Before diving into training, Rand decided to thoroughly examine how and in what ways his body had changed after reaching the first stage. Although he managed to control his enhanced body quite well, due to the fact that it was not the first time he managed to reach the stage of Qi Condensation, but still the methods he used then and now were significantly different. The Dark Moon method was not specialized in brute strength at all. So, to establish perfect control over his body, he needed to train a bit and explore his altered abilities.
The subsequent hours were filled with short and long runs, various exercises including using bronze ingots as weights, each weighing approximately a hundred kilograms, and inflicting small wounds upon himself.
"As I expected, my speed and agility have increased roughly threefold compared to when I was mortal. A common result for the Qi Condensation stage. But my strength has increased about fourteen to fifteen times. Endurance has also become quite impressive; even after numerous exercises, I hardly feel any physical fatigue, though I trained for quite a while. I'll need three to four times more exercises before I truly start to feel tired. As expected, the latter two metrics significantly exceed the norm. Healing speed, on the other hand, is difficult to measure; it's at least several dozen times faster than that of an ordinary mortal. But achieving instant healing in battle, even for minor wounds, is still far off."
After he finished studying the new capabilities of his body, Rand decided not to waste any more time and began training in the Bronze Body technique. In one of the rooms of his house, he spread out the bronze ingots on the floor, then removed all his clothes and lay down on the cold metal. He then began circulating Qi according to the manual. Immediately, a visible effect became apparent; something resembling fine bronze-colored dust began to fly off the ingots, which immediately settled on the skin of the former prince. It looked quite beautiful and even mesmerizing.
But the sensation this "beauty" caused was quite unpleasant. After all, the dust didn't just settle on the skin; it literally burrowed into Rand's body, creating tens of thousands of tiny wounds. They were so small that blood didn't even flow from them and before the grains of sand could jointly create a larger wound, increased regeneration eliminated this problem. These sensations reminded Rand of the mosquito bites he had recently felt while traveling as a mortal. Only in this case, it wasn't just one small bite, but thousands. Many beginners would have wanted to stop everything right away, then jump up and scream, desperately scratching their entire body. But for Rand, this level of irritation was more than tolerable; he hardly paid it any attention. In his relatively short life, he had experienced much, and something like this couldn't even make it into the top hundred most unpleasant sensations in his memory. But the irritation itself reminded him of a certain incident from his past.
"It's somewhat reminiscent of the uruk acid, into which my father threw me on my sixth birthday, but compared to that, the current sensation even seems pleasant."
And in this state, Rand spent the evening, the night, and the entire following day. Since he was allowed to skip the next class, as he had already reached the Qi Condensation stage, he decided to devote himself entirely to training. Only occasionally distracted by food left over from the master's lunch, reading Byron's journal left in the ring, and a short, two-hour sleep. For most young cultivators, such monotonous, repetitive, and painful actions would be very exhausting, and few could endure longer than a couple of hours without numerous breaks. But Rand had gone through this stage many years ago when he was beaten if he didn't meet his father's training standards...
And only the ringing of the bell, once again, brought him out of this training marathon.
"How quickly time flies when you're busy. Of course, I don't want to interrupt, but I need to go to the class," he thought. Before he set off, he decided to take a quick look at himself: "The skin has taken on a slight bronze color, it also has lost a bit of elasticity, but I think it's temporary and will disappear after reaching the first level. As for durability... it has increased, but without testing, it's hard to estimate by how much," Rand mused, then he pulled out his old knife, borrowed once from old Oberin, and tried to cut his palm with it. At first, nothing happened, but after he exerted significant effort, blood finally flowed.
"Not bad for a start. In the future, I'll need a better knife; otherwise, cultivating the Mythical Blood method will be slightly more difficult," he noted. In the early levels, inflicting wounds on oneself to let the blood "breathe" still significantly boosted the absorption speed of external Qi, but in the near future, after reaching the third level, he wouldn't have to cut himself every time he started cultivation, as there would be no difference with or without cuts.
Having finished his brief inspection, the former prince headed towards the same building where the lessons were held. Once again, Rand arrived late due to the delay. Casting a glance at the gathered crowd, he once again noticed the students who intrigued him with their talents and gifts. Now, thanks to Byron's journal, he knew their names and the information the sect had gathered about them. He also noticed another youth whom he hadn't paid any attention to before. Reading about him for the first time, he couldn't immediately believe his eyes.
