Cultivation begins with harvest.

Martial arts training ground.

Chen Guang maneuvered the rapidly flying cotton fire needles through the air, dodging the air currents while chasing after flying blades no bigger than flower petals. Only by accurately hitting a fixed point on the side of the blade could he bring it down.

Wei Donglai watched from the side with his arms crossed; this was a practice of precision in controlling the magical artifact.

The cultivators of the Qingheng Sect have their own characteristics. If they are disciples of the Southern Sects, they will be more accustomed to controlling artifacts. Therefore, this kind of training is not only essential, but also very common among the Southern Sects.

In the Qingheng Sect, magic is the primary method, with spiritual artifacts as a secondary tool, and the number of cultivators practicing in this way is not large.

To pass the test, one must shoot down a sufficient number of flying blades within an area where a wind-attribute array has been set up.

Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, one can shoot down ten flying blades without being hit by their own magical weapon, which is considered the "beginner level".

Shooting down thirty-five flying blades while being hit no more than three times is considered "masterful".

Shooting down sixty flying blades while being hit no more than twice is considered "exquisite".

Shooting down all 108 flying blades without being hit more than once is considered "mastery." Beyond that, such practice becomes meaningless. It may require real combat or a sudden inspiration during a moment of enlightenment, which will naturally make the operation more skillful.

Chen Guang had some talent in this area; after practicing a few times, he reached the second level.

One after another, the flying blades were hit as if by name. Soon, the number of flying blades shot down reached fifty-five. Suddenly, just as Chen Guang was chasing a flying blade, a vortex suddenly appeared at the location of the cotton fire needle. If it was caught by this vortex, the cotton fire needle might be trapped for a while. During this time, even though the cotton fire needle was very small, it was easy for it to be hit by the remaining dozens of flying blades.

If the blade weren't specially made so it wasn't too sharp, the delicate body of the cotton fire needle wouldn't have been able to withstand more than a few blows. Chen Guang would have been heartbroken after just a few attempts.

Chen Guang twitched his fingers slightly, and the meridians and acupoints on his wrist suddenly activated, absorbing a large amount of magical power. Suddenly, a ball of light appeared around the Cotton Fire Needle, and after the ball of light gathered and dispersed like the flapping of a butterfly's wings, the Cotton Fire Needle appeared three inches away as if it had teleported, dodging the vortex and easily catching up with the flying blade, hitting the point on its side and knocking it down.

Wei Donglai raised an eyebrow. The cotton fire needles controlled by Chen Guang were less affected by airflow and flew faster, which already showed some signs of weapon control. Although this performance was unexpected, it was also reasonable.

only--

He glanced at the burning incense, which was almost burned to the end, and saw that Chen Guang had only knocked down fifty-six blades. Sure enough, as the incense burned out, Chen Guang's final score was only fifty-eight blades.

"If we had attacked those first two shots, the eighth and thirteenth, even at the risk of being hit, we might have already reached the third level standard by now."

"Didn't my senior brother also say that the higher the standard, the stronger the skill will be?" Chen Guang said with a smile.

Wei Donglai smiled upon hearing this: "To achieve this result without being hit once, you'll be able to do it in just a few more times. There's no need to rush. Alright, you're familiar with all the facilities in the training ground now, and I've said what I needed to say to Senior Brother Zhong. That's all for now. We'll remember the demon beast blood you requested."

"Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother." Chen Guang felt a sense of relief. From now on, he would have to rely on his own self-discipline in his cultivation.

Time flies, and another month is almost over.

Time flies, and I have made considerable progress during this period.

After leaving the training ground side by side with Wei Donglai, Chen Guang chatted for a bit and then took the Thousand Needle Wren to the Scripture Pavilion by himself. After many experiments and practice, he discovered that his spell combination was still lacking a small spell that could be used frequently and quickly. This was not a big deal, and Chen Guang added it on his own according to his personal needs.

The final decision was to use the [Ignition Finger]. With a single flick of the finger, a scorching, high-speed flame could be shot out. Its power wasn't great, and it was limited to within fifteen steps. However, when combined with the [Melting Seal] spell, which adds a mark to enhance the power of subsequent fire-attribute spells, and the [Accumulating Flame] spell, which increases mana consumption and power when casting fire-attribute spells in a short period of time, the effect would be extremely impressive.

