Along the base of the wall in the small courtyard, forty wooden stakes of varying heights were driven into the ground, spaced irregularly from one zhang to five or six zhang apart, forming a complete circuit around the enclosure.

That early morning, a figure clad in azure, moving with the swiftness of a swallow, darted around the stakes in the courtyard at incredible speed. Their toes barely brushed the tops of the stakes—some high, some low, some near, some far—before they launched themselves several zhang across the open space. The speed and fluidity of this movement rivaled any first-rate qinggong technique known in the martial world.

The azure shadow completed one full circuit around the stakes in the small courtyard in a mere dozen breaths.

After practicing for a solid half hour, completing nearly a thousand laps around the enclosure, the figure in blue suddenly halted. They stood motionless by a stake, hands clasped behind their back, robes fluttering gently. The transition from blinding speed to absolute stillness occurred in the space of a single instant.

“This Yufeng Shu truly lives up to its reputation as an immortal art. As long as the magical power flows, it can be sustained indefinitely with minimal drain on physical stamina. It must be perfectly suited for long-distance travel.”

Ye Qin secretly praised the technique. He felt almost no physical fatigue, only a slight depletion of his fali. He suspected it would take several days of continuous Yufeng Shu use to completely exhaust the fali stored within his body.

Having finished practicing the Wind Riding Art, the next order of business was the Wind Binding Art.

Of the seven fundamental spells taught to him by Nan Tianba—Yufeng Shu, Fengfu Shu, Liusha Shu, Chanrao Shu, Tudun Shu, Shuidun Shu, and Mudu Shu—Ye Qin had no concrete idea about the effectiveness or utility of each. He couldn't discern which spell was the most practical and which might prove largely useless.

To truly understand their differing effects, Ye Qin knew he had only one recourse: master them all first, and only then could he compare the strengths and weaknesses of these techniques. From that comparison, he could select the absolute best one for deep cultivation.

Ye Qin understood the adage about attempting too much at once leading to failure, but at this moment, he only lamented how few spell incantations he knew—he wished he knew them all. The profound sense of urgency instilled by Nan Tianba within the Purple Mansion drove him to dedicate virtually all his time to comprehending and practicing spells, refining elixirs, and cultivating his yuanqi, desperately seeking ways to enhance his strength.

Ye Qin leaped down from the stakes and approached an iron cage situated near the corner of the courtyard. He opened the latch and kicked a fierce, dark brown-furred wild boar, weighing several hundred jin, that was confined inside. This boar he had captured a few days prior deep in the mountains; only the most daring forest hunters would attempt to take down such a beast. Now, it served as his practice dummy.

The boar’s bristles stood on end, its eyes gleaming menacingly, and its sharp tusks were enough to make any observer tremble. Kicked by Ye Qin, it scrambled out on its short legs, squealing wildly and darting around the courtyard, aggressively trying to burst through the enclosure. It charged headlong into the earthen wall of the small yard, causing the structure to shudder violently, revealing several large cracks. One more solid impact, and the wall would surely collapse into dust.

Unrushed, Ye Qin extended his right hand, focused his mind, and began chanting the Fengfu Shu incantation. The calm spiritual energy within the courtyard began to fluctuate. Suddenly, a wisp of ethereal, light red energy, barely half a chi long, materialized, fluttering gracefully three inches above his fingertips.

“Go!”

With a sweep of his right hand, the jet of focused wind shot toward the wild boar thrashing frantically inside the yard. It wrapped instantly around the boar’s front legs. The charging animal abruptly pitched forward with a heavy thud, its tusks digging into the ground and kicking up a cloud of soil, causing the earth beneath to vibrate.

Though the wisp of energy appeared slight, it possessed astonishing resilience. The boar struggled mightily but could not break the binding force; it was tied up completely, unable to move, able only to snort viciously and bare its teeth at Ye Qin.

Ye Qin condensed another, even smaller stream of energy and flicked it out casually, binding the boar’s mouth shut, silencing its cries.

Ye Qin silently nodded at the effectiveness of the Fengfu Shu. To manage this binding, he had practiced the spell hundreds of times in the deep mountains over the preceding days until he could deploy it with fluid mastery.

Although the Fengfu Shu was categorized as a supplementary spell, it was currently his most powerful defensive tool, earning it Ye Qin’s particular affection. He practiced it frequently every day.

However, casting the Fengfu Shu exacted a tremendous cost in fali, consuming tens, even hundreds of times more energy than the Lingmu Shu or Yufeng Shu.

The Lingmu Shu and Yufeng Shu channeled fali through the eyes and the soles of his feet, respectively, resulting in minimal energy loss. But the Fengfu Shu was an externally projected spell that required sustained maintenance in the outside world, thus dramatically increasing the fali expenditure.

With Ye Qin currently only one-third of the way through the third layer of the Qi Refining stage, he could afford to cast the Fengfu Shu perhaps only a few dozen times a day before draining his entire reserve of fali. This required a full day of rest for his internal energy to slowly recover.

After successfully binding the ferocious boar, Ye Qin turned his gaze to the bare earth in the exact center of the courtyard. The scattered weeds within a radius of several zhang had been cleared, leaving only smooth, exposed dirt.

“Liusha Shu!”

He swiftly formed a mudra, pointed at the ground, and a thread of yellow fali shot from his fingertip, impacting the mud. His internal magical power flowed ceaselessly along his arm and fingers, sinking into the earth.

The previously hard, packed earth gradually softened, and a swirling vortex of quicksand, about the size of a bowl, began to rotate slowly. Though small, this vortex possessed frightening suction, seeming determined to pull everything nearby into its depths. The bound boar, lying sprawled on the ground, struggled in terror, trying desperately to drag itself away from the horrifying swirl, which was only a few zhang distant.

Time ticked by. As Ye Qin continued to channel his power, the earth transformed further; the quicksand vortex expanded more than ten times in scope, growing to the size of a wooden basin.

Ye Qin, whose expression had been relaxed, now saw his fali draining away rapidly, as if being pumped out, making his face turn a deep crimson. His body trembled slightly, and beads of sweat as large as beans streamed down his cheeks.

The output of fali was dangerously close to being interrupted at any moment.

Ye Qin gritted his teeth, forcing himself to continue pouring out energy, squeezing every last drop from his reserves.

He had discovered that each time he completely exhausted his fali to the absolute limit, the regeneration the following day resulted in a noticeably smoother flow of energy within his body. Even the fali stored in the smallest, most minute meridians would be activated, making it easier to mobilize those reserves the next time.

However, this effect was only potent during the initial stages of energy usage. Once all the channels were opened to their maximum capacity, this benefit became negligible. If the meridians solidified and could not be opened further, drawing upon the fali stored in every fine pathway would become difficult using this method.

By pushing himself to completely empty his reserves several times in succession, Ye Qin had already forced open the majority of the tiny, minute channels within his body.

He was challenging his own physical and spiritual limits.

Another quarter of an hour passed.

Ye Qin finally exhausted the very last trace of fali within him, sensing absolutely no residual energy left. Only then did he sigh in relief, withdrawing the technique and immediately sitting cross-legged to meditate and recover his strength.

Simultaneously, the Liusha Shu effect ceased.

In the center of the small courtyard, a vortex of quicksand nearly a zhang in diameter continued to churn slowly and persistently. Sand and stones from the surroundings were continuously drawn in. The boar let out a final cry as it was pulled into the vortex, vanishing within the swirling sand in the blink of an eye.