His name was Balron, and it was impossible to notice his gift by eye. He was one of the thirty-nine who were with Rand in the square. This youth was one of the oldest in the group, eighteen years old. Quite a late age to join the sect and start cultivating. He was tall, taller than most by at least a head, and broad-shouldered, and his muscular arms indicated that hard work was not unfamiliar to him. But what he hadn't noticed that time, and what made him stand out in Rand's eyes from the rest, was hidden deep inside. He possessed the Royal Bone gift, which in rarity greatly surpassed Rand's or Lin's gifts, the boy with the Eyes of Blue Flame. Because of this gift, an additional bone was present in Balron's body, which was called royal, and in function, it resembled a second dantian in many ways. As a mortal, the amount of Qi energy that could be stored in this bone was quite limited and didn't give him any significant advantages, but after starting cultivation, the bone's capacity, albeit slowly, would constantly grow. In theory, it could store up to seventy to eighty percent of the dantian's maximum capacity. This was truly a powerful gift, even if at first, it didn't provide much advantage. But with proper training at the Core Formation stage, Balron would be incredibly strong, and even when he crossed this stage and reached Nascent Soul, his gift would still be extremely helpful.
"The Royal Bone... it would be very useful to me," Rand mused, but he dismissed these tempting thoughts, as now was neither the place nor the time to think about it. He would have time for such things in the future."
As last time, deacon Gerhard was the last to arrive for the lesson. Passing by the novices, he once again stood in the center of the room, which immediately elevated beneath him, and then the deacon spoke:
"Greetings, dear novices. Yesterday, you all learned what it means to cultivate, took the first steps on the path to immortality. But this path is thorny, constantly beset by conflicts, so every self-sufficient cultivator must be able to stand up for himself against his own kind and other creatures. So today, we will study the basics of martial arts. But not here, as we will need more space. Follow me."
And he led them along the road, at the same time telling them about the places they passed by.
"Here, you can have a snack if anyone didn't know, although the disciples should have told you about it. Nearby is the External Sect Repository, where you can receive spirit stones monthly, and also, using the same spirit stones and merit points, you are allowed to exchange them for various useful items: from artifacts to pills. From the look in your eyes, I can see that you want to know more about this place, but you will do that yourself somehow later. And in that building, you will be able to improve in various techniques for a small fee, including very specific ones that are difficult to train in your small homes and plots of land nearby."
So they walked for about ten minutes, with Deacon Gerhard giving brief descriptions of the surroundings, until they reached a fairly extensive stadium, divided into several sections. In one of them, several people were engaged in hand-to-hand combat at unimaginable speeds, while in another section, where many young novices were staring, two people were fighting, using many impressive-looking techniques mostly based on the fire element.
"Here we are," said Deacon Gerhard, diverting the novices' attention from the distant spectacle. "Today, I will teach you the basics of combat, how to strike: with hands, feet, and all parts of the body; how to block attacks from various directions; how to evade, how to fall, and how to rise. Some of you already know these basics, having learned them at home or from mortal teachers..."
Here he made a slight pause and was about to continue, but at that moment one of the novices, named Quint, interrupted the deacon.
"Teacher, may I ask a question?" It was clear that Gerhard didn't like being interrupted, but he still restrained himself and answered:
"You may this time."
"Teacher, why do we need to study these martial arts, which are also available to mortals, if in the future we can apply techniques and easily incinerate the opponent from hundreds of meters away?" Quint asked, questioning the relevance of the current lesson.
"A foolish but good question. There are a thousand different ways to answer it, each with many different good arguments. But I will tell you only one of the reasons why we study the basics, and the second one you will feel for yourself. And let's start, perhaps, with a more obvious reason,' replied Deacon Gerhard, then turned to two students:
"Quint, Achil, come here. Quint, take this fire talisman and stand over there, " he pointed to a spot ten meters away from himself, 'then aim the talisman at Achil. Achil, your task is to reach Quint within three seconds and strike him with all your might on the head. If you fail, you will be scorched by a jet of flames.'
Then he gave the startled students a couple of seconds to realize what he had said, and asked:
"Clear?"
"But... Teacher..." the novices tried to object, not understanding why anyone had to suffer, but Gerhard didn't want to hear their objections, so he said:
"Quint, don't you dare lower the talisman, or I'll break your arm. And you, Achil, if you don't start running towards him on my count, then a jet of fire to the face and numerous scars are guaranteed. One, two, three, begin. "
"AAAA!" With a shout, Achil ran towards Quint, who was still holding the talisman with a frightened expression, aiming it at his approaching classmate.
"One, two…" the deacon began to count, but before he could finish counting to two, Achil' fist collided with Quint's face, and he fell like a log, still clutching the talisman in his hands.
"This is the first reason why we, cultivators, must study the basics, as techniques are often too slow. And while someone is trying to use them, they can be killed several times over. And the second reason, about which I promised to tell, I think the cleverest among you have already guessed it: we specialize in transforming into dragon-like creatures, which are very good in close combat. And the basics of martial arts will help you, whoever you are: human, in partial transformation, or even full. So I advise you not to neglect them, " Deacon Gerhard told the novices, and then, as if remembering something, turned to Quint, who was still trying to get up.
"And yes, in the future, ask questions only when I allow it."
