Eric was sweating, and internally swearing.
In order to experience each movement of the Fleeting Cloud Step, he had taken it upon himself to use the technique in every direction possible at ground level.
This alone wouldn't be an issue if he had decided move in a mostly straight line. However, he would not be able to experience the entire range of movements that way.
Even if he had decided to focus on the steps strictly used for wood cutting, he would only end up strafing from right to left and back again.
Using only the forward motion movements in order to get a feel for the circulation aspect? It was a possibility. The problem really resided in Eric's lived experiences and his personality.
He had spent the majority of his previous life fighting in one way or another. In his path of martial arts, Eric had experienced many techniques, many theories on footwork and positioning and even more on relevant application. He did more than just take a base martial art, such as Brazilian jujistu, and incorporate other things over time. He had learned every discipline from the ground up, focusing on each one, one at a time, until he had at least reached a black belt (or its equivalent) in said discipline.
Only then would he return to his previously learned techniques, go through the motions of each individually, and begin tying in the new technique to his own.
Doing so was exhaustive and had put his previous life's body through many different stages of fitness. Though, as a result, he had been able to forge his body into one completely streamlined for battle. His muscle structure alone was as close to super human as possible in his world.
His fighting style should have been a mess, all things considered. Being a mixed martial artist normally wouldn't mean taking in tens of fighting styles and learning them to their fullest extent, after all. The "correct" way had almost universally been decided to be to take what works and discard the rest.
You started in muay thai but feel as if your punches could use some work? Pick up boxing and see if that helps. You were a wrestler in college but feel as if your standing game was lacking? Pick up kickboxing to help even out your arsenal. Start with a strength, find your weakness, train to cover for it.
Eric wished he could do the same.
The reality for him was a bit more complicated, yet at the same time, almost childish in his opinion.
Eric had started his martial journey young. Always full of energy and unable to hold still, his parents had enrolled him in every sport they could. When that proved to not be enough, they signed him up for a capoeira course, followed by a taekwondo course, then a boxing gym. It wasn't long before he had joined an MMA gym and truly began to find his passion.
When it came time for him to start considering college, he had decided to pick up wrestling in order to gain a scholarship. The reasoning was completely pragmatic, but it ended up opening his eyes to a very simple truth.
The things he had learned in his MMA classes left out certain things. Certain maneuvers that simply weren't relevant to a style that was meant for practical ground combat and submissions. Certain techniques for say, pushing an opponent out of a ring were now replaced with ones that entailed using a cage for leverage.
This applied to all other disciplines as well. He practiced boxing for his striking, but at some point had become much more "flat-footed" due to his need to be able use his legs to kick.
The list was endless and had made him realize that he had felt a bit empty when thinking about the lack of depth in his chosen passion.
'Aaron was truly a godsend.'
Eric's little brother had taken his lemantations to heart, when he had confided in him. He then came up with a simple, albeit exhausting, solution.
"A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." Aaron had said, after presenting is plan to Eric on a PowerPoint presentation. "What if you become a master of all trades?"
The rest was history.
So why was he using every movement available? Simply put, he knew he would regret any other method.
Thus, what should've been an hour long walk, at most, turned into an eight hour excursion while he took ten steps forward and nine steps back. Only, the steps taken where more akin to a figure eight crossed with an infinity symbol, with squiggly lines throughout.
All while weaving between giant trees.
'Almost go it...'
Eric popped his eighth cultivation pill into his mouth without missing a beat. An onlooker would have been hard pressed to notice the motion if they didn't know to look for it.
A flood of condensed primordial energy once again rushed its way through his body via his primordial veins. The energy provided by the cultivation pills was a bit jarring to Eric, at first. Unlike natural primordial energy, the pills functioned as a compact, dense concentration of primordial energy, while simultaneously acting as a lure to draw in natural primordial energy from his surroundings.
As a result, the primordial energy had a tendency to run wild throughout the cultivator's body as they enforced their will upon it.
This part was the most dangerous. This held true for any other type of unnatural or specialized type of primordial energy a cultivator may absorb. It was the very step that resulted in the explosive end that Ying Yue had warned Eric about.
If the primordial energy was unable to be guided and contained with the cultivator's veins, it would spell disaster for them.
That being said, these particular cultivation pills were among the weakest produced on Mount Qixuan. They were meant for the lowest levels of cultivation and were only lethal to those that had no talent for cultivation in the first place. The mass produced cultivation pills were basically comparable to a vitamin for mortals, since they were able to consumed daily and their toxins were almost non existant compared to the more advanced ones.
It was even easier for Eric to focus the primordial energy provided by following the circulation outlined in the Fleeting Cloud technique.
The issue was that Eric was consuming them at an increasingly faster rate. This latest pill marking eight days worth of primordial energy being contained in his body.
He had been hesitant at first, waiting to see the effect of the first pill run its course and finally enter the void where his dantain should be. Right when he sensed the primordial energy had less than ten percent left in the rest of his body, he took his second pill.
Doing so had informed him of three things. That his body could handle more than one cultivation pill at a time, that he could just barely begin to sense... something within the voided space and that the void absorbed the primordial energy at a faster rate with each subsequent cultivation pill.
Eric was sweating due to the high stress the Fleeting Cloud technique placed on his body, as well as the fact that he was unable to utilize the primordial energy he absorbed after the void took it away. The movements were not only ridiculously varied, they required the cultivator to expel minor amounts of primordial energy in order to complete them smoothly.
He was internally swearing because he had to make up the difference with his own physical abilities. The extra strain more than minor.
'From what I've been told, all techniques not directly related to absorbing primordial energy use the expulsion of primordial energy in order to manifest the desired result.'
Focus.
Eric threw another cultivation pill into his mouth, the action basically being a slight of hand at this point. The strain of reigning in and guiding the unnatural primordial energy, combined with following the various movements of the Fleeting Cloud technique, on top of avoiding the varied terrain and trees was enough to keep his mind from wandering. If he had time to think of other things, that basically meant he needed to up the difficulty.
Around and around he spun. Consuming cultivation pills, guiding the primordial energy, moving his body, avoiding hazardous terrain and repeating the process.
Upon consuming his fifteenth cultivation pill, he felt energy exiting from the other side of his internal void.
The sudden rush followed the flow outlined in the Fleeting Cloud technique faster than Eric could react, causing his limbs to move twice as fast as they had been.
This turned what had originally been a sweeping motion to the right, into a wide careening spin into the nearest tree.
"Ugh..."
Eric let out an involuntary grunt, but almost immediately forgot his pain, as he felt the flow of primordial energy that he was absorbing, finally connect with the primordial energy leaving his body.
The line of warm, primal energy traced a defined path through his primordial veins straight to what he had originally believed to be a void.
"... What hell is going on?"
Not sure if he should believe what he was feeling, looked around to get his bearings. After a brief moment of thought, Eric changed his course towards the only person in Lei Village that could possibly help him discern what was going on.
The Fleeting Cloud Step technique was utilized in a direct way this time. Making a thirty minute walk northeast take less than five minutes.