After Magic Technique class ended, the clamor on the training grounds gradually faded away.
Instead of returning to his dormitory as he usually did, Chu Bai went alone to a secluded stream by the back mountain of the Daoist School.
The babbling of the stream washed away the clutter in his mind. He slowly extended his right hand. With a flicker of intent, a crystal-clear Spirit Water Needle, pulsing with a distinct Spiral Force, materialized at his fingertip.
As he watched it spin joyfully, refracting a rainbow of light in the sun, a genuine, irrepressible smile finally graced Chu Bai’s face.
"Finally... I broke through."
He murmured to himself, his voice tinged with emotion.
For more than two months, he had performed hundreds of drills every single day without fail, repeatedly analyzing and contemplating them in the dead of night. Today, all that effort had finally filled the progress bar, ushering in a qualitative leap.
This was the Mastery Realm.
The improvements it brought were all-encompassing.
First, there was power. The Spiral Force imbued the Spirit Water Needle with terrifying, unprecedented piercing strength. This was the real secret to how he had so easily shattered the puppet’s tough armor.
Second was Controllability.
His command of this Magic Technique had now reached the Transformation Realm. His Divine Sense manipulated it with ease, and he could even divide his focus to simultaneously control two groups—a total of six Spirit Water Needles—for coordinated attacks along different trajectories.
In actual combat, this was undoubtedly a fatal killing blow.
But the most crucial improvement was that his understanding of the very nature of Magical Power had reached a new level.
He discovered that as his Magic Skill Realm advanced, he could even actively purify and manipulate the balanced, gentle Magical Power from his Guiyuan Technique, making it erupt with a pure Water Attribute closer to the characteristics of his former Purifying Spirit Flow.
This meant the power of his Water Element Techniques would far surpass that of other Cultivators at the same Realm.
As for the new Magic Technique he had demonstrated in class, Formless Cloud Hand, it was the fruit of another major investment he had made not long ago.
He had spent a full one hundred Daoist Merit to acquire it from the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion.
Chu Bai still remembered the moment he chose the Magic Technique.
Faced with a dazzling array of offensive Magic Techniques on the shelves—such as the mighty Explosive Fireball and the incomparably sharp Golden Spear Technique—he had ultimately chosen this auxiliary and control-type technique, one that seemed less powerful but was extremely versatile.
The reason was simple: to compensate for the weaknesses exposed during his first monthly exam.
His long-range assassination ability was already deadly, but he was at a disadvantage if an enemy got close or if he faced an opponent with a nimble Body Technique. He simply lacked effective control methods.
Formless Cloud Hand perfectly filled this gap.
The technique consumed little Magical Power but demanded extremely high levels of Divine Sense control, which suited him perfectly.
It was endlessly versatile, able to grab, slap, push, or seize. Practiced to a high level, the Cloud Hand could turn from ethereal to solid, not only capturing enemies but even briefly binding an opponent’s Dharma Artifact.
One for distance, one for close quarters. One for control, one for the kill.
The combination of the Spirit Water Needle and the Formless Cloud Hand provided him with a foundational, well-rounded tactical system with no obvious weaknesses.
After sitting quietly by the stream for a moment to calm his excitement, Chu Bai sat cross-legged, took a deep breath, and began a thorough self-assessment.
With a thought, the familiar translucent panel appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Chu Bai]
[Realm: Qi Cultivation First Layer (41/100)]
[Cultivation Technique: Guiyuan Technique (Mastery 149/500)]
[Skill: Spirit Water Needle (Mastery 78/500)]
[Formless Cloud Hand (skilled 19/200)]
[Acquired Fate Chart...]
Looking at this series of transformative stats, Chu Bai’s heart swelled with an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.
First was his Realm.
In just over two months, his Cultivation progress had surged by a full twenty-five points.
A speed like this would put countless Loose Cultivators to shame in the outside world. Even within the Daoist School, a gathering place for geniuses, it was undoubtedly top-tier.
Then came his Cultivation Technique. The proficiency of his Mastery Level Guiyuan Technique had steadily increased, making the reserves of Magical Power within him nearly twice as deep as when he had first started practicing it, and they were growing ever purer and more condensed.
The biggest surprise, however, was undoubtedly the breakthrough in one Skill and the addition of another.
The Mastery Level Spirit Water Needle had already transformed from a Basic Technique into his true ace in the hole.
And the newly skilled Formless Cloud Hand was like a piece of uncut jade—full of potential and an indispensable part of his future tactical system.
’Two months ago, I was just a specialist, a one-trick pony. Now, I finally have what it takes to contend with the top prodigies of the Daoist School on all fronts.’
Night fell, and a profound silence descended.
The daytime’s clamor and excitement gradually subsided, and Chu Bai once again immersed himself in his tedious yet important chore.
Tonight, he chose to conduct his monitoring at an abandoned library in a remote, rarely visited corner of the Daoist School.
This was said to be the former site of the Daoist School, but it had been abandoned after a shift in the Earth Veins. All that remained was a solitary stone tower, which had been neglected for years.
Chu Bai found a clean, flat stone in front of the tower and sat down cross-legged.
He expertly began to circulate his Guiyuan Technique while simultaneously activating the Supervisor Jade Scroll in his hand. The scroll emitted a soft glow and began recording data.
Wisps of nature’s spiritual energy flowed into his body with each breath.
However, before he had even completed the first Circulation, Chu Bai’s keen Divine Sense detected that something was amiss.
He snapped his eyes open, his brow furrowed in concentration.
’This Spiritual Qi...’
’The Pure Qi I’m absorbing... it seems a fraction thinner than at any other place I’ve monitored.’
The sensation was extremely faint and subtle, like a single drop of clear water being secretly added to a cup of strong tea.
If his Cultivation Technique hadn’t reached Mastery, and if his Perception Power for Spiritual Qi weren’t far beyond that of an ordinary person, he would have likely missed the almost negligible difference.
He instinctively glanced at the Supervisor Jade Scroll in his hand.
The Spiritual Light, which had always pulsed with a stable, peaceful rhythm like a steady breath, was now showing a tiny, irregular tremor!
The tremor was so faint that without close observation, one might mistake it for a trick of the eyes.
But this was undoubtedly a warning!
Chu Bai immediately stopped cultivating and stood up.
He scanned his surroundings. The abandoned library cast a massive, ominous shadow in the moonlight. Besides the rustling of wind through a nearby bamboo grove, there were no other sounds.
’The Law Net... is there a problem with it?’
The thought cast a shadow over his heart.
’Perhaps it’s just a random Spiritual Qi tide at one of the nodes, or a normal fluctuation in the Earth Veins.’
’I need to find more anomalies to be sure.’

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