Chapter 13: Heaven-defying Comprehension Ability!

The Rushing Qi Fist involved gathering one’s physical strength into one’s fist and unleashing a punch with the might of a charging demonic beast. This was classified as a peak tier-1 battle technique. Those who cultivated the Rushing Qi Fist would be able to raise their physical strength by 25 to 50 kilograms. This was the unique benefit of practicing this battle technique.

A Basic Realm cultivator who practiced this battle technique against a Basic Realm cultivator who did not would hold an advantage of up to 50 kilograms of strength, which was sufficient to be a decisive factor in a battle.

Calming his heart, Xiang Shaoyun memorized both the method to cultivate the Rushing Qi Fist and the images carved on the wall depicting the process of using the battle technique. He did not immediately begin practicing the Rushing Qi Fist but rather began walking toward the second stele. The technique stored here was a kicking technique.

This was yet another peak tier-1 battle technique, the Gale Winds Kick. It focused on the training of the leg. It did not have the effect of increasing one’s strength like the Rushing Qi Fist, but it could increase the speed of one’s kicks, holding true to its name of “Gale Winds”. This made it extremely hard for one’s opponent to keep track of the kicks.

Once again, Xiang Shaoyun memorized both the method and the carved images within the blink of an eye. If anybody else found out that all it took for Xiang Shaoyun to completely memorize the techniques was a mere cursory glance, they would be shocked out of their skin.

After memorizing the Gale Winds Kick, Xiang Shaoyun proceeded to yet another stele to take a look at the techniques there. Again, after staying there for merely an instant, he moved on to yet another stele. Within a single hour, he thoroughly memorized the five battle techniques held within the steles. The techniques consisted of the Rushing Qi Fist, Gale Winds Kick, Cloud Splitting Palm, Triple Revolutions Sword, and Heavy Cleave Technique—five different tier-1 battle techniques.

Most martial officers would advise their disciples to not bite off more than they could chew, hence only letting them practice at the very most three battle techniques simultaneously. Yet here Xiang Shaoyun was, seemingly wanting to learn all five at once!

Once he was done, Xiang Shaoyun left the Battle Technique Hall and headed back to his living quarters. Throughout his time here, Zi Changhe had only ever given him a single meditation scripture before throwing Xiang Shaoyun to cultivate with the other outer court disciples. However, if there was one thing he did do, he had provided Xiang Shaoyun a nice place to stay.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Xiang Shaoyun stayed in a quiet and beautiful compound by himself, separate from the rest of the disciples. Only personal disciples would have the right to live in such an area. After returning to his courtyard, he quietly thought to himself, It’s a good thing that this cold-hearted senior brother still has some form of humanity left in him!

With a solitary compound, Xiang Shaoyun could solely focus on cultivating his battle techniques. Leaving behind his worries accumulated throughout the day, he quietly sat in his compound. Within his mind first surfaced pictures pertaining to the Rushing Qi Fist, followed by the Gale Winds Kick, and so on. By doing that, the images pertaining to all five battle techniques came to be deeply rooted within his mind.

“Rushing Qi Fist, to gather strength at the fist, drawing support from the force of momentum to enhance the strength of the fist, reaching a level where the momentum of the fist is akin to qi!” Xiang Shaoyun meditated, recalling the essential parts of the Rushing Qi Fist. Shortly after, he stood up, condensing all the strength his sixth-stage Basic Realm body could muster into his fist. Within his mind flashed the first image relating to the Rushing Qi Fist, followed by the second, the third...

Like a play, the images reenacted the method to practice the Rushing Qi Fist over and over again within Xiang Shaoyun’s mind.

Rushing Qi Fist!

Assuming a horse stance, Xiang Shaoyun’s eyes flared wide open as he yelled at the top of his lungs, his fist extending straight forward.

Peng!

One thrust, momentum akin to the qi! An oppressive sound suddenly rang out. Although he had only just begun practicing the Rushing Qi Fist, he was able to extract no less than 3 percent of its full potential. One could not help but admit that Xiang Shaoyun truly had monstrous comprehension!

Rushing Qi Fist!

Once again extending his fist, Xiang Shaoyun went through the exact same motions yet again.

Rushing Qi Fist!

Rushing Qi Fist!

Borrowing the power of the forward thrust, the physical strength within his fists seemed to condense into qi before being released, tapping into about 8 percent of the ability’s full potential.

