82: Chapter 82 Sacrifice Training

Morning light filtered through the window lattice, casting several neat patches of light onto the floor of the Quiet Room.

Lin Xuan slowly finished his cultivation, and when he opened his eyes, a wisp of purple lightning quietly faded from his pupils.

He felt the surging Thunder Spiritual Energy within his Dantian—the barrier to Qi Refining Level 4 was now so thin it was almost transparent, as if a gentle poke could break it.

"It has been a month."

He whispered to himself, then stood up to stretch his muscles and bones.

A full month had passed since he resigned from his work at the herb garden. The newly established routine had been strictly followed, and the results were even better than expected.

Two hours of daily morning practice of the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art, utilizing the vigorous vitality between heaven and earth as the rising sun emerged, made the circulation of Thunder Spiritual Energy exceptionally smooth.

Afterward, he would draw one or two Thunder Shield Talismans; his success rate had steadily improved and was now approaching 80 percent.

In the afternoon, he would unfailingly head to the Gravity Valley. The pressure in the 4.5-times gravity zone, initially unbearable, could now be endured for an hour and a half.

Deacon Zhao Tieshan, who guarded the valley, would occasionally offer a few words of guidance; he didn't say much, but every word hit the mark.

The time for talisman crafting from evening until the hour of the Rat was split into two segments: he would draw one in the hour of the Rooster and another in the hour of the Dog. This way, his Mental Energy was distributed more evenly, making the quality of the talismans more stable.

Contribution points trickled in like a stream, continuously flowing into his identity jade token. After deducting the necessary monthly expenses for Medicinal Pills, talisman paper, and Body Refining medicinal ingredients, his net savings were around six hundred points.

Lin Xuan took out the jade token and probed it with his Divine Sense.

Balance: 1,983 points.

This number made him feel more at ease. There was an important matter to attend to today.

At three-quarters past the hour of the Dragon, at Liufeng Pavilion in the market.

The round-faced shopkeeper was cleaning the counter with a feather duster. Seeing Lin Xuan enter, his eyes lit up: "Junior Brother Lin! Are you here for that cloud-piercing shuttle?"

"Indeed," Lin Xuan said, walking to the counter. "The final payment is ready."

"Easy, easy!" The shopkeeper put down the duster, took out the familiar long wooden box from under the counter, and opened the lid.

The foot-long silver flying shuttle lay quietly on a velvet cushion. Its body had perfect aerodynamic lines, and the cyan wind patterns glimmered with a delicate luster in the morning light.

The head of the shuttle was sharp, the three tail fins were as thin as cicada wings, and the whole thing exuded an air of lightness and speed.

Lin Xuan reached out to pick it up; it was lighter than expected, weighing about seven or eight jin.

He injected a trace of Thunder Spiritual Energy to inspect it, and the talisman array structure inside the shuttle was clearly perceptible—the core consisted of two nested array patterns: one for speed and one for concealment.

The array patterns were connected smoothly, the nodes were solid, and it was indeed a rare, top-quality item among Rank 1 Magical Artifacts.

"Shopkeeper, check the goods," he said, handing over his identity jade token.

The shopkeeper took the token and operated the Formation Plate for a moment; 1,170 contribution points were deducted. The token's balance dropped to 813 points.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother, this cloud-piercing shuttle is yours now." The shopkeeper smiled and pushed a pale cyan Jade Slip along with the wooden box toward him. "This contains the operating techniques and maintenance tips. Also..."

He lowered his voice: "Let me, as an older brother, offer a word of advice. This cloud-piercing shuttle is fast and has good concealment, but it consumes quite a lot of Spiritual Qi when activated."

"A Middle Stage Cultivator at the Qi Refining level, when activating it at full power, will see their Spiritual Qi bottom out in at most half an hour. It would be much better and less strenuous if you used Spirit Stones to power it."

Lin Xuan nodded: "Thank you for the reminder, Shopkeeper."

He had indeed felt it. When he inspected it earlier, the "thirst" for Spiritual Qi from those two core array patterns was very obvious; it was clearly not something that could be used sparingly.

"It's only right," the shopkeeper rubbed his hands. "Junior Brother, if you need any more flight Magical Artifacts in the future, or if your friends have any needs, feel free to come to Liufeng Pavilion. Our goods are authentic, and we never cheat our customers!"

