Book I Chapter 8
…
"This is another historic moment for the sect…" he suddenly said.
The silver-crowned woman frowned but did not say anything.
She just decided to watch and see what happens next.
She could not help but glare at the young boy playing the zither. If not for him, her beloved disciple would not secretly visit this filthy place this night.
As she watches, she was soon astonished as the Qi around her disciple started to grow stronger. She could almost feel the strange reaction in the air.
"Is this really happening?" she muttered while watching the scene below.
"It's happening now…" the old man beside her said with a smile.
The young woman in front of Hyuna finally gathered enough Qi energy and broke through to the Spirit Refining Stage.
With a wide and delighted smile on her face, she excitedly jumps up.
"Thank you, junior brother, Jin!" she said while she quickly cupped her hand at Hyuna.
"You're… welcome… I guess…" Hyuna said with a hint of doubt in her eyes.
When Hyuna looks at the woman, she could feel a sense of confusion in her eyes as she did not know what just happened.
She was just playing the zither. However, while playing, she suddenly had an epiphany to use the patterns in her learning and combine it with the string pattern and strokes depending on how she would write those runes.
It was truly a marvelous thing and it made her happy to be able to combine music with rune writing.
But of course, that is only because she wanted to play the music. Other than that, she did not have any meaning to it.
But who would have known that by doing such a thing she would gain the gratitude of a pretty senior? So, she thinks that it is not a bad result after all.
As she looks at another one who is still sitting in front of her with her eyes closed, she could not help but shake her head and lift her hand to continue playing.
This time, the rhythm of the music is a bit jumpy as she is trying another experiment. She decided to combine creating a fire symbol which if she completely forms the stroke would turn into a fire rune.
As the music intensifies, the senior sister who thanked her suddenly stopped as she looks at her junior who is still in the middle concentrating.
She then looks at Hyuna and the zither which suddenly changes its music mood and rhythm.
She crests her brows and frowns as if she did not know what is happening, but she could feel a strange fluctuation in the air.
Hyuna already has her eyes closed and her hands are jumping on the zither string creating a melody that could incite one's feelings to battle.
Suddenly, the woman sitting in front of Hyuna stood up. Her eyes are now open and a glint of understanding could already be seen in them.
She suddenly jumps back and backs flipped in the air as she landed in the center of the courtyard.
She quickly closes her eyes and according to the rhythm moved her body.
The hands of Hyuna are like the hands of a puppeteer controlling every movement and stroke of the woman before her.
The woman began to execute a technique never seen before by the rest of the people that are watching this scene secretly.
As the young woman follows the rhythm she would sometimes be out of sync but she quickly tries her best to catch up.
Soon, the technique is at a crucial point and the young female disciple is already covered in sweat.
But her expression is tranquil and calm with a slight smile clearly seen on her face.
"Haa… Yaahhh!!!" she shouted as she punches both fists in front of her.
As soon as she did, it created a ripple in the air and it created a strong force sending an invisible ball of air flying toward the wall.
Bam!!!
The wall shook which startled those that are watching this scene agape.
Though it did not destroy the wall, they knew that the force behind that punch is strong enough to blow a person away.
But the young woman did not stop there. She gracefully retracted her right arm and then forms her hand into a blade.
Then with the tip of her hand pointing at the wall, she suddenly stabs at the wall.
If she did not curl her fingers, then she would surely suffer a broken finger from this strike.
But as soon as her finger was about to reach the wall, she quickly curls it and then her fist travels twice as fast.
Boom!!!
A loud explosion was heard and a fist size hole could be seen on the wall.
The entry of the hole is very smooth, but the exit is a devastating sight.
She gradually calms down and then slowly opens her eyes.
"What a formidable fist technique…" she muttered as she looks at her right fist which was not harmed.
But she knew that she had used her fist to bore a hole in that wall.
"What kind of technique is this?" she suddenly asked.
