The Cang Ming Sand Sea, Qing Sha Oasis.
From a hundred meters up, a three-story pavilion built of dark wood rose from the ground, its bronze bells hanging from the eaves swaying slightly in the hot wind.
On a black obsidian plaza, dozens of feet square, eight youths in green robes stood in a semi-circular formation.
The middle-aged Cultivator in the center of the plaza had his robe sleeves billowing, and his Spell-casting hands stirred the Spiritual Qi within a meter of him.
His fingers moved faster and faster, and when the last hand seal was completed, his boot heel slammed to the ground: "Condense!"
"Whoosh—"
Spiritual Qi mist surged forth from nothingness, forming a perfectly circular canopy above the youths' heads.
Pea-sized green rain fell onto the obsidian floor, instantly steaming hot.
Once the last drop of water seeped into the scorching rock crevices, the middle-aged Cultivator wiped away the fine sweat from his brow: "The essence of the Spirit Gathering Rain Transformation Skill lies in using your internal magic power to draw upon the water Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth. You all practice here first, I'll go check on the situation of those kids in the Enlightenment Institute as they try to draw Qi into their bodies."
With that, the middle-aged Cultivator turned and entered the pavilion.
As soon as the middle-aged Cultivator's green robe corner disappeared around the corner of the dark wood pavilion, the six youths on the plaza eagerly dispersed and began practicing the Spirit Gathering Rain Transformation Skill.
Only the youth in green robes in the northwest corner stood still, lost in thought.
Beside him was a child of eleven or twelve, about to ask something.
Seeing the youth's expression, the child's outstretched hand silently withdrew.
After a moment, Wang Chengming regained his senses and looked at the child beside him: "Dexuan, you just Broke Through to the Qi Refinement Stage yesterday. Your magic power isn't enough to support Spell practice, why don't you go back to the academy first?"
Wang Dexuan looked up at Wang Chengming, but did not answer, instead asking with a puzzled expression: "Second Uncle, water Spells are almost halved in power in the desert. Why is Twenty-first Granduncle still teaching us the Spirit Gathering Rain Transformation Skill?"
Wang Chengming was twenty-seventh in the 'Cheng' generation, though this was only the seniority among Cultivators.
And Wang Dexuan was his nephew, so he naturally used the Family address.
Wang Chengming patted his head and said with a chuckle: "It's clear you weren't paying attention in the Enlightenment Institute. You know that the Cultivation World has, at some unknown point, transformed into a vast desert where water resources are scarce. The Spirit Gathering Rain Transformation Skill isn't for us to fight, but to replenish water for Spiritual Fields, and more importantly, to ensure we don't die of thirst when we venture into the desert later!"
Wang Dexuan scratched his head awkwardly, about to say something more.
But the youth interrupted: "Dexuan, I have some Cultivation insights borrowed from the Family on my seat. You've just entered the Qi Refinement Stage, so take them and read them first, to avoid making mistakes in your Cultivation."
Watching Wang Dexuan's disappearing back, the youth began to perform the Spirit Gathering Rain Transformation Skill.
After about half an hour, Spiritual Qi began to swirl around the youth, and then a cloud of mist less than a foot wide appeared in front of him, which then turned into rain and poured down with a whooshing sound.
The commotion from the youth's side immediately attracted the attention of the other youths.
"It's Wang Chengming, he's learned another Spell?"
"It's Twenty-seventh Uncle, as expected of a Spell prodigy who has attracted the Clan Chief's attention! He's only at Qi Refinement First Layer and has already learned the Spirit Gathering Rain Transformation Skill, which is close to a Medium Grade First-tier Spell!"
"It's a pity that Twenty-seventh Uncle has Four Spiritual Roots; he hasn't been able to Breakthrough to Qi Refinement Second Layer for almost two years."
Wang Chengming ignored the discussions of others, instead sinking his mind, and a panel visible only to him appeared before him.
[Name: Wang Chengming]
[Cultivation Technique: Qingmu Skill]
[Cultivation: Qi Refinement First Layer (79/80)]
[Spells: Light Body Technique (Mastery: 10/100)
Golden Blade Technique (Beginner: 18/50)
Wood Cover Technique (Beginner: 26/50)
Qingmu Cui Ya Technique (Beginner: 3/50)
Spirit Gathering Rain Transformation Skill (Beginner: 1/50)]
[Azure Wood Dao Accumulation: 0]
Wang Chengming looked at the panel before him, lost in thought.
