"Let's begin with something simple." Elder Molric said as he raised his hand. "We'll need a proper training ground first."

My eyes widened as crimson light flowed from his fingers, forming complex runic patterns in the air. The runes expanded rapidly, covering the entire laboratory in a glowing network that hurt my eyes to look at directly.

"Master," Azure commented, "the spatial complexity of these formations is... remarkable."

He wasn't wrong. Each rune seemed to twist in ways that shouldn't be possible, like looking at a four-dimensional object projected into three-dimensional space. And there were thousands of them, all perfectly synchronized.

Then reality... shifted.

The laboratory's walls began to ripple and flow like water, expanding outward impossibly far. The ceiling rose until it vanished into darkness, while the floor transformed into natural terrain - grass, rocks, and even a small stream appeared as if they'd always been there.

I struggled to process what I was seeing.

Intellectually, I knew that higher-ranked practitioners could do incredible things. The novels I'd read were full of immortals reshaping mountains and creating pocket dimensions. Hell, my own cultivation method entailed creating a universe.

But seeing something like this firsthand, watching someone casually manipulate reality itself...

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Elder Molric grinned at my expression. "Rank 7 practitioners can manifest physical constructs from pure energy. With enough skill, we can even make them permanent." He gestured proudly at our new surroundings. "Though this is just temporary - it'll revert when we're done training."

His eyes twinkled as he pointed to several glowing formations embedded in the ground. "I've also included absorption arrays throughout the training ground. They'll gather and purify ambient red sun energy, making it easier for you to replenish what you expend. Should help you train for longer periods without depleting your reserves completely."

The vine around my neck tightened slightly, apparently as unnerved as I was by this casual display of power. I reached up to pat it reassuringly.

"Now then!" The elder clapped his hands together. "Let's start with the Vine Whip rune. Show me what you can do without using any runes first - I want to establish a baseline."

I nodded, drawing on the raw energy from my inner world's miniature red sun. The vine around my neck unwound itself, ready to join whatever I created.

Focusing carefully, I reached out to the grass around us, pulling strands together and infusing them with energy until they merged into a single long vine. The process took several seconds - much longer than I'd like in a real fight.

"Good, good," Elder Molric nodded. "Now try controlling multiple vines."

I gritted my teeth and tried to form a second vine while maintaining control of the first. It was like trying to write with both hands simultaneously - possible, but awkward. The vines moved jerkily, barely responding to my commands.

"As I thought," the elder mused. "Your natural control is excellent, but splitting your attention reduces precision significantly." He pointed at my new rune. "Try it with the Vine Whip now."

I channeled energy through my Fundamental Rune, letting it flow into the whip pattern on my hand. The effect was immediate - three vines burst from the grass, moving with a fluidity I'd never been able to manage before.

"The rune handles the basic control framework," Elder Molric explained. "You just need to direct their overall movement. Much more efficient!"

He was right. Where before I'd had to actively maintain each vine's structure and movement, now they responded to my intentions almost instantly. I made them weave complex patterns in the air, testing the limits of their mobility.

"Excellent control!" The elder beamed. "Now, let's see how you handle some pressure." He snapped his fingers, and suddenly we were surrounded by twelve training dummies arranged in a circle around us.

Each one stood my height, shaped like featureless humanoids made of softly glowing red light. They swayed and shifted in a way that made the hairs on my neck stand up.

"Master," Azure said, "their movement patterns appear to be randomized, but we should be able to spot patterns.”

I nodded slightly, watching as the dummies began to move. They darted and weaved across the grass, feet barely touching the ground. One would sprint forward, then suddenly change direction mid-step, while another would leap and twist through the air like a dancer.

But after a few seconds, I started to see it - they were moving in overlapping figure-eight patterns, each one slightly offset from the others.

My vines lashed out in a coordinated attack. The first vine swept low, forcing three dummies to jump. The second vine curved around to catch them mid-air, while the third struck directly at a fourth dummy that was trying to slip through the gap.

