Ascetic Training

Lingxi Peak, in a small courtyard.

After Li Kunyuan finished his sermon, Gu Fan returned to the courtyard alone.

Although the Earth Flame at the foot of Shenji Peak is excellent, it is crowded with people and has many eyes, so Gu Fan does not want to be disturbed by others.

It was already the time when the new moon was hanging in the air, perched on the peach tree branches.

After finishing his evening Qi gathering, Gu Fan took out the jade slip inscribed with the "Flame Spirit Technique" and began to study it word by word, comparing it with what he had learned that day.

He held a jade slip in his left hand, while a flame flickered at the fingertips of his right hand, radiating a bright light under the night sky, making him particularly conspicuous.

As magic power was poured in, the flames gradually rose.

The fire grew increasingly fierce, and Gu Fan felt that he was finding it increasingly difficult to control the flames.

If he were to unleash an attack spell, Gu Fan could simply throw the flames in his hand away. But the fact that he is holding back his attack is actually more dangerous.

When the fire grew to two feet high, Gu Fan dared not send any more magic power; this was the limit he could control.

Next comes taming.

Gu Fan silently recited a sentence in his heart.

Since it is about taming, the flames naturally need to be lively; it cannot be called taming inanimate objects.

Gu Fan stared at the flames before him, probing them with a wisp of his divine sense, imagining a creature being born from the flames, guided by this wisp of divine sense.

A quarter of an hour... a quarter of an hour... half an hour passed, and the flame in his hand remained unchanged.

Gu Fan felt a faint fatigue in his mind, and the flame in his hand swayed erratically. Helplessly, he withdrew his magic power and dissipated the flame.

"Tsk, my extraordinary wisdom is useless here. If only my divine sense were stronger."

At this moment, Gu Fan desperately wanted to obtain a cultivation technique to refine his divine sense.

The Lingxiao Sect has countless secret techniques, and there must be one for cultivating spiritual consciousness, but it is not located on the first floor of the Chenxing Pavilion.

As an outer disciple, he had no access to such cultivation techniques, and besides, he was currently short of money and could only sigh in vain.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Fan shook his head, as if shaking off all his distracting thoughts.

He got up, lit a calming incense stick, slowly closed his eyes, and sat in meditation to recover his depleted magical power and soothe his tired mind.

An hour later, his magic power had been mostly restored, and another flame ignited.

"I refuse to believe it, let's try again!"

......

Time flies like an arrow; five days have passed in the blink of an eye.

When Meng Wei returned to the courtyard, he was startled by Gu Fan's appearance.

"What happened to Junior Brother Gu? He looks so haggard."

It's no wonder Meng Wei was surprised; Gu Fan's image was completely different from before.

His eyes were filled with intense fatigue, with dark circles under them, and his sideburns were disheveled with a few curled strands and traces of burning.

For the past five days, Gu Fan has devoted all his time, except for gathering Qi in the morning and evening, to cultivating the Flame Spirit Technique.

When your magical power is exhausted, meditate to regulate your breathing and nourish your consciousness.

Once his magical powers were restored, he immediately began casting spells, unwilling to waste a single moment.

If it weren't for the fact that the sunrise and sunset are so obvious every day, one would probably miss even the chance to gather energy.

After five days of continuous practice, he had vaguely felt that he had touched the threshold, but he was still one step away from crossing it.

When Meng Wei arrived, Gu Fan had just finished casting a spell. After recognizing the newcomer, he forced a smile and was about to get up to greet him.

"Senior brother is here!"

Gu Fan had just stood up when he stumbled and fell back onto the prayer mat.

Having not left for five days, even a cultivator's physique would have caused their legs to go numb.

Meng Wei stepped forward and reached out to support Gu Fan: "Junior Brother, why don't you sit down and talk? What happened?"

Gu Fan shook his head and said, "It's nothing, it's just that practicing magic these past few days has taken a toll."

Meng Wei was relieved and sat down beside him, gently advising, "Cultivating magic cannot be rushed. Junior brother, haven't you heard the saying 'haste makes waste'?"

Gu Fan rubbed his face and nodded, saying, "Senior brother is right!"