He was not originally from this world, but lived in a world called Blue Star.
Having just graduated, he faced a social environment where graduation meant unemployment. He finally found a decent job and naturally dared not slack off.
He worked overtime tirelessly every day, eventually collapsing at his workstation, and when he woke up again, he had been reincarnated into the Qing Sha Wang Clan.
Wang Chengming's parents and grandfather were not Cultivators, but his great-grandfather was the founder of the Qing Sha Wang Clan, so their lives as Mortals were not bad.
More than a hundred years ago, the then Clan Chief, Wang Xingyan, led several hundred clansmen to migrate from the distant Liuguang Desert Land to this place, and even created the Qing Sha Oasis with the help of spiritual objects.
Wang Xingyan, with a Cultivation close to Foundation Establishment Late Stage, along with over a dozen Qi Refinement Late Stage clansmen, suppressed the three FoundationEstablishment Families of the nearby Bi Quan Oasis, establishing a foothold in this place.
Before the age of six, Wang Chengming would often dream of the tall buildings of Blue Star. At first, he didn't know what was happening until he fully Awakened his past life's wisdom at the age of seven, so he quietly waited for his tenth birthday.
The Qing Sha Wang Clan would check the Family's ten-year-old youths each year for Spiritual Roots. Once a Spiritual Root was found, they would be sent to the academy to learn knowledge and practice Spells.
The Wang Clan's academy was divided into the Enlightenment Institute and the Dao Inquiry Institute. The Enlightenment Institute taught literacy, Qi drawing into the body, and common knowledge of Cultivation.
Once one successfully drew Qi into the body and entered Qi Refinement First Layer, they would come to the Dao Inquiry Institute.
The Dao Inquiry Institute taught Spells, Talismans, Artifact Refining, pill refining, and basic spirit plant cultivation, among other things. However, the Wang Family was not wealthy, and besides Spells, everything else was merely theoretical.
At the age of ten, Wang Chengming was found to have Gold, Wood, Water, and Earth Four Spiritual Roots. This panel appeared when he entered the Qi Refinement Stage at the age of thirteen.
Upon seeing the transparent words 'Imbuement' and 'Epiphany' next to the Cultivation and Spells on the panel, Wang Chengming was overjoyed, exclaiming that his Golden Finger had finally arrived, and even switched the earth-attribute Cultivation Technique he originally intended to practice to a wood-attribute Cultivation Technique.
It was a pity that Azure Wood Dao Accumulation required planting ranked spiritual plants to obtain. However, as he had just entered the Qi Refinement Stage, and his parents were Mortals, and he had never even met his great-grandfather, he naturally couldn't obtain any ranked spiritual plant seeds.
However, Wang Chengming did not give up, trying various methods for a year, but still with no results.
Fortunately, three months ago, after his relentless pestering, Twenty-first Uncle finally agreed that if he learned the Qingmu Cui Ya Technique and the Spirit Gathering Rain Transformation Skill, he would give him three sea buckthorn grass seeds.
This was also the reason he desperately practiced these two Spells.
Seeing Wang Kunzhe walking towards him from the academy, Wang Chengming quickly went to meet him: "Twenty-first Uncle."
Wang Kunzhe looked at Wang Chengming with a helpless expression: "I felt the Spiritual Qi fluctuations in the academy, so I guessed it was you, kid."
Saying that, he took out three seeds from his Storage Pouch and handed them to Wang Chengming: "You've always been interested in spiritual plants, so I suppose you've been coveting these three seeds for a long time!"
Wang Chengming looked at the three sesame-sized sea buckthorn grass seeds in his hand, a wide smile spreading across his face.
Wang Kunzhe looked at Wang Chengming and smiled helplessly: "Take them! Remember, in the Cultivation World, it's still about Cultivation..."
"Twenty-first Uncle, I know!"
Before Wang Kunzhe could finish, Wang Chengming ran off with the seeds.
"Remember to stay on the edge of the oasis, don't step into the Sand Sea!"