Chapter 16

A wisp of cloud energy coiled around Floating Wind's hand, then was heavily smashed onto the spirit cloud; repeated fierce blows merged it into the spirit cloud, indistinguishable.

They had been here for three days; the cloud energy in the Gathering Cloud Banner was repeatedly gathered and released, clearing a large open space around them.

"Brother Wu," Floating Wind also echoed Xiao Yi's way of addressing him.

"You say such a large expanse of cloud energy, how come refining it into spirit cloud shrank so much, and it's not even very condensed?" They had mined over a hundred square meters, also three meters high, yet refining it into spirit cloud yielded less than ten cubic meters; Floating Wind had originally planned a whole three‑room apartment.

"Hey, this is a thing, I don't know!" Zhang Wu said decisively, ignoring their contemptuous looks.

"You, who haven't even cultivated fist intent, telling me you'd know? Hurry up and cultivate."

Floating Wind didn't mean to press for an answer by breaking the sandpot; he was just bored with mechanically repeating the action and looking for a topic.

"I say, little brother Wind, are you good at evasion?" Zhang Wu asked curiously.

"No! Just the ordinary evasion method." Floating Wind spoke frankly, still continuously refining the cloud energy in his hand.

Zhang Wu stared at the large lump of spirit cloud before him, "Why are you making such a big spirit cloud? Don't you know the larger it is, the harder it is to control?" He had wanted to complain about this for a while; those who didn't know might think you were building a house!

"I, of course, have, my method!" Floating Wind laboriously merged dozens of wisps of cloud energy into the spirit cloud, fixed the position with his divine sense, then punched it.

His goal was a hundred cubic meters of cloud energy, then shape it into a hemisphere where rooms and courtyards could be demarcated, convenient for later adventuring in the cloud sea.

When the main quest appeared, he knew continuing to hide wasn't feasible; sitting there waiting for other players to rescue him wasn't an option; it was better to keep his fate in his own hands.

Forum players mainly split into two camps: one starts with nothing, mainly to experience the exotic world's local customs; saving the world and such is left to the Plane's Child, they just need to paddle nearby.

The other is like a lord of the Spirit Immortal Realm, investing heavily at the start, aiming to seize the Plane's Child's opportunities to gain more benefits.

Floating Wind naturally belongs to the former, and is a complete newbie.

When he revealed his identity, the screen-full of suicidal advice turned into personal insights, and the salvation guide was very detailed.

Most important is to develop while staying alive; you can never have too many survival skills. Attributes need not be maxed, but HP and MP must be sufficient; even sacrificing attack is fine.

Then comes profession; it's best to be a livelihood class, ideally able to join a major power, at least not starve to death.

Floating Wind reading these suggestions felt like reading a webnovel at the starting point, and each was full of deep‑seated tropes, truly veteran silver coins.

After reading the enthusiastic netizens' advice, Floating Wind made a plan for his future life: first build a base!

The base must be entirely made of cloud energy, so it can serve as a dwelling and provide sufficient energy. Thus the base's defense wouldn't need his own energy input; ideally it would automatically absorb cloud energy.

Such protective formations are sold on Azure Cloud Island: the Five Elements Formation, idiot‑proof installation, operation as easy as lifting a hand. The only drawback is that it doesn't last long; the formation flags must be constantly replaced.

But Floating Wind found something better!

In the points mall there is a book called *Five Elements True Explanation*; rare in that it can be sold split apart, the *Lesser Five Arts* costs only two thousand points, which he can just afford.

Although the name includes 'lesser', the *Lesser Five Arts* covers a broad range of knowledge, from cultivation methods to formation setup, from spirit‑talent identification to the evolution of the five elements, leaving nothing out.

Although refining cloud energy consumes little spiritual power, it varies by person; someone like Floating Wind, who completely doesn't know how to gather, wastes nearly half his spiritual power with each punch.

Although Zhang Wu and Xiao Yi could see it, they didn't voice any advice; cultivation must be self‑discovered, so the lessons learned this way are profound enough!

His spiritual power exhausted, his divine sense also greatly fatigued, Floating Wind sat cross‑legged digesting the newly arrived knowledge.

The *Lesser Five Arts* is very profound; someone like him, a total novice, can only learn step by step.

First one must sense the five elements; the *Lesser Five Arts* differs from other cultivation methods in that it emphasizes the unity of the five elements, not their isolated use.

Spiritual power follows a fixed route through the five viscera; after just one circuit, the five‑element spiritual energy is refined out.

"I'm a genius!" Floating Wind rejoiced, never expecting his cultivation talent to be quite high; this was already an entry.

In fact, credit goes to his body; even back when he was imprisoned in Yunhai City's jail, the Dan Hall personnel had modified his body to strengthen his soul, especially five‑element body tempering, making him extremely sensitive to five‑element energy.

Each circuit amplifies the five‑element energy a little, and spiritual power recovers accordingly.

After half an hour, Floating Wind once again refined cloud energy with full vigor.

This abnormality was naturally noticed by Zhang Wu and Xiao Yi; Zhang Wu thought this senior disciple must have broken through his technique, while Xiao Yi, due to his status, felt nothing unusual.

If cultivation breaks through, does it require action? Xiao Yi wondered.

These days, Floating Wind's performance he has observed closely; he played the newbie role very aptly. Although he also kept cooperating, his mind remained thoroughly puzzled.

Even now he doesn't understand Floating Wind's various maneuvers, but any change is preferable, so he can see through his conspiracy.

Floating Wind didn't know what the two were thinking; he now suddenly had a new idea.

Since the Five Elements Formation requires a five‑element attribute base, why not forge the cloud energy into five‑element cloud energy from the start?

Thinking this, he changed his forging method; five‑element spiritual power surged forth—green, red, yellow, white, black!

In just a quarter hour, a clump of spirit cloud containing five‑element variations was born in his hand.

It was truly dazzling, yet disgustingly ugly! Zhang Wu remarked he had never seen a worse color combination.

No choice! First time raw, second time familiar. Floating Wind decisively hid it within that large mass of cloud energy and refined the five‑element cloud energy again.

This time it was much better than before; the five colors alternated, clearly showing five‑element changes. Yet it still looked quite awkward!

Unable to figure out where the problem lay, Floating Wind had no choice but to continue his original operation, continually enlarging the spirit cloud.

While he was diligently cultivating, outside the winds and clouds suddenly shifted!

The Eastern Cloud Sea and Southern Cloud Sea went to war!

The news instantly spread throughout the entire Cloud Sea Realm!

Subsequent news was even more explosive: the Western Cloud Sea also got involved; the Western Cloud Sea, famed for defense, this time actually took the initiative, striking with lightning speed and seizing three major islands of the Southern Cloud Sea.

Shocking the Cloud Sea Realm for a hundred years!