Martial Immortality: Starting with the Spirit Beast Scroll

The Spirit Cultivation Map in his sea of consciousness was stirring restlessly, but the brand of the Magic had yet to form.

Zhao Lin knew this was because he was too far away. The Spirit Cultivation Map couldn’t sense the Mana fluctuations and was unable to copy the Magic.

He pressed his lips together. ’Looks like I’ll have to take a hit after all.’

A moment later, Miao Kefa curled his five fingers, and the ice blade instantly vanished without a trace.

The three small red balls fell one after another, forming a string in the air before landing in Zhao Lin’s palm.

Only then did the crowd of cultivators snap back to their senses, and a roar of applause erupted.

"Brilliant! That was absolutely brilliant!"

"So this is the power of a Perfection-level Magic! I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes!"

"Yeah, this was a real eye-opener. Once you’ve trained a Magic to this level, you can hit whatever you aim at, your magic moving with a mere thought, right?"

"No wonder they say that when a Qi Refining Magic reaches Perfection, even a Golden Core expert would tremble..."

Zhao Lin returned to the stage, opened his palm, and tossed the three small balls back to Miao Kefa.

It would have been impolite to just throw them, so Zhao Lin also used an object-controlling technique—not a telekinesis Magic, but the Crane Controlling Force from martial arts.

Miao Kefa was knowledgeable and experienced, so he naturally saw the difference. He gave Zhao Lin a surprised look and subconsciously used his Qi Observation Skill. ’So he’s a Martial Cultivator...’

When cultivated to a high level, the Qi Observation Skill could not only check a person’s Cultivation Realm but could also reveal a cultivator’s entire background.

Zhao Lin immediately noticed it too, because the Spirit Cultivation Map flashed, and in its second grid, three words appeared: Qi Observation Skill.

Next to the words "Qi Observation Skill" was a plum blossom with five petals!

’The Qi Observation Skill is at the Grand Completion stage?’

Zhao Lin grinned. He hadn’t expected such a pleasant surprise.

Miao Kefa truly was a Magic genius; he had even cultivated the Qi Observation Skill to Grand Completion.

It was worth noting that although they were all Tier One Magic, the difficulty of cultivating different types varied.

The Qi Observation Skill was easy to begin but extremely difficult to advance. Forget Qi Refining Realm cultivators; even most Foundation Establishment Realm and even Purple Mansion Realm cultivators only had the skill at the Proficient level.

’A Qi Observation Skill at Grand Completion is a rare find. I’ll keep it!’

Zhao Lin was overjoyed, but he still hadn’t gotten his hands on the Ice Blade Skill. He needed to try another tactic. He spoke loudly, "Elder Miao’s Ice Blade Skill is simply miraculous! This disciple is in awe!"

He paused, then his tone shifted. "However, the small balls are just inanimate objects, after all..."

Hm?

The cultivators below the stage were stunned. ’Don’t tell me he wants to test it on a real person?’

Who could possibly block that Magic?

Miao Kefa remained unfazed, smiling. "And what does the young friend have in mind?"

Zhao Lin said in a low voice, "This disciple comes from a lesser world, where I know of master archers in the mortal realm who can shoot an apple from a person’s mouth."

"The arrow hits the apple, but the person is unharmed."

The scene fell silent. The crowd stared at Zhao Lin in shock, wondering what he was thinking.

In truth, Zhao Lin had never heard of any such master archer; he was just making it up on the spot. His goal, naturally, was to get close to the Magic.

Miao Kefa’s smile faded. Noncommittally, he asked, "And your point is?"

Without another word, Zhao Lin took a piece of fruit from his robes and placed it in his mouth.

The cultivators below couldn’t help but gasp. ’Has Zhao Lin lost his mind?’

Miao Kefa’s Magic might be exquisite, but if he used even a little too much force, the ice blade would go right through his mouth. This was no joke.

Of course, Zhao Lin knew it was risky, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. If he didn’t get up close, how could the Spirit Cultivation Map capture the Magic?

He would have been willing to stand still and take a direct hit, but the two of them had no grievance or enmity. Miao Kefa would never agree to that, so he could only goad him in this manner.

