Ch 8

Adel was mediocre in terms of cultivation knowledge in his last life, however, mandatory education has made him more knowledgable than his ancient peers. Even without his special eyes, he could identify that the Jian Chen's sword art was a high grade technique.

In the modern world, techniques were ranked according to usability, power to cost ratio, benefits, killing power and such. The most inferior are labeled as F class, and S class would be the pinnacle.

Jian Chen's sword art is at least B class, antipersonnel technique, suited for assassination.

Now, Adel started to wonder. As far as he knew, Jian Chen was just a kid from the same village as him. How could he train his swordsmanship to such level, and who taught him the technique?

He sneaks out of the village at night; thinking about it now, it seems that he was secretly training himself, or perhaps he was meeting with his mysterious master.

"Fang Ru, was it?" His voice was immature, yet it exudes calm and confidence.

"That is me, fellow martial brother."

A flash of surprise appeared in Jian Chen's face but it disappeared quickly. 'This child... He is quite mature for a five years old.' He thought.

Jian Chen was thinking that since they both came from the same village, he could teach the brat some techniques. 'Come to think of it, there was also that timid girl who has a Supreme Spiritual roots like mine. Hmm, this kid looks ordinary, but I'll just consider it as fate and give him some pointers.'

"What do you know about sword arts?" Jian Chen asked like one would a teacher when he opens up a lecture. He does seem like an adult.

Adel decided to be honest, though he had no idea about the purpose of such questions. "Isn't it just swinging your sword?"

Jian Chen nodded subtly, a typical answer of kids. "Yes, In fact, that's the case for normal people. However, a sword master doesn't merely wields the sword, what he commands is his will, the sword intent! It is said in legends that one could cut anything with a blade of grass, that is the sword intent."

"Oooh." Just then, Adel remembered a lecture about this. The professor once said that the sword intent is the true sword of a swordsman, it could cut anything whether a steel sword or a random branch is used, it disregards the composition of the material.

"The ancients used to hold their swords even in their sleep or when they eat or defecate, this not only sharpens their instinct, it helps in developing sword intent, because their will gradually becomes accustomed to the sharpness of their sword. The feeling and memory of slicing and the stabbing further reinforces the sword intent, becoming more similar to an actual sword..."

Adel did not remember the rest as his seat mate invited him to play games. But he did grasp the crucial part about sword intent.

"Do you want to learn swordsmanship?" Jian Chen asked casually, not expecting anything at all.

"Thanks for the pointers, brother Jian Chen, but I am not interested in using swords."

Jian Chen nodded and sighed. 'This kid, he doesn't know that he just let go of a precious opportunity. The earlier one formed a sword intent, the better, even better if one started forming it in the womb. Haa, it is indeed lonely at the peak.'

Adel excused himself and headed towards his cave, thinking to himself haughtily, 'Only uncultured barbarians engage in close combats. The way of the final boss is AoE bombardment.'

With the Judgement Spear in his possession, he would roam across the land unhindered. He imagined the scene where he would encounter some bastards.

"What, you want to fight?" Thousands of spears would the appear and rain down upon his opponents. He would then sigh upon the ashes. "It is indeed lonely at the peak."

Adel finished playing his imaginations and finally went back to reality. He went to the pile of boxes stored in his cave and checked the contents. He now have the complete ingredients for the Cleansing Pill. Now, the thing he had to do now was to concoct the pill.

He had just finished a task on his way and obtained an extra CP. he didn't know If it would suffice to procure the service of a pharmacy apprentice to compound the drug.

He headed out to the center and inquired about it, he was directed to a crowded building. As soon as he stepped in, a wave of pungent odor assaulted his nose.

"Welcome. Oh, you're a new disciple, how rare." A tired looking young man said. He was leaning on his chair, his arms were hanging lifelessly and the outline of his eyes were black.

"Welcome to the pharmacy, how may I help you." The young man's monotone voice sounded again, and the line was so bland and without passion.

"Greetings senior brother. I indeed need help as I want a cleansing pill to be made. I have all the ingredients here." Adel tapped on the box he was carrying.

"That's 30Cp" the young man replied between yawns. He reached out his hand and Adel gave his identification slip and the ingredients.

"Senior, the ingredients are enough for 5 pieces, please use them all."

"150Cp. You can come back after 3 hours, or tomorrow to reclaim it.

"Thanks senior brother."

The man waved his thin arms coolly.

Adel went out of the building, feeling that his load lightened up. He returned to his cave abode and proceeded to practice his cultivation.

Right now, he was in the early-Nourishment stage and he was suppose to reach the foundation stage in one month. He had been busy these past few days so now he can concentrate.

The stretches given by the sect was crude and he was used to the stretches he was practicing in the modern world, so he used the latter to practice.

The technique was one which was widely distributed world-wide. It had no disadvantages and was well balanced. One could use this technique to reach the foundation stage, but after that it would become useless.

It was called the Ground Rhythm due to origin of the technique. The creator was a hermit who secluded himself in a mountain, and after years of living in the wilds, his footwear eventually worn out. He walked barefooted for a long time and during those days, he realized that he was getting healthier and stronger. That was when he discovered that the ground possess a special kind of rhythm, and when he moves in accordance to that rhythm, Qi would gather into his body and strengthen him.