Xie Li's eyes lingered on the slightly visible footsteps amidst the snow on the training ground, the slight traces of unnaturally melted water, and the unnatural vigor in Zhen Shi's movements. That, combined with the vague presence of used qi in the air, she could easily assume what her son had truly been doing here.
But with only a shake of her head, she walked in step with Zhen Shi towards the wooden bench.
Having noticed her actions, Zhen Shi who saw that there was a good chance that his mother had realized the truth was slightly embarrassed.
But ignoring that, he shamelessly brushed off the specks of snow on the bench and sat down a moment after his mother did.
Xie Li put her arm over Zhen Shi's small shoulders, which was unusually powerful for his small age.
Without a single trace of her previous smile, she began to speak sternly, "Shi, child, I've told you many times to allow your body to rest amidst training! I know that you've made amazing progress in your cultivation and training due to hard work, but the overexertion of your body may very well result in multiple problems in the future."
Hearing her all too familiar lecture, Zhen Shi remained silent patiently allowing her to berate him.
Seeing her eight-year-old son acting so unnaturally mature, Xie Li's face softened.
Turning to face him, she spoke reassuringly, "Shi'er, that matter was not your fault. It was ours! We should've confirmed it's authenticity before giving it to you... But even so, you can't put yourself at risk like this!"
Zhen Shi replied with a slight nod of agreement. But the fact that he had no intention of following her instructions was extremely obvious.
Seeing how he continued to be disobedient, Xie Li heaved a powerless sigh.
But her face was adorned with an unusual smile as she continued, "You're just like him, stubborn to the bone... but oh, so, idiotic." She continued with a slight shake of her head, "Forget it, I didn't come today to give you another lecture. I came because I would like to suggest a compromise."
For the first time, Zhen Shi turned to her with genuine interest.
Seeing that she had his attention, Xie Li continued, "And that would be a movement technique of a very high level. Unlike the skills available for your current level in the clan, this technique will require an immense amount of contemplation to improve.
Currently, the only time you stop training is for cultivation, and that cannot be considered as genuine rest for the body. On the other hand, simple meditation on a skill will allow your body to truly rest while giving you the opportunity to progress even further."
Zhen Shi was rather skeptical as he listened to his mother. If the skill was this difficult to practice and required a long time to bear fruit, it wouldn't suit his requirements at all. And there was also the question of why she hadn't taught it to him earlier...
Seeing his disbelief and confusion, Xie Lie smiled once more, curtly pinched his cheek until it grew red, and let go almost immediately.
This was a very fast and unexpected movement, that had caught Zhen Shi off-guard.
Realizing that his mother had treated him like a small child, Zhen Shi's small face reddened at her embarrassing actions.
But before he could even begin complaining, she continued speaking, "As for why I didn't teach it to you sooner, that is because it has extremely strict requirements of high affinity with the wind element. I wasn't sure that you would be able to even understand the technique as a small child.
Even your father, with his wind spiritual root, was just barely able to reach a novice level of this skill. Despite being unable to make much progress, due to this technique, his speed is undefeated by most others at the same cultivation level!"
Xie Li smiled bitterly as she continued, "On the other hand, my spiritual roots were completely incompatible with this skill, making it very difficult for me to train in it."
But with hopeful eyes, she continued once more, "Shi'er, even though you don't have a top-notch affinity with the wind, your warrior class has a very close relationship with the wind element. And, of course, you have his wind spiritual root as well... So even if you are unable to master it you'll still be able to utilize some of it. And most importantly, it'll give your body a chance to rest! What do you think?"
Zhen Shi nodded in excitement and said, "I'd be honored to learn mother's technique!"
He knew very well that even barely comprehending the wind element would be invaluable to his warrior class. And he wouldn't give up on a chance to gain a powerful skill. Thus he was agreeing whole-heartedly.
But of course, he was happy that he would be able to set his mother's worried mind at ease as well.
Xie Li smiled at her son, but continued seriously, "This skill only exists in my and your father's memory. So I'll have to transfer it to your mind directly. Rest assured. It has been arranged in a manner that will be suitable for the cultivator it is given to. But since it is a very complex skill, I fear that it'll be too much for your mind. You might even faint due to its sheer size..."
Zhen Shi answered with determined eyes, "That's completely fine. I'll manage."
Xie Li hesitated for just a moment, but with a deep breath, she raised her right hand and placed it on Zhen Shi's forehead.
Instantly a torrent of knowledge rushed into Zhen Shi's mind, causing an ear-splitting headache. At the same time, Xie Li's face grew pale.
