V2C22 (1) : Daunting Workload

"The worldwide tournament that's about to commence soon will reflect the effect of our sect's traditional apprenticeship ceremony . An official announcement regarding this will be made from the authorities in a few days . Don't waste any time in the next few days and prepare yourself for the first round of the tournament . I don't have the permission to tell you anything about it in advance since that goes against the tournament rules . All I'll say is...keep your mind fresh and ready to tackle some challenges ."

With the vague hints delivered smoothly , Kong Ye left Xuhan's hut . Looking at his back , Xuhan's muddled thoughts finally started clearing up .

His current situation was...terrible to say the least . The tournament was one problem he couldn't really prepare to tackle with his current strength . Eld-master's vague warnings made it sound even worse and more ominous than it already was . If he had some concrete ideas about what horrors the first round held , he could have thought something up at the very least .

Setting the tournament aside , the more pressing issue was the problem in his meridians . They were damaged beyond repair to begin with . It was going to get even worse ?

Han Xuhan wasn't keen on putting his trust on others to get his issues solved . Maybe his new master would really find a way to repair his meridians , maybe he wouldn't . But he had to make sure he himself did .

Cultivation was too interesting to let go of , regardless of how many obstacles he faced . The addictive feeling of superhuman strength surging through his body and qi obeying his command was beyond anything he had ever experienced .

Taking a deep breath , Xuhan focused on the stack of papers in front of him . Two different cultivation manuals , all for himself . For so long he had been practicing that same Skeletal Monarch technique . Granted , he could have actually practiced other techniques too after getting past the sect's deadline for new disciples . But that would have set his cultivation speed back by several degrees compared to his peers . It was the wisest decision to choose to focus on a single technique unless one had powerful , rich backing and an awfully lot of time on their hand .

"The Snowfall Garden technique , eh ?" Tun Shi Tian said , popping out from behind . Zhanxian too had come out of the kitchen , not having made a single appearance throughout his entire conversation with elder Kong .

"I thought you two were supposed to make tea ."

"I'm sorry , but if you thought I'd be making tea after receiving the news that my very existence is in danger right now , you'll be sorely disappointed . Quit having such high expectations for my work ethics , master . You'll only hurt yourself more that way ." 

"Zhanxian , it's another matter whether I get crippled due to my meridians becoming damaged or not . You should be more worried about killing me with your words and you two dying that way ."

"I didn't think you actually listened to anything I say , let alone feeling insulted by my words ."

Bantering back and forth , Xuhan felt his spirit recover slowly . Feeling out the normalcy of his regular lifestyle seemed like a good way to get a better grip on the reality . As the three of them continued to bicker pointlessly , he studied the Snowfall Garden technique for the rest of the evening .

The first surprise he received while going through its pages was the fact that it belonged to another subtype of cultivation techniques .
Unlike stubs , where the cultivation technique doesn't generate a dao tower before the soul reformation realm , this subtype was known as 'Ghosts' . The reason behind such a title was the fact that this type of techniques had no apparent effects on one's physique or soul , which frankly , were the two major areas of focus for every cultivator . These techniques only focused on pure cultivation through enlightenments , rigorous mental discipline , pursuit of self comprehension and building dao foundation . It offered no extra benefits other than the nominal status of a cultivator .

Predictably , this subtype of cultivation techniques were quite unpopular worldwide . The only redeeming quality it was known for was its lack of presence which suited cultivators with sensitive identities . To Xuhan's knowledge , the only practitioners of this subtype of cultivation techniques lived in a far off corner of the continent as monks . Their views of cultivation was extreme , and they preferred to call all the other types of orthodox styles unworthy of the power they pursued .

The stack of papers elder Kong had handed to him held the instructions for the entire physique transformation realm while practicing the technique . Once again , Xuhan felt a pang of shock after realizing that elder Kong too , kept entire tomes of cultivation manuals memorized...

"Am I the only guy without photographic memory ? Is this an innate skill that everybody has in this world , but I don't ?"

Torn between confusion and lamentation , he started browsing through the next manual , a suspicious looking technique titled The Hand That Holds Treasure .

Although his new master never made it clear what the technique's primary purpose was , Xuhan had an uncanny feeling that it was for stealing stuff . There was no awesome looking description on top of the manual , not even a credit to its creator ; which was incredibly rare among orthodox , righteous techniques . 

It's principles were rather complicated , with lots of theories and sub-techniques that had to be mastered before being able to practice the main one . In general , it was divided into ten layers like any other techniques , with each layer consisting of learning some basics and mastering one sub-technique related to them . The entire premise was about switching objects , moving them telekinetically , changing substances and colours using qi , something that resembled element bending , disguising tricks , psychological warfare , basic formations , and one technique that had definitely been adapted from law manipulation principles . Then there would come the specialized version that elder Kong had promised to give him .

The task ahead of him looked so lengthy , daunting and hard to accomplish that not feeling complety disheartened and giving up was already an accomplishment to him .






A/N : Really , really sorry about the delays this week . My mom just underwent a small surgery and I've been running around with all sorts of tasks and taking care of her . I'll make up for the delay by next week since she's recovering now . The other half of this chapter will be published by tomorrow .