At this time, Hyuna was looking at her in agape as her wall now has a fist-sized hole.
"I… I don't know, senior sister... I'm just playing some tune…" Hyuna said with confusion.
Seeing the confusion in the eyes of the handsome young man, the young woman could not help but show a faint smile on her face.
"I'll just name this 3-wave exploding fists." She said with a contented smile.
"What kind of name is that? You should name it like Gentle burst strike or Gentle Fist…" the young woman who just had a breakthrough commented.
The young woman who punched the wall shook her head and did not say anything. She just takes out her small pouch from her side and handed Hyuna a few small chipped stones.
"I'll give you ten low-grade Qi stones… Will this be okay? This is all I have…" she suddenly said as she handed the ten thumb-sized chipped Qi stones on the table.
Hyuna was dumbfounded at the young woman's move.
Seeing that she is not replying, the young woman did not hesitate to quickly run towards the gate.
But before leaving, she suddenly said.
"The zither is yours now… take good care of it… Junior Ji!" then left the courtyard.
Her friend helplessly shakes her head and takes out a pouch. This time, she did not take anything that is inside the pouch and just directly handed it to Hyuna.
"Senior I…" Hyuna wanted to reject but before she could say it the young woman showed a faint smile and then pushed the pouch on her.
"You have given me something more than I deserve… Breaking to the Spirit Refining stage without the use of a pill is far more precious than you think… My body is now far stronger than those who relied on pills, and my spirit refinement would now be purer than others." she explained.
"With this, I can now say that my future is now limitless…" she added.
"So, giving you this much is not an exaggeration. Plus, this pouch is not a space pouch but an ordinary one… You can see that there are no runes on the side of this pouch…" she said while showing the pouch like some kind of saleswoman.
Hyuna did not hesitate to accept the pouch and then keep it.
…
The next day, the two elders who are spying on the scene last night, have already called those two girls and are currently checking their conditions.
The one who broke through naturally to the spirit refining realm, now as a much wider meridian, and the way she refines Qi is far purer than expected.
"This is amazing… I never would have expected that such a thing is possible…" the beautiful female elder with a silver crown exclaimed.
In her 80 years of life, she is considered a genius for reaching the Wind, Water, and Earth Law Realm and becoming an elder of the sect.
She only needed one Law realm and she would then only need to focus on breaking through to the Sky Realm. By that time, she would then be a powerhouse of the sect or a high elder.
The young woman in front of her who is her disciple might even surpass her in the future if her progression continues.
She could not help but recalled what happened last night and felt the mysteriousness of what that mere mortal boy did.
She could not help but feel a bit suspicious.
Meanwhile, the other young woman whom the silver-haired old elder is checking is now executing the movement at a now practiced speed.
She could easily now release an energy wave from her fists. When she is using the quick punch, she could now replicate that mysterious ripple that had blown a hole in that wall last night.
"Outstanding! Truly outstanding! This is truly an unprecedented event…" he muttered while showing a big smile on his wizened face.
"Young disciple… would it be okay if this old master copies your movement?" he asks showing a polite smile.
The young female disciple blushed and nodded her head quickly. How could she not let the elder practice the technique when he has already seen it? Since he gave her a polite gesture she would of course pay respect to the elders. It was not her technique after all.
In fact, meeting the two elders is already an honor for them in their minds.
The old man moved just like how the young woman did, and slowly analyzed the principle behind the technique.
Then he suddenly punches the air.
Boom!!!
A strong sonic boom exploded inside the room which shook the building with its sonic boom.
"Holy… Senior… what are you doing?" the silver-crowned beautiful senior was startled.
"Ah…" the silver-haired old man also looked at his hands while showing a dumbfounded look.
He is already frozen on the spot as he too was confused about what just happened.
But deep inside of him, he is feeling a bit vexed at what he just did.
If one would look, one would not understand what just transpired. But as the person who executed the technique, he is clear on how strong and powerful it really was.