Chapter 223: A Year of Cultivation and Enlightenment – Training Room Testing

After two months away, the small courtyard remained unchanged.

With the formation activated, the courtyard clearly showed signs of being occupied, and naturally, no one had entered during his absence. Unless Yu Xian’s identity token was shattered, he was expelled from the sect, or he failed to return even once within five years, the sect would reclaim the property and make it available again.

With a casual wave of his hand, Yu Xian deactivated the formation and stepped inside. As he passed through, the barrier reactivated, shrouding the courtyard in protective stillness once more.

Inside, Yu Xian sat cross-legged and released the little phoenix cat from his beast pouch.

As for the Cloud Heron, its massive size made it better suited to stay inside the beast pouch, which ironically held a larger space than this small room.

He could have left it in the Spirit Beast Hall, like many Foundation Establishment disciples did with their mounts and battle beasts, paying a few spirit stones for safekeeping. But Yu Xian didn’t feel at ease leaving it with others. Since he had a beast pouch, there was no need.

A soft “meow” echoed as the phoenix cat landed gracefully, leapt onto the rafters, yawned, and lazily swayed its tail, clearly at ease.

Though small, the house was a real, tangible world.

The beast pouch, though spacious, was ultimately a false one. Between illusion and reality, the little cat clearly preferred the real world—especially since its master was present here.

Yu Xian gave it a glance and said plainly, “Cultivate well. Don’t laze around all day. I’ll begin secluded training now, so don’t disturb me.”

“Meow~.”

The little phoenix cat meowed in defiance, jumped down, and sauntered out with an air of indifference.

“The courtyard is fine to wander in, but don’t go outside. If someone mistakes you for a stray and captures you, I may not have time to rescue you.”

The cat meowed again as if in acknowledgment, turned a corner, and disappeared through the door.

Yu Xian shook his head and ignored it. With its intelligence, it would know what to do. Outside, the cat stretched and promptly began absorbing spiritual energy, cultivating using the Phoenix Cat Scripture.

Yu Xian, too, began running the Ten-Thousand-Year Wood Spring Art.

This time, he was utterly focused, immersing himself completely.

For spell cultivation, he trained the Ten-Thousand-Year Wood Spring Art.

For body cultivation, he continued the Grand Pill Body Forging Art.

He also practiced and deepened his understanding of various spells: Vine Art, Spirit-Linking Finger, Void Wave Art, Trinity Divine Thunder Art, Wooden Mind Connection, and Wood Yang Light Body Technique.

By the second month, he had fully mastered the Void Wave Art.

By the fourth month, he gained new insights into the Wooden Mind Connection.

Though he hadn’t had a breakthrough, the technique constantly washed his sea of consciousness with a cool clarity. It made his mind feel clear and alert—perhaps a precursor to greater gains.

By the eighth month, the Wood Yang Light Body Technique was fully mastered, enhancing his speed by 20%. That alone made the four months of training worth it.

Before he realized it, a year had passed.

Progress with the Ten-Thousand-Year Wood Spring Art was slow. The elm tree in his body had grown slightly but still far from reaching the peak of the Foundation Establishment middle stage. At this rate, it would take five more years to advance naturally.

Too long…

The fastest way now? Alchemy. Pills!

Preferably high-grade Tier-4 pills.

His Grand Pill Body Forging Art progressed even slower. Reaching the mid-tier of the Small Pill Body Realm still felt distant.

Still, he remained patient—persistent but not anxious.

Yu Xian raised a hand. In his palm, a small arc of green lightning crackled and danced. Under his divine control, it surged with growing precision.

For four months, he had been focusing on the Trinity Divine Thunder Art.

A white streak of lightning shot out and struck a central iron pillar with a deafening bang.

The pillar trembled, humming with resonance. A reddish-purple glow emerged.

Equivalent to the peak of Foundation Establishment!

Yu Xian nodded in satisfaction.

Next, he cast the Void Wave Art.

