Chapter Fifteen: Practicing Magic

  Li Muran was getting more and more shocked as he read on. If the sect tasks mentioned in these classics were all related, then they had been going on for at least several hundred years, and it was very likely that they still existed today.

  And the "sect mission" mentioned by Master Zixia Dao Ren might also be like that.

  Although I don't know the specific content of this sect's mission, one thing is certain - it's not without danger.

  Li Muran originally focused on cultivating himself, whether it was making talismans or searching for skills, all were for the convenience of his own practice, but now he can't help but consider more.

  Li Muran knew that for these disciples, the content of their cultivation could be roughly divided into two parts: one was to cultivate yuanqi and improve their cultivation level, while the other was to cultivate techniques and enhance their combat strength.

  Magic is the use of one's own cultivated heavenly and earthly primordial energy, i.e. one's own magical power, in a specific way, transformed into flames, water pillars, wooden thorns and other divine abilities, used to cast spells and attack enemies.

  Cultivating magical techniques requires first cultivating magical power; the higher and more profound the magical power, the stronger the magical technique that can be performed. Simple low-level magical techniques are already being cultivated by many disciples - after all, many disciples embark on the path of cultivation for the sake of those dazzling divine auras and magical abilities.

  Li Muran, however, had not started practicing magic yet. For him, accumulating his own magical powers was not easy, and he didn't want to use them to cast spells. But considering that dangerous sect mission, he had no choice but to practice magic, at least to have some self-defense skills.

  "It's better to prepare early than to resort to desperate measures at the last minute." Li Muran thought to himself.

  With his current cultivation base, he can only cultivate a few types of magic, all of which are the most basic five-element attribute spells of the Taoist school.

  "What kind of spell is this for cultivating properties?" Li Muran still needs to deliberate carefully.

  If a disciple is opened by a fire attribute talisman, they will naturally choose to cultivate fire attribute spells. When the cultivated spell matches their own ancestral aperture divine light, not only will the cultivation be smoother, but the spell's power will also be stronger. If other attribute spells are cultivated, there will be no advantage; on the contrary, the five elements generate and restrain each other, cultivating attribute-restrained spells will have twice the effort for half the result.

  But Li Muran had no idea what his strange ancestral divine light was or where it came from, and he couldn't make a choice based on that.

  "Since there's no advantage in cultivating any attribute of magic, I might as well ignore this point and just choose the most needed spells to cultivate." Li Muran said helplessly to himself.

  The book pavilion introduces various Taoist techniques, with at least hundreds of books, including several books on the most basic foundation techniques, which are introduced in great detail, so there is no problem with the oral formula and kung fu.

  Several classics mention that among the primary Taoist techniques of the Five Elements, the fire-attribute "Flame Explosion Technique" has the strongest attacking power, while the earth-attribute "Stone Armor Technique" is widely recognized as having the best defensive capabilities.

  One attack and one defense, this is exactly what Li Muran needs. Li Muran decided to focus on cultivating these two spells first.

  As for other techniques such as "Wave Strike", "Entwining Vines" and "Golden Light", they naturally have their uses, but Li Muran knew that he couldn't afford to divide his attention, and didn't dare to lay them all out at once to cultivate. If there was spare energy later on, he could cultivate them then, it wouldn't be too late.

  Li Muran found a magical incantation from ancient books and memorized it by heart.

  Since the bookstore was deserted today, Li Muran simply closed the door of the bookstore and practiced his Flame Explosion Technique in the empty space in front of the door.

  He didn't dare to practice in the library, for fear that he might accidentally burn some classics, which would be a serious offense and would definitely result in severe punishment from the sect.

  The yuanqi in his body came from the months of hard work during the day, although the cultivation was slow, but some had already been accumulated, according to the records in the classics, it should be enough to practice the Flame Explosion Technique. He followed the key points of the incantation, compressing some of the yuanqi in his body according to the law, through several key acupoints and meridians, gathering in his right arm.

  Then, he only pinched his right thumb and middle finger together, and with a light snap, the yuanqi was released, turning into a fist-sized flame that burst open.

  However, Li Muran tried several times, each time the yuanqi mobilization was not smooth, and it had not yet condensed in his arm before dispersing again into the meridians throughout his body. There were two instances where he managed to gather and compress some yuanqi in his arm, but no matter what, he couldn't shoot it out through his fingers.

  Li Muran's arms were numb and sore, his whole body was drenched in sweat, and the little bit of true energy he had managed to accumulate was consumed, but not once did he succeed, at most only managing to conjure a small flame the size of a bean on his fingertips.

  Although it was only a small spark, it still made Li Muran quite happy. He used a branch as thick as his arm to test the power of this spark. As a result, when the branch came into contact with the spark, it immediately ignited like kerosene on fire, and in just one breath, the branch was completely burned out, leaving only a faint trace of ash at the original location.

  Li Muran was shocked, the power of this spark far exceeded his imagination. Moreover, such a large branch, if burned as firewood, would definitely leave behind a lot of ash, but now it only left behind a tiny bit of dust, enough to show that the flames transformed by his magic had burned the branch more swiftly and thoroughly, far surpassing ordinary flames!

