Journey Towards Dao

Chapter 14: Foundational Weapon Art

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

In the middle of the wide, grassy field located behind the side palace, a young boy was inverted in the air.

The black-robed Auslen was currently upside-down, holding himself away from the ground with an upright white spear shaft. His small hands supported his body from the butt of the spear while his legs were cinched together tightly to prevent the bottom of his robes from falling to his face.

His arms were trembling slightly as he adjusted his balance from the left to the right, swaying the shaft in the opposite direction each time to maintain his equilibrium.

Beside Auslen, Cedrick was watching him silently from a cross-legged position, evaluating his form with intense observation.

Cedrick suddenly spoke, “Good enough. Now adjust your position by one-third the length of the spear.”

Auslen couldn’t help but softly groan from his father’s next torturous command.

Eventually, Auslen lifted one hand after another, slowly climbing down in slight increments from the wobbling, one-meter-tall shaft as sweat steadily rained down to the grass below him.

He then began the same balancing exercise as he was previously performing from a lower position on the spear shaft, body swaying as he worked on controlling the strength and coordination of every muscle within his immature body.

This somewhat straightforward exercise was designed to grow the practitioner’s connection with the spear. If practiced to mastery, the practitioner would theoretically gain free and effortless control of the spear in any situation.

After another hour of swaying, Auslen was trembling from his entire body as his head began to feel faint from the backwards blood-flow.

Interestingly, in Auslen’s muddle-headed state, he began experiencing a strange feeling of expansion.

He could just barely feel his range of perception rapidly expanding down into the shaft below him as the vibrations from his body traveled throughout its length.

Staring at the scene in front of him, Cedrick’s eyes grew bright with silent praise.

Auslen, however, was not in the correct state of mind to appreciate his apparent accomplishment.

“That is enough.”

Cedrick’s deep voice sounded like music in Auslen’s ears.

Auslen did not even prepare for a graceful landing as he abruptly let go of the shaft, fully expecting to land heavily onto his back.

Before Auslen could hit the ground, Cedrick’s long arms instantly appeared under Auslen’s small figure, catching him gently before placing him slowly to the grass below.

The short-winded Auslen was once again soaked in sweat, which had turned out to be a daily occurrence during this past month.

He lifted his trembling arms in an effort to push the sweaty strands of hair off of his face as he began to regain some mental clarity.

During this entire month, Auslen had not cultivated his Profound Qi a singular time. Instead, he had been practicing the Foundational Spear Art continuously.

For Auslen, who admittedly was not much of a fitness enthusiast in either of his lives, this month was fatigue-inducingly difficult.

In the beginning of the month, he couldn’t even manage to climb to the top of the upright spear shaft, to say nothing of stabilizing himself in the correct upside-down position. However, after just one month, he could maintain his continually shifting balance for more than three consecutive hours!

Even though Auslen was repeatedly astounded by his body’s ability to strengthen and adapt at such an intense pace, he wasn’t quite sure of how his progress with the Foundational Spear Art compared to other practitioners, as his father never commented on his speed of improvement.

Auslen’s eyes closed as he tried to recall the hazy sensation he had just experienced. It wasn’t too long before he understood.

A human’s awareness was tied to their Soul Force. Cultivators could expand their Soul Force into the surrounding atmosphere; however, practitioners lacked that ability, as their Soul Force was caged within their bodies.

The final objective of Foundational Weapon Arts was to allow the practitioner to expand their conception of their “body.”

As understood from the context of the Foundational Spear Art, as long as the practitioner had constructed a sufficiently strong mental connection with a certain physical object, they could convince their awareness that the object was an addition to their natural body. In this way, a practitioner could successfully expand their Soul Force into that object.

What Auslen had just experienced was his Soul Force flooding into the spear shaft once his mind finally convinced itself that the long foreign object he was continuously manipulating was not a wooden pole, but in fact, an extension of his body!

Finally! After a month of such blatant maltreatment from this devilish, green-haired man, I finally did it!

Auslen was so relieved that he started laughing out loud unknowingly.

Suddenly, Auslen felt a flow of invigoratingly pleasant energy that began seeping into every inch of his body.

His eyes flew open in shock. Filling his vision was green, white, and gold light that surrounded him. He watched in captivation as it was hastily being absorbed into his exhausted body.

After a few more delightful moments, Auslen had fully recovered. He felt renewed energy driving his body as he sat up in astonishment. As he observed himself, he noticed that he was now completely clean, all of his sweat suddenly absent from his body, hair, and robes.

Oh, I didn’t know Father knew such a neat trick. With such a convenient ability, training shouldn’t be much of an issue from now… on…

Wait. A. Second.

Auslen raised his head quickly and glanced at his stiff-faced father with sudden suspicion.

Once he made eye contact with his father’s golden eyes that were filled with obvious amusement, Auslen shook in unhidden anger as he loudly exclaimed, “Why didn’t you ever do that for me before?! You’re bullying me!”

I have been training like a deranged dog for an entire month, and not once did you do your little light show?! What a fucking bully! A child abuser!

Seeing his son’s apparent vexation, Cedrick hid his mirth by closing his eyes. He slowly stood up from his seated position, dark green hair dragging through the vibrant grass behind him.

Cedrick shook his head as he softly explained, “Foundational Weapon Arts are simpler to master when your body is in a prolonged state of fatigue. Exhaustion blurs the lines between the conscious mind and Soul Force, allowing for increased efficiency in the Weapon Art.”

Although Cedrick’s words made some sense, Auslen still could not seem to calm his annoyance in the short term.

Hmph. I’m still going to tell Mother.

Cedrick ignored Auslen’s thoughts and spoke once more.

