Apprentice Rank

As he was about to enjoy his devious idea, he was assaulted by an enormous wave of headache, dropping his knees to the floor as he struggled.

He had just escaped from the torment after receiving the Awakening Stone, but another round welcomed him again.

He cursed under his breath, but aside from cursing and screaming in pain, there was nothing he could do against the system.

At the same time, as his consciousness was being taken away by the immeasurable headache, Ravyn mocked in a cold tone, "What a fool."

Lu Zheng heard it, but he was quickly distracted by the headache, giving him no time to wonder what he meant.

Soon, the headache subsided as he suddenly opened his eyes, lacking clarity.

He adjusted his sitting position in the lotus position and closed his eyes, meditating.

He was swallowing the massive information about the Ocean's Heart Qi Technique and applying it.

Soon, he could feel the Qi and began to attract them.

As a Novice Cultivator, he was only applying the basic breathing methods provided by the Ocean's Heart Qi Technique.

However, compared to the basic cultivation technique, the basic breathing methods enlightened him on the way to open his meridians.

Every cultivator possessed meridians, but they remained hidden and inactive, for they were not opened yet.

Once they were opened, it would open a channel or network, where Qi flows, heading to the dantian.

The dantian stores the qi, as well as releasing them, basically acting similar to the heart.

The dantian had been waiting for the Qi that Lu Zheng was trying to feel, and now, his meridians were being opened, so his dantian could now be at ease after waiting.

Dozens of minutes had passed, Lu Zheng's meridians had finally been opened, and the Qi he was breathing could now enter his meridians and flow inside them.

Lu Zheng had not rejoiced yet, for he was now gathering the Qi he collected inside his dantian, condensing them to become a single Qi ball.

The Qi ball started in the size of a mucus inside the nose, slowly expanding as time went by.

Lu Zheng continued to breathe in accordance with the Ocean's Heart Qi Technique, circulating the Qi in a rhythmic, wave-like pattern throughout his meridians, materializing an image of a tidal wave inside his head.

That was his impression of the Qi Circulation according to the Ocean's Heart Qi Technique.

At the same time, it was also a meditation that seemed to transform his now Qi, as it entered on his meridians, with the tranquility of a calm sea, as though promoting inner peace and mental clarity.

As Lu Zheng began to understand the Qi Circulation of the Ocean's Heart Qi Technique, Ravyn, who had been observing, was amused at the same time.

After all, the Ocean's Heart Qi focused on inner peace and mental clarity, contradictory to his – what in the world of Lu Zheng's called – external technique, which would consume the Cultivator in extreme bloodlust, slowly corroding their mind.

If the Ocean's Heart Qi Technique were to be paired with his Blood Sovereign Spear Arts, he wondered what would happen if such conflicts arose.

"In our world, there's no such thing as internal technique. Perhaps another hidden faction does. Mine only has a single highest skill, Blood Sovereign Spear Arts. Other skills could indeed be counted as internal technique, but they would be devoured by my Blood Sovereign Spear Arts anyway."

Ravyn was talking to himself in the eerie, crimson, bleak world above the countless skeletons. He was a talkative person, no doubt.

"Since he has the system, should I give him the Blood Sovereign Spear Arts, then?"

Ravyn glanced at Lu Zheng through the projection with his thin, crimson eyes and shook his head.

"He must gather intelligence first." Ravyn sighed.

At the same time, Lu Zheng opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of impure Qi.

Suddenly, he exploded in excitement, soon receiving an announcement from the system that appeared to be endless.

[Congratulations! You have obtained 1 Qi point through meditating on the Ocean's Heart Qi Technique.]

[Congratulations! You have ascended to another rank, Apprentice Rank.]

[Congratulations! Since you have ascended another rank, you have obtained five extra points!]

Lu Zheng completely did not expect the extra five points.

Does that mean he could now increase the intelligence points and need not to worry about erasing the internal technique?

He recalled Ravyn calling him a fool earlier, striking him out of the blue when he realized he did not need to erase the Ocean's Heart Qi Technique anymore.

He grinned.

However, he did not say anything.

Yet, Ravyn caught it and said in a mocking, cold tone, "You can't erase it anymore unless you can replace it with another higher technique. You are in luck that you receive those points, or else, you would not be able to learn the Azure whatever it is."

Lu Zheng was stunned and smiled awkwardly.

"You are right."

"..."

Ravyn did not say anything anymore, and as Lu Zheng wanted to avoid escalating the awkward atmosphere, he stood up and decided to search for the Azure Tide Sword Technique.

Now, with every step, every breath he had, he could feel Qi entering his meridians and flowing through it to the dantian, entering the Qi ball before filtering the impurity inside and then pushing them away through exhaling.

It was a continuous process, but the Qi ball remained the same size since it had been officially recognized as a Qi ball.

Now, he only needed to have meditation to form another one, but it would take time compared to before.

However, he had a slight idea that if he could add points in Qi in the system, he could quickly add another Qi ball inside his dantian.

Even so, he thought it would be a waste since, at his current rank, the Qi had less effect when it came to battle.

To escape the city, he knew the battle was inevitable unless he smoothly exited.

So, he wisely decided to add the points to other points involving his physical ability.

He recalled his battle with Jade Fang earlier.

He took Jade Fang by surprise with his enormous strength compared to before, so he wanted to take advantage of it in the future battle.

That way, he would consume less time and effort in fighting.

There were adding points on his intelligence, too.

However, he had to find the Azure Tide Sword Technique.

After searching the shelf where it contained the techniques of the clan, he soon found the Azure Tide Sword Technique at the end of the shelf.