Before diving into training, Rand decided to thoroughly examine how and in what ways his body had changed after reaching the first stage. Although he managed to control his enhanced body quite well, due to the fact that it was not the first time he managed to reach the stage of Qi Condensation, but still the methods he used then and now were significantly different. The Dark Moon method was not specialized in brute strength at all. So, to establish perfect control over his body, he needed to train a bit and explore his altered abilities.
The subsequent hours were filled with short and long runs, various exercises including using bronze ingots as weights, each weighing approximately a hundred kilograms, and inflicting small wounds upon himself.
"As I expected, my speed and agility have increased roughly threefold compared to when I was mortal. A common result for the Qi Condensation stage. But my strength has increased about fourteen to fifteen times. Endurance has also become quite impressive; even after numerous exercises, I hardly feel any physical fatigue, though I trained for quite a while. I'll need three to four times more exercises before I truly start to feel tired. As expected, the latter two metrics significantly exceed the norm. Healing speed, on the other hand, is difficult to measure; it's at least several dozen times faster than that of an ordinary mortal. But achieving instant healing in battle, even for minor wounds, is still far off."
After he finished studying the new capabilities of his body, Rand decided not to waste any more time and began training in the Bronze Body technique. In one of the rooms of his house, he spread out the bronze ingots on the floor, then removed all his clothes and lay down on the cold metal. He then began circulating Qi according to the manual. Immediately, a visible effect became apparent; something resembling fine bronze-colored dust began to fly off the ingots, which immediately settled on the skin of the former prince. It looked quite beautiful and even mesmerizing.
But the sensation this "beauty" caused was quite unpleasant. After all, the dust didn't just settle on the skin; it literally burrowed into Rand's body, creating tens of thousands of tiny wounds. They were so small that blood didn't even flow from them and before the grains of sand could jointly create a larger wound, increased regeneration eliminated this problem. These sensations reminded Rand of the mosquito bites he had recently felt while traveling as a mortal. Only in this case, it wasn't just one small bite, but thousands. Many beginners would have wanted to stop everything right away, then jump up and scream, desperately scratching their entire body. But for Rand, this level of irritation was more than tolerable; he hardly paid it any attention. In his relatively short life, he had experienced much, and something like this couldn't even make it into the top hundred most unpleasant sensations in his memory. But the irritation itself reminded him of a certain incident from his past.
"It's somewhat reminiscent of the uruk acid, into which my father threw me on my sixth birthday, but compared to that, the current sensation even seems pleasant."
And in this state, Rand spent the evening, the night, and the entire following day. Since he was allowed to skip the next class, as he had already reached the Qi Condensation stage, he decided to devote himself entirely to training. Only occasionally distracted by food left over from the master's lunch, reading Byron's journal left in the ring, and a short, two-hour sleep. For most young cultivators, such monotonous, repetitive, and painful actions would be very exhausting, and few could endure longer than a couple of hours without numerous breaks. But Rand had gone through this stage many years ago when he was beaten if he didn't meet his father's training standards...
And only the ringing of the bell, once again, brought him out of this training marathon.
"How quickly time flies when you're busy. Of course, I don't want to interrupt, but I need to go to the class," he thought. Before he set off, he decided to take a quick look at himself: "The skin has taken on a slight bronze color, it also has lost a bit of elasticity, but I think it's temporary and will disappear after reaching the first level. As for durability... it has increased, but without testing, it's hard to estimate by how much," Rand mused, then he pulled out his old knife, borrowed once from old Oberin, and tried to cut his palm with it. At first, nothing happened, but after he exerted significant effort, blood finally flowed.
"Not bad for a start. In the future, I'll need a better knife; otherwise, cultivating the Mythical Blood method will be slightly more difficult," he noted. In the early levels, inflicting wounds on oneself to let the blood "breathe" still significantly boosted the absorption speed of external Qi, but in the near future, after reaching the third level, he wouldn't have to cut himself every time he started cultivation, as there would be no difference with or without cuts.
Having finished his brief inspection, the former prince headed towards the same building where the lessons were held. Once again, Rand arrived late due to the delay. Casting a glance at the gathered crowd, he once again noticed the students who intrigued him with their talents and gifts. Now, thanks to Byron's journal, he knew their names and the information the sect had gathered about them. He also noticed another youth whom he hadn't paid any attention to before. Reading about him for the first time, he couldn't immediately believe his eyes.
