54 A month's practice 2~

Clear Soul Technique

It was the name that Ning came up with since there was no name for that technique that appeared in his consciousness. It was something that his master had chanced upon coincidentally and was one of his greater opportunities.

The Clear Soul Technique was incomplete, comprising only two intact stages. However, a glance at the required numbers to reach the second floor made it evident that this was no ordinary technique.

After a month of prodding, he also understood the essence of the technique. It was not a technique for strengthening one's soul as much as it was a technique focused on 'clearing' the mind of the cultivator.

At least, that was what Ning had found so far in comprehending this technique.

Ning lit a few soul-calming incense sticks that he had bought. Just like its name, it soothed the mind of the cultivator.

Admittedly, Ning felt a bit tired after the cultivation session, but that's where this technique proved its value.

With a deep inhalation, Ning delved into his inner consciousness following the Clear Soul Technique.

After a few seconds of running the technique, unconsciously his thoughts converged together to form a single question.

Who am I?

Question the 'self.' Affirm the belief in 'self.'

The first floor of the Clear Soul Technique was all about finding the true self.

Such a question would probably stump a lot of people. After all, finding one's true self is not exactly easy. Even that one kung fu panda movie whose entire premise revolved around this would attest to that.

So, naturally, facing such a question, the thoughts of cultivators could not keep still. They would try to dig deeper into their sense of self, going in a downward spiral, and in the end, they might even read too much into it, so much so that in the end, they would question their own values of 'self.'

It also did not help that the Clear Soul Technique birthed a large number of doubts when practiced, making this whole thing even harder than it needed to be.

Confronted with a fragile sense of self, the Clear Soul Technique, instead of bringing clarity to the mind, would cloud it.

But Ning did not fall into this quagmire. The reason was simple, oh so simple.

Who am I?

This question was cliché as fudge. There were thousands of books revolving around this premise. The protagonists in those would pass through hard hurdles and go on an enlightening journey, only finding the answer so ridiculously simple that they could not help but grimace about it.

So, with the final result of enlightenment of several such characters in hand, Ning would naturally not stray off the path.

"I am ME."

Ning's thoughts converged as he quietly reaffirmed his sense of self. A month of unrelenting practice had led him to get quite proficient at this stuff. Constantly chanting the statement for days had already become the norm for him. So, he was calm facing the sudden sense of doubt arising within him.

"I am Ji Ning." Ning calmly echoed his thoughts.

Yes, the answer was that simple. Just like that one common knowledge of people dying when they are killed, the answer to this question was that easy.

I am myself; otherwise, who else could I be?

Most people have the bad habit of overthinking some things a bit too much. Just like in a multiple-choice test, even though one might select an answer they are sure about by 99%, that one percent gnaws at them infinitely, which would then lead into a deeper spiral, and eventually, they might even choose the wrong answer.

People ignore what's right before them, and Ning, who had enough knowledge about such a trope, would not fall into the cliché.

The trick was to use something as an anchor facing the endless tide of doubts. For Ning, he had something that was perfect to use as an anchor, something unique to him.

"I am Ji Ning. A TRANSMIGRATOR." Ning affirmed his own special identity. This was the one thing he had an edge over everyone else in this world, so he would rather not lose this sharpness of his.

The entire premise of this technique was to lay oneself bare without a single shred of hesitation. And Ning felt he did a pretty good job taking the reference of those finding oneself novels. It also helped that, he meditated daily for hours on end to refine his control of his own consciousness.

As if meeting the requirement, the endless doubts suddenly cleared as a chilling coolness pierced his spiritual consciousness, Ning could feel his mind become light and free.

Of course, regarding the strengthening of the soul itself, there was not much progress. It would probably take a while before drastic improvement occurs.

But the reason Ning held the technique in such high regard was that it rid his mind of all distractions, and his concentration skyrocketed as a result.

Ning called this state the Sage time. He may or may not have named it after the state after post-nut clarity or something...

Sage time. It was a state where he let go of all worldly feelings and focused solely on bettering himself. In such a state, Ning could focus on the grind solely and his gains were maximized to the limit.

Because of this, he was able to increase the proficiency of several of his techniques by such a large margin. Even Ling Huang would have never expected his disciple to take off with this incomplete technique he chanced upon.

"So refreshing as usual." Ning couldn't help but cry out, feeling the coolness permeating through his mind. All of his accumulated mental fatigue was gone, and he was ready for more.

Ning stood up, and once again started to practice, but unlike raising his realm, this time the training was related to his martial arts instead.

After all, gotta raise those numbers.

