It has been 3 years since Shen Zhengqiu's capture and arrival at the Bandit Mountain, not much has actually happened during this period of time except from her own age, reaching 10 years old. Under the influence of the [Heavenly Lotus Manual] and the [Foundational Lotus Arts] along with proper food, including some spiritual fruits when Grandmaster Zhen returns, she looks more like a 12 year old. This would be unimaginable under a normal situation, as even at 7 years old she looked younger than that, however due to the influence of Martial Arts she has grown much quicker than peers at her age. However, it doesn't necessarily mean much, everyone will have the same growth ultimately and will just arrive there at different times.
She has reached the Perfect level of the [Foundational Lotus Arts], which is a complete success and where personal improvements to the techniques are required to progress, this means that it will become more suitable for herself and if she goes far enough she can start her own set of techniques. Martial Arts are split into different levels based on the user's completion and understanding of the techniques.
Everyone starts at the Beginner Level where they only have a shallow fundamental idea of the technique, basically just reading and memorising. After the first level is the Lower Level which is equivalent to a 30% of mastery of the technique and then the next level would be Intermediate that is equivalent to a 60% mastery, and then Higher would be 90% and finally Perfect is equivalent to a full mastery or 100%. The percentage is equivalent to the true amount a practitioner is able to draw out of the technique, higher equals to stronger. Usually real experience is required in order to progress but the bandits can also serve as living punching bags and because of what Grandmaster Zhen said they cannot retaliate.
Techniques comes under their own levels which are mostly equivalent to Martial Artist Levels. Small Techniques to Iron Techniques and so on. However they are divided into Inner Qi techniques and Outer Qi techniques which are respectively Master and Grandmaster after that.
The [Foundational Lotus Arts] is a Small Technique, but once you reach the perfect level with it, it can be considered an Iron Technique at the Lower Level. The [Foundational Lotus Arts] are quite different from other techniques though as it has the potential for growth which relies on the practitioner to have very high comprehension. However when learning a Small Technique the practitioners are only usually at a young age, so unless they are a genius in comprehension then it probably would never pass the Iron Technique state. But this is why it is also perfect for those who awaken the Spirit Demon bloodline as they are considered to have perfect comprehension, of course Shen Zhengqiu would take a while to be completely perfect but she still is at a very high level of comprehension. Therefore their goal is to grow the Foundational Lotus Arts into their own Techniques (Iron, Gold, Inner Qi and Outer Qi).
-
Under the scorching of the sun rays, Shen Zhengqiu was practicing the [Heavenly Lotus Manual] under the barrage of the waterfall. She was sitting in a lotus position underneath the flow of the waterfall in the hopes of breaking into the next level, becoming a Gold Martial Artist. In order to breakthrough she needed a type of catalyst to help push her into the next level as stated in the [Heavenly Lotus Manual]. She has been at the peak of the Iron Martial Artist level for a few months now and has only recently found a book in the library that explains certain catalysts that can induce a breakthrough. A popular but expensive catalyst would be getting a suitable pill from an Alchemist that can act as the catalyst. However the recipes within the Mortal Realm are really limited as they have been slowly lost throughout the years due to the lack of talents within the Alchemist Circle. A popular practice is to only share recipes down to disciples and with the lack of talent, recipes have slowly been lost. Grandmaster Zhen could be considered an existence within the Martial Community that everyone would kneel to and beg for pills by paying any amount as he is a Grandmaster level Alchemist which is one of only two known in the Red Leaf Continent.
Therefore Shen Zhengqiu had to find a natural catalyst, and coincidentally a waterfall is one of the best natural catalysts that one can get in the Mortal Realm. However, the success rate is still very low and it can be a dangerous way to breakthrough as if it is unsuccessful there is a possibility that the practitioner may fall unconscious and that happening under a waterfall is asking for trouble. But Shen Zhengqiu is rather confident in herself, thus she has been under this waterfall for close to 12 hours and has been nearing the point of breakthrough.
Sploosh
A golden radiance shone out from underneath the waterfall with such power that the water surrounding it has been sprayed outwards. This has soaked Lu Chunhua who has been watching Shen Zhengqiu cultivate. She was originally nodding her head and had heavy eyelids but after being drenched from head to toe she is definitely awake now.
"Big Sister Qiu! Wow~" Although she is soaked, Lu Chunhua is still excited for her best friend. Even though you can only get a few words out of Zhengqiu, but that is what makes her so attractive. She is like a sturdy tree that you can lean on and use the shade to your heart's content, and in this secluded area full of bandits, she is what calms Chunhua's heart. "You're a Gold Martial Artist now! You can go beat up that scruffy and ugly boss of those scary bandits!"
Shen Zhengqiu walked out from under the waterfall and just stared at this girl. Due to her bloodline awakening, she has lost a lot of her emotions but this girl still makes her heart warm. Lu Chunhua is very popular within the girls inside the Bandit Mountain as well compared to herself who people don't bother talking to, perhaps she has a natural attractiveness towards people. Whilst she has a natural bubble that keeps people away, or just the fact that she is obsessed with Martial Arts and those Hot Springs.
Another thing she has accomplished over these few years is that she has used her spare time to learn the [9 Mystic Scores of the Flute], unlike how she thought she would hate it she actually finds it really relaxing to play the flute. It calms her down and she has noticed that the higher her progress in the music results in some different phenomena. One phenomena she is quite happy about is that it is useful to play the flute before her practice as it calms her body down, resulting in a more suitable state for practice.
Maybe she only likes practicing this due to the effectiveness on her Martial Arts.