Chapter 81: Seclusion
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Xie Fengtang didn’t dare to believe his ears.
He stared at Tang Jie. “You said you memorized three spells?”
“To be more precise, three and a half,” Tang Jie replied.
He wasn’t worried about shocking anyone, directly stating that he had learned three and a half.
The reason he did so was that he would eventually have to use the spell arts he had learned. If he said that he had only memorized one, then he would only be able to use one in the future. How would he explain things if he then used a second?
Since that was the case, he might as well make himself a genius. My memorization ability is just that good! What about it?
Other people could have nine-cycle Jade Gates, so why couldn’t he have the talent of incredible memory?
He had said “three and a half” because Tang Jie estimated that this was about what he could accomplish in the next ten years.
The spell arts of the Divine Firmament Sword Classic couldn’t be compared to the spell arts of the floors below. Each one was deep and broad and could be used all the way to Celestial Heart or Violet Palace without a problem, growing stronger alongside the user.
But for the same reason, these spell arts were extremely difficult to cultivate.
Unlike pure spells like the Aqualight Shroud, the spell arts of the Divine Firmament Sword Classic were not solely spell arts. They also had their specific cultivation mantra. Only when one reached a certain proficiency in the mantra could one use the spell arts at their full effectiveness.
Thus, Tang Jie estimated that mastering three spells in ten years was already pretty good. He said “three and a half” to leave himself a back-up in case he progressed faster than expected. If he needed to add an extra spell, he could just shout, “I finally remember everything regarding the fourth spell!” Thus, the half spell would become a full spell.
The memory formation had recorded more than just these spell arts, of course, and so most of them would be wasted, but… who would care?
Just keeping them there to look at was fine.
Xie Fengtang’s jaw dropped, and he asked in a trembling tone, “Which three?”
He automatically ignored the “half”.
Tang Jie replied, “Violet Lightning Lunge, Formless Golden Body, and Divine Court Thousandshift. But, Headmaster, I memorized them in haste, and I worry that I might forget something if too long passes.”
He looked at Xie Fengtang like someone who badly needed to go to the toilet, his expression screaming, “Any questions can wait for later, and I just barely memorized these, so let me go and practice them first.”
In truth, he hadn’t memorized a single word of these three spells. He was just worried that Xie Fengtang wouldn’t believe him and would ask him about the mantras for these spells. Since he naturally couldn’t answer, he naturally needed an excuse to get out.
Fortunately, his reason was a good one. Any disciple of the Basking Moon Sect that managed to learn part of these two treasured arts would be anxious to rush back home, often not emerging for ten days to half a month. These people didn’t want to come out until they could recite most of the mantra, and might even go so far as to circulate energy while taking a piss.
Xie Fengtang didn’t feel it was right to stop him. After staring at Tang Jie in a daze for a while, he finally said, “Alright, go on.”
Tang Jie voiced his thanks and then flew back to the Carefree House.
Xie Fengtang watched him excitedly rush off, and his lips trembled as he said, “Tried to steal the chicken and ended up losing the rice…”
He then realized that this kid was a rare talent if he could memorize three spell arts in only two hours.
Oh, that meant that even if he wasn’t Tang Jiye, he was at least a genius, so taking him as an outer disciple couldn’t be considered a loss, right?
Xie Fengtang found the situation much easier to accept.
The supreme self-consoling art could be found everywhere.
Upon returning to the Carefree House, Tang Jie activated the formation and then hung up a sign saying that he was busy cultivating and not seeing anyone. In any case, everyone knew about what he had just gone through.
After all that, he finally began to study the three spell arts that he had named.
In those two hours, Tang Jie basically hadn’t had anything to do besides laying down the formation, so he had decided to look through all the thousand-some spells so that he knew what was going on. Others would spend a few minutes selecting and the rest of the time memorizing, but he spent all of the time besides the time needed for laying down the formation on selection, and so he had chosen the spell arts that would naturally be the best for him.
Tang Jie’s first selection was the Violet Lightning Lunge.
As one could tell from the name, this was a spell art that could be used both for escape and for combat.
In the Divine Firmament Sword Classic, the Violet Lightning Lunge was the one of the fastest spell arts. Its only flaws were its immense consumption of spiritual energy and its short duration, meaning that it couldn’t be used for long trips. However, for short-term sprints and close combat, it was extremely useful, good for attacking and for escaping. Besides that, it could be used with flight spell arts to increase one’s flying speed.
The Formless Golden Body was a powerful spell art that would increase the toughness of one’s body and one’s physical strength. This was different from the Hundred Refinement Period of the Mortal Shedding Realm. The Hundred Refinement Period was meant to permanently modify the physical body, whereas the Formless Golden Body was a spell art that only temporarily boosted the body’s toughness and strength. However, it had an excellent effect, making the entire body as tough as steel and as strong as an earth dragon, supporting close combat in both offense and defense.
Spell arts that strengthened the body normally focused on either toughness or strength. Only high-ranking spell arts like the Formless Golden Body could do both, and superbly.
As it was a spell art, even though Tang Jie already had a tough body, he could still enjoy the benefits.
