Chapter 23: Be a Complete-Realm Traffic Monster

Feng Xue reread everything, confirmed his understanding was correct, then pulled out the secret manual copied from the mortuary and compared the Substitute Spell with the Staff-Hosting Spell, realizing their theories were essentially the same, but the Staff-Hosting Spell emphasized advance preparation—setting up the altar and ritual beforehand, completing casting so the spell could activate even when his cultivation level was insufficient and no altar had been prepared.

"Wait… this part…" Feng Xue flipped to the Spirit-Infusing Spell and immediately understood.

In short, the Staff-Hosting Spell was merely a fusion of the Spirit-Infusing Spell and the Substitute Spell—this didn't mean Feng Xue got cheated, because even if he had the inspiration himself, developing it would likely take him a year or more.

But once he realized this, Feng Xue stopped further close reading and opened the other several books, skimmed through them all, and reached a conclusion that was unexpected yet perfectly logical—

The twelve spells bought from Ninth Aunt were, in essence, all variants and derivatives of the four basic spells: Substitute, Spirit-Infusing, Invoking the Divine, and Call Lightning.

Spells like Object Summoning, Ghost Control, Paper Cutting, Divine Speed, Demon Slaying, and Curse Prayer were all derivatives of the Spirit-Infusing Spell, differing only in the medium of infusion and the resulting effects.

The Call Fire Spell was a variant of the Call Lightning Spell, merely replacing "transformation of Qi into electricity" with "transformation of Qi into flame," at most adding the effect of increased resistance to high temperatures.

Surprisingly, the seemingly mundane Purify Dust spell was actually a variant of Invoking the Divine—it filtered the collective wish-power generated by people's "desire for cleanliness" or "aversion to filth," attaching it to the target so filth could not adhere, thereby automatically cleansing.

As Feng Xue read on, he suddenly understood why Master Qian's two disciples only learned four manuals.

As the manual stated, once one mastered the altar and basic rituals, these four spells alone, when fully understood, could be used to independently develop and design countless personal spells—just like learning math: instead of memorizing countless incomprehensible advanced formulas from the start, better to first master mental arithmetic and fundamental theorems and equations until flawless.

The most extraordinary of these spells, however, was the one named 【Hutian】, derived from the phrase "heaven within a pot."

In terms of ritual and description, it too should be classified as a spell fusing the four basic spells: Spirit-Infusing, Invoking the Divine, Substitute, and Call Lightning—but it was considered extraordinary because Feng Xue couldn't fathom how combining these four techniques could turn an ordinary pocket into a space bag capable of holding ten or a hundred times its volume without adding weight.

Just as he couldn't understand how Bai She, upon hearing one command from him, could transform from a thirty-centimeter-long, less-than-half-a-pound creature into a beautiful girl one meter sixty-eight tall and weighing about a hundred jin.

But with mystical matters, there's no need to overthink—Feng Xue only needed to know that if he learned the Hutian Spell, he wouldn't have to drag a fifteen-kilogram backpack around town!

As for the principle? Who cared! It certainly wasn't some dimension opened inside the pocket with a deity inside holding everything up.

"Alright, first small goal: learn the 【Hutian Spell】!"

…

"Fine, I admit this small goal is too hard—better to master these four basic spells first."

Just half a day later, Feng Xue looked at the pile of broken bags in his room and decisively abandoned the idea of skipping basics to learn the Hutian Spell directly.

According to his interpretation of the ritual, the Hutian Spell was essentially a "transfer of cost"—it required beforehand setting up an altar to attract wish-power similar to "wanting to lighten one's burden," sealing it into a bag, box, or even a warehouse, then using the Substitute Spell to link the Hutian-casting bag with this "substitute" saturated with wish-power, effectively making the "substitute" bear the weight and volume of the Hutian bag.

Though he still couldn't grasp why the Substitute Spell transferred volume and weight too, at least the logic now flowed smoothly.

But smooth logic didn't mean success—in these half days, Feng Xue attempted nearly twenty times but failed to complete even the first stage—

He couldn't even make a single "substitute bag" to carry wish-power!

