Nie Kong looked left and right, observing the spirit masters sweating profusely as they diligently cultivated, his eyes wide with wonder. Everywhere he looked, there were spirit masters practicing the five elements: the clear blue of water spirit power, the fiery red of fire, the pale yellow of earth, the faint azure of wind, and the deep violet of lightning.

As he walked, bursts of thunderous sound erupted, mixed with the shimmering brilliance of colored rays, dazzling Nie Kong. For the past few days, Nie Kong had mostly been cultivating behind closed doors. Seeing such a massive training scene for the first time, he paused frequently to watch. The dazzling array of elemental spirit arts made his own heart itch with desire.

Unfortunately, throughout the history of the entire Tianling Continent, the number of wood element spirit masters could be counted on two hands, and few had ever surpassed the level of Spirit Control. This was even more true within the Nie family.

The Nie family had resided in Jiyang City for three hundred years, and Nie Kong was the only wood element spirit master to emerge. His older brother, Nie Qiong, was also wood element, but had never cultivated.

Watching them, Nie Kong felt a twinge of worry. The only spirit art he currently possessed was "Flower Burst." However, this combat skill, which Xiangxiang had comprehended upon leveling up, required them to work in tandem. If Xiangxiang were to suddenly fall into a deep sleep or some other accident occurred, he would be unable to deploy his spirit art, putting him in grave danger when facing an enemy.

After a long moment, Nie Kong collected himself and made his way to the northwest corner of the training grounds.

This area held a sparse grove of trees, with many washbasin-sized logs interspersed among the gaps. These logs were called "Crimson Bloodwood." They were both hard and resilient, capable of withstanding thousands of full-force attacks from a Spirit Fusion master without cracking. The most marvelous thing was that this Crimson Bloodwood had been specially treated by the Nie family's Spirit Engravers. The spirit patterns etched onto the surface of the wood could faithfully reflect the intensity of every blow received.

Like Spirit Pharmacists, Spirit Engravers had also branched off from Spirit Masters. As for what spirit patterns were, Nie Kong still didn't fully grasp it. He only knew they were an extremely profound type of inscription. Once etched by a Spirit Engraver, these patterns could communicate with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, yielding truly miraculous effects.

Weapons used by Spirit Masters, after being inscribed with spirit patterns, could have their power magnified exponentially. The drawback was that Spirit Engravers were exceedingly rare; within the entire Nie family, there was only one—the Second Elder. The weapons used by the Nie family's most important members were almost all crafted personally by the Second Elder. Occasionally, the Second Elder would bestow weapons inscribed with spirit patterns as rewards to clan members who had made outstanding contributions to the family, who would invariably wear such gifts as a great honor.

Of course, these things felt distant to Nie Kong. What he needed now was to rapidly increase his cultivation level to command sufficient attention within the Nie family. In the Nie family, the higher one's cultivation, the more resources one could access, such as the spiritual medicines in the Spirit Medicine Hall. Once reaching the Spirit Communication realm, one could enter the second floor of the hall or cultivate in the Ice Flame Cave in the rear mountains—conditions that would further accelerate cultivation speed.

...

A moment later, before a Crimson Bloodwood log.

"Flower Burst!"

The words flashed through his mind. Nie Kong struck out with his right palm. Just as his palm was about to make contact with the wood, a faint, shadowy green flower sprouted forth and exploded with a roar.

With a bang, the swirling, gibberish-like patterns on the surface of the Crimson Bloodwood suddenly flared to life, releasing a faint green glow. The weaker the light, the lower the intensity of the attack the wood had sustained.

Nie Kong was not discouraged. This "Flower Burst" was significantly stronger than yesterday's attempt, primarily due to his cultivation level having advanced to the sixth stage of Spirit Gathering.

Squinting in thought for a moment, Nie Kong's right palm struck out again.

The execution of Flower Burst was rather complex. First, Nie Kong had to circulate the Five Stars Shifting Art to vibrate the three apertures of his spirit and mind. Then, spirit power flowed through the three roots clinging to the apertures into the small sprout's body. After converging, it surged out from the Yaochi acupoint like a ripple, extending along the meridians toward his right palm. During this process, Nie Kong had to focus on condensing his spirit power as much as possible. When the spirit power surged out of his palm in the shape of a flower, Nie Kong would suddenly release it, causing the flower to explode.

