Molvograd, Molkovia, Earth.

Demian's P.O.V.

While recalling how to activate the Formation Array encompassing the ring, the three walked to the middle of the empty area. “I’ll activate the Array.” Demian exclaimed before using his Divine Sense to trigger the Activation Rune by following Anna’s method. Instantly, a blurry spherical energy barrier covered the entire platform, hiding the three’s presence from any external gaze. ‘I wonder how much damage it can...’ He was not able to finish his thought as Brynhild suddenly dashed toward one side of the barrier before throwing a casual punch in its direction. Of course, casual was relative to the powerful woman.

Indeed, as soon as her clenched fist touched the barrier, fluctuations started spreading from the point of impact in a round shape before stopping a few meters away along the barrier. It was not the only consequence of her attack though. Through a brief observation of his Spiritual Will, he instantly noticed the barrier weakening slightly, although it only lasted a brief moment before a surge of Energy from somewhere unknown strengthened that particular place until it regained its previous durability. “Not bad.” Bryn commented, prompting Demian to correct. “Sis. You’re only in the Second Level and it’s already struggling to contain your casual attack. I think you’ll need to be careful once your strength grows higher or you might end up destroying the barrier.” Nodding her head to his advice, she added. “You’re right. I’m guessing you two will have the same problem.”

To Bryn’s words, Seraphine replied, after chuckling briefly. “I don’t see that as a problem. But that aside, there’s something I don’t understand.” With some guesses in mind, Demian asked. “What is it?” The purple-haired woman had her arms crossed under her large breasts while gently tapping her chin in thought. Her silence lasted for a brief moment before she answered. “If High-Level Cultivators like Uncle use those rings often, the barriers should be strong enough to resist their attacks, right?” The tall redhead shrugged while saying. “No clue.” Demian, however, knew the answer to that question, prompting him to respond with a knowing smile.” I knew you’d ask that question.”

With a curious look on her face, Seraphine retorted. “Come on, tell me!” Chuckling at her words, he replied playfully. “I always find your flustered look super adorable.” Shaking his head briefly, he then continued more seriously. “Alright. Flirting aside, some of the stuff I’m gonna share are mostly educated guesses, so take them with a pinch of salt.” After seeing the two nod, he continued. “From what I learned from our previous Library session, there are a few reasons why the barrier isn’t as strong as both of you thought.” Showing his index finger, he said. “First, most cultivators tend to use spell over physical strength. Although Spells are strong their impact is more dispersed than a simple punch or kick. There are exceptions, of course, but I’m generalizing.”

Brynhild still looked confused as she asked. “But as a High Cultivator, the strength of their Spells should still be very strong, right?” Nodding his head, he replied. “Logically, yes. But there’s another factor here, which is your Inner Energy’s purity. The higher the purity, the stronger the Spell for each unit of Energy used. And our Energy is clearly purer than most Cultivators around here, making us stronger than the average cultivator even if we don’t use our body strength.” “That makes sense.” Bryn mumbled thoughtfully before Seraphine added. “Actually, you’d better switch the word ‘most’ with the word ‘all’ Cultivators.” While pointing toward the muscular redhead, she specified. “You, Sis, have the purest energy, then Dem, then me. Although I’m not far behind him.”

After a brief look of confusion, Demian exclaimed. “I forgot that you could sense people’s Inner Energy.” The proud look on her face made him smile with amusement before he resumed his previous explanation. “Back to what I was saying. The last reason and that’s where it becomes an educated guess, is because those High-Level Cultivators only use the formation to hide their training, meaning they don’t use their full power for their Spells.” Seeing that his explanation seemed to have satisfied their curiosity, he then declared. “Now that I’ve satisfied your curiosity, we should all start our respective training.”

The two women nodded before they each decided to move to a different side of the platform to avoid distracting the others with their practice. In any case, with the ring’s size, there was plenty of space for everyone. Finally ‘alone’, Demian closed his eyes and began recalling the first Technique he wanted to experiment with. ‘Wind Steps. Tier 1 Movement Technique. Uses the Inner energy to follow specific patterns. Combined with some particular physical movements, it’s supposed to make one’s body lighter on one side and teach one how to move efficiently in most situations. At least, that’s what the description said.’ The reason why he chose this Technique in particular for his first try was simply because of how convenient the Wind Attribute was. ‘Let’s start.’

