior brother added a few strokes beneath the circle, forming a stick figure—

"That's basically it!"

(End of Chapter)