This explosion spread from the center of the stamen outward to the petals. Before the blast, the more condensed the spirit power, the greater the resulting explosive force. Currently, Nie Kong's twelve main meridians were not yet fully cleared, making spirit power transmission rather cumbersome. This required Nie Kong to exercise superior control over his ability.

Although the entire process sounded complicated, in practice, it took only a single thought to execute.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

Nie Kong struck out, palm after palm.

The Crimson Bloodwood seemed to transform into the light bulbs of Nie Kong’s past life, and his hand became the switch. Amidst the resonant impacts, the log flickered with a highly rhythmic pattern, its faint green luminescence standing out conspicuously among the other logs radiating the blue, red, yellow, green, and purple glows.

"Look, the Crimson Bloodwood is emitting green light—that guy is cultivating wood spirit power!"

A boy, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, acted as if he had stumbled upon a rare treasure, nudging his companion with a mixture of novelty and astonishment.

"Whoa, it really is wood spirit power," the companion replied, pausing his own training and widening his eyes in surprise.

"Didn't they say our Nie family only has one wood attribute member? I heard that person was sickly since childhood, and even the Ninth Elder couldn't help him. His brother died from the illness."

"I know the person you mean. I think his name is Nie... Nie Kong. After being detected as wood attribute, he stubbornly insisted on cultivating, and he's still only at the first stage of Spirit Gathering. How pitiful."

"Oh, that's Nie Kong. I know him too. Tsk tsk, his sister-in-law is really beautiful, so vibrant. Every time I see her, I get a little stirred up. Why did that sickly ghost Nie Qiong get to marry such a pretty wife? It's such a waste, really."

"..."

Without realizing it, nearly ten people had gathered ten meters behind Nie Kong. However, no one dared to interfere with his practice. Disturbing a clan member's cultivation was something Spirit Masters in the Nie family were repeatedly drilled on since their time in the Spirit Child Courtyard.

Listening to the chatter, a well-informed youth chuckled smugly, "Heh heh, you guys are too ignorant. That news is long outdated! I heard Nie Kong's cultivation already broke through the first stage of Spirit Gathering. He entered the Spirit Medicine Hall twice this month. The first time was the day before yesterday; his cultivation was at the third stage of Spirit Gathering then."

"Yesterday, he went to the Spirit Medicine Hall again. Before entering, he struck the 'Spirit Testing Stone' with his palm, which stunned both Elder Uncle Qingfeng and Qinghong." As the surprised crowd stared, the youth's eyes darted around shrewdly, and he said mysteriously, "Guess why?"

"Why?"

"Impossible! What capabilities does he have to stun two Elder Uncles?"

"Just keep making things up, who would believe you!"

"..."

"That's why I say you're too ignorant. When Nie Kong struck the stone, the display showed 'Fifth Stage Spirit Gathering'!" The youth glanced dismissively at the others.

As soon as the words fell, the surrounding crowd erupted in an uproar:

"Advancing two stages overnight? How is that possible? You must be lying!"

"Is that real or not? What spiritual medicine did he consume?"

"Which first-grade spiritual medicine allows a two-stage boost? Rejuvenation Dew increases by one stage, and Snow Spirit Pill increases by one stage. Did he take both consecutively?"

"You need to think before you speak. Can you take such cultivation-boosting spiritual medicines consecutively? There should be at least a three-month interval for them to take effect."

"That's strange. He cultivated for ten years just to reach the first stage of Spirit Gathering, and now he's suddenly soaring. Does the wood attribute spirit master cultivate with such explosive potential later on?"

"Do you think this person could actually be Nie Kong?"

"Unlikely. Based on the Crimson Bloodwood's reaction, his cultivation is at least the sixth stage of Spirit Gathering. If he isn't Nie Kong, who could it be? We haven't heard of any other wood element masters in our Nie family."

"Let me see, let me see... Oh my god, you guessed right! He really is Nie Kong! My house is just across an alley from his; I saw him run past my door yesterday morning..."

"Hiss! Hiss..."

A chorus of sharp intakes of breath sounded. The sixteen or seventeen people who had gathered exchanged looks, stunned speechless.

He was at the fifth stage of Spirit Gathering yesterday at the Spirit Medicine Hall entrance, and now he was the sixth stage? Didn't that mean Nie Kong had advanced another stage overnight? Previously slow to an astonishing degree, now frighteningly fast—was the cultivation speed of a wood element master actually this... bizarre?