Now, after getting through all that information, Mira was finally able to move on to the last book! The one about creating techniques!
She wasn't expecting much, as Mira felt like it would be counterintuitive to teach disciples of the Sect how to create their own techniques. If they were to do that, then what would be the point of selling their techniques?
But as long as she understood the theory behind creating a technique, she'd be able to go from there.
The book this time also wasn't very big and only took Mira around an hour to read and comprehend the entire thing, and from what she found out, everything boiled down to one's meridians and imagination.
However, before delving into the specifics of how a technique is created, first, we must understand the differences between techniques and abilities.
At first glance, the two are nearly identical. They both use Qi to perform some type of action, but that's about all they have in common.
To begin with, Techniques are similar to martial arts stances in multiple ways. For one, to use a technique correctly is to follow a certain pathway through one's meridians, similar to stances in a martial art.
And just like martial arts, a single stance or move doesn't make up the entire martial art. It is a culmination of similar tactics, stances, and moves that make up a martial art.
The same goes for techniques! A technique is not just a single attack, defense, or support action. It is a string of similar actions, all with the same foundation.
An ability, on the other hand, is like Mira's ice needles. The meridian pathways one takes aren't necessary, and there are no follow-up abilities to capitalize on the momentum of creating an ice needle.
However, that doesn't mean meridian pathways aren't meaningless. They are simply unnecessary for the most part. The reason they don't matter is that most abilities use very little Qi, to begin with. What difference would it make if the meridian pathways were slightly more efficient? The power would be the same, and the amount of Qi used would practically be the same.
Even Mira's Paragon Wings don't necessarily need to follow a specific meridian pathway. She just needs to get the Qi out of her body to transform it into feathers that will ultimately make up her Paragon Wings.
Next, Mira learned the reason why all of this is possible: Qi.
Qi is a very mystical and near-omnipresent entity. The number of things one can do with Qi or simply what it can do by existing is too many to count. The limit of what Qi can do is, quite literally, the limit of one's imagination.
From what the book says, to create your own technique, you must clearly understand what you want to happen. Then you will use this understanding to find the best possible meridian pathways one must take to execute it.
This is what sets the foundation for the technique. Each step from then on must follow a similar pattern as to what the foundation has been set to.
Of course, there are exceptions to everything, but this is generally how techniques are created.
This might not seem that complicated in theory, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Creating a Technique, especially a powerful one, not only takes time but can be incredibly dangerous.
One wrong move, and your meridians could be severely damaged. In more extreme cases, you could completely destroy your meridians, crippling your ability to cultivate, or just simply die!
This is why they don't teach hot-blooded youths how to create their own techniques because if they did, they are essentially crippling part of the future generation of disciples.
Plus, it's not like it's bad to use someone else's technique. Unless their situation is unique, most humans have the same number of meridians. For the most part, these meridians are also in similar positions within one another's bodies.
That's not to say they are in the exact same spots since that's impossible, but they are close enough where there is no risk in following someone else's Technique.
In many cases, it's probably better to use someone else's Technique.
This is also the case for many humanoid races like Elves, Mermaids, and Demons. Unless a technique is specifically for a particular race, then it can most likely be used by other races as well.
However, Mira's situation is a bit different. She has countless meridians running through her body. This is both good and bad. It's good because she can make her Techniques more powerful and efficient than if she were just following others. The downside is that she has to find the correct pathways when creating Techniques.
It also shouldn't be a problem for her to use Techniques other people created because of how many meridians she has, but they just wouldn't be nearly as good if she were to make her own.
That being said, she also can't pass down any Techniques she creates to others since nobody has as many meridians and possible pathways as she does.
Lastly, Mira doesn't have to worry too much about facing a possible backlash if she were to fail when creating a technique. Her current meridians, which are lined with Chaotic Silk, aren't so weak that they can't take a few hits.
This would make things easier for Mira, but that doesn't mean that it'll be easy to create her own Techniques. It just means that she can experiment at her own leisure without having to worry about leaving hidden injuries in her body.
After going through all this information, Mira began thinking about what sort of technique she wanted to create, but it seems despite having the perfect body for creating them, Mira couldn't come up with a single thing.
All she knew was that she wanted to develop some sort of Scythe Technique that could incorporate all of her abilities into one technique, especially the small black runes, but that's all.
Well, it wouldn't do her much good even if she was able to visualize what kind of technique she wanted because she still hadn't fully grasped all of her powers yet. Not to mention, she needs to refine the fundamentals of how she uses the scythe.
Maybe once she is able to create Scythe Intent, will she be able to start working on a personalized technique.
Once Mira was done reading, she put stored all the books and immediately began meditating.
Her goal with this meditation wasn't to try and come up with a technique or anything like that. She merely wanted to let all of the information she soaked up over the last few hours to sink in.
All of the things she's learned has given her an insight into what she's lacking and how she should move forward from now on.
A day later, Mira released a deep breath and opened her eyes, which shone with clarity that wasn't present before.
"I now have a general idea of how I should progress from this point on," Mira muttered to herself before looking at the door.
"You can come in now, Maria."
Right after Mira said that, the door opened, and Maria stepped through with a smile on her face. The smile looked natural and didn't have any particular meaning behind it, but Mira found herself almost entranced by it.
She could tell that the smile wasn't forced and that Maira was genuinely happy.
It's this smile that has been slowly but surely mending Mira's cold, dead heart. For the first time in a long time, Mira felt the need to protect something. She wanted to protect that smile…
"Hey, Mira! Did you finish your little study session?"
Mira's thoughts were interrupted by Maria's voice.
"Mhm. I learned a lot. I'm glad Elder Sandra gave me these books to read. I can see my path forward more clearly now," Mira said.
"That's great! You'll have to share some of the information with me later. Hehe~ As for right now… I have something else in mind~~" Maria said in a seductive voice as she sauntered her way over to Mira.
Looking at Maria's lewd body, Mira felt her eyes narrowing like a beast that was about to pounce on its prey.
Maria inwardly smirked, seeing the way Mira was looking at her as she just loved the fact that Mira coveted her body. What woman wouldn't want their lover to desire their body?
Soon, Maria sat on Mira's lap, and the two shared a deep passionate kiss. Moments later, the two were naked, with Mira hovering imposingly over Maria's body.
"You know, I was worried about you after you came home with all those injuries. How are you going to make it up to me?" Maria asked in a seductive voice.
"Hmph! Maybe I should come home like that more often if you're going to act this sexy~~."
"No, you shou-Ahhhnn~!"
From then on, for the next few hours, the two of them shared a hot and steamy night where Mira thoroughly ravished her lover.