It was obvious that this process was much more dangerous to her than himself. And seeing how his mother was suffering, Zhen Shi couldn't bring himself to complain.
As the process continued steadily, Zhen Shi gradually grew used to the headache. But, suddenly, his mother's state grew worse as she began to cough painfully with blood seeping down her mouth and nose.
Despite her lectures to Zhen Shi, it was she who had over-exerted her soul power in the end... Nevertheless, she grit her teeth and forcefully continued the transfer process.
Seeing his mother in a much worse condition than before, and reminiscent of that other time, Zhen Shi grew frantic and was just about to make her stop and push her hand away.
But at that exact moment, his headache grew worse by many folds causing him to freeze in pain.
It was so painful that he was unable to even get himself to open his mouth, let alone ask her to stop... and he had to use his sheer will to even stay conscious.
With blood seeping from her mouth and nostrils, Xie Li smiled reassuringly at him with a pale face.
Within just a few moments more, unable to handle it any longer, Zhen Shi finally lost his grip. As he lost consciousness, he couldn't help but wonder... if this was so painful for him, how was his mother managing?
⛰️⛰️⛰️
Within Zhen Shi's memory, the information related to the new technique slowly appeared as a book. It had an ordinary green leather cover but written upon it like a terrifying rising dragon was a single phrase, [Draconic Wind Steps]!
Although he was rather worried about the matters that had taken place during that year and caused Xie Li to act as she had, Zhen Shi couldn't help but be excited as he mentally opened the book and began to read.
"Draconic Wind Steps is the most powerful technique of the Xie Clan. It is not to be transferred to outsiders!"
Upon opening the book, this was the very first sentence that Zhen Shi saw.
But as a believer of the right to free knowledge, especially to himself, Zhen Shi immediately dismissed that bogus sentence. And continued to read through the beginning that seemed to provide information on the origin and history of the skill.
"The founder of the Xie Clan, Xie Yi had been an ordinary mortal from a rather poor family. But due to hard work and good fortune, he was able to become a famed, powerful warrior archer and finally settled down with the love of his life.
However, misfortune struck in the form of the War of Ice and Fire; the terrifying war between the powers of the Northern Ice-lands and the Southern desert-lands. And under a full moon, his wife was killed by the strange other-worldly creatures that unusually spawned all over the world during this same war.
In his rage, Xie Yi rallied many other similarly angered cultivators seeking revenge and spear-headed attacks against the other-worldly creatures. Within just six-hundred years of beginning his crusade, he was successfully able to exceed the Sovereign level of power!
The war was still ongoing, and under the threat of the other-worldly creatures, the Northern Ice-Lands and the Southern Desert-lands reached a temporary truce and combined their strength to fight off the invaders.
But with his rage quelled over the years of slaughter, Xie Yi decided to stop his current actions and instead search for a method to revive his wife in the other realms. And he was definitely powerful enough to do so now...
Xie Yi's quest lead him to the divine realm, where he chanced upon an injured baby dragon who had also lost its family due to the attack of the other-worldly creatures. Seeing how it had suffered the same injustice that he had, Xie Yi saved the baby dragon out of pity and took him under his wing granting him the name of Xie Feng. Xie Feng would later become Xie Yi's sworn brother...
[Draconic Wind steps] was a technique that Xie Feng created with Xie Yi's help and later transferred to the Xie Clan of the Human Realm upon completion!"
-----------------------
'War of Ice and Fire? Sovereign Level? Dragons? Divine Realm?' Zhen Shi was shocked as he read through the book. 'Does the Xie Clan have such an amazing history?'
Leaving that matter aside for a moment, Zhen Shi continued reading the rest of the page with great interest.
"Draconic Wind Steps is a divine movement technique, not only does it grant the practitioner with speed beyond their current level, but it also guides them along the path of comprehending the Law of Wind. As such, it has very high requirements for practice.
Requirements:- The practitioner must comprehend the Law of Wind at least to the Basic Stage. But practitioners with Wind Spiritual Roots or similarly blessed physiques will be able to begin training, as well. However, without comprehending the Law of Wind further progress will be impossible."
Zhen Shi had no knowledge of the concept of laws. But he had heard of it from his past life, so he did have a very rough idea of what it was.
But before he could ponder more on this matter, he suddenly sensed that although the complete knowledge of the skill was within his mind, the majority of it seemed to be locked away from his reach. And as such, through the book in his hands, he would be only able to access a small part of it...
'Perhaps I have to master the available part to access the rest of it?' Thinking so and dismissing this matter, he flipped to the next page.
