Chapter 35: Even Cheating Requires Hard Cultivation

«???»

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-time certification for life?

The moment this thought arose, Feng Xue shook his head again, for he realized that before gaining sufficient risk resistance, his [Fixed Destiny]’s top priority would always be lifespan.

After all, only by staying alive can one have everything.

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 [Infuse Spirit] term. As his focus sharpened, his Qi flowed smoothly—no candle calibration needed—he stably enveloped the seal, and without even using 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 paper: one second, two seconds, three seconds… until the twenty-fifth second, it finally vanished completely.

«Damn, if the infusion duration doubles every second, twenty-five seconds… that’s nearly two hundred days! Even Nine Aunt’s Pot Heaven Spell only lasts three months!»

Feng Xue stared wide-eyed; though he suspected Nine Aunt’s Pot Heaven Spell’s duration was inflated for pricing convenience, this result still exceeded his expectations.

This method of training the infusion seal was a minor technique recorded in the [Mortuary Scripture]; besides convenience, its greatest value was providing an intuitive, rapid way to judge the absolute limit of one’s own Qi capacity.

Don’t be fooled by how quickly the light circle vanished—that’s because the seal carried no added effects, and no stabilizing spell was used in the imprinting; if the full procedure were applied, even a simple stamp could last just as long.

Feng Xue was delighted, but didn’t get carried away; he immediately attempted to create an [Apparition Control Seal] using the [Apparition Control Spell] method. Yet as soon as he moved, something went wrong—he discovered that the locked [Infuse Spirit] term only worked for the test seal and granted zero enhancement to any other infusion!

«Is it because the Infuse Spirit 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 turning into a person or a car, it makes no difference to the White Snake? Or perhaps spells require active activation, while Mouth Seals function passively?»

Feng Xue’s mind buzzed with theories, but he quickly abandoned these futile speculations.

Because whether right or wrong, he couldn’t verify them; overthinking only brought unnecessary stress—better to make full use of this mechanism.

Yes. Use it.

Though its practicality was nearly nonexistent, Feng Xue had already sensed the difference from just one experiment; under the locked state, the sensation of Qi flowing felt as if someone had personally guided him through the correct technique. One or two tries might not suffice, but with enough repetition, his body would inevitably memorize that steady Qi output.

He, destined to become a traffic monster, lacked 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 Spells vanished instantly; Feng Xue sat before the candle, repeatedly casting the Infuse Spirit Spell while keeping [Infuse Spirit] locked.

The sensation of Qi extending outward from his third eye was crystal clear—the subtle fluctuations, the minute adjustments, the feeling of any deviation instantly corrected—Feng Xue, with focused spirit, captured them all.

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

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

Though this caused much lunar essence to dissipate before she could refine it due to her body’s limited capacity, for Liu Yunxi, whose talent was extraordinary, this was irrelevant; better to waste some than risk absorbing Qi and having to restart cultivation from scratch.

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

At this moment, Feng Xue’s activity drew attention from 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, bright moonlight was common, now, against the noticeably darker surrounding night, it felt as if the moon favored this man.

Villagers who had once suspected Feng Xue of being 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 entirely 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 depleted during the day inevitably ran dry. With a slight sting at his third eye, he reluctantly emerged from that profound state, and his lifespan relocked at a glance.

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 hold on a bit longer—after all, we’re entering the city tomorrow!» Liu Yunxi sighed helplessly, closed her eyes, and entered a sleep a bicycle had no need for…

As for the karmic debt with Nine Aunt, it was actually quite unfair.

The truth was, this was simply an information gap.

Nine Aunt knew the harbor had gangs and likely had watchers; she usually warned people to be careful when giving information.

But the protagonist’s problem was his persona: a lone rich second-generation traveling alone. Think about it—a rich kid, traveling solo, making it to the next city intact? He must have some skill. So Nine Aunt assumed he’d be cautious, and thus omitted one warning.

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

This isn’t moral coercion; Nine Aunt’s cultivation relies on vow-power, which values such karmic ties. A cultivator who gains merit by slaying demons wouldn’t care about this kind of 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 intervene.

PS: Regarding the bicycle’s two-hour ten-li speed—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 send you flying.

Don’t bring up races—racers study terrain, check weather, plan routes in advance. The protagonist doesn’t even have a map; his cultivation method might make him stumble every few steps.

Or take an extreme example: Mount Everest is under nine thousand meters; human walking speed exceeds five kilometers per hour—so shouldn’t you summit in two hours?





(End of Chapter)