Although no one had ever told him how to break through a realm or what it felt like when it happened, he somehow knew that he had crossed some invisible barrier and that his spiritual energy had reached a new height.
The red-dressed woman, who was secretly observing everything, slightly opened her cherry-like mouth.
She had originally wanted to use the Li Fire Grand Formation to trigger a rampage of spiritual energy inside Li Shangyan, torment him for a while, and make him back down.
That way, she could both complete the task assigned by the Sect Leader and enjoy the pleasure of tormenting a tender young man.
But she never expected that this little guy would use such formidable comprehension to grasp the true principles of the Five Elements’ mutual generation and mutual restraint in spiritual energy.
What was more, he had directly used this opportunity to break through to the fourth layer of the Qi Refining stage!
“Hmph… a rather durable little toy…”
The red-dressed woman tapped her fair chin with her short whip, even licked her lips, and revealed a strange smile.
At that moment, Li Shangyan let out a low roar. Spiritual energy boiled through his body, and he was no longer passively defending himself, but taking the initiative to attack.
He manipulated his spiritual energy into layers of five-colored shields while trying to fuse the essence of the Blazing Fire Art into them.
His spiritual energy condensed into a five-colored long whip!
Li Shangyan himself did not know why, but he subconsciously conjured a whip.
At that moment, within the flame vortex, tongues of fire roared out like dragons, trying to tear apart Li Shangyan’s defenses.
But Li Shangyan used his shields to protect himself while tangling the fire dragons with his whip.
Each clash with the flames deepened his understanding of the Blazing Fire Art, and his spiritual energy also quietly rose amid the fierce confrontation.
As time passed, the fire dragons inside the Li Fire Formation could no longer threaten him.
The once-rampaging flame vortex gradually dispersed, replaced by a peaceful sea of fire.
What remained was a gentle fire element, no longer as violent as before.
When the last trace of flame settled, Ye Ziyuan’s figure appeared once again before Li Shangyan’s eyes.
Her eyes sparkled with approval, and a satisfied smile curved at the corners of her lips.
Seeing the red-dressed woman appear, Li Shangyan grinned. “How was it? I was pretty enduring, wasn’t I?”
Ye Ziyuan, who had been smiling, turned cold-eyed, and with a flick of her long whip, she hung him upside down!
“Little guy, you’re the first person who has ever dared to flirt with me!”
At that moment, Li Shangyan wanted nothing more than to slap himself!
He had gotten carried away and actually dared to sweet-talk a capricious demoness.
This was a world where strength reigns supreme. If he angered this female Elder and she slapped him to death, no one would stand up for him; instead, he would become a cautionary example for the Sect.
An outer disciple flirting with someone in the upper ranks of the Sect truly did not know how to spell death.
Li Shangyan quickly changed the subject and asked, “Elder Ye, did I pass the test then?”
The red-dressed woman chuckled. “We’ll talk after you’ve hung there for an hour!”
Li Shangyan’s face fell.
…
An hour later.
Ye Ziyuan was quite punctual. The long whip that held him suddenly loosened, and Li Shangyan fell to the ground.
The scene before his eyes changed again; it was no longer the flame world from before, but the purple bamboo forest once more.
Li Shangyan limped up to the quiet loft.
The stunning woman in the red dress was lazily reclining on a long couch.
After glancing at her, Li Shangyan immediately said respectfully, “Greetings, Elder Ye!”
However, in his heart, he brazenly added: A mountain ridge seen from the side, a peak seen from the front!
The red-dressed woman slightly lifted her gaze. Her water-clear eyes looked at Li Shangyan as she laughed softly. “How long can you last now?”
Li Shangyan said with a bitter smile, “This disciple would not dare. Please forgive me, Elder.”
The red-dressed woman glared fiercely at him and said, “If I hear words like that again next time, I’ll chop you up!”
Li Shangyan felt a sudden heat below…
Don’t misunderstand!
It was just a whip already wrapped around his lower abdomen at his dantian…
Li Shangyan stammered, “Yes…”
Only then did the red-dressed woman let him go.
