Cultivation: Starting with Sterilizing My Own Father

Wei Zhiying first gathered her spiritual power in her palm as instructed in the book. Master Xiao En also guided her movements: "The principle is to manipulate the earth element or the power of the earth veins to instantly summon sharp stone spikes or rock cones from the ground to ambush, control, or attack the enemy. Earth spirit roots are naturally able to resonate with the earth. Remember, it is about sensing and guiding the surrounding earth element, instantly condensing, compressing, and shaping it into lethal spikes, not simply striking the ground. If you only strike the ground, the final result will only be that the ground cracks. Remember, what you are learning now is the art of piercing, not the collapse of mountains and the cracking of the earth."

"Yes, disciple has remembered."

Seeing that Wei Zhiying agreed, Master Xiao'en turned to instruct Xu Ruosheng: "Have you decided where you want to go? You have a spatial spiritual root, so you're naturally sensitive to spatial perception. After deciding where you want to go, enlarge that space and feel as if you're actually there. This is to deepen the impression of your destination in your mind. Ruosheng, I'm not trying to scare you, but with a spatial spiritual root, if you don't control it well, it's easy to get stuck in an unfamiliar space. But don't be afraid, calm down."

"Um."

Xu Ruosheng had barely agreed when Wei Zhiying suddenly cracked the ground. Wei Zhiying quickly looked at Xu Ruosheng, afraid of interrupting his thoughts, but Xu Ruosheng seemed oblivious to everything. Wei Zhiying breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Master had used his spiritual power to separate the two areas beforehand; otherwise, anyone would have been startled like that.

Wei Zhiying suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Since the goal was to get the earth spikes out anyway, if this method didn't work, she could try another. There was no need to stick to the book.

Thinking this, Wei Zhiying once again gathered spiritual power in her hands, this time placing them on the ground and squatting down to try to sense the ground.

Wei Zhiying sensed something flowing underground and wondered if it was the sect's spiritual spring. Then she realized it wasn't, and then she realized it seemed to be the flow of the earth's power.

Soon, Wei Zhiying felt a small bump on the ground. She slowly raised her hands, and the small bump emerged from the ground along with her rising hands.

Wei Zhiying clenched her fists and pulled upwards with all her might, and a spike successfully emerged, just at the height of Wei Zhiying's raised hands.

Pressing her advantage, Wei Zhiying pulled out one thorn after another like pulling out a radish. When she felt she had enough, she used both hands to pull out two thorns at once.

"Phew, I feel like I could build a house out of this dirt." Wei Zhiying was talking to herself, but then a thought suddenly flashed through her mind: the upward lifting motion, and the spikes that emerged with it...

If allowed, could I build a castle just like the Snow Queen's?

Wei Zhiying quickly shook her head to banish these thoughts. After all, where here had she ever seen a castle like those in the West? No, she couldn't think about it anymore; "Let it go" was already playing in her head.

Even though that's what I thought, being reborn into a strange world of cultivation, completely unfamiliar with everything, without modern amenities like air conditioning, refrigerators, or game consoles, meant that instant noodles and crayfish were just things I could only dream about. More importantly, when I was a child, I would go hunting in the mountains, set traps, and then hide in the grass for hours on end. Thinking about these things was how I passed the time, and the more I tried not to think about them, the more I wanted to.

After instructing Xu Ruosheng, Master Xiaoen turned and crossed the boundary line, intending to see how well Wei Zhiying was practicing. Looking at this five-year-old boy, he had already mastered the method. Although it was different from the one in the book, he was still able to lift one spike after another. But what was the song that the child was humming softly? He couldn't understand it. Occasionally, he mixed in his usual words, and the melody was quite pleasant.

"You can't keep raising it like this." Hearing Master Xiao'en's words, Wei Zhiying realized the Master had arrived: "Master?"

"If you lift it like that, your opponent is most likely to predict your attack direction and your next move. That's why spells require you to strike the ground directly with your hands or feet, instead of lifting it like you are doing. If you use the method of attacking the ground, your opponent won't know whether you're summoning spikes or trying to use Earthquake. You need this kind of unpredictability in combat."

Wei Zhiying chuckled dryly, "Disciple understands. I was just having trouble getting rid of the thorn, so I thought I'd try a different method."

"However, judging from this, Xiao Ying should already be able to summon the spikes. So let's give a proper demonstration, just as it is written in the book and as I just taught her."

"Good!" Wei Zhiying flipped through the illustrations in the book, then stomped on the ground again with her spiritual power. The next second, spikes shot out from the ground, growing larger and larger, extending forward for a full five or six meters. The tallest spike was still about the same height as Wei Zhiying's raised hand, while the shortest spike just barely reached the toe of her shoe.

Master Xiao En clapped his hands in satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad, you're a good prospect. You can practice more next. You can make the spikes extend further forward, or do other things. For example, if the enemy is standing far away from you, you can't extend them from your feet like this. You need to learn to control them. If the enemy is standing far away from you, when you step down, the spikes should ideally form a circle, surrounding your enemy and creating control. Alternatively, you can attack your enemy from all sides. At your current level, you can at most force your enemy back in close combat, giving you a chance to catch your breath or retreat."

Wei Zhiying nodded vigorously, a confident smile playing on her lips, her eyes gleaming with an air of certainty: "Alright! This disciple will certainly do my best!"

Master Xiao En nodded in satisfaction: "Very good. If you practice harder, you can have a simple match with Ruosheng if you succeed."

"Speaking of this..." Wei Zhiying tiptoed, trying to jump over the spikes, and looked towards Xu Ruosheng, but couldn't see him. Wei Zhiying rubbed her hands together, used her spiritual power to sense the spikes again, and then pressed down hard. All the spikes returned to the ground. A hint of surprise flashed in Xiao En's eyes.

"Master, what about Senior Brother Ruosheng?"

Master Xiao En pointed towards the direction of Wugu Hall in the distance: "If nothing unexpected happens, he should have gone there. I'm going there to find him right now."

As soon as he finished speaking, the space where Xu Ruosheng had just been standing suddenly distorted, and the next second Xu Ruosheng appeared in front of Wei Zhiying and Master Xiaoen. Wei Zhiying opened her mouth in surprise, while Master Xiaoen whistled, "Looks like I don't need to go looking for him."

Then, Master Xiao En stepped across the boundary line: "Well done, Ruosheng. Next, you need to shorten the time before teleporting. Whether it's transforming or making a move, having too long a pre-cast animation is very dangerous. For example, before you've even finished saying the name of your move, the opponent's foot has already kicked you in the face. Forcibly interrupting the casting of a spell is not only harmful to yourself, but it also makes it easy for you to fall into a disadvantageous position in the battle."

"Disciple understands."