Qing Shan sat in the individual training hall, thinking over what he had just discovered. Now that he had realized all of the flaws discernable in his spearmanship at his level, he had three more steps to follow before he would be able to truly call it his own. He has to train in seclusion, utilizing the new motions that he wants to make his own. He needs to develop a flexible mindset that is suitable for this battle technique. Above all, the technique must be tested in battle.
With these steps in mind, Qing Shan began to train his spearmanship.
However, before he could get started, there was still something that Qing Shan had to do. Because the time was nearing noon, Qing Shan headed to the Smith's Respite. He continued working as he had been for the whole day, before informing Tang Hua that he would not be able to come to work for the next month.
Surprisingly, Tang Hua's mood dropped after hearing this.
"Senior Tang? Is something wrong? Is there a project that you need me here for or something like that?"
"Ah, no not at all. I really do not care if you leave, but I do expect you to come back. Do you understand me young man!"
"Yes sir."
'Hmm. From sad to angry… I guess that is an improvement…? …No! I cannot be thinking of trivial things like that for now. I need to compress the work that usually takes people years, into one month. I have no time to be distracted.
Contrary to what normal people would do, Qing Shan did not return to his room. Instead, he walked to the individual training hall. This would be his home for the next month, give or take.
In the small room, Qing Shan sat down and recreated the image of himself and Qian Yong in his mind. He then merged them together, leaving a figure of himself wielding a spear in a manner that was reminiscent of, albeit different than, Qian Yong's spearmanship.
Qing Shan held that image in his mind, clearing every other thought from his mind. In this moment, Qing Shan stopped burning with rage, and desire for revenge. He did not realize that he had temporarily dulled the only emotions that he would blast through any door he locked them behind. Before, he had just been weakening these two emotions in his mind. It was only now that he completely turned them off. It was just a pity that this could only happen when Qing Shan fell into a deep sense of concentration.
Still maintaining this state of mind, Qing Shan stood with his spear in hand, and began trying to copy the movements of the image in his head. As he followed those movements, trying to copy them down to the most minute detail, Qing Shan lost track of time.
In this state, Qing Shan did not even notice how he moved to and from the Primal Pocket Dimension and entered the Spring of Time every day. Qing Shan just kept copying the movements of his mind. He had no frustration, even when he repeatedly failed a motion. He just copied the motions and imprinted the memory of every single one onto his muscles.
Qing Shan stayed in this state for two weeks. In these two weeks, Qing Shan stayed standing the entire time, and his only moments of rest were the times that he mindlessly entered the Spring of Time and immediately left his pocket dimension.
Qing Shan's eyes slowly opened, and feelings rushed back into him. His thoughts began gathering in his mind once more, and the subtle feelings that made him Qing Shan came back. Qing Shan still had most of his emotions behind a closed door, but they once again reappeared behind the closed door. Qing Shan was no longer an empty vessel of someone training their spearmanship to the utmost limit of his current abilities. He was once again, Qing Shan.
Qing Shan tested out his new spearmanship, and was amazed at how easily moves that were foreign to him flowed out from his body and spear. Qing Shan could tell that he had practiced these moves over and over. However, he could not remember practicing them. It was truly stunning how much concentration Qing Shan had been able to muster.
'Now, onto step two: the development of the battle mindset.'
Luckily, Qing Shan knew how he wanted to develop this mindset. In actuality, he was going to attempt to control the battle mindset that he was occasionally slip into. Qing Shan was going to try to control his entrance to the 'Battle Rhythm' state.
Qing Shan moved into the Primal Pocket Dimension and assumed a meditative posture in the Spring of Time. This way, he would not have to worry about needing sustenance and would be free to delve into his mind without being disturbed by human desires.
Qing Shan dove into the depths of his mind, and immediately began thinking of the times that he had been able to feel the Battle Rhythm. Off the top of his head, there were four times that he remembered. These times where facing his first wild beast, his five hundred battles against clones, facing his 'future self' in the second part of the 'trash dump' trial, and his fight against Qian Zhen.
There were two things that each of these events had in common. They were all the most intensive battles that Qing Shan had in his life, and were events that he enjoyed, despite him being nervous that he was going up against an opponent of such caliber.
'Then why didn't this state trigger when fighting Qian Yong?'
Qing Shan soon realized why he had not been able to enter this state in that battle. During his fight with Qian Yong, he faced a relatively terrible loss. Even though he had his emotions closed off, his subconscious mind could still sense them. In the fight with Qian Yong, his most prominent emotion was awe at her skill with the spear. While he was nervous about the fight, his heart was not racing and he was not truly enjoying the battle.
'That's it! Could the Battle Rhythm be related to my heart beat?'
Qing Shan thought back. In every single one of these scenarios, his heart beat was racing, and some external stimulus made him focus on that heartbeat. The Battle Rhythm was triggered by his heartbeat ringing in his ears!
Unfortunately, even having figured this out, Qing Shan knew that his heartbeat only rang in his ears when he was nervously in excitement. That means that he would have to classify an enemy at least as strong as him to be able to enter the Battle Rhythm state.
'That's…disappointing, but I guess that it makes sense.'
