Jin finally made it. He had mastered the ten visual techniques given to him by Master Hae-Hyuk. And he did it before Min-Su. Working on Fine Tuning was the right way. As he happily went to get Hae-Hyuk to teach him the hidden technique, Jin was stopped by a disciple from the sect they were staying in right now. They were at the Smiling Eternity Union, specialized in illusions. And the disciple who stopped him...was someone he didnt know.

The disciple did not seem to have any malevolent intentions though as he introduced himself as an inner disciple of the sect. However, the problem soon became apparent. Min-Su was apprently flirting with the girlfriend prospect of the disciple. And, unable to do much himself, he went to plead for help to Jin. It was too bad that Jin didn't care. He told him: "Not my problem" and left.

The disciple's teeth were clenched tight. The rebuttal was expected yet still felt like a burning slap to his face. Yet he did not dare retort or do anything. For he feared the background of Jin. He could only reluctantly leave. As for Jin, not only did he not care but in fact, he couldn't understand the kid. If he wanted this girl, why didn't he go for her? Why would he ask someone else to get her for him? It made no sense and was, without a doubt, less than manly. Jin had always worked for what he wanted after all.

He soon forgot about the encounter as he found Hae-Hyuk. That Master of his was sipping some tea in the front garden, enjoying the mystical sight of this sect. Jin had to admit, it was something else. Even compared to the other wonderful places they went to. The entirety of the place was basked in illusions to the point that you could never know night from day and could see all sorts of weird things everywhere. In fact, you could only see twenty or so meters in front of you.

The ever-changing landscape was a sight to behold and Jin didn't consider it unexpected to find even Hae-Hyuk enjoying the view.

He was spotted by said master mere moments ago and welcomed to partake in the tea testing session. After a few sips, which were very fragant, Jin told him about his success. Even demonstrating it. Easier to prove it this way. And Hae-Hyuk had reached a high-enough level to see through it all. He was quite pleased. And he told Jin what he had been waiting for:

"Alright, you can now continue to cultivate while focusing on the next tasks I give you. First, regarding the next task, here you go"

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He handed a new jade slip to Jin who asked: "Is that the secret technique?"

"Of course not. It's ten more visual techniques for you to master. Oh, and make sure that you're capable of using all of them at once, all twenty, before coming back for the next step"

Slightly dejected but understanding, Jin reminded himself that secret techniques weren't that easy to learn. If he only had to learn ten techniques before getting that secret technique master skill, wouldn't everyone become a technique master? Since there weren't many, it meant it was tough. He wasn't disappointed long as the reasons were obvious. He would just keep on learning until he met the requirements, whatever they were. Right, what were they?

"What do I need to do to learn that hidden technique of yours, Master Hae-Hyuk?"

"Secret~ I will teach you little by little, don't worry, you are on the right track. Anyways, do you know how to take on the next step towards cultivation?"

"I don't. I focused on those techniques"

"Right. Well then, let us first return to what you already know. You have worked, hard or not, in the body refinement stage to create a core and fill it. You filled it five times. To push your body to its limits and to solidify your core. Right now, in your soul sea, there should be a solid pyramid with a triangle base. Is that right?"

"Yes" though as he answered, Jin thought back to the spears. They were in his soul sea too... Well, he had read a bit about them in the few sects they stayed at and it seemed unrelated to cultivation so he didn't mention it.

"Good. Well then, what do you think is the next step?"

Jin pondered for a moment. The body refinement stage was very literally about using the spiritual energy to refine one's body. So, wouldn't the spiritual accumulation realm be about amassing more energy? He decided to go with this answer: "Getting more spiritual energy"

"Obvious, isn't it? But how will you do that? Your core has solidified after all"

"That's... Build another?"

"Close but not quite there yet. We will built over the existing core. Having more than one core is a very bad idea"

"Why?"

"It doesn't have much benefits as it will take up space in your soul sea. That might seem like an infinite area but it is not. After reaching a certain stage, you need so much space that having two cores would make it impossible to grow further. Since you would need to grow them both. Which is why we cultivators only have one core"

"Alright. Then I should just build a bigger pyramid?"

"No. I told you before that it wasn't good to do so"

"You did"

"You don't seem convinced. Regardless, what you need to create is a sphere. Your pyramid core will be the foundation to build the sphere"

A sphere? Why would it have to be a sphere now? Wasn't it better to go with the pyramid shape? That's what they taught Jin back during the body refinement stage. Back then, he had wanted to build something bigger yet was taught how useless it was. Yet now his Master was saying that he needed a sphere? It was quite puzzling.