Two days later, on the sloped gallery of the Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak, Han Xuhan reappeared within a group of 26 disciples. Compared to the previous ti, there were a couple of differences today.
The first difference was the seating arrangents. Han Xuhan’s group, aka the rookies with no real cultivation of a Mystic Art, were seated on the topmost point of the titanic stairs, just a few ters away from Elder Kong Ye.
The remaining three groups were given the freedom to sit however they wanted. Elder Kong Ye only gave them so generalized guidance while his care for the first group was intensive. He focused on each of them individually.
The second difference was, of course, Han Xuhan’s state. He was no longer an ordinary human, but a cultivator of the Zeroth Layer of a Mystic Art! He, Mu Ran, and Xiao Wu sat side by side, eagerly for the day’s lecture.
"I assu all twenty-six of you have already purchased at least one Mystic Art from the sect...? If you don’t think you can do it within a week, you’ll have to go sit at the back of the class."
In response to Kong Ye’s questioning tone, everyone nodded vigorously. The man had extended a special favor to their group by his arrangents. Who would be foolish enough to not invest their savings into a Mystic Art and lose out on such guidance for a whole month straight?
"Then everyone must have ditated for one session at least before coming here, correct? It’s okay if you didn’t succeed in sensing or guiding qi."
"Yes, elder," the collective voice of the disciples was heard.
"Do you have your manuals with you?" He inquired.
This ti, the answers didn’t co as loudly as before.
"Those of you who have left the manuals at your huts, have you morized the ridian routes inside your body and the channeling diagrams of qi on your manuals?"
Those who hadn’t replied to the previous question shouted their confirmation.
"Good. Begin absorbing qi into your body first, if your ridians aren’t filled up right now. Those whose ridians are full with qi, initiate a full cycle according to your manuals.
"Don’t worry about anyone peeking into your manual. The sect has taken strict thods to prevent that from happening. Only the buyer will be able to discern the writings of his manual. Your residential token isn’t just a pretty seal. There are nurous arrays planted inside them for purposes like this one."
Han Xuhan already knew this. He had tried to ask for Xuanyuan Zhou’s advice on the Spiritual Bone Arts yesterday, only to discover that she couldn’t read the words on the scroll. The two of them had ended up spending two hours analyzing the first few sections orally.
As for the Skeleton Monarch Manual, he hadn’t ntioned it to her, lest she should discover anything about his secret project with Mu Ran. She only knew that he liked to spend his free ti socializing with his neighbors.
The whole class was filled with silence as everyone sank into deep ditation.
For Han Xuhan, every session was a fresh experience. He had the barest possible amount of control over qi, and even that was turbulent. Often, he had to concentrate on finding his internal qi first before guiding it.
The extrely complex cycle that circled all around his body didn’t help either, making him falter every few seconds.
After completing the first successful cycle where he had moved less than five percent of his total qi, Han Xuhan felt very tired and decided to take a break. The good thing was, unlike the first few tis, the completion of a cycle wasn’t knocking him out anymore.
This ant only one thing—his spiritual world was slowly getting stronger, ready to be opened up when he reached the first layer!
Taking his eyes off the scroll, he looked around, only to be greeted by Kong Ye’s face three feet away from him, gazing at him curiously.
"You two, your current cultivation technique isn’t from this sect."
Han Xuhan got a massive fright. Why was this Elder so perceptive? Did he know the nook and cranny of every technique in the archives?
There was definitely sothing off about his man.
Bracing himself, he answered the Elder’s question after sneaking a glance at the ditating Mu Ran.
"Yes, Elder. The cultivation technique we’re practicing is a family treasure of my Bos-Brother Mu Ran. I am not allowed to cultivate the signature arts of the sect, so..."
Pushing the ball towards the person in the lilight always works fine in situations like this.
But not this ti.
The Elder narrowed his eyes and lifted a hand with one finger stretched toward Xuhan’s temple.
"Let examine your progress. Don’t worry. I am not going to steal your cultivation technique."
Xuhan swallowed down his imdiate urge to protest and let the Elder push his finger on his right temple.
"Hmm... about four percent of the original flow has gone through a full cycle and left a shallow imprint on your juvenile cultivation base. Along the way, half the qi was lost because of so unusual reasons, and your concentration slackened at least nineteen tis throughout the cycle.
"If this is your first ti with this technique, then I’m not going to criticize you for such lackluster performance. But it doesn’t seem like you’re new to the cycle. This technique has already begun to nurture a sturdy foundation for your cultivation on the Mystic Path.
"Now, cycle your qi again. Let see if you can correct your mistakes."
Han Xuhan was dumbstruck.
You can infer that much just from a casual touch?!
Holy shit! This Elder has to be a hidden boss or sothing! No way can a normal cultivator be so badass! Not when there were protagonist templates like Mu Ran and Xuanyuan Zhou were running around!
Even Mu Ran, who had been absorbed in his own qi cycle, opened his eyes and stared at Kong Ye with a stunned expression. His face started growing deathly pale. As soon as Kong Ye noticed his gaze, Mu Ran jumped to his feet.
"Elder Kong! I think I suffered a hidden injury this morning while cultivating. Please let visit the infirmary," Mu Ran shouted as he hurriedly turned to leave.
"Wait, a hidden injury? Where? I’m good at identifying them. Let inspect it-"
"No, Elder! It would be rude of to interrupt your teaching. Please keep instructing my martial siblings. This isn’t sothing you need to bother with."
Mu Ran’s face beca even more pale as the Kong Ye tried to approach him.
Without even waiting for the man to give him his permission, he took off like the wind down the mountain path.
Kong Ye slowly walked over to the edge of the path and gazed at the running silhouette of Mu Ran in the distance.
In a low voice that no one could hear, he muttered to himself.
"First that girl, and now this kid. Both of them have the halo. I have to take them in as disciples to fill the yearly quota from my system or face dire punishnt.
"Heavens...why is my system such a cruel one? How am I supposed to unlock the blueprints of spiritual weapons from the shop if all the disciples with protagonist halos are such weirdos?
"No, I must keep trying. This lad’s Twin Dragon Devil Reverend physique is a top tier physique in this macrocosm. Moreover, he definitely has other secrets. I can’t let such a big fish off the hook.
"Kekeke, little boy, do you think just because you have the halo, you can oppose this Ye? Prepare to bow down to and call ... Master!"
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