I notice the elder's gaze linger on me as I once again shift my Qi in my arm. This time I pay closer attention to the path of my arm when I push my Qi out. Again my arm whips out and I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder but this time was far better as I could feel my force going out with my arm.
I have been training my body under my fathers guidance for as long as I can remember so throwing a punch is second nature to me. While I have not learned a true cultivator's martial arts I have been learning the martial arts my father made since I was eight.
Stepping up to one of the training pillars I ready myself thickening my Qi in my elbow. Throwing out a hard punch I concentrate on shifting my Qi with the motion of my arm.
*BOOM*
My fist meets the stone pillar and I find myself unable to stop my fist to shift my Qi again. Instead, my fist tries to go through the pillar but it's unable to even dent the stone.
With a grunt, I hold my aching fist, "You probably shouldn't hit the stone yet."
Behind me is one of the girls who got two points on the last test, Olivia Helder. She is short at not even five feet tall though she looks a bit older than me, perhaps fifteen years old. She has shoulder-length chestnut hair and a rather sharp face with a small nose.
"I will learn faster this way," I say without turning around.
As I prepare to swing again the girl behind her speaks up, "Don't bother, he is probably a self-obsessed psychopath who just likes pain. All young masters like that."
"Ling! You can't say mean stuff like that."
Tang Ling, the one who came fourth in the last test. She is quite a bit taller than Olivia Helder only an inch or two shorter than me at around five foot six. Her hair is long and dark, her eyes are blood red, pale skin, and her face is a bit similar to my mother's… it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
"How are a demon and human so close after only a day?" I ask a bit curious.
Tang Ling seems annoyed at my mention of the subject but Olivia puts a hand in front of her, "I'm a half-demon, we grew up together in the demon empire."
I nod at her words still not turning around to face them, "Are you part of a clan?"
Tang Ling gives me an odd look, "Yeah, the Tang clan, the Fractured Bell clan. Did you really not know?"
Scoffing a bit I turn around, "You were talking about me being a young master while you are one yourself?"
Her cheeks tinge a bit red, "What do you know?"
"I know that we are cousins and that you are wasting my time." Turning around I face the pillar again and ready my Qi.
"What?" Olivia asks confused, I smile a bit seeing her meet my eyes despite my blindfold.
"What do you mean we are cousins? I don't remember anyone in the Tang clan marrying into the Jun family."
"My mother is from the Broken Moon clan, our grandparents are brother and sister."
Olivia seems interested while Tang Ling lets out a relieved sigh, "Then we are practically strangers."
I shrug as I let out a strike at the pillar, again I am unable to stop my punch from striking the pillar before my Qi releases from my fist. I grunt as I feel the pain radiate up my arm.
Tang Ling huffs seeing that I'm not paying attention anymore, "You need to bring your Qi forward faster than you think you do; it takes a moment for your Qi to expel from your body before you have your Qi mastered." With her words, she pulls Olivia away while Olivia is waving goodbye.
My brows furrow as I stare at my fist, pushing Qi through my fist it is just as she said. Rather than releasing immediately like it feels it should, it instead takes a brief moment to pass through my muscles and bones.
With that in mind, I punch again shifting my Qi forward a bit faster than I did last time.
*BOOM*
This time I feel my punch land on the stone cushioned by a layer of Qi. My arm is pushed back and I feel as though I could transfer that energy into another strike but I don't think of it fast enough and my arm is simply thrown back.
Flexing my hand I make sure it is still okay before I look at Olivia and Ling half the courtyard away. Ling seems to be coaching Olivia on how to perform Devil's Rush properly.
'So this is the young master's advantage?' I think to myself as I now notice a fair number of the students already know how to perform Devil's rush and Devil Strikes.
I also take note that Elder Uli is on the side looking incredibly unhappy with the situation. Looking back at the stone I set my goal to dent it before I move on to Devil's rush.
I swing again and again until I eventually begin running low on Qi. Grunting at my lack of efficiency I decide to give it one last try but to change it up.
Getting back in my fighting stance I prepare myself and gather some of my remaining Qi. With I hard strike I shift my Qi to my fist quickly.
*BOOM*
As my fist recoils from the strike I quickly rotate shifting my Qi to my same side foot.
*BANG*
A louder more solid sound comes from the strike as my foot is forced back but I spin to relegate some of the force. Seeing that the stone pillar now has small cracks in it where my foot landed I grin. But my grin quickly fades as I set my foot down and I feel a sharp pain shoot up my leg.
Elder Uli appears next to me nearly instantly, "Impressive, but you can't use the attack if you break your foot when you use it."
A golden fire with a beautiful radiance envelopes his hand, "Don't do it again."
I am confused at his words till I notice the pain in my foot is gone, "Thank you Elder Uli," I say with a lowered head.
He nods, "Ten minutes left!" He announces before going back to his spot on the grass not too far away.
Flexing my foot I can feel it feels better than ever, it's as if the previous pain never happened. It is well known that Heretics can follow any path but I did not expect someone to learn the abilities of a priest. Let alone an inner court elder.
Rushing myself a bit I open the Devil's Rush manual and begin to refresh myself on how it operates.
I take my time, letting myself regain my Qi as I read the manual over again. After I read it the second I close the book and put it away in my storage ring.
Concentrating on my leg I start out the same way I did with the Devil strikes. Using Qi I strengthen my calf and toes in my right leg before letting them spring up like I'm doing high knees.
Just like with Devil strikes I feel a sharp pain from the tendons in my feet. They are not strong enough to support this technique and threaten to tear. Taking this into account I concentrate more and strengthen them as well, at least the ones that I felt tense up.
This time my leg springs up but I don't feel any pain from it. With a satisfied nod I get down into a running position setting my right leg in front ready to push off it hard.
As I launch myself forward I focus on my left leg trying to replicate what I did with my right. My left foot strikes the ground flat and I lose all momentum almost falling flat on my face. Luckily I manage to catch myself with my right leg and arm before my face smacks the stone floor.
Looking around I see that most of the others are doing the same thing I am. Some appear to be very well versed in the Devil's Rush while others are falling flat on their face every single attempt, Olivia falls into the latter camp.
Without a choice I try again with the same result, I am both unable to reproduce the process in my left foot fast enough and unable to land on my toes. Again and again, I try with no success, I was a bit arrogant thinking that this would be the easiest of the two arts and that I could learn it quickly.
After so many failed attempts I begin to focus on my launch to give me more time before my second step. But to my displeasure, I hear Elder Uli's voice ring out.
"Time is up, stop what you are doing."