In the wee hours of the morning, stood a lonely mountain peak surrounded by a thick white fog that caused one's vision to become fuzzy.

“Huff~huff~”

Within a dense forest behind the mountain peak, a sudden and intense gasp sounded out. Upon taking a closer look, in an open space within the woods, a tiny figure could be seen sitting cross-legged, with winds moving around him. Mana flowed into his body, and flowed out, constantly, at nearly the same rate.

Naturally, this tiny figure was Spring. Unlike his peers, he did not enjoy the luxury of wealth and riches due to his childhood circumstances, but rather his strict father taught him that the most important things for training were willpower and diligence. These things were his only advantage over the rest of his peers who were blessed with a good amount of wealth. Although the rate of movement of mana was slow, it was constant, churning throughout his body, never stopping.

Any sweat produced by his body was instantly blown away by the surrounding air currents. His mana circuits were throbbing with a slow, dull pain, akin to a headache. Nothing too painful, but becomes unbearable over long periods.

However, he remembered what his father told him. Only during this time, will one be able to break through his limits. Hence, he must endure!

He absolutely must not let go!

For the Family Competition half a year later, he needed to train as if his life was on the line!

The sensation you receive as you approach your limit leaves you feeling dizzy and nauseous. Nonetheless, Spring gritted his teeth and persevered on. Suddenly, he stopped. Out of mana. He reached down, to the side of the boulder and picked up a small glass vial filled with red liquid.

He downed it in one gulp and a warm feeling started rising from the pit of his stomach. He felt a strange heat gushing from within his body, and immediately this feeling refreshed him and lifted his spirits.

It was the power of the Redleaf potion!

Several days ago, the Redleaf was meant to be used to heal August’s injuries. However, upon August’s insistence, it was finally delivered to Spring instead.

It must be said that this kind of potion truly provides a major boost for a low-layered practitioner like Spring. Within a mere few days of training, Spring could clearly feel that his mana had become at least twice as strong as it used to be.

Every time his mana was on the verge of collapse, he would take a drink, and his training would be revitalized.

However, while the Redleaf provided a major boost to Spring’s training, the amount of the potion was not unlimited. After all, it was but a single mushroom. Therefore, after five days, there was no more potion to drink.

“Hei…”

Spring hopped off the boulder. He had been sitting in the same spot for 5 days and 6 nights, not moving in the slightest.

“3rd Layer!”

Spring gripped his tiny fists tightly as he enjoyed the power surging through his circuits, his tiny face breaking out into a smile of surprise and delight. Due to his family circumstances, ever since he started training, he had little opportunity to make use of potions. Thus, he did not expect that just after a single use, the results actually turned out so good.

“Hmm, not bad…”

As Spring was busy celebrating his advancement, a voice echoed from beside him. He hastily turned his head to see August standing below a big tree, clothed in a plain attire. Furthermore, he could see a shadow of a smile emerging on August’s usually stern face.

“Father.”

Spring excitedly proclaimed when he saw August who was standing beside the tree.

August nodded his head as he approached Spring. Scanning his son’s body, a rare smile finally emerged, as he said, “3rd Layer, not bad.”

“It was all thanks to the Redleaf”, Spring chuckled as he dipped and shook his head.

“It’s merely one mushroom, even if given to others, they would finish it before ever reaching layer 3. This is the result of your hard work and training.” August softly sighed as he gazed at Spring who was standing before him. He had naturally noticed how hard Spring was pushing himself during this period. Several times, he would see his wife tearing up and even though he did not say anything, as Spring’s father, he nonetheless felt some heartache.

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He understood that the reason why Spring was training so incessantly was that he desired to achieve a good result in the upcoming annual Family Competition that was half a year away. This would restore some of his father’s honor and reputation in the Grassblade Family.

Spring grinned happily, as he felt that all his hard work and effort after all this time had finally bore some fruit. He felt that he was catching up to the top students in the Grassblade Family.

“Since you have reached 3rd Layer, you are now just eligible to learn an actual spell. Nothing fancy, it’s the standard wind-blade,” August said.

Upon hearing this news, Spring’s jet-black eyes immediately lit up. Even though he had finally reached 3rd Layer, he did not know any spells at all, and when he fought with others, he came home in a stretcher. Therefore, in his heart, he was very eager to learn this spell in order to boost his fighting potential. However, because of the injuries in his father’s body, August had yet to teach him any spells. Now that his chance has finally arrived, he was naturally ecstatic.

Spring nodded his head; he did not feel upset even though he was only learning a standard, basic spell. He understood that you need to take things systematically, and that for most people, it was already a great opportunity to learn spells in the first place.

