In other words, the reason she hadn't succeeded all this time wasn't because she didn't understand weapons well enough, but because she had misplaced her focus!
Martial Aunt Yang had mentioned that understanding the weapon was necessary, but it didn't mean she should rely on it completely. She had been fixated on the wrong thing.
What she needed to focus on wasn't the weapon itself, but the spirit energy.
Gu Ningyun looked at the trident condensed in her hand. The wind spirit energy was flowing longitudinally along the handle.
A longitudinal structure was too loose; she needed to change it.
In her past and present lives combined, what was the hardest structure she knew?
Diamonds!
Gu Ningyun dispersed her spirit energy and, with a flick of her palm, prepared to condense it according to a diamond's structure.
However, as soon as she began to move her spirit energy, she froze.
What exactly was the structure of a diamond?
She had spent four years as a coder in her previous life; her chemistry knowledge had long since been returned to her high school teachers.
Curse it! Knowledge is truly missed when needed most. Where could she find a chemistry teacher now?
Gu Ningyun tried hard to recall her memories of diamonds. Perhaps due to her cultivation, memories that had once faded and disappeared slowly became clear.
In the depths of her mind, she finally remembered the relevant knowledge.
One particular structure of a diamond was the rhombic dodecahedron.
Gu Ningyun channeled her spirit energy and re-condensed a trident based on the structure of a diamond.
This time, the trident consumed only a third of the spirit energy used for the previous one, but the effect was vastly different.
The entire trident was composed of an arrangement of rhombic dodecahedrons. The wind spirit energy flowed in an interlocking pattern along the dodecahedral structures.
The intricate, complex lines of spirit energy shimmered with a sophisticated and magnificent radiance, possessing a unique beauty of geometric lines.
Beyond its complex appearance, the trident's structure was exceptionally stable.
Not only did no spirit energy escape even when she swung it wildly, but Gu Ningyun also used it to poke the stone ball Martial Aunt Yang had given them.
A single jab left six large pits. It was incredibly effective!
“Quack quack quack! This lord knew you had good comprehension, little girl. You understood with just a hint.
Once you come into contact with more materials in the future, you can condense even stronger structures.
But spirit energy application is only a foundation after all; it's enough to have a solid grasp of it.
Don't let your obsession with this delay your study of spells.”
“I understand, senior.”
Having confirmed the trident's effectiveness, Gu Ningyun gave the fat duck a cheeky grin. “Senior, tell me what the Spirit-Heart Fish looks like, and I'll spear them for you!”
“Quack quack quack! You really are reliable, little girl.”
The fat duck's beady black eyes stared intently at the lake's surface. “Let me tell you, these Spirit-Heart Fish are about the same size as this lord's wings.
Their bodies are entirely silver-white, but their tails are a gradient pink. They're very beautiful.
And, of course, they are incredibly delicious! Quack quack quack quack!”
“Understood, senior. I see them.”
Moonlight spilled down, and the surface of Spirit-Heart Lake shimmered with a brilliant silver light, looking truly enchanting.
Gu Ningyun extended her divine sense into the lake. There were many types of fish in the water, most of which she didn't recognize.
After finding a Spirit-Heart Fish, Gu Ningyun controlled the trident to strike downward. The trident stirred up a massive current, and the Spirit-Heart Fish was startled away under her divine sense.
This wouldn't work. These fish were nourished by spirit energy and swam incredibly fast. The trident was too slow to hit them at all.
Gu Ningyun gripped the handle and studied it closely.
No matter how fast the Spirit-Heart Fish was, could it be faster than her wind spirit energy?
She thought back to when she was climbing the cliff and used wind spirit energy to increase her speed.
Since wind spirit energy could increase her own speed, she could surely control the speed of a weapon after projecting it outside her body.
Cyan spirit energy flowed at a uniform speed within the trident.
Gu Ningyun's fingertips brushed over it.
Perhaps she didn't need to pull it with lines of spirit energy. This trident had a stable structure and was condensed from her own wind spirit energy and divine sense to begin with.
The trident was slow partly because her control over her divine sense and spirit energy was insufficient, preventing her from flexibly controlling the weapon to attack moving creatures.
