Mortal: Starting with the Seven Mysterious Sects, I proved my Dao through sacrifice.

Murong Fan did not become complacent after mastering the fireball technique; on the contrary, he became even more immersed in cultivation.

He knew that the path of cultivation was like climbing a precipice, and that each breakthrough required a massive amount of resources. In the end, the Seven Mysteries Sect could not contain a true dragon.

Murong Fan turned his gaze to the other spells recorded in the first volume of the Changchun Gong. The Mind-Stabilizing Talisman and the Body-Immobilizing Talisman require specially made talisman paper, silver powder, and pigments; the Wind-Riding Technique emphasizes the exquisite coordination of movement techniques and spiritual power;

The Heavenly Eye Technique allows one to gather spiritual power in the eyes, see through illusions, perceive fluctuations in spiritual energy, and identify the colors and hidden auras of the five elements; while the Object Control Technique—a spell that can manipulate objects remotely—stirred up Murong Fan's heart.

If he can master the art of object manipulation, combined with his altar sacrifice abilities, it might open up entirely new ways of fighting and training. Imagine being able to control weapons remotely while fighting, or being able to take objects without physical contact during sacrifices—the wonders of this are self-evident.

"Let's start with the easy stuff and move on to the difficult stuff, beginning with the art of object manipulation," Murong Fan decided immediately.

Murong Fan recalled the contents of the first volume of the "Eternal Spring Technique" and silently recited the incantation for the object control technique. Unlike the explosive fireball technique, the object control technique emphasizes "using the spirit to control the qi, and using the qi to guide objects," with the core being the precise coordination of spiritual consciousness and spiritual power.

Although the spiritual sense of someone at the sixth level of Qi Refining is already quite remarkable, in order to achieve the ability to control objects remotely, one still needs to condense the spiritual sense into a thread in order to be able to entwine external objects.

Murong Fan took a copper coin and placed it on the table. He stepped back three paces, closed his eyes, and concentrated. His spiritual sense surged out like a tide, forming an invisible field around the coin. He tried to envelop the coin with his spiritual sense, but found that the small coin was as slippery as an eel, and was repelled as soon as his spiritual sense made contact.

"When the spirit is scattered, the qi is disordered; when the qi is disordered, things escape." Murong Fan silently recited the key points of the incantation, adjusted his breathing, and slowly gathered his restless spiritual consciousness. This time, he no longer tried to "envelop" the copper coin, but instead transformed his spiritual consciousness into a thin needle and gently pierced the square hole in the center of the copper coin.

Something amazing happened.

The moment his spiritual consciousness formed a connection with the copper coin, Murong Fan felt as if an invisible hand had extended from his mind. He carefully guided his spiritual energy along the meridians of his arm to his fingertips, and then through the "thin needle" into the copper coin. The copper coin trembled slightly, emitting a barely audible hum, and slowly rose an inch off the ground!

"rise!"

Murong Fan was overjoyed. His spiritual sense suddenly fluctuated, and the copper coin fell back onto the table with a "clang," rolling several times before stopping.

"I was still too impatient." He chuckled to himself, but wasn't discouraged.

For the next ten days, Murong Fan redistributed his daily cultivation time. In the early morning, he practiced the Heavenly Eye Technique, opening and closing the spiritual eye; in the morning, he studied the art of object manipulation, progressing step by step from copper coins to teacups, from stillness to movement, and finally to controlling objects as blades; in the afternoon, he tried the foundation of the Heavenly Eye Technique—opening and closing the spiritual eye; and in the evening, he practiced the Mind-Stabilizing Talisman.

The cultivation of the Heavenly Eye Technique is more difficult than expected. It requires cultivators to concentrate their spiritual power in their eyes, maintaining normal vision while activating another layer of "spiritual vision".

Five days later, at dusk, he successfully activated the first level of his spiritual vision—the world before him suddenly appeared layered, with a layer of flowing colors superimposed on ordinary scenery. That was the true nature of the five elements: "The grass and trees glowed with a green luster, the rocks shone with a yellow light, and the distant streams were entwined with strands of aquamarine blue."

To his even greater surprise, when he focused his consciousness inward, he could clearly see the turquoise vortex of spiritual energy in his dantian, as well as the pale blue light flowing slowly through his meridians. This ability of "inner vision" was undoubtedly a godsend for cultivation.

"So my meridians were slightly blocked here." Murong Fan pointed to a faint dark mark under his left rib and suddenly realized. No wonder he always felt a slight stagnation when circulating his energy here. Once the blockage is found, the right medicine can be prescribed. By repeatedly flushing it with spiritual energy, it will be cleared in a few days.

His progress in object manipulation was equally remarkable. Seven days later, he was able to control a short sword remotely, manipulating it with ease within a ten-zhang radius. The short sword, forged from black iron and weighing about five jin, was a gift from the sect leader, yet it now drew a sharp arc in the air, its blade flashing.

"go!"

The short sword shot through the air, accurately embedding itself in a tree trunk twenty paces away, the blade disappearing to the hilt. With a thought, Murong Fan used his spiritual sense to guide the sword, and it miraculously pulled itself out, flying back into his palm.

"I've mastered the object manipulation technique. If I combine it with the fireball technique..." A glint flashed in Murong Fan's eyes, and he immediately put it to the test. He made a hand seal with his left hand, and a fireball condensed; with his right hand, he pointed his fingers, and a short sword floated in the air. The fireball went first, blasting towards the wooden stake on the left; the short sword followed closely behind, aiming straight for the bullseye on the right. The two hit almost simultaneously, the wooden stake shattered, and the bullseye was pierced through. The power was far greater than that of a single spell.

