Hunting, living, growing.

Year 0189 of the MunYu empire, day 02 of four Moons.

A few months had passed since the immortal cave was burned down. And during this time, Lee Yenshu was able to start the imprinting process of the Void Pendant. He could now place new stuff in, and take those out, but still could not get the previous owner's belongings.

The forest was not as safe as the immortal cave, so he had very few chances to sleep, however, with the help of the book, he managed to stay safe. The book would show him what could be eaten, and what should be avoided, but not only that, for knowledge from all of the Sage's scrolls and books were buried deep inside the Lifebound Life Chronicles.

Sometimes, when Lee Yenshu was feeling bored, he would read about his own life, from the book perspective. It was fun, seeing how the book would even capture the actions of those around him. It was especially effective when hunting. More than once, he would sit and read the book as it was writing itself, just to make sure that he was alone, or if there was any beasts he could hunt nearby. 

This also helped him to find a good place to build a hut, hidden, on top of a cliff, it was safe from the rain, outside of any beast hunting ground, and even better, outside of any known trail that other people would take. After completing the hut, he was able to finally get some good sleep.

But one thing began to bother Lee Yenshu as time passed, the voice of the book, was growing weaker, the talks he had with the book, were growing shorter, as if the book was saving it's own strength, in order to hold on.

He knew that the wisp of the pine tree's soul was just a tiny piece of her, and that one day, it would vanish from the book, itself had already warned him about it, but, for it to become this weak after just a few months... Maybe something about the lack of Qi was forcing it to grow weaker.

That was the main difference between the forest and the immortal cave, there was almost no primordial energy on the forest, and the Qi in the air, was scarce. Once again, he realized how luck he was that the first place he found himself, was the immortal cave.

One thing that remained the same, was the training, every day, for at least 3 hours, he would practice the Tàijí quán, and along it, the breathing technique that he had learned from the book.

He realized that the 13 basic concepts of Tàijí quán were interchangeable, he could mix the steps, alternate them, and still keep the flow of movements, and with that, without anyone, not even the book's help, he mastered the 169 patterns, a secret moving technique of the Tàijí quán. Hidden for so long, that most people forgot about it.

It was mostly a defensive moviment, that allowed Lee Yenshu to react to sudden changes in the flow, and so, evade most of the attack patterns of the beasts in the forest, and it could also be used to change the flow of the opponent, using his own force, to push him back. 

It was far from being a offensive martial arts, but, for beasts, and for wild animals, it served its purpose. 

This also greatly enhanced his own body, fortifying his muscles, shaping then in a way that they were not excessive, he was not strong, he was flexible. His muscles were beginning to take shape. But instead of getting bulky, they were slimmer, thin, and yet, extremely dense.

"Yes, keep training like this Lee Yenshu, and you will accomplish great things."

-This one does not think so...Sir Mo Leng was much stronger than me, his body was built different, I could see how strong his muscles were... This one is nowhere near him. 

"Lee Yenshu, Sir Mo Leng have spent the last 40 years in this realm, and not only that, he is a spy for the orthodox path. The martial arts he learned, are on a different level than your, and even so, he hadn't reached the Ego Awakening stage. If you take your time, with a good enough foundation, you can easily surpass him.

About the muscles, there is nothing much we can do, everyone is built differently, everyone has 3 types of muscles fibers on their bodies, and this can change with training, but the way one is born takes a huge part of it.

The first type of muscle fiber, the red muscle, it holds less explosive power, and it's less bulky, but is filled with more blood vessels running through it. It holds a lot of oxygen, and so, can stay active for quite a long time, however, it wont show that much power, and can sometimes rupture, if too much energy is pushed through its vessels.

The second type of muscle fiber, is the white one, this is the one that's bulkier, heavier, and has less blood vessels running through it, it holds a lot of power, and can demonstrate a lot of explosive increase when using energy, however, those with those sort of muscles, tend to tire themselves easily, since not much air and blood flow between the muscles.

The third type, is the type you are currently building, the denser, more entangled mix of both muscles types. It's smaller, but denser than the second type, and has just the right amount of blood vessels, allowing for a good blood flow, and still pack enough energy. It is the most difficult type of muscle to achieve, since once the muscles mature, you can't change their nature.

