Martial Aunt Yang continued her lecture. “The goal you need to achieve over these ten days is to successfully condense an animal and be able to manipulate it to complete simple tasks.
To reach this goal, you must first choose an animal to condense.
Then, you must observe its appearance and habits. Finally, you will condense it based on your observations.
When condensing the appearance, try to make it identical to your reference subject.
As for habits, if you observe closely enough and your memory of its behaviors is deep enough, you will naturally be able to imbue it with those habits as you condense its form.”
Immediately after, Martial Aunt Yang dispersed her spirit energy and re-condensed an owl to demonstrate the process for them.
Under the manipulation of water spirit energy, a pair of owl claws appeared first, followed by long, fluffy legs, then the body, wings, and finally the head.
As the final trace of water spirit energy was infused, that familiar, innocent-looking owl appeared before them once more.
Seeing their looks of wonder, Martial Aunt Yang gave a slight smile.
She dispersed her spirit energy again, this time slowing down to explain every step, operation method, and point of caution in detail.
Condensing living things was difficult; it wasn't like the previous lessons where one could learn simply by following a tutorial.
However, with the foundation of condensing weapons, they had already developed a bit of a feel for it.
Combined with Martial Aunt Yang’s progressive explanations and her extremely detailed demonstrations and teaching, they finally began to grasp the concept of condensing animals.
Once she confirmed they understood, Martial Aunt Yang said, “There is a low-grade spirit beast garden in Xiaoyao's External Sect under the jurisdiction of Qixia Peak.
The animals inside are the emergency food reserves for the Qixia Peak dining hall. Their spirit energy is low, making them perfect reference subjects for someone at your cultivation level.
There are no animals on Qixia Peak itself. I will take you there shortly so you can select one to serve as your reference subject.
For the spirit energy application classes over the next few days, you won't need to come to the small square. Just go directly to the spirit beast garden.”
Xiaoyao's External Sect?
Gu Ningyun remembered Martial Uncle Lu’s introduction on the day she joined the sect. The External Sect was where the handyman disciples practiced.
In that case, the ingredients for the food they ate in the dining hall must be raised and cultivated by those handyman disciples.
With half an hour left before the end of class, Martial Aunt Yang took them to the Cloud Hall.
Choosing a random transfer array, Martial Aunt Yang pointed to the last slot in the final row on the stone pedestal in front of the array.
“The External Sect of Xiaoyao is very large. To get there from Floating Peak, you must first go to an external transfer point and then switch arrays to reach your target area.
To avoid congestion, there are four transfer points in the External Sect. Transfer Point 3 is the one connected to Qixia Peak.”
Gu Ningyun saw the characters on the slot: 'External Transfer Point 3.'
“You already have a basic foundation in spirit energy. Now, I will teach you how to use the transfer arrays and the corresponding hand seals.
After your body refining, your current physical strength is enough to withstand the pressure of the transfer array without extra protection.
Starting tomorrow, you will take the transfer array to the spirit beast garden on your own. I will be waiting for you there.”
Having followed the Martial Uncles to Book Peak and Governing Peak via transfer arrays, they already had some understanding of how to use them.
The hand seals for using a transfer array were far less complex than those for the Cleaning Technique.
After Martial Aunt Yang demonstrated twice, they learned them quickly.
Once they had mastered it, Martial Aunt Yang had them step forward one by one to take the transfer array alone and meet up at the external transfer point.
Gu Ningyun tapped her identity jade token against the slot. Once the token flashed with a spiritual light, she tucked it away and stepped onto the transfer array.
Circulating her spirit energy, she formed a few hand seals, and a streak of light flew from her fingertip into the slot.
Immediately, the stone pedestal flashed with white light, the transfer array lit up, and the familiar bands of light appeared.
Upon entering the light, without the protection of a Martial Uncle’s spirit energy shield for the first time, Gu Ningyun felt a squeezing force.
It felt a bit like crowding onto a subway in her past life. Not only was there pressure coming from all sides, but a great force pushed her forward from behind. It was somewhat uncomfortable.
The bands of light vanished, and Gu Ningyun appeared in a vast, bustling hall. At a glance, there were at least a hundred transfer arrays.
This must be External Transfer Point 3.
Knowing others would be coming behind her, Gu Ningyun didn't linger. Once she regained her footing, she left the array and walked to the side.
Wen Xuan and Jiang Yao were already there.
After regrouping with the two, Gu Ningyun finally took a close look at her surroundings.
The stone pedestals of the transfer arrays here all had numbers on them, though she wasn't sure of their purpose.
Furthermore, unlike the sparsely populated transfer arrays on Qixia Peak, there were lines of disciples in front of every array here.
Most were disciples in white robes and yellow belts. These must be the handyman disciples practicing in the External Sect.
Once everyone had arrived, Martial Aunt Yang took out a jade slip.
Gu Ningyun took a peek. The more she looked at it, the more that jade slip... looked like the Xiaoyao Basic Guide.
Martial Aunt Yang said, “The spirit beast garden we are going to is located at Changting Abode, which is one of the subordinate abodes of Qixia Peak.
Do you remember the sect map you were given when you joined? If you don't know the way later, you can check it there.”
Fine, it didn't just look like the Xiaoyao Basic Guide—it was.
Gu Ningyun pulled her jade slip from her storage bag, set her current location as the starting point, entered 'Changting Abode' as the destination, and selected 'transfer array' as the mode of travel.
Soon, the number twenty-six appeared on the map.
Martial Aunt Yang had already put away her jade slip. “The transfer array leading to Changting Abode is Number 26. Let’s go.”
...
Upon arriving at Changting Abode, a youth of about twelve years old wearing white robes and a yellow belt walked over.
“Are you Martial Aunt Yang Churan?”
Martial Aunt Yang handed her identity jade token to the youth. “Correct. I made a reservation on the abode platform yesterday.”
The youth took the token and swiped it across something resembling a tablet.
With her excellent post-cultivation eyesight, though she was a bit short, Gu Ningyun stood on her tiptoes and saw several lines of large characters appear on the tablet—
Xiaoyao Immortal Sect | Inner Sect | Book Peak | Yang Churan. Position | Qixia Peak | Head Pavilion Master of Ruiyu Pavilion. Current Reservation | Changting Abode | Low-Grade Spirit Beast Garden No. 6.
It seemed this tablet was for identity verification and could also check reservation information. It was quite high-tech.
However, identity information was already engraved directly on the surface of the identity jade token. Why did they still need to use this tablet for verification?
Could it be... that people actually forged these identity jade tokens?
Hmph, speaking of which, if Martial Aunt Yang is the Head Pavilion Master of Ruiyu Pavilion, then Martial Uncle Lu must be the Deputy Pavilion Master?
It seemed Martial Aunt Yang was the one who took first place in the inner sect promotion exam.
At this thought, Gu Ningyun looked at Martial Aunt Yang with glowing eyes.
Martial Aunt Yang was looking down, waiting for the youth to finish the verification process, and didn't notice her little reaction.
With the identity verification successful, the youth returned the token with both hands and said respectfully, “Martial Aunt Yang, the Low-Grade Spirit Beast Garden No. 6 you reserved is to the south of the abode. Please follow me.”
The youth led them out of the room where the transfer array was located.
Once outside, Gu Ningyun finally saw what Changting Abode looked like.
Rate on N.U.
