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A rapid succession of translucent screens flashed before Ji Wuye's crimson eyes, each one casting ephemeral blue shadows across his sharp features.
But Ji Wuye remained motionless, his attention utterly transfixed by the brilliant emerald radiance reflecting in his widened gaze, making the crimson of his irises appear almost molten in the otherworldly light.
His eyes locked onto the jian gripped tightly in his palms. Seated cross-legged on the wooden floor, his long white hair swirled around him like wisps of mountain mist, each strand seeming to dance with a life of its own in the ambient energy.
The brilliant green light pulsed from the razor-sharp edge, its glow so vibrant it seemed to stir the very air with a crackling energy that raised the fine hairs on his arms.
Ji Wuye's lips curled into a wide, fervent smirk, his skin tingling with the refreshing and rejuvenating sensation of the verdant aura washing over him in waves like a spring breeze through young bamboo.
"So this is a Sword Aura..." he murmured.
His eyes narrowed to predatory slits as he slowly rose, powerful legs tensing like coiled springs beneath his robes, holding the jian aloft as its edge blazed with the fierce green flare of Wood Qi.
The light danced and shimmered like emerald flames - unshaped, unformed, raw and wild, casting strange shadows that writhed across the wooden floor like living things.
Meanwhile, the resonant ringing and rhythmic thumping, which had set his entire body trembling from his Upper Dantian, finally began to fade into silence, leaving behind only the whisper of his measured breathing.
The brilliant jade radiance flooded the once-dark living quarters, casting everything in an ethereal emerald glow that transformed the humble space into something otherworldly. But what truly stole Ji Wuye's breath was the phenomenon unfolding at his feet...
CREEAAK!
The wooden floorboards groaned and shifted as if alive, the sound like the awakening of an ancient beast.
The planks cracked apart under the immense power of the Wood Qi, releasing the musty scent of aged timber. Before his very eyes, the space around the jian's verdant aura shuddered violently, the wooden floor itself beginning an incredible transformation.
SPROUTTTT!
Like a cresting wave, the gnarled floorboards rapidly metamorphosed into thick, living tree bark, the transformation accompanied by the fresh, vital scent of spring growth.
The texture spread outward in rippling patterns like ripples in a pond, extending and rising until an entire natural wall had formed - the twisting wooden walls reaching up towards the bamboo roof tiles halfway to the ceiling, their surface alive with the subtle movement of growing wood.
This blocked the faint silver moonlight that filtered through the gaps above him.
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"Amazing..." Ji Wuye's voice rumbled with undisguised wonder as he reached out with his free hand, hands catching on the ridges as he ran his fingertips along the grooves of the newly formed wooden walls.
The bark was coarse yet supple beneath his touch, the exposed rings patterned with natural hues of deep browns and amber like an artist's brushstrokes.
He could sense the powerful vitality thrumming within, invigorating the very air with the unmistakable essence of life, bringing with it the crisp scent of fresh sap and new growth.
They felt remarkably real - hard and tough as authentic tree bark under his exploring fingertips.
However, right now, his situation was that he was essentially trapped within walls that had spontaneously grown from the floorboards, towering over him in a woody embrace that seemed almost sentient in its completeness.
Only the floor beneath his feet remained unchanged, the planks still visible, their familiar surface a stark contrast to the living walls that now surrounded him.
But of course...
All of these abnormal occurrences flowed from his will, his control - or rather, he thought with a private smirk that curved his weather-worn features, "So I can freely visualize according to my desires."
However, in exchange for this supernatural power, he sensed a significant drain on his Qi reserves, the energy being siphoned from his Lower Dantian like water from a rapidly emptying vessel, leaving behind a hollow sensation in his core.
Once again, Ji Wuye focused his will, muscles tensing unconsciously as he manipulated the newly formed wooden wall stretching before him.
He visualized the rough bark extending outward, growing toward his face like reaching fingers.
CREACK-!
