Climbing the Ranks - Chapter 35 preview

In the end, when it came down to buying his techniques, Arthur had chosen to balance what he wanted immediately along with choosing to save for the future. Between paying for the various boxes, keeping Credits for the building and also expanding his combat techniques and potentially having funds for more armour, he had found himself with much less resources than he had wanted. In the end, Arthur chose only to purchase two techniques.

Heavenly Sage’s Mischief

Boosts the Body’s natural attributes by a significant portion, increasing the user’s abilities. Base understanding of the technique sees an increase of 2 Body attribute points, to a maximum of 5. Cultivator will be fatigued and drained after use – amount dependent on length of use of technique.

Cost: 2 Energy per Minute

Credits: 27

Refined Energy Dart

Project a dart of compressed and refined energy, to strike an opponent at range.

Cost: 1 Refined Energy

Credits: 12

The first would give him quite an extensive period of use, all the way to the top of the Tower. More than that, the Heavenly Sage series of cultivation techniques all had expansions upon them, such that the next level in a more expansive tower would have works in the same line that he could purchase. Important since it would also reduce the amount of time he needed to train the technique. Even if there was no timing requirement for ascension, he could still die of old age.

For now.

As for the Refined Energy Dart, well, he did need a ranged attack. Even if it was not powerful or fatal immediately, he could use the skill to kite monsters to him. Eventually, he might have other techniques that complemented or upgraded the skill.

And if not – something was better than nothing.

Now, the only question was which one to study? Sucking on his lower lip, Arthur gave up on making a decision immediately. He grabbed the first work and sat down, beginning the process of reading over the Heavenly Sage manual. He did not try to comprehend it fully or even practice it, but skimmed the contents to get an overview of the entire matter before he turned to the Refined Energy Dart and did the same thing. Only when he was done, sometime after the sun had set, did he sit back, rocking on two legs.

To his surprise, even if the Heavenly Sage technique had been more expensive, it was actually easier – at first glance at least – to practice. Perhaps because he had already studied the concentration of energy, the flow of it within his body with Focused Strike and the overall empowerment of his body via his own Advanced Healing technique, but a lot of the concepts seemed familiar.

Whereas the projection of energy outside of himself, well… that seemed more complicated. He did not understand the discussion about projection of energy to his aura, of holding it just within the aura membrane before releasing the built-up energy. Thus far, he had not even practiced with his aura so…

Heavenly Sage’s Mischief it was.

But first… sleep!

***

The next morning, after a tasty but not necessary meal of bacon, eggs, soya sauce and kaya bread, Arthur got back to practicing. This time, he read over the manual for the Heavenly Sage’s Mischief in more detail, smirking a little at the little monkey drawings in the corner of the manual that were meant to showcase the way the energy flowed. Rather than using a human outline, the manual had that of a mischievous monkey, though thankfully it kept to the usual meridian pathways.

Though….he wasn’t entirely certain that they were serious about the one where the monkey was hanging from its tail, upside down and scratching its armpit. That, he figured, was artistic license. He hoped so at least – or he was going to have problems.

Hours, studying and practicing portions of the manual, memorizing energy pathways and falling over as he sent energy the wrong way or too fast or too slow. Sometimes, he spent long minutes curled up, cramping as his muscles rebelled at the sudden surge of energy.

Often, he had to backtrack, decide if what was happening was because he was practicing all this in portions or because he was doing something wrong in his practice. More time was spent just whimpering or reading or debating how he was going to enact the technique.

Eventually, a whole day passed, leaving Arthur with the knowledge of the technique in his mind and what he believed was the correct method to manipulate the skill.

Before he could practice the technique in its whole though, he needed to cultivate. Between wasted energy sources via practice and the need of his body, drained from the Tower, Arthur found himself quite empty.

Seated cross-legged on his bed, he began to cultivate for the first time since his change. Within minutes, he cursed himself, for he realized that there was a major disadvantage to this new Yin Body, one that he had not realized till now.

The energy he drew into himself from the Tower was both Yin and Yang based. As it flooded his system, the heat of the Yang chi began to make his body ache, his dantian and his meridians growing on fire. Forced to stop, Arthur could only breathe slowly, cycling air through his lungs as he kept himself calm.

The good news, he noticed that the Yang energy slowly leeched itself out of his body or was converted by the greater Yin energy. However, the process was slow; even if the energy being converted reduced the pain he felt.

When the agony reached levels that could be withstood, he reviewed the cultivation technique he had been taught, turning it over and over in his mind. Was there a way to separate yang and yin chi? Could he blocked the yang energy from coming in, thus decreasing the problem and pain?

Arthur was not certain, but he was sure that he should try. If not, this new Yin Body was going to be a real problem. He couldn’t be stopping to cultivate constantly…

A quick thought had him pull up his status, searching for the  specific part he was concerned about.

Cultivation Speed: 1 (0.5 Yin)

Energy Pool: 3.51/15 (Yin) (0.42 Yang – Unusable)

Yup, there it was. That had been what had worried him, when he had started the process. His actual cultivation speed was incorrect right now, and the Tower probably was going to take a bit to figure out what his true cultivation speed was, if he brought in Yang and Yin chi. More importantly, while the Yang chi did convert, it was at a significant loss.

Overall, he probably actually was barely better than half a point of Yin chi for his cultivation speed.

“Hun dan!” Closing his eyes, Arthur forced himself to calm. He had been warned, he had been warned. But it worked in the movies and novels and…

Yeah. Okay. He could see where he went wrong.

“Right, got to fix this. Only person who can is you. Because there isn’t a gnu. Not there should be a gnu, but you never know.” Scratching his head, Arthur grimaced at the forced rhyme. “Right, right… cultivation technique alterations.

“Because that’s going to work out well.”

Then, no more talking. Time to work.