Amon was already suspicious when Lin Guo announced that he was five years old. He suspected the man had a way to detect that he had formed his Energy Core. That's why he had quickly acknowledged the man's claim. Turned out he was right. But due to this, Hei Pho had known his secret.
"Yes… yes, I'm truly forgetful. How can I be mistaken? I must have told you wrongly, Madam. Forgive me," Hei Pho seemed to have managed to get ahold of herself. She promptly reinforced Amon's story.
"Look at you, a young cultivator," Madam Lin said. "This is something to be celebrated. I should give you something. Hm… here."
A small dagger materialized in her hand. "Since you are a cultivator already. You can defend yourself. This dagger will help you do it. It is called Swan Dagger, a mid-tiered engraved weapon. It was my first weapon when I was a small girl. It is useless now to me, might as well let you have it."
An engraved weapon was the lowest grade of weapon, but it was still better than the common weapons as engraved weapons had a tiny infusion of aether within them, giving them a stronger property than the common weapons. The grade was further divided into low-tiered, mid-tiered, and high-tiered.
"Thank you, big sis," Amon exclaimed as he received the dagger.
He did not care about the feminine name of the dagger. Having a weapon was better than none. He had never been without a weapon since he came of age in his last life. Therefore, these last three years had been a bit uncomfortable for him due to the absence of a weapon. He slipped the dagger onto his belt.
Lin Guo eyed Amon with disdain. Brat was always brat, getting happy over a piece of trash dagger like that.
"Since there was no five-tailed fox, hanging around here is pointless. Let's head back," Madam Lin announced. The ones who were dissecting the Grimalkins' corpses were already done. They gave all the valuable materials for Madam Lin's safekeeping.
They then traveled together. Hei Pho was wearing a contemplative face all the way. Madam Lin sent Amon and Hei Pho back to their mansion before going away.
"Let's enter, we will talk inside," Hei Pho said.
Amon followed after her into the mansion. After they passed through the courtyard and entered the entrance hall, they saw Hei Gong who was standing in the middle of the hall. He looked agitated. When he saw Hei Pho and Amon, he dashed to them.
"How can you let him out! He was still…" His voice trailed off and he made an abrupt stop. He was looking at Amon with a disbelief expression.
"You can sense it?" Hei Pho asked Hei Gong who was still standing there with his mouth wide open.
So it was true, Amon thought.
"When one enters the Martial realm, they develop the ability to sense the aura of other cultivators around them," Hei Pho said to Amon. "They could determine if the other person was stronger or weaker than them based on that aura. Therefore, Martial realm experts rarely fight unless they have no choice since they can already determine winners or losers based on the aura. And it will also be difficult to escape when a Martial Realm expert was chasing you since they could lock onto your aura. The higher their cultivation, the larger their scope of perception."
"How can it be…? When?" Hei Gong asked Amon.
"Several days before Hei Pho gave me the cultivation art," Amon decided to be honest.
"You have already formed your energy core at that time…? I did not sense it at that time because it was a fresh core, you have not yet used cultivation art to accumulate aether into the core…," Hei Gong mumbled.
"That's why you asked for the cultivation art. Why didn't you just tell us the truth?" Hei Pho asked.
Amon pretended to feel guilty about it and said, "I thought I have done something wrong. Everyone said that only at five years old does one form their energy cores. So I was trying to test using the cultivation art to make sure. I have been planning to tell grandma and grandpa, but I'm afraid you will get angry."
Hei Pho's expression softened hearing his words. She put a hand on his head, "silly boy. How can we be angry? You being able to form an energy core this early is truly a miracle. With your headstart, you will not lose to those spoiled nobles."
Hei Gong was still standing there in silence staring at Amon with a stern gaze. Amon felt uncomfortable under his stare, but he continued to pretend like a kid who had just been caught making a mistake.
"I'm sorry, grandpa, grandma. I promise I will not lie to you again."
"Hush, it is all right," Hei Pho said with a soothing voice, then he turned to Hei Gong and said, "what are you being sullen for? Isn't this what we have been waiting for? If he is like any other normal kid, isn't what we had done be pointless?"
Hei Gong's face changed hearing Hei Pho's words. "You are right. I was never good with unknown factors. I apologize." Then to Amon, he said, "Now that you have started cultivating. Let us give you proper training then."
"What art did you give him?" Hei Gong asked Hei Pho.
"Energy Funneling art."
"Not a bad one, not the best one either."
"It was the easiest one for him to learn," Hei Pho explained.
"You are right. Then let him continue practicing that art," Hei Gong said, then asked Amon, "is there anything you want to ask regarding the cultivation art you are practicing?"
Since they were offering, Amon did not let this opportunity go. "When I practice that art, it seemed that no matter how hard or how strong I siphoned the aether, the amount that was drawn into my body stayed the same. Did I already hit the limit of that art?"
"That art was made based on the easiest way to gather aether, hence the method used is limited to a small fixed amount. However, you can increase the pace of the funneling. Instead of trying to absorb more aether in a single draw, you should absorb them faster. Creating a more rapid pace of multiple draws which will provide you with more aether as the end result."
Amon continued to ask about many details that he had doubts about during the training. Hei Pho sometimes weighed in her opinion. Now that he could freely ask away, many of those doubts were solved. He must admit that having someone giving guidance was certainly more beneficial than none.
Amon pondered about the answers that he had received. He might need to cultivate using the art and put all these newly learned details into practice to get the full benefit. However, instead of letting him go and train, Hei Gong said, "since you have no more questions. Come."
Amon was eager to go back to his room and cultivate, but he followed Hei Gong. They went to the inner courtyard. Once they were there, Hei Gong said, "cultivation is the art of using the aether to strengthen your inner power and body. However, to utilize that inside energy to perform extraordinary acts, you need either a martial art or an arcane art."
Two books materialized in his hands. "Arcane art is still too complex for you. Here are two basic martial arts. Try to utilize the aether in your body and follow the instruction depicted in these books."
Amon accepted the books. On the cover of one was written Bone Shattering Shadow Fist, on the other was Hardened Bronze Body. Looking at these two books, he could not help but feel like he was in those kinds of wuxia movies from his past world. He surmised the one with the fist was an offensive art, while the body one was a defensive art.
"Try to learn it first by yourself today," Hei Gong said. "You can ask me questions tomorrow if you need."
He then went away with Hei Pho.
Amon wasted no time. He read the Bone Shattering Shadow Fist art first. Inside the book was a depiction of how the aether should be manipulated from his Energy Core, through his body, and to his fist in order to complete the art. There were also depictions of the movement that needed to be performed.
After reading the book from start to finish and memorizing everything, he put it down and started to put it into actual practice. He dug deep into his energy core as he summoned the energy inside. The energy went through several channels, similar to blood vessels, it traveled through his body. As he felt the passing energy, he felt some kind of power coursing through.
He followed the motion depicted in the book, his hand was clenched into a fist and he punched out. An explosive sound was heard as his fist was fully extended. The air around his fist was pushed away violently by a shockwave, creating some sort of vacuum at the spot where he had punched.