Chapter 6: Cultivation Technique
"I-I can't believe my son was actually a genius!" Shi Xingwan couldn't help but let out a gasp. "Though it's too late to consider him a genius though. He missed the best time to cultivate." Shi Xingwan shook his head.
"Quasi-World level..." Shi Li looked at the crystal for a bit before looking at his father, "Do I have a chance of becoming a Martial Emperor?"
Shi Xingwan shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know my child, maybe if you cultivate hard enough everyday for decades, then perhaps you could attain it." Shi Xingwan sighed.
"What's wrong, Father?" Shi Li asked as he felt that his father was disheartened.
"It's nothing," Shi Xingwan gave a bitter smile, "It's just that...I should've tested your aptitude back then. If I did, then you might have been at the Martial Lord realm by now, or perhaps even higher."
He let out a sigh once more. "But there's no use for regret, right?"
Shi Li couldn't help but sigh as well. If it wasn't for the old Shi Li who used all his time on having fun with women, then he might've been at the Martial Lord realm now.
Seeing that his father was still disheartened, Shi Li came closer and embraced his father, which shocked the latter quite a bit. After a while, Shi Li released his embrace and said, "Father, even though I may have missed the best time to cultivate, I will still put in a lot of effort to go as far as I can in my path of cultivation..."
Shi Li then bent his head down as he continued, "And also to not disappoint you. Father, I'm really sorry for neglecting my cultivation."
Shi Xingwan looked at his son as he heard what he said. After a while, the melancholy Shi Xingwan felt was gradually being removed as he gave a light smile to Shi Li. "Well my child, I'm sorry as well. I'm sorry for not being there to guide you."
Shi Li raised his head as his eyes glistened. "Father..."
To make the mood lighter, Shi Xingwan chuckled, "Well, let's not delay any further. Every second used in cultivation would go a long way in the end."
He then walked towards the door as he gestured at Shi Li. "Follow me, we're going to the library."
...
Shi clan, in front of the clan library.
The sun hung high up on the vast azure sky, illuminating everything on the ground. At this moment, Shi Xingwan and Shi Li stood in front of what seemed to be the entrance of the clan library. This entrance was a large door made out of chiseled stone. On it were intricate carvings of dragons with some grooves meant for something to pass through. On its center was a space meant for a hand to be placed on.
Shi Xingwan looked at his son and said, "Step back my child. This might hurt you if you don't get in the way."
"Eh? Why is that, Father?" Shi Li tilted his head.
"I'm going to have to release qi. For low level cultivators, just a single qi strand is enough to kill them. That's why you should stand back, I can't assure your safety if any stray qi strands enter your body," Shi Xingwan said as he came closer to the stone door.
Since Shi Li was a rational person, he took 10 steps back from where his father was, thinking that this was enough of a distance.
But sadly, it wasn't enough.
Shi Xingwan let out his full aura which completely suppressed Shi Li. Shi Li had this feeling where he wanted to kneel towards his father, but since he somewhat knew what he was feeling thanks to the novels he had read, he gritted his teeth and endured the pressure as his knees were half-bent.
At the same moment, Shi Xingwan released a lot of qi strands which filled the grooves on the stone door and colored the door a faint blue. After a few seconds, a click sound was heard as the door gradually opened.
It was also at this time that Shi Xingwan suppressed his aura and looked behind him, only to see a half-kneeling Shi Li covered in cold sweat.
Shi Li took a few deep breaths before standing up as he knew that the aura was gone. Shi Xingwan looked at his son with slight shock and said, "I'm quite surprised you were able to withstand my full aura."
Shi Li continued to take a few more deep breaths as he asked, "Father, may I ask what realm you're currently at?"
Shi Xingwan pointed to himself as he replied, "Me? I'm at the Grand Martial Master realm. You can also call it the Half-Martial Lord realm."
Shi Li looked at his father with an expression of wonder as he realized, 'Is that why his aura was so intimidating to me? I should check other people's aura when the situation allows it.'
Afterwards, they walked inside the library, heading towards one of the corners of the first floor.
...
"Here we are," Shi Xingwan said as he stopped Shi Li from walking further.
