19: Having gained initial mastery of supernatural powers, I step back into the mortal world!

[ Ding! Host gifted Disciple Ye Chenfeng the Profound Rank Medium Grade Cultivation Technique "Wind Chasing Sword Art"... ]

[ Triggered ten thousand times critical return! ]

[ Congratulations to the Host for obtaining: Heaven Rank High Grade Sword Dao Divine Ability "Great Void Realm Sword Qi"! ]

[ "Great Void Realm Sword Qi": Draws upon the power of the Void Realm, condenses formless Sword Qi. A single sword strike can tear through space, ignore defenses, and kill people from a thousand miles away! ]

...

[ Ding! Host gifted Disciple Su Linger the Profound Rank Low Grade Cultivation Technique "Ice Sealing Technique"... ]

[ Triggered one hundred thousand times critical return! ]

[ Congratulations to the Host for obtaining: Heaven Rank Peerless Grade Ice Element Domain "Nine Nether Profound Ice Realm"! ]

[ "Nine Nether Profound Ice Realm": Unfolds a Domain. Inside the Domain, all things freeze, Laws are iced over, and the Revered Master of the Domain is the Ice and Snow Deity! ]

...

[ Ding! Host gifted Disciple Wang Duojin the Yellow Rank High Grade Formation analysis "Initial Understanding of Formation Dao"... ]

[ Triggered one thousand times critical return! ]

[ Congratulations to the Host for obtaining: Earth Rank Peerless Grade Formation General Outline "Myriad Transformation Formation Heart"! ]

[ "Myriad Transformation Formation Heart": Elaborates on the Origin core that remains unchanged despite a myriad of Formation variations. Cultivating this technique allows one to see the autumn from a single leaf, perceive the flaws in all Formations, and at will, turn all things into a Formation! ]

Three distinct, yet equally vast and majestic torrents of information surged into Chu Xuanjin's Sea of Consciousness one after another.

The "Dao" he cultivated was like a giant whale swallowing water, receiving all three streams of information, rapidly analyzing and digesting them, transforming them into his own profound understanding of Sword Dao, Ice Magic, and Formation Dao.

Chu Xuanjin slowly opened his eyes, divine light swirling in the depths of his pupils.

He could feel that as long as he wished, he could set up a Heaven Rank killing Formation in a single thought and unleash Void Realm Sword Qi with a single finger.

However, he did not immediately pass these newly acquired Divine Abilities to his Disciples.

"If their Foundation is not stable, bestowing upon them techniques to slay Dragons will only cause them to become lost in power."

He muttered to himself.

"Meals must be eaten one bite at a time, and the road must be walked one step at a time."

He knew very well that a true Prodigy is not built up by external objects.

Rather, it is by relying on one's own footsteps, from the most basic Moves, to comprehend one's own Dao.

What he wanted to be was a guide, not a nanny who only knew how to feed them.

Having figured this out, Chu Xuanjin's heart was no longer stirred. His figure flickered, and he disappeared from the Hall of Inheriting Skills.

...

Disciple living quarters.

In Ye Chenfeng's courtyard, it was so quiet that only the sound of the wind remained.

He sat cross-legged, the cyan Jade Slip recording the "Wind Chasing Sword Art" hovering in front of him.

His Divine Thought probed in, and countless changes in sword Moves regarding "speed" flowed through his mind.

There was no domineering power of Chaos opening the heavens, nor the might to destroy all things.

What there was, was only the purest speed and angle.

How to strike with the sword the fastest.

How to withdraw the sword the fastest.

How to strike a fatal blow with the fastest speed within a square inch.

He did not underestimate this Profound Rank sword technique.

On the contrary, a look of solemnity appeared in his eyes.

In the battle with the Third Elder of the Blazing Fire Sect, he won due to his Cultivation Technique and the might of his Sword Bone, but his own sword Moves were as crude as a brute who had just learned to swing a sword.

This "Wind Chasing Sword Art" perfectly made up for his greatest weakness.

Clang.

The long sword was unsheathed.

He did not use a shred of Spiritual Qi, but simply repeated the most basic thrusts, slashes, lifts, and cuts according to the records in the sword technique.

At first, his movements were still a bit stiff.

But after ten times, his sword began to carry the sound of the wind.

After a hundred times, fallen leaves flew around the courtyard, yet not a single one could get close to him.

After a thousand times, his figure seemed to have turned into thousands, with only that bright sword light chasing the trajectory of the wind in the courtyard.

...

In Su Linger's courtyard, cold air permeated.

The power within her was too strong and too domineering, like an unruly Frost Beast, completely refusing to obey her, its Revered Master.

Her small face was tense, and fine beads of sweat seeped out on her forehead.

