"Golden Wind Blade Art!"
Ning Feng, wielding a scythe of refined iron, actually swung it until afterimages appeared, and even blade qi burst forth an inch ahead of the scythe's edge.
Only an Innate martial artist among mortals could achieve such mastery. It seemed Ning Feng's martial foundation was quite solid before he entered the immortal sect.
This gave Lin Donglai ideas: "I have the strength of a thousand catties, but no method to wield it. But if I could learn some of these mortal martial arts, then before I master attack spells, I'd still have some tricks up my sleeve. For instance, the qinggong lightness skills in martial arts would be quite useful."
However... watching Ning Feng display his martial arts—graceful though they were, he was still merely fighting the giant rat, a suspected demonic beast, to a standstill. The scythe, which carried blade light, only barely cut through skin and flesh on the rat's body before being blocked by bone. Lin Donglai instantly felt it was nothing special.
"Martial arts are ultimately a minor path, not worth a single hair of body cultivation. On Tengshe Peak, Old Man Ma, the outer sect steward in charge of the spirit wood forest, is a body cultivator. When I was cutting trees before, I heard him say that if one forges the flesh body to ten thousand catties of strength, that is Body Refining First Layer; twenty thousand catties is Body Refining Second Layer; ninety thousand catties is Body Refining Ninth Layer. If one can break through one hundred thousand catties of strength, that is equivalent to the Foundation Establishment realm, and the flesh body will spontaneously generate divine abilities."
"Rather than delving into martial arts, I might as well devote myself to refining my body. In the future, whether it's cutting trees or smithing iron, I'll earn spirit stones more easily than others."
Just as he was thinking this, the giant rat seemed to notice that Lin Donglai's mind had wandered, and it fled scurrying toward him.
Inspiration struck Lin Donglai, and with the refined-iron hoe in hand, he swung a single hoe strike downward—it was none other than the earth-turning move he had practiced to utmost proficiency these past days.
With just that one move, the very bones that Ning Feng's Golden Wind Blade Art and its blade light had failed to sever were cut clean through by the hoe, with an audible "crack."
Not only that, the hoe blade drove deep into the internal organs. The giant rat's four limbs twitched a few times before it breathed its last.
Ning Feng's eyes flickered: "Fellow Daoist Lin, you've hidden your depths well! What tremendous strength! What a ingenious method of exerting force!"
Lin Donglai sensed the Spirit Root Dao Seed devouring the giant rat's life essence at the moment of its death, directly nourishing itself, and said, "Nothing special, just farmer's techniques. Since the rat demon is dead, I'll be heading back."
"Fellow Daoist Lin, don't judge this giant rat by its ugly appearance—the fact that it opened its intelligence to cultivate means it had some opportunities. Roasted, its meat is sure to taste wonderful!" Chen Shu, who had been a bystander the whole time, examined the giant rat's corpse with utter delight and sighed with longing for a good meal.
Lin Donglai had no interest in eating rat meat. He shook his head: "Go ahead and eat it, no need to call me."
Back at his shed, Lin Donglai sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and observed his inner landscape.
Beside the Spirit Root Dao Seed, there now floated a talisman seed shaped like a rat.
There was no need to think about anything else—the moment he saw it, understanding came naturally, and he knew what kind of spell it was.
It was the innate spell the giant rat had just awakened: the Rat Scurry Art.
As the name suggested, it was a movement-type spell.
The Rat Scurry Art was the rat clan's escape technique. It could explosively increase one's speed to several times the usual maximum burst velocity, allowing one to escape with one's life.
"A new ability!"
What delighted Lin Donglai wasn't the Dao Seed devouring the life essence of the killed rat—he had felt that faint sensation before while clearing wasteland and crushing insects, though it hadn't been strong.
But this ability to obtain a demonic beast's innate spell simply by killing it—this was truly against the heavens.
Lin Donglai carefully sensed the talisman seed and soon gained some insight.
