Jun Luo swallowed his food, put down his chopsticks, and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "It’s fine," he said.
His voice was cool with a hint of boyishness, yet it was unexpectedly reassuring. "Once we enter the Cultivation Technique Hall, we just need to do what we did during qi induction—close our eyes, focus, circulate our spirit energy, and sense with our hearts. The cultivation technique that resonates with us will naturally find us."
As they spoke, a sudden commotion broke out not far away in the dining hall.
They looked over to see a young boy standing by the dish return area. His tray, still containing a fair amount of food, was placed on a platform.
A flash of spiritual light flickered across the platform, followed by a transparent spirit bird that emerged from the light and began circling above the dining hall.
The spirit bird repeatedly announced in a clear voice, "He Siyuan, a disciple of Baiyu Pavilion, has exceeded the limit for food waste. Penalty: three days of labor in the dining hall. Report tomorrow at 6:00 AM. Do not be late."
The clear voice echoed through the dining hall, audible to everyone.
The spirit bird repeated the announcement three times before leaving a mark on the boy’s hand and retreating back into the platform.
The boy named He Siyuan turned beet-red with embarrassment.
Jiang Yao was stunned. "That... the three-day penalty is one thing, but to be humiliated in front of the entire Qixia Peak..."
Gu Ningyun’s expression was also complicated. This was truly a socially mortifying experience.
Wen Xuan poked at her tray, feeling a sense of lingering fear.
Fortunately, she had been inspired by Ningyun’s actions; otherwise, she might have been the next one to lose face so publicly.
Thinking of this, she made a silent resolution. Ningyun looked younger than her, so she would definitely have to take extra care of her in the future.
...
The next day, Book Peak, Cultivation Technique Hall.
Martial Aunt Yang’s guidance on choosing cultivation techniques was indeed very similar to what Jun Luo had described.
Gu Ningyun stepped through the gates. Unlike the scene she had imagined with rows of bookshelves, she seemed to have been transported into a unique space.
No one else was visible in this space. She floated in the pitch-black air, surrounded by numerous small light clusters.
She examined the nearest red light cluster, which contained a book titled 《Flame-Crossing Technique》.
As if sensing her scrutiny, the light cluster drifted away as if in disdain.
Gu Ningyun, possessor of a wind spirit root: "..."
Tsk.
Settling into a meditative posture, Gu Ningyun silently recited the mantra for qi induction.
Unlike when she had induced qi on the immortal boat, she did not absorb spirit energy from the outside. Instead, the bean-sized bit of spirit energy in her dantian was mobilized by the mantra, beginning to circulate along a fixed path through her meridians.
After an unknown amount of time, when the spirit energy returned to her dantian once more, Gu Ningyun heard the sound of her own heartbeat. Her entire being seemed to fall into a wondrous state.
As her heartbeat grew clearer, her mind became sharper, as if a veil covering her eyes had been pulled away.
She subconsciously opened her eyes.
The red light cluster from before had long since vanished. Now, she was surrounded by countless cyan light clusters.
The closer the clusters were to her, the more mysterious their auras and the brighter their glow.
Gu Ningyun’s gaze immediately fell upon the closest, most profound, and brightest light cluster.
She had clearly seen this light cluster domineeringly push away the others, asserting its presence at the very front with an overwhelming aura.
Sensing her gaze, the light cluster dropped its arrogant attitude and scurried eagerly to her, nuzzling against her hand.
She reached out, and the light cluster immediately landed in her palm. With a flash of light, the cluster vanished, and a booklet appeared in her hand.
《Xuan Yuan Wind-Controlling Scroll》, a celestial-rank high-grade technique.
Practicing this cultivation technique would refine the quality of wind spirit energy, allow for better control and mastery of that energy, increase the casting speed of wind-element spells, and improve the precision of wind spirit energy usage.
If one were to ascend to the immortal realm, it would aid in comprehending the wind law.
At its peak, one could command the wind and attain the status of the God of Wind.
After reading the description, she knew it was indeed a powerful cultivation technique.
However, as Gu Ningyun’s fingers brushed the pages, she felt a trace of hesitation in her heart.
Just as she was considering whether to look at the other light clusters, the cyan clusters floating quietly around her suddenly trembled as if frightened by something.
They immediately retreated to the sides, clearing a wide path in front of her.
At that moment, a purple light seemed to come from the deepest reaches of the space, flying toward her at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
It flew through the path cleared by the cyan clusters and came to a sudden, still halt right before her eyes.
The 《Xuan Yuan Wind-Controlling Scroll》 in her hand transformed back into a cyan light cluster and retreated behind the purple light.
Gu Ningyun’s heart jolted when she saw the purple light cluster.
As if sensing her thoughts, the purple light dissipated, and a simple, heavy volume hung before her.
《Xiaoyao Wind Records》
Below the title was a line of small text—
"Wind is not defined."
When she saw those words, for some reason, Gu Ningyun’s mind suddenly cleared, and a thought surged in her heart—this was the one.
She flipped open the cover to see the description: 《Xiaoyao Wind Records》, a divine-rank high-grade cultivation technique. Upon cultivation, one can create their own wind-element spells, divine abilities, and techniques.
The description was just a simple sentence, but Gu Ningyun understood the true value of this technique.
Unlike learning existing spells and divine abilities, those who could create their own had always been exceptionally brilliant individuals throughout history. Even such geniuses could only create one after exhausting their life's blood during a perfect alignment of time, place, and people.
Yet practicing the 《Xiaoyao Wind Records》 would allow her to create wind-element spells, divine abilities, and techniques with absolute certainty.
One could only imagine that by practicing this technique, she would attain profound insight and mastery in the domain of wind.
Moreover, just based on that small line—"Wind is not defined"—she thought of several characteristics and applications of wind, such as attack, defense, speed, transformation, formlessness, and tangibility.
Wind is not defined; as long as you can imagine it, anything is possible...
It truly lived up to its status as a divine-rank high-grade technique.
The moment she made her decision, the 《Xiaoyao Wind Records》 transformed into a beam of light and entered the space between her brows.
With a thought, the Qi Refining stage content of the 《Xiaoyao Wind Records》 appeared in her sea of consciousness.
The surrounding cyan light clusters dispersed, and Gu Ningyun found herself back outside the Cultivation Technique Hall.
Many outer sect disciples from the same intake had gathered before the hall. Seeing the large crowd of little tykes all wearing the same disciple robes, Gu Ningyun felt momentarily lost.
Where were the people from their Ruiyu Pavilion?
A sudden tug came from her left. Gu Ningyun turned to see Wen Xuan.
"I figured you wouldn’t be able to find us." Wen Xuan pulled her through the crowd toward a flower bed, where Martial Aunt Yang and Jun Luo were waiting.
"Mu Chenze and Jiang Yao aren't out yet. Let's wait a bit."
Gu Ningyun nodded.
A cultivation technique was a cultivator's private matter. If an enemy learned of it, they might find a weakness based on the technique's nature.
Therefore, although there were many disciples here and they all looked excited, no one was discussing their own technique or prying into others'.
With nothing to do while waiting, and seeing Martial Aunt Yang reading a jade slip, Gu Ningyun simply closed her eyes. Within her sea of consciousness, she began to review and consolidate the spiritual plants section of the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》 she had memorized earlier.
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