Chapter 05 - Time Skip and Progress

After getting a job at Liu Kai's smithy, it was decided that he would work every day of the week in the morning and when it was close to noon he could leave.

As a result, his schedule changed to absorb the essence of the sun at dawn, working in the smithy in the morning, training with the Natural Qi Refinement method in the afternoon, and absorbing the essence of the moon at night. After that he would go to sleep and repeat the cycle the next day.

The next day's dawn, Mo Xie was awake and looking at the sunrise in the east, using the Heavenly Eyes of the Sun and Moon method. Pure golden energy seemed to be sucked into his right eye and merged with his purple eye. After awakening his Mystic Eyes Martial Soul, his pupils took on a bright purple color, free of any impurities, giving him a sense of mystery to other people.

But as he just started cultivating this technique today, there wasn't much change in his eye color, but he could clearly feel his mind clearing and his vision and perception of his surroundings improving. And that's only when he only absorbed the first essence of the sun. When he absorbs the essence of the moon and progresses even further in his cultivation of the technique, he can only feel even better.

After he finished using the technique he closed his eyes for a while before opening them again and heading out to eat his breakfast, where Bai Chen was still excited to become a Spiritual Master.

Exchanging a few words, he finished eating and went to the smithy.

"Uncle Liu, what do I have to do today?" Mo Xie asked Liu Kai that was refining some metals in the forge.

"Take the hammer and help me refine these metals in the box on the side 100 times. Even though you hammered the metal 1000 times yesterday, there were still many flaws. Get familiar with the 100 refinements first and when you're at a stage that doesn't make too many mistakes, we'll move on to the 1000 refinements." Liu Kai instructed him without looking at him, continuing his refinement.

"En, I'll start now!" Mo Xie nodded, as he knew that even though he has all the knowledge of Old Du, he still has no practice. So it was impossible to reach heaven in just one step. Only by working hard could he take it one step at a time.

Mo Xie then walked to the forge and picked up a hammer that was laid out there for him and a piece of black iron.

And just like that, four hours had passed with him working alongside Liu Kai at the forge. Because of his high understanding, his heightened vision and the knowledge gained in his mind, he managed to make great progress in that time that even left Liu Kai in awe. But it still needed a lot more practice to become perfect.

He also received the money he would count for this month from Liu Kai and left the smithy in search of food. After he was filled and satiated his hunger he returned to the orphanage and continued the strenuous practice of the Natural Qi Refinement method.

The pain was even greater than when he first circled the method, but he gritted his teeth and continued to cultivate as he felt his whole being and his spiritual energy grow purer and stronger every moment.

When night came he began to complete the cycle of his Heavenly Eyes. He looked up at the bright moon that rose in the sky and began to absorb a pure silver energy. If the essence of the sun made his eyes feel a comfortable warmth, then the essence of the moon made him feel like a cool breeze had entered his mind. Before long the silver energy merged with his left eye and he could feel the two essences of sun and moon complementing each other and improving his mental power, vision and perception.

"Looks like I'm going to need at least 1 month to get into the first stage…" Mo Xie muttered to himself.

"Whatever, my progress is already considered fast as I have Old Du's experiences. I can't be too greedy and just need to train diligently." Nodding to himself, Mo Xie brought his tired body into the bathroom and cleaned up. After eating something he went straight to bed to sleep.

------------------------------------------------- -----------------------

2 years have passed since then.

Mo Xie is now 8 years old and his body started to develop rapidly, his body that was a little malnourished before started to fade and get fuller creating compact muscles in his body, with no sign of fat seen in him. His face became more defined and his hair now took on a bright white color and his body has grown to almost 1,60m. Hardly anyone would think he was only 8 years old now.

He made great progress in his forging techniques, far surpassing Liu Kai, being able to make 1000 refinements of a metal perfectly, eliminating all impurities embedded in the metal. Liu Kai even put his pride aside and asked Mo Xie for advice on how to improve his forge and made immense gains. Because of this, his store became better known in Star Luo City and attracted more customers, causing Mo Xie's salary to reach 10 gold coins per month.

