14: Chapter 14: The Deduction of the Fire-Seeking Talisman Encounters a Bottleneck

After the Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 4, Ye Qing felt the entire world become somewhat clearer.

It was not that his vision had improved, but his perception.

The thin flow of Spiritual Qi in the air, the breeze stirred by the movements of fellow disciples in the distance, even the subtle tremors of insects crawling in the corner—as long as he calmed his mind, he could vaguely sense them.

This made him increasingly cautious in his actions.

Every day, he appeared at the Library Pavilion on time, dressed in gray, head bowed, his Spiritual Qi fluctuations firmly anchored at the Early Stage of Qi Refining Stage 2, steady as an old dog.

When cleaning, the range and precision of his Dust Removal Technique had improved, but he deliberately controlled it, displaying a level only a sliver better than "proficient," which fit the progress a Utility Disciple of Qi Refining Stage 2 should have after months of hard practice.

Most of the time, he remained buried in piles of books.

However, his reading focus had quietly shifted to clues related to attack and defense.

The Jade Slip for "Introduction to Basic Talismans" had been "chewed over" countless times by him.

The several basic attack Talismans mentioned inside, such as the "Fireball Talisman," "Gold Blade Talisman," and "Ice Needle Talisman," only contained names, brief descriptions, and extremely crude schematic diagrams of the Talisman structures; they lacked core content like specific methods for manipulating Spiritual Qi, the stroke order for drawing runes, and key points for coordinating with Divine Sense.

Clearly, the Sect would not leave complete attack methods so casually on the first floor.

But Ye Qing was not discouraged.

He possessed a Comprehension Ability bolstered by the space, the experience accumulated from drawing Talismans in the Void Realm, and even scattered knowledge acquired from seemingly unrelated classics like "Identification of Low-level Ores," "Illustrated Handbook of Common Herbs," and even "Miscellaneous Notes of the Southern Wilderness."

"The Fireball Talisman, once activated, shoots out a fireball for burning damage. The Talisman structure uses the 'Li Fire Pattern' as the core, supplemented by a combination of basic runes like 'Spirit Gathering,' 'Solidifying,' and 'Rapid Shot'..."

"The structure of the Li Fire Pattern only has a rough outline on the Jade Slip, but 'Miscellaneous Notes of the Southern Wilderness' mentions that the sacrificial totems of certain volcanic tribes are three-tenths similar to this pattern, containing the meaning of 'explosion' and 'rising'..."

"I have initially mastered the three basic runes: Spirit Gathering, Solidifying, and Rapid Shot. Although not refined, I understand the structural principles."

"So, can I attempt a reverse deduction? Using known basic rune structures, combined with the 'imagery' of the Li Fire Pattern, to construct a simplified 'Pseudo-Fireball Technique' model in my mind—one that doesn't seek stable storage, but only instantaneous burst?"

Once this thought arose, it grew like wild grass.

Ye Qing did not immediately try to construct it in the Void Realm.

That was too dangerous; if he couldn't control it and the flame exploded, he didn't want to perform "spontaneous combustion on the spot" in the Library Pavilion.

He chose to deduce it in his mind.

Consciousness sank into the space, and that feeling of coolness, clarity, and accelerated thinking enveloped him.

The blurry outline of the Li Fire Pattern, the structural details of the Spirit Gathering, Solidifying, and Rapid Shot runes, and the scattered descriptions of "fire," "burning," and "explosion" obtained from various classics danced, collided, and combined before his "eyes" like countless points of light.

The space seemed to have become an invisible calculation hub, assisting him in conducting a high-difficulty "reverse engineering of runes" and "hypothesizing of Spell models."

Countless combinations were proposed, then quickly simulated, verified, and rejected.

Most combinations suffered from conflicting Spiritual Qi during the deduction, resulting in unstable structures that collapsed before they could even take shape.

A few could barely form, but the projected power was miserable—perhaps not even as good as a mortal torch—and they were extremely unstable, risking backlash.

Ye Qing was tireless.

Every failed deduction gave him a deeper understanding of the mutual generation and restraint between runes and the balance points of Spiritual Qi flow.

This process consumed a massive amount of Divine Sense.

If not for the space continuously feeding back cool energy to nourish his Divine Soul, he would have long since suffered from a splitting headache and been unable to continue.

Even so, several days of continuous deep-level deduction left his spirit noticeably exhausted.

To outsiders, this Utility Disciple named Ye Qing had become increasingly reticent lately, his eyes always seemed a bit dark, and he would occasionally zone out while working, as if he hadn't slept well.

"I'm afraid the Sect added more labor, and this kid is exhausted," some Utility Disciples whispered privately, with feelings of shared misery.

"With his Five Spiritual Root Aptitude, no matter how hard he tries, that's about it, sigh," others shook their heads and sighed.

Ye Qing was happy to be interpreted this way.

That afternoon, he was taking advantage of a sliver of sunlight leaking through the window lattice, frowning and deducing a new idea that involved slightly modifying the "Shape Stabilizing Rune" to attempt to constrain the direction of the "Li Fire" explosion.

The light and shadow at the door darkened.

