As Zhishi Wu once again extended his finger into the rabbit and pierced its skin it yelped in pain. Although Zhishi Wu did have somewhat of a reluctance against the mistreatment of fellow humans he didn't have the same concerns with animals.
"This probably isn't the safest route of testing, but it is the most convenient." he said as he carefully etched the inscription he wanted into the rabbit.
As soon as the inscription was finished and powered with Qi Zhishi Wu instantly felt like someone had punched him in the gut and keeled over dropping the rabbit, however he didn't have to worry about the rabbit running away as it had instantly lost any signs of life the moment the inscription became active.
"It turned out better than I expected." he chuckled as he sat up and shrugged off the pain from earlier.
"It seems effective but etching a formation into an enemies body during the middle of battle is a little unrealistic, and almost 15% of my Qi reserves were expended. I need to find a way to optimize its usage."
At this point in time Zhishi Wu had not realized what he had truly done, as he walked out of the cave absentmindedly while reeling from a sudden loss of Qi, the rabbit he had left on the ground continued to bleed out from the inscription that spelled D E A T H.
As everyone continued on with their lives they could never have expected that this would actually be the day known as the date that the sage of the endless was born.
…
When Zhishi Wu finished replenishing his Qi he realized that someone had arrived near his cave aboad and went to greet them.
"I greet Master." Roshini had bowed slightly while greeting him.
Zhishi Wu had not expected to run into his disciples before a week had passed.
"What brings you here?" he said with a tired expression
"I would also like to seek Master's advice." she gritted her teeth and asked, it was not that she was finding it difficult to ask for help but she felt as though she was demanding help of him.
Throughout the past few days Roshini had seen how much of a path Zhsihi Wu had carved for Kun Faya and Pyari and she did not like the fact that she may be left behind.
She was well aware of her small stature and physique compared to her two fellow disciples and wanted to play to her strengths.
"I see, how about you tell me about how you use formations during your battles." Zhishi Wu had agreed with the sect leader to guide these 3 so he would.
However, he also saw something within Roshini's eyes, although she seemed to be frivolous at times she was one hundred percent serious about getting stronger, a glint of desire for power was present in her eyes, which made her a worthwhile investment for Zhishi Wu.
"She slowly pulled out two things from her storage bag, a long sword with the inscription strengthen imprinted on it and small stones with the inscription shatter printed on them.
"This sword allows me to pierce through enemy defenses and these stones allow me to control their movements."
Upon initial observation Zhishi Wu noticed that the inscriptions weren't perfect by any means but compared to the quality he saw at the formation hall he could tell that Roshini was talented in this field. Of course, he gapped her in that area but it wasn't fair to compare her with himself, he was probably more than 3 times her age mentally.
"Your basics seem strong." Zhishi Wu said as he inspected her weapons, he had to understand her fighting style to properly critique it.
"Attack me." he said as he got into a fighting stance and faced her.
She instantly leapt backwards and took a hold of her weapons.
"Smart, creating distance." Zhishi Wu was impressed with her battle sense, speaking purely regarding fighting instinct she was above his other two disciples.
"If you won't attack then I'll make the first move." Zhishi Wu rushed towards her at full speed but just as he was about to reach her.
BOOM!
While she had been leaping backwards she had dropped one of her exploding stones on to the ground.
"A combat genius?" Zhishi Wu was completely fine as his Qi had shrouded his body before the shrapnel could harm him, but he didn't have time to relax as the moment he had spoken a blade had started hurling towards him.
"I shouldn't try to catch a blade strengthened by inscriptions." he thought as he ducked, he was planning to counterattack during the frame in which she would be fixing her posture.
To his surprise the blade which he had expected to slow her recovery time flew out of her hand and into a tree and she immediately attempted to grapple him.
"Your plans are theoretically correct, but you should add the strength of your opponent to the calculations as well."as she went in for the grab Zhishi Wu had already thought of a counter.
As Zhishi Wu had ducked low and she was attempting to grab his waist from the top he immediately went in for a gut punch focusing all his Qi in one area.
UGGHH!
She gasped as Zhishi Wu punched the breath out her lungs and she fell on to her knees.
"You have the mind of a tactician but don't have the strength of a warrior."
Zhishi Wu said as he sat down and waited for her to stand up, she slowly stood up and faced Zhishi Wu awaiting his feedback.
"Your combat sense is wonderful, but you need to learn fear in battle, never underestimate an opponent's ability."
She continued to look at him hopefully waiting for more teachings.
"You wasted Qi constantly keeping that inscription on the sword active, always activate it right before the strike to achieve maximum efficiency, lastly do not throw away your only weapon when facing an opponent."
She bowed to Zhishi Wu "thank you for your guidance Master I shall do as you have said."
"No matter, I will track your progress at the start of next week, I expect great things from you."
A smile dawned across her face and she lit up like a ray of light "thank you Master, I'll do my best to meet your expectations."
As she left Zhsihi Wu stood there unmoving with a dumb smile plastered across his face, when he finally noticed he wiped it off and also noticed the blade stuck to the side of a tree.
"Was she planning on getting this back when she feels worthy?" he once again smirked for a moment before erasing it and throwing it in his storage bag.
"This is unlike me." he grumbled to himself as he attempted to enter his cave before being rudely blocked by a giant panda named Gomu
"Hey sage, the sect master has requested your help, one of the cities we ally with has been invaded by rogue cultivators." Mei Fan said as peaked her head out from over Gomu.
"He's really trying to make the best of this deal huh." Zhishi Wu sighed deeply as he replied.
"He's a greedy old man is what he is." she said with her arms crossed.
Zhishi Wu thought about the proposition, although he didn't want to risk his life needlessly or waste his time, he also understood that combat was one of the quickest ways to learn and improve and he was after all chasing knowledge which improvement is a form of.
"Lead the way Elder." he said as he stretched his hands over his head.