With a muffled boom, an invisible shockwave struck. The pillar wavered slightly and then glowed yellow-red.

Foundation Establishment mid-stage peak.

“The spell’s potential is high, but I haven’t fully understood it yet.”

Then came the Flame Jiao Technique.

A fiery red dragon formed and slammed into the pillar with a roar.

The glow turned yellow.

“Low-tier spell. Even mastered, it can’t surpass the caster’s realm.”

That’s the difference between ordinary spells and true legacy techniques. The latter could exceed a user’s cultivation by an entire realm.

Yu Xian’s eyes turned sharp.

Time for his main spell—Vine Art.

Seven vines formed behind him, twisting and snapping together into one. With a thunderous crack, it slammed into the pillar.

The backlash shattered the vine, and even Yu Xian was forced to take two steps back.

A faint dent appeared on the iron pillar. A purple glow lit the room.

Peak Foundation Establishment!

He had held nothing back.

This place was the sect’s designated arena for testing and life-and-death duels. No private fights were allowed within the sect.

The arena was set on a small peak called the Martial Peak. Nearby stood the towering Punishment Peak, home to the sect’s disciplinary hall.

Upon arriving, Yu Xian found multiple training halls. Each one contained tools like the iron testing pillars.

Disputes between disciples could be resolved here via death duels, with proper supervision.

But unless someone was fully confident, they rarely signed death contracts. Secret ambushes in the wild were more “efficient.”

Yu Xian glanced at the large duel hall, then entered a nearby smaller chamber.

Inside was a 10-zhang-wide space. Three iron pillars protruded from the wall, faintly glowing.

Yu Xian knew at once—these were “Testing Spirit Stones,” crafted by Golden Core experts to measure spell power. Even peak Foundation cultivators struggled to damage them.

He shut the door behind him, formed a seal, and launched a bolt of green thunder.

Pa!

It hit the middle pillar and vanished without a trace.

The pillar glowed faint white—lowest tier. Only the strength of an early-stage Foundation Establishment attack.

He sighed. Still too weak.

But that was expected.

He sat down and resumed studying the lightning spell. But curiosity soon stirred in his eyes.

If the Trinity Divine Thunder Art was this weak now—what about his other spells?

One by one, he tested:

—Spirit-Linking Finger: Violet glow. Peak Foundation strength.

—Void Wave Art: Red-yellow. Mid-stage.

—Flame Jiao: Yellow. Mid-stage max.

—Vine Art: Purple. Peak power.

Lastly, he returned to the lightning spell.

The first stage, “Lawful Lightning,” had yet to be truly refined. It wasn’t just a spell—it was a technique that fused spiritual control with thunder.

“If I can’t fully control even this basic form, chasing higher stages is meaningless.”

So for four months, he had focused on spiritual control.

He wove multiple threads of lightning—one, then two, then four… finally six, merged into a spinning sphere of thunder.

Now, he attempted a seventh.

Crack!

The orb twisted violently. His forehead broke into a sweat.

From 1 to 2 threads, the control difficulty doubled.

From 2 to 3, it quadrupled.

And onward—up to 128x the control effort now.

Yu Xian clenched his teeth, holding it together with sheer will.

Fifteen days passed.

The orb stabilized… then trembled again…

“I’ve reached my limit.”

With a final gesture, the orb exploded with a deafening boom, numbing his hands.

The power of seven threads? Comparable to a mid-stage Foundation strike. Enough to sting even his body at the Small Pill Realm.

“If I could fuse dozens of these, the result would be terrifying.”

But he shook his head. “No—wishful thinking. Better to refine one to the level of lightning strikes than stack weak arcs together.”

He had focused too much on control. It was time to improve the spell itself.

“Training this spell indoors is really inconvenient… better go to the Martial Arena.”

Grabbing the phoenix cat mid-cultivation, he stuffed it back into the beast pouch and headed off.

Every sect, even small clans, had an arena. It was essential—for testing, duels, and survival.