Shi Li stopped walking and looked at the sight shown in front of him. There were a total of three bookshelves in front of him, and each of them had wooden signs on top saying 'Martial Novice', 'Martial Adept', and 'Martial Elite' respectively.
"This is where the clan's cultivation techniques for the Martial Beginner realm are stored," Shi Xingwan explained, "Since you're only at the Martial Novice stage, you should pick a cultivation technique on the Martial Novice bookshelf that suits you."
"Ah, I almost forgot," Shi Xingwan added, "There are grades to the techniques you cultivate, from lowest to highest, these grades are Mortal, Spirit, and World respectively, the same as aptitude pretty much. All you have to remember is that the higher the grade of the technique, the better the effect would be, plus the longer it would stay relevant as you grow stronger. World level techniques are extremely rare in Verdant Breeze Town, our Shi clan only has one of them. They're also called Sky grade techniques by other people."
Shi Li finally understood what the woman was talking about back then. She was talking about the Shi clan's prized technique.
"There are also levels to the grades, from lowest to highest, Low, Intermediate, High, and Peak respectively," Shi Xingwan added once more.
Shi Li then came up to the bookshelf where cultivation techniques for Martial Novices were placed and looked at the names of the techniques. "Eh? Internal Tempering? External Tempering? What's that?"
Shi Xingwan realized something and hurriedly explained, "I also forgot to tell you about the two types of cultivation techniques, which are internal and external cultivation techniques. Internal cultivation techniques and external cultivation techniques have the same effects on the Martial Beginner realm, but for Martial Master realm and above, they have different effects."
"For internal cultivation techniques, they focus on the inner force and inner energy stuff. The reason why they're called internal cultivation techniques is because all of their effects are found on the inside. As for external cultivation techniques, they focus on the external side of things, your body parts, your organs, all of these are tempered by the cultivation technique, allowing you to do things are deemed impossible if done without any energy. Even flying is possible if you cultivate far enough into an external cultivation technique."
"So what's better among the two, Father?" Shi Li asked.
"That would be the internal cultivation technique since it allows you to utilize qi," Shi Xingwan answered after pondering a bit.
"Is it possible to cultivate both at the same time?" Shi Li asked since he noticed that both types of cultivation techniques have their weaknesses and strengths. He was wondering if he could cultivate both of them at the same time so that both techniques would synergize.
Shi Xingwan looked at his son with shock before composing himself. "It's possible but...it would take longer to reach the peak of Martial Elite if that's the case. In exchange for that though, you would have strength comparable to a Martial Master once you reach the peak."
"Then I've decided," Shi Li smiled. "Father, is it fine if I take one internal cultivation technique and one external cultivation technique?"
Shi Xingwan was shocked once more before smiling. 'It seems that my son has big ambitions.'
"Go ahead, just don't regret it if you end up giving up one cultivation technique midway."
Shi Li smiled back as he first looked through the internal cultivation techniques available for a Martial Novice.
"Scorching Tendon Art...Grand Wind Body Manual...Stone Skin Art..."
After a while, he found the internal cultivation technique that suited his goal.
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[Steel Body Manual]
[Grade]: Middle Mortal
[Power Increase]: 30 ren
An internal cultivation technique focused on tempering the skin and muscles to become as hard as steel, it has 3 levels to it, with each level equivalent to one level of the Martial Novice stage. Once cultivated to the peak of Martial Novice, the cultivator would have strength and defense beyond normal cultivators.
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He then grabbed the technique and moved on to look for external cultivation techniques. It didn't take a long time for Shi Li to find the external cultivation technique that would synergize with his chosen internal cultivation technique.
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[Iron Vessel Tempering Manual]
[Level]: Middle Mortal
[Power Increase]: 30 ren
An external cultivation technique focused on tempering the skin and muscles to become as tough as iron. It has 3 levels, which is equivalent to the three stages of the Martial Novice stage. Once cultivated to the peak of Martial Novice, the cultivator would have strength and defense beyond normal cultivators. Synergizes with internal cultivation techniques that focus on tempering the skin and muscles to become as hard as steel.
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