Eternal Life Begins with Learning

"Magic is built upon Inscriptions, which in turn form a Magic Model. The Divine Sense guides Magical Power into the Magic Model, causing it to resonate with the Spiritual Qi of the outside world, ultimately resulting in the physical manifestation of the Magic..."

A night passed. Chu Mu stared at the three books before him and couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

These three books described the principles of Magic very clearly.

The difficulty, however, lay in two things: the structure of the Magic Inscriptions and the construction of the Magic Model from those Inscriptions.

Although there were only three Fire Attribute Inscriptions, for a complete novice like him who had never encountered them before, it was obviously extremely difficult.

Furthermore, the Magic Model had to be inscribed upon one’s Divine Soul, a process that allowed for no mistakes whatsoever.

Worst of all, none of the three books described the foundational knowledge for constructing Inscriptions.

If he wanted to learn, he could only resort to rote memorization and imitation, rather than deconstructing it step-by-step to truly understand it.

’At least three months. If I had enough Spiritual Radiance, I could probably shorten that time considerably.’

Chu Mu pressed his lips together, but a headache began to form when he glanced at his Spiritual Radiance Value, which had fallen to the double digits.

He had been too obsessed with his Sword Technique, investing almost all his accumulated Spiritual Radiance Value into it. Now, only a pitiful double-digit amount remained. It looked like he’d have to spend some time saving up again.

As his thoughts churned, Chu Mu tucked the three books into his robes, sat down at his desk, and picked up a booklet, flipping it open to study its contents.

The booklet was handwritten, recording the various Spirit Ores he had encountered during his months at Li’s Ore Materials.

There were thirty-eight types in total. For each one, Chu Mu had taken the opportunity during the refining process to conduct detailed tests on the ore’s properties.

All sorts of data and characteristics were recorded in this handbook.

Including the dozens of Spirit Ores documented in the legacy of the Puppetry Skill, he now had a certain understanding of nearly seventy different grades of Spirit Ore.

His foundation of knowledge was slowly accumulating. The pace wasn’t fast, but Chu Mu was quite satisfied.

At least he could see a future for himself.

He wasn’t like other ordinary Cultivators, who toiled day after day only to end up with a few Broken Spirits, seeing no hope and no end to their struggle.

Reviewing the old to learn the new. After flipping through the handbook he’d written himself a few more times, Chu Mu seemed to be struck by a burst of inspiration. He picked up his pen and spent a good while making revisions.

It wasn’t until the morning sun streamed through the window that Chu Mu tucked the handbook back into his robes, pushed open the door, and walked out.

His Spirit Stones were nearly gone, the Fireball Skill still needed to be perfected, and his knowledge and experience with ore materials had to be continuously expanded.

This job at Li’s Ore Materials was still necessary.

Although Chu Mu had long considered bringing Xu Yuan into the Cultivation Immortal Realm, he currently had nowhere to live and no spare Spirit Stones. Even if he brought Xu Yuan in, the boy would likely have to trudge down the same difficult path he himself had walked.

The bloodshed outside the Yutai Mine was still fresh in his memory. Moreover, the Jade Emperor Valley Marketplace was currently expanding, attracting all sorts of people and making the area somewhat chaotic and disorderly.

For now, Chu Mu could only suppress this idea.

After all, the point of bringing Xu Yuan into the Cultivation Immortal Realm was to have someone reliable to depend on and for them to support each other.

If he brought him over before he had even found his own footing, Xu Yuan could get himself killed, and he probably wouldn’t even know how it happened.

With that thought suppressed, his life at Li’s Ore Materials continued.

And just like that, a fulfilling month slipped by.

In the evening, after finishing a day’s work and collecting another month’s stipend, Chu Mu left Li’s Trading House without delay and headed straight for the so-called Magic Experiment Hall in the Marketplace.

As for its location, he had naturally already made clear inquiries.

With the "Spiritual Radiance Blessing," his progress in learning the Fireball Skill was far faster than he had imagined.

Unlike its minimal effect on practicing Cultivation Techniques, the "Spiritual Radiance Blessing" played an unimaginably huge role when it came to knowledge- and skill-based Magic, allowing for leaps in comprehension and a grasp of the finest details.

In fact, in less than half a month, with intermittent use of the "Spiritual Radiance Blessing," Chu Mu had already completely understood the Fireball Skill’s Magic Inscription and gained some experience in constructing its Magic Model.

If he hadn’t been so cautious, he could have started constructing the Magic Model more than half a month ago.

He dragged it out for nearly another half a month to accumulate sufficient experience and understanding, only beginning to construct the Fireball Skill’s Magic Model last night.

There were no surprises. He succeeded on his first try!

If he hadn’t been at Li’s Trading House when he succeeded, Chu Mu would have undoubtedly tossed out a few Fireballs to properly experience the Magic of a Cultivator!

Ever since he started on the path of Cultivation, he had seen plenty of what Cultivators were capable of!

"Here to experiment with Magic?"

As Chu Mu rushed into the Magic Experiment Hall, a large, bald man behind the counter asked with a grin.

"Yes."

Chu Mu nodded. Before he could even take out his voucher, the bald man immediately began his spiel.

"We have four areas here, corresponding to four levels: Qi Cultivation Initial, Middle, and Late Stage, as well as the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"Each of these levels is further divided into a public area and private rooms."

"The pricing is..."

