Chapter 6: Demon Pond Forest (2)

*Kach*

The crisp sound of Ja Sun digging into an apple echoed as he leaned against the concave portion of the trunk of the tree. The books on his side seemed to have increased by another tome and his worn shoes were replaced by a pair of ankle-reaching leather shoes crafted out of the skin of an unknown spirit beast. 

*Kach*

Fragrant juice dripped as the apples of this world were far crunchier and sweet. Ja Sun was the kind of guy who absolutely abhorred 'soft' apples. It was his personal preference and the crisp and tight apples in the Demon Pond Forest became his staple diet. 

20 days had passed. For reasons unknown to Ja Sun, he still didn't grow any facial hair. But what did grow was his knowledge of alchemical plants and their effects. By now, he had gained two rewards but the mission was still going on and when the last reward drops after ten more days, Ja Sun would finally be able to set another mission. 

*Whoosh*

The nearby shrubs swayed as a figure suddenly fell into them. Ja Sun glanced towards the shrubs and smiled. Standing up, he tossed his half-eaten apple towards the shrubs and before it could fall on the ground, with an angered screech, a figure shot out and held the apple in its claws.

The beast in question was a monkey around half a meter tall. Its body lanky and its dark-brown fur slightly stood up like prickles. The strangest aspect of this beast was that from its wrists, a bony structure covered its fists and when it would have its claws clenched, the bony covering could act as a weapon. Its red eyes gazed at the apple before it instinctively glared at Ja Sun and bit on it with a grunt.

*Crunch*

"Great, now aside from taking care of you after beating you, you've also taken my current body's first indirect kiss..." Ja Sun shook his head.

*Aeee Ooh Ooh Kreeee*

The monkey screeched once again.

This is a Lone Bone Monkey. As the name suggests, the Lone Bone Monkey are solitary species where the parent beast would leave the offspring once it reaches the mark of ten years of cultivation. 

Even now, Ja Sun didn't have any confidence to face a hundred-year-old beast so he searched for this particular Lone Bone Monkey for quite long. 

As to why he didn't kill it?

Ja Sun didn't know how to cook a monkey. The monkey's spirit ring wasn't optimal for either of his martial soul. Not to mention, the Lone Bone Monkey was a stubborn training partner that would return every morning to get beaten by Ja Sun, and then get fed herbs and fruits which also stimulated its innate recovery and by the next morning, the ten-year-old Lone Bone Monkey would be as good as new!

After quickly finishing up the apple, the monkey glared at Ja Sun provocatively and devoured the stem, too. 

Although the spirit beasts will gain intelligence in later years of their cultivation, at their early stages, one of the most basic emotions of the spirit beasts is usually hostility and Lone Bone Monkey seems to inherit this emotion, too.

Its aggressive posture said nothing but battle however Ja Sun could only smile wryly. Once beaten, Lone Bone Monkeys, despite their solitary nature, grow temporarily submissive to the victor.

"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that you're a perfect M," Ja Sun stepped back. His agility was extraordinary and his figure, in the Lone Bone Monkey's vision seemed to have disappeared for just a moment.

As if trained for this very moment, the monkey hopped forward while a palm struck the location where he stood from behind.

"Finally!" Ja Sun almost squeaked in excitement, "You can keep up with the first stage of Storm Steps!"

The benefits of sparring go both ways. While Ja Sun could practice his Storm Steps and Gentle Palm Technique on the Lone Bone, the Monkey, too, gained experience in fighting. 

*Screech*

With a loud hiss, the monkey instantly lunged towards Ja Sun with protruding bone gauntlets.

'Storm Disgrace,' Ja Sun smiled and actually slowed down. His body tilted as he impacted against the Monkey's torso with his shoulder and his right palm shot up from the inner side of his chest. The previously dangerous strike turned into a soft pat against the Monkey's chest.

*Whoosh*

"Grraaahhhh!"

The monkey flew back and fell on the ground. Instantly, its face revealed a puzzled expression and its crimson eyes lost a bit of hostility.

'The first stage of Storm Steps is called Grace. It demands the body to move at a quick pace and certain pattern so that it can confuse the opponent about your real location.