[Flame Controlling Technique]

"Flame's source, ignite with my will, Fire's origin shines, an eternal search. Bless my heart, let the fire be the essence, Radiance transforms, a dance of fire and wind..." Ning chanted a series of words, as the spiritual qi surged in the air.

As the incantation ended, the spiritual qi in the air gathered towards Ning's outstretched arm, forming a small ball of fire about the size of a tennis ball.

"The power of the sun in my palm," Ning mumbled as he tried to sway the flame trying to get the taste of fire bending.

Nonetheless, Ning was quite a noob at it. His qi reserves were not deep enough to form a bigger fire to work with, nor were the flames easy to manipulate.

He was not disheartened, as this month-long training was primarily to acclimate himself to his spiritual sense and soul technique. There was plenty of time for him to slowly bring those numbers up.

"At least, my progress should be enough for master..." Ning muttered, closing his palm, the fire extinguished without a stable source of spiritual energy.

Flame Controlling Technique and the Wood Spring Nurturing technique were both techniques he obtained from his master. Unlike the soul cultivation technique, he did have to pay three thousand spirit stones for it. If anyone asked, no, he was not salty about it.

These two techniques were both essential for alchemy, so his master persuaded (forced) Ning to get at least proficient with them, lest he would get punished for it.

Of course, Ning did not blame his master for forcing him to practice. After all, his master has truly done a lot for his unique situation; it would only deteriorate their relationship if he didn't play his part in it.

After a few hours of practicing the various martial arts in the state where his mind was so clear, Ning finally arrived at the last step of his training.

From beginning to end, Ning first trained his body, which was the foundation to achieve everything, and then he started his daily cultivation session to raise his realm. After that, he began to train his soul and increase his mental strength, and in the state where his concentration was raised to the limit, he trained in martial arts.

It was a perfect loop and the training schedule Ning had developed to optimize his training. Prepare the body for cultivation, improve the mind, and then cultivate the techniques. Normally, he would have stopped right there, but he finally arrived at the most dreaded part of training.

Ning took out two higher-quality healing pills obtained from Li Tianhe and consumed them.

The bitter taste flooded his mouth, but Ning was in no mood to complain. After all, what was going to come was much worse.

[Lightning Palm]

Ning's palms glowed an eerie blue color, small streaks of lightning appearing in his palms. Then, he channeled the lightning throughout his body. It was painful, very much so, but except for the occasional external injuries, there was not much damage. The pill protected his inner organs, so he could take this reckless path.

What was Ning doing?

He was trying to sense and experience everything about lightning in a very intimate manner. If he wanted to comprehend Lightning Qi, it was only natural for him to try to experience the effects of lightning and the mechanism behind it.

So, twice a week, Ning chose to try this 'lightning therapy' training. It was all preparation to eventually acquire the Lightning Qi.

"As expected, cultivators' resistance to elements is far higher than mortals." Ning could feel while the lightning tried to harm him, the healing pills and medicinal baths he usually takes keep the damage to the bare minimum.

All of this was done in a controlled setup and with his acquired sturdy bullshit cultivator body, Ning could try such a reckless method.

It was quite a shonenish way of training, but if it would help him to increase his chances of comprehending the Lightning Qi later at once, Ning didn't mind taking the chances.

"Such avant-garde training methods are truly perfect for this world." Ning could not help but feel so.

After living in this world for months, he knew that being a cultivator was hax in itself. Not only were they resistant to elements, but they also seemed to gradually acclimate to all things hitting them. Probably due to this feature, cultivators could always live even though they spurted gallons of blood each day, fainted after each fight, took endless amounts of drugs, and everything in between.

Especially, ever since Ning had found some techniques that required the cultivators to practice in extreme conditions, it had really opened his eyes regarding the bullshit that were cultivators. For instance, in the martial arts pavilion, there was a yin cultivation technique that required one to be buried for six days continuously to be practiced. Similarly, other techniques require one to get breezed, burned, or go through an intense amount of pain.

So, Ning was not shy to use this 'feature' to its fullest. It was distinctly because, this was a xianxia world, and getting struck by lightning would only become commonplace in the future when he would try to cross the barrier between various realms.

So, with this, Ning could see the preview of the suffering he would have to go through later on. Of course, that was unless he could find some bullshit way to avoid that. Plus, doing this sh*t was not without its benefit, it made him gradually get used to pain.

Not only that, maybe the reason the proficiency of Lightning Palm rose so much aside from the memory of Li Tianhe was also probably related to this training method of his.

After all, don't they say, "What can't kill me will only make me stronger?"

 ...

Thanks for reading~