Chapter 255: Flight Spells

Lingzhou, Yuding Mountain.

Chen Shu first went to pay a visit to the Vice Sect Master.

One cannot just see the Sect Master whenever one pleases, but the Vice Sect Master had always taken good care of him, so he had to pay a visit.

The Vice Sect Master's courtyard was also on Yuding Mountain; it was not large, possessing the simplicity characteristic of the older generation. When Chen Shu arrived, he was feeding birds, though he did not keep birds himself; he was feeding the wild birds on the mountain.

"Vice Sect Master."

"You've returned?"

"I have come to pay my respects."

"You have been..." The Vice Sect Master stopped his movements, turned his head to look at him, somewhat uncertain, "gone for over half a year, right?"

"Nine months."

"That is not long."

"It is long."

Chen Shu glanced at the grain in his hand, which was a handful of millet, and said casually, "You have lived for over two hundred years, but I am still young; if you calculate it, I haven't lived through many nine-month periods in this life."

"You are twenty... two, right?"

"Yes."

"That is true..." The Vice Sect Master sighed, nodding as he continued to scatter the millet, "Truly young."

"I am at the Fifth Stage peak."

"So?"

"I obtained some rare materials, quite a large quantity and a wide variety. I took a look, and they include raw materials for the Sixth Stage Promotion Auxiliary Potion; there should be no problem making a dozen or so doses." Chen Shu paused, "Anyway, I don't know how to tinker with these, so I might as well hand them all over to the sect. If there are any rare ones that are already extinct and have research or breeding value, I would trouble the sect to hand them over to the state on my behalf, and the rest can count as my contribution to the sect."

"That is good."

The Vice Sect Master said indifferently, "Tomorrow I will have someone come to your courtyard to collect them."

"Good."

"When do you plan to promote?"

"The sooner the better."

"Then I will have them make the potion as soon as possible... how many doses do you want?"

"Two doses."

"Two doses are enough?"

"They should be."

"If they are not enough, we can talk later."

"Good."

"Sit."

The Vice Sect Master let Chen Shu sit down nearby, sat down himself, and brushed the dust off his hands: "On this trip, what have you gained?"

"The gains were not small."

Chen Shu briefly told him about the major events he encountered on this trip.

Actually, there were not many.

The Vice Sect Master nodded as he listened, not surprised by anything; clearly, to a big shot like him, none of this was a secret.

After Chen Shu finished speaking, he asked humbly: "Is the legend of the Reed God true?"

"It is."

"Was his origin shattered because of the battle with the gods of the other world?"

"I am not sure either, probably."

"I see..."

Chen Shu compared the time of the other world's total destruction mentioned by the elder Huang with the approximate time the Reed God's origin was shattered, and a picture formed in his mind—this world had reached the brink of collapse, with billions of living beings about to turn into nothingness, and the gods of the other world had no choice but to launch a final struggle; this struggle would surely exhaust all their strength. And the gods of this world also resisted with all their might; in the end, the Reed God's origin was shattered, the other world entered destruction, and this world remained safe and sound, as if nothing had ever happened.

The Vice Sect Master glanced at him: "No one knows exactly how it was shattered; that was a war of gods, and only the gods know. However, although every person who becomes a god is a peerless individual, I once heard that when the Reed God stepped into the Forbidden Land, he was called the Cultivator closest to a god in history."

"So he was the only one whose origin was shattered, not because he was weaker?"

"Some die by weakness, some die by strength."

"That makes sense."

Chen Shu widened his eyes and pondered for a moment, then asked again: "So when Senior Cao Ci snatched the Heavenly Human Mirror, was he looking for the shattered origin of the Reed God?"

"What else could it be?"

"Do you think he can succeed?"

"I do not know."

The Vice Sect Master sighed deeply: "The Plane Origin cannot leave its own plane, nor will it disappear, so it must still be in this world."

"Oh..."

Chen Shu dragged out the sound.

He guessed that the Vice Sect Master meant that if Cao Ci wanted to find it, he would likely be able to, but whether the current world would allow such a person to reach the God Altar through this method was not something he could judge. The birth of a god concerns the entire world, and whether everyone supports or stops it, it is certainly decided by many parties together.

Wait!

Chen Shu suddenly thought of one point: "The Plane Origin cannot leave the plane, then what about the gods?"

"They cannot either."

"The Nanzhou Continent..."

"That is an exception." The Vice Sect Master clearly had also studied this, "Their world was about to be destroyed, and the constraints on the origin were already very weak. Even so, that other-world god paid the price of his life, turning himself and the Plane Origin into another form of power, and with the efforts of all the other gods, they sent him, who had died and turned into this form, into our world."

"This..."

Chen Shu could not help but be stunned.

In that case...

It turns out that for the thousands of years the two sides have been in conflict, every deity in the other world has known that even if they were victorious, they would be unable to leave that world.

It truly is a heavy confrontation.

The sky gradually grew dark.

The two of them even went to have dinner together, eating stir-fried dishes at the canteen.

Upon leaving, Chen Shu asked the Vice Sect Master: "Could you recommend a good Flying Spell?"

