Chapter 5 - Arts and Methods

Zhi was eager to open up the pouches. He didn't know who the pouches belonged to but they were stronger than him. From what he saw and read, these pouches are something called storage bags. Storage bags are small bags with a pocket dimension inside them. With a mere thought, the owner can store items inside it and retrieve them at will.

The bags usually have the spiritual sense of the owner engraved on them, so only the owner of the bag can open and close it. However, the owners of the bags Zhi You found are dead, so it should be easy to open the bags.

Zhi You circulated his newly obtained qi for six incense sticks worth of time to muster up as much spiritual sense as he could. Although the amount he could muster was relatively tiny, it should be more than enough to get the job done.

Zhi You reached out for one of the four bags in front of him. The bag he grabbed belonged to Bo Sun. Zhi You's spiritual sense was not strong enough to scan through the bag, all he could do was bring everything out.

Zhi You was surprised by the number of items in the bag. The items could fill up the room Long Tian had at the inn. Luckily, this cultivation room was three times bigger than that room.

Zhi You looked through the items with a hopeful expression. He saw weapons of all types, piles of magic crystals which are like money in this world, different pills and potions, and lastly different types of scrolls. He certainly wasn't disappointed. He was extremely rich for his cultivation base. He smiled and nodded in satisfaction.

He examined the items. The weapons radiated different auras: bloodlust, sharp, cold and some were just giving off a dangerous aura. Zhi You put all the weapons back in the bag. They were not useful at the moment and he didn't know if he could use them without hurting himself.

He also put the pill and potions away, he was not daring enough to ingest items he knew nothing about. He did the same with the magic crystals, he doesn't need them anytime soon, his master will pay for him.

The only items left were the scrolls. He wasn't in a hurry, so he did the same thing to the other three bags. After he was done scrolls of all shapes and sizes were laid out in front of him.

Zhi You patiently read through the scrolls. He then classified them by types. There were movement arts, martial arts, spell arts, cultivation methods, cultivation arts, and miscellaneous. Movement arts are self-explanatory. Martial arts are arts for combat like the five forms of the fleeting sword, which he found interesting because it focused on killing your enemies as fast as possible.

Spell arts are magic attacks like a fireball. Cultivation arts are techniques that can be cultivated like the true body avatar technique he saw. Lastly, Cultivation methods are methods that can be cultivated starting at the Golden Core Realm, they determine a person's cultivation path. Some cultivators cultivate only fire, ice, or sword-type energies or qi because of these methods. It seemed arts and methods did not have ranks, they got stronger with the user.

Zhi You chose the scrolls he was interested in, he knew he didn't have a lot of qi so he chose arts that he could use after he broke through the first couple layers of the Qi Refinement realm.

He chose a movement art, Flash step. Flash steps were a basic art but they had a lot of potentials and are very easy to use. The more qi a cultivator has, the faster they are.

The next art he chose was the martial art, Five Forms of the Fleeting sword. The forms were Flash - using qi to make your sword move as fast as possible to cut your enemies. Shadow - using qi to create shadows of your sword to distract the enemy from the real sword. Crossing waves - send out qi slashes like waves. Repulsion - using qi to shoot away from the sword, best used in close quarters to catch the enemy off guard. Fleeting sword - using qi to make it look like the sword disappeared.

Last but not least, Zhi You chose a qi spell. Qi spells are special because they require the user to give qi a specific form like fire or a sword. The spell that caught Zhi You's attention was Weapon Creation. It's a spell that could use qi to form any weapon.

The biggest surprise was the two Body Cultivation methods Zhi You found. One increased his strength and senses, the other increased his speed and healing. He didn't know which to choose. He wondered if could combine both with his advanced knowledge of the human body, but that's a topic for another time. He needs to start cultivating his qi.

Zhi You took out the scroll his master gave him and started to read.

The Qi Refinement realm is refining the body with qi to open the 12 principles Meridians. This realm has 12 layers for each Meridian that is opened. The more Meridians that are opened means a stronger body, more qi, and stronger qi. To break through each meridian, gather as much qi as you can and use the qi to attack and unclog the meridian. A Qi Refinement expert has a lifespan of around 300-350 years.

Zhi You was surprised by the lifespan of a Qi Refinement expert, if they lived that long then how long does a Golden Core realm expert live. Zhi was thrilled about the concept of a long life.

Zhi you calmed himself down. "One step at a time," he reminded himself. Enter sat down in the lotus position and began to gather qi.