"Let's stop the dinner," Aisnam said halfway toward the second dish, which surprised me.
"Is there something wrong with the food?" I asked. I didn't need to fake my worry. Maintaining Aisnam's good mood was very important for my immediate future, particularly since I wanted to continue laundering cultivation techniques through the System with her as the medium.
She chuckled. "No, but I can see your enthusiasm about the techniques, so I thought that we could start studying them."
"Really?" I said happily, with no need to fake my enthusiasm. I was actually enthusiastic about trying to understand the techniques together. I had long realized that, when it came to cultivation, Aisnam had extraordinary talent, allowing her to grow even under the suppression of her family.
Her talent was not as perverse as Pearyin showed, but hers were far more balanced. Pearyin's talent was either perfect or non-existent depending on the topic.
Then three techniques I had received were valuable, each for different reasons. While my own superior skill level in palm techniques allowed me to defeat the cultivators easily, most of them, I had just overwhelmed through superior application of skill.
The only exception was the cultivator that used the palm technique. Even though his palm technique was very different than Verdant palm, both in terms of elemental conception and martial application, I was actually able to read his attack.
By adding a saber and a dagger technique into the mix, I hoped that, at a minimum, I would receive the ability to predict them. If I was lucky, those techniques might even help me learn the rewards.
After all, it wasn't the first time I had used the System to receive a superior version of a technique. Black Tiger Onslaught Martial art, I received the same way, which was, for all intents and purposes, an advanced version of the traditional Tiger Fist. While my pill-enhanced martial talent meant I could have learned it either way, I could see that the expertise of its earlier form would help their learning greatly.
If it worked the same way, maybe I could learn the advanced variants of the same techniques without help.
It was the only path I had to learn the advanced versions.
"Of course. They will be interesting to work for me as well," she said, and we moved to the training room. "Which one would you like to start with?"
"Let's try with the dagger technique," I said. "I'm in the process of comprehending a dagger-based martial art. It might help my comprehending a martial intent."
"Worth a try," she said as she sat next to me, and we started studying the dagger technique together. "The core of this dagger technique lies in misdirection, like the glimmer of light being reflected off a mirror…" she started explaining.
It was a quick start, suggesting that she had already studied them to draw some insights before gifting them to me.
Even better.
At this point, our study sessions had become familiar. Most importantly, she had long stopped bothering about whether an answer to her question would be too complicated or meaningless, and answered them even if it was a complicated one. I had convinced her that those complicated answers actually helped me make some interesting connections.
In reality, I merely used the System-granted knowledge to cheat. As long as her answers were complicated and accurate, the System didn't care while multiplying, allowing us to jump levels.
However, as she delivered the lesson, we hit an unexpected snag. Another cultivator was approaching the capital. I didn't need to react immediately, as he was just detected by the outer layer of the newly improved formation, and he was almost five hundred miles away.
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He wasn't very fast. He wouldn't be able to arrive at the capital before dawn.
Aisnam explained the technique for an hour. "That's all I know about this technique," she said with a finality in her tone.
[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 50; Pampering Bonus - 75 (Capped)]
[125x Return - Five Draws Illusionary Dagger - Beginner, Major Familiarity]
I triggered it immediately, letting the information fill my mind. At this moment, I could easily handle that jump while keeping it hidden.
"Thank you," I said even as I grabbed a dagger, indeed trying to deduce a martial arts technique based on the concept of illusory speed. The knowledge of cultivation, combined with my martial arts talent, allowed me to compile a decent one.
I waved my dagger around, showing off my findings. Of course, what I displayed to Aisnam was a flashier, incomplete, and cumbersome version that nonetheless required a great amount of skill. The last thing I needed was for her to actually get the idea of using my martial arts talent for practical purposes.
Luckily, Aisnam was proud and amused by my achievement, even though it was ultimately useless. Though, it was probably nicer to call it a martial art that took the art portion too seriously.
While I showed off my martial technique to Aisnam, I also processed the actual technique. As the name implied, the technique had five moves, each with a different effect. The one that had been used against me was the second draw, and my opponent had managed to reach Minor Familiarity.
Not bad, considering all he had was a damaged book with most of it missing.
"Now, the next technique," I asked Aisnam with wide eyes. Now that I knew that the method was solid, I could always convince her for another lesson a few days later. Ultimately, more techniques was nice, but their expertise was supplementary.
Even a hundred techniques wouldn't be as useful as formations, which allowed me to detect, avoid, and protect as I wished.
My enthusiasm helped Aisnam deal with the stress of the day … which was nowhere as bad as it could have been since she was still unaware of the bounty on her. Though, maybe I should let one of the weaker ones slip to alert her.
No, I decided to send another letter from her 'ally' which would also explain the situation in more detail, including the excuse I had used against the cultivators I let go. That way, she wouldn't misjudge the situation, and could use it for her political purposes if needed.
For the next two hours, we repeated the same trick with the other two techniques. However, during those two hours, another cultivator had arrived in my detection range. It looked like I would be having a busy time soon.
The System managed to rescue my mood.
[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 50; Pampering Bonus - 75 (Capped)]
[125x Return - Fierce Palm of Four Waves - Beginner, Perfection]
[125x Return - Merciless Landslide of Three Swings - Beginner]
Her explanations lasted more or less the same, but the difference in her comprehension made a great difference. She was already an expert in palm techniques, which allowed her to understand the palm technique with a much greater capability. On the other hand, the saber was traditionally treated as a male-oriented weapon, and her experience was clearly lacking.
Luckily, with the assistance of the System, it was still triggered.
The contrast between the two techniques was interesting. Fierce Palm of Four Waves was a very interesting technique. The wave implied a certain gentleness and evasiveness, yet it had the fierce as a part of its name.
As competence reaching perfection filled my mind, I had to admit that the naming was accurate. The technique was based on being evasive like water, accumulating energy before finishing it with one barbaric hit.
Meanwhile, the saber technique was even more direct than its name implied. It had three moves, but all three of them maximized the death and devastation Qi might cause, with no regard to evasion and defense. One had to be a madman to have options, yet still cultivate this as their main technique.
I suspected the cultivation world didn't lack such madmen.
Aisnam hadn't been very interested in the martial variant of the palm technique, but had the opposite attitude toward the saber art, filled with sharp, domineering strikes.
"… How about this," I said as I used a training saber to smash a reinforced training dummy.
"Excellent move. Show the next one," Aisnam said, very interested in watching me. I smiled even as I showed off another technique based on the conception of a landslide, amused by her fascination.
It had nothing to do with the technique itself, and all about how I looked as I used the saber technique. I had already removed my shirt, and my upper body was glistening with exertion, every swing reinforcing my aura.
I was more like an actor in one of the movies who removed their shirt for no reason for the audience. Aisnam tried to hide it, but I was too familiar with her blush and the way she bit her lips to miss it.
I felt like a stripper rather than a warrior … in a good way.
I showed off for five more minutes, before my beautiful Queen let out a guttural sound and stood up, walking toward me hungrily. "That's enough practicing. Let's spar!"
There wasn't much sparring…