The next few days went by in a blur, Zhi Ruo went into full time cultivation. Hartley thought it was just her way of dealing with the grief of finally knowing what exactly happened when her family fled the capital, in a way this would give closure to her childhood ordeal and she could now point her anger in the right direction.
As Zhi Ruo went through her sessions of cultivation she realized she had never felt this motivated, when she thought about it, she realized that she couldn't remember ever having felt so determined, so secure in her belief, so happy and content that she had met Hartley and had embraced the path of cultivation.
But at the same time she felt a tiny frown as she remembered how safe she had felt in her mother's arms, she had felt so cared for and in no danger at all. Her mother had to be avenged and she was going to do it. Zhi Ruo sat in the bedroom of the War mansion staring at the depiction of war painted on the walls.
Hartley had toured the massive estate of Kang under the lemon-like sun which lauded over the grass and trees, The well kept grass seem to stretch out for miles, there was a mini forest far to the east. The scenery looked like a painting which an artiste had painted meticulously taking pains to not put a brush stroke wrong. There were five mansions plus the white stone castle, The mansions were a kilometer apart and placed as if they were the points on a compass with the largest one in the middle, Hartley and company were staying in the most southern one that Kang had called the war mansion, the theme of this mansion was in fact war.
Some of the walls were painted with impressive murals, mostly of battlefields, other walls painted white, supported huge racks of old weapons, a lot of spears and knives, swords and shields, pikes and maces, bows and arrows all arranged neatly hanging on the walls or in piles that sat neatly at the corners of certain rooms as if they were a substitute for furniture.
Hartley had only seen Kang three times since he had been on his estate, the last time he saw him, Hartley gave his gratitude towards the man, but couldn't help feeling apprehensive about the situation, so Hartley had offered to pay a fee for the use of the mansion, which was refused with a giggle. After his experience with Viscount Sanzu Hartley didn't expect anyone to help him for free, there was always an hidden agenda even if one couldn't see it. As if he was a mind reader Kang smiled and asked. "Are you wondering what I want in return." Hartley didn't want to be disrespectful to a saint and nodded his head in answer. "Well....I have no need for coins and I certainly don't need the bustle of a noble position...." He laughed and looked Hartley in the eyes. "This is me helping out someone like myself with abnormal potential. maybe in the future I can have a powerful ally."
Hartley had a sheepish look, when did he become abnormal like Kang?....
Dust puffed and drifted with every step as Hartley moved across the sandy floor, closing the distance between him and the black metalic humanoid shape, his fist flew forward turning into a bright shade of blue with a white glow and connected with a loud metalic clang. The punch landed on the right side of its chest, the black humanoid figure staggered back for about four steps, There was a small crack on its shoulder area which quickly started to repair itself and soon the training dummy was back to normal, looking brand new. Hartley gaped at the defense of the self regenerating training dummy.
It was shaped in the same dimensions as an adult human but without a face, just an oval shaped featureless head.
Hartley was standing on the sandy floor in the huge circular training ground at the rear of the Stone castle, there were a few people sparring in hand to hand combat while others went through weapons training slashing their weapons against the training dummies. Men cheered and encouraged others in the lively environment as loud clangs accompanied by sparks skittered through the air. The people training mainly made up the guard force stationed on the massive estate, there were some 1st layer xanthians mixed in with some men at the peak of the houtian realm.
A sudden familiar giggle sounded from Hartley's back.... Hartley turned around to see that Kang had snuck up on him, without a greeting he said "your move was very efficient and streamlined" Kang paused then continued. "A good technique, quite good... but they way you use your elemental power is very crude....very crude indeed." Kang said this while shaking his head in disappointment. "You use your elemental power like a hammer trying to peel an orange, it is brute force and nothing else, just like the way your punching technique is very efficient and streamlined, so also should be your power manipulation...look... and pay attention."
The tall thin white hair man dressed in a pristine white robe that flapped as he walked over the dusty training ground without his steps producing any swirls of dust, approached the training dummy, Hartley immediately engaged his advanced state of focus and squinted his eyes determined not to miss the most minuscule of details.
This was a saint realm expert giving him pointers, he had never had anyone teach him anything before so this was an opportunity he would not miss. Kang walked over to the training dummy and nonchalantly raised his index finger, green swirls quickly wrapped around the finger and he brought it forward to the chest of the dummy ....Bang! pieces of black metal went flying out the back of the training dummy leaving a hole the size of a pumpkin, the dummy did not even stumble or take any steps backward, it just stood in the same spot sporting what would be a very painful and fatal wound.
The training ground turned quiet as everyone stopped training and paid attention to Hartley and Kang, the pieces of metal that sprayed across the sand quickly turn to black liquid and raced back across the sand to the training dummy, crawled up its body quickly filling the hole on its chest and was again standing there without a scrath, it was reminiscent of a scene from the movie terminator 2.
Kang turned to Hartley and asked "do you see now?"
Hartley nodded his head while he concentrated on every detail he had just seen. "That's called spiral circulation" Kang said. "Use all the elemental power that would have escaped as residual energy and focus it at one spot.
The most important aspect of it is to not have any power leakage at all. The concentration of all that power on one spot can penetrate even the toughest of armor and beast hide."
Kang turned back to the newly formed training dummy saying again "pay attention." Once again he moved his index finger as if he was only pointing towards the training dummy, a green disk-like aura, about the size of a gold coin went forward from the base of his finger, as soon as his finger was about to come into contact with the dummy, the green disk pulsed forward..... a bang even louder than the first one echoed around the training ground.
There was a shower of black metal as the top half of the dummy turned to metal flakes that reflected the bright yellow sunlight. There was gasps and sharp intakes of breath from the onlooking guards, some even dived for cover on the dusty floor fearing shrapnel would come their way, they had trained with these dummies for years and had never seen anyone even chip a piece of metal off one of them.
All the way down to the upper thighs of the dummy was scattered into shards like someone had kicked a freshly made sand castle apart on the beach, leaving only the two black metallic legs standing. Pieces of the training dummy started to pool together like black liquid, it started to re-form but this time it was a very slow process.
"Ahh, that was fun" Kang chuckled to himself, turning back to Hartley he said "that was called compressed circulation. I think if you live long enough you might even surpass me in that technique....The important aspect to that technique is timing,, with that one you have to coil all your elemental power like a spring and release it at the right time, release it early and its nothing more than a brute strike assisted with elemental energy. Release it at the right time and it turns into a blast wave, giving three or four times the damage output for the same effort"
Hartley eyes brightened in awe..he bowed from the waiste in a very respectful manner and said "thanks for showing me senior." Kang cackled like a hyena for a while then replied, "no need, no need. You would have figured it out eventually, its just that your foundation in power manipulation is very bad, I take it no one has taught you?" "I have never had a teacher before." Hartley answered with a bitter smile. Kang's eye widened as he said "That's a good thing, that's good indeed." He flashed a smile then continued, "most people learn techniques developed by other people and practice those techniques for years but those techniques will never be as powerful when used by a person other than the one who invented it.
This way you can start with a clean slate and experiment until you evolve it into something that is tailored for yourself. You should start by trying to move you elemental power to your will, this first step is the hardest, and there is no universal method as everyone seem to have different experiences when it comes to controlling elemental energy." Pah! Kang clapped both hands together like he was getting rid of the dust from a hard day's work. "Well then young man, its up to you now, its time for my milk." He then disappeared from view.