Sitting cross-legged, he began to absorb spiritual energy. Just like that, about half an hour passed when the sound of a bell reached his ears. The disciples, who had been chatting casually, immediately stopped talking and lined up in order. William Clark also joined the back of the line.

A middle-aged man walked in. On the surface, he looked to be a little over forty, but he was certainly older than that. As cultivators advance in their realms, their lifespans are extended and aging slows down.

“Master!”

All the disciples bowed in greeting. According to the rules of Piaoyun Valley, every instructor who teaches them cultivation techniques must be addressed with such respect.

“My name is Henry Bolton, and I will teach you the secrets of the Spiritual Energy Shield.”

The Spiritual Energy Shield, as the name suggests, is the act of channeling spiritual power to the surface of the body to form a protective barrier. It is the most basic defensive spell for cultivators.

The disciples immediately became excited, whispering to each other.

Except for William Clark, who was an ordinary person, the disciples with spiritual roots had, after three years of cultivation, mostly reached the third or fourth layer of their techniques. After entering the mid-stage of Spirit Movement, they could already learn some simple minor spells.

“What’s all this noise? Quiet!” Seeing the chaos below, Henry Bolton’s face darkened.

Seeing the instructor angry, the disciples immediately fell silent.

Next, Henry Bolton began to explain in detail how to circulate spiritual power and the important details to pay attention to. William Clark listened very carefully. In fact, with his current cultivation, he was not yet able to use the Spiritual Energy Shield, but he made sure to memorize the method so that he could practice it once his power was sufficient.

“All right, practice on your own.” After finishing his explanation, Henry Bolton left the Young Eagle Pavilion. Whether the disciples could master the technique now depended on their own comprehension.

William Clark also left. He first returned to his own quarters—a simple wooden hut. High-level cultivators all had their own caves, but low-level disciples like him lived in very basic conditions.

Inside the hut, there was only a table, a chair, and a wooden bed. William Clark opened the drawer of the table, took out paper and pen, and recorded the method for cultivating the Spiritual Energy Shield that he had learned today.

This had been his habit for the past three years. Because he had no spiritual root and could not keep up with his peers in cultivation speed, after every lesson, William Clark would write down what he heard. Many things he could not practice yet, but he would save them for future study. Writing them down meant he would not forget.

After finishing his notes, William Clark carefully put away the notebook filled with cultivation techniques, then went to the Heart-Refining Path in the back mountain, following the path down to the spot where he had practiced two days before.

The spiritual energy became richer and richer. William Clark stopped. This was the place—he could not go any further. The deeper one went on the Heart-Refining Path, the more terrifying the illusions became.

Suddenly, the scene changed. Before his eyes appeared a world of white—thousands of miles frozen, snow swirling for miles, and the cold wind howling.

In no time, the snow had buried his ankles, and in an instant, he felt as if he had been frozen stiff. William Clark’s heart tightened. Could the illusions change at random? Last time, he had endured the pain of being burned by fire; this time, it was endless, bitter cold.

After a moment of silence, William Clark sat cross-legged in the snow with a blank expression, beginning to absorb the spiritual energy around him.

Very soon, his body was frozen stiff. Even William Clark’s hair had turned into icicles, but he still sat motionless in the snow. He persisted for more than twenty minutes before running out of the illusion to rest for a while and move his body. Once he had recovered a bit, he immediately threw himself back into cultivation.

……

The cold wind howled, and the snowflakes turned into countless sharp ice blades flying toward William Clark, but the young man still sat meditating on the ground like a rock.

Two days later, William Clark stood up expressionlessly. After hesitating for a moment, he continued deeper into the Heart-Refining Path. The spiritual energy here was still not pure enough. To break through his bottleneck, he needed even purer spiritual energy. Resolutely, he walked toward even more terrifying illusions...

Chapter Four: Object Manipulation Technique

The ice blades cut into his body, causing excruciating pain. The cold sweat on William Clark’s forehead quickly froze as well. Enduring pain that ordinary people could not bear, William Clark continued to cultivate with all his might.

Dots of light danced in the sky—these were spiritual energy. Normally, cultivators could not see them; only when the energy was pure enough could it be perceived.

What William Clark needed to do was absorb these dots of spiritual energy into his body. Such pure energy was much easier to refine into magical power.

Because he could see them, absorbing them was not difficult, but the prerequisite was to endure the pain of the ice blades biting into his body.

One after another, the dots of spiritual energy were absorbed into his body. Following the sect’s mental technique, William Clark gathered them all into his dantian, forming a cluster of spiritual energy.

The next step was to refine it. The cluster of spiritual energy spun continuously in his dantian, shrinking in size but growing denser in color.

Finally, it transformed into a stream of spiritual power, dispersing throughout his dantian.

At this point, William Clark’s endurance had reached its limit, and he hurriedly ran out of the illusion’s range.

Collapsing to the ground, William Clark gasped for breath, not wanting to move even a finger.

……

This process repeated over and over for several hours. Not until nightfall did William Clark head toward the exit of the Heart-Refining Path.

“Did you hear? That disciple without a spiritual root went to the Heart-Refining Path to cultivate.”

“Yeah, I heard Uncle Mason saw it with his own eyes.”