"Junior Brother Ye, busy?"

A familiar voice rang out, carrying a hint of deliberate loftiness.

Ye Qing looked up to see Zhang Feng walking in, his cyan Outer Sect Disciple robes spotless, a bulging Storage Pouch hanging at his waist, and a somewhat smug smile on his face.

Behind him followed an unfamiliar Outer Sect Disciple, also dressed in clean, bright clothing with an arrogant expression.

"Senior Brother Zhang." Ye Qing put down the rag in his hand, stood up, and bowed, his expression his usual respectful and dull look.

"No need for formalities." Zhang Feng waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over Ye Qing, sensing that weak "Early Stage of Qi Refining Stage 2" Spiritual Qi, his mouth curled imperceptibly, then he smiled, "I heard you've been in this leisurely place, the Library Pavilion, for months. What good patience. Unlike us, running around all day, working for the Sect, rarely finding any peace."

His words sounded like a lament, but were actually showing off.

The Outer Sect Disciple beside him interjected: "Senior Brother Zhang is now a favorite in front of Junior Martial Uncle Chen. He went with the team to the periphery of the Black Wind Ravine the day before yesterday for reconnaissance and made some contributions. I heard the reward in Contribution Points was quite substantial."

"Where, where, just doing my duty." Zhang Feng was modest in speech, but his chin was raised higher, his gaze sweeping over the bookshelf, "I came today to find a classic on 'Handling of Low-level Yao Beast Materials.' The General Affairs Hall put me in charge of the preliminary sorting of some post-battle Materials. Junior Brother Ye, you are familiar with this place, do you know where it's kept?"

"On the second shelf from the right in the fifth row, middle layer." Ye Qing replied with his eyes lowered, the location precise.

"Oh? You remember it quite clearly." Zhang Feng was slightly surprised, took an extra look at Ye Qing, then smiled, "It seems this sweeping wasn't in vain. Let's go, Junior Brother Li, let's go find the book."

As the two spoke, they walked inside.

When passing Ye Qing, Zhang Feng's Storage Pouch was not fully tied, and a faint smell, mixed with blood and burnt odors, drifted out.

Ye Qing's nose twitched slightly.

It was Yao Beast blood, and... the burnt stench of fur scorched by fire.

This Zhang Feng really had gone to the front line and had close-quarters contact with battle.

"Senior Brother Zhang." Ye Qing suddenly spoke, his voice not loud.

"Hm?" Zhang Feng turned back.

"Senior Brother just said you went to the periphery of the Black Wind Ravine?" Ye Qing's tone carried a hint of well-measured curiosity and timidity, "Is it... are there many Yao Beasts there? Are they powerful?"

Zhang Feng, upon hearing this, showed an expression of "you finally asked the right person," and puffed out his chest.

"Many! How could there not be! Those wolf pups, iron-skinned wild boars, nest after nest of them!" He raised his voice a bit, carrying lingering fear mixed with showing off, "However, in front of your Senior Brother, they're not much! I formed a battle formation with several Senior Brothers, and with one 'Fire Snake Spell,' we burned those beasts until they were crying for their parents..."

The Junior Brother Li beside him coughed lightly.

Zhang Feng realized he had made a slip of the tongue and hurriedly stopped, but the smugness on his face remained, patting the Storage Pouch at his waist: "Anyway, Junior Brother Ye, just sweep the floor here, it's safe. The outside... is not a place you can go."

After speaking, he turned and went to find the book with Junior Brother Li.

Ye Qing stood where he was, head bowed, as if cowed by the Senior Brother's Aura.

Only he knew that a small ripple had just risen in his heart.

"Fire Snake Spell... is a group attack Spell commonly used by Middle Stage Cultivators; the power is decent, and the coverage is large. Since Zhang Feng and the others can cast this Spell, it seems the team configuration has at least one Middle Stage Cultivator..."

"More importantly, he mentioned 'battle formation'..."

Battle formation, a combined attack technique used by low-level Cultivators against strong enemies or beast herds to concentrate power and complement shortcomings. It usually requires specialized Formation Flags or Formation Plates for guidance, or long-term drilled tacit understanding.

Is the Qingyun Sect starting to drill battle formations even with Outer Sect Disciples and putting them into actual combat?

The situation is probably even more tense than imagined.

"Must hurry."

Ye Qing took a deep breath, suppressing the sense of urgency in his heart.

His gaze turned back to the window.

The idea for deducing the "Pseudo-Fireball Technique" seemed to have gained a bit more inspiration from actual combat.

The Fire Snake Spell is an area attack; the Fireball Technique is a single-target attack.

But perhaps certain traits of "fire" can be borrowed?

He sat back down by the window, his consciousness sinking into the space.

This time, the focus of the deduction was placed on how to use rune guidance to simulate a sliver of the essence of the "explosion" and "diffusion" characteristics of the "Fire Snake Spell" with limited Spiritual Qi, and integrate it into the single-point "Fireball."

He didn't seek range, only that bit of penetration and burning.

In his mind, countless points of light danced and combined again.

The Bottleneck seemed to be loosening bit by bit.