Just as expected, another rush of Qi flowed from his core, the energy draining completely from his Lower Dantian with an almost physical pull. But the result...
"It's really grown," he marveled in a murmur, his voice resonating in the confined space as he crouched now beneath a thick horizontal beam of wood that neatly bisected his makeshift prison. The beam hung mere cun from his head, its surface still emanating the fresh scent of newly formed wood.
So creating these unnatural phenomena truly drained all Qi from his Lower Dantian. Though he had reserve in his Middle and Upper Dantian, the cost of conjuring such feats was immense.
"But it's more than worth it," Ji Wuye said with a shake of his head, long white hair swaying like silk threads in the emerald-tinged darkness.
Unfortunately, when he attempted to revert the wooden walls back to their original state, they stubbornly refused to budge - the transformation was permanent, the living wood as unyielding as mountain stone.
Not only that, the air around the prison of wooden walls seemed to grow thin, arid - each exhale manifesting as a faint mist before his face, hanging suspended in the strange green light.
Thus, this left him with no choice...
Concentrating his power, Ji Wuye remained crouched, muscles coiled like a predator about to strike as he bent the hand that gripped the jian, its emerald edge still blazing brilliant green, casting dancing shadows across his features.
SLASSHH!
The wooden walls that had spontaneously grown were effortlessly severed in two by the razor-sharp edge, the blade passing through them as if they were nothing more than spring bamboo.
Then, the upper portion...
THUMP!
The severed top half hit the floor with a ground-shaking impact, the entire chamber trembling as the heavy wooden wall crashed down with the force of a fallen mountain.
He emerged from the confines of the makeshift wooden walls like a spirit materializing from mist, squinting against the clouds of dust that billowed outward in swirling eddies of amber and green. The earthy scent of disturbed soil and fresh-cut wood filled his nostrils as his eyes swept the space.
The rest of the vast living quarters remained untouched and still, bathed in shadows and slivers of moonlight - only the floorboards around his former position had spontaneously grown into the intricate prison of bark.
'That concludes the test for manipulating the Wood Qi. Now, as for the power...' His thoughts trailed off as he took a defensive stance, muscles coiling with practiced precision as he assessed the remaining upright sides of the newly formed wooden walls with a critical eye, noting every grain and imperfection in the transformed surface.
With feet planted firmly shoulder-width apart on the worn floorboards, Ji Wuye raised his right hand, the jian gripped tightly as the brilliant emerald edge pulsed level with his furrowed brow, casting strange shadows across his sharp features.
By now, there was no faint bluish aura enveloping his body like a membrane - the remaining Qi was concentrated into the glaring green radiance at the sword's razor tip, humming with barely contained energy.
Taking a deep, centering breath that filled his lungs with the cool night air, Ji Wuye rotated his wrist and in a blur of motion that sent his white robes swirling, repositioned himself before the walls.
His jian, shimmering with verdant light that left trails in the darkness, easily slashed through the thick wood in a vicious vertical arc, the blade singing through the air.
SWWHOOSSHH!
Like a tightly wound knot finally released, an explosive burst of air erupted from Ji Wuye's whole body, blasting outward in a shockwave of force that made his clothes snap like flags in a gale.
Where the newly grown wooden walls had stood now remained nothing but splintered ruin and scattered debris raining down in a deadly shower, the air thick with floating sawdust that caught the green light like fireflies.
"Huff..." Ji Wuye let out a deep exhalation that stirred the settling dust around him as the last few fragments pattered over his shoulders and white martial robe with soft impacts.
He swiped his hand through his disheveled hair, the silvery strands sliding like silk between his fingers as he glanced at the flickering emerald light still clinging to the edge of his jian like morning dew.
He could feel that rejuvenating, refreshing power gradually fading, while the glaring light continuously flickered and dimmed.
'Well, that concludes the test of power,' he mused inwardly, finally storing back the jian to the inventory. Now all that remained was to check...
'Stats'