After The First Avenger returned home, he focused on experimenting and improving his power level. He still had residual energy from the million year old ginseng and used it to ascend to higher stages within the Aura Realm.
First mastered his Aura Initiating power. Allowing him to surround himself with a protective energy aura. Most cultivators would take days to achieve this, yet First only took a few minutes.
Then he entered secluded meditation and quickly ascended from Aura Initiating to Aura Condensing. His Aura Lake shrunk a little, but the qi energy was thicker. Allowing him to activate the protective aura as an instinct rather than requiring him to concentrate. Most cultivators would take weeks to shrink reach this instinctual level, yet First only took a few hours.
Afterwards he went into secluded meditation again. Going from Aura Condensing to Aura Establishing. Making the Lake more malleable. He could now extend his Aura energy some distance from his physical body. The exact distance depended on the technique he used as well as what was required by the story's plot at the time. First unleashed his first ranged energy attack. It was a blue ball of plasma which he named; Surge Fist. Most cultivators would take months to unleash their first ranged energy attack, yet First only took a few days.
Finally, he used the residues of the million year old ginseng energy to enter secluded meditation a final time. When he came out, he had ascended from Aura Establishing to Aura Stabilising. His Aura Lake was now more vicious, akin to honey. It allowed him to more easily project his Aura qi. As if his Aura was now an extension of his physical body. Most cultivators would take years to attain this state, yet First only took a few weeks.
Thus, in the period of a month, The First Avenger progressed from Aura Initiating to Aura Stabilising. A feat which most cultivators took years to accomplish. This was not only due to his use of the million year old ginseng energy, but also due to his superior meditation technique which he had learned from his previous life.
That's right, in this alternate world, the techniques shown in animations and written in xianxia novels actually worked. So, this author encourages all readers to continue training these esoteric arts. Even if people call you things like Live Action Role-Player, Chuni, Deluional or Narutard, please keep training. You will die eventually and maybe get reincarnated into a world where that stuff works.
Anyway, after being satisfied with his personal power, First decided to try and open the two storage rings he possessed. However, he had no idea how to do so. Thus, he headed back to Jianye city to speak with a rogue cultivator he had befriended.
________________________
In a crowded shop with various bizarre items like monkey hands, rabbit feet and rhino dongs, was a very short but heavily muscled male. This male was only the height of a baby, yet his physique would put many body builders to shame. His neck muscles were nearly as tall as his head. While his lats were so developed that he could pass as a strange kind of sugar glider when he flexed them. The white-haired youth was none other than The First Avenger.
Not that it was going to be anyone else. It's just this author always wanted to write that sort of introduction. Just like all the cool xuanhuan authors do.
First was not alone inside the shop. There was also a middle-aged man, who looked wise and pervy at the same time. This middle-aged man was First's only cultivator friend; Pan Huo.
The duo were drinking Resplendent Hair Tea. A drink favoured by many cultivators due to the importance of nice hair. They were chatting about general events. Such as the upcoming opening of the Forbidden Lands and the recent fall of a number of small sects. The conversation was obviously foreshadowing future important events, so this author would ask readers to try to remember that.
Finally, First raised the topic for which he had come.
"Pan Huo," he began. "I've killed two cultivators, but I don't know how to open their storage rings."
Pan Huo already knew that these cultivators were Shi Ning and his son Shi Lin. Two disciples of the Supreme Polarity Eight Trigrams Sect. Most people would be a little hesitant to involve themselves with such business. However, Pan Huo already had a bad history with members of that sect. So, he didn't care if he further antagonised them.
Furthermore, although Pan Huo was a rogue cultivator, he had excellent relationships with two other top sects. His son Pan Shi was a genius of the Ethical Legalist Scholar Sect. While his elder brother was a guest elder alchemist at the Sky Breaking Vajra Sect.
"What are you willing to trade for the knowledge?" asked Pan Huo.
Although he considered First as a friend, he was still unwilling to give something away for free. Pan Huo was a true businessman in that sense.
"I have Azure Grass, Vermillion Grass, Enlightening Berries and a pair of used underwear from my mother," listed first. "Choose one."
"The underwear," replied Pan Huo.
While the other items were useful for alchemy. He was not trained in the making of pills. Plus, they could be sourced from elsewhere. While Green Peach Maiden's used underwear was something only First could provide.
"Here you go," First handed over some silken panties.
"Very good," smiled Pan Huo as he sniffed the underwear. "Ooh… a bit of a stain… truly marvellous."
The merchant quickly placed the panties into a jade box. Before turning back to First. He truly appreciated the fact the young cultivator's non-judgmental attitude. Not everyone would comfortably sell their mother's used panties. It showed that the young cultivator was open minded. An important trait for cultivators.
"Come here and I will guide you on how to break a spiritual imprint, so you can make a magical item your own," said Pan Huo as he gave pointers to First as the young cultivator invaded the first ring with his penetrating qi.
At first the ring felt tight, but after repeated prodding, the feeling of tightness loosened, and First managed to break the seal which protected the ring from being fully explored and exploited.
The ring he had managed to open was that owned by Shi Lin. It was clear that the young man focused on Mystical Arrays. There were tens of Array Flags, as well as Array technique manuals. There were even crafting materials and crafting tools. Finally, there were a number of alchemy pills meant to assist one in ascending from the Core Realm and into the Aura Realm. Although these were useless to First, they would be of benefit to his younger sister and pet snake.
First repeated the ring loosening and penetrating technique with the next storage device. Shi Ning's ring was even tighter than his son's had been. Pan Huo had to actively provide assistance. Applying lubricating qi to the ring so that First could triumphantly penetrate it.
The First Avenger celebrated his findings. The ring contained the Aura Realm attack techniques of Giant Clapping Hands of Stone, and Stone King's Spurting Hot Liquid. It also contained the Aura movement technique known as Stone King's Erect Pole, which allowed one to create stone stepping platforms. Finally, there was a Dominion Realm technique which due to its high level, and this author's lack of imagination in regards to names, was currently untranslatable for First and Pan Huo, who were both in the Aura Realm.
Aside from those technique manuals, there was also numerous alchemy pills plus a magical weapon. The pills were to assist with breaking through into the Nascent Realm. These would be very useful for First later on.
Meanwhile, the weapon was a spear, sculpted from a single piece of ivory. It seemed to be a simple, even primitive weapon, lacking fanciful adornments. Yet when First grasped it in his hands, it let off an aura of power, blood lust and extreme manliness.
"That weapon has an evil aura," commented Pan Huo. "Maybe you should sell it? I know some vicious cultivators who would purchase it for a good price."
"What makes you think I'm not a vicious cultivator?" smiled First as he thought of all the people who had wronged him in this life and his previous one.
His expression would have been truly malevolent. If not for the fact that he had a baby's face.