With the knowledge of making a breakthrough into the Qi condensation realm, the boys became excited as they decided to rest for a while before heading back to the territory when they met with elder Thorne, who seemed to be heading somewhere. After congratulating them on their breakthrough, he hurriedly left them but before leaving, he asked them to come see him the next day.
"I wonder why he's in such a hurry" asked Alden as he turned towards the direction where elder Thorne followed.
"Who cares where he's going? All that matters to me right now is to get stronger" reply Ethan in a cold tone.
"If we are going to take revenge on the serpent eye sect for what they did to our village, then we need to get really strong and I don't think we won't be able to achieve that anytime soon" said Alden as he tried to remind Ethan about their weakness.
"I don't need to be that strong, all I want is to be strong enough to follow captain Marcus whenever he wants to attack the thundering sword clan again" commented Ethan with a serious look on his face.
Alden didn't say much when knowing fully well he won't be able to persuade his friend, so he decided he would follow him wherever he goes.
The next day, They made their way over to elder Thorne post where he landed them a tome to study as it would help them in their cultivation.
"This is one of the clan treasures, although it is a tier one sword technique, but if you follow the procedures in there, you would be able to improve greatly" said elder Thorne.
Looking at the tome that elder Thorne has handed to them, reading the name out loud, which says.
"The infinite sword technique".
"Since you are now in the Qi condensation realm, you will be able to cultivate this technique to the second stage" Elder Thorne explained once more.
After receiving the tome from elder Thorne, they also receive a sword each from him before leaving to study the technique that was given to them. Heading back to their room to study the technique.
"A sword technique, not bad" Alden commented while swinging the sword around.
"Learning this technique would make us stronger" said Ethan.
"Alright then, let's start with the first technique. The basic" mutter Alden before opening the tome.
After opening it, he discovered that there was a page about the basics which they decided to study since they don't know a thing about the sword as they begin to familiarize themselves with the swords. Making sure they understand the basics, they decided to learn the first technique of the infinite sword technique.
There seem to be six stages of the infinite sword technique which consist of the ethereal blade which is the first stage then there is the mountain splitter, wind dance, moonlit mirage, soul severing slash and the nine-fold heavenly sword technique.
Looking at the first technique, A technique that temporarily enhances the sharpness and hardness of the sword, allowing it to cut through even the toughest of defenses with ease.
"It says here that we need to coat the sword with our spiritual energy which enhances the sharpness of the sword" Alden read out loud.
"How are we supposed to do that? I mean we recently made a breakthrough and have barely learned to feel the spiritual energy around us" asked Ethan.
"Let's see if there is anything here that could help since elder Thorne said it would" Alden suggested.
With that, they begin to study the tome as they start looking for the content that consists of spiritual energy, and it didn't take them much before they saw what they were looking for. Going through the content in the tome on how to control the spiritual energy, they started practicing the method mentioned in the content.
Taking a deep breath as they sit on the ground, they begin to meditate following the instructions which say that to control the spiritual energy in oneself, you first need to find it in the body then control it into the fingertip. With this as a reference, they began to cultivate but no matter how hard they tried, they could not lead the energy out of their body after finally locating it.
After trying for long with no progress, they decided to stop and when they did, they discovered it was already late. Left with nothing to do, they decided to go to the dinning hall to grab their meal before they call it a day.
When they were waiting for their turn in the dining hall, they saw elder Thorne who was busy sipping from his drink by the side all by himself, and they decided to join him since they have plenty of questions to ask about cultivation, and he seems to be the only one besides captain Marcus they could talk to.
"Greeting elder Thorne" they both greeted.
Looking at the two with his cup an inch from his mouth, elder Thorne studied them briefly before replying to their greeting.
"Hello boys, how is your training going?" He asked after taking a mouthful before instructing them to sit down as he poured them a cup full.
"We have plenty of questions about this whole thing and think you should be able to help us out with an answer" replied Ethan with a serious look on his face.
"Speak your mind boys, if you have any questions about cultivating you can always come to me for answer alright" elder Thorne said right away since he was their guardian.
"We have been able to feel the spiritual energy around us with the help of captain Marcus but could barely absorb it or control it" Alden complained to elder Thorne who was busy drinking his wine.
After hearing them out, elder Thorne stroked his white beard before letting out a laugh.
"It hasn't been long since you both achieved a breakthrough, and now you are already rushing things. Tell me, are you in a hurry to grow strong?" He asked with a smile still plaster on his face.