Cursed Blazing Chopstick

The screaming bird made of wood jumped out of its enclosure inside the large grandfather clock.

Morning had struck once again inside of the Fried Fish Inn, but this time, it was the next morning after the end of the drinking contest between the bartender, Hans Senna (the forgotten king as the men now called him), and newcomer, Sol Von Cillion (The new master).

Hearing the annoying bird that was in the middle of the halls outside of his small room, Sol awoke.

He sat up on his small twin-sized bed and furrowed his brows. 

"I hate being disrupted in my sleep..." He muttered under his breath, seemingly pissed off.

After tearing the wooden bird out of the grandfather clock and chucking it out through the window, Sol went back to his room and cleaned himself up.

The bathroom was small, but thankfully it was connected to his new room at the Fried Fish Inn.

He barely remembered being carried there after last nigh--morning, last morning's contest.

'Sleeping through the whole day and another night on top of that... I'll add it to my list of achievements after a drinking contest.' Sol mused as he brushed his pearly whites and splashed his face with water.

He smiled in the mirror, "This body has some potential... I will make sure to maximize it."

Turning around, he went into his room again. All the room had was a small table and chair to the side, a window overlooking the city, and a twin-sized bed next to it. 

He walked over to his closet that was next to his table and noticed that there were a few pairs of clothing inside.

Unluckily for him, however, none of them seemed to fit. They were all adult sizes.

He looked down at his own clothes, 'I've been wearing this same pair for the last couple of years thanks to that family of mine.' 

His clothes weren't ripped or anything, but one could tell that they were old from a quick glance.

"But... it doesn't matter I guess." Sol walked to the center of his room and sat down.

"I'll be dirtying these clothes by cultivating anyways..." 

At that moment, he crossed his legs and sat in a meditating position.

"Before I do anything in this world, I will form a foundation of strength to rely on."

At that moment he took in a deep breath and entered the Zone where he could see himself again in a third-person perspective.

Before he began to cultivate, he took out the Plum Blossom Chopsticks Cultivation Technique that he got as a prize from the exit exams.

'This Cultivation Technique is special. It's able to be transferred through soul memory. That means that it will correspond well to another technique that works similarly, which allows it to be melded with the Blazing Sun Temperance Cultivation Technique.'

He wasn't very familiar with either of the two, but he had already mastered the Blazing Sun Temperance Cultivation Technique enough to use it whilst being able to focus on other things at the same time.

And that was exactly what he did.

As his body began to glow in a slight yellow aura, his skin heating up, he took the scroll of the chopsticks technique and held it up in front of his face.

Sol closed his eyes, 'I can't use my Cursed Ether Energy freely, even though it has traveled with me in my own soul to this new body. However, I can still use it when I'm dealing with things that are directly linked to the soul, such as these two Cultivation Techniques. This is obviously because these techniques are also unique enough to be connected to my soul...'

As he finished this thought, his right arm--which held the technique scroll--began to get encircled by wisps of purple energy.

It started from his elbow and slowly became darker as it traveled all the way down to the tips of his fingers. 

It formed a layer of pitch-dark amethyst energy that surrounded his hand.

With light sparks of black electricity and pops of purple fire swirling around his hand, the Plum Blossom Chopsticks Cultivation Technique quickly began to get corrupted by the Cursed Ether.

'Cursed Ether Energy is quite complex, but can be explained through easier means by simply saying; that it is a way to break the laws of Ether Energy itself. A fundamental aspect of all Cultivation Techniques is that they can not--under any circumstances--merge together to form a new technique. Cursed Ether, however, rips a hole through that theory.' 

Sol's eyes opened as a grin donned on his face. A light, plum blossom-colored pink light escaped from the scroll.

And then, the yellow aura from the Blazing Sun Temperance technique also moved forward, combining with the pink light as it too was corrupted by Sol's Cursed Ether.

The two energies mixed and molded in the middle, clashing and churning until finally condensing into a new colored aura.

A bright orange complexion of energy formed in Sol's palm. At that moment, the wretched Cursed Ether surged up and sourrounded this orange energy as if maliciously, before crackling around it without making direct contact.

'I guess this is the best this weaker Cursed Energy can do for now.' Sol mused as the rest of the Cursed Energy in his hand quickly erased into thin air. After this, he absorbed the leftover aura in his palm.

"A new Cultivation Technique has been formed. I'll call it... Cursed Blazing Chopstick Cultivation Technique." 

After this, Sol once again closed his eyes and began to cultivate.

This time, instead of the Ether around him being drawn to him by the heat his body exuded, it was now being captured by pink chopsticks enveloped in a fiery blaze that caused all nearby Ether to get pulled towards it.

Once close enough, the chopsticks would snatch the blobs of Ether Energy and direct it into Sol's body.

Before, both of the Cultivation Techniques were 1 Star High Grades, but now, it had become a 2 Star High Grade Cultivation Technique.

Sol wasted no time and continued to cultivate. Soon enough, he had been cultivating for hours on end without even realizing. 

The boredom which many cultivators suffered from while meditating didn't phase him.

The searing waves of pain in his body from sitting still for so long felt like light tickles and no more.

He broke through into the Fourth Stage of the Origin Rank after only one day.

His body underwent drastic changes and improvements each step of the way. His meridians strengthened and grew in size, allowing for more Ether Energy to travel through them.

All of his ligaments and bodily tissue were revitalized steadily as well. 

Finally, as 4 more days passed by without any rest, Sol's body lit up in an orange veil. 

He had finally broken through into the Fifth Stage.