"Now that's more like a cultivator." Murong Fan let out a long sigh of relief, beads of sweat already forming on his forehead. Simultaneously controlling two spells consumes a great deal of spiritual energy and mental power; with his Qi Refining Level 6 cultivation, he could only sustain it for about half an incense stick's time at most. But that was enough—life-or-death battles often end in an instant.

Next, it's time to strengthen the "Mind-Stabilizing Talisman." Murong Fan's cultivation strategy was very clear.

"The key to immobilization lies not in action, but in spirit." After pondering this incantation again late at night, Han Li spread out another sheet of talisman paper. He did not rush to draw the runes, but closed his eyes and recalled the feeling of stagnation he had experienced every time he saw the immobilization talisman take effect.

Murong Fan adjusted his spiritual energy, the speed at which he injected it, modified the subtle curves of the runes, and even experimented with different concentrations of silver powder to mix pigments. Three days later, he finally broke through his bottleneck and used a freezing talisman to immobilize Ling'er, a maid who had come to deliver tea several feet away.

Seeing the usually pretty maid Ling'er's face contorted in disbelief, Murong Fan couldn't help but laugh. "Finally done!"

As he spoke, Murong Fan used his object manipulation technique to unseal the seal.

After another seven days of training, he felt that his body was much lighter and he could usually leap up to two zhang high. He began to practice wind-walking stance in the wild, using the power of the valley wind to maintain his balance, and his legs gradually became as stable as if they were rooted in the ground.

That morning, Murong Fan took a deep breath, circulating his spiritual energy throughout his body. With a light touch of his toes to the ground, his figure darted through the bamboo forest in the valley like willow catkins. In the instant the bamboo leaves rustled down, he was already standing several feet away in the air, his robes fluttering in the wind, like a banished immortal.

"It seems that I have reached the initial stage of the 'Wind Control Technique'. In the future, I will no longer need to expend physical strength to travel. I will only need to continuously consume a small amount of mana after casting the technique to ride the wind." After three days of repeated practice, he has clearly mastered the technique: "Once this technique is cast, the acceleration effect will continue until the mana is exhausted or the casting is stopped voluntarily."

After spending a month and a half practicing the four techniques of object control, heavenly eye, mind-stabilizing talisman, and wind control, Murong Fan shifted his focus to the practice of the Everlasting Spring Technique.

During his cultivation of magic, Murong Fan had become increasingly proficient in the first six levels of the Everlasting Spring Technique. "It seems that no step on the path of perseverance is superfluous. The sixth to seventh level of Qi Refining is the key threshold for moving from the middle stage to the later stage."

He sat cross-legged, laying out the Qi-Nourishing Pills in his palm. "Ordinary cultivators need years of painstaking effort, but with the pure Qi nourished by the altar and the aid of the Qi-Nourishing Pills, I can naturally progress quickly and achieve success effortlessly!"

Murong Fan did not rush to swallow the pill, but first used his Heavenly Eye Technique to examine his own condition. The spiritual energy vortex in his dantian slowly rotated, and the cyan liquid spiritual energy had occupied most of the space, but there was still some gaseous spiritual energy at the edge of the vortex that had not been converted. This is a typical characteristic of the sixth level of Qi Refining - the liquefaction of spiritual energy has not been completely completed.

"First, lay a solid foundation."

Murong Fan circulated the Everlasting Spring Technique, guiding the wood-elemental energy of heaven and earth slowly into his body. The area where the Seven Mysteries Sect was located was densely forested, with particularly abundant wood-elemental energy, which also aided his cultivation progress. Azure light spots converged from all directions, like rivers flowing into the sea, merging into his meridians. With each wisp of energy entering, the liquid spiritual power became more solidified.

A month later, Murong Fan felt a fullness in his dantian. Knowing the time was right, he took out a Qi-Nourishing Pill and put it in his mouth. The moment the pill dissolved, a powerful medicinal force surged into his meridians like a burst dam, but it was fully accepted by his exceptionally resilient meridians, which he guided into his dantian.

The vortex of spiritual energy spun wildly, devouring all the medicinal power and vital energy. Murong Fan's forehead veins throbbed slightly, but he gritted his teeth to maintain the operation of his cultivation technique. He could feel that the ball of liquid spiritual energy was being compressed and transformed in a mysterious way, gradually condensing from the size of a pigeon egg to the size of a chicken egg, while its color changed from bluish-green to deep emerald, like the color of ancient jade.

"boom--"

A muffled sound echoed in his sea of ​​consciousness, and the vortex of spiritual energy abruptly stopped, only to reverse its rotation at an even faster speed in the next instant. The gaseous spiritual energy was forcibly compressed and liquefied, eventually merging with the original liquid spiritual energy. Black impurities seeped from Murong Fan's pores again, but much less than when he was at the sixth level of Qi Refining—clear evidence of his solid foundation.

Qi Refining Stage 7!

After reaching the seventh level of Qi Refining, Murong Fan did not stop. He continued to take the Qi Cultivation Pill and combined it with his understanding of the Wind Control Technique to make the spiritual energy flow more smoothly in his body.

Besides meditating and cultivating every day, he would also go out to find places rich in spiritual energy, such as the ancient pools deep in the Black Wind Mountains or under ancient trees, to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to aid his cultivation.

After more than two months of arduous training and the blessing of the Qi-Nourishing Pill, the spiritual energy vortex in his dantian became increasingly solid. Finally, on a full moon night, his spiritual energy broke through the bottleneck and he successfully advanced to the eighth level of Qi Refining.

At this time, his spiritual awareness expanded further, and his understanding of Changchun Gong became more profound, laying a solid foundation for his subsequent cultivation of more advanced spells and techniques.

P.S.: This is a trial run for my new book. Please read it, add it to your favorites, vote for it, and leave comments. Thank you for your support!