"What are you doing?" Zhang Tian asked.
"What do you mean? I'm doing exactly as you asked, I used the same skill now this is the tenth time, and I'm really low on Qi." I replied as I huffed through my exaggerated breath intake was nothing but a visual effect and had no correlation with physical exertion, my mental health was declining.
We were still in my own Sea of Consciousness, and the young master Zhang Tian asked me to show him one of my skills, apparently, he was unconvinced that I had mastered one of the Poison God's skills and thought it would be impossible for me to do so on my own without guidance.
I had gained enlightenment when I fought against the Heavenly Tribulation, and I replicated the same powerful Poison Tiger Claw for the Zhang Tian to see, ten times over, but he didn't seem impressed by any of my attempts.
"Like I said, what are you doing?" the man said, and I failed to understand what he means. His way of teaching was rather annoying, he was the type to make you 'figure it out yourself' as showcased by my prior attempts at using the Laughing Slaughterer's Sanguine blade. He never approved of anything and always found faults in any of my skills.
I really wanted to berate him, but when he mentioned he was a few thousand years old, which I couldn't even begin to understand, I shut up and listed, the man had wisdom and knowledge and he would prove helpful. After all, not many can directly learn from the son of the King of the Wind Celestial Realm, though I have no idea what that is, he makes it sound like it's a big deal.
"Look here, you're not a monkey, you're precision is immaculate, your re-creation is perfect, but that's your own fault, you are a copying person, you didn't learn these skills with trial and error, you executed them with perfect memory while having no idea what many of the slight and minor adjustments are doing. Let's take your hip rotation as an example. Try to use the same Spell, the Poison Tiger Claw, only this time, do a half hip rotation as you swing down your claws." The young master said.
I didn't understand where he was going with this, but I followed, even mentally exhausted, I still channeled my Qi and used the spell within my Sea of Consciousness.
Though habit and memory wanted me to rotate my hip more as I struck down, I calmed down and did only a half rotation. And almost immediately, the claws that I swung down coursed faster, struck deeper, and traveled far longer than before.
"What the hell?" I muttered unable to understand how a simple little hint managed to increase the power this much.
The young master flicked me in the head and said, "As I said, you're a just a copy-person, those are nothing but third rate trash that cannot use their own knowledge experience and their own effort to hone their abilities, if you had continued on this path you would have found it impossible to get rid of these habits, you're lucky I met you this early otherwise you'll have caused your own death."
"I still don't understand what's going on," I asked as I figuratively stood up. Since I was in my sea of Consciousness everything was mentally processed even my extensive over-breathing.
"As much as I would like to tell you directly, it would be best if you can figure it out on your own." The young master said. "But I can give you a hint, you and the Poison God are two different beings. Something that works for him might not work for you, you should go and meditate on my words, I think you'll be able to understand them after a few months of meditation."
I frowned at the man, "You're underestimating me a lot…" I said.
"Not really, but the secrets of cultivation aren't something that easy to figure out." The young master said, "And two months is actually a fast period, another person might spend years to figure out the mistake they made."
"Well, I already figured out the problem. Your hint was more than enough though, might as well tell me the answer directly." I said.
"You're bluffing."
"Not really," I replied, "Body, weight, height, muscle distribution, and most importantly, the number of unlocked meridians, me and the Poison God are two different persons, and like you said copying him will result in the mediocre display of skill. So, the hip rotation would be best for me because we don't have the same build, that would also mean if I were to change a few other habits the spell would be even more powerful. Now I understand what you mean by practice. If I were to practice this, my own body and with my own comprehension, and with constant repetition, I will be able to use this same spell but it will be more attuned to my body and my meridians than the copy I used from the poison god. Is that right?" I said as I looked at the mouth agape prince."
"I thought you'd at most be able to discern something from my hint but to actually come up with the full analysis of your problem and the answer to it. I say your comprehension is otherworldly. I have a good feeling that you'll make a few waves in the world of cultivation if you keep your head leveled and not die. Good, but we don't have much time, you can use these hints to deal with many of your other problems. Once we remove the other Lamp, I'll help you, this time not with your skills, but your cultivation." The young prince said.
I nodded and the prince disappeared from my Sea of Consciousness.
I opened my eyes and was back at the same villa I was in.
"Go northwest, the fifth house with two stories, that's where the second lamp is." The prince's words came to my mind and I left the house.