Second Level

After acquiring information regarding the underground organization located in the town, Khoru went back home and began training his sword art and body technique.

'The town's tournament is only in another week, hell, really only 5 or 6 days...' Khoru was in the courtyard practicing his sword art meticulously. Instead of using his Martial Spirits he used a long wooden katana to practice his sword arts for better focus.

He executed the entire Air Collapsing Yin-Yang Sword-Art repeatedly until he was drenched in sweat, and even then he kept practicing it all the way until the sun set and the moon came out. Despite that, he still didn't stop...

'I can feel it..' Khoru practiced his sword art until his entire body ached and he could barely move, his body stood still as he gripped the frail wooden katana that had been worn out despite only being used for 2 days...

He gritted his teeth as a big smile appeared on his face and he stood straight up, hoisting the wooden katana by his side. He slowly entered a drawing stance and his eyes flashed violently as he ripped the katana from his waist and executed the first stroke of the Air Collapsing Yin-Yang Sword-Art!

'This is where the true practice begins! Carefully mastering each singular stroke of a sword-art until each move is as strong as the final move!' The katana's blade bent the air and swam through the wind like a carp going against the river's current. The air around it transformed into yin and yang energies that collided and mixed together.

A black and white illusory color covered the edge of the blade; Khoru could feel the power of just the first stroke and he could tell that it was 10 times stronger than the power of the final stroke of the sword-art before he reached the second level.

Khoru executed the first stroke of the sword-art repeatedly, which was a straight horizontal slash. It's complexity was neither too hard to comprehend or too easy to comprehend, it was just perfect; especially for Khoru,

After stabilizing the power of the second stage of his sword-art, Khoru immediately went into practicing his body technique, the 4 Devils Body Strengthening Technique. He was fired up and didn't feel anxious or nervous in the slightest.

Khoru felt that even if he was met with that horrid devil carrying the hammer again, he'd take him on head-first!

...

"NOPE! I WAS WRONG!" Khoru clenched his teeth in pain as he glared at the devil before him with bloodshot eyes. Even though that devil dished out painful attacks that would break a few of Khoru's bones with each hit, he never deactivated the technique because was on the precipice of reaching the second level.

Khoru was partially excited for the new devil that might appear when he re-ran the body technique at the second level. He felt that his body was about to shed a layer of skin and his body began to brim with amazing power that made his pupils dilate.

"I'm almost there! One more hit!" Khoru roared as the devil swung his hammer down upon his back one more time and his ribs nearly caved in on each other and blood rushed from his body. Despite that, a crazy smile appeared on Khoru's face as he quickly deactivated the technique and began circulating his Spirit Qi normally.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" He shouted as he circulated his Spirit Qi until he felt a chain in his body snap and his Spirit Qi erupt intense ferocity that he never experienced before! Khoru felt as if his body was on fire and he gritted his teeth as he circulated his Spirit Qi and solidified himself at the 4th stage of the foundation building realm.

Xin Xuan was in the house cooking a meal when she heard Khoru twisted smiles.

"...At least we don't have neighbors..." She lightly sighed before going back to cooking.

Khoru was overcome with strength and stood up and walked around the courtyard. He saw an unfortunate and innocent rock that was minding its business and reared his fist back.

"Let's test my power shall we?" A wicked smile appeared on Khoru's face as he launched his fist forward faster than a cannonball flying out of a cannon. His fist smashed into the rock and crushed it into pieces without the slightest resistance.

A small shock wave soared throughout the courtyard as a result and Khoru was left on the ground in amazement.

"Hopefully this is enough to ensure the first place in the town's tournament..." Khoru muttered excitedly to himself as he thought about the upcoming tournament...

To achieve a better grasp on his own power, Khoru remained in the courtyard and practiced the first stroke of his sword-art repeatedly with the wooden katana. In the midst of that, he felt and heard a strange humming coming from his Sea of Consciousness.

'Hm?' He stopped his training and entered his Sea of Consciousness after sitting down to uncover the mystery.

When he entered his Sea of Consciousness, Khoru immediately figured out what it was. Both his Martial Spirits emitted a humming noise as multiple slow and malleable sound-waves erupted from their centers.

'Why are they doing this? Is there a way to stop this? If not, I won't be able to continue practicing...' Khoru hoped to find a way to stop the mysterious noise and feeling, and left his Sea of Consciousness.

Unfortunately he felt that nearly all of his Spirit Qi had been absorbed the moment he left his Sea of Consciousness. Khoru's pupils shrank from confusion and he looked around to see if it was an enemy's doing.

His suspicion waned when he realized that his Spirit Qi had been absorbed into his Sea of Consciousness, more precisely, absorbed by his Martial Spirits!

'What the hell? I need to replenish my Spirit Qi quickly or else I'll faint! Who knows what'll happen then...' Khoru ran inside and grabbed his pouch and ran back outside in less than 10 seconds. He plunged his hand into the pouch and pulled out a pill bottle.

He wasted no time and crushed the pill bottle, watching all 50 of the small pills explode into the air from inside.