Each strike drove them closer together, gradually tightening the circle.

"Good strategy," Elder Molric called out. "But remember - in a real fight, you'll need to do more than just control their movement."

As if on cue, the dummies' hands began to glow. They raised their palms in unison, releasing a barrage of crimson energy bolts that crackled through the air like angry fireflies.

I quickly wove two of my vines into a cross pattern, creating a living shield that the bolts splashed harmlessly against. The third vine kept up its assault, striking through gaps in their formation whenever one appeared.

"Much better!" The elder gestured, and six more dummies materialized around us.

These dummies were carrying swords and spears made of red sun energy. They immediately joined the attack, their weapons leaving trails of light as they slashed and thrust. "Now, let's work on your timing. The key to effective vine control is..."

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

A flicker of movement caught my eye - one of the dummies had vanished from my peripheral vision.

Pure instinct made me activate Blink Step, and the world blurred for a split second as I teleported three meters to the left.

Just in time - a blade of red light sliced through the space where my head had been.

Before the dummy could recover, my vines were already moving. Two of them struck its legs while the third wrapped around its sword arm, immobilizing it completely.

"Excellent reflexes!" Elder Molric's voice held genuine approval. "The runes are already becoming instinctive. Now, try incorporating your pet vine as well."

The vine around my neck didn't need much convincing, it immediately unwound itself, its dark green length almost invisible compared to the glowing dummies.

It moved like a snake, weaving between energy bolts and blade swings to slam into the nearest dummy's chest. Working in concert with my other vines, it created a defensive web that caught and deflected attacks from multiple angles simultaneously.

"See how much smoother that is?" The elder gestured at the coordinated movements as my vines danced through the air, blocking, striking, and repositioning in a fluid dance. "The rune standardizes the energy distribution, letting you focus on strategy rather than basic control."

He was right again.

Even with four vines moving simultaneously - deflecting an energy bolt here, tripping a dummy there, wrapping around a sword arm, shielding against a spear thrust - I wasn't feeling the mental strain I'd experienced before.

The rune handled all the fine details of energy flow and structural maintenance, leaving me free to focus on reading the dummies' movements and planning my next sequence of attacks.

"Now," Elder Molric's eyes brightened, "let's try something more interesting." He waved his hand, and four new training dummies appeared that glowed ominously. "These ones explode when destroyed. Show me how you'd prevent that."

Direct attacks would be dangerous now - I needed a way to disable the dummies without triggering their explosive properties. Maybe if I...

"Master," Azure interrupted my thoughts, "the Explosive Seed rune might be useful here. We could create a localized shock wave to disrupt their movement without destroying them, but be careful, too much energy will trigger an explosion."

That... was actually brilliant. I channeled energy into the seed rune on my finger, watching as a small, dark seed materialized.

I had one of my vines gently grab the seed and draw back as far as it could, then I commanded it to snap forward, launching the seed toward where four dummies had clustered together. The timing would be crucial here...

"Now!" Azure called out.

I detonated the seed just before it reached the dummies. The blast wasn't particularly powerful, but it created enough force to knock them off balance.

Before they could recover, my vines shot forward in perfect sync. One vine wrapped around each dummy's legs while another secured their arms, careful not to squeeze too tight against their unstable surfaces.

"Very creative!" Elder Molric nodded approvingly. "Good use of combined techniques.”

He waved his hand again, dispelling the captured dummies and creating a new set. These ones were nearly twice my height, with what looked like bronze armored plating covering their bodies.

One stepped forward from my left, its footsteps leaving deep impressions in the grass. Two more circled to my right, while the remaining three spread out behind me in a pincer movement.

"Let's see how you handle targets that can't be easily restrained," Elder Molric said, watching as the armored giants closed in from all sides. "Remember - the Explosive Seed rune can be used for more than just straight detonations."

I frowned slightly, tracking their movements.

The one on my left was closest, its massive arm already drawing back for a strike. Two more were approaching from behind, their heavy footsteps creating a sound similar to drumbeat.

