Movement of the tranquil valley.

Chapter 47: Movement of the tranquil valley.

Kalon carefully peeled apart the paper while trying his best not to rip it and then took a deep breath before looking down at it. He didn't know what to expect, but as he saw the image of a person standing with their fist out straight with arrows pointing from the dantian towards the fist, he figured that it had to be something like a technique to use the power of Qi to fight like he had seen Roah do many times.

"I thought that since you are a cultivator now, I had better teach you how to use your power to defend yourself. You are bound to run into people who will want to cause you harm or take from you, so it's better if you know how to fight back when that time comes." Roah smiled as she saw the excitement on Kalon's face as he sat quietly and tried to comprehend what the words on the paper were telling him, but it was to no avail.

"Thank you. I don't know what to say right now. I don't think anyone has given me as much as you have in my whole life." Kalon whispered as he tried to hold back tears. Although he had only known Roah for just over a week, she had helped him out more than anyone he had ever met before.

Master Ranwald had taught him swordsmanship, but during the fight against the two men who had broken into his house, Kalon realised how weak he was. But now, he was starting to feel like he could become one of those fearsome human warriors that the Sylton empire told countless stories about.

"You don't need to thank me. That's what friends do, isn't it? Now wipe up those tears before you make the ink bleed all over the paper." Roah smiled and leaned over to wipe away the tears from his cheeks.

'Friends? I've never had a friend before. Is this really how they treat each other? If so, then I want more of them.' Kalon smiled as Roah brushed his cheek with her thumbs before standing out and offering him her hand.

"Since you can't read what it says. I figured that it would be easier if we go over how to use the technique together. What do you say? Want to try it now?" Roah asked and wiggled her hand to tempt him to grab on to it.

"Yes, I would like that a lot." Kalon grinned happily before reaching out and wrapping his fingers around her hand. Roah lifted him from the ground with ease and then let go to put some distance between them to demonstrate the technique to him.

"Then try to follow what I do. I will show you exactly how it's done." Roah exclaimed before turning her hips slightly and taking a wider stance. She brought her hands up to her face and then looked over at Kalon with a smile.

"The technique is called "Movement of the tranquil valley." Like the wind in a peaceful valley, it can still become violent and dangerous if there's enough force behind it. Now first you need to centre yourself. Find your point of balance and lean into it. I want you to feel as relaxed as you can since it will be easier to manipulate your Qi while your mind is relaxed." Roah instructed him and then watched as Kalon copied her.

Although as he got into the same position as her, he found it a little awkward. It was like his legs were under an invisible pressure. He looked up at Roah once again to make sure that he was doing it right and everything seemed to be the same, but that was when she called out to him.

"You're Flow of Q I being restricted in your legs. Try turning your legs slightly outwards. Your hips are a different shape since I'm a woman. You should find a stance of your own that's comfortable instead of copying me. How about using your sword stance and then raising your fists instead? That should feel better for you, right?" Roah gave him a few pointers after noticing that his Qi wasn't flowing naturally and seemed to run into a blockage at his waist.

It was a problem for new cultivators since their acupoints were small, so the slightest movement could restrict Qi from flowing through them. The best way to counteract it was to find something comfortable, which was what she told him.

Kalon looked down towards his hips to see that with his anatomy, the stance he copied from Roah was causing unnecessary strain on his acupoints. He immediately took her advice, rotated his feet slightly, leaned on his left foot like he did when fighting with swords.

The pressure he felt in his legs vanished as his acupoints became unblocked, and Qi was able to flow around his body just as it had done before.

"That's better. Thank you." Kalon called out to Roah, to which she giggled in response.

"You're very welcome. Now try to copy exactly what I do. It's fine if you don't get it the first time. It took me days to learn this, but since I know how the ins and outs of this technique, I should be able to reach you within a few hours, so don't worry. I'm here to help.

Now first. You have to try to control your Qi, much like you are cultivating and trying to direct it to your dantian, but you will need to move it to your arms instead. Try to make sure that the supply of the Qi is constant, or else the power of your punch will vanish before you manage to extend your arm all the way.

And then once you have managed to supply your arm with enough Qi, you throw a punch like you normally would, but at the last second, before you make contact with whatever you are hitting, you need to put all of that stored up energy into the very tips of your knuckles. Like this." Roah took a few steps towards the tree line and held up her arm to show that a faint blue light was beginning to gather around it before gently placing her hand against the trunk of a tree.

Suddenly the glow from her arm vanished as she channelled the power into the palm of her hand. A blast of wind shot out around them as a loud boom rang through the trees into the forest.

Kalon flinched and closed his eyes as the sound rang out but as soon as he opened them, he was shocked to see only splinters remained on the floor beside her.

"If you train this technique well, then you don't even need to punch. You can exert the power of your Qi from any body part at all." Roah explained as she saw the dumbfounded face Kalon was making.

'It's exactly like that time when Octavian's friends were holding me back when he was fighting with Luna. I shouldn't have been able to break free from their clutches, but somehow I pulled my arms free with the help of that blue light. Was that Qi too?' Kalon asked himself as he thought back to what had happened a few weeks prior to him learning how to control his life force.

Kalon was too lost in his thoughts to hear Roah's explanation, but he felt inspired to try it after watching what she had done. He knew that he had the power within him, so there wasn't a hint of hesitation within him. It was just a matter of drawing out that power but now that he knew how to control Qi to some extent, he felt confident in doing so and quickly walked over to one of the trees beside the one Roah had destroyed.

'First, find a neutral stance and then gather the Qi around my arm. Make a constant flow from my dantian to the acupoint in my arm and then punch.' Kalon thought as he pulled his arm back slightly and then shot it forwards towards the tree as fast as he could.

'Now move it to my knuckles!' Kalon quickly directed all the Qi he could to each one of his knuckles as another loud bang echoed out through the forest as his hand struck against the tree trunk.

The tree jumped up from the ground as the roots were torn out from the ground from the force of Kalon's punch and then flew deep into the woods. Unlike Roah's raw destructive power, Kalon's Qi wasn't explosive enough to destroy the tree entirely, but as it mixed with his natural strength, it still snapped half where he had hit it.

Kalon looked back at Roah, who was shocked by what she had just seen. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw how naturally Kalon grasped the understanding of her explanation. She was obviously still stronger but watching a Qi refining stage cultivator destroy a tree with a single punch was still intimidating to her.

"I did it. I actually did it! Miss Roah! Did you see that!?" Kalon jumped around mindlessly as he celebrated as he successfully grasped the understanding of the technique on his first try.

Seeing Kalon jump around and celebrate brought Roah back from her state of shock as a feeling of pride set in, and she, too, celebrated with him.

"Come on. I will cook you up something amazing before we head to bed." Roah grinned widely as she saw how quickly Kalon had grown within the week they had been travelling for. But that quickly turned to sadness as they both headed to bed, knowing that it would be their final together when they woke up.