’With Miao Kefa’s skill, he should be able to control his power.’

’Besides, even if he slips up, I’ve absorbed the Pipa Catfish’s Essence Soul. My self-healing ability is strong enough to recover quickly.’

Miao Kefa’s expression darkened slightly. He had encountered strange requests before, but this was the first time someone had offered themselves up as a target.

Zhou Hongfang and Wu Chuanqi exchanged a glance, both finding the situation rather odd.

Among the new disciples, Zhao Lin was the oldest and had always been mature and level-headed. Why was he acting so out of character today?

Elder Wu frowned and barked, "Zhao Lin, get down from there now!"

"It’s fine."

Miao Kefa waved his hand. "Since this young friend has such courage, let’s give it a try!"

If he refused, it would give people something to talk about, making them think he wasn’t capable of pulling it off.

He was extremely confident in his Magic and was certain he was no less skilled than some mortal master archer.

Zhao Lin immediately took the fruit from his mouth, said his thanks, and retreated seven to eight zhang away.

After coming to a stop, he formed a hand seal for a Spell.

"Rock Armor Skill!"

A cloud of yellow smoke rose before him, quickly solidifying into a thick layer of sandstone...

Having cast the Magic, Zhao Lin put the fruit back in his mouth and raised a hand, signaling that Miao Kefa could begin.

’He’s raising the difficulty?’

Seeing this, the crowd was utterly speechless. Those who had just been thinking he was "courting death" now felt like adding the word "royally" in front of it.

Zhao Lin did this because he was worried that Miao Kefa’s ice blade would only strike the fruit without touching him at all.

The Spirit Cultivation Map might fail to capture the Magic, or only capture a part of it. If that happened, all his efforts would be for naught, and the opportunity would be wasted.

So he added another Magic. For the Spirit Blade Skill to hit the fruit, it would first have to break through the Rock Armor Skill. This way, there would be no problem.

Below the stage, Yan Yuan, a senior disciple who taught basic techniques, stared in wide-eyed astonishment from his place in the crowd. Zhao Lin had been practicing the Rock Armor Skill for less than a month but had already reached the Entry level. It seemed he was very talented with Earth Element Magic.

In reality, Zhao Lin had already cultivated it to the Skilled level. To hide his progress, he deliberately held back and only channeled half his Mana.

Miao Kefa’s gaze sharpened, and with a raise of his hand, he shot out an ice blade.

The sharp ice blade struck the rock armor, instantly blasting a crack across its surface.

Before the rock armor could mend itself, the body of the ice blade shuddered slightly. As if a golden cicada shedding its shell, it "spat out" a new ice blade that slipped through the crack.

In fact, with Miao Kefa’s skill, he could have hit the target with a single strike. However, an ice blade striking the rock armor would inevitably be refracted, potentially throwing off its aim. That was why he had unleashed a set of "mother-and-son blades."

The mother blade blasted open a gap, and the son blade slipped through, striking the fruit in Zhao Lin’s mouth dead-on.

Then, the silver light faded, and both ice blades vanished at the same time.

The square fell silent.

Zhao Lin felt no pain, nor did he smell any blood. The fruit had merely split, releasing some juice that filled his mouth with a sour, bitter taste.

He sighed in relief, took the fruit out of his mouth, and showed it to the crowd.

The fruit was intact, with only a clean slice on either side.

While marveling at the exquisite Magic, the cultivators also admired Zhao Lin’s courage.

"As expected of a Martial Cultivator. His courage is beyond that of an ordinary person!"

"I don’t think it’s courage, I think he has a death wish..."

Zhao Lin ignored these comments. What mattered was what he had gained.

Just as he had wished, the words "Ice Blade Skill" appeared in the third grid of the Spirit Cultivation Map.

More importantly, next to the words was a plum blossom with six petals!

’A Perfection-level Magic!’

Zhao Lin’s heart pounded with excitement, and he fought to keep the thrilled expression off his face.

’As long as my Cultivation Realm increases, with this Magic in my arsenal, I might not be able to run rampant in the Qi Refining Realm, but I should have few rivals among the younger cultivators.’

Filled with joy, he began to scheme about how to obtain a second Perfection-level Magic.