Day 9

For seven days, Liang Yu focused on fixing anything in the Flame Martial Arts that may have gone wrong from the original. As well as brushing up the different techniques available in the library. The qi that left from the Flame Vortex Core nurturing the Dantian that contained the former.

With the richer Qi, the Dantian Fusion Stage was fixed. Making it easier for him to circulate through his passageways better. Time was about all he needed to make sure things were perfect something he was planning.

Now was time to go and meet with the others. About the time for Old Xu to start teaching them actual fighting moves.

An Xueyun was wearing a standard female outfit. Sleeveless showing her a good bit of her arms as well as a bit of her back and shoulders. Flower patterns mostly on the right side.

Ye Xinghe wearing some loose robes that looked to be hand me downs from an older relative. The different mixtures of blue and green eye catching more than anything.

As for Liang Yu, he was wearing some stylish black robes with red and white accents. Mostly for the bracers and sash.

"For the past seven days, I have instructed you to channel your Qi only, but from today onwards I'll be teaching you martial arts more." Old Xu said solemenly. Letting his words sink in for his disciples. His eyes stopped on An Xueyun first making his decision. "An Xueyun, you will go first."

"Yes." An Xueyun saluted respectively.

"Liang Yu, you also come watch and learn, Ye Xinghe you still haven't reached 1st Heavenly Layer Realm. So go back and practice Q circulation first." Old Xu looked at the smirk on Liang Yu's face. "What is it?"

"He has made it to the 1st Heavenly Layer already. Right on the forefront of the 2nd Heavenly Layer." Liang Yu closed his eyes and took a small breath. "Focusing in the air around him and you will detect it."

"What!?" An Xueyun asked suprised. Old Xu kept better control of himself but was suprised as well. "You did it in a mere seven days?!" She gave a look towards Lian Yu who was not bothered in the least.

If she knew he reached the 2nd Layer and fixed the 2nd Layer of the Flame Martial Arts as well, she would mostly likely lose her mind.

Old Xu as well for that matter. But Liang Yu made sure they would not know about that.

"How did you cultivate so fast?" Old Xu asked. Wanting to know if he had some outside help in some way. Putting it off till later, he rather focuses on teaching for now. "Xinghe, since you have reached the 1st Layer, come practice as well."

'Did he really cultivate to the 1st Layer so soon?' An Xueyun thought to herself. Her eyes wander over to Liang Yu who made direct contact with her own. Flustered she looked away back towards Ye Xinghe. 'How did he know just from the breath of Ye Xinghe?'

"Do I have something on my face?" Ye Xinghe asked suprised at her flustered look.

"Oh, no no!" An Xueyun just wanted hide away at this point.

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Training Field-

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The four walked over to the area. Several wooden poles scattered about. Standing straight up over a stone surface. Old Xu started to instruct them on what to do. Which was unwarranted for Liang Yu after the past seven days really. As he started to talk, Liang Yu already gathered Qi into his fist.

'I was going to tell them to gather it into their hand but that is just as good. Such strong and precise control.' Old Xu was actually impressed. Making a mental note to pay a little more attention to Liang Yu. Which is what he wanted anyway to have resources allocated to him or a little protection. "Alright, do as I say. First Gather your qi from your Dantian and secondly, wrap it around your hand."

*Woom! Woom!* An Xueyun qi pulsed around her palm a little out of her control. Her concentration was a little off. Still bothered by what happened a few minutes ago. Sweat dripped down the side her face as she prepared to strike.

"You should follow the instruction before you get in trouble." Liang Yu said to Xinghe. He continued to let small traces flow from his dantian into his finger. While also circulating his Flame Vortex Core to see what would change. 'How peculiar, it wants to supplement the other Qi. But that might be a bad idea right now. I rather not loose my finger on a mistake.'

"Once the Qi reaches its peak, in one move, punch with all your might." Old Xu said. Eyes moving to Xinghe that did not start. Before he could say anything, energy fluctuations pulled his interest over. "Hmm!?"

*Bam!* An Xueyun punched first making a solid impact. The wooden pole had a pretty big dent in it. As well as several cracks from her losing control when attacking.

*Fwish!* Liang Yu poke out with his finger instead of punching with all his might. His finger pierced a hole all the way through to the other side. Leaving slight scorched marks at the end. The hole no bigger than the length of the finger used.

"Ouch." Liang Yu mumbled as he rubbed his finger. Despite his efforts, a tiny bit of the second qi linked in. "Yup defintely need to watch out for that." Old Xu gave a look at the whole in detail before making any statements.

"Splendid, you two damaged the wooden poles to such an extent. Nice display of Flame Martial Arts. An Xueyun.."He moved over to obers ve he closer. "Your mind must be calm when practicing. In battle, so much can happen that it is wise to devlop a calm approach first." She gave a nod understanding her faults.

"Yes, Master!"

"As for you Liang Yu.." Old Xu was suprised that his finger tip was the only thing scorched from the energy he felt. Looking at the through and through hole, however, left much to consider. "..acting on the side of caution is good, but do not become timid. The log should have exploded on contact if not for your firm hold on your qi control."