"The 'Cloud Sky Technique' has the advantages of stable flight and low Spirit Power consumption, making it suitable for traveling; its disadvantages are that it flies slowly and lacks flexibility, making it unsuitable for pursuit, escape, or combat. 'Rising with the Wind' has the advantages of fast flight, strong burst, and flexible turning; its disadvantage is high Spirit Power consumption." The Vice Sect Master paused. "An excellent Spirit Sect disciple usually learns two Flying Spells to handle different needs. For an ordinary Spirit Cultivator, the standard 'Imperial Sky Technique' is already quite excellent."

"Understood."

This Vice Sect Master understood his situation very well.

Chen Shu is only at the peak of the Fifth Stage, and even after advancing, having just reached the Sixth Stage, flying is still quite strenuous for him; the low-consumption 'Cloud Sky Technique' is just right for him.

At critical moments, his Spirit Power burst is very high, so 'Rising with the Wind' can be used for intense flight.

Chen Shu thanked the Vice Sect Master and headed straight for Phoenix Tower.

First, he returned the books he had borrowed earlier.

Fortunately, his authorization level is high; if it were an ordinary disciple, they would not be allowed to borrow A Book for so long consecutively.

Immediately after, he did not go to look for the Flying Spell right away, but instead first found a "History of Cultivation" for Duqin—this country is relatively small and its culture is weak; the compilation of official history books and cultivation history only began in the last few decades. Previously, they lacked this awareness, so he had to select a few books that recorded events in the Duqin cultivation world from one thousand to several hundred years ago with the help of the administrator, and read them by comparing them.

He couldn't find official records of the Reed God, but there must be side accounts, right? Such an impressive figure, he didn't believe that ancient Duqin had no mention of him.

Chen Shu once again put his professional skills to use.

He started by flipping through the table of contents.

One hour later.

As expected, Chen Shu indeed found a few words that seemed to describe the Reed God.

To summarize, these books recorded that about seven or eight hundred years ago, an extraordinary Cultivator appeared in southern Duqin. He belonged to no sect or faction, and solely by his own natural talent, he surpassed all Cultivators in the world and was invincible. Because he had always protected the local area, some people built a temple for him, and the incense offerings were once extremely prosperous.

The final outcome was not written.

Historians did not place much importance on this.

Firstly, this is not official history, nor even a history book. Secondly, it does not record an accurate name. Thirdly, Duqin is too small; people would naturally assume that when they say he surpassed all Cultivators in the world, it only meant he surpassed all Cultivators in Duqin, and being invincible only meant he was invincible in Duqin, so there was nothing worth paying attention to. Fourthly, it is a very common practice for these small countries to build temples for a certain High-level Practitioner and treat them as a deity.

"Sigh..."

Chen Shu sighed.

He still didn't know what the Reed God was called, which system's path he followed, or what his personality was like... The information here basically overlapped with what the Vice Sect Master said and was of little use.

Just as the Vice Sect Master said—

Which person who becomes a god is not an unparalleled individual?

With world-topping talent, a righteous heart, and having reached the end, in their own era, who isn't the protagonist of the age?

Chen Shu put down these books.

He checked the time; it was already ten o'clock.

He didn't want to go back.

Going back meant having to cultivate.

He didn't want to cultivate.

"Emmm..."

Then should he research Flying Spells some more?

That was a legitimate reason.

Chen Shu spread his arms, stretched, pushed open the window to look at the night view outside, and only then got up to go upstairs, where he found the 'Cloud Sky Technique' and 'Rising with the Wind'.

Both of these Spells were on the eighth floor.

This meant it was impossible for Outer Sect Disciples to borrow them, and even Inner Sect Disciples had to meet very strict conditions to be able to see them.

Chen Shu found a seat again and began to study them carefully.

Flying Spells are nothing more than the application of the Ling Chi Principle, but the Rune used for Spirit Repulsion also comes in many varieties, ranging from Basic Rune to Third-level Rune. Different Runes and different Spell structures and Auxiliary Rune constitute different Flying Spells; some are more intense, some are gentler, some are relatively simple and crude, with wind whistling when flying, while others add some Auxiliary Rune and become much quieter, and so on and so forth, all different.

The Rune used in the Cloud Sky Technique was not unfamiliar; the core Rune Group contained common Spirit Repulsion-type Runes, but its structure was not common.

This book also came with annotations to lower the barrier to self-study.

Chen Shu read seriously.

The annotations stated that this was a brand-new Rune structure developed by a Spirit Cultivator team from the Spirit Sect. Its operation was very stable, and its spirit-efficiency ratio exceeded the record set by Spells developed by the Lanzhou Night Temple among Spirit Repulsion-type Spells, so it was very energy-efficient during operation.

This was an extremely excellent transportation-type Flying Spell.

The more Chen Shu looked, the more exquisite he found it.

On the contrary, the other one, 'Rising with the Wind', although it used many unfamiliar second and third-level Spirit Repulsion-type Runes that were rarely or not at all circulated in the outside world as its core, bringing high-speed performance that conventional Flying Spells could not reach, and its structural design was also brilliant, its design was still not as amazing as the 'Cloud Sky Technique'.

This was very interesting—

The two Spells the Vice Sect Master recommended to him were meant to be used in a high-low combination: Cloud Sky Technique for low, for ordinary use; Rising with the Wind for high, for emergency use. Yet, purely from a technical standpoint, the Cloud Sky Technique was superior.

This could also be considered common.

Not all high-end technology serves "explosive performance." Among similar technologies, it is not only the one with the strongest explosive performance that possesses high value; economy and stability are also important indicators.