The bald man was enthusiastically explaining, but his voice came to an abrupt halt when he saw the small card Chu Mu handed him.

"If you had a voucher, you should’ve said so earlier! Wasting my breath!"

The bald man had clearly lost his enthusiasm. He waved his hand dismissively. "It’s a voucher for the Early Stage of Qi Cultivation public area. It’s good for three hours. Someone will remind you when your time is up."

"Go through that door and turn right. It’s the first room. Go on, get moving!"

Chu Mu paid no mind to the man’s impatience. ’Can’t expect great service for something free,’ he thought.

Following the bald man’s directions, Chu Mu walked straight into the so-called public experiment area.

The experiment area was much larger than Chu Mu had imagined. The entire space was at least the size of two or three regulation soccer fields from his previous life.

The edges were shrouded in a hazy mist, clearly the effect of some kind of Array Restriction. The vast area was divided into individual partitions, much like a shooting range from his past life, except each individual experiment bay was very large.

When Chu Mu entered, he could already hear the sounds of people experimenting with Magic in the public area. Booming noises echoed through the chamber from time to time.

Although it was an enclosed space, there were no echoes, which was clearly the effect of another Restriction.

"Bay three is empty. Go to bay three."

The attendant was a boy of about twelve or thirteen with a youthful face. He glanced at the voucher in Chu Mu’s hand and pointed toward bay number three at the far end.

"Alright."

Chu Mu nodded and walked straight toward bay three.

’This is pretty advanced...’

Chu Mu glanced at the screen hanging on the adjacent wall. The rows of data displayed on it clearly demonstrated its purpose.

In front of him stood a series of different humanoid targets. The targets were of various colors, with faint, flickering patterns visible on their surfaces, indicating they were no ordinary items.

After a quick look around, Chu Mu focused his attention on the Light Curtain Panel in his vision.

[Name: Chu Mu]

[Skills: Basic Blade Technique (Refined Skill) 2623/5000, Fireball Skill (Beginner’s Practice) 1/100]

[Body Refining Technique (1000/1000)]

[Blazing Fire Technique Level One (210/1000)]

[Alchemy: Dragon and Snake Soup: Refined Skill (1300/2000), Grain Avoidance Pill: Beginner’s Practice (5/100)]

[Spiritual Radiance Value: 118.2%]

Even though he had already confirmed it last night, seeing the newly appeared Fireball Skill still made it difficult for Chu Mu to contain his excitement. He even felt his eyes begin to well up with tears.

He, a Cultivator, finally had a proper Cultivator’s ability!

It wasn’t easy. It really wasn’t easy!

This life as an Immortal Cultivator... even paying off car and housing loans in his past life wasn’t this miserable!

At least when he was paying off those loans, he didn’t have to worry about his own personal safety...

After a long moment, Chu Mu finally collected his emotions and calmed himself down.

After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly threw a punch. A terrifying Power of what felt like 10,000 jin exploded against the humanoid target with a thunderous CRACK, yet it only left a faint mark.

On the screen to the side, the original data suddenly flickered, and a new line of data appeared.

"Category: Power Attack. Potency: 0.13 degrees. Target Damage: Slight."

Chu Mu raised an eyebrow, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face as he looked at the data on the screen.

One Broken Spirit was equivalent to one degree of Spiritual Power.

In other words, his punch just now was equivalent to the energy burst of one-tenth of a Broken Spirit.

Although he hadn’t used his full strength, it clearly wasn’t that far off. At most, it would only be a few tenths higher.

’It’s a shame I didn’t bring my blade.’

Chu Mu scanned the area but saw no weapons. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret. His Sword Technique had reached the Refined Skill realm and was already more than halfway to the next level; it would surely be far more powerful than his fists!

If he had brought it, he could have tested his Sword Technique as well!

He then suppressed the thought. The purpose of this trip was Magic—a Cultivator’s true power!

After a moment of contemplation, Chu Mu closed his eyes and slowly connected with the Fireball Skill’s Magic Model on his Divine Soul.

It was his first time casting Magic, and his skill was still at Beginner’s Practice. Chu Mu was extremely serious and careful.

Nearly fifteen minutes passed before Chu Mu slowly opened his eyes. He raised his hand, and an infinitesimally small spark of fire flashed at his fingertip before vanishing.

Then, the spark became a flicker, and as if a bucket of gasoline had been poured on it, the flame began to expand at a visible rate!

In the span of about seven or eight breaths, a basketball-sized Fireball materialized in Chu Mu’s hand.

The flames roared and the light was scorching, but cradled in his palm, Chu Mu couldn’t feel the slightest harm.

Through his Divine Sense Perception, he could tell that the Fireball in his hand was pure Fire Attribute Magical Power, transforming and burning. Every moment, it consumed a portion of his limited Magical Power to sustain itself!

"Go!"

Chu Mu shouted, and the Fireball, guided by his Divine Sense, shot toward the humanoid target, leaving a trail of sparks in its wake.

BOOM!

With a deafening roar, a flash of fire erupted like an explosion, instantly engulfing the humanoid target.

When the flames dissipated, the humanoid target reappeared. Apart from a blackened patch on its chest, it seemed to have no other damage.

Chu Mu looked at the screen to the side, where the data was clearly visible.

"Category: Fire Attribute Spiritual Power Attack. Potency: 0.33 degrees. Target Damage: Slight."

...