Chapter 18: Traces Left by Spells

"Hmm, I'd better not try to talk him out of it. With a face like Junior Brother Qingyun's, if he went to work at the Prayer for Sons Hall in the front temple, wouldn't he just steal my spotlight!"

He Xiao thought to himself, but when he saw Li Qingyun absorbed in reading the scriptures while he himself had been idling away the entire day without doing a single bit of cultivation work, a faint pang of pressure suddenly crept over him.

He mustered his spirits with some effort, walked to his own desk, and stared at the two sheets of Talisman Paper that had been sitting untouched for days. After a moment's hesitation, he finally rolled up his sleeves, picked up his brush, dipped it in gold-powder Cinnabar, and began to draw.

He had barely made two strokes before the fatigue following his earlier excitement came crashing in. He tossed the brush aside, lay down on the bed fully clothed, and within moments was letting out a long, contented snore.

The snoring drifted through the room in long, leisurely waves — an utterly formidable disturbance.

After his concentration was broken for the third time, Li Qingyun finally could not sit still any longer. He let out a helpless, wry smile, then rose and walked out of the room.

There was no moon that night, nor any glimmer of stars. The sky above Maple Mountain was pitch black, and only the scattered lights from the back mountain cast faint, wavering shadows over the peaks and trees — a dim, reddish glow that felt unsettling.

The mountain wind was cold and crisp. Li Qingyun tucked his hands into his sleeves and moved swiftly through the darkness. The dark-red maple trees on either side swept past him in a blur, and before long he arrived at the pool where he had bathed earlier in the day.

It was one of the few places on the back mountain he had actually explored.

Mist drifted thickly across the surface, swallowing the flowers and trees around the pool in a hazy veil.

His eyes glimmered with a faint mysterious light, piercing through the obscuring fog. He found a relatively smooth, yellow-wax-colored boulder by the pool's edge, swept it clean of dust and grime with a broad sleeve, and settled down at his leisure.

"It's quiet here at night — no one to disturb me."

He opened his transcription booklet, and his mind immediately grew still. He began to focus intently on comprehending the [Qi Concealment Art].

Gradually, the aura of Dharma Power emanating from his body slowly contracted and drew inward.

"This spell really is simple — though part of that is thanks to the foundation laid by all those scriptures and Daoist texts in the Scripture Repository. That's why comprehending it feels relatively easy. Still, the effect of suppressing one's aura doesn't feel entirely satisfying..."

With a shift of thought, he changed his posture and settled into the standard meditation stance.

Now that he had a foundation of Dharma Power, he had just tried cultivating on his own and seen results, which gave him confidence. He decided to try once more with the mysterious Dao Effigy that dwelt within his mind.

"If the Dao Effigy can help me cultivate Dharma Power, can it also help me comprehend spells?"

Hum!

Before he could think further, the mysterious Dao Effigy with its downcast eyes flickered into view once more within the dark void of his mind.

But Li Qingyun noticed that in front of the Dao Effigy, seated cross-legged in the darkness, there was no booklet of the [Qi Concealment Art] — and no clear qi rising from the top of its head either.

"Qi Concealment Art! Qi Concealment Art!"

"Strange... could it be that it only helps with cultivating Dharma Power?"

Li Qingyun focused his mind on the [Qi Concealment Art], trying to project it before the Dao Effigy — but there was not the slightest response.

Instead, he vaguely sensed that the mysterious Dao Effigy with its downcast eyes seemed to emanate a faint trace of disdain — not directed at him, but at the [Qi Concealment Art] itself.

Even so, his mental intent did receive some small response.

Driven by his intense focus, the dark wall behind the mysterious Dao Effigy finally underwent a subtle change: a faint ripple condensed within it, like the shimmer of water catching light.

The moment Li Qingyun saw that ripple in the darkness, he understood instinctively. "This is the trace left by the Qi Concealment Art!"

"It seems that both spells and arcane techniques can leave traces in the space of the mysterious Dao Effigy — only in entirely different forms. The Treasure Furnace Qi Absorption Art manifests as a booklet floating before it, while the Qi Concealment Art leaves only a faint ripple of shimmering light on the dark wall..."

He fixed his attention on that faint ripple of light behind the Dao Effigy — and then something wondrous happened again.

He felt his comprehension of the [Qi Concealment Art] begin to rise at a rapid pace!

Earlier, careful reading and circulating Dharma Power had given him a basic entry-level grasp of it. But now, gazing at that faint shimmer of light, his understanding of the [Qi Concealment Art] advanced once more. Many things that had been unclear or only vaguely understood began to crystallize into clarity.