The second stage is called Disgrace. Once a storm grows, it doesn't need to hide. The essence of this stage is to convert the gathered momentum into a striking force that assists other fighting skills. So, the force generated by the first stage of Gentle Palms was heightened and Ja Sun could actually propel a 70 kilogram of a beast back a few inches.

'Man... that felt great,' Ja Sun felt the heat generated by his palms and glanced at the warily eyeing beast.

Soon, the Monkey clawed towards Ja Sun and the duo began to fight. For the monkey, it was probably a battle to death, something Ja Sun could understand. After all, the concept of sparring simply doesn't exist in the wild. But for Ja Sun, the situation couldn't be better. His body wasn't as strong as a beast and only reached the peak of an ordinary adult. However, the use of Storm Disgrace alongside Gentle Palms made him victorious in every clash.

Every strike of Ja Sun would stack up the internal damage of the monkey.

*Thud*

"Hrrrr..." 

The Lone Bone Monkey helplessly fell on his back. Bruises apparent through his fur due to the swelling while it glared at Ja Sun with extreme ferocity.

'Almost reached the second stage of Gentle Palms...'

Ja Sun sighed.

While he did practice the 32 stances of gentle palms, he also incorporated the moves of his previous life— Tremble Combat Tactics which allowed him to show greater flexibility in the 32 stances. After all, the greater the combat experience, the better the ability to combine and form techniques optimal to oneself. And simply restricting himself to a single technique and method has never been Ja Sun's mission.

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The second stage of the technique would truly add spirit energy to his strikes. He just needed to gain more control over spirit energy by constantly practicing his Concentric Spirit and Mental Acupuncture Technique. 

Gazing at the swirl of misty white energy over his palms slowly dissipating, Ja Sun looked at the Lone Bone Monkey and walked towards his makeshift shelter. Right now, two wooden branches held his cloak as a shed over the concave portion of the tree. Behind the stack of books, Ja Sun had a collection of a few herbs and fruits.

Picking a small stalk of violet-colored herb, Ja Sun crushed it in between his hands and continuously rubbed his palms to wring the stalk in between. Soon, his palm was lathered with the essence of the herb.

Separating his palms, Ja Sun walked towards the weakened Lone Bone and swiped his hand over his body. The moment his hands passed through the swelled bruises, the Lome Bone monkey would yelp pitifully but soon, its bruises were covered in slightly green medicinal essence.

"There you go, big guy. Be sure to visit me tomorrow," Ja Sun snickered as he returned to his shed and leaned against the tree. He took out one of the skills he still couldn't comprehend and began focusing on it once again.

If he could, he would have set various missions but the greatest weakness of his trait was that he could only set one mission at a time and until it's completed or failed at, Ja Sun cannot set a new one. But actually following this weakness and waiting for Missions with longer period to complete and then train in various techniques would be counterproductive.

Since Ja Sun had already encountered all these troubles in his previous lifetime, it didn't make any sense to repeat these mistakes.

"Grrr..." The hostility in the Lone Bone Monkey was completely dissipated by now. It growled weakly as if asking for Ja Sun's attention.

"I'm busy," Ja Sun stated idly.

"Ghhh!" The monkey spat.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't understand a single thing," Ja Sun mumbled. 

'Man, I'm really not suitable for weapons... every time I try it, I never have that feeling...' He still continues to read the booklet but he wasn't optimistic about other weapon techniques.

Once he was done with the usual skimming of the techniques, he stood up and entered the stance of the Gentle Palms once again.

'If Storm Steps can be used simultaneously with the stances of Gentle Palms and Tremble Combat Tactics, does that mean I can try and cultivate the foundational techniques, too? The Revitalized Blood Qi Art requires the body to be still while manipulating the spirit qi to enhance the body's blood. Mental Acupuncture is accompanied by bursts of sharp pain that cannot be scoffed at. Out of all these techniques, only Concentric Spirit Technique didn't have these demands and limits.

As Ja Sun began feeling the spirit qi surrounding his palms turn into a swirl and enhance the quality of his hands ever so slightly, pushing his hands to break into the second stage of the Gentle Palm Technique, he also inhaled with a strange pattern. 