She closed her eyes, imagining herself as a drop of water, a snowflake, a wisp of winter's cold wind.

Gradually, the cold air within her was no longer so violent.

She stretched out her fair, tender fingers towards a wooden basin in front of her.

"Freeze!"

She shouted softly.

Crack.

The water in the wooden basin, starting from the center, condensed into a crystal-clear block of ice at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In the center of the ice block, a small lotus flower formed by cold air was even frozen inside.

Su Linger's eyes suddenly lit up.

...

From Wang Duojin's room, a crisp "clatter" sound emerged.

He did not look at the "Initial Understanding of Formation Dao" book, but instead placed that old abacus on the table.

His hands turned into phantoms, frantically manipulating the abacus.

"Wrong, wrong!"

While calculating, he was rapidly drawing something on rough paper.

"The 'Initial Understanding of Formation Dao' says that the three Formation points of the 'Three Talents Spirit Gathering Formation' must form an equilateral triangle to draw Spiritual Qi from three directions and converge it at the center."

"But according to my deductions, if one of the Formation points is shifted three inches and seven tenths to the southeast, forming an obtuse angle, although it will lose ten percent of the Spirit Gathering speed, it can increase the stability of the Formation by thirty percent!"

In his eyes, a light bordering on obsession flickered.

"Books are dead, but Formations are alive!"

"The Dao of Divination calculates heavenly secrets and variables. The Dao of Formations seeks stability and rules."

"If variables were integrated into the rules... what would that be?"

He seemed to have opened a door to a new world, and his whole being was immersed in it.

He began to try using the art of Divination to deduce and optimize every basic Formation recorded in "Initial Understanding of Formation Dao".

This was an unprecedented way of Cultivation.

It was also the path of Fusion between the God of Wealth and Formation Dao that belonged solely to him, Wang Duojin.

(PS: I'm also an idiot. Others writing about Wealth Dao basically use gold ingots or copper coins or something, possessing the ability to find treasure and attract wealth. I have a whole abacus, but an abacus is for accounting, so it can be classified as wealth, right? If it can calculate, adding some Divination and deduction is fine, right? [Sob sob sob])

...

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Chu Xuanjin felt something in his heart, and his Divine Thought spread out like water ripples, covering the living quarters of his three Disciples.

In Ye Chenfeng's courtyard, his figure was no longer visible, only streaks of cyan Sword Qi, fast to the extreme, like a fierce storm, shrouding the entire courtyard.

Every streak of Sword Qi accurately struck the same fallen leaf until that leaf turned into powder.

Su Linger's courtyard had turned into a world of ice sculptures.

Ice birds about to spread their wings and take flight, ice deer running and leaping, all lifelike, with even the feathers and fur clearly visible.

She was sitting in the middle of the ice sculptures, her ten fingers flying, and one delicate ice lotus after another bloomed at her fingertips.

And Wang Duojin's room was shrouded in a strange force field.

Dozens of small Formations were operating simultaneously in his room, connected to each other, yet not interfering with one another.

Spirit Gathering Formations, Maze Formations, Defense Formations... he had actually used a profound method to combine them into a composite large-scale Formation.

A satisfied expression appeared on Chu Xuanjin's face.

The uncut jade had already begun to shine.

But it was not enough.

His figure moved, and the next moment, he appeared in front of Ye Chenfeng's courtyard gate.

He did not knock on the door, just stood there quietly.

The Sword Qi inside the courtyard suddenly retracted.

Ye Chenfeng's figure appeared, standing with his sword held, his aura more steady and profound than half a month ago.

"Revered Master." He bowed to salute.

Chu Xuanjin nodded.

"The sword is fast, which is a good thing."

"But your sword has still not been stained with real blood."

He did not say much more, turning and walking towards Su Linger's courtyard.

Sensing the aura, Su Linger hurriedly retracted her Cultivation Technique and went out to salute.

"No matter how lifelike the ice sculptures are, they are ultimately dead objects." Chu Xuanjin looked at the ice sculptures in her courtyard.

"True Ice Magic freezes the vitality of the enemy, not a handful of rootless water."

Finally, he arrived at Wang Duojin's door.

Sensing the Revered Master's arrival, Wang Duojin hurriedly dismantled the Formation in a fluster and ran out to open the door.

"Revered Master! Look at what I..."

"No matter how ingenious the Formation deduction is, if it cannot trap or kill the enemy, it is merely building a tower on sand, collapsing at a single push."

Chu Xuanjin interrupted him.

He looked at the three Disciples in front of him who had already begun to show their potential, and spoke slowly.

"Shutting yourselves away to work behind closed doors ends here."

"Pack up."

"We are going down the mountain."