Training

"Shoot!"

Bang!

Sheng Tian grunted as he slammed into a tree. Extracting himself, he found an imprint of him in the wood.

The 10,000 Mile Stride technique was easy to memorize and he already mastered the first level, Skipping Across Water, and is already at the second, Floating Crane.

'I've reached high mastery and reckon I will soon reach the third level,' he thought.

Every level is usually divided further into low, mid, high, and peak mastery, and since this movement technique has 6 levels, there would be a total of 24 bottlenecks he would have to pass through.

"Tsk! It's been over an hour but I only just reached mid level mastery for the first level of Illusory Snake Steps, Coiled Snake"

Sheng Tian was frustrated to say the least, but he didn't know that it usually took an entire day for "fast learners" to just comprehend half a technique. Even Feng Wu Di would not anticipate his monstrous growth and comprehension ability.

Sheng Tian struck a large rock out of anger and a chunk of the rock exploded.

Bang!

One can see that grayish light surrounded his fist, signifying that he was at the third level of the Extreme Human Body, Silver Body. If Wu Di were to see his progress then he would call him a masochist.

Sighing, Sheng Tian stopped practicing and continued to walk along a gravel path paved in a forest. If he came back to the village late, then his uncle would probably be worried and send out a search team.

After a short while, Sheng Tian arrived at a village tucked away in the forest.

Sheng Tian called out to a man tending to spirit herbs.

"Uncle!"

The man who he had just called out to was called Ming Long. He had a muscular physique and slightly rough appearance and is the man who took care of Sheng Tian after his parents passed away.

"How much more do we have to harvest to meet the quota?" Sheng Tian asked.

The man smiled, "We've long exceeded the quota and have more than enough Azure Ginseng for ourselves! Everyone agreed to split it evenly and give the rest to the sect for protection"

This village is under the jurisdiction of the Sky Sword Sect, a cultivator sect that ranks highly in the Mortal Realm. Sects commonly provide villages with protection as long as they provide a yearly contribution of a kind of spirit herb that can grow in that area.

Sometimes, elders would take talented young people back to the sect and the sect would exempt that village from taxes if the disciple's talent is high enough.

"When is the elder coming over?" Sheng Tian asked.

Perhaps he should try to join the sect, for his master can only provide him with knowledge and guidance. Material things like resources would need to be obtained through his own hands.

His uncle replied quickly, "In 3 months. Oh right, you would turn 6 by that time, how about you apply for the sect? If you do well then your life would be much more comfortable than it is now"

Sheng Tian nodded after a short moment, "I might do that. If I do well then everyone would be exempted from working in the fields for a while"

He genuinely wanted to help the villagers who care for him and would have done so even if he didn't meet his master.

Ming Long smiled and patted the little boy's head, "You must be hungry after climbing that mountain, go inside to eat and rest for the day"

Sheng Tian nodded and began making his way to a nearby wooden hut.

Before he went in though, Sheng Tian turned around, "Uncle, I'll stop going to my parents' graves starting from now on"

His uncle raised an eyebrow, "Why is that? It was a good thing for both your mind and body"

"If I want to be a cultivator then I must let go of the past. Don't want to get misty eyed while I'm in the sect"

"Heh, we don't even know if you'll be accepted. Anyways, you would visit, right?"

Sheng Tian nodded, "Of course!"

Ming Long nodded after a while, "Your parents would want for you to let them rest. You know what? Starting tomorrow I will teach you how to hunt and tend to the spirit herbs. There are no useless jobs, and learning some things might prove to be useful for you in the future"

He waved his hand, "Now go before your food gets cold"

Sheng Tian smiled and ran inside, closing the door behind him. Inside, he was met with simple wooden furniture and a table laid with a bowl of rice and 2 dishes.

After eating, Sheng Tian went to his room and sat in bed in a lotus position. In his sea of consciousness, a figure was moving.

At first glance it would seem like it was just jumping around, but further inspecting it would reveal complex movements. The figure is Sheng Tian practicing the Illusory Snake Steps.

Weng!

Suddenly, a faint white light shone around him and faint runes surrounded his figure. If Wu Di saw this then he would curse out loud, after all, he had only experienced enlightenment 15 times during the time that he has been alive. Most can go hundreds of thousands if not millions of years stagnant and not experience the slightest enlightenment.

After an hour, the light faded and Sheng Tian opened his eyes.

A surprised look appeared on his face, for he had figured out that he had just experienced enlightenment thanks to the knowledge imparted by his Master.

"I managed to reach peak mastery of the first level and it won't be long before I enter the second"

He moved his arms around and took some steps. Every step of his radiated grace and swiftness thanks to the effects of practicing the 2 techniques.

Furthermore, his body has reached the peak of the silver realm after having practiced these 2 movement techniques. The constant strain was enough to elevate his body, and thanks to climbing the mountain for a long time, reaching higher realms wasn't too much work at all.

His body glowed a grayish silver that enhanced his cute face. With bright, shining eyes, midnight black hair, and a well refined face, Sheng Tian looked like an otherworldly celestial, and likely even more so when he grows up.

Peeking outside a square cut into the wall, Sheng Tian found that he had less than half the day left, and tried to think about his plans going forward.

"I should ask my master for a combat related technique, perhaps even one that requires a weapon. For now I should just practice the movement techniques and train my body"

Sneaking outside, he went back into the forest to remain undisturbed while continuing his training craze.

A few minutes passed, and Sheng Tian found a faint presence hiding from him. Appearing before the intruder using 10,000 Mile Stride, he reached and grabbed at the neck of the thing. A small dog-like creature with red skin and sharp fangs appeared in his grasp.

"Red Blood Hounds"

He immediately managed to identify the odd creature that was currently struggling against its captor.

"Wait!"

Sheng Tian touched his chin with a finger, "I can make some low ranked inscriptions!"

Inscriptions cover a wide variety of topics namely, formations, arrays, runes, weapon inscriptions, talismans, and body inscriptions. Body inscriptions are a type of inscription that inscribe marks on a person's body. That person will then have a disposable weapon or an enhancer depending on the type of inscriptions.

Sheng Tian wanted to use the blood of the beast to practice making marks, as a single mistake can waste lots of precious blood. He could use this opportunity and later ask for some beast blood when his uncle takes him out to hunt.

And thus he drained the blood of the poor beast who only wanted food and reviewed the different marks he could attempt.