Xiang Shaoyun unceasingly sent out punch after punch as his body continued to rush forward. Within two hours, he circled his courtyard innumerable times, having thrown out close to a thousand punches. His final effectiveness with the ability was around 30 percent.

Keep in mind this was 30 percent, not 3 percent.

One must keep in mind when learning battle techniques that the most important factor in play was martial comprehension. If one had an insufficient ability to comprehend martial techniques, cultivating a battle technique would be no more than just acting out the motions without unleashing the true power of the battle technique. If one’s comprehension was good, one would be able to unleash more than half of the skill’s potential, increasing one’s own combat power in tandem.

Take the Rushing Qi Fist for example. If one was able to comprehend 50 percent of the skill, one’s physical strength would see an increase of 25 kilograms. On the other hand, if one managed to fully comprehend said skill, one’s physical prowess would increase by 50 kilograms or more!

Ordinary people would require a significant amount of time in order to successfully cultivate a tier-1 battle technique, ranging from anywhere between 10 to 15 days at best to months if one’s comprehension was weak. Furthermore, this was only based on the time it took to comprehend 50 percent of the technique. If they were to seek perfect comprehension, it would be impossible to attain without spending numerous months fully dedicated to the technique. This was not practical by any means.

However, Xiang Shaoyun only required a mere two hours to grasp 30 percent of the Rushing Qi Fist. Comprehension of this level was basically defying the heavens!

That being said, Xiang Shaoyun was not satisfied with his performance. Taking a moment to catch his breath while meditating, he thought to himself, Achieving 30 percent proficiency within two hours is far from good enough! With a battle technique of this level, I must achieve 40, no, 50 percent proficiency! I’ve already wasted 10 of my golden years! I must work 10 times as hard as others, maybe even faster, if I want to catch up to them!

After resting for an hour, Xiang Shaoyun once again stood up and practiced the Rushing Qi Fist.

Pow Pow Pow!

Xiang Shaoyun punched madly as if he were a perpetually tireless demon, one punch faster than the one before. In this manner yet another two hours passed. This time around, he had actually managed to send out 500 more punches than the amount of punches he had sent out last time, taking his total tally in those two hours to 1500 punches. His comprehension of the Rushing Qi Fist also rose to an astounding 70 percent. Likewise, he was able to exert 70 percent of the full potential of the Rushing Qi Fist in practice.

“Continue!” Within Xiang Shaoyun’s eyes flashed a trace of urgency that was usually absent from him.

After yet another hour, Xiang Shaoyun’s comprehension of the Rushing Qi Fist rose to 90 percent. At this point, he no longer continued to practice. He knew that the final 10 percent would not be attained solely through practice, but rather through actual combat. This would be the only way for him to bridge that final remaining gap. He then proceeded to meditate for another hour, solidifying his gains from the past six hours of practice.

The Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual constantly circulated throughout his body. With the nine stars as the foundation, astral energy circulated throughout his body via his meridians and acupoints. As he practiced, the strength in his body slowly converted to reinforce his astral energy, getting rid of his exhaustion.

Most cultivators would be unable to awaken all their stars at once. Only after they reached the point of converting physical strength into qi would they be able to invigorate their astral qi to activate their stars from which they would gain astral energy.

Right now, however, Xiang Shaoyun’s nine stars within his natal chart had long awoken, and he was only in the Basic Realm! This was one of the benefits of having such an extraordinary physique. In order to awaken one’s stars from the very start of one’s cultivation journey, one needed to possess a seven-star physique at the very least.

A person with such a heaven-blessed physique would be a complete natural when it came to martial cultivation. The cultivation speed of such people would be several times that of normal people.

Xiang Shaoyun had a physique of nine stars shaking the heavens, the king of all physiques! If he was to whole-heartedly focus on cultivation, the rate at which he would improve would be beyond one’s imagination. After fully replenishing his strength, his mind once again entered a state for practicing battle techniques.

Gale Winds Kick!

Gale winds were a symbol of speed. When fully comprehended, the speed of one’s kick would be like that of a raging hurricane, destroying all in its wake. This was the essence of the Gale Winds Kick! Xiang Shaoyun’s natural comprehension ability was incredibly amazing; just from the mantra, he was able to immediately understand the key points to cultivate it.

Xiang Shaoyun began by practicing kicks, throws, wrestling, and lifting, the most basic of exercises when it came to leg methods.