Eric set his bag down to the side and began his actual preferred method of meditation, by beginning his stretches. It wasn't long before his body was moving on its own in its rhythmic way, while the surrounding primordial energy seemed impatient to reach him and enter through his pores and respiratory system.
This trance-like state allowed him to feel the flow of primordial energy throughout his body, sans the void where his dantain should be. While it flowed inward naturally, the primordial energy Eric absorbed was unable to be processed by this void and was therefore unable to be refined and utilized by him.
'While Strength Training cultivators, such as myself, are unable to actually store primordial energy within our dantains without exploding, it's very clear that other cultivators almost instinctively use the rotating nature of them to refine and then release the absorbed primordial energy...'
The reality was that cultivators beneath the level of Pulse Condensation weren't able to freely use primordial energy without weapons or techniques that specifically channeled the wild energy into a variety of ways. Those at and below the Bone Forging level of cultivation would barely be able to make those techniques shine, since their levels primarily focused on overhauling the body in order to become a better conduit for primordial energy.
'That being said, others at my level can still use primordial energy to enhance their bodies, although to a limited degree.'
Around and around his body spun and slid.
'Still... dantain or not, it's unmistakable that that energy had came from within my inner void. Also, I clearly have primordial energy circulating somewhere within me.'
Eric recalled the first time Pen Yushui had handed him one of the giant swords to practice with. While the only outward defining feature was its shear size, the otherwise plain and rough sword had immediately began absorbing primordial energy from Eric's body.
At the time, Pen Yushui had said, "Heh. Don't freak out outsider. That hunk of metal can only hold so much primordial energy unless you force it. What you have in your hands in the most basic of tools."
"Tool? Not a weapon?"
Pen Yushui had chuckled at the question, saying, "Weapon? As if the Lightning Sect would allow us to utilize something like that. Even among the mortals, true weapons are wieldly, optimized things meant for combat. That hunk of metal in your hands would only get you killed in a fight. It's heavy, oversized and has no other properties than 'absorb, condense and sharpen primordial energy'. Not to mention, the real ones we use on the job have extended handles so three of us can use them together. No way that would play out well in a fight."
Eric recalled the ridiculous handles on the blades the crew used. They were long enough for three or four large men to stand side by side without touching eachother.
He finally came to an abrupt stop in his movements, took a deep breath and walked over to his previously discarded bag.
'The fact that they require three people to truly operate means the blades are more complex than Pen Yushui is probably aware of. Channeling one cultivator's primal energy is probably infinitely easier than channeling multiple sources...'
The fact that the blades were all purpose in nature seemed to devalue them in the eyes of the local cultivators, yet Eric found the concept quite impressive in its own right. Primal energy embodied the characteristics of all forms of matter, according to the Thunder Emperor's Body scroll. Meaning in its most common form, primal energy was in and if itself all purpose. Cultivation techniques acted as a sort of filter that absorbed the all encompassing primal energy, separated the intended aspects of it and discarded the parts that were unneeded.
'Well, at least that's how other techniques work...'
The Thunder Emperor's Body technique was not only imposing in its naming, it was overbearing in its ambition. The introduction commented on the other orthodox cultivation techniques of its time and it seemed to mock them for taking the easier path of least resistance.
Eric took out the first scroll of the Thunder Emperor's Body technique from his bag and began reading while sitting in the center of his man-made cirlce.
"Primal engery is a gift from the heavens themselves. Why squander any of it? For a fast cultivation speed? For a limited foundation? Nonsense. To cultivate is to seize the resources of the heavens and to go against their tyranny. A solid foundation need not be a monolith, a true cultivator should take in everything and temper it to their own needs. Laying such a foundation will only benefit one's growth over time."
'How pretensious.'
Eric shook his head in disbelief. For one so confident in their technique, this Thunder Emperor was definitely proven wrong by the test of time. Even if the original creator had been able use this method to dominate all of Mount Qixuan in the past, that didn't necessarily mean it was a method everyone could use to excel.
'Especially with so much removed from the original script...'
The original Thunder Emperor had apparently ascended to the heavens at some point and left his findings behind in order to preserve his legacy and hopefully have his people follow him. The sheer simplicity of the original technique allowed the Thunder Emperor a large following, which lead to the creation of the largest sect Mount Qixuan had ever seen. That same simplicity would prove to be the downfall of the Thunder Cloud Sect. While the sect boasted superior numbers, it lacked specialists and powerhouses. A flaw that was almost impossible to overcome for most and was seen as a glaring weakness in the eyes of the smaller sects.
'According to Ying Yue, those smaller sects actually were originally branches of the original Thunder Cloud Sect that defected after the founder had ascended. Not that any of them would admit it now."
"So. I have an incomplete and greedy technique, a mysterious and greedy body, a 'sword' that is actually a giant greedy tool, a little over a month's worth of cultivation pills and..."
Eric's eyes wandered in the direction of a secluded area in the woods known only to him.
'If I don't do something with it, someone or something is bound to find it... but enslavement or exploding don't seem to outweigh that danger just yet.'
He had thought of using the earnings he had received for slaying the Primeval Boar to buy cultivation pills, but had decided not to seem too eager for advancement, at least in the eyes of others. Especially to those mysterious presences that had been tailing him.
Every cultivator in the dormitory was given exactly one cultivation pill a day. Their purpose was to stimulate a cultivator's primordial veins so they absorbed and condensed primal energy at a faster rate, while simultaneously guiding the energy itself throughout the body. The only drawback to constant use was that "pill toxins" would gradually build up in the cultivator's foundation over time, potentially harming future growth.
'I suppose that aspect means very little in this defeated village.'
Eric shook away his critical thoughts. The state of Lei Village was far from his ability to fix, especially if he hit a wall so early in his cultivation.
He began idly flipping through the various scrolls in his possession. Amongst them were the instructional scrolls left behind by Pen Yushui. Unlike the cultivation scrolls for the Thunder Emperor's Body technique, these had no primordial energy infused within them and therefore had no higher meanings or hidden truths in a traditional sense. They were simply a series of simple, yet admittedly elegant, paintings that depicted various stances and motions in order to handle the giant wood cutting blades.
Eric found him self particularly drawn to these depictions.