Elder Shui was about to ask Zixin what he was talking about when suddenly, all the information about what happened earlier hit him like a bolt of lightning and he froze in place. He remembers swearing to bme Zixin's slave for eternity and even swore with his Dao Heart.
'This is bad! This is really bad!' he thought.
In the cultivation world, two types of oaths existed, the Heart Demon Oath and the Dao Heart Oath. These were the things one either gave or took. For the Heart Demon Oath, if you renege on your promise then your Heart Demon will devour and posses you, which leads to insanity or entering the Demonic Path.
Whereas the Dao Heart Oath means that once you break your promise, not only will your cultivation level drop to its lowest, you will also never be able to cultivate again. It's like turning the extraordinary into the ordinary and for cultivators, being ordinary meant a life worse than death.
And now that he'd taken the oath, heuldn't renege on his promise and had to follow through with it, whether he wanted to or not.
"Wan Shui greets Master." said Elder Shui while kowtowing to Xong Zixin.
"Good. Now how do you feel? Physically ofurse." asked Zixin with a satisfied smile because Wan Shui was a great asset to have.
"I feel a closernnection between my body and soul and my body is at least two to three times stronger than it was initially. A wisp of my soul has fused with my body, is this the cause of the splitting headache I have?" responded Wan Shui as he took out a greenish white porcelain, took out the pill inside and swallowed it immediately.
The pill once in his mouth melted and got to work immediately. Wan Shui's Infant Soul that looked like him but small regenerated the missing Soul piece and even further strengthened it, this led to the Soul growing bigger and stronger. Wan Shui, who was seated cross legged suddenly attracted a large amount of Spirit Qi and fortunately, the private mountain had enough Spirit Qi to barely assist Wan Shui in his endeavours.
If Zixin was a Qi Cultivator then he would have witnessed Wan Shui's Soul leave the body to absorb energy and grow stronger but he wasn't and remained oblivious to such matters. After a while, the Soul returned inside his body, much bigger than before.
"Master, please allow me to go to my place tonsolidate my breakthrough."
"Permission granted."
"Thank you Master." said Wan Shui before flying away at full speed. Zixin also didn't idle around and decided to go to the Training Hall to practice the two techniques. There, he chose the training room that he'd used in the past. The two Core disciples were wealthy with piles of pills, spirit stones, weapons and books. He'd used their points to exchange for the two books.
He walked towards the muscular puppet and placed a spirit stone on its chest and it came to life.
[Ah, it's you again. Are you here for another beating or...]
"I want your help with practicing the Hard Soft Fist Technique and the Four Steps Of Disaster Technique. Can you help?"
[Another one who chose the Four Steps Of Disaster. You know, that Movement Technique isn't easy to practice, much less master it. That technique is very powerful but also dangerous. Be careful and don't cripple yourself.]
"Cripple myself, what do you mean?"
[Exactly what I said, the strain the Four Steps Of Disaster Technique has on the body is very severe, I mean, how much force do you think you need to create an earthquake with just a stomp of your foot. If your body can't handle the force, it will naturally break down. Now, we'll start with Hard Soft Fist Technique.]
"Okay." said Zixin before sitting down and listened attentively.
[The Hard Soft Fist Technique is less about punching and more about Intent or in single terms, intention. For example, when I punch forward, my punchesllide with the air to create force and I can thenntrol this force to reach something or someone far from me.] explained the puppet while punching forward, each punch creating a breeze.
Zixin was seated about ten meters away from it but the breeze managed to reach him, blowing his hair back.
[That wind force didn't reach you simply because my punches were powerful, it reached you because that was my intention. Even if you are hundreds of meters away, with an intention, then attack can still reach you.] said the puppet while punching forward with more force that itllided with the training room wall.
[That's what is meant by Intent. Now, when itmes to the Hard Soft Fist Technique, the Intent is choosing whether you want to deal internal or external damage but your Intent needs toordinate with your body, allowing for flawless movement. With enough mastery and strength, your punch can even reach the world'sre without damaging the earth. Do you understand?]
"A little bit but pleasentinue."
[The tricky part is turning hard force into soft force and soft force into hard force. Come here.] said the puppet and Zixin stood in front of it.
[To produce hard force is simple because you just need to punch something with great power but to achieve soft force, your Intent should be on attacking what's inside while your fist mustntain the force within it and release it instantly afterntact with the surface] explained the puppet while punching Zixin. When the fist came intontact with the body, Zixin didn't feel any pain, like he'd only been touched.
At the same time, a force directly bypassed his flesh and muscles and reached the internal organs without a hindrance or delay.
[You've grown stronger and your skin is very tough!]
"I've justmpleted the Third Volume of my Cultivation."
[I see, anyway, let's start. I've already explained the process to you, you just have to execute it as I told you.]
"Mhm!" nodded Zixin before taking a stance and punched the puppet's chest. Zixin punched again and again and the puppet didn't say anything.
'That's not it. I'm missing something.' thought Zixin and jumped back. He then punched the air like the puppet had done and his Intent was for the punches to reach the target so punched again and again. The puppets watched Zixin punch the air andunted the number of punches he'd unleashed.
'Ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine, one... hund...red... He's figured it out so quickly?! His talent... might exceed mine.'