The second reason was that the trident's volume was too large, creating massive resistance when it entered the water.
Furthermore, once the trident entered the water, the resulting current would disturb the target, alerting it before the strike.
To successfully spear a Spirit-Heart Fish, she had to be both swift and stealthy.
Divine sense and spirit energy control could only be improved through constant practice and couldn't be achieved overnight, but the trident's size could be changed right now.
Gu Ningyun thought of the palm-sized water sword Martial Aunt Yang had condensed during her demonstration.
She simply dispersed the spirit energy of the trident and channeled finer lines of spirit energy to condense a new one.
This trident was a miniature version of the previous one, only about the size of her palm, exquisite and beautiful.
Wind spirit energy circulated rapidly within the trident, which now emitted a faint aura of sharpness.
Gu Ningyun controlled the trident to fly in a few circles, and it was indeed much more agile.
Her divine sense locked onto a Spirit-Heart Fish once more. The palm-sized trident shot into the water with a soft 'pop,' racing toward the fish.
This time, the trident grazed the fin, scraping off a few scales.
There was progress. Again.
After several more attempts, the trident burst out of the water carrying a Spirit-Heart Fish and flew toward the shore.
“Quack quack quack! The little girl succeeded!”
Without waiting for the fish to reach the shore, the fat duck impatiently jumped into the water, opening its beak and swimming toward the trident.
“Delicious Spirit-Heart Fish! Little girl, hurry up and feed this lord.”
After handing the fish to the fat duck, Gu Ningyun dispersed the wind spirit energy on the trident.
It wasn't that she was unwilling to catch more fish for the fat duck, but...
Gu Ningyun's divine sense clearly saw that the Spirit-Heart Fish, which had been swimming leisurely, had instantly scattered and vanished without a trace the moment the fat duck entered the water, as if they had seen a terrifying enemy. She had no idea where they had hidden.
Seeing this, Gu Ningyun suddenly understood.
No wonder the fat duck had come to her for help with spearing fish.
The fat duck must have frequently come here to snack on them in the past, scaring the Spirit-Heart Fish so much that they hid the moment they saw it.
The fat duck seemed to realize this as well. It swallowed the fish in one gulp, looked at the empty lake, and shook its head in frustration.
“Little girl, it's late. Go back and rest. Don't stay up all night.
This lord will come find you again tomorrow night.”
The fat duck flapped its wings and vanished without a trace, using some unknown spell.
Gu Ningyun looked at the moon and realized it was already past midnight.
The lake's surface returned to tranquility, reflecting the elegant and bright moonlight.
Gu Ningyun stood under the Spirit-Heart Peach Tree as a gentle breeze stirred the pink petals, which drifted onto her fingertips.
The rich fragrance of flowers lingered around her nose.
She had been cultivating non-stop lately; her nerves were perhaps wound a bit too tight.
Gu Ningyun stepped onto the carpet of petals and sat down against the Spirit-Heart Peach Tree.
She cleared her thoughts, relaxed her mind, and closed her eyes by the lake amidst the falling blossoms.
In her ears was the rustling of the breeze through the leaves; in her nose was the unique, mind-calming fragrance of the Spirit-Heart Peach Tree, soothing her weary nerves.
All the tension and fatigue in her heart eased in this pleasant night.
The smugness of exceeding her goals, the excitement of learning her first spells, the pain of body refining training, the frustration of making no progress with weapon condensation, and the joy of finally succeeding after the fat duck's hint...
All these churning emotions grew quiet in the floral scent.
Starlight poured down from the sky, following her cultivation technique as it naturally circulated and entered her dantian.
The wind spirit energy and star power in Gu Ningyun's dantian also grew in this starlight, becoming more and more compressed.
...
After an unknown amount of time, when the wind chimes for six o'clock rang, Gu Ningyun rose from the petals.
The hem of her robes brushed against the petals, sending them flying toward the Cloud Residence.
With her restlessness gone, Gu Ningyun's steps were steady, and every movement was filled with elegance and tranquility.
A faint smile touched her lips. Well, she would wash up, eat breakfast, and then come back to memorize the Almanac of Heavenly Wonders.
She was going to take them by surprise and secretly out-grind them all!
Rate on N.U.