“Even though spells have different levels, the most important part lies in the user himself. In the hands of a strong user, even a standard spell can become a powerful and deadly force. Therefore, the stronger one’s mana is, the more powerful his attacks become.” August extended his palm and signaled to Spring, “Come, and use all your strength to attack me.”

Spring blinked his eyes, as he gathered a clump of mana on his palm and shot it forward.

As he faced Spring’s full-power blow, August merely stretched forth his hand, and the mana dissipated.

“This is why spells are necessary.” Autumn said, and stretched his arm forward.

Wind mana gathered on his palm, and then moved itself, taking the shape of a symbol, a glyph. Then, another one appeared, different from the first. Then there were five, then nine. The nine gathered on his palm and formed a green crescent of light. The crescent flew out and impaled several trees before embedding itself in a boulder and stopping.

“You had better watch closely and memorize all nine glyphs closely!”

A lot slower this time, August merely formed the glyphs one by one and shot them as individual wind blades.

Spring gazed attentively as August’s mana danced around, his mind concentrated solely on the sight before him. Everything else was ignored, and all that was reflected in his eyes were the glowing symbols appearing and disappearing on August’s palm.

Because he was teaching Spring, August purposely slowed down and repeated each glyph a few times. Finally he gently slowed to a halt and turned to face Spring, asking, “Have you memorized it?”

Spring muttered to himself for a while before nodding his head, somewhat unsure.

“Oh? Why don’t you show me?”

Astonishment streaked across August’s face; although he had slowed his speed by quite a bit, these nine glyphs were not extremely easy to learn.  Moreover, this was Spring’s first ever contact with glyphs, could he have actually managed to memorize it so quickly?

As if he could sense August’s astonishment, Spring extended his palm out, then moved his mana about, though in a shoddy and slow manner.

A bit of delight emerged on August’s face as he stood to one side and witnessed, his son go through all 9 glyphs. Even though his performance was very amateurish and carried little substance, his accomplishment was still impressive especially considering that this was his first ever exposure to the Penetrating Fist. Moreover, this also demonstrated that he was a gifted and talented learner. Upon discovery of this fact, August felt overjoyed as he realized his son had inherited the kind of potential that he had at that age.

“Father, why is it that I cannot create the wind blade?” Spring helplessly asked as he completed another set of glyphs in shoddy and slow manner.

“You little brat, if it were so easy to produce a spell, then mages would be everywhere.” August chided before continuing: “Your glyphs are hollow and meaningless, full of imperfections. Don’t try doing all nine simultaneously. Instead, take them one by one, and truly understand the meaning behind each one. Each time you learn a new glyph, your wind blade will get stronger. Once you have mastered all nine, then you would be considered to have successfully learnt this set of moves. Come, try a few more times.”

Spring’s mouth chanted these words a few times before he tried to turn theory into action as he drilled. Meanwhile, August stood beside him, while occasionally pointing out some mistakes or slipups.

The afternoon quickly passed as Spring continuously practiced without rest, and his efforts was not for naught. Spring gradually became more proficient at the first glyph and although he was still unable to cast the spell, his attitude did not waver at all.

“Let today’s training end here, you can resume your practice tomorrow.” August suddenly said as he glanced to the sky before turning back to look at Spring who was perspiring profusely. The amount of dedication and persistence the latter had displayed in his training had caused even him to be somewhat moved. Soon after, he secretly sighed as he moaned the fact that his many years of dispiritedness had forced his child to mature a lot faster than normal.

“En, Father please go back to rest first,  let me stay just a little longer before returning home.” Spring replied his mana did not stop as he concentrated on following August’s instructions to feel the tiny movements and changes in the power flowing through his circuit.

In response, August could only helplessly shake his head. Spring’s improvement was very distinct, but truly forming a glyph was not easy, August had previously trained for a whole week before he finally succeeded.

Quickly informing Spring that he was leaving, August turned around with his hands at his back. As he turned, a smiling expression surfaced on his face, the perceptive ability that Spring displayed today caused him to be extremely satisfied.

“This child is unusually perceptive and possesses an unrelenting willpower that even surpasses me at my prime, this shouldn’t be too difficult for him……”

*THUD*

As this thought flashed across August’s mind, a loud, clear and crisp ‘THUD’ sound abruptly sounded out from behind. Immediately, his face went rigid as he staggered forward. Yet, at this moment, a bright light sparkled in his eyes.

“It appears that it was not too difficult but a rather easy matter for him to accomplish ……”