Chapter 28: Magic Spells

Li Zhen had planned to visit the street where the ghost market was held at some point, but in recent days, forget about the ghost market—security officers were even visible on streets near it.

Due to a series of consecutive murders, the Security Bureau was currently in high alert mode.

Of course, this state of tension couldn’t last long. With too many visiting cultivators around, the Security Bureau needed to maintain sufficient manpower to keep an eye on them.

The next morning, Li Zhen woke up early and circulated the ‘Seventeenth Version of Foundation Qi Refining Technique’ to convert the remaining pure energy within his Dragon Heart Space into spiritual energy.

In the evening, he used the Dragon Heart Space to consume a mid-grade Qi Guidance Pill.

The amount of pure energy produced by the Dragon Heart Space consuming a mid-grade Qi Guidance Pill far exceeded that of an inferior-grade one.

If using the effect of cultivating for an hour with first-class superior spirit meridians at school as a unit, then the pure energy generated by a single mid-grade Qi Guidance Pill equaled fourteen units.

An inferior-grade Qi Guidance Pill only equaled seven units; a mid-grade pill was nearly twice as effective as an inferior-grade one.

Moreover, in reality, a mid-grade Qi Guidance Pill wasn’t just twice as effective as an inferior-grade one—it also contained less Pill Toxin. Additionally, both types of Qi Guidance Pills required the same amount of cultivation time.

Based on Li Zhen’s cultivation progress with the ‘Foundation Qi Refining Technique, 17th Edition,’ an inferior-grade Qi Guidance Pill could increase his spiritual energy by approximately 1 point per hour, while a mid-grade Qi Guidance Pill could enhance it by roughly 3 points per hour.

Do not underestimate the time saved; in equal circumstances, cultivators compete against each other based on time. If one can achieve better results in less time, they can travel further down the path of cultivation.

He adjusted his daily cultivation schedule as follows: one hour in the morning to digest the pure energy from a mid-grade Qi Guidance Pill, another hour at school during lunchtime, and yet another hour in the evening at home. At midnight, he would add an extra hour to process the pure energy from another mid-grade Qi Guidance Pill—this was already his optimal arrangement.

In just five days, he consumed all ten mid-grade Qi Guidance Pills, significantly advancing his skills within the second layer of the Qi Refining realm.

His identity bracelet displayed the information directly onto his retinal display:

It was known that once one’s total spiritual power reached 30 points, they could attempt to break through to the third level of Qi Refining.

Previously, without the aid of pills, it had taken him over two months to advance from the first to the second level of Qi Refining.

Now, just days after reaching the second level, he found himself nearing its peak—thanks to consuming a pill.

He marveled at the potency of this medicinal pill, little realizing that others wouldn’t experience such effects when taking similar pills.

For most cultivators, even disregarding the time needed for digestion and absorption, expelling the pill toxins alone required significant time. No cultivator could ingest pills continuously without breaks.

When Li Zhen examined his situation further, he realized that by using Dragon Heart Space to consume the pill, only its pure energy remained. All impurities were removed, leaving not a trace of pill toxins. This meant there was no need to worry about the typical limitations on consecutive consumption.

Most importantly, the effectiveness of the pill was greatly enhanced. The pure energy produced by the Dragon Heart Space preserved the maximum benefits of the pill. In contrast, other cultivators who consumed pills would face numerous restrictions, preventing them from fully absorbing the pill’s potential.

With his spiritual energy now at 25.5, the greatest benefit was that he had finally earned the right to learn magical spells.

Low-level spells typically consumed between 1 to 10 points of spiritual energy. Learning a spell involved repeated attempts, with each attempt requiring spiritual energy. Therefore, one could only effectively learn spells when their spiritual energy was abundant.

“Mei Yun, open the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell’ documentation!” Li Zhen commanded the smart home assistant in his house.

School hadn’t yet formally introduced magic learning, but if he truly wanted to start, he could obtain desired low-level spells from either Han Wenqin or Yu Nan.

However, he chose the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell’, which was already available at home. Since this spell was part of the spirit farming techniques studied by Father and Mother Li, Mei Yun’s database contained extensive records of their cultivation insights and experiences.

Moreover, he had full access rights to these family resources.