It was nothing compared to the [Treasure Furnace Qi Absorption Art], where the Dao Effigy's phantom directly cultivated Dharma Power for him — but being able to assist in the comprehension of spells was equally remarkable!

"This mysterious Dao Effigy of mine is truly extraordinary — helping this Daoist lord take off with ease and soar ten thousand li..."

Delight surged in his heart, and the aura around his body continued to shift. From the outside, the traces of Dharma Power stirring within him became less and less perceptible.

The [Qi Concealment Art] could be considered mastered — at least to the point of effortless command.

"That's enough for now! Let me try this [Thunder Seal] next. This is a formidable technique for commanding thunder and lightning, driving away demons and subduing monsters. Once I master it, I'll finally have some ability to protect myself!"

Li Qingyun's heart brimmed with anticipation as he took out his transcription booklet for the Thunder Seal.

He had chosen this spell after careful deliberation, selecting thunder arts as his first technique for self-protection on the Dao.

In the Ghostly Realm of You, demons and monsters ran rampant, and the people knew no peace. Even in prosperous counties and prefectural cities teeming with people — where Transcendent clans and practitioners of the Unorthodox Path kept watch — "strange incidents" still occurred from time to time, leaving many commoners missing or dead in gruesome circumstances.

Thunder arts, however, were renowned for their fearsome power. A crack of thunder, a flash of lightning — demons and monsters would be struck dead, reduced to ash and smoke. They were undeniably among the finest techniques for subduing the uncanny, banishing ghosts, and exterminating demons.

Once Li Qingyun mastered thunder arts, he would surely be able to establish himself in this world. The restless, drifting unease in his heart could at least be eased considerably, and some of the invisible weight pressing down on him would be lifted.

But thunder arts were famously difficult. The challenge of commanding the thunder and lightning of heaven and earth was easy to imagine.

Tremendous power, yet tremendous difficulty, and tremendous cost... even ordinary Daoist cultivators would not choose thunder arts as their primary discipline.

Li Qingyun was counting on the mysterious Dao Effigy within the dark space of his mind, which could help him cultivate Dharma Power in an endless stream. In the future, his Dharma Power would undoubtedly be vast and unmatched.

Choosing thunder arts as his primary discipline would undoubtedly amplify his own advantages twofold!

"This Thunder Seal works through six hand seals combined with chanting a mantra, while simultaneously visualizing a divine figure — the Heavenly Thunder Demon-Subduing Dao Lord. All three must work in concert to reach a certain subtle point of balance and trigger the technique, then one's own Dharma Power merges with the thunder-yang intent drawn from the unseen realm, ultimately manifesting as the power of thunder and lightning!"

"It sounds clear and straightforward, but in actual practice it is extraordinarily difficult — not a single step in the entire casting process can go wrong!"

"Especially if one isn't skilled enough and takes half a day just to summon the lightning — that would make it utterly useless. An enemy isn't going to stand there waiting to be struck by thunder..."

After attempting to comprehend and practice it on his own, Li Qingyun could not help but feel a little deflated. He was, after all, no cultivation prodigy.

Stumbling along, his hand gestures went from clumsy to relatively practiced. He could now form the six Thunder Seals at a basic level and had memorized the chant — but performing the seals and chanting the mantra simultaneously, keeping them tightly synchronized, sent the difficulty skyrocketing.

To say nothing of also having to simultaneously visualize and silently invoke the Heavenly Thunder Demon-Subduing Dao Lord.

This legendary supreme existence seemed to hold partial authority over the thunder arts.

He tried more than a dozen times. On two occasions, the seals and chant finally aligned — but at the most critical juncture of the casting, the Heavenly Thunder Demon-Subduing Dao Lord seemed to give no response whatsoever.

This presence dwelling somewhere in the unseen realm seemed utterly unwilling to pay him any attention!

This was the drawback of "fumbling through it alone" — without a Daoist master to guide him, without going to the Scripture Hall on the back mountain to seek instruction, how could he ever learn the inner workings of the technique?

If he were to spend a handsome sum to invite a temple Daoist master to explain and resolve his doubts, that master would certainly tell him: before cultivating the [Thunder Seal], one must first spend a long time making offerings to and visualizing the Heavenly Thunder Demon-Subduing Dao Lord. Only by getting acquainted with him first, building a rapport, and approaching with sincere devotion — only then would the Dao Lord deign to glance your way!