noveltune Chapter 12: Martial Technique
Chapter 12: Martial Technique
Chapter 12: Martial Technique
In combat amongst cultivators, your most important asset will never be your strength, nor your skill with a weapon.
In the yard positioned directly behind his small palace, Auslen was standing obediently in front of Cedrick. Gentle gusts of wind blew gently through his tied up golden blonde hair and thin black training robes as he listened intently to his father's speech.
Your most important asset will always be your speed and agility!
If your opponent cannot touch you, any attack they release towards you'll be rendered completely ineffective. Additionally, you'll have a far simpler time dealing damage to an opponent slower than yourself.
This is why your first Martial Technique will be the Phantom Steps Martial Technique.
Auslen nodded his head.
He understood this logic, and he also preferred this type of mindset.
Cedrick reached into his black robes and pulled out a thin, rectangular, blue jade tablet. He held up the small piece of jade before placing it into Auslens hands.
Auslen looked curiously at the piece of blue jade, fingers brushing along the miniature glyphs inscribed onto its glistening surface as he noticed a pronounced cooling sensation flowing underneath his fingertips.
Cedrick explained, Hold the jade slip to your forehead meridian, and stimulate it with a strand of Profound Qi.
Auslen did as he was told, positioning the jade slip to the middle of his forehead.
With a simple intention, a strand of Profound Qi swiftly exited his Dantian and circulated through his body before settling within his glabella meridian.
The strand of Profound Qi began to vibrate rapidly, and the energy it released exited his pores, making contact with the jade slip in his fingers.
At that moment, Auslen felt as if his head was drug deep into a pool of thoughts and images, forcing him to close his eyes in surprise.
Words, movements, and experiences entered directly into his consciousness, as if he was remembering information that he had already learned in the past.
The jarring sensation only lasted for a few more moments.
Auslen sighed deeply before he opened his eyes, observing the piece of jade in astonishment as he flipped it around with his fingers.
This is a jade slip. It can be used by cultivators to record a large variety of information.
Once stimulated, another cultivator can rapidly absorb that information within moments, which is far faster than reading directly from a book or scroll. They are most often used to record extensive Cultivation Methods and Martial Techniques.
As his father spoke, Auslen stopped staring at the jade slip and closed his eyes in concentration. He began reviewing the new information in his brain as the entirety of the Phantom Steps Martial Technique was quickly arranging itself within.
Phantom Steps was a Black Tier Martial Technique, which was one step above Yellow Tier.
From the information he received, Auslen now understood that the various tiers of Martial Techniques could be broken down into clearly definable categories.
Yellow Tier Martial Techniques had one relatively simple requirement to perform.
The only requisite was to successfully circulate a strand of Profound Qi through a path of specified meridians.
Its speed had to be quick enough so that the strand of Profound Qi didnt exhaust itself within the Dao Roots before it could finish a complete circulation.
Profound Qi exhausted itself faster in lower grade Dao Roots and slower in higher grades.
The speed of both the circulation and exhaustion of Profound Qi could also be affected by the strength of the users Soul Force.
With all of that said, the difficulty of Yellow Tier Martial Techniques couldn't be considered high for any cultivator.
However, the difficulty increased greatly in Black Tier.
With Yellow Tier Martial Techniques, only one strand of Profound Qi was required, and the cultivator only had to focus on circulating that strand through one meridian pathway.
However, with Black Tier Martial Techniques, the cultivator had to split his attention to several strands of Profound Qi at once, propelling them through multiple meridian pathways at the exact same time!
In addition, they had to all maintain a certain speed standard, otherwise the Profound Qi would be wasted!
Auslen started to sweat a little as he mentally counted the number of simultaneous circulation pathways required for each stage of success.
Holy shit.
To completely master the Phantom Steps Martial Technique, he would have to simultaneously circulate, at the very least, 36 strands of Profound Qi through 36 separate meridian routes!
Thirty-six circulation pathways required the synchronized operation of the complete Dao Root system. How could the human brain achieve such a feat?!
Witnessing Auslens faint distress, Cedricks eyes shone in amusement for a brief moment.
He interrupted Auslens apprehension and said, I can see that you've obtained a marginally adequate understanding of Phantom Steps.
