Comprehending the elements

Mi Xiu started praying, 'Jesus Christ, help me out of the hands of this evil monster here. 'He was an atheist but the fright was just too much.

His prayers were answered... His faced bloomed into a smile when he heard Qin Hao, 'I'll let you go on one condition. Any news you hear of, come here to tell me.'

Mi Xiu and company walked away slowly. No one blamed another. Their legs went weak as they fell down. That murderous aura was just too strong!

Qin Hao resumed his former thoughts. He began with exploring the uses of his talent.

My elemental affinity is zero. And also my talent. Though it is still confusing, I heard that an affinity like that means I have equal affinity with all nine elements. But I shouldn't. I thought my body had an affinity to fire. Well, let me try to sense the connection to the elements.

As one of the top elites, he had access to the library and memorized a lot of books. Even the body refinement art was memorized. So something like sensing the connection to the elements was easy for him.

He closed his eyes and spread out his right hand while sitting. He tried to summon fire.

Fire. It can represent vitality. It can represent destruction. A good servant but a bad master. It's vitality is overflowing. A small spark can lead to destruction.

Yes. That is it. Fire Qi. But, why is it so small? After a long time he managed to bring out a spark from his fingertips. Then the spark vanished.

Not bad for the first time anyway. But I will have to try harder in order to control it. After repeated trials, he could now bring out a flame like that on a candle.

He extinguished it and tried again trying to procure a bigger one. But he couldn't. After six hours of practice, the only improvement was that his control over the flames increased. It was very gentle in his hands. But he could not increase the size of the flame no matter how much he tried. After another hour, the expenditure of soul energy took its toll. His clothes were wet with sweat. He lay down to rest.

As he checked his body, he gasped in surprise. How did I reach the 1st level of body refinement? The Clan Head said my body was special and could not be trained by the body refinement art. My physique was already good but it seems it has improved. he saw some fiery particles in his body that was glowing brighter than the other particles.

He slowly came to a realization. So my body was tempered by the fire qi. He made a wild guess. So I'll have to use the nine elements to temper my physique? He became depressed. His control over fire had improved but he couldn't increase the size. It will take me long to reach the houtian realm.

The houtian realm was above the body refinement realm. In fact, you were only considered a martial artist when you had reached the houtian realm. Body refinement realm cultivators were only mortals with slightly stronger bodies.

Qin Hao lived frugally. He only spent on food. He cultivated arduously in other to teach the Qin clan a lesson.

After three weeks, he noticed there was a problem. Most people only needed six months to break through into the houtian realm. It was when you reached the houtian realm that there would be a lot of bottlenecks. So the lowest level people could reach was the ninth level of body refinement.

If he was in the Qin Clan, he would have been expected to reach the Houtian realm in two months or so. But it was three weeks already. Almost a month and he was still in the 1st level.

'Qin Hao frowned. Something is wrong. The fire particles in his body were now glowing brightly. He was lacking something.

In the midst of his pondering, Mi Xiu came to meet him to provide the daily updates. They had not dared to forgo the deal they had made.

"Young master Qin, the Qin Clan has put a bounty on a former scion of the Qin Clan. They accused him of stealing a pendant. They said it was a family heirloom and they promised a thousand gold coins to who ever finds and brings the pendant back to them." Mi Xiu knew that Qin Hao was likely to be the runaway scion. He didn't dare to confirm it as he had learnt from his years in the streets that it was better to close your mouth when dealing with the affairs of bigshots.

Only Mi Xiu knew he had the surname Qin. Qin Hao frowned. He then told Mi Xiu expressionlessly, "Okay. Thanks. If any news comes out again, make sure to tell me as soon as possible. Mi Xiu nodded his head and left silently.

Underneath his expressionless face, Qin Hao was filled with fury. "So I left the clan and you don't even want to let me go but you want the only thing my parents left for me. Now that's over the line."

He sighed again. I need strength. Strength to do as I want and be carefree. He clenched his fists. Rain started falling. It was rare during this era but there was always water.

He didn't look for shelter. He just sat down and allowed the rain to drop on him. He listened to the rhythm of the rain drops as they struck him. It seemed erratic but constant.

It was not a problem for him to drop something as light as a raindrop. But the more it poured, the more he realized how big the effect was becoming.

Something so light will have so much of an effect if they continuously strike the same place. Just liken raindrops striking a rock. Over time, there would be a dent. He entered into an enlightenment state.

Enlightenment was no joke. It was rare and each time there would be huge improvements.

After some minutes, small candle like flames seemed to come out from his body. The flames evaporated the water and though they didn't join, they formed a ring about him evaporating the water from his body and any raindrop that came close to him.

Bang! He broke into the second level of refinement. The flames had gathered into one flame. It was still very small but it was very bright, possessing immense vitality and potential.

His comprehension speed increased. After another minute, the wet clothes started to flutter without any wind. It made him look like a very young immortal. The water condensed back into rain drops and rushed one meter away from him. He opened his eyes suddenly.

The rain drops started avoiding him like there was a force that made it go away one meter away from him. In that circle, there was no rain at all. It was like there was an umbrella that protected him.

He clenched his fists and laughed unrestrainedly. It totally destroyed the former elegance of an immortal.

Third level of body refinement!