With his photographic memory, it was easy for him to remember each step and pattern. Knowing that the latter were the most important parts of a Cultivation Technique, he began to slowly lead his Inner Energy inside his Spiritual Channels. Since it was his first time using a ‘fighting’ Technique, he had to be careful to not mess up badly, or his Spiritual Channels risked getting damaged. If it was just a bit of damage, it would be fine. After all, that was the way he improved his personal Cultivation Technique. However, he knew that there was still a limit to his regeneration and he was not keen on trying to find it. ‘Better safe than sorry.’ He decided inwardly while paying attention to the Energy flowing inside his body. ‘The main Spiritual Channels as the trunk and those Secondary Channels as the branches. No wonder the more Main Channels one had the stronger one is. Every aspect of Cultivation would improve along with the number of Inner Pathways one could activate. I can see it from how quickly Big Sis increases her Cultivation Base, even without having any ‘special circumstances’. It’s truly a matter of talent trumping any amount of effort from the untalented.’ His serious look quickly switched to a satisfied one as something appeared in his mind. ‘Although I’m an exception to that rule. The harder I work, the more talented I become.’

After chuckling discreetly, he shoved that thought to the side and refocused his attention on his practice. Half an hour later, he willed his Energy to return to his Dantian while inwardly summarizing his gains. ‘I can feel some progress, but it’s like I’m climbing a tall mountain while walking through a thick layer of snow. My guess is that I don’t have much Affinity with the Wind Element, if at all. That or I’m just untalented overall. The fact that I’ve activated four Main Spiritual Channels disproves that though.’ Letting out a sigh, he added inwardly. ‘Forget it. I’ll just try a Technique with a different Element and check if there’s any difference.’

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Having made his decision, he switched to another Technique. This time, it was a Thunder-Lightning Attributed one. ‘Thunder-Lightning Dash. Tier 1 Movement Technique. This one is used for explosive movements. Not my first pick, but it could be useful depending on the situation.’ In the same manner, the young man took the time to make sure he could recall everything from the Technique before starting to circulate his Inner Energy through his Channels in a specific pattern. Unlike the previous time, however, his practice did not go very well. Probably due to the tyrannical side of the Thunder-Lightning Attribute, he could feel some pain coming from his inner Pathways. It gradually worsened until they even began to get damaged. The pain from receiving damage on one’s Spiritual Channels was excruciating for normal Cultivators. However, Demian’s pain tolerance had been increasing nonstop as he became more and more injured, to the point that he could easily ignore the pain resulting from improving his Cultivation Technique. Nonetheless, he knew that damage to his Inner Pathways meant that something was wrong and he was not someone who thrived on pain, only tolerating it when it served a purpose. This time, it clearly did not. He thus stopped his Inner Energy circulation after practicing for barely a few minutes.

A frown briefly appeared on his face before he resigned himself. ‘From what happened I can tell that I’ve got zero Affinity with the Thunder-Lightning Element. It’s a shame, but I guess the upside is that I won’t have to waste time learning Techniques and Spells with that particular Attribute.’ Pausing for a second, he pondered briefly. ‘I wonder if I didn’t get hurt with the previous Technique because I do have some Affinity with the Wind Element, or because it’s a milder Element...’ Shaking his head after a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to again switch to a different Element-Attributed Technique.

The next few hours were thus spent testing every Element to find out if there was one or more that suited him. He even tried those rare ones like Light and Darkness, although there were few Spells available for those, and weak ones at that. The result: Nothing. Or more specifically, he sensed no Affinity with the Elements he tested so far, with even some like the Fire and Thunder-Lightning Elements damaging his Channels. While glancing toward the three Mikhailov women training close by, he contemplated. ‘Although I expected this result somewhat, I still feel like it’d have been great if I had multiple Element Affinities. That’d give me more flexibility.’

