For the first three days, Duncan cultivated diligently and accumulated qi in his body in a slow but steady manner. He would also take some time to practice the martial arts technique he had borrowed from the scripture pavilion. Duncan noticed that his rate of improvement slowed down with each day, but didn't mind it much.
Whenever he felt that he wasn't making any progress, he would pop in a qi gathering pill and continue to cultivate on. He realized why such a pill was needed as improvement became harder with each day. Duncan wondered why it was so, but didn't have anyone to whom he could enquire things about. He decided to wait till meeting his master to ask that question.
However, when nine qi strands were accumulated in his dantain, he was surprised to find out that it was already full, and no matter what he tried to do nothing worked. He wasted more than three Qi Gathering pills in an effort to improve slightly, but they all ended up in vain.
Frustrated, Duncan left cultivation aside for a bit of time and decided to focus on the martial arts techniques he had with him. When it came to cultivating <Absolute Cut Sword Art>, Duncan progressed very fast.
Just reading once, Duncan was able to understand what was written in the manual clearly. Even practicing it came easily to him. He was able to understand the essence of the sword technique easily.
<Absolute Cut Sword Art> worked on the principle that a well-placed cut is more efficient than several slashes and ineffective parries. The technique aimed at delivering the maximum damage with minimal attacks.
Thus the sword technique didn't have any defensive maneuvers. It was a pure attack-focused technique. The aim of the technique was something Duncan could get behind easily as he too thought the same.
Cut your enemy before he injures you.
A sword is meant to cut. So, use it to cut. Forget about everything else.
Duncan felt that those few sentences summed up the whole sword technique. The technique didn't have flourishes or breathtaking moves to it. It concentrated on finding effective pathways to deliver a cut from every possible angle.
The technique empathized performing each cut with the same strength and determination. The sword art spoke more about mindset than the various tactics that could be used with it. It was direct, simple, and very effective in Duncan's opinion.
It was the ideal fit for his fighting style. He was someone who didn't think much about strategy and tactics. Duncan had seen mercenaries who guided their attacks to set up their final blow three or four moves later. He had never had the aptitude for such things.
When he fought, Duncan only concentrated on landing the blow. He didn't worry much about positioning or feints. Thus, the <Absolute Cut Sword Art> seemed like something that was right up his alley.
The qi in his body, when channeled as per the sword art's pathways would amplify the amount of attack power he could bring forth. The sword art made his sword both sharper and stronger, in exchange for flexibility.
However, if a person was naturally flexible, they would be able to offset such a disadvantage as well. What truly came down to it with this technique was how fast you could swing with your full strength behind the blow and how fast you recovered from it. If one had good dexterity, then one wouldn't be burdened with the disadvantages of the sword technique.
As he practiced the sword technique, Duncan also realized why this wouldn't be a good sword technique for other people. Most people preferred their sword technique to be versatile in its application. To most people, this sword art might come off as something brutish.
But, Duncan felt the principle behind it was sound. If he could chop off the head of the beast that was attacking him in one blow, then he didn't need to worry about defending himself. This was something that felt as if tailored to him.
While Duncan was progressing quickly with the sword technique, the same couldn't be said for the movement technique. Duncan felt as if this particular movement technique was really hard to cultivate.
He repeatedly kept making mistakes during the cultivation of the movement technique. He felt as if he had no inclination or talent toward these kinds of techniques after a few days of trying.
But, Duncan knew that he needed such a technique to travel long distances and also be agile during battle. So, he persisted on. He even cut down on his sword practice to cultivate at least the initial stages of the movement technique.
He felt that the need for movement technique was very essential and didn't want to slack off in that area. If he didn't have enough talent for it, then he would use his hard work as a substitution for the talent. If practicing ten times was not enough, then he would practice 100 times. If that didn't cut it, then he would do it 1000 times.
The reason Duncan felt the need to practice so hard was that he knew that having such a technique in his arsenal will allow him to escape from some untenable situations.
And it was not as if the movement technique was bad.
<Wind Chasing Steps> actually tripled his speed when moving in a straight line. If it is a chaotic movement, then the technique doubled his speed. Such a huge increase in speed was really a lifesaver in Duncan's opinion.
So, he diligently practiced it without uttering any complaint. He knew that he had only two weeks before he had to both return these booklets and present himself before his master. He felt that he had no time to waste.