Immediately, Zhen Shi's eyes widened in surprise or they would've had he not been within his own mind. The next page had a hint of stellar light and contained an engraved description. Zhen Shi's mind relaxed with just a single glance at this page...
[First Step: Gentle Breeze.
Even if it is a dragon that dashes, the first wind that blows will be a gentle breeze.
Move like a breeze, with a mind free of worry and distraction, relaxed and calm. A single step can breeze past all dangers, no matter the severity.
The mind is the key; the greater the calm, the faster the breeze!]
While these words did seem to contain some secrets, that was not what had caught Zhen Shi's attention. What truly had him entranced was a series of moving images, just below those words.
The image was that of a man with an upright appearance and a small serpent-like creature with deer antlers on his shoulders. With a relaxed smile on his face, he would calmly take only a single step. But his figure would vanish and reappear at a distance tens of meters away as if he was teleporting!
And as he continued to walk forwards, torrents of arrows, roaring monsters, exploding fires, hordes of fanged and monster-liked creatures, all sorts of monstrous attacks rained down on him. But even so, he continued to take a single step each time, with an unfazed expression, and easily dodged everything!
While the man seemed to be rather ordinary, every single movement of his seemed to comprehend boundless truths and immeasurably deep secrets.
Zhen Shi couldn't help but be affected by this diagram. He felt like he was on the verge of understanding something, but before he could dwell on it more, the rapidly approaching attacks reminded him of his current situation...
---------------------
He was still being attacked by the Xue Yue clan and the silver-haired girl, Zou Rou! The only reason he had been able to think so much, was probably due to the system amplifying his thought process.
And while he might be able to use [Draconic Wind Steps] to survive, he had never actually practiced it. As such, there was still a very high chance he would die...
But fortunately for him, the previous system notification continued on,
Ding!
Conditions for status effect activation has been met. Congratulations to the user for achieving Fake Tarzan
Status effect:- User action and reaction speed will be increased by double permanently. An additional 10x multiplier to action and reaction speed while wearing loincloth [Warning: Washing it will permanently remove effects]
Ignoring the ridiculous notification for a moment, Zhen Shi calmly thought about the manner in which that man had been moving. Instantly, his vision veered off and focused only on the breezy green wind aether flowing around him. Relaxing his mind as much as possible, with the wind aether surrounding him, he took only a single step...
Whoosh!
Zhen Shi's figure disappeared and instantly reappeared like a light breeze, around ten meters from his previous location, completely dodging the two attacks.
This sudden movement caused both attacking sides to stop in disbelief. While they continued to stare in surprise as their two slashes of qi slowly dissipated, Zhen Shi glanced in surprise at his own two feet. He couldn't believe that he had actually succeeded in using the technique!
However, he slowly realized that he had only barely applied [Draconic Wind Steps] into his movement. Instead, the major reason he had been able to survive was due to the system's status affect.
But at the same time, if he had just dashed forwards relying on speed, the gigantic slash launched by the Xue Yue clan would've at least struck a part of his body. As such, the slight application of [Draconic Wind Steps] had definitely saved him from being wounded...
Even though he had survived, Zhen Shi only allowed himself to relax partially. This was because he realized that if he was an ordinary system-less bastard, he definitely would have been slashed apart by weapons from both sides!
Nevertheless, now that he had survived, he was free to rant at his own savior, 'Whew, what type of shameless status effect is that?'
'Almost achieving death due to a loincloth only to be saved by the loincloth itself? Isn't that ridiculous? And what's up with this much focus on a loincloth? System is that your fetish?'
System: "..."
Next, Zhen Shi turned to the other wrong party, the silver-haired girl who had attacked him and spoke with a hint of anger, "Pretty girl, what the hell is wrong with you? I was the one who saved you from these heartless idiots. But instead of thanking me, you almost killed me!"
Hearing the truth, Zou Rou bit her lip in embarrassment. But she immediately spoke up in defiance, "W-Who asked to be saved by a mere Elementary Qi stage practitioner?
I admit that I made a mistake by attacking you, but what else would you expect when you go around revealing yourself to innocent girls like that?" pointing at his loincloth.
She continued hurriedly, "A-And who's pretty? I'll kill these goons as the main course and finish you as dessert!" while 'cutely' frowning in anger as well.
All the anger in Zhen Shi jumped into the river as he thought with widened eyes, 'Holy Shit! I've hit the jackpot! Isn't this the legendary TSUNDERE?
Near-death situations truly do change your fortune!'