Yet the time wasn't wasted entirely—at least, while analyzing the ritual, Feng Xue realized the four basic spells represented four fundamental properties of Qi.

【Call Lightning】 corresponds to "transformation," capable of altering the nature of Qi;

【Substitute】 corresponds to "transfer," capable of transmitting Qi across distance to another location;

【Spirit-Infusing】 corresponds to "fixation," capable of maintaining Qi in a specific state for extended periods;

Finally, 【Invoking the Divine】 corresponds to "selection"—though originally designed to distinguish characteristics of wish-power and spirit entities to avoid summoning malevolent spirits, this mechanism could also filter desired portions from complex wish-power.

Only by mastering these corresponding properties could one unleash the true power of the spells.

Extinguishing the candle, Feng Xue gulped down several mouthfuls of tea still warm, reset his mindset, then picked up a ruler to measure the two candles, trimmed the longer one, and relit it.

The altar, in general, resembled the "offering table" in Lin Zhengying's zombie films, filled with incense, candles, talismans, and various odd objects—but beyond merely keeping needed tools within reach, the core function of this universal altar lay in the two candles.

As previously stated, for novice mystics, the altar acted like a voltage regulator, allowing those unable to precisely control Qi with their spirit-soul to output Qi more steadily.

But it wasn't a convenient device that automatically adjusted for brute-force input—it was simpler, like a manual gear—

Simply put: when releasing Qi, first split it evenly into two streams, passing through the two candles, then releasing it from the lit ends; by observing the flame's behavior, one could adjust Qi output in real time.

If the candle flickered violently, Qi flow was unstable; if the flame was weak, Qi flowed too fast; if the two candles burned unevenly, Qi output was unbalanced…

By such observation, one could continuously fine-tune until Qi flow became as balanced, stable, and uniform as possible, improving spell success rate.

In essence, it was like a beginner chef using a thermometer to judge oil temperature instead of relying on experience.

Again and again, Feng Xue channeled Qi through the candle flames, yet he didn't attempt any spell—he merely used this continuous output to acclimate himself to controlling this unfamiliar force.

Though increasing spirit-soul strength would naturally improve control precision, Feng Xue was destined to become a 【Traffic Monster】; to harness the advantage gained by his life-forced investment rather than let it become a burden, he couldn't merely care about 【horsepower】—his 【Complete Realm】 must match it. (Note ①)

Rather than gaining immense strength first then refining fine control, better to adapt to such precision from the very beginning.

After all… the control precision granted by a perfected spirit-soul might not truly master his inevitably overpowered Qi.

Note ①: This uses a Haihu-style description.

Horsepower can be understood as cultivation level, equivalent to Jin Dan, Nascent Soul, etc., in xianxia novels.

Traffic refers to the energy pool at the same level—high traffic means a longer blue bar, greater single-output capacity, and faster recovery.

Complete Realm refers to mastery and full utilization of every unit of power; only with this can one truly enter the threshold of strength. With the same hundred bullets, low Complete Realm means random spraying; high Complete Realm means placing every bullet exactly where desired.

The protagonist's life-forced investment ensures his blue bar grows faster than his level—while others at the same level need to control only ten units of blue, he must control a hundred or even a thousand. Though blasting everything away to drown enemies isn't impossible, when facing opponents with equal spell power, he'll easily be outmaneuvered by fine-control experts, so he must catch up on micro-control.

It's like Bao'erjie's Zhongshan Mountain (cough)—huge energy pool, but each shot feels like giving someone a bath; Bao'erjie never learned this technique, while the protagonist's spirit-soul growth lags behind his blue bar growth.

Of course, the protagonist could slow his blue bar growth—but that would mean abandoning his advantage.

In infinite-stream terms, it's like exchanging power and gene locks: without unlocking the gene lock, one can only use a fraction of the exchanged power; the protagonist naturally unlocks greater power from exchanges, but correspondingly needs higher gene lock levels to fully unleash it.

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(End of Chapter)