41 A Path To Zhuji [I]

Titan lord Luyang was an existence from the primordial time. From the time of his creation as a yellow mountain to the time of mortal appearances, billions of years of absorbing spiritual energy had passed before becoming a sentient being. And as it was for all other titans who gained awareness, he was created with some innate abilities. One of the innate abilities was the capacity to transfer the natural power of the mountain into his soul's manifestation as the titan lord. 

After gaining sentience, titan lord had been using that innate ability to develop a technique known as Mountain-Weight technique. It was of no surprise that the reversed True-World bodyweight technique initiated by titan lord Luyang was an imitation of the titan lord innately developed technique.

Although the reversed bodyweight technique was a very difficult and tiresome one to practice, the effect of the technique on Ju Feng's body was noteworthy. Since he had been practicing the reversed technique, his body had been benefiting from its impact. Together with the turtle meat and tubers he was consuming, his bones had been getting stronger and his body more powerful.

Despite all that, he didn't stop eating the turtle meat and the water lilies. In fact, once in his room, he ate them at every available moment. What was the point of having a good amount of meat if not to eat it? He had asked himself as he resolved to eat the turtle and the lilies.

Inside his room out of prying eyes, he would eat the meat and lilies, before training his body and practicing martial arts. Since his room was big enough for him to practice, he made use of every opportunity he had. Especially, every morning that he had no lectures, he would clear the centre of the room and practice the reversed bodyweight technique along with the shifting heavens hand martial technique. Afterwards, he would go out to the training ground to practice the Swift-Steps technique. That was his secret routine.

Then one morning, on his way to the training ground, Ju Feng decided to see if he could check the core disciples of the Last-Sages sect practicing inside the Youxiu section of the training ground. The last time he was here, he had been amazed by the glimpses of techniques and moves he saw being displayed by the geniuses.

Upon reaching the outskirt of the Youxiu training ground, he slowly inched closer to have a wider view of the area. On the training ground, he saw some of the disciples formed a parallel lines on the two sides of two disciples who seemed to be having a showdown. One was a tall and heavily built boy and the other was a boy of average height and built. But the most striking aspect of the boy was his long white hair, it was like a flowing stream of snow. And by the second look of the situation, it seemed they were engaged in a friendly combat.

Martial art, friendly combat or not, guaranteed optimum entertainment experience for the onlookers. Suddenly, the heavily built boy moved, too fast for his stature as he sent forward a thunderous fist that caused spatial warping as it moved towards the white haired boy. The white haired boy didn't move, but at the last second, he extended his palm that seemed to be humming slowly and successfully blocked the thunderous fist. The impact knocked both of them back several steps.

"I told you I could take your moves head-on, Zhu Qiang. Any more moves?"

"Don't be so sure, Wang Lei."

With that, the heavily built boy moved like lightning, reaching the white haired boy before the blink of an eye. His hands blurred as he delivered hundreds of thunderous fists from all angles. But before the fists could connect, the white haired boy turned in a circle. It appeared in a form of a slow circle movement but it was actually an after image. A mirage. The actual image was like a whirl of palms blocking the thunderous fists. Before Ju Feng could bat an eyelid, the heavily built boy was already back to his original position.

"Impressive Wang Lei, your speed technique is truly impressive." 

"You flatters me Zhu Qiang. My speed wasn't greater than yours, and your martial art technique is not inferior to mine either."

In martial combat, speed could determine the outcome of a battle. The core disciples' combat had been too fast for Ju Feng to follow. He only saw a streak of light when the heavily built boy moved. But for a second during their combat, Ju Feng caught a glimpse of profound afterimages. He remembered the teaching of his grandfather. 

"There are secrets in combats, Ju Feng. The sounds you hear, the images and lights you see, what you sense but can't touch or explain. All hold mysteries that can give you insight." 

His mind, unconsciously went back to the afterimages. One was many, and many was one. His head was beginning to hurt as he tried frantically to make sense of the afterimages. He was about to give up, when he remembered his mother's sudden movement when she was shot with the black arrow by the demon lord, back at the lunar plain. The unseen steps. His mother's divine gift as a true demigod which she used for her divine evasion.

In a trance of memory flash of those encounters, he unconsciously initiated the Swift-Steps technique. Gradually regaining his consciousness, he gazed at himself and his surroundings in confusion. He was standing at the entrance of the Youxiu training ground. He couldn't recollect coming to the place. The last thing he remembered was himself trying to figure out some movement techniques, but then blank out. So, how come he was standing where he was? Did it work?

With his full awareness back, Ju Feng looked around and realized there were eyes set on him. That was bad. The geniuses had stopped training and were wondering what could possibly be wrong with him. But before they could do anything, he apologised quickly and disappeared in the direction of the Zhanshi section.

At the Zhanshi section, he tried to recalled what happened as he watched the Zhanshi disciples trained and shook his head. He knew something had happened but couldn't remember what. No longer in the training frame of mind, Ju Feng left the training ground and walked towards his dormitory.

On his way there, he changed his mind and headed towards the marketplace of the sect. He had never been there before but since he was having a foggy mind, he decided to get himself the Wandering-Soul herbal plants. Unlike the pills, herbal plants were much more cheaper since cultivators preferred the more powerful pills. Nonetheless, the plants would help his frame of mind, making it easier for him to fully restore his mind frame through meditation. 

The insight he was trying to gain before, on the movement techniques, had affected his mind to a certain level.

The marketplace was indeed a big place with a number of large stalls organized to sections according to their products. One section had stalls of alchemy products, another had magical artifacts and like that, the rest were arranged. Moving around the marketplace, from one section to another, he checked the available stalls until he came to the alchemy section. This section seemed the busiest with disciples coming and going. Alchemy was truly a great part of mortal existence.

The stalls were quite busy but found one that was a bit quiet. It was divided into two parts. The front part was with row of shelves filled with lower grade pills and plants while the back was where the higher grade and above products were stored. The alchemist was a savant of the golden core stage. The other disciple in the stall had left after buying the product he came for, leaving only Ju Feng in the stall with the owner.

"Greetings senior."

"Greetings young one, how can I help you?"

"The Wandering-Soul plant, senior. I need the Wandering-Soul plant."

"Hm. Trouble with the mind lately?"

"Yes, senior."

"Hm, been there. The mind can be difficult sometimes."

The Alchemist said as he rummaged through the pile of products and placed the plant on the table.

"Here it is, young one."

"Thank you senior."

After paying for the herbal plant, Ju Feng was about to leave when he saw a familiar white pill, inside a small transparent bottle on the shelf behind the Alchemist. 

"Uhm senior, is that the Heavenly Root spirit pill?"