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, 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.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“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.

He grabbed the book from the shelf in excitement and read the title on the gold cover, almost making him jump in delight.

At the same time, the system’s voice echoed inside his mind, not startling him before as he anticipated it.

[Congratulations! You have discovered a Legendary Sword Technique, Azure Tide Sword Technique!

Do you want to learn it?]

[It has been detected that you have the incomplete version and only lacked a single intelligence point! Since you have five extra points, do you want to consume one extra point to be added for the intelligence points?]

Lu Zheng did not hesitate to say yes to both.

He did not need to call the system to appear on the wall of text in front of his eyes to learn his current status as he already knew, probably with the intervention of the system on his memory process, that he now had four extra points and four intelligence points.

At the same time, the ‘Incomplete’ word beside the Azure Tide Sword Technique disappeared, making Lu Zheng rejoiced.

Yet, he did not have the time to completely explode in euphoria when another massive headache assaulted him.

He grumbled but he did not complain anymore.

In exchange for enormous benefits for temporary pain, it would be worth it.

He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and suddenly saw a figure performing different stances and techniques, as though showing him the Azure Tide Sword Technique.

As he was watching the figure, seemingly just a shadow with no appearance at all, performing the stances and techniques of the Azure Tide Sword Technique, he was totally mesmerized.

The shadow figure elegantly swung his sword, even appearing to be controlling the water through his sharp blade.

Furthermore, he was standing in the middle of the ocean, and not a single wave could be seen. But every time he swung his sword, a little wave appeared, becoming bigger until it was enormous, disappearing in the distance, covering the sky.

He started to create a rising wave through the first stance and its techniques.

When he finished performing all the stances and techniques, he stood still, calming the ocean.

Soon, he performed another stance and its techniques in smooth movements, as though mirroring the smooth, unending current of the ocean.

It was seamless, as though tens of cuts transformed into a hundred until it became thousands and uncountable at all.

Suddenly, as he was about to conclude the stance with the last technique, an island with a shore appeared beside him.

The shadowy figure soon transitioned to another stance, creating waves again, which crashed against the shore, producing a powerful impact.

Despite some barriers to prevent the waves from breaking the shore, it became meaningless against the weight behind those unending waves.

At the same time, as the island was dissipating into thin air, since the current stance was about to be concluded, the next stance was now creating a small whirlpool, becoming bigger and bigger.

The stance involves spinning and twisting movements that create a whirlpool effect, resulting in a whirlpool below him.

However, he hovered in mid-air, after creating the massive whirlpool.

Suddenly, as the stance involving the whirlpool halted, the next stance slowly calmed the sea.

It was still and quiet, calming one’s heart after the terrifying whirlpool.

However, even Lu Zheng, who was watching from a distance, felt no peace at all.

For some reason, the tranquility from the stance and the ocean seemed to pose more threat than the whirlpool earlier.

Suddenly, the shadowy figure performed a technique, a single pierced technique, seemingly targeting his vitals.

His body screamed in danger, making him tremble all over the place.

Then, the shadowy figure continued to perform another two techniques on the current stance, and his hair stood on end.

Lu Zheng could find no openings on his stance, as it would be defended by the second technique with minimal movements and even if he attacked first, he was afraid to be counterattacked by the third technique that seemed to be able to paralyze him.

He certainly did not want it to happen.

Finally, the second to the last stance was about to conclude, and the shadowy figure soon performed the last stance.

Compared to the previous stance, the last stance was chaotic, creating an overwhelming and unstoppable force of a tsunami, unleashing massive and powerful attacks.

The island with a shore before appeared, and the tsunami crashed towards it.

If the previous stance only crashed the shore, now, it swallowed the whole ocean.

Lu Zheng felt chills all over his body.

Soon, the scene before him disappeared, replaced by the black image all over the place.

This was what he would normally see if he closed his eyes, but the previous vivid scene of the shadowy figure performing stances and techniques in the middle of the ocean seemed to appear in front of him with open eyes.

He was in awe, remembering them.

He mumbled, “So that was the Azure Tide Sword Technique.”

“Not bad.” Ravyn’s voice echoed inside his mind, startling him awake.

“Did you see it?” Lu Zheng was slightly shocked.

“Of course, what you see, even if you close your eyes, does not escape from me.”

Lu Zheng felt chills crawling on his spine.

“Of course, if it involves obscene, then I will not watch it. It depends on me.”

Lu Zheng nodded absent-mindedly.

“That sword technique, it was not bad. In fact, if you cultivate it to the peak, you can really summon a tsunami.”

Lu Zheng’s eyes widened and sparkled.

He nodded frantically.

“Right? I heard the Clan Head can summon waves. He practiced it in the river and the ocean below the mountain and could indeed summon a tsunami. It’s a pity he was killed in the city.”

Lu Zheng recognized the factor that defeated his Clan Head.

However, he also acknowledged that fighting inland would not mean putting the Clan Head in a disadvantageous position since he had a Qi.

Qi would soon change into an element once the cultivator became a Master.

Hence, the Clan Head could really summon a tsunami even in the city.