Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

In a small room specially partitioned off in the basement.

The faint flame of the oil lamp flickered ceaselessly.

The entire room was pervaded with a strong odor of burning animal fat.

Although it was still daytime outside, it was impossible to distinguish day from night in here if one didn’t go outside, even the sun at its zenith could only cast a dim spot of light on the underground through the winding tunnel that stretched twenty meters.

Chen Li’s mouth moved silently, his abdominal cavity producing a thunderous resonance with the air.

At the same time, his hands rapidly formed incantations, coordinating with the flow of spiritual power.

Failure!

Chen Li closed his eyes to sense what had happened.

He reached for a brush and recorded his insights at that moment.

Then, he pondered for a while and made subtle adjustments to the hand incantations and incantations, and then continued practicing.

Loose Cultivators rarely used spells.

The reason wasn’t just that they were hard to learn, but also that casting them was complicated.

One had to chant incantations, form hand signs, and also manipulate the spiritual power within the body in coordination.

And even if you managed all that, did you think you could use them in battle?

There was still a success rate waiting for you.

An incorrect syllable in the incantation—Spellcasting failed!

Imperfect hand signs—Spellcasting failed!

Unskilled manipulation of spiritual power—Spellcasting failed!

Not even the slightest mistake was allowed in each aspect.

Low-level spells like "Spiritual Power Finger Snap" were simple and easy to learn; as long as you practiced enough, it was naturally very hard to fail, but it was not the case with slightly more advanced spells. On the battlefield, perhaps just one moment of nervousness or a shiver could cost you your life.

However, this wasn’t a problem for Chen Li.

With the game panel, as long as he kept practicing, his proficiency would get higher and higher. Eventually, he could cast spells as naturally as if it was an instinct, and moreover, the power of his spells would also become greater and greater.

This was undoubtedly his unique advantage.

...

After groping and researching on his own for half a month, and writing tens of thousands of words of spellcasting notes,

Chen Li finally slowly grasped the trick to the "Traction Skill."

Without any direct teaching from a teacher, relying only on a book to study by oneself undoubtedly required hundreds of times more effort and time, but all this now seemed worthwhile.

...

Deep into the night.

Chen Li’s mouth moved silently, his fingers quickly forming signs.

The next moment.

Chen Li felt the air suddenly filled with a mysterious power, and his consciousness seemed to swiftly expand like an inflating balloon.

Broken earth, paper, and even the desk in front of him seemed to break free from gravity, rising into the air.

But... it only lasted for an instant.

This power crumbled away in an instant.

"Clatter!"

They fell to the ground, leaving the place in complete disarray.

"I feel like I made a bit more progress, almost succeeded," Chen Li muttered to himself, but there wasn’t a single change in his facial expression, as if he was already used to it.

He righted the table and picked up the paper and brush.

Taking another piece of paper,

he pondered for a moment and quickly wrote down the upcoming fine-tuning plan.

Just as he was preparing to continue practicing, he felt a slight headache and hastily stopped, not continuing today’s practice. He got up and left the small room.

At the entrance to the underground passage, tiny snowflakes drifted down from above.

Compared to the coldest times, it was much warmer now, spring wasn’t far away!

During this period, there were Loose Cultivators in the area attacked by Demon Beasts again.

But it wasn’t the same one that had attacked them last time.

He went to look specially; the footprints didn’t match.

As for Magic Artifacts, he picked up a few more.

Speaking of which, thanks to these Demon Beasts, he managed to pick up a total of twelve unowned Magic Artifacts this winter, including three mid-grade Magic Artifacts and nine low-grade ones.

Even the Spirit Stones he found, though they were all low-grade Spirit Stones, weren’t worth mentioning.

Once the market opens next year, these Magic Artifacts could at least be sold for fifteen mid-grade Spirit Stones.

...

Days passed in such a manner.

Evening.

Suddenly there was a soft ’buzzing’ sound.

Chen Li’s face was filled with excitement.

"I have finally succeeded!"

As a vast amount of spiritual power was consumed, a field of mana formed around him. At the same time, he felt his consciousness extend with the mana as if he could control everything.

He looked at the sword planted in the ground.

Hand outstretched.

The sword leaped from the earth and swiftly landed in his hand.

Then, Chen Li turned his gaze to the water cup on the table.

The water cup floated up.

Immediately after, it was crushed to dust by an invisible force, and the scattering droplets didn’t get far before they froze midair, suspended.

Chen Li had a thought.

The next moment.

The countless ceramic shards and droplets shot towards the room’s earthen wall like bullets.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

A series of explosive sounds followed.

The ceramic shards were all buried in the earthen wall.

Chen Li moved closer to take a look, and saw the wall riddled with small pits.

The smallest of these holes were as thick as a thumb, the largest as wide as a bowl, and the biggest one could fit nearly half an arm.

"The destructive power is indeed much weaker than the Grandmaster-level ’Spiritual Power Finger Snap,’" Chen Li silently compared.

However, this spell was not purely destructive; it could be used both offensively and defensively. Traction of magic artifacts was its forte and also the most orthodox use, as evidenced by the Traction Skill name itself.

Moreover, the mastery of Spiritual Power Finger Snap had reached its peak, with no further progress possible.

Whereas Traction Skill was just beginning to scratch the surface, like the rising sun with infinite potential.

"Why haven’t you slept yet... huh, this immense mana, have you mastered it?" Zhou Hong appeared at the door, clearly startled by the recent noise.

"You’ve arrived just in time, test out my new spell."

...

Snowy night ruins.

No sooner had the two of them walked out and stood about twenty meters apart than Chen Li encountered a blunder.

"Wait, the spell failed, let me cast another." he called out loudly.

Chen Li hastily consumed a Qi Replenishing Pill to restore his spiritual power.

Then he cast spells non-stop.

Time ticked away by the second.

The spell still hadn’t succeeded.

Zhou Hong couldn’t help but yawn, barely able to suppress her laughter, "How about we wait until tomorrow? It’s like this with more advanced spells, sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t!"

After another failed attempt at casting, sweat beaded on Chen Li’s forehead; he swallowed another Qi Replenishing Pill, "Just wait a bit longer, it will be ready soon."

He continued to cast spells.

I refuse to believe this is jinxed.

Fortunately, this time the casting went smoothly and his face was saved.

An invisible mana spread, enveloping an area of more than ten meters.

Chen Li finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Come on, attack with your Golden Light Nail, let me test the effects of the Traction Skill."

"Here I come, be ready!"

Zhou Hong took out the Golden Light Nail, stimulating it with spiritual power and casually giving it a swing.

A streak of golden light flashed by.

Chen Li quickly captured it with his gaze, diverting it to one side.

"Use your full strength," Chen Li shook his head, finding the effort lackluster.

Zhou Hong reached out to recall the Golden Light Nail.

Although the Golden Light Nail, like Chen Li’s flying sword, was considered a top-quality magic artifact,

their focus differed.

Chen Li’s flying sword was agile with good maneuverability but lacked a bit in power, while the Golden Light Nail pursued speed and heavy impact, and could even build up energy for an explosive burst, but at the same time, it was less flexible.

After one strike, it had to be retracted.

"Then be careful, now I’ll attack your left side."