On his retinal display, he saw information about the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell’. The basic process for casting it involved using mental focus to guide spiritual energy, outlining the corresponding rune for the spell. Once the rune was complete without errors, the final step was to trigger the activation sequence.

Take ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell’ for example. When first learning it, one must direct spiritual energy to their fingertips and draw the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell Rune’ in the air before them. If the rune is drawn correctly, it will automatically transform into an active rune, waiting for the cultivator to trigger it.

Following Father Li and Mother Li’s insights, Li Zhen didn’t immediately attempt to mobilize his spiritual energy. Instead, he repeatedly practiced drawing the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell Rune’ in the air with his finger.

If he drew the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell Rune’ incorrectly, any summoned spiritual energy would be wasted.

Strangely, whenever he attempted to draw the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell Rune’, he found it less complex than he’d imagined.

He could flawlessly draw the entire ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell Rune’ within half an hour—a stark contrast to Father Li and Mother Li’s experiences, which suggested at least ten days or even half a month were needed.

Little did he know that as a descendant of the dragon race, the Chaos Divine Dragon inherently possessed the ability to control clouds and rain. To dragons, ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell’ wasn’t even considered a proper spell; even a sneeze from a dragon could produce more potent cloud cover than this minor technique.

Li Zhen possessed a dragon heart within him, which meant he could be considered part of the dragon race to some extent. Wouldn’t learning the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell’ be a breeze for someone like him?

So when he first channeled spiritual energy through his fingers and drew the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell Rune’ in mid-air, the rune before him began to emit a blue glow.

“It worked!” He stared blankly at the glowing rune, muttering to himself in disbelief.

According to his parents’ notes, even drawing the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell Rune’ using spiritual energy alone should have taken quite some time to master.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, the duration of the rune reached its limit. Without his continuous control, the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell Rune’ automatically activated.

Instantly, a rain cloud formed below the bedroom ceiling. Though small, it covered an area of just over four square meters.

Li Zhen felt cold droplets falling on his face, realizing too late that he had made a mistake.

But it was too late; a gentle rain fell inside the bedroom, soaking both the bed and the floor beneath it.

He was powerless to stop it; once cast, his ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell’ couldn’t be reversed.

“Zhen’er, what happened?” Mother Li called out from outside the bedroom.

Having received Mei Yun’s alert, Mother Li understood that the damage to the bedroom constituted an attack in the eyes of her intelligent housekeeper.

“Mom, I made a mistake while practicing my magic!” Li Zhen opened the door, embarrassed as he explained.

“Oh dear! Next time, don’t practice spells in your bedroom. It’s fine with the Small Cloud Rain Spell, but if you were using an attack spell, we’d have to redo your entire room!” Mother Li chuckled at the flustered Li Zhen.

Unaware that this was his first attempt at the Small Cloud Rain Spell, she didn’t question how he could perform such magic. Instead, she assumed he had been studying for some time.

Mother Li produced a Cleaning Talisman and activated it. A beam of white light descended into the room.

The water swirled up by the white glow formed a sphere in mid-air, which Mother Li carefully placed into a garbage bag.

The ‘Cleaning Talisman’ belonged to a category of household talismans. The neighbor, Mrs. Chen, was a novice level talisman artist who specialized in crafting these Cleaning Talismans. They were also the most affordable type available.

Li Zhen marveled at the convenience of such talismans; just one ‘Cleaning Talisman’ had restored his bedroom to its original state, even drying out the dampened quilt.

“Don’t waste them either,” Mother Li cautioned before leaving. “If you want to practice your Small Cloud Rain Spell, do it upstairs!”

Li Zhen pondered this advice. Although he was still learning the Small Cloud Rain Spell and could only control a small area, no matter how limited, it was still spiritual rain containing essential growth energy for spirit rice.

He focused on his Dragon Heart Space and noticed an additional runic symbol on the space’s wall. Upon closer inspection, he recognized it as the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell Rune’.

Can the Dragon Heart Space record magical runes too? What purpose do these spell runes serve? Several questions arose in his mind, requiring experimentation to find answers.

However, glancing at the freshly cleaned bedroom, he considered the potential consequences of using the Small Cloud Rain Spell there again. Thus, he decided to head towards the cultivation area instead.