Feng stared in awe at the remarkable scene unfolding before him.
The Blackwood Ruler—a spiritual beast—was teaching him, a human, how to cultivate.
Excitent surged within him.
He couldn't recall ever hearing about spiritual beasts teaching other species how to cultivate, and this was undoubtedly an extraordinary occurrence.
He focused on the Blackwood Ruler's movents, or lack thereof.
Feng wasn't entirely sure what the beast was doing.
It looked as though it was rely breathing, but instead of spiritual energy gathering in its dantian like it would for a human, the energy flowed directly into its body, strengthening it.
The System's familiar voice rang in his mind.
[Host should rember that spiritual beasts don't form Spirit Seas like humans do. Instead, they have spiritual cores where most of the spiritual energy they absorb is stored.]
"Oh, right," Feng muttered. "But does that an this guy created his own cultivation technique to strengthen its physical body?"
[Most likely. This spiritual beast must be a genius among its kind.]
Feng blinked in astonishnt, absorbing the System's words.
A genius among its kind? The fact that a spiritual beast, without the intelligence of a human, had managed to devise its own cultivation thod to grow stronger made Feng realize just how vast and mysterious the world truly was.
He thought back to his past experiences, particularly the villagers who had pursued him from Raincloud Village.
They had used the Raincloud Art, which implied they were most likely practicing the Raincloud Breathing Technique—a thod taught to every child in the village once they ford a Heaven's Pact.
However, Feng realized he didn't know much about what made a Heaven's Pact strong or weak.
"Hey, System," Feng asked, curiosity evident in his voice. "What determines the strength of a Heaven's Pact?"
[Responding to Host: The strength of a Heaven's Pact is determined by several factors, including its quality, bloodline lineage, and type. Generally speaking, elental-class Heaven's Pacts are considered the strongest, but this is not absolute.]
"Why is that?"
[This is because a Heaven's Pact's potential is exponentially enhanced when paired with a cultivation technique tailored to it. A person with a Heaven's Pact supported by a suitable cultivation thod will far surpass soone without one.]
"Does that an the people in Raincloud Village have Heaven's Pacts suited to the Raincloud Art?" Feng asked.
[Not necessarily. Judging by your description, Raincloud Village is a backwater settlent in a remote part of the world. It's unlikely the villagers have managed to preserve a pure bloodline or develop a specialized cultivation technique to optimize their Heaven's Pacts.]
Feng quickly focused on the scene in front of him.
Taking a deep breath, he walked forward and sat cross-legged before the Blackwood Ruler, attempting to mimic what the spiritual beast was doing.
He began gathering the spiritual energy in the surroundings, directing it toward his body.
However, instead of guiding it into his Qi Sea—a reservoir ford when he cultivated the Qi Condensation Manual—he tried to redirect it to his skin.
Yet sothing felt off. When he attempted to channel the spiritual energy into his skin to absorb it, sothing went terribly wrong.
ZAP!
Feng coughed up a mouthful of blood as small, thin cuts appeared across his body.
A sharp, searing pain spread through him, as if his body were rebelling against his efforts.
"Damn it! I knew this would be hard, but I didn't think it would cause a backlash!" Feng exclaid in frustration.
Looking up at the Blackwood Ruler, he noticed the beast was unfazed, its calm deanor unchanged.
It offered no guidance, seemingly uninterested in his struggle.
"Figures," Feng muttered to himself. "He probably thinks I should figure this out on my own."
Determined not to give up, Feng took a deep breath and tried again.
This ti, he narrowed his focus, concentrating the spiritual energy on a single part of his body—his right hand.
"If I can strengthen at least this one part of my body, I'll know this thod works," he thought, gritting his teeth.
Monts passed as he painstakingly concentrated, but just as he began to feel a faint surge of energy—rip!—a thin line of blood oozed from his fist.
"Damn it, I failed again," Feng muttered bitterly.
Despite the pain and repeated failure, his resolve didn't waver. He knew this was an extraordinary opportunity.
The System's earlier words echoed in his mind.
Finding a cultivation technique perfectly suited for one's Heaven's Pact was exceedingly rare.
Most people had to make do with techniques that were loosely aligned with their Heaven's Pact, which limited their potential.
That was why places like Brightshore Academy, with its vast collection of cultivation scrolls and techniques, were so revered.
For many, such institutions offered the only chance to discover a technique that could unlock their full potential.
"I can't let this slip through my fingers," Feng thought. Determination burned in his eyes as he prepared to try again
Feng focused intently, attempting again and again to channel spiritual energy—not into his entire fist, but into a single finger.
He drew upon the abundant spiritual energy surrounding him in the Blackwood Forest, determined to strengthen even the smallest part of his body.
Each attempt ended in failure, yet Feng refused to stop.
Hours slipped by as he persevered.
Morning turned to afternoon, and at so point, he noticed that the Blackwood Ruler had left the area, likely venturing deeper into the forest to hunt.
Feng, however, remained rooted in place, undeterred by the absence of his unlikely ntor.
"My cultivation speed isn't as fast as the others," he muttered under his breath, his voice steady despite the growing ache in his body.
"My level of comprehension doesn't asure up, either. But what I lack in talent, I'll make up for with sheer grit and determination."
A wave of mories washed over him, sharp and painful. Back in Raincloud Village, all the other kids his age had ford their Heaven's Pacts.
He had been the only one left behind, year after year.
While they broke through to the fourth and even fifth levels of Qi Condensation, Feng had been stuck at the third, unable to take even a single step forward.
The looks of pity and scorn haunted him still.
But now, things were different.
The System had given him a chance—a rare and precious opportunity to turn his life around.
He wouldn't let it slip through his fingers.
His eyes burned with fierce resolve as he clenched his teeth and forced himself to continue.
"If I can't do it in my first ten tries, I'll try fifty more. If I can't do it in a hundred, I'll keep going until I've done it a thousand tis.
I don't care how long this takes—I'm gonna do this!"
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