  Li Muran also tried using the rocks and stones around him, and found that although he only conjured a small flame, it was enough to burn fist-sized rocks into flying ash, showing just how extraordinary the power of the flame was.

  "It's indeed worthy of being called the Flame of Magic, it's as powerful as what the classics said!" Li Muran exclaimed in surprise.

  Although Bai Rili's spell practice was not smooth, Li Muran did not lose heart. He had heard Qingfengzi say that it usually takes several days of hard work to slowly comprehend and practice before successfully casting a spell.

  That night, after Li Muran sat and spat for an hour, he began to practice the Flame Explosion Technique on the empty mountain stone ground in front of the library gate.

  At night, Li Muran's yuanqi was vigorous and his magical powers were abundant, it was the best time to cultivate magic.

  Li Muran manipulated the internal yuanqi according to the oral formula, and everything went smoothly. A powerful yuanqi was quickly compressed and gathered in his arm. As he stretched out his finger and lightly flicked it, a burst of energy shot out, forming a fist-sized flame about ten feet away, which immediately exploded with a loud "boom". A wave of scorching heat rushed towards the surroundings from the explosion site, Li Muran was unable to dodge in time, and was instantly knocked back several steps, falling to the ground.

  "It succeeded!" Li Muran could hardly believe his eyes, the explosion of flames he had just released was indeed the Flame Explosion Technique recorded in the classics, and its power was not to be underestimated!

  "It's only been half a day of practice and he can already cast the Flame Explosion Technique! This is simply the rumored cultivation genius!" Li Muran was extremely surprised.

  Li Muran tried again, and as he snapped his fingers, another flash of fire burst forth, followed by a loud "boom" that sent flames splashing everywhere. This time Li Muran was prepared, and he dodged behind a large boulder just in time to avoid the heat wave.

  "It's incredibly smooth!" Li Muran felt that these two times of casting the spell were like a fish in water, and he didn't encounter much difficulty at all. It was as if he was a completely different person from when he cast the spell during the day.

  No need to guess much, Li Muran immediately determined that this was also related to his special ancestral aperture divine light.

  "My cultivation talent is indeed strange. During the day, not only is my ancestral aperture's divine light dim, but my cultivation is also extremely slow, and my magical powers are also difficult to circulate, making it hard to cast spells; but at night, it's as if I have divine assistance, with an incredibly high efficiency, and casting spells becomes much smoother!" Li Muran sighed: "It's just a pity that the primordial energy from nighttime cultivation will automatically disperse by dawn!"

  Li Muran tried the Stone Armor Technique again, and as a result, he was able to successfully cast it after only two or three practices. Now, all he needs to do is mobilize his spiritual energy, gather it in his palm, and then lightly pat his chest, whereupon that stream of yuanqi would transform into a layer of stone armor about an inch thick, resembling a layer of ethereal light, protecting his entire body.

  This layer of stone armor does not isolate breath, but can prevent water and fire from invading, and swords and guns from entering, making Li Muran very satisfied.

  "But only at night can magic be cast, this is not a solution! What if there's danger during the day, wouldn't that leave me without a way to respond?" Thinking of this, Li Muran began to ponder again.

  There is a saying: "Think of danger in times of peace." This point must be considered.

  However, Li Muran soon thought of a solution - after all, he was a disciple of Yuán Fú Zōng, and the specialty of Yuán Fú Zōng cultivators was precisely talisman-making!

  As long as the spell is made into a talisman, any problem he encounters can be solved easily.

  Spell talismans are talismans that seal certain magical spells, such as the talisman that seals the Flame Explosion Technique, which is called the Flame Explosion Talisman. If you have a Flame Explosion Talisman in hand, you only need to use a little bit of magic power to unlock the seal on the talisman, and you can turn the Flame Explosion Talisman into a Flame Explosion spell and cast it out. It's also very convenient to use.

  To create a Flame Explosion Symbol, the magical power that has become the Flame Explosion Technique must be infused into the symbol paper and sealed with a specific character to save it as a complete symbol. Therefore, casting and creating symbols are basically done at the same time, and both have high requirements.

  Li Muran's basic skills in making talismans are solid, and his technique is also very smooth. As for the consumption of magical power - anyway, the magical power cultivated at night will disappear, so it doesn't matter if he uses it or not!

  So from all aspects, making some magic talismans for self-defense seems to be a good choice.

  The runes for making Flame Explosion Symbols can be found in ancient tomes; however, the yuanqi contained within Flame Explosion Symbols has undergone special compression and transformation, making it much more violent than the yuanqi in Yuanqi Symbols. As a result, the requirements for the talisman paper are also higher. To make Flame Explosion Symbols, one must use second-grade talisman paper made from a single piece of Ling Stone, or else the success rate will not be guaranteed.

  "Let's go to the market tomorrow and buy some second-class paper!" Li Muran decided to close the book pavilion tomorrow and take a day off, so he could take the opportunity to go to the market.