After several failed attempts, Gu Ningyun came up with an idea.
Holding a needle in her left hand, she pointed her right index finger at it from a distance. She drew out her spirit energy and used her divine sense to pull that wisp of energy toward the needle.
Perhaps because she now had a clear target, after a few more tries, the spirit energy stopped dissipating and successfully made contact with the needle from across the gap.
Gu Ningyun then gradually increased the distance between her finger and the needle.
Once she could successfully bridge a gap as wide as her shoulders, she began practicing her control over the movement speed of this wisp of spirit energy, followed by its trajectory.
...
"Class dismissed."
Hearing Martial Aunt Yang's voice, Gu Ningyun dispersed her spirit energy and put the box of needles into her storage bag.
At this point, she could easily control the direction and speed of her spirit energy as long as it remained within an arm's length of her body.
She planned to practice threading the actual eye of the needle once she could extend her control even further.
After Martial Aunt Yang left, Gu Ningyun walked over to Wen Xuan, intending to ask her to go to lunch.
Seeing a pile of ash on her friend's table, she asked in surprise, "Wen Xuan, were you grilling skewers here? Why is there such a big pile of ash?"
"Here, Ningyun, let me show you."
Wen Xuan took out the last needle from her box. A wisp of fire spirit energy flared from her right index finger, and in the blink of an eye, the needle was reduced to ash.
Wen Xuan shrugged at Gu Ningyun. "See? That's what happens."
Gu Ningyun burst into laughter at her friend's helpless expression.
However, seeing how troubled her companion was, she gave it some thought. "Different types of spirit energy have their own unique properties. For instance, my wind spirit energy is extremely fast, so the first thing I had to practice was controlling that speed. For fire spirit energy, maybe you need to focus on controlling the temperature first?"
Wen Xuan rubbed the spirit energy at her fingertips. "Hmm, that makes sense. I'll try it next class."
Gu Ningyun took out a handkerchief to wipe the black soot off Wen Xuan's cheeks, then helped her tidy up the table. "Let's go. I'm starving."
Wen Xuan looked at Gu Ningyun's blackened handkerchief, her fair ears turning slightly red.
She tucked the extra box of needles Martial Aunt Yang had given her into her storage bag and finally managed to mutter, "Okay."
.
With her cultivation technique now operating automatically within her, Gu Ningyun could maintain her energy levels even without a midday nap.
She decided to spend her entire lunch break memorizing the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》.
To date, she had already memorized over two thousand types of spirit herbs.
When the wind chimes rang, she set down her book, crossed the small plaza where they usually trained, and headed to the western side of Ruiyu Pavilion.
A steep cliff stood there.
The main buildings of Qixia Peak, including Ruiyu Pavilion, were located on the mountainside.
Looking up from the base of the cliff on the mountainside, Gu Ningyun estimated the precipice to be about a thousand zhang high.
"Your body refining task for this month is to climb this cliff.
"See that tree growing horizontally? I've set up an array at that height. Once you reach it, the array will teleport you back to the start.
"Climbing from the base to the tree and being teleported back counts as one lap.
"The content of today's lesson is quite simple. Just complete five laps."
Gu Ningyun followed Martial Uncle Lu's finger and saw the tree jutting out abruptly from the jagged rocks.
It was roughly at the midpoint of the cliff, about five hundred zhang up.
If they fell halfway through, Martial Uncle Lu would surely save them, right?
After stating the requirements, Martial Uncle Lu demonstrated climbing techniques and how to exert force properly.
Gu Ningyun followed along for a short distance and learned the movements easily.
However...
She pinched her own small arms and legs. Although the initial stage of body refining had significantly improved her physical strength, climbing this still seemed quite daunting.
Once everyone had learned the basics of climbing, Martial Uncle Lu taught them a method for utilizing spirit energy.
He explained while demonstrating, "Mobilize four streams of spirit energy into your limbs and let the energy assist your movements..."
After his lecture, Martial Uncle Lu left them to practice.
Gu Ningyun stretched her body but didn't start climbing immediately.
She hadn't yet broken through to Qi Refining level one. No matter how densely she compressed her spirit energy, she wasn't entirely sure it would last the entire way.
How much spirit energy should she use each time? What should be the ratio between her arms and legs?
How should she apply the energy once it was moved to get the best effect?
These were all questions she needed to consider based on her own situation.
As for the mysterious power and star power, Gu Ningyun didn't intend to use them.
First, she wanted to keep them as her trump cards.
Second, she wanted to follow Martial Uncle Lu's guidance to truly train her physical constitution and her control over spirit energy.
She had a gut feeling that this kind of practice was incredibly useful and particularly important.
Furthermore, once she mastered the use of spirit energy, switching to the mysterious power or star power should be quite easy.
There was an hour and a half left until the end of class, which meant each lap had to be completed within the time it took for 2.4 incense sticks to burn.
However, considering her spirit energy and physical strength would deplete later on, her climbing speed would likely drop.
The first lap would also take some time as she needed to familiarize herself with and adjust her spirit energy usage.
Therefore, she needed to try and complete the middle three laps within two incense sticks' time each.
Gu Ningyun mobilized her spirit energy, finding a level where she could feel her body exerting force without becoming overly exhausted.
Once her body adapted, she allocated a bit more spirit energy to see how she could use the properties of wind spirit energy to increase her speed.
By the time Gu Ningyun reached the tree for the first time, her four companions were already on their second lap.
However, she didn't panic at all. She now knew exactly how to use her spirit energy for this climb.
Glancing at Jun Luo, who was climbing not far from her, Gu Ningyun was teleported back to the base of the cliff by the array.
She was now one lap behind Jun Luo.
The second fastest person ahead of her was Mu Chenze, who was more than halfway through his second lap.
Below Mu Chenze was Jiang Yao, who had reached the midpoint.
Wen Xuan was at the bottom, but she had already climbed a third of the way—about 167 zhang high.
Gu Ningyun wrapped a layer of spirit energy around her reddened palms and began her second lap.
Wind seemed to swirl beneath her feet and palms.
Although she looked like she was struggling, with every part of her body exerting force, her speed was anything but slow.
She quickly overtook Wen Xuan and caught up to Jiang Yao, being teleported back to the base alongside him.
Ignoring Jiang Yao's surprised look, Gu Ningyun was in the zone, completely immersed in the training of her spirit energy and physique.
She circulated her spirit energy once more and began her third climb.
Her arms were already feeling a bit sore and weak, but that simply meant the exercise was working.
As she neared the finish line, she caught up to Mu Chenze.
Feeling a gust of wind sweep past him as he climbed, Mu Chenze's movements stiffened.
Good heavens. He knew wind spirit energy was fast, but Gu Ningyun wasn't even at Qi Refining level one yet; she shouldn't have much wind spirit energy to begin with.
Yet, looking at her current use of spirit energy, she clearly had an abundant supply and was using it with incredible flexibility.
Not only was she fast, she was exceptionally light.
Rate on N.U.