Truthfully, he had chosen it because he needed an excuse for his strong constitution. Before entering combat, he would just act out the Formless Golden Body’s formula, and whether he actually used it or not would depend on the situation he faced.
Anyone who thought that Tang Jie would be low in spiritual energy because of this would probably miscalculate and face misfortune.
As for the third spell, the Divine Court Thousandshift, it was a weapon spell.
This spell art’s greatest property was that it could be used with any kind of weapon.
He had chosen this spell art because of the Martial Lord’s Weapon Mantra.
Although the Weapon Mantra seemed to do nothing but destroy weapons and other magic tools, Tang Jie had developed a few ideas when it came to that golden grain.
With a thought, he summoned from his body the golden grain produced from the destruction of three spell weapons.
The destruction of one spell weapon had produced a grain of sand so tiny that it was almost unnoticeable, but now, the grain of sand was big enough that he could see it in his hand and feel its toughness.
Tang Jie rolled the grain of sand around in his fingers as he circulated the Weapon Mantra. The grain of sand gradually lengthened until it became like a hair.
“As expected,” Tang Jie chuckled.
He looked at this almost invisible golden thread and pulled, but the golden thread didn’t snap.
“Not bad!” Excited, Tang Jie circulated the Energy Needle, gathering spiritual power on his fingers. He threw out the golden needle, upon which the golden thread penetrated through the wooden door, leaving a tiny, almost imperceptible, hole.
The small demonstration was a big success, and Tang Jie was elated.
But a moment later, he paled. “Shit! Where did I throw it to?”
He rushed out and began to search.
After searching for a while, Tang Jie finally sensed the little golden grain and found the golden thread sticking out of a pile of dirt.
Tang Jie was verging on tears as he looked at the golden thread.
This thing was far too small. If he threw it too far, he might not find it for several days!
No, once it got a little bigger, its presence would also be stronger, making it somewhat easier to find.
But there was no telling how many weapons he would have to destroy to bring it to a usable level. Tang Jie was left utterly speechless by the secret arts of the Martial Lord.
Besides the three aforementioned spells, Tang Jie had also prepared a fourth spell, the Jade Shattering Finger—an extremely powerful armor-piercing spell art. It was able to undo many kinds of defensive spell arts, including the Godhead Armor.
And he cultivated the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra, which was the ideal support for the Jade Shattering Finger, making it twice as powerful.
But Xie Fengtang hadn’t asked, so Tang Jie hadn’t bothered to mention it. If necessary, he could exchange it for another spell. In any case, there were tons of spell arts on the formation diagram that he could choose at his leisure.
Tang Jie was in no rush to practice and would first carefully study them… There was plenty of time to cultivate.
Half a month went by in the blink of an eye.
When Tang Jie emerged from seclusion, he was no longer worried about any interrogation from Xie Fengtang.
Alas, Xie Fengtang wasn’t interested. On the contrary, Wei Tianchong was in a rush to meet him.
His heart had almost shattered from all the waiting.
“You’re my servant student!” he howled as he grabbed Tang Jie’s arm. “Disappearing for half a month, how were you a servant in any way?”
Tang Jie helplessly smiled. “I was in seclusion.”
“Hmph, true, a legacy from the ninth floor of Heaven One!” Wei Tianchong grunted. “What I don’t get is how you could get such excellent treatment at Basking Moon Academy. Getting a fish scale, spirit medicine, a legacy, and I even heard that the crane fiend gifted you a feather! Why is it that I didn’t get anything…?”
His eyes were brimming with envy and resentment.
Tang Jie didn’t know what to say. He could only remind him, “Mind your words. It’s ‘Senior Crane’ or ‘Senior Bai’.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like she’s here,” Wei Tianchong casually said.
“When it comes to some things, you should pay attention to them at all times to develop a habit.”
“This is the only thing bad about you. You care too much about these things. Don’t you ever get tired?” Wei Tianchong said, shaking his head.
“That’s how I got a crane feather and fish scale,” Tang Jie breezily replied.
Wei Tianchong was dumbfounded, and he dropped his head and earnestly thought about it. He soberly said, “Tang Jie, you’re right. You were able to get so much while I got nothing not because of any sort of favor from the heavens, but because you worked harder than me. I shouldn’t envy you!”
Tang Jie was dumbfounded and wondered how this kid had suddenly had a change in nature that made him so understanding. He hurriedly said, “Third Young Master, you finally understand. Then from now on, we can work hard together…”
Before he could finish, Wei Tianchong waved his hand. “Work hard? That’s too tiring. I’m not interested.”
“Then why…”
“What I’m trying to say is that you were rewarded for your hard work, and since you worked a lot, you naturally deserved a lot. As for me, I don’t like too much hard work and suffering, so I’ll just put in a little less work and get a little less. I can’t put everything on the line for my dreams, but I can at least fulfill some of my desires! In the future, no matter how much you get, your young master won’t envy you. You see? I’m getting more and more sensible, right?” Wei Tianchong threw his head back and laughed.
Tang Jie was rendered utterly speechless. All he could do was give a thumbs-up. “You win!”
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