"I understand." Liang Yu nodded. Not to proud or humble. More than anything, he knew his body best. Cultivation be damned! His mind told him very explicitly, do not put it in your hand! THen his whole hand would have been scorched or worse considering more of the 2nd QI might have mixed in. "I need to strengthen my body more."

"As for you Ye Xinghe.." Old Xu turned to his third disciple. If he entered 1st Layer and was close to the Second Layer then he defintely would have done some damage to the log. ".. be honest, did you cultivate fully?"

"Master Xu, of course I did!" Ye Xinghe answered quickly. "Unlike th others, I cannot really pay for the damage to the logs. This is why I didn't strike. If I break that expensive wooden pole, won't I have to pay for it?" He scratched this face awkwardly.

"Why would they have you pay for it, after instructing you to attack it dumb dumb." Liang Yu sighed at the stupidy that was Ye Xinghe. Reading about it and seeing it in person were two different matters. 'I need some surgery tools to check the damage of my finger. Or a technique that lets me see anyway.'

"No need to pay." Old Xu said to the boy. Seeing the happy expression on his face, the old man couldn't stop from himself from speaking quickly. "No worries, do your best!"

"Pfft!" An Xueyun laughed. Forgetting herself for a moment, she became embarrassed when Old Xu and Ye Xinghe looked at her intently. "Excuse me!"

Taking a deep breath, Ye Xinghe prepared himself. With a quick exhale he struck out in full force.

"Hah!" The force of his punch rampaged out almost uncontrol. The log was broken from the midsection up. The force-carrying all the way to the wall. 'That felt really good!'

*Bam!* The impact against the wall passed a second later. Lots of smoke in the area clearing away revealing a large hole.

"I broke it!" Ye Xinghe cried out in distress. "I broke the wall!" He moved about fretting like it was the end of the world. It was just a bloody wall!

Liang Yu paid it no mind at all. Master Xu walked over to calm the boy down. His thought mixed with awe and apprehension. Especially since the power realized was more than a 1st Layer by a long shot.

"Hmm?" An Xueyun was bothered by Liang Yu. His unimpressed look just felt wrong to her. Walking over, she confronted him. "Liang Yu, it seems that Ye Xinghe's strength has exceeded our own."

"Exceeded our own? Not likely." Liang Yu shook his head obviously not agreeing with the girl who already started to fall in a state of infatuation with the main character halo that existed around Ye Xinghe. "You are looking at what happened on the surface, not the after effects."

"Is it not obvious from the surroundings this is true?" An Xueyun pointed at the logs one by one. "Next to his, I did the most damage."

"That is nice. But I was not looking for damage." Liang Yu shrugged which infuriated her even more. He marveled at the fact she was nothing like her manga or other counterparts in person. "I want to test my control, which I failed at a little bit. Old Xu wanted to teach us a little yes, but did not do anything advance off the bat to keep from causing any issues."

Liang Yu circulated a little Qi into his palm with out moving any of his second qi. Moving up to a log, he gave it a straight jab to the center. Keeping his control exactly as he needed.

*Pat!* The palm strike went completely through the log leaving a scorch mark around the surroundings. A faint handprint appeared on the wall scorching it some.

An Xueyun face was in a scowl. She could tell Liang Yu barely exerted himself. Which was worse, his mind was calm when he did it. Reminding her she had a ways to go still.

"Must not only look at the surface but also look at what else is going on brat." Liang Yu walked away holding his hand up. With a clutch of his fist, the log he hit burst into blue flames. "He cultivated recently yes, but that does not change the fact he has no control. Rampant Qi will allow for more damage."

"Clearly you can not admit your shortcomings." An Xueyun felt compelled o push back against him. "Clearly that's the talent of a genius that can sense six soul crystals." Liang Yu gave her a smirk. That is when she realized her mistake. "Yoou sensed them as well yet his efforts are better than yours."

"A Star Martial Artist can only shine so brightly to you, because you have not seen many. In fact, I assume he is the only one you have seen maybe." Liang Yu moved away from her ready for old Xu to continue what else he had to teach them. "A Star Martial Artist.. can only go so far on his own. Now if he has a backer like yourself helping him..."

The insulation was small but enough to cause problems if certain people got wind of it.

"You aren't fooling anyone!" An Xueyun said heatedly. Loud enough that it caught the attention of Old Xu and Ye Xinghe. "Do not spread rumors!" It was best the subject was changed quickly to hide what the two discussed.

"Ye Xinghe's power is growing to fast, I'm afraid he'll get into trouble if he proceeds alone in this way. I will guide him personally." Old Xu did know what the two talked about, but Ye Xnghe matter needed to be addressed first. Liang Yu could be addressed later. "You two practice on your own like I taught you."

Liang Yu went to inspecting his finger with his qi. If he was able to circle qi to that area, it was safe to assume that he should be able to hold it there and use that as a waypoint to search for damages.