Like when he practiced other spells before, Chu Ning first went over the essentials in his mind, circulated his magical power, and formed the spell gestures.
Then, he pointed into the air.
Silently, there was no movement in the air.
Seeing this, Chu Ning couldn't help but be stunned.
If it weren't for him clearly feeling the consumption of magical power within his body, he would have thought he hadn't cast the spell at all.
"This spell consumes much more magical power than the Clearing Technique and yet it still failed to cast?"
Unwilling to accept it, Chu Ning tried again, but still, there was no effect.
After several attempts, Chu Ning finally accepted a fact: without the blessing of the Yin Wood Spirit Body, his Talent was indeed very mediocre.
A Water Technique, the Ganlin Technique, had surprisingly stumped him.
"It seems that under the current circumstances, my best bet is still to practice Wood Element techniques; spells of other attributes are too labor-intensive and progress too slowly.
I wonder if there will be other talent rewards as I make further breakthroughs."
Chu Ning once more immersed his heart spirit into the system.
[Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique (Yellow Tier Lower Grade), First Layer (62/300)]
The Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique gained 1 skill point from last night's practice, but the Clearing Technique, Accelerating Technique, and Ganlin Technique he had just practiced still did not appear.
At this point, Chu Ning had vaguely deduced something.
That is, his proficiency was only useful for cultivation methods, and not for spells.
Besides, Chu Ning vaguely felt that there might also be certain limitations, even for cultivation methods.
Otherwise, if he could arbitrarily practice other cultivation techniques and still gain rewards, surely the Golden Finger wouldn't have such a loophole.
"If the Nine Tigers Body Refining Art can also bring rewards, then perhaps body refining techniques are also useful?"
Chu Ning made a note of this, thinking to try it later when he found a suitable body refining method.
His immediate priority was to continue practicing the Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique, improving his proficiency while also enhancing his cultivation.
Thus, for the next period, Chu Ning returned to the routine of the past few days.
He practiced the cultivation method at home in the morning and evening, and during the day, followed Cao Dongxin's instructions to the fields, driving away insects and birds, and removing weeds.
With frequent use, his Clearing Technique was becoming more and more proficient.
Of course, he was also proficient in the Cyan Wood Spring Blossom Skill, as he used this spell every day, and with it, rapidly improved his Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique.
Naturally, Chu Ning was also practicing the Accelerating Technique and Ganlin Technique. The Accelerating Technique was fine, everything was normal.
The progress of the Ganlin Technique was slow, and although Chu Ning could perform it, neither the amount of rainfall nor the magical power consumption was satisfactory to him.
This forced Chu Ning to accept that, aside from Wood Element techniques and spells, he was ordinary in all other respects.
In the blink of an eye, Chu Ning had been at the Cyan Creek Sect for almost three months.
During these two months, Chu Ning's life was extremely regular.
He worked at sunrise and rested at sunset.
He combined work with cultivation during the day and practiced and rested at night.
Every half month, he went to the Transmission Room to study spells and some basic Spirit Plant knowledge.
After several visits, Chu Ning learned the incantations for the Blade Skill, Exorcism Technique, and Wind Manipulation Technique from Shi Yao.
The Blade Skill had some attack power but was mainly used for harvesting Spirit Plants.
The Exorcism Technique is a fairly common spell in the Cultivation Realm, with some uses in the daily cultivation of Spirit Plants, such as planting and harvesting, and is thus considered a basic technique.
However, when Chu Ning wanted to learn more incantations, Shi Yao refused to teach him anymore, simply saying that biting off more than he could chew wouldn't do him any good and that Chu Ning should focus on practicing his cultivation methods.
One day, as usual, Chu Ning went to the fields with Cao Dongxin.
After two months of growth, the Red Spirit Rice was now fully matured and a deep red color, ready for harvest.
Chu Ning was no longer a novice farmer; he already knew that the Red Spirit Rice Cao Dongxin treasured wasn't of high rank among Spirit Plants.
Cultivators of the Cyan Creek Sect, except for the low-ranking servant disciples, rarely ate the Red Spirit Rice.
It was mainly used as animal feed for Spirit Beasts, indeed, a large portion of it was processed into food for Spirit Beasts.
While ordinary knives could be used for harvesting such Spirit Rice, it was too slow, so the two of them employed the Blade Skill.
Ganlin Technique was the spell Chu Ning demonstrated most frequently in front of Cao Dongxin, precisely because it was the spell he was least proficient in.
Now, Chu Ning demonstrated the Blade Skill in front of Cao Dongxin.
Cao Dongxin used the Blade Skill on a row of rice, causing it to fall neatly into place; then with a Clearing Technique combined with Exorcism Technique, he separated the grains from the straw, which fell into a basket.
Subsequently, he glanced at Chu Ning, and seeing that Chu Ning's Blade Skill had only cut a few stalks, his expression seemed to carry a trace of amusement.
Chu Ning's rapid Qi Refining had previously been a cause of envy for him.
Now, seeing Chu Ning's Blade Skill wasn't much better than his had been, he felt a sense of balance.
After finishing his own harvesting, Cao Dongxin told Chu Ning:
"Make sure to finish harvesting this patch today."
With this, Cao Dongxin leisurely walked back to his residence, hands clasped behind his back.
Though Chu Ning had entered Qi Refining quickly, his cultivation hadn't advanced much in three months.
Seeing that his Ganlin Technique and Blade Skill were not particularly proficient, and assuming the same for the Accelerating and Clearing Techniques, it was unlikely that the sect would assign him a good plot of land or a large area for independent farming.
Thinking that Chu Ning's days ahead wouldn't be as good as his own, Cao Dongxin felt a surge of contentment.
After Cao Dongxin left, Chu Ning continued to practice the Blade Skill, not just to meet Cao Dongxin's expectations but also because he genuinely wanted to improve the spell for his future farming endeavors.
After all, it was a Gold Element technique, and for Chu Ning, there were no shortcuts.
However, Chu Ning's current Blade Skill was much better than what Cao Dongxin had seen earlier.
With the augment of Third Layer of Qi Refining magical power, even though his Blade Skill proficiency wasn't high, it was more than enough to harvest the Red Spirit Rice.
Yes, after more than two months of cultivation, Chu Ning had indeed reached the Third Layer of Qi Refining.
Once the Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique First Layer proficiency exceeded 100, he broke through to the Second Layer, and after surpassing 200, he reached the Third Layer.
At that moment, Chu Ning intuitively sensed his cultivation progress in his mind.
[Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique (Yellow Tier Lower Grade), First Layer (299/300)]
After two months of cultivation, with only ten days left until the three-month assessment, Chu Ning's Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique First Layer proficiency was nearly perfect.
Chu Ning planned to push through and fully develop the final 1 skill point tonight.
When the Nine Tigers Body Refining Art reached Perfection, his Talent improved, and he gained the Yin Wood Spirit Body.
He wondered what changes reaching perfection in the First Layer of Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique might bring.