“Pick up your spear shaft and demonstrate a proper thrust.”

Seeing that his father was not letting him go just yet, Auslen internally sighed before standing up, picking up the spear shaft along the way.

As soon as his hand grasped the wooden shaft, the sensation of expansion automatically returned.

Auslen’s eyes closed as he stood still, waving the shaft gently in the air as he took note of the new bounds of his awareness.

Cedrick was silent as he watched Auslen familiarizing himself with the spear shaft once more.

Auslen extended the shaft diagonally in front of him, his left and right hands gliding down towards the base as he lowered the shaft to a horizontal position.

Whoosh!

Without moving his feet, the Ashwood spear shaft in his small hands blurred slightly as it was thrust forward like a striking viper, stabbing through the air at shocking speeds.

Mysteriously, Auslen could clearly sense the ripples in the surrounding wind through the wooden shaft as it completed its movement.

As Auslen’s arms stilled from the completion of his thrust, a mosquito just in front of him caught his sight.

Swish!

With a light step forward, Auslen used his right hand at the base to propel the shaft fiercely, guiding it effortlessly with his left hand as the tip of the shaft made perfect contact with the mosquito.

Instantly, the mosquito’s small body burst apart in a flurry of shattered wings and legs.

Auslen pulled back his body with a small smile on his face. He stared down at the shaft in his hand as he marveled at the ease of which he was able to control its long, unwieldy body.

His father’s sudden words called back his entranced attention.

“You can now be considered to have basic mastery over the foundations of the spear. Although you will continue to refine your spear control, you now have obtained the minimum requirements to practice spear-type Martial Techniques.”

Cedrick reached into his robes and pulled out a jade slip before placing it into Auslen’s already outstretched hands.

Auslen did not wait for instruction this time as he placed the jade slip to his forehead. Once he stimulated the jade slip with Profound Qi, he absorbed the comprehensive knowledge of yet another Martial Technique.

This Martial Technique was a spear-type Martial Technique, titled the Six Directions Spear.

“In addition to your Phantom Steps, you will also need to practice the Six Directions Spear regularly. Normally, I would have you wait until you have reached the Minor Success Stage in the Phantom Steps before moving on to weapon type Martial Techniques, like I enforced with Aiden. However, your time here is very limited, so I have to increase your load accordingly.

“Now that you have obtained an understanding of the Six Directions Spear, do you have any questions regarding its usage? You can also raise any concerns that you may have built up during your individual practice of the Phantom Steps, considering that it's been a month since I've given you guidance.”

However, Auslen did not wish to speak anymore about the spear at this moment, and he had long since reached the Minor Success Realm in the Phantom Steps Martial Technique in his free time. He had yet to find the correct opportunity to inform his father, but now was not that time.

He was far more interested in another topic.

His boyish tone sounded in anticipation, “I can cultivate to the 3rd stage of Qi Refinement now, right Father?”

Over the past month, he had certainly come to appreciate the feeling of improvement in his martial ability. But for Auslen, no experience could surpass that intoxicating sensation of advancing his Qi Refinement cultivation.

Cedrick shook his head at his son’s impatience before turning to walk back in the direction of Auslen’s palace.

“Follow me back inside.”

…

Once again, Auslen was sitting cross-legged in his meditation room atop his white cushion as cool tendrils of energy streaked throughout his body.

He was currently absorbing his third strand of Profound Qi in this cultivation session. This was the last strand required to initiate the advancement to the third stage.

Previously, it had taken him 20 minutes to absorb a complete strand of Profound Qi,. But now, due to Auslen’s familiarity with the application of Profound Qi, it had taken only 17 to 18 minutes.

At this moment, the glowing strand of Profound Qi was complete, joining the other five as they all began to vibrate frantically before shooting out of his Dantian, circulating energetically within his Dao Root system.

Transformative white energy flooded Auslen’s body for the third time, creating more space for his small physique to strengthen.

Extreme hunger began to build shortly after the advancement process began.

Just as Auslen was about to pick himself up to make his way to the kitchens, the door to his meditation room swung open to reveal Cedrick, who was carrying a small box in his right hand as he walked in front of the still sitting Auslen.

Auslen had not decided if he should be patient with his father or ignore him entirely in favor of sustenance before his father opened the small box, unleashing a potent, indescribably appetizing scent.

Cedrick reached his hand into the box, pulling out a small piece of glistening meat, fat still dripping from its succulent fibers.

Just as Auslen opened his mouth to beg for a bite, Cedrick stuffed the filet of meat directly into Auslen’s mouth.

Auslen’s jaws automatically began to chew while his taste buds exploded in ecstasy. The mouth-watering pleasure was so overwhelming that Auslen blacked out for a short while.

When he regained consciousness, he was still sitting up on his cushion, but the meat filet had long disappeared from his tongue.

Emotions of disappointment shrouded his mind for a few brief moments due to the feelings of loss that rang from his taste buds until he froze in stupidification.

As his Soul Force scanned his body, Auslen realized that he had unknowingly completed his advancement to the third stage of Qi Refinement. More importantly, he was bursting with energy! This was in complete contrast to the unquenchable starvation he had experienced earlier in the month.

If Auslen so desired, he could directly enter the 4th stage of Qi Refinement!

Auslen wasn’t stupid. The only reason that his body could be so full of energy would have to be that piece of mystery meat he had just devoured.

With a somewhat uneasy expression, Auslen raised his gaze towards his father, who’s eyes seemed annoyingly entertained.

Although he had a faint guess, Auslen still chose to confirm with the increasingly infuriating man in front of him.

“Father, what kind of meat was that?”

Cedrick replied simply, “Demon flesh.”