His name was Balron, and it was impossible to notice his gift by eye. He was one of the thirty-nine who were with Rand in the square. This youth was one of the oldest in the group, eighteen years old. Quite a late age to join the sect and start cultivating. He was tall, taller than most by at least a head, and broad-shouldered, and his muscular arms indicated that hard work was not unfamiliar to him. But what he hadn't noticed that time, and what made him stand out in Rand's eyes from the rest, was hidden deep inside. He possessed the Royal Bone gift, which in rarity greatly surpassed Rand's or Lin's gifts, the boy with the Eyes of Blue Flame. Because of this gift, an additional bone was present in Balron's body, which was called royal, and in function, it resembled a second dantian in many ways. As a mortal, the amount of Qi energy that could be stored in this bone was quite limited and didn't give him any significant advantages, but after starting cultivation, the bone's capacity, albeit slowly, would constantly grow. In theory, it could store up to seventy to eighty percent of the dantian's maximum capacity. This was truly a powerful gift, even if at first, it didn't provide much advantage. But with proper training at the Core Formation stage, Balron would be incredibly strong, and even when he crossed this stage and reached Nascent Soul, his gift would still be extremely helpful.
"The Royal Bone... it would be very useful to me," Rand mused, but he dismissed these tempting thoughts, as now was neither the place nor the time to think about it. He would have time for such things in the future."
As last time, deacon Gerhard was the last to arrive for the lesson. Passing by the novices, he once again stood in the center of the room, which immediately elevated beneath him, and then the deacon spoke:
"Greetings, dear novices. Yesterday, you all learned what it means to cultivate, took the first steps on the path to immortality. But this path is thorny, constantly beset by conflicts, so every self-sufficient cultivator must be able to stand up for himself against his own kind and other creatures. So today, we will study the basics of martial arts. But not here, as we will need more space. Follow me."
And he led them along the road, at the same time telling them about the places they passed by.
"Here, you can have a snack if anyone didn't know, although the disciples should have told you about it. Nearby is the External Sect Repository, where you can receive spirit stones monthly, and also, using the same spirit stones and merit points, you are allowed to exchange them for various useful items: from artifacts to pills. From the look in your eyes, I can see that you want to know more about this place, but you will do that yourself somehow later. And in that building, you will be able to improve in various techniques for a small fee, including very specific ones that are difficult to train in your small homes and plots of land nearby."
So they walked for about ten minutes, with Deacon Gerhard giving brief descriptions of the surroundings, until they reached a fairly extensive stadium, divided into several sections. In one of them, several people were engaged in hand-to-hand combat at unimaginable speeds, while in another section, where many young novices were staring, two people were fighting, using many impressive-looking techniques mostly based on the fire element.
"Here we are," said Deacon Gerhard, diverting the novices' attention from the distant spectacle. "Today, I will teach you the basics of combat, how to strike: with hands, feet, and all parts of the body; how to block attacks from various directions; how to evade, how to fall, and how to rise. Some of you already know these basics, having learned them at home or from mortal teachers..."
Here he made a slight pause and was about to continue, but at that moment one of the novices, named Quint, interrupted the deacon.
"Teacher, may I ask a question?" It was clear that Gerhard didn't like being interrupted, but he still restrained himself and answered:
"You may this time."
"Teacher, why do we need to study these martial arts, which are also available to mortals, if in the future we can apply techniques and easily incinerate the opponent from hundreds of meters away?" Quint asked, questioning the relevance of the current lesson.
"A foolish but good question. There are a thousand different ways to answer it, each with many different good arguments. But I will tell you only one of the reasons why we study the basics, and the second one you will feel for yourself. And let's start, perhaps, with a more obvious reason,' replied Deacon Gerhard, then turned to two students:
"Quint, Achil, come here. Quint, take this fire talisman and stand over there, " he pointed to a spot ten meters away from himself, 'then aim the talisman at Achil. Achil, your task is to reach Quint within three seconds and strike him with all your might on the head. If you fail, you will be scorched by a jet of flames.'
Then he gave the startled students a couple of seconds to realize what he had said, and asked:
"Clear?"
"But... Teacher..." the novices tried to object, not understanding why anyone had to suffer, but Gerhard didn't want to hear their objections, so he said:
"Quint, don't you dare lower the talisman, or I'll break your arm. And you, Achil, if you don't start running towards him on my count, then a jet of fire to the face and numerous scars are guaranteed. One, two, three, begin. "
"AAAA!" With a shout, Achil ran towards Quint, who was still holding the talisman with a frightened expression, aiming it at his approaching classmate.
"One, two…" the deacon began to count, but before he could finish counting to two, Achil' fist collided with Quint's face, and he fell like a log, still clutching the talisman in his hands.
"This is the first reason why we, cultivators, must study the basics, as techniques are often too slow. And while someone is trying to use them, they can be killed several times over. And the second reason, about which I promised to tell, I think the cleverest among you have already guessed it: we specialize in transforming into dragon-like creatures, which are very good in close combat. And the basics of martial arts will help you, whoever you are: human, in partial transformation, or even full. So I advise you not to neglect them, " Deacon Gerhard told the novices, and then, as if remembering something, turned to Quint, who was still trying to get up.
"And yes, in the future, ask questions only when I allow it."