After thinking about the Battle Rhythm, Qing Shan was able to figure out the general requirements for entering that state. For one, he had to be facing an opponent at least as strong as him. The opponent had to be someone that Qing Shan could have a lasting fight with, so they could not be overwhelmingly stronger or weaker. Two, had to bypass the confidence that told him that he would most likely win. Last of all, Qing Shan had to enjoy the fight.
The first step was essentially a requirement for the Battle Rhythm, and was not something that Qing Shan could change. The second step was also easy, as Qing Shan knew after fighting Qian Yong that his victory was never a certain outcome. However, the problem was the final step, enjoying the battle.
Qing Shan dove into his mind, pondering a question that was hard to answer.
'Do I enjoy fighting? Is it not just a tool for me to meet my ultimate goal, revenge?'
Qing Shan thought about this question, becoming somewhat bewildered as he thought about all of his past experiences with battling. He thought about his daily spars with Liu Tiansheng, his fights in the wilderness, and even fights in the trash trial, where every failure could have been his last. Qing Shan remembered his fights with Xuri Qiang, and his recent fight with Qian Yong.
Somehow, on his path to revenge, Qing Shan had come to enjoy fighting. This was a realization that did not make logical sense to Qing Shan, however he accepted it.
The moment that Qing Shan excepted this fact, the door blocking his emotions cracked open, and then closed. Through this crack, one emotion emerged. This was happiness.
Qing Shan's incomplete emotional collection now contained the full emotion happiness, and small fragments of both anger and desire.
Although he had regained one emotion, Qing Shan did not really feel anything different. This was because he did not really have any reason to be happy upon this realization. However, it was what it was. He could not change his personality. He just had to live with the fact that he had somehow enjoyed becoming stronger on his road to revenge.
Qing Shan finally left the individual training hall, three weeks after he entered. Although the time was midday, Qing Shan went back to building 18-A and went to his room. Because of his mental fatigue, he fell asleep as soon as head hit the pillow.
Unbeknownst to him, his return had caused quite the stir.
Ever since Qing Shan had shaken the Inner Ring by advancing to the head of section 18, the sect had been holding its breath, waiting to see what he would do next. Then, just one day after he joined, he disappeared. Now, three weeks later, he was seen walking out of the individual training hall. Based on what others had said, he had stayed in the training hall for three weeks, without leaving for meals. Furthermore, he looked as healthy as could be afterwards. Did he really train for three straight weeks? And if so, how much stronger had he become?
Qing Shan woke the next day a few hours later than he was used to, despite going to sleep around noon the previous day.
It was now time for Qing Shan to implement the final part of his plan. Qing Shan needed battle experience with his new spearmanship. Luckily, Qing Shan knew the best way to get this experience. He would go on his first mission after entering the Inner Ring.
Missions were something open to everyone who was part of the sect. There were all different kinds of missions in the Main Hall of the Fallen Sky sect, which doubled as the Sect Master's home and the Mission Hall. Depending on the difficulty, sect members would be given 'Fallen Sky Points', or FSP. FSP was the currency that allowed sect members to purchase from the sect's Runic Forgemaster. FSP could also be used to gain access to Martial Techniques not publicly available to the rest of the sect.
Unfortunately, missions that involved battling, usually beast slaughter missions, required more than two people of the same level as the monster being hunted. This meant that Qing Shan needed to gather at least two people at a high level of the Peak Formation Soul stage.
After pondering for a few moments real-time, Qing Shan decided who he wanted to travel with him. Naturally, he chose the Qian siblings.
The problem would be getting Qian Yong to join him. Qing Shan figured that Qian Zhen would be up for it, and if he wasn't, Qing Shan could order him to come as the highest ranker of section 18. However, Qing Shan did not want to make him do anything against his will.
Luckily Qian Zhen had not left the building yet, and had drowsily agreed to join Qing Shan. Although the man was barely awake, he seemed to be anticipating something about the journey. Maybe he just wanted to see how the skills of Qing Shan, who had beaten him, had grown after his three-week closed-door training. Anyways, Qian Zhen agreed to meet Qing Shan at the Mission Hall at noon.
Qing Shen then walked over to section 17 and knocked on the door. Logically, he saw no reason for Qian Yong to agree to come with him. If he had to, he would gladly hand over the position of Header to Qian Yong in order to get her to come. He really wanted another chance to see her spearmanship up close.
Surprisingly, the one who opened the door to building 17-A was exactly who Qing Shan was looking for, Qian Yong.
"Oh, Qing Shan, was it? What brings you here; are you going to challenge me again?"
Qing Shan smiled before shaking his head.
"No, not this time. I was actually wondering if you would join my group for a mission."
"Hmm, you have my attention. What kind of mission?"
"A beast slaughter mission."
Qian Yong smiled.
"Alright, I will agree on one condition."
Qing Shan cocked his head to the side.
"And what is that?"
"You have to fight me once we get back. I am looking forward to see how you have improved after your closed-door training."
Qing Shan smiled once more, anticipation filling him as he thought of testing his skills on the one who influenced him.
"Deal! Come meet me at the Mission Hall at noon, and if you'd like to bring anyone along you may do so."
Qing Shan turned and left, leaving a dumbstruck Qian Yong standing in the doorway.
'D-did he just… smile?'
Qing Shan had struck Qian Yong as a person who did not show emotions easily, so she was certainly surprised by his not-so-subtle display of emotion.