So, he started cultivating like a maniac trying very hard to master the two techniques.
*****
Duncan let out a foul breath as he rose from cultivation. He felt completely relaxed these days. There wasn't really much to do for him other than to cultivate diligently.
He didn't have any chores or tasks to do like other newly joined disciples. He didn't have to go in search of work like he used to do when he was in Starmist City.
He figured once his master allowed him to take missions that would change. But, for now, he was really free to cultivate to his heart's content. And Duncan loved it without any reservations.
Today was the day he was supposed to meet up with his master for his master's instructions. When Duncan thought about it, he couldn't help but frown a little. No matter how much he toiled in the last seven days, he was unable to progress further than accumulating nine qi strands in his dantain.
It was as if something essential wasn't present there. He could feel a thin layer blocking his dantain from expanding further and allowing him to cultivate more qi strands. But, no matter what he tried, he was never able to break that thin layer.
Apart from that, things had gone well for him for the past two weeks.
He had achieved initial success in both of the martial arts techniques he had chosen. Martial arts techniques followed the path of mastery similar to the martial arts practiced by mortals. The path of mastery was as follows, initial success, partial success, completion, and perfection.
Once one reached the perfection stage, they would be able to utilize the martial arts technique in whichever way they saw fit. Attaining initial success is the most basic requirement for learning a martial art.
Right now, Duncan was nearing partial success with his sword technique and had passed initial success in his movement technique a few days ago. He knew that this was just the basics and he needed to cultivate them further to truly master both techniques.
Yesterday, he had run out of fasting pills. He had used fasting pills more frequently than Qi Gathering pills. Thus, their consumption rate was higher. He didn't know if it was advisable for him to do that in long term though.
When he had run out of fasting pills, Duncan had ventured into the mess hall and had his first meal in nearly two weeks. The amount of food he consumed even left him speechless. Strangely, none of the servants batted an eye when he devoured such a huge amount of food.
While no one commented or complained, Duncan felt that he needed to restrict his usage of fasting pills from now on. After all, he didn't have much to his name currently and if he was not in the sect, he would be truly in trouble when his appetite reared back.
He had also stopped using Qi Gathering pills after he figured out that it had no effect on his current predicament. So, Duncan had spent the remaining days cultivating in the night and using up the cultivated qi in the morning by practicing martial arts.
Yesterday, he had gone back to the scripture pavilion and returned the booklets he had taken from there. He had spent the rest of the day there trying to learn as much as possible about the cultivation world in general.
After reading for an entire day about different topics, Duncan felt that he had a clear grasp of cultivation in general. He had learned about the most common medicinal herbs used by cultivators and had also noted down some rare and precious herbs that could be chanced upon in the wild.
He also learned about different qis, the most common mistakes cultivators usually made, weapon grades and their divisions, medicinal pills and their levels, various side professions that cultivators usually took up, and a lot more.
Granted, he had only learned about the basics and hadn't dived deeper into them, but Duncan felt that he had some idea about the cultivation world in general. Especially, that one book detailing the types of demonic beasts found in the world and their characteristics was really an eye-opener to him.
But, amongst everything he had read, the one thing that piqued his curiosity more than anything was the small booklet about the profession of winemakers. Apparently, cultivators had their own winemakers. These were people who dedicated their life to exploring various wines and creating new wines.
Duncan had been fascinated to learn about such a profession. He even dreamt about finding one such winemaker and befriending him so that he could get free wine constantly.
All in all, his two weeks of time to settle down were at an end and it was time for him to meet his master and learn more. Duncan didn't know what his master had planned for him, but he decided that being prepared for it was some common sense stuff.
He didn't trust his master much when it came to his safety. He knew that the sect wouldn't baby him and an evil sect like the Heavenly Demon Sect would not hesitate to execute him or throw him into dangerous situations.
So, when he stepped out of his dwelling, Duncan had his two swords sheathed to his side. The bag that was given to him by the sect was adorning his hip as well. There was the [Scarlet Demon Sutra] and his remaining qi gathering pills in them along with his spirit stones. He didn't have anything else to him to take, if it was there, he would have taken it along as well.
Having prepared the best he could, Duncan set off towards his master's residence.
*****
A/N: Hey folks!
Make sure to add this book to your collection and vote with your power stones to show your appreciation for this work.
You can also check out my other book [Booking Glory] and see if it is to your liking.
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