Then she said, “Since I promised that if you passed the test I would take you as my disciple, then let’s do the apprenticeship ceremony now.”
Li Shangyan was overjoyed when he heard that!
A Little Dragon Girl… no, wait… an aunt… no, scratch that, a master!
Wonderful!
Li Shangyan quickly called out warmly, “I pay my respects to you, Master.”
Then he stepped forward, took out a small box, and placed it on the table in front of the red-dressed woman.
“What is this?” Ye Ziyuan asked curiously, slightly raising her willow-leaf eyebrows.
Li Shangyan said respectfully, “It’s an apprenticeship gift! You’ll have to spend a lot of effort teaching me in the future, so as your disciple, I should show you some respect.”
Ye Ziyuan chuckled. “Interesting. I’m a dignified Core Formation stage cultivator, and I need a mere Qi Refining kid like you to show me respect?”
As she spoke, she picked up the small box and opened it to take a look. Her eyes widened.
The polite words she had been about to say were swallowed back immediately.
*Cough…* “An apprenticeship gift… an interesting way to say it. Then your master will gladly accept it.”
With that, she closed the box and took it into her hand.
If she had seen correctly, it was a flawless white bracelet!
What prodigal fool had polished a high-grade Spirit Stone into a bracelet?
What a waste of Spirit Stones!
That was a high-grade Spirit Stone!
This single bracelet was worth at least a dozen high-grade Spirit Stones.
That was equivalent to ten months of the salary she received from the Sect.
Unbelievable!
Once one reached the Core Formation stage, the demand for spiritual energy increased drastically.
Although mid-grade Spirit Stones and low-grade Spirit Stones could also be used, nothing felt as satisfying to absorb as the pure energy of a high-grade Spirit Stone.
So even a Core Formation stage cultivator could only receive one nail-sized high-grade Spirit Stone per month.
Most of the time, one could only receive one hundred mid-grade Spirit Stones or ten thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.
After all, the Sect was not rich in Spirit Stones either.
Ye Ziyuan did not ask where Li Shangyan had gotten this Spirit Stone bracelet, but her gaze toward him grew much kinder.
A sensible, interesting little guy with quite a bit of talent.
He was worth the effort of teaching.
Ye Ziyuan sat up straight and said solemnly to Li Shangyan, “I originally did not want to teach any disciples, because I do not even have enough time for my own cultivation.
But since I have already agreed to take you as my disciple, I naturally have to teach you some real skills so you won’t embarrass me when you go out.”
Li Shangyan said seriously, “Thank you for your trouble, Master.”
Ye Ziyuan continued, “As an outer disciple, you probably do not know much about the basics of cultivation. Let me first tell you about spiritual energy attributes.”
“Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth… the Five Elements… are the most basic elements that make up spiritual energy. Although there are other spiritual energy attributes, such as ice, lightning, cloud, light, and darkness, these are all mutated attributes of the Five Elements.”
“I believe you’ve heard the saying that the more varied a cultivator’s attributes are, the stronger they are at the same realm.
Do you know why?”
Li Shangyan guessed, “Is it because the more attributes you have, the higher the quality of your spiritual energy?”
Ye Ziyuan shook her head with a laugh. “Nonsense!”
“First, let me explain a concept: spiritual energy attributes and techniques are two different things.”
“Even if your spiritual energy is fire-attribute, you can still learn the Spirit Rain Technique, as well as techniques of other attributes such as the Earth Escape Technique.”
“However, when a fire-attribute cultivator uses the Spirit Rain Technique, the result is far weaker than when a water-attribute cultivator uses it.”
“By the same logic, the power of the Fireball Technique used by a fire-attribute cultivator is far greater than when used by a water-attribute cultivator.”
Li Shangyan understood immediately. “So spiritual energy attributes provide a bonus to techniques?”
Ye Ziyuan nodded approvingly and said, “Not only can they provide positive bonuses, they can also provide negative bonuses, or rather, weaken them.”
“For example, when the Spirit Rain Technique is used, the effect is: fire-attribute < wood-attribute < water-attribute.”
“And the reason for this is precisely the mutual generation and mutual restraint of the Five Elements!”