On the fourth night, the trainees followed their team leaders into a building.
"303... this is the place," Zhao Jingzhong said before pushing the door open and turning to the trainees. "Don't touch anything inside or cause any damage... you'll bear the consequences."
By now, the members of Squad Eight had a pretty good understanding of Zhao Jingzhong's character.
Though he was from the military, whether due to Xie Qiansi's defiance or his inherent nature, Zhao Jingzhong always spoke calmly and didn't like to stress this or that.
He would say what needed to be said, but he'd gloss over the consequences—listening was up to the trainees. Describing him as sloppy or as shirking his duties wasn't too far off the mark.
On the morning of the third day, when they went to the third sports field for training, Zhao Jingzhong nonchalantly mentioned not to use the equipment with red star markings without explaining why. Then one of the trainees played with it once, instantly felt drained by the equipment and was left too weak to do anything until they could eat and drink Spiritual Liquid to recover their strength at noon.
As it turned out, that equipment was designed for Cultivators who had achieved the first turn. Using it would consume active spiritual energy, and a healthy, gradual exhaustion of spiritual energy could slightly increase one's total Spiritual Energy Quantity. However, for the trainees still in the formation stage, using it would inevitably lead to them being drained dry.
Therefore, everyone treated Zhao Jingzhong's words with extreme caution, daring not to take them lightly. Once inside, they saw what seemed to be a classroom with a blackboard, a podium, and three rows of long tables, each with a hexagonal plate upon which floated a nearly transparent cubic crystal.
Squad Eight consisted of ten people, and there were precisely thirty cubic crystals in the room. They stood behind the tables, cautiously observing the crystal that instilled an inexplicable thrill in them.
"Magnetic levitation?" someone asked.
"If you must say so, it should be spiritual energy levitation," Zhao Jingzhong responded indifferently. "Let me ask first, is there anyone here who hasn't activated their Qi Cyclone yet?"
No one spoke.
"Good, because in this lesson, only those with an activated Qi Cyclone will benefit."
"Today, you will learn the most basic Spiritual Energy Technique."
Spiritual Energy Technique!
Everyone became excited—they were finally about to grasp the powers of a Transcendent!
If Transcendents were compared to firearms, then the cultivation of the Qi Cyclone was akin to accumulating ammunition, while Spiritual Energy Techniques were the firearm itself! The power of a Transcendent, of course, didn't lie in how much ammo they had, but in how much force the ejected ammunition could yield!
Zhao Jingzhong attached two large diagrams to the blackboard with magnets. Upon looking, everyone saw that each diagram depicted two small figures interacting, and each was labeled separately: "Clothing" and "Lock."
"The Spiritual Energy Techniques you will learn are 'Clothing' and 'Lock.' 'Clothing' consumes the active spiritual energy of your internal cyclone to shroud yourself in an invisible layer for defense against external harm," Zhao Jingzhong explained.
"You encountered someone undergoing Awakening at noon, didn't you? That Awakener's awakening technique was quite good, allowing transformation and control over Fiery Power. But as long as you employ 'Clothing,' you can completely negate such harm from the flames."
"While swimming, casting 'Clothing' pushes the water away, providing yourself with air."
"During external force testing, Cultivators can use 'Clothing' to withstand the impact of a truck traveling at 60 km/h without being knocked away. Of course, this assumes your Spiritual Energy Quantity can keep up. As for attacks by ordinary people, that's naturally not a problem."
Zhao Jingzhong, pointing at the diagram where one figure was attacking another clad in invisible armor, said, "Knives, fists, chainsaws... as long as the spiritual energy maintains 'Clothing,' it can generally block them. However, bullets can penetrate 'Clothing's' defense, so remember, if you come across someone with a gun, you'd better run."
"Also, 'Clothing' has another excellent application, for example..."
Zhao Jingzhong took down the diagram of 'Clothing' and then harshly swiped a finger across it!
The diagram made a swish sound, revealing a neatly cut fissure, split in half by his finger. However, the cut looked as if it had been precisely severed by a knife, not at all as if it had been torn by a finger.
"With further research, you can condense the spiritual energy of 'Clothing' to an extremely sharp edge, achieving a sword-like effect. Of course, it's difficult and quite unnecessary," Zhao Jingzhong said. "If you truly fight for your country, you will naturally be taught combat-oriented Spiritual Energy Techniques. However, 'Clothing' is the starting point for most Spiritual Energy Techniques, and using it frequently is beneficial."
Ren Suo was certain that Zhao Jingzhong had applied 'Clothing' when they sparred previously. If Zhao Jingzhong had used that technique during their spar, Ren Suo, even with 'Physical Enhancement' and 'Combat Basics,' wouldn't have been able to touch a single hair on Zhao Jingzhong!
"This is 'Clothing'," Zhao Jingzhong showed them his right arm. "Although called an invisible armor, if you look closely enough, some subtleties can be seen—look closely..."
In the trainees' view, Zhao Jingzhong's palm appeared somewhat misty—as if the air was distorting due to the emission of heat.
"After using 'Clothing,' an invisible Spiritual Energy Film forms around the body. The film filters gases, causing a slight displacement with the surrounding air, and this is why Cultivators remain unharmed by any attack. With practice and strengthening, this film can be deployed at will, appearing only where you need it, although this is naturally very difficult, but the spiritual energy consumption is much less."
"Currently, the damage that 'Clothing' can't resist includes supersonic kinetic impacts like gunfire, light attacks, poisonous gas attacks, and sonic attacks. Hmm, if you jump from a building, depending on the height, up to 30 meters should be safe, but higher than that is a matter of personal fortune."
Zhao Jingzhong pointed to the other diagram, "In addition to 'Clothing,' you must also learn 'Lock.'"
In the diagram, figure A was grabbing figure B's right hand and pressing down on the back of figure B's head.
"Spiritual energy is invisible, and so are Qi Cyclones, but it is possible to attack a Qi Cyclone with spiritual energy," Zhao Jingzhong pointed out. "'Lock' is a masterful technique against ordinary people, suppressing the target's body with spiritual energy. When 'Lock' is initiated, the Cultivator can only suppress the target and do nothing else, while the target becomes unable to move due to key body parts being locked by spiritual energy."
"If faced with an Awakener, 'Lock' is still effective, and can even restrict the target's flow of spiritual energy. Of course, this is provided that the target doesn't use spiritual energy to counter your spiritual energy attack. In other words, 'Clothing' can perfectly counter 'Lock.' But if you face an opponent who is also a Cultivator, using 'Lock' can essentially strip them of their combat capability."