First, the talisman seed could not exist forever; it was merely an imprint of a spell, and its spiritual intent would slowly dissipate. This dissipating intent would be absorbed by Lin Donglai's sea of consciousness, becoming nourishment for his soul.
Second, if he fully comprehended it, he could actually learn the spell.
Third, he could actively activate the talisman seed to cast the spell directly, and after casting, it would disappear.
Fourth, the leaves of the Spirit Root Dao Seed could carry spells that Lin Donglai had already learned. Once carried, he could cast that spell through the Spirit Root Dao Seed without consuming his own spiritual power.
Fifth, the talisman formed by a spell would become the veins of the leaf. As the Spirit Root Dao Seed grew, the leaves would grow larger and higher in grade, and would gradually refine and even enhance the spell.
"This Rat Scurry Art—though the name is unpleasant, it is after all an escape spell, very practical. Worth studying and learning."
"Exchanging for a spell at the Merit Hall requires a minimum of 10 merit points, which is 10 spirit stones. Rounding it off, it's like picking up spirit stones for free," Lin Donglai thought to himself.
Over the next three days, apart from tending his spirit field—promptly pulling weeds and catching insects—and cultivating the Renzi Water-Gathering Art, Lin Donglai devoted himself to comprehending the talisman seed.
However, the talisman seed grew fainter day by day. By the third day, it was almost invisible.
Fortunately, the spell was not difficult—it could even be called simple. Lin Donglai mastered its basics on the very first day.
He spent the following two days comprehending it because he wanted to bring it to minor completion, or even major completion.
The principle of the Rat Scurry Art was actually to apply spiritual power to several acupoints on the feet. When activated, wind would naturally rise beneath one's feet, and one's speed would explosively increase.
Even at the mere entry level, it could double one's usual maximum speed; minor completion allowed four times, and major completion eight times.
However, rats were inherently light and agile creatures that scurried on all four paws. Lin Donglai obviously couldn't go down on all fours and scurry around like a rat.
The only advantage was that the spiritual power consumption was extremely low. Even a Qi Refining First Layer cultivator could use it easily—only four wisps of spiritual power were needed to dart over a zhang away in an instant, just like a rat.
The only downside was that the maximum burst speed placed considerable strain on the leg bones and tendons. Without a physique as strong as a demonic beast's, it was hard to use it consecutively.
Fortunately, Lin Donglai's Tendon-Changing and Marrow-Cleansing Stake Art was nearly at major completion. He had already tempered all the grand tendons of his body, and of the twenty-four spirit marrow bones capable of conversion, he had already converted fifteen, including two shinbones. The entry-level Rat Scurry Art naturally posed no risk of overburdening him.
Although he could have the Dao Seed's leaves carry the spell immediately after learning it, Lin Donglai couldn't bring himself to do it.
The Spirit Root Dao Seed currently had only two leaves in total, and they were only the size of buds.
But the main reason was that Lin Donglai felt a spell this easy to learn was of too little value to be worth using a leaf on.
The plan he had settled on in his heart was to wait until he had learned the Sprout Gestation Art and the Sweet Rain Bestowal Curse, and then use these two leaves to carry them. Only then could the value of the Spirit Root Dao Seed be maximized.
After all, as a disciple of the Spirit Flora Hall, he didn't need to take outer sect expedition missions—only field-tending tasks.
As for learning attack spells, Lin Donglai reckoned that would have to wait until Qi Refining Third Layer or beyond.
At that point, he would see whether, after the Inner Landscape Spirit Field was successfully forged and the Dao Seed took root within it, the seed could grow a few more leaves—whether there would be spare slots.
Even if there were slots, he would have to choose with the utmost care and learn only suitable spells. He absolutely could not waste a slot.
Though no leaves had yet grown, Lin Donglai was already counting on his fingers: one escape art, one defensive spell, one attack spell, one spirit-eye spell, one healing spell, one mind-calming spell...