The rune's energy cost was higher than Vine Whip, but it was more versatile than I'd initially thought. Maybe if I...

Working quickly, I created four seeds and commanded the vines to move - one vine swept low to deposit a seed while another curved high to place another, weaving between the dummies' strikes as they attacked.

Within seconds, I had formed a perfect square of seeds around me, just as three of the armored giants stepped into range.

The vine around my neck sensed my intention and unwound itself, rapidly expanding and weaving around my body into a lattice. Its usual dark green color took on a metallic sheen as it hardened, forming a flexible armor that covered me from neck to toe.

Instead of triggering the seeds immediately, I pulsed energy through the rune in a rhythmic pattern, like a heartbeat.

Dark green tendrils burst from the seeds, spreading through the soil faster than the dummies could react. I could see the ground rippling as the root network spread, creating a web of glowing lines that connected all four points.

The nearest dummy's fist was less than a meter from my face when I released the built-up energy.

The force of the explosion rippled against my living shield, but the vine absorbed most of the impact, its lattice structure flexing and redistributing the energy harmlessly around me.

Three of the armored constructs weren't so lucky - they went spinning through the air like thrown dolls, crashing down nearly twenty meters away in different directions and leaving small craters where they landed.

The remaining dummies stumbled back as they were hit by the residual energy.

"Excellent!" Elder Molric clapped. "Using the root network to direct the explosion - very clever! And that defensive adaptation with your vine companion... most impressive. Though you might want to work on reducing the setup time."

I nodded as my vine unwound from its armor configuration, resuming its usual position around my neck while maintaining a slightly more alert posture.

The basic principle was sound, but in a real fight, I'd need to be much faster.

The next hour was a blur of constant motion as I worked to integrate all my new abilities. The Vine Whip rune let me maintain consistent control over multiple vines, the Explosive Seed provided ranged options and crowd control, and Blink Step gave me the mobility to avoid getting cornered.

Every time I started to get comfortable with a situation, Elder Molric would add new complications.

Sometimes the dummies would split into smaller versions when hit. Other times they'd reform unless completely destroyed. Some were even able to attack using their own runes.

Each variation forced me to adapt and combine my techniques in different ways.

"Remember," he called out as I narrowly avoided a particularly nasty energy blast, "the runes are tools for you to use, not crutches. Don't let them limit your thinking!"

He had a point. I'd been relying heavily on the standard vine formations the rune created. But maybe if I modified the energy flow pattern...

I channeled power through the Vine Whip rune differently, trying to recreate some of the modifications I'd managed with raw energy manipulation.

To my surprise, the vines responded by developing thorny protrusions and a metallic sheen similar to what Elder Molric's experiments had shown.

"Now that's more like it!" The elder's approval was clear. "The basic patterns are just starting points. Once you understand the energy flow, you can customize the effects!"

Encouraged by this, I began experimenting more. I discovered that by varying the energy input, I could change the properties of both my vines and explosive seeds. More power meant harder hits but reduced control. Less power allowed for more precise movements but sacrificed raw strength.

Finally, after what felt like hours of constant combat, Elder Molric called a halt. The training dummies dissolved into motes of crimson light, leaving the transformed laboratory eerily quiet.

"Well done!" he said, looking genuinely pleased. "You've made excellent progress with the basic applications. Though you might want to work on your stamina - you're looking a bit tired."

That was an understatement.

Even with the formations working full-time to replenish any red sun energy expended, my reserves were completely depleted, and even my inner world's miniature sun felt dimmer than usual. Every muscle ached from constant movement, and my mind felt fuzzy from maintaining so many simultaneous techniques.

"Here," the elder tossed me what looked like a small crystal. "Absorption Stone. It'll help replenish your energy faster."

I caught the crystal, feeling immediate relief as it began converting ambient red sun energy into a form my body could easily absorb. "Thank you, Master."

"Now then," he continued, already moving on to the next lesson, "let's talk about the Woodweave Seal.”