Cai Yun continued refining the soul crystals. He had depleted the first one with no breakthrough. As he returned home, his father was not present. There was only a little note left on the table, “Gone hunting for the tournament.”
It was already time. Cai Hong ordered families to contribute resources to give out as prizes for the annual tournament. Cai Yan would not return until his father was able to find something good, probably a high quality soul crystal of the Martial Artist Realm or a high grade elixir. Cai Yun had hoped to ask his father, Cai Yan, about the soul crystal, but he was not home. Cai Yun went to his room and focused on absorbing the soul crystal.
The soul crystals he received from Cai Bingwen were all of the Profound Realm. They contained hundreds of times more soul force than the one that his father had taken from the White Bear.
Cai Yun sat down in the lotus position and began focusing on integrating the soul force within the crystals. The amount that one could absorb depended on their current cultivation so he had to take it slow. He discovered that even though he did not make a breakthrough, he could absorb a lot more soul force from the soul crystal than before.
Cai Yun alternated between studying the three books his mother left him and absorbing the soul crystals. Every time he reviewed them, he gained a little more insight, understanding the body and allowing him to adjust the flow of the soul force within his body.
Cai Yun went outside and looked at the tree in the pavilion. He did not want to break it, so he decided to face away from it. He raised his hand in front of him and gathered the soul force into his hands. “Exploding Force!”
The soul force he gathered within his palm became violent, swirling in every direction without aim. All of it became uncontrolled as it burst forth from his palm. BOOM. The massive force of the blast knocked Cai Yun onto the ground. The recoil from it was immense. If he had aimed it at the tree, it would have broken it. It surely would have cracked the wall as well. It was far stronger than the Earth Shattering Fist technique that the Cai Clan practiced. The Earth Shattering Fist technique was more controlled and focused. Exploding Force was uncontrolled and relentless.
The worst part of it was that the technique left him drained. It consumed a huge amount of soul force. Cai Yun immediately sat down and focused on the Flame Heart technique. In doing so, it allowed him to start recovering his soul force quickly.
Exploding Force was not a technique Cai Yun would be able to use repeatedly. At his level, he could only use it once, but the power of it was far above his current cultivation level. It was probably closer to someone who used the Earth Shattering Fist at the Sixth or Seventh Level of the Elementary Realm. The difference was the number of uses though. Earth Shattering Fist could probably be used once per level. The number of uses for Exploding Force, maybe even once per Realm.
Cai Yun needed a way to focus that power. If he could concentrate it, then he might be able to reduce the amount of soul force it used while simultaneously increasing its power by making it easier to break a single point of defense.
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Meditation was a slow way to recover lost soul force. In a real battle, it was impossible to make time to recover. As soon as Cai Yun’s strength recovered, he tried it again. Once again, the violent energies made it difficult to focus it into a single point.
“Trying to refine a technique like that at your level is impossible,” said Cai Jun.
Cai Yun did not even sense Cai Jun enter. His father probably asked Cai Jun to check up on him. “Hello, Uncle Jun,” said Cai Yun.
“Watch this,” said Cai Jun as he jumped to the ground.
Cai Jun quickly snapped his arms forward. Cai Yun watched as the soul force from Cai Jun’s body burst forth. He recognized it was a form of Earth Shattering Fist, but it was not exactly the same. This version of the technique allowed him to trigger the same power from his elbows and hands at the same time. It was as if his entire body could use Earth Shattering Fist. “Some techniques are just not meant to be controlled,” said Cai Jun.
Cai Jun gathered clasped his hands together and swung them. A violent burst of wind surged forth and slammed against the wall. Earth Shattering Fist was a controlled technique that was focused on destroying a single point. The wind technique Cai Jun used covered a wide area. “Making it go against its natural tendencies will only weaken your technique,” said Cai Jun.
“Then what should I do?” Cai Yun asked.
“Increase your soul force,” Cai Jun answered. “When you get to the Fifth Level of the Elementary Realm, then we can focus on improving your technique if you have not already.”
The problem at the lowest levels of cultivation was the same, soul force. The severely limited amount of soul force made it difficult to do anything. Your body strengthened with each level, but it was not enough to do any significant martial arts until at least the Fortified Body Realm. The difference between the Elementary Realm and the Fortified Body Realm was huge.
Cai Jun handed Cai Yun a bag of leaves. “What is this?” Cai Yun asked.
“Supplements,” said Cai Jun. “Wrap one of your pill type elixirs in it and then swallow it to increase its effects.”
It was the first time Cai Jun had seen one. Supplements were expensive and hard to get above the Elementary Realm. The leaves seemed not that special and looked ordinary, so they were probably meant for the Elementary Realm and did not have much use after that. However, Cai Yun did not have pills at the moment. He only had the soul crystals.
“Oh, can you tell me what’s different about this soul crystal?” Cai Yun asked as she showed Cai Jun the one soul crystal that was different.
Cai Jun picked up the soul crystal and looked at it while holding it up to the sun. “This is an irregular soul crystal,” said Cai Jun.
“I know that,” Cai Yun replied. “What does it mean?”
“The energies within are a little denser and wild compared to the others,” Cai Jun explained. “It takes longer to absorb, but should have a greater effect. Just think of it as a soul crystal that contains more soul force than normal.”
“Thank you,” said Cai Yun. He was happy to hear that. It meant that it probably contained a lot of soul force that he could absorb.
“I need to head to the Main Hall,” said Cai Jun. “I’ll come check up on you again tonight.”
Cai Jun leapt into the air and began running towards the Main Hall. Cai Yun continued to absorb the soul crystals in his possession. As he neared the end of draining the second soul crystal in his possession, he felt the burst of soul force that expanded his veins once more. He had achieved the Third Level of the Elementary Realm. This time, it was in just four short days. In just over two weeks, he had increased his cultivation by two levels. Under normal circumstances, a person would not be able to absorb soul force so quickly to increase their cultivation because they needed time for their soul force to stabilize with each advancement. However, Cai Yun did not have this problem. As long as he had the resources available to him, he would be able to keep going.