After saying that, he reached out and poured a cup of tea that had already cooled down from the gray stone table, and drank it all in one gulp.

After setting down his teacup, Gu Fan felt much better and looked at Meng Wei, asking, "Senior Brother, did you catch that King Clam?"

Upon hearing this, Meng Wei was immediately filled with indignation.

"That beast is truly cunning. I searched the Cloud Mist Sea for half a month, but I couldn't find a trace of it. If I had known this would happen, I would have risked some minor injuries to deliver another palm strike!"

"After returning empty-handed, I thought I'd come and see you, junior brother. I wonder if you've found a suitable job yet, or if you've made up your mind to cultivate the Dao of Alchemy?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Fan slowly shook his head and recounted his trip to Shenji Peak and his experience forging blacksmiths today, naturally omitting the details about magical cultivation.

Meng Wei nodded slightly: "Junior Brother's choice to refine weapons is correct. Although alchemy is good, it has too high requirements for spiritual herbs. Many alchemy formulas have been passed down from ancient times, but the spiritual herbs required have long been extinct and have become worthless."

Upon hearing Meng Wei mention this, Gu Fan asked curiously, "What kind of pill does Senior Sister Long Ying want to refine?"

Meng Wei curled his lip: "What else could it be? The Youth Preservation Pill! If you don't take the Youth Preservation Pill while you're in your prime, it will be too late to regret it once your youth has faded and you've gathered all the elixirs. That's why you're in such a hurry."

"That Shell King only has the strength of the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and doesn't have any powerful spells. It only has a hard shell and the illusion technique of spewing water mist. However, the shell pearls can only be used after growing for three hundred years, so they are extremely rare."

"I was lucky enough to find one, and I was thinking of getting some pills from Long Ying, but I was careless and it escaped."

"How many pills do you want to earn?" Gu Fan said with a mischievous smile. "I'm afraid your real intention is to win the heart of a beauty, Senior Brother."

Meng Wei, without any hesitation, laughed heartily and said, "Winning a beauty's heart is true, and so is earning pills. Why would I work for nothing? Besides, Long Ying isn't stingy. Do you know her background?"

Gu Fan was taken aback and guessed, "Senior Sister Long Ying should be a disciple of Shenxiu Peak, right?"

"Junior brother, you've guessed wrong." Meng Wei shook his head and said, "Long Ying is a disciple of Qingyun Peak."

Gu Fan raised an eyebrow and looked at Meng Wei in surprise.

To put it simply, the relationship between Qingyun Peak and Lingxi Peak is that they look down on each other.

While not exactly at odds, they were not on good terms either.

The reasons for this include differences in family backgrounds and competition for resources for spiritual practice.

Seeing Gu Fan's expression, Meng Wei explained, "Long Ying is not only a disciple of Qingyun Peak, but also comes from a Foundation Establishment family. She also has a top-grade wood spirit root, and she has a good chance of forming a core in this lifetime. That old man from the Long family treasures her like the apple of his eye."

"That's why Long Ying dislikes being restrained and can't get along with the spoiled brats of Qingyun Peak. She treats all disciples from different peaks equally."

"Once she showed her talent for alchemy, the Long family valued her even more. A Golden Core cultivator skilled in alchemy is enough to ensure the Long family's prosperity for hundreds of years. If it weren't for the scarcity of the King of Shells, the Long family would have sent him over long ago."

"Then, senior brother, you..." Gu Fan hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

The more prominent Long Ying's status, the lower the chances of Meng Wei becoming involved with her.

"Ha, I don't care about that!"

Meng Wei said nonchalantly, "I'll cultivate my immortality on my own. Who knows, one day your senior brother will rise to prominence and win the heart of a beauty."

"Senior brother is indeed magnanimous." Gu Fan bowed in respect.

He had thought Senior Brother Meng was a sycophant, but today he realized he was wrong.

Meng Wei harbored a sense of pride; otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to cultivate a superior-grade technique.

The two chatted for a while longer before Meng Wei took his leave, telling Gu Fan to get some rest.

Gu Fan also felt that going too far was counterproductive. After Meng Wei left, he returned to his house, lay down on the soft bed, and fell asleep in an instant.