Chapter 7: Spirit Amplification II
"What the Hell?!"
The twig that was originally dangling a few meters directly in front of his fist was now on the ground, snapped in half. It looked as though someone tore in from the middle. Seeing this, Shawn was both baffled and bedazzled and he didn't know what to make of it.
"System?SYSTEM! WHAT THE HELL? What happened?"
[The twig broke off the branch, Host.]
"No shit, Sherlock. I'm asking how it happened."
[You punched the twig, Host]
"No I did not."
[Yes, you did]
"No I did not. I punched the air."
[Yes, you did. You punched the air in front of the twig]
"..."
[....]
"*Sigh~* System, if this is what you meant when you said I'd be surprised, then yes I am surprised. No, I am shocked to the core of my being and now doubting the natural laws of this world." Shawn now realised that he had been underestimating his strength, to be precise the difference in strength between ordinary people and cultivators.
"By the way, what would happen if I punched the tree?"
[I assume you would punch a hole the size of your head if you punched once. It will not take you more than 10 punches to break the trunk]
"I see. And what would happen if I used Spirit Amplification?"
[You would most likely destroy the tree in 3 punches or less.]
"*Sigh~* No wonder you said I'd be surprised. I am already this strong in just 12 days of cultivation or so. I wonder how much stronger I'll be in a year, no in just half a year."
[It's best you learnt that yourself, Host. Now we should start your training.]
"Alright. So, how do I use Spirit Amplification?"
[As you know, Spirit Amplification is an advanced application of Spirit Manipulation. So they are similar at the base. First, you start similar to Spirit Manipulation. You need to start a cycle of Spirit Qi. However, instead of moving it around the body, you move it to a specific part of your body, for example: your fists. Then you wrap that part of your body with the Spiritual Qi. The Spirit Qi rotation pathway I showed you, starting from the dantain, goes through all limbs, major and minor organs, muscles and tendons and even the bones. Once you achieve higher mastery, we can modify the cycle to pass through your head as well.]
"So I start moving Spirit Qi the usual way, then stop at the desired part of the body and wrap it around it. But I can't let go of the energy as it will dissipate and be absorbed by my body. Did I get it right?"
[Affirmative, Host.]
"In that case, which part should I amplify first? I'm afraid I might crush my organs if I wrap them with too much Qi."
[Indeed, Host. The best place to start would be one of your limbs, preferably your dominant arm. Not only are they the easiest to imbue with Qi, but they can also heal faster compared to internal organs. Besides, you will need an extremely high mastery over Spirit Amplification to imbue Qi into your organs safely.]
Shawn took the advice and started moving Qi through the Spirit pathway. As the 5 wisps of Qi reached his right hand, Shawn stopped moving them. He concentrated on keeping them in place. "Do I wrap it around my hand now?" He asked the System for confirmation.
[Affirmative. But start covering your hand from the wrist and go on till you have enveloped the entire fist.]
Shawn did as told. First, he created a band around his wrist with the Qi, then he expanded it slowly. Everything looked alright, but just when half of the hand was wrapped, a *pop* sounded out and the Spirit Qi dissipated in the air.
"Ahh! Damnit! What went wrong, System? I'm sure I followed your instructions to the letter."
[Nothing went wrong, Host. You failed because it was your first time, so you shouldn't get demotivated. Just try again with more focus this time]
Shawn knew that there was a high chance of failure, but still, he couldn't help but be disappointed. Quickly, Shawn calmed down. He took deep breaths and focused. After some time he repeated the process. Unsurprisingly, he failed again and at the same place. But this time, he didn't lose heart and quickly restarted the process. This went on for many hours and Shawn failed every single time. Soon it was almost noon. After hundreds of tries, Shawn still couldn't imbue his hand with Qi. However, he did make some progress. By the end of his training session, he was able to cover up to half of his fingers. Shawn mused that he would be able to imbue his right hand after the next session.
[Let us end our training, for now, Host. It's almost noon and there are many people around. You will attract a lot of unwanted attention.]
"Yeah... you're right. Let's go home now. I still haven't had breakfast and I need to cultivate too."
Shawn wanted to continue as he could feel that he was very close to succeeding in Spirit Amplification. However, he knew the consequences of arousing the suspicion of others. Reluctantly, the boy agreed and started running back home.
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A/N: Good day, readers. This is my first Webnovel, so there are bound to be mistakes and some areas might feel lacking. I hope you guys will inform me about any oversights as well as help me increase the quality of my work. I am open to any advice, ideas or suggestions.