Shaking his head, he decided to let it go. ‘I guess a bird in hand is better than two in the bush.’ Indeed, along with his Cultivation Technique’s experiments, he had started sensing a gradually growing attraction toward a particular Element. However, as a newcomer to the Cultivation world, he was not 100% sure of his guess. And even if it was the case, he felt that it was not impossible for him to be inclined toward other Attributes as well. Nonetheless, the last few hours made it clear to him that, although he may be able to learn other Attributed Techniques if given enough time, learning one that matched his Aptitude was a much better option.

‘That’s what I think, but I still have to check if I haven’t hallucinated before.’ He claimed inwardly before moving on to the last Element on his list. ‘Water Gliding. Tier 1 Movement Technique. Gives the body great flexibility and increases one’s speed, with a massive boost when on or in Water.’ While recalling the path of Energy circulation, he could not help but mumble. “Hopefully Water attribute Techniques and Spells are not as weak as they’re portrayed in those Cultivation novels...” A short while later, he had enough confidence to start circulating his Inner Energy through his pathways.

Unlike with other Elemental Techniques which either damaged his Channels or progressed so slowly that it would take days to barely reach Elementary Proficiency, this time his Inner Energy easily flowed through every Pathway mentioned in the Information Storing Jade, and that only took a few seconds. After one circulation, the Technique’s effects activated, bringing a strange feeling to his heart, almost as if he was floating. As its name implied, his legs were the most affected, giving him the illusion that his flesh, muscles, and bones turned into jets of water.

‘So this is how it’s supposed to increase my speed.’ He analyzed while moving around to test the result of his new Technique. ‘Between 20% to 30% speed increase. It’s acceptable, I guess.’ He felt a bit dissatisfied as he expected a more impressive boost. His dissatisfaction, however, quickly left him as he recalled two things. The first being the fact that the Water Element was not exactly known for its speed. The second thing was the fact that his basic speed was already very impressive, turning that ‘low’ speed boost into something great. ‘Also, I barely reached Elementary Proficiency with the Technique. I’m guessing that the speed boost should get much bigger once I get to a higher level of Mastery.’

Having finished testing the Water Gliding’s basic speed enhancement, Demian decided to incorporate the Body Movements that were mentioned along with the Energy Circulation Patterns. ‘Let’s see if there’s any change...’ He briefly thought before he willed his body to follow those movement patterns. Unfortunately, due to the fact that he needed to keep some of his attention on his Energy Circulation, he kept making mistakes, to the point that he slipped and fell on the ground several times. ‘Fuck! Cultivation Techniques are so difficult to master!’ He cursed inwardly as he noticed both his right foot and left arm being placed wrongly, making it clear to him that he would fall on his butt again.

An hour of practice later, he could feel himself progressing, making fewer and fewer mistakes, to the point that he even stopped tripping on his own feet. That being said, his intuition told him that something was not right. ‘Why do I feel like something’s wrong with those movement patterns... It’s as if there’s something missing...’ He pondered after he stopped his practice and sat cross-legged on the ground. With his eyes closed, he was currently circulating his Cultivation technique while thinking about how to tackle the problem he was facing. ‘This Physiology Perk is really broken.’ He concluded after observing that his Energy and Stamina reserves were almost full despite his intense one-hour practice. ‘Not only does it make my Stamina incredible, but I can also feel both my Inner Energy reserves and my physical strength increase, among other things.’

A brief moment later, he exclaimed inwardly. ‘Focus, Demian!’ Shoving his previous thoughts to the side, he instead focused on his current problem. ‘Let me think... The Technique’s Inner Energy Pathways feel right. The problem is related to the movement patterns... To be fair, I haven’t mastered them yet, so the problem may be me...’ Some doubts briefly appeared in his mind before disappearing as he concluded inwardly. ‘No. I’m definitely not wrong. Not when I spent an hour practicing those movements. Since I could easily sense the way to improve my Cultivation Technique thanks to my Perk, I can definitely do the same with some random Tier 1 Technique.’

With his mind calmer, he started considering every possibility he could think of. At first, there was only confusion in his mind, with no direction in sight. However, after some time passed, he could feel an inkling of inspiration surfacing in his consciousness. Understanding that it was most likely his Power at work, he did not waste the opportunity but instead put his entire focus on it. At that point, his Cultivation Technique only circulated instinctively. ‘Mmhh... The moves are individually stiff and they don’t link up well with each other... Inner Energy Circulation Patterns... Water Element...’