16 Burning_____ (2/2)
Afterwards, Lineir didn't say anything when he returned to the inn, and everyone was too sleepy from the events of the night to bother noticing that he came from outside. Sharing in a hearty free breakfast he truly felt quite blessed,
”A free room, and two free meals, my luck is quite good!” In the morning there were only a few hardcore drunks who would drink. Thus there was no loud incidents like last night and Lineir was able to happily have a care-free meal. Afterwards, the five travelers and Lineir bade the inn owner goodbye, with Lineir thanking him profusely for the hospitality. He didn't bring up the flaming rabbit however. There was nothing to be done about that anyway, even if the owner did know, only a cultivator could take care of such a creature. After paying, the head of the wagon quickly checked with everyone and decided to head out immediately for Dracherus City.
”Alright kid, I know you're going to want to sleep the rest of the way, at your age I always wanted to nap as well, it'll be another four days before we come upon the city, I'll call you out for meal times.”
Little did the wagon leader know that in fact Lineir hadn't slept at all these last days! Instead of sleeping, he had actually been meditating furiously, and he no longer needed sleep to maintain his mental state. The only time he needed to sleep would be when extremely exhausted, or if his body needed to recuperate after suffering a grievous injury. Otherwise, meditation was far better for his long term cultivation!
”Kiddo, you remember my attack on the undead heart right? That attack was an imitation of my ultimate technique which utilizes the horrifying weight of darkness combined with the suddenness of lightning's accumulation. At the time, I only had some darkness Qi which I had slowly been accumulating, there was no way for me to gather substantial lightning without a body. Indeed, the only reason I could gather darkness Qi was because I was leeching off of those in the undead heart. Since death Qi shares a similarity to darkness, I was able to quietly steal some for my own purposes. But make no mistake, while that fake attack of mine may have looked powerful, it is nowhere near as impressive as the true attack with both elements combined! You must carefully cultivate both the lightning and darkness elements inside of you. It's not enough to simply absorb the energy, you must always seek greater understanding and control of the shape, form, and nature of these things. That way you will be able to use higher level techniques which cannot be formed just by throwing energy at the enemy!”
Mei stressed the importance of not cultivating unconsciously. That was a trap which many amateur cultivators fell into. While their power base might rise quickly, if they didn't also spend time trying to understand how to properly control this power it would be useless when they tried to apply it in battle.
”In these four days, you won't be able to practice externalizing your power, this wagon is too public. We'll have to wait until you leave this group for that. However, you can still meditate, gather more energy, and practice circulating the energy throughout your body. Additionally, you have many forbidden techniques, an undead heart, and those bone scythes in your body. I am not sure how these will react to the circulation of energy, and this is the perfect time to get a feel for it. Use the time well, this group is fairly safe, you should be able to practice without fear of being eaten or robbed.”
Lineir unceasingly meditated, practiced circulating the lightning and darkness style energy, and occasionally tried to guide the mysterious and unruly red energy in his veins to his core. He only stopped for meals but otherwise placed a cloth strip over his eyes and laid back viewing his Second Heart and internal Qi paths. The Second Heart greedily sucked in energy from the surroundings, and Lineir had begun to notice a slight rotation, as if it was becoming a whirlpool. When he mentioned this to Mei, she was excited.
”Good, good, as expected from my pupil, you have begun to reach the Early Storm Stage of cultivation. In essence, the Second Heart which forms the core of your inner self and is the place for your meridians and Qi paths to meet, has begun to spin slightly! This is important, you must try to always increase this spin. In doing so, the Qi in your center will be sucked inwards more and more. When this happens, it will grow exceedingly dense. The more dense it gets, the more pure it will be and the stronger effects it will display when you use it in battle. Furthermore, power attracts power. Like gravity, the more energy you have, the faster energy will be pulled in. This is why powerful experts can use powerful techniques and not tire. They have so much dense energy that they absorb far more energy than beginners and replenish it much faster. Thus, you have to increase the spin, the faster it spins, the more attractive you power will be, the more dense it will get, and the stronger the pull will get in an endless cycle. This is the basis for all standard cultivation.”
Fate, however, could hardly allow Lineir such an easy time to cultivate. There was a soft whoomph and Lineir, despite having his eyes covered, could see, or rather feel, that an arrow had shot into the wagon.
”That was a warning shot, stop the wagon and come out with your hands up or we will kill you before taking what we want!”
Chapter 16-Burning Bunny
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