Mo Xie's greatest progress was in the Heavenly Eyes of the Sun and Moon method. In these 2 years of practice he reached the peak of the first level. His memory became almost perfect and his control over mental and spiritual power as well as his eyesight were greatly improved. His perception and comprehension were improved and he was able to see things more and more clearly. If his previous view was a 720p resolution, his view was now 1080p and his view would only improve further as he reached higher stages.

On the other side his progress in Natural Qi Refinement was only one step away from the peak of the first stage. Only one more round of purification was left and he would reach that stage. When he surpass that stage he would have the strength to fight a 1,000 year old spirit beast as long as he learned some combat techniques.

It was late in the day and Mo Xie was sitting cross-legged in the shade of the tree in the orphanage as he trained in his cultivation method. His body shook from time to time and his fists were clenched in his pants. Only he could understand the pain he was feeling at the moment, but after two years of enduring the pain that this method brought to him he began to get used to it. After all, the strength he gained while he cultivated this method was immense.

[Author Note: No Pain No Gain >:D]

After a few hours some small impurities began to excrete from his pores and stain his clothes. When all the impurities left, he felt a warm current pass through his whole body, strengthening him greatly. He felt very comfortable as his strength continued to grow and his spiritual power entered Rank 10. All the bones, organs, muscles, passages and meridians in his body began to be strengthened once more.

He waited 2 years for this.

Don't think Mo Xie is now in his Rank 10 to be any pseudo Soul Master. Even without any technique he could face anyone below rank 20. If he learned some combat techniques, even an ordinary Soul Elder of rank 31 would have trouble with him. Because of the purity of his compressed spiritual power, he was ten times stronger than any spiritual master of his age.

"I finally completed the first stage of this method!" Mo Xie happily commented to himself. Just thinking about how much effort he'd put into getting here made him a little bitter. He never thought it would take two years to complete the first stage of this method.

"The only thing that makes me happy is that after I acquire my spirit ring and enter the second stage, my cultivation speed will improve by a large margin…" It just took all that time before he could create a totally stable foundation for his future cultivation. Now that the foundation has been launched he will be able to pick up the pace without too many worries.

Getting up, he went to the bathroom to clean himself up and after starting to feel his strength, he nodded, satisfied and began to finish the cycle of his Heavenly Eyes. Feeling the same cold sensation as always, he completed the cycle feeling his vision improve slightly. Now that he has reached the peak of technique, just passing to the second stage he would have a new change in both quantity and quality of mental power.

'It's time to learn some battle techniques.' Mo Xie thought and sat on his bed, searching his memories for techniques that suited him.

After filtering out countless techniques, he selected 3 for himself. A movement technique, a melee technique and a sword technique.

The movement technique he chose is called Shadow Steps. This technique can double your speed if it were fully mastered. With this technique a person could move quickly and silently, leaving no trace to be tracked. Only a shadow could be seen slightly before disappearing from the opponent's field of vision.

His melee combat technique is called the Gladiator's Manual. It is a technique that encompasses punches, palms and kicks, methods for using and withdrawing strength, how to use your body in conjunction with spiritual power as well as other uses. It could be considered a multifunctional technique, but it still had the same power as specialized techniques.

And finally the sword technique he was most excited to learn. This technique is called the Yin-Yang Sword. It is a sword technique that implements two contrary forces that could act together, complementing each other and becoming more powerful. With Old Du's advice to focus on the forces of absolute ice and fire, he thought this technique was the most suitable for him. And now that his elemental affinity had improved after reaching the peak of the first stage of his natural qi refinement method, he couldn't wait to start practicing this technique.

But after just starting to read he noticed a problem. He never trained the basics of the sword.

'I really should have taken the time to practice the basics of swordsmanship…' Mo Xie let out a resigned sigh. But he couldn't be blamed, as he didn't have the time as he was working hard, building a foundation for himself.

"It doesn't matter, now all I need is to stabilize and build up my spiritual power level a little and continue to cultivate my heavenly eyes, it shouldn't take me long to master the basics and enter the realm of intention."

Swordsmanship is divided into 5 realms, namely: Sword Qi Realm, Intent Realm, Sword Domain, Sword Heart and Dao of the Sword.

In order for him to start practicing the Yin-Yang Sword he must be at least in the Sword's Realm of Intent.

Mo Xie lay down to rest his aching and tired body and went to sleep, ridding himself of all idle thought.

Tomorrow begins another infernal training regimen.