Lin Xuan cupped his hands in farewell. As he walked out of the shop, the spring sunlight was perfect, and people were coming and going on the market street.

He touched the wooden box in his Storage Pouch, and a real sense of security welled up in his heart.

With this thing, he had much more confidence for traveling, escaping, and exploring dangerous places.

Returning to the small courtyard's Quiet Room, Lin Xuan set up a simple sound-insulation formation before taking out the cloud-piercing shuttle.

Following the method in the Jade Slip, he bit his fingertip and squeezed out a drop of essence blood onto the shuttle body.

The moment the essence blood touched the silver shuttle, it was as if it had been dripped onto a sponge, and it was quickly absorbed completely.

The shuttle body trembled slightly, the wind patterns on its surface lit up with cyan light one by one, and it let out a low hum.

Lin Xuan held the flying shuttle with both hands and circulated the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art, slowly injecting pure Thunder Spiritual Energy into it.

The ritual refining process lasted for half an hour.

When the last trace of Spiritual Qi was withdrawn, Lin Xuan moved his mind slightly, and the cloud-piercing shuttle floated up lightly, circling slowly around him as if it were an extension of his own arm.

"Let's go into the space and try it out."

He moved his mind again, his figure disappeared from the Quiet Room, and the next moment he appeared in the Spirit-Taming Tower Space.

The scene within the space was the same as always. The spirit field was lush, the thunder essence fruit tree had grown to six feet tall, its canopy spread out, and its purple-black leaves moved without wind in the dense Thunder Spiritual Energy.

The thunder-attracting vine climbed the bamboo trellis; the small cyan-purple fruit at the top had grown a circle larger, now the size of a longan, with fine electrical sparks flowing across its surface.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse was drilling back and forth in the thunder-pattern grass. Seeing Lin Xuan, it squeaked and darted over, climbing up his trouser leg to his shoulder.

The little guy's fur was glossy, its dark purple luster had deepened, and its aura was faintly fluctuating—it was not far from a Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 2.

The Pangolin poked half of its head out of the underground cave, and dark golden thunder patterns flashed across its scales and vanished.

Lin Xuan smiled and threw out the cloud-piercing shuttle.

"Big!"

Driven by his mental intent, the foot-long silver shuttle grew in the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a seven-foot-long, two-foot-wide streamlined flying boat. Silver light flowed over the shuttle body, and the cyan wind patterns moved slowly like living things.

Lin Xuan leaped into the shuttle.

The interior space had indeed been expanded, with more than enough room for three or four people to sit.

The shuttle walls were translucent, allowing a clear view of the outside scene, but looking in from the outside, there was only a blur of silver light—this was the effect of the concealment array patterns.

"Go."

Thunder Spiritual Energy was injected into the core array patterns of the shuttle body.

"Hum—"

The cloud-piercing shuttle vibrated gently, and the next moment it shot out like an arrow from a bowstring!

Fast!

Lin Xuan only felt the scenery on both sides retreating rapidly; the spirit field, thunder-attracting vine, and thunder essence fruit tree turned into blurred patches of color.

The silver shuttle traced streaks of afterimages within the space, turning, climbing, and diving with incredible agility.

What was even more wonderful was that, despite flying at such high speed, it only stirred up a light breeze outside the shuttle, and the Spiritual Qi fluctuations were quietly covered by a layer of invisible "flowing wind."

If not seen with his own eyes, it would be very easy to overlook it by relying solely on Divine Sense perception.

"It really is a good thing." Lin Xuan felt happy in his heart.

But soon, he noticed a problem.

After flying for only a few dozen breaths, nearly 10 percent of the Thunder Spiritual Energy in his Dantian had been consumed! And this was while he was deliberately controlling the speed and not activating it at full power.

"The shopkeeper was right; it really does consume Spiritual Qi." Lin Xuan controlled the flying shuttle to land slowly, calculating in his heart, "For normal travel, using 30 percent speed is enough, which consumes less Spiritual Qi. If escaping or in an emergency, then I'll activate it at full power. Usually... I really must prepare some Spirit Stones."

He leaped out of the shuttle, and the cloud-piercing shuttle shrank and flew back into his hand.

This time, he did not put it back into the Storage Pouch, but instead took it directly into his Dantian to nourish it.

The closer the connection between a Magical Artifact and its owner, the smoother it is to control, and at critical moments, being even a fraction faster is a good thing.