Chapter 17: Technique in Hand

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

If you understand it through the logic of electrical appliances, Qi is the current; if the spirit has not yet formed, the current cannot output stably, and the altar must serve as a voltage regulator to stabilize the voltage.

The ritual procedures of the technique are the circuit, allowing Qi to flow along a specific path to activate the technique’s effect.

As for the white snake’s mention that a higher altar makes spellcasting more powerful, this is actually an advanced concept: once the Xuan cultivator’s spirit stabilizes, the altar’s function is no longer voltage regulation, but to draw in the Qi and devotional energy of heaven and earth as power sources to enhance the potency of one’s techniques.

Due to the influence of earthly turbid energy 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 altar, the purer the Qi it draws in, the purer the devotional energy, and naturally, the greater the power of the technique.

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

After copying the section on altar setup, Feng Xue’s gaze finally turned to the Four Gates techniques.

【Thunder Summoning Spell】can convert Qi into lightning; according to the text, its power is weak before achieving the Dao (spirit formation), enough at most to numb the body when striking a person, but it is especially effective against spiritual entities—ordinary evil spirits disintegrate upon even a glancing touch; after achieving the Dao, it can summon heavenly thunder to descend, with immense power.

【Substitute Spell】is a protective technique that redirects targeted curses directed at oneself onto a substitute object like a straw doll; after achieving the Dao, it can even reverse the flow of heaven and earth, bouncing back the enemy’s curses.

【Spirit Binding Spell】is more complex than the first two, but if 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 peach wood sword to harm ghosts, then says nothing else, merely stating that after achieving the Dao, all things can become magical artifacts.

As for the final 【Spirit Invocation Spell】, it is even shorter—just a single, grand-sounding incantation and its corresponding ritual, plus a large “Use with Caution,” making one suspect those two characters might have covered up others.

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

Feng Xue did not mind and said directly:

“Junior Master, why does this Spirit Binding Spell only mention enchanting a peach wood sword? Isn’t it said you can make magical artifacts too?”

“This…” the junior brother, upon hearing this, first looked for his senior brother, found him gone, and had no choice but to press on:

“Spirit Binding is simply attaching Qi to an object; the peach wood sword was just convenient. As for magical artifacts… it’s the same spell, but enchanting a magical artifact means injecting other techniques into a suitable object—for example, if you know the Thunder Summoning Spell, you can use Spirit Binding to attach it to yellow paper and make a Thunder Summoning Talisman; the more proficient you are, the better the effect. As for how to attach it… my realm is too low, but Master said just copy the ritual exactly.”

Hearing this, Feng Xue finally understood; though he still didn’t fully grasp how to copy the ritual onto an object, he could study the peach wood sword enchantment to comprehend it, so he nodded slightly and immediately asked:

“Then what about this Spirit Invocation Spell? Is it just a matter of chanting this incantation?”

“No no!”

At that moment, the senior brother finally returned, heard Feng Xue’s question, and hurriedly spoke up:

“You must never use the Spirit Invocation Spell carelessly!”

Here, fearing Feng Xue thought he was withholding knowledge, he quickly added:

“The key to the Spirit Invocation Spell is relaxing the body and opening the spirit platform; the ritual merely aids in calming the mind. The core is letting a [Spirit] possess you—this is essentially the same as spirit mediums, spirit board divination, or spirit possession. The difference is only whom you invite. Look at those spirit mediums and fortune-tellers 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 they’re dizzy, making it easier for spirits to enter. This incantation is for invoking our ancestral master; if you haven’t formally taken vows, burned the petition, 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 worship a protective spirit?” Feng Xue asked casually. Seeing Feng Xue listen, the senior brother sighed in relief, silently cursing himself for forgetting this point, then said:

“You can also use a protective spirit—even skip the incantation. Just agree on a code phrase, like ‘Disciple [Name] invites [Spirit] to possess me.’ Open your spirit, and the spirit will take advantage of the opening to enter. But don’t summon protective spirits lightly—if the spirit has ill intent and refuses to leave your body after possessing it, it’s extremely dangerous! But if, Master, you eventually achieve cultivation and obtain a ghost-immortal body, you may pass this method on to your disciples.”

“So this Spirit Invocation Spell is useless to me?” Feng Xue, though slightly disappointed, was not greedy. But at that moment, the junior brother seemed to finally find his chance and boasted:

“Not entirely. Master said that after achieving the Dao, the Spirit Invocation Spell can borrow the devotional energy of heaven and earth to summon a [Virtual Spirit] to possess you—in short, attaching the devotional energy people hold for a certain deity onto yourself, gaining a portion of its divine power. If you master the Substitute Spell, you can even attach the Virtual Spirit to others or even puppets.”

“You talk too much!”

Though the voice was faint, Feng Xue still caught the senior brother’s quiet rebuke. Then the senior brother put on a stern face and said:

“What my junior brother said is indeed a method, but a Virtual Spirit requires prior collection of corresponding devotional energy, and can only be done after achieving the Dao—once the spirit is formed. It also demands immense time and effort. Shamans and spirit mediums use it more often because they routinely wear masks and impersonate deities 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 the Dao, devotional energy isn’t a good thing—it’s filled with too many conflicting thoughts. Casually touching it may ruin your cultivation, or worse, cause you to lose your mind.”

Here, the senior brother elaborated again on the risks of Virtual Spirit backlash and devotional energy contamination. Even as Feng Xue showed distaste and revulsion, he did not stop—on the contrary, he grew even more serious.

This made Feng Xue silently admire the man’s goodness, yet he carefully recorded every taboo at the back of his copied manual.

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’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 glance toward the stove, the junior immediately understood and fetched water to brew tea. The senior then began his explanation:

“There aren’t many taboos in visualization—no matter what you initially imagine, as your spirit grows, it will naturally shift toward your own appearance. As long as you don’t deliberately imagine demons, monsters, or bloody evil spirits, there’s no problem.”

Here, the senior brother picked up a sheet of leftover paper from Feng Xue’s copying, drew a black circle at random:

“Visualization isn’t easy at first; don’t overcomplicate it. If you don’t know where to start, just draw a circle like this. Look at it for a while, then close your eyes—your mind will retain the circle. When you can picture it without looking, combine it with the breathing method in the book to circulate blood and Qi. 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)