Chapter 34: Even Cheating Requires Hard Work

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Feng Xue stared at the term above his head, his thoughts in chaos.

Even the cultivation process of 【Refining Essence into Qi】 being term-locked was understandable—but could spells be term-locked too?

Isn't this a disguised form of "one certification, permanent certification"?

The moment this thought arose, Feng Xue shook his head again, for he realized that before gaining sufficient risk resistance, his own 【Ding Tian Ming】's top priority would always be lifespan.

After all, only by staying alive does everything exist.

Of course, this doesn't mean term-locking is useless—compared to combat skills like 【Summoning Lightning】 or 【Slaying Demons】, most of his spells are for daily use.

Thinking of this, Feng Xue immediately tried to lock the 【Spirit Attachment】 term; with focused intent, his Qi flowed smoothly, requiring no candle for calibration, yet stably enveloping the seal—even without clear water as a guide, he drew a perfect circle of light upon the seal.

Fluid, convenient, flawless—Feng Xue felt this unprecedented spellcasting experience, as if when he wished to reach for something, his arm had already extended—truly ingrained into instinct.

Feng Xue picked up the stopwatch, pressed the seal onto the paper: one second, two seconds, three seconds… until the twenty-fifth second, it finally vanished completely.

"Damn, according to the Algorithm where each second of Spirit Attachment duration doubles, twenty-five seconds… isn't that nearly two hundred days? Even Nine Aunt's Pot Heaven Cursing Method only lasts three months!"

Feng Xue stared, though he suspected Nine Aunt's Pot Heaven Cursing Method's duration was inflated for convenience in charging, this result still vastly exceeded his expectations.

This method of training Spirit Attachment seals was a minor technique recorded in the 【Yi Zhuang Secret Manual】; besides being convenient for practice, its greatest value was the ability to intuitively and rapidly determine the upper limit of one's own Qi capacity.

Don't be fooled by how quickly the light circle vanished—that's because the seal itself carried no additional effects, and no stabilizing curse was used in the imprinting; if the entire process were fully applied, even a simple stamp could last just as long.

Feng Xue was delighted, but didn't let pride cloud his judgment; he immediately followed the 【Spirit Binding Curse】 method to create a Spirit Binding seal—but as soon as he moved, something went wrong: he discovered that the locked 【Spirit Attachment Curse】 could only produce the detection seal and granted zero enhancement to any other Spirit Attachment!

"Is it because the Spirit Attachment process is locked? But why does the Mouth Seal produce different effects? Could it be that regardless of form, the underlying principle remains the same? Whether transforming into a human or a vehicle, there's no difference to Bai She? Or is it because spells require active activation, while Mouth Seals function passively?"

Various thoughts surfaced in Feng Xue's mind, but he quickly abandoned these futile speculations.

Because whether right or wrong, he couldn't prove it; overthinking only brought unnecessary stress—better to make good use of this mechanism.

Yes. Use it.

Though its practicality was nearly nonexistent, Feng Xue had already sensed the difference from just one experiment: in the locked state, the sensation of Qi flowing felt as if someone had personally guided him through the correct procedure; one or two times might not be enough, but if he experienced it enough, his body would inevitably memorize that steady Qi output.

Destined to become a traffic monster, what he lacked was precisely this fine control—and now that an opportunity to complete it had appeared, how could this not be a good thing?

The original plan to fully unlock the Four Basic Cursing Methods was immediately abandoned; Feng Xue sat before the candlelight, repeatedly casting the Spirit Attachment Curse while 【Spirit Attachment】 remained locked.

The sensation of Qi extending outward from his third eye was crystal clear—the subtle fluctuations and micro-adjustments, the feeling of any deviation immediately corrected—were all captured by Feng Xue's focused mind.

Night deepened, the candle before Feng Xue had long burned out, yet he continued pouring Qi into the seal, heedless that the Qi within had long overflowed.

Seeing that Feng Xue had not practiced Qi cultivation today, Liu Yunxi in her bicycle form immediately began gathering lunar essence; she'd learned well these past few days—even before Qi spread near her, she no longer used her old mountain method of gathering and refining on the spot, but instead collected lunar essence in bulk, then refined it slowly during Feng Xue's non-practice periods.

Though this caused much lunar essence to dissipate before she could refine it due to her body's carrying limits, for Liu Yunxi, whose talent was extraordinary, this was entirely negligible—better to waste some than risk losing her cultivation by absorbing tainted Qi.

With her current talent, even the most wasteful method was forty to fifty times more efficient than before; there was no need to economize here.

At this moment, Feng Xue's activity drew attention from the villagers; though everyone tactfully avoided disturbing him, curiosity about the Immortal Master led many to peer through windows, observing under the hazy moonlight.

Then they saw a strange sight: before the tent made of unknown fabric, the Immortal Master sat casually behind a table of unknown origin, and above his head, a faint white light slowly descended.

Though in this remote village with almost no lights at night, bright moonlight was common, yet against the noticeably darker surrounding night, it felt as if the moon favored this man.

Villagers who had once suspected Feng Xue was a fraud with mere parlor tricks now lost all doubt, silently gazing at the moon's favor—as if merely watching could bring them extra fortune.

Feng Xue, of course, remained utterly unaware; he still focused on sensing the subtle fluctuations of Qi, feeling his soul's seemingly random yet perfectly balanced pulsation, etching every sensation firmly into his heart.

Unfortunately, though Feng Xue's Qi far exceeded that of others at his level, he was still merely a novice Xuan cultivator; after dozens of repetitions, the Qi he'd already depleted during the day inevitably ran dry, and with a slight sting at his third eye, he reluctantly returned from that profound state, his peripheral vision automatically re-locking his lifespan.

Liu Yunxi, still gathering lunar essence, was just thinking she'd accumulate more today, when she suddenly felt a hum beside her—and instinctively stopped inhaling.

As expected, the instant she ceased absorption, a torrent of Qi erupted, engulfing the area within dozens of meters.

"Sigh, looks like that's it for today—just bear with it; we're entering the city tomorrow!" Liu Yunxi sighed helplessly, closed her eyes, and entered a sleep a bicycle had no need for…

Regarding the karmic debt with Nine Aunt, it's actually quite unfair.

Because in reality, this was an information gap issue.

Nine Aunt knew the harbor had gangs and likely had watchers; she usually mentioned caution when giving information.

But the protagonist's problem is his persona: a lone wealthy second-generation traveling alone. Think about it—a rich kid, alone, traveling; if he made it to the next city intact, he must have some skill—so Nine Aunt assumed he'd be cautious, and thus omitted one reminder.

But that one omitted reminder just happened to meet this newly transmigrated, naive, innocent protagonist—and thus the karmic bond formed naturally.

This isn't moral coercion; Nine Aunt's cultivation is based on vow-power, which places high value on such karmic ties—those who primarily accumulate merit by slaying demons wouldn't care about this little debt.

It's like an ordinary person seeing a crime can choose to flee or avoid it, but a police officer has the duty to stop it.

ps: Regarding the bicycle covering ten li in two hours—track cycling, road cycling, and off-road cycling aren't the same. Off-road lacks straight paths and flat ground; you can't ride too fast, or any pothole could launch you into the air.

Don't bring up races—racers prep by studying terrain, checking weather, planning routes; the protagonist doesn't even have a map, and with his cultivation method, he's likely to trip every few steps.

Or take an extreme example: Mount Everest is under nine kilometers high; if a person walks at over five kilometers per hour, can't they summit in two hours?

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(End of Chapter)