Two years have passed inside the Cultivation Realm of Sun Reed.
He tried countless to fight the old geezer countless times but to no avail. There were three meals a day and he needed to eat a banana every morning, it's said to strengthen his body.
"Sun, looks like you're ready for the final fight. Let's see how much you've improved so far.", the old man said.
"Hmph, after training the Nine Heaven Arts, after all the hardships, Cultivation and Fighting under your guidance, I must admit that I've really grown a lot.", Sun answered.
"He, but your character is still as nasty as ever. Hahaha.", the old geezer said and stroked his long beard.
"I'll definitely beat you today!", Sun said and ran towards his master.
"Nine Heaven Arts First Form: Flame Tiger Punching Technique!"
Sun accelerated his blood flow and accustomized it to his body's magical power flow. This way, he'll be able to perform a unique punching pattern at a higher speed and land more lethal blows on the enemy.
This was the first form of the Nine Heaven Arts he was cultivating in these last two years.
"Not bad. Nine Heaven Arts Seventh Form: Earth Turtle Stance!", the old man also used a Nine Heaven Art to fight Sun.
The Nine Heaven Arts was created by a strong cultivator a Millenium years ago in order to fight the Demon Realm. Ten Millenium years ago, the earth experienced its last ice age. The ice age was, in fact, a magic barrier to keep demons on Esperia and not let them damage the human territories.
This Martial Arts has been passed down since then, but some thousand years later, a very sinister cultivator got his hands on this powerful technique and nearly annihilated the whole Ether race.
It was until a person of higher cultivation than an Elder appeared on Earth and sealed away this technique. Rumors said, that this stranger came from the God Realm and was once an Ether who had achieved a higher Ranking in cultivation than the Elder Rank.
That stranger withdrew shortly after from the Earth and left the mortal realm.
This extraordinary stranger was the only one who had the technique and searched for a successor of the Nine Heaven Arts. He feared to leave it in the Mortal Realm since he feared history would repeat itself, so he searched for a proper successor of the technique. A person who is able to differ from good and evil and follows his heart.
He searched for a long time and in the end, he found Sun Reed. A human being in the world of Ethers.
The stranger was no one other than the old man who was teaching Sun the Nine Heaven Arts and hopes for him to prevent future Demon invasions.
"Ah, I'm getting older now. My strength isn't what it was before. I'm not at my peak level anymore. Even with this high rank of mine, I still haven't obtained immortality.", the old man thought while parring many moves of Sun.
"The string of fate is very clear this time. The boy will have a rough future because of what happened in the past. Its the fault of us adults that the next generation needs to shoulder the problems of us. All I can do is to provide this young man with all I've got. This way, I hope that I've removed some of the stones blocking his way."
...
*DIng*
Sun got pushed backward by his own force after colliding with his master.
"Hm, I can't seem to break through his defense.", Sun thought and wiped off a sweat drop from his forehead.
"The turtle stance will surely increase the defense of one person, but it slowed him at the same time for 40%.
The old geezer is indeed faster than me and better than me in all aspects of the physique, so I need to come up with a plan.", Sun thought.
The temple, this whole place blocks all kinds of magic usage, therefore he could not use any magic to assist himself, but the place is filled with an immense amount of magic power to cultivate from.
Sun had already reached the peak of Intermediate level and is near the breakthrough.
"I guess that I need to use that. Even though I haven't fully grasped its depths..."
"Ahhhh.",Sun began to gather the magic power in the air in order to charge up for his next attack.
"Ninth Form? Ha, I won't let you.", the old man changed his stance and moved incredibly fast towards Sun.
"Ninth Form: Echoing Dragon!", Sun called out.
"Not fast enough!", the voice of the old geezer echoed.
Sun only hit his afterimage.
"Alright, looks like you will still need another year of training.", the old man appeared behind Sun and was ready to attack him.
"Phase out.", Sun said calmly.
The attack of his master went right through him and didn't hurt him.
Sun's body seemed like a ghost body which can't be touched by flesh.
"What is this?", the old man was startled for a second and created some distance between them.
There is no way for Sun to be able to use Magic here, so it must be a martial art technique.
"What is this? Is this still the Nine Heaven Art?", the old man asked Sun.
"Wait and see.", Sun said and his body dissolved quickly into the shadows.
The 'Phase out' was a technique Sun discovered when he combined the wrong forces when he was leaning the Nine Heaven Arts. But instead of crippling him, he found a new martial art based on the Nine Heaven Arts. The 'Phase out' was nearly as effective as one of the Heavenly Forms. This technique was based on the Nine Heaven Arts last form. As Sun messed up the proportions of energy, he was able to create an entirely new technique.
An Original.
...
"Not bad. You've really improved.", the old man said after being defeated by Sun.
"Ah, I'm getting old now. I'll be depending on your generation from now on. You're free to go to the real world now.", the old man said.
"Wait, but what will happen to this place when I leave?", Sun asked.
This temple was basically forced into his Cultivation Realm and changed its appearance completely.
"Ah, do not worry about that. This place basically replaced your modern cultivation realm, but it's about ten times more effective than your previous realm.", the old man said.
"Well, then thanks for the information.", Sun said.
"Ho? No last words for you master?", the old geezer asked in a funny tone.
"Thank you for the technique. I'll be sure to treasure it.", Sun said and smiled shamelessly.
"Haha. I never liked that attitude of yours. But well, I wish you good luck in your future. Your fate will be decided much later and I believe that we won't ever be able to cross path again.", the old man returned to his serious tone.
"I see. I thank you master sincerely to have enlightened me with his knowledge. Your pupil won't disappoint you in the future. Even if we will never be able to cross path ever again, I will still remember the kindness of you, master.", Sun said in a serious tone.
*Silence*
"Hahaha", both laughed.
"You're so bad at this, you know little brat.", the old man rubbed the head of Sun.
...
"Well then, I shall take my leave.", Sun said.
"Mhm. I bid you farewell."
"Oh right, master, after two years, I still haven't caught your name.", Sun asked.
He was always calling him either 'old geezer', 'teacher' or 'master', this, of course, depending on his mood.
"Hehe, knowing it will cause you trouble in the future, so better be ignorant in this case."
"In that case, I won't ask.", Sun answered.
He also felt that this old guy was not something from the mortal realm. He gave off a strange aura, nothing earthly.
If he was to compare it, it would be very similar to Sylvie's aura.
Sun dispelled his spiritual body and opened his eyes.
He was still inside his room and after a look at his calendar, only two months have passed.
His training in the temple was two years, but in the real world, it was only about two months.
Tomorrow will be the NFT and looking at his phone ...countless called from his mom and friends.
"Since they did not found me in my room, I assume that my body was brought to a spatial realm or something of the sorts.", Sun thought that might've been the reason.
After the look shock, he looked at his body - very muscular.
It appears that training his spiritual body would also affect his real body since body and mind are deeply connected within each other.