Instead, all they were considering was controlling their entire body as one moving part!
And Profound Qi, while seemingly separate from one another, was actually just as integrated with the human body as the fingers and toes. But, what connected them wasn't the muscles and ligaments, but the human awareness itself.
It was Soul Force!
Auslens eyes were dazed as he experienced a type of epiphany.
Without much thought from Auslen, his three strands of Profound Qi exited his Dantian simultaneously as they each began their own separate, but indistinctly connected circulation routes.
As the strands of Profound Qi began to quicken, Auslen once again noticed a slight vibrating sensation in his back and four appendages.
Auslen remembered the correct accompanying movements that were imprinted into his brain from the jade slip as he prepared his muscles to step forward.
However, just before he could take that step, the strands slowed to a halt as they dimmed nearly completely.
The strands slowly guided themselves back to Auslens Dantian, lacking the energy required to complete the Martial Technique even once.
Auslen was soaked in sweat and breathing harshly.
Balance utterly wasted, he sat down hard on the dewy grass, working diligently to regain control of his breathing.
Auslen could faintly sense tendrils of hunger beginning to gather within his abdomen. However, the hunger was almost completely overshadowed by his excitement of nearly reaching the Minor Success Stage!
Auslen allowed himself to fall back into the grass with a complicated sigh.
Until now, it seems that I've been greatly underestimating the importance of Soul Force.
Most young practitioners took several years to learn the most basic Yellow Tier Martial Techniques, due to the fact that their immature Soul Force made controlling Profound Qi difficult. Not to mention Black Tier Techniques, which could take decades for an ordinary practitioner to reach even the lowest stage of success.
Even Aiden, who could be considered to be quite talented, needed several years to touch that stage.
Auslen realized that, with his Soul Force, it would not take him even a week of practice before he was stably within the Minor Success Stage of the Phantom Steps Martial Technique!
Eventually, Auslen regained his calm, taking a deep breath before picking himself up to head back inside his side palace.
Once Auslen made his way through the back entrance doors, he couldnt help but notice Vincent rushing towards him from down the hallway.
Second Prince!
As soon as the slightly panting Vincent arrived in front of Auslen, he hurriedly pulled out a white handkerchief and began wiping the sweat off of Auslens small face.
Witnessing Vincents somewhat frantic actions, Auslen gave the boy a faint, thankful smile.
Thank you, Vincent! Has lunch been prepared?
Yes, Your Highness! Would you like to bathe first or eat first?
Without even taking time to consider, Auslen replied, Eat!
Vincent softly laughed to himself before he led Auslen to the Dining Room.
Auslen glanced at Vincents back and thought to himself silently.
Hmm. Should I take Vincent with me to the Sect?
Auslen had truly grown comfortable having someone around that would take care of all his tedious matters, and he didn't want to give that up if he could help it.
However, because of Vincent's lackluster cultivation talent, it would be impossible for him to be accepted into the Five Profound Elements Sect as a disciple.
Actually, every servant in the Royal Palace was at least somewhat talented in regards to cultivation, for the purpose of better serving their masters as they grew stronger. Ordinary humans wouldn't be able to keep up with the needs of a cultivator.
The most significant benefits that servants received from their masters included Methods, Techniques and other auxiliary materials that would aid in their cultivation. That alone was their defining motivation for working for the Royal Family, as their talents could not allow them the opportunity to join a reputable sect.
Auslen had already asked his Father about this concern, so he understood that he was allowed to take one personal servant with him, as long as a certain price was paid.
In addition, as long as he provided Vincent with enough resources to quickly reach the 9th stage of Qi Refinement before the age of 18, he could even be accepted as a true disciple Five Profound Elements Sect!
The only issue was, could Auslen trust Vincent?
He had far too many secrets, and Vincent was bound to guess a few of them if he continued to follow by his side.
He greatly appreciated many things about Vincent, including his enthusiasm for his job, his mindfulness of Auslens implied boundaries, and his awareness to speak only at appropriate times.
Auslen truly didn't wish to be forced to do anything unbecoming to such a child in the instance that he, at some point, proved that he couldn't be trusted.
As Auslen continued to consider his options, Vincent innocently opened the Dining Hall doors for Auslen, his smiling face brilliant with emotion that only the young and nave could produce.