So all you have to do is keep your training, and your body refining will be on a stage that would envy most martial artists."

-So, Sir Mo Leng had the second type of muscles, and even still, he could move as swiftly as the wind. How is that possible?

"What he did was not simple a movement, it was a early stage of Qi Projection, it's something a cultivator on the Spiritual Condensation stage can achieve. By releasing his Qi trough the pores of his body, he can create a stepping stone, made of energy, and kick it in order to move. In more advanced stages, this can be used to fly into the sky, he however, fine tuned this skill in order to use it in assassinations. Making him move around soundless."

-So...If this one reach the Spiritual Condensation stage, this one will also be able to move like that?

"You have the potential to be even better than that Lee Yenshu, if you keep up with your body refining, you could even fly in the sky at the Spiritual Condensation stage, instead of having to wait for a more stable stage. You who are still not even in the Qi Condensation stage, and still, is able to sense and gather Qi, you may very well change how the stages of cultivation are layed out. But, for now, don't focus too much in what's to come, focus on surviving, on getting stronger, otherwise, tomorrow may never shine for you."

Lee Yenshu knew why the book was so focused on making him stronger. He could feel the voice of the book getting weaker on his mind, and soon, it would only be a book, a amazing book, but a book nevertheless. He would no longer be able to talk to it, or to listen to its gentle voice. This voice, that was like a mother to him, would no longer be there to help him. 

For a slave who never knew his mother's embrace, that gentle voice was what healed his heart the most. And, as a sign of gratitude, the best he could do, was heed to her words, and keep on practicing.

Year 0189 of the MunYu empire, day 15 of five Moons.

A few more weeks passed, and now, five moons could be seen on the sky, Lee Yenshu always wondered how could so many moons exist in the night sky, on his realm, only one, big, blue moon existed.

But what was weighing more on his mind, was the fact that now, he had fully synchronized with the void pendant. This allowed him to grab all the possessions of the last owner.

Inside the void pendant, there were a few stones, they were engraved with some rune, and emanated a strange energy, besides that, there was a short sword, and a beautiful blade, however, the blade was broken in some places, with cracks on its surface, it would certainly shatter if used in a fight.

There were also some rations, a lot of dried meat, and a few pills.

What most got his attention however, was a single tattered book. The moment the book was out of the void pendant, his Lifebound Life Chronicle engulfed it on a strange light, and the words of the book were sucked into his artifact, leaving nothing but a empty book on it's place.

The now weaker voice of the pine tree reached out to Lee Yenshu's mind.

"This is a martial art book, it contains the initial 12 steps of the Viper Sword, it's a martial arts that focus on sharp movements, like a viper's launch attack. It consists on moving the sword while hiding the strength, and then piercing the enemy defenses with a sharp frontal assault. 

If combined with your mastery of the 169 patterns of Tàijí quán, it could become a new martial art on it's own. Even without the use of a sword."

The amount of information that passed through Lee Yenshu's mind was lower than before, maybe due to the fact that this book only had the 12 initial movements, or due to the fact that the pine tree had never encountered someone with that martial arts, there was no information on how to produce the steps, other than what was written on the book. 

But Lee Yenshu could still follow that, after all, it was easy for a former slave to follow orders. 

The movements were rigid at times, and fluid at others, but, something about them didn't quite go well with the overall flow of his body. And then, without anyone's help, without any advice, just from sheer genius, Lee Yenshu charged his body with Qi, pumping it through its vessels, to correct the flow of the moviment.

The result, was a beautiful dance like movement, the shortsword that he had taken from the void pendant cutted through the air like a painter's brush, the sound of the air being cut was like music, he had created a new martial art, by combining Qi flow, the 169 Tàijí quán movements patterns, and the 12 basic steps of the Viper's Sword. 

But the sudden breakthrough took its toll, the boy had pushed his body to it's limits, in movements that could only be made by pushing Qi into his blood vessels.

He was not yet at the Qi Gathering stage, his meridians were still clogged, and his dantians weren't mature enough to handle that. And so, after completing a single dance with his swords, he fell to the ground, and from all over his body, a black sulphuric liquid started to ooze out.

The stench was so awful, that no beast dared go near him. And the pain, made his mind go blank.

And there he remained, covered in a black stink fluid, and a pair of eyes looking at him.