This spell combination focuses on high-frequency attacks, becoming more powerful the longer the battle goes on. Its weakness lies in its relatively weak effectiveness in skirmishes and mobile combat. It also requires a high amount of mana and strong meridians to withstand high-intensity battles. The only fire-attribute spells that can truly be used for strong offensive attacks are [River-Severing Spear] and [Golden Flame Flying Serpent Curse].

However, in such situations, using the Fire Needle would be more effective. This set of spells only provides conventional combat power; in unconventional situations, there are unconventional uses.

Chen Guang has a good affinity for fire-attribute spells and his cultivation speed is not slow. He has already mastered and become proficient in this set of spells, which is why he took it upon himself to add a fire-ignition finger spell.

"We should buy some shrimp oil ingredients, and also stock up on some alchemy materials. If the price of Crimson Fusion Pill materials drops, we might as well refine another batch."

Chen Guang was making plans in his mind.

Icy shrimp oil and pure spiritual energy are key to making one's meridians stronger, which is why this combination of spells was chosen, and therefore the medicine cannot be stopped.

Chen Guang needed to prepare the materials and start practicing the Star Leaf Powder for restoring mana and the Bone Cleansing Pill for healing, which he had chosen from the Red Heart Pill Scroll. Although there was no pill formula to infuse, Chen Guang was still confident with the detailed explanations in the Red Heart Pill Scroll. He couldn't possibly fail an open-book exam, could he?

The purpose of continuing to refine the Crimson Fusion Pill is not to sell it for money.

The market for Crimson Fusion Pills has been saturated for several years now. Shops and vendors only buy high-quality Crimson Fusion Pills. Even high-quality Crimson Fusion Pills are hard to sell. Chen Guang made this choice for himself. He has refined so many Crimson Fusion Pills that he has accumulated 900 of the third stage of Crimson Fusion Pills. He is only 600 away from the reward.

This is the reward for the third stage, and I have the extra money to do this, so I can naturally consider it.

Previously, in order to save time, the Crimson Fusion Pills produced were all of ordinary quality. Now, for the sake of rewards, if we want to improve the quality, we only need 300 Crimson Fusion Pills for excellent quality and only 100 Crimson Fusion Pills for good quality. Buying 100 batches of raw materials will be enough.

However, this plan is not urgent, because there are no precedents for the cumulative rewards in the third stage, and like the array materials that have already been mostly consumed, it is not something that needs to be done urgently at this stage.

The Bloodstained Battle Technique, Star Leaf Powder, Bone Cleansing Pill, and Butterfly Falling Technique are the more pressing tasks this winter. If I had to say, there's also the task of finding a substitute for the Linquan Pumpkin.

After wandering around, I bought more than ten boxes of black beetles at the Life Hall and replenished the scale powder of the Skywing Butterfly and the raw materials for two kinds of pills at Fanglin Hall before returning to the branch academy to begin the tedious but necessary cultivation.

In the kitchen, various medicinal herbs were mixed evenly and slowly heated and stirred over a regular flame. As the scales of the Skywing Butterfly were sprinkled in, the liquid gradually formed a gel-like substance. While it was still hot, the herbs were grabbed by hand and spread evenly inch by inch down the elbow. As it cooled, apart from a slightly unusual feeling, there were no other effects.

You can feel something, not strongly but clearly, like tiny needles pricking your blood vessels. The acupoints and meridians in this area have undergone some peculiar changes.

This is the training of the most important teleportation ability in the Falling Butterfly Technique.

That's how secret techniques work; they don't rely much on personal comprehension, but can be mastered using external tools.

That's the downside. If Chen Guang were to lose his hand, even if he took the treasure and his limb regenerated, the Butterfly Falling Technique would lose its effect and he would need to start over. It's easy to gain, but it's also easy to lose.

Another major drawback is that, like the various arts of immortal cultivation, one cannot practice the same technique repeatedly in the same location. However, the degree of repetition is less severe. If one's meridians are strong enough and the level of the secret technique is not too profound or mysterious, one can still practice multiple secret techniques in the same location.

After establishing one's foundation, some secret techniques can also be entrusted to the foundation of one's Dao.

Foundation building is the true beginning of the path to immortality.