The Concentric Spirit Technique did not have any stages. It was a foundational breathing technique that required utmost concentration. There were no bouts of pain or the restriction of staying in one location. With every breath, the user will be able to refine spirit energy and even if Ja Sun is facing a bottleneck for the last 13 years due to circumstances, he could now at least refine the spirit qi and make his own spirit qi purer. The greater the quality of his spirit qi, the better his foundation and future accomplishments.

This technique also enhances the recovery of spirit energy at a pace far greater than the passive instincts of a human being through the simple technique of meditation

In theory, Ja Sun could keep this technique active forever. As long as he can do everything while making the breathing technique an instinct of his. 

This was also what he has been doing for the past twelve days. 

As Ja Sun began practicing the second stage of Gentle Palms which only included the method of refining his hand to increase the destructive capabilities of the 32 stances, he felt his meager spirit energy depleting. The moment it depleted, Ja Sun's breathing would refine more spirit energy in the surroundings and fill his light spirit capacity.

'Just focus on the breathing... until you no longer need to focus on it,' Ja Sun kept repeating the phrase. He had tried to hypnotize himself like the memory skill of his but the result was barely adequate. Instead, that day, he almost lost his left nipple to Lone Bone's assault.

So, he knew that rashly changing his instinctual patterns were not suited in battles.

While the Lone Bone Monkey fell into a nap, completely tired and injured, Ja Sun continued to move his palms slowly.

Continuously exhausting his spirit energy over his palms and using the 32 stances was one of the most direct and quickest methods of reaching the second stage. 

When Ja Sun reaches the second stage, it would mean that the force generated by his palms could pass through metals and the tough hides of defensive spirit beasts.

And, Ja Sun would also be able to enforce his attacks using spirit energy, which will increase his chances of victory in a combat.

Ja Sun had already completed the 32 stances twice by now. His palms were covered by a thin layer of mist. This mist was warm and it was generated from the pores of his palms. Meanwhile, the expelled spirit energy would return to his body using the Concentric Spirit Technique. Since the spirit qi expelled is also low in quality when compared to Ja Sun's own spirit energy, he would absorb wisps of spirit energy from his surroundings and make up for the quality.

*Phew*

Suddenly, Ja Sun unconsciously let go of his breathing technique. The gathered spirit energy over his palms began dissipating in the surroundings at a breakneck pace while Ja Sun found his body exhausted and covered in sweat. Not only that, Ja Sun's reserve of spirit energy was barely afloat.

'Huff... just a little more... almost got the hang of it!'

Ja Sun licked his lips while his eyes revealed excitement. This was his first time practicing a foundation technique that can be used in any location. In his previous life, he did practice techniques resembling Revitalized Blood Qi Art and Mental Acupuncture but they were of lower quality. So, Ja Sun at least had experience with these two techniques.

Heaving, Ja Sun took deep breaths to calm himself and saw the grass around the Lone Bone shifting slightly.

Sighing, he walked forward and crouched down with cautiousness flickering in his eyes.

*Swish*

The moment he saw the nearby grass moving, Ja Sun's right arm accurately shot forward and he held a bluish grass python from the base of its head. The python was as thin as a twig and due to its color, it was hard to distinguish it amongst blue river grass.

"Didn't I say to stop screwing with me?" Ja Sun sighed and stood up. He walked out of his area but the surroundings were relatively safe. Demon Pond Forest was the type of forest where only spirit masters will only occasionally enter for their spirit rings. The surrounding forests steered clear of this forest due to fierce beasts surrounding the clean water sources. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the forest was inhabited by various spirit beasts out of which, the Blue-Grass Python was the most annoying kind. It did not have any venom in its bite and was the spirit beast equivalent of a mosquito. But since it wasn't as tiny as a mosquito, Ja Sun didn't have the heart to kill it with a slap.

Reaching the small burrow under the base of a trunk, Ja Sun let go of the particular Blue-Grass Python and it instantly slithered into the burrow.

'Back to practice,' Ja Sun returned to his haven and began practicing Gentle Palms alongside Concentric Spirit Technique once again.

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