The night passed quickly. By the time morning arrived, Xiang Shaoyun was already fully healed. Facing the rising sun, he absorbed the purple qi that came with the first ray of sunlight. His entire body felt cozy and snug while his internal energy became even thicker.
To increase one's astral energy, one needed to absorb the energy of the stars and moon. But due to recent weather, the moon and stars were rarely seen. In such a situation, the sun became the best source of energy.
In the legends, some experts could even cultivate right by the sun. There, one's cultivation would rise quickly, and one capable of cultivating there possessed the power to split worlds, as mighty as gods.
As Xiang Shaoyun had grown in strength, the number of purple qi strains he could absorb had increased too. Each one of these strains contained a seemingly boundless power within. When the energy he absorbed from the purple qi entered his stars, his stars grew even brighter. Some of the energy spilled out of the stars, and the spillage went on to wash over the 365 acupoints within his body, causing all the acupoints to shine resplendently as well.
In fact, Xiang Shaoyun's entire body seemed to be slightly glowing, giving off a rather mystical aura. After the energy revolved one round within his body, they were pulled into the astral cosmos sea. The astral cosmos sea then fused with the new energy, and after the fusion, the drop of astral cosmos sea grew slightly in size.
"Hu—"
Xiang Shaoyun heaved a long sigh, feeling much weaker as if the energy he had absorbed earlier had all been emptied.
"Growing the astral cosmos sea is actually so exhausting. No wonder most people can only do it when they grow stronger. Looks like I have been forcing it after all," Xiang Shaoyun muttered to himself.
"I clearly saw you absorbing the purple qi. Why is your energy weakening instead of growing? Have you forgotten even your qi refining method?" Zi Changhe suddenly appeared not far away. It was unknown how long he had been there.
"Senior brother, don't you know that appearing without a sound like this will scare someone to death?" Xiang Shaoyun complained as he was given quite a fright by Zi Changhe's sudden appearance. He then said, "That's an accident. I just hadn't been consolidating my foundations properly."
Xiang Shaoyun couldn't tell Zi Changhe he was forming his astral cosmos sea. Even if he did, his senior brother might not believe him anyway.
"Fine. Just be careful in the future and make sure to not get distracted. The purple qi is the energy that can grow your astral energy the fastest. Try to waste as little of it as possible," Zi Changhe advised. He added, "I'll start teaching you a battle technique today. A martial cultivator without a battle technique is the same as a toothless tiger that can't hurt anyone."
"Ok. What battle technique are you teaching me? A tier-5 or tier-6 battle technique?" Xiang Shaoyun rubbed his hands gleefully.
Zi Changhe's face was immediately filled with black lines, and he said, "Do you think battle techniques are like common vegetables you can get anywhere? Tier-5? Tier-6? Not even the palace master has one of those!"
"Fine, fine. How about a tier-4 battle technique? You should have one of those, right?" Xiang Shaoyun decided to settle for something less.
"Peak-grade, tier-2 battle technique, Lightning Spear Technique!" Zi Changhe named the technique directly as he no longer wished to continue babbling with Xiang Shaoyun.
Even among battle techniques of the same tier, there were weak and strong ones. The Lightning Spear Technique was a peak-grade, tier-2 battle technique, one that was much more powerful than ordinary tier-2 battle techniques.
"Only tier-2? That is totally an insult to your identity as both my senior brother and an elder. Fine, I'll pass you some tier-4 battle techniques when I have the time. I promise you will be unequaled among all elders then," Xiang Shaoyun said, his voice laced with contempt.
"I will only say the mantra once, and I will only demonstrate the moves once as well. Learn if you want!" Zi Changhe could no longer be bothered about anything this narcissist fellow had to say. After the short announcement, he proceeded to chant the mantra of the Lightning Spear Technique.
Next, his body started moving along with the mantra. The spear was stabbed forward again and again, emitting crackling electrical currents with an extremely destructive power that one would be hard-pressed to defend against.
Although Xiang Shaoyun acted like he was above learning a tier-2 battle technique, he still paid full attention to the mantra Zi Changhe was chanting. He also memorized each move Zi Changhe demonstrated. As he listened and watched, his gifts of instincts and visualization were both activated.
By the time Zi Changhe was done teaching, Xiang Shaoyun had completely memorized the mantra and the moves to heart.
"Do you remember them all?" Zi Changhe asked strictly.
"Yes." Xiang Shaoyun nodded.
Naturally, Zi Changhe did not believe him. "Read them out loud then."
Xiang Shaoyun proceeded to chant the entire mantra without missing a single word. By the time he was done, Zi Changhe was already completely stupefied. The mantra wasn't exactly long, but an ordinary person would only be able to memorize it after more than 10 attempts. This kid had memorized it after listening to it once.
"Senior brother, don't look at me like that. I know, I know, I am a genius with a photographic memory," Xiang Shaoyun said vainly.
That earned him a slap on the back of his head. Zi Changhe said, "What are you being all proud about? If you can unleash 3 percent of the Lightning Spear Technique's power in a day, I will acknowledge that you're a genius."
"Don't hit my head!" Xiang Shaoyun protested before he assumed a solemn look and said, "What? Only 3 percent? You are looking down on me! I can comprehend at least 10 percent of a trash technique like this in one day!"
"Sure, you said it yourself. If you can do it, I will teach you a tier-3 battle technique and give you something nice as well," Zi Changhe said and left.
Zi Changhe had always been a straightforward person who would never dilly-dally. Even Xiang Shaoyun couldn't help but praise his senior brother. "My senior brother sure has an attitude. It's a pity he's quite weak. Oh well, I'll just impart him some of my knowledge in the future to help him grow stronger. I suppose with his increased strength, even seducing a few young married women would be nothing difficult for him then."
Zi Changhe had yet to completely leave. So when he heard Xiang Shaoyun's words, he staggered and nearly crashed into the ground. He, Zi Changhe, needed Xiang Shaoyun to impart him some knowledge? So that he could seduce some young married women? That kid truly knew how to talk big!
After Zi Changhe left, Xiang Shaoyun lifted a spear. This was a tier-2 spear called Lightning Spear, which Zi Changhe had left before leaving. The spear had a matching name with the battle technique he was about to practice.
Xiang Shaoyun did not start practicing directly. Rather, images of Zi Changhe's demonstration appeared in his mind one after another, as if Zi Changhe had appeared before him once again. As the images flitted through his mind again and again, Xiang Shaoyun gained a comprehensive understanding of all the moves. He had even discovered all the openings of the moves as well.
About an hour later, Xiang Shaoyun finally started practicing. Initially, he moved slowly. Each stab of his was extremely textbook-like. After he familiarized himself with the Lightning Spear Technique, he started moving faster.
One time, two times, three times...
In the span of one morning, Xiang Shaoyun repeated the moves of the Lightning Spear Technique countless times. He even fixed some of the openings of the moves, further perfecting the spear technique.
"The Lightning Spear Technique's essence is in its lightning-fast speed, able to attack when the opponent least expects an attack. It can also transform astral energy into lightning to unleash extremely destructive attacks. This technique focuses not only on speed; similar emphasis is placed on strength as well. It is not easy to perfectly fuse both speed and strength," Xiang Shaoyun muttered as he pondered the technique after having some smoked meat for lunch.
At present, he had already grasped the technique’s key moves. He only needed to add his astral energy into the equation, and he would be able to see how much of the technique’s power he could unleash for now.
After a short break, Xiang Shaoyun started practicing for real. He stabbed his spear repeatedly while his astral energy surged into the spear, unleashing streams of purple spear energy.