The Unorthodox Path to Mastery

Lin Mo stepped into the moonlit clearing at the heart of the room.

After a moment of searching through the cabinet nestled against the wall, he retrieved an empty hardwood box, typically used for storing an assortment of sundries.

He set the wooden box atop the cabinet.

Drawing upon his spiritual power, which enveloped his entire being, he then unleashed a forceful palm strike upon the wooden box.

“Bang!” A muffled thud reverberated through the air.

The wooden box, proving its resilience, remained utterly unscathed by the powerful blow.

Instantly, his spiritual energy receded, and the shimmering aura that had cloaked his body coalesced into his right palm before he struck the wooden box again.

This time, a faint crack undeniably marred the box’s surface.

Yet, he was not finished.

Lin Mo retreated a few steps, his spiritual power now even more intensely focused within him.

Closing his eyes, he appeared to meticulously trace the subtle currents flowing through his meridians.

During the Qi Condensation stage, spiritual energy coursed sluggishly and sparsely through the meridians.

“Watch closely.”

Suddenly, the tip of his index finger ignited with a brilliant, milky-white luminescence—a point of light so intensely condensed it appeared almost solid, dazzling in its radiance.

This light bore no resemblance to the diffuse glow that enveloped his entire body; instead, it was sharp, pure, and brilliant, like a fiery diamond, no larger than a needle-tip, freshly forged.

“Break!”

Following a guttural cry, Lin Mo did not physically touch the wooden box, but simply extended a finger, pointing into the air.

“Chhh—!” A faint, yet piercingly sharp, whistle sliced through the quiet.

On the side of the hardwood box, still a good meter and a half away from his fingertip and directly in his line of sight, a tiny, perfectly round hole appeared without the slightest warning.

The edges of the perforation were remarkably smooth, as though the wood had been instantly melted and pierced, and a faint, acrid scent of charring subtly permeated the air.

Moonlight streamed through the minuscule aperture, casting a distinct, circular disc of light upon the floor.

No tempestuous winds swept through the room, nor did any spiritual pressure erupt; only the piercing whistle and the small hole bore testament to the terrifying pinpoint penetration contained within that seemingly unassuming finger strike.

Most remarkably, no spiritual energy overflowed from any other part of his body; he remained as serene as before, as if the potent strike that had pierced the hardwood was entirely unrelated to him.

‘I… I did it!’

Though he had spoken confidently to Ji Xue, the truth was he had only ever achieved such a feat during his ascent of the cultivation steps.

Failure, he knew, would have been utterly humiliating.

Thankfully, however!

His innate talent was still quite respectable!

Ji Xue, who had been coaxed into ‘meowing like a cat’ and had retreated into her bedding, forming a small, indignant mound, now watched.

Upon witnessing this feat, an incredibly faint, yet utterly unmistakable, gasp escaped from within the ‘mound,’ clearly audible even through the thick layers of brocade.

Lin Mo withdrew his finger, the light at its tip already having vanished.

He turned, his gaze returning to the slightly shifting mound of bedding.

“Your Highness, did you witness that?” he inquired.

“With the same spiritual power of the Qi Condensation stage, if I were to spread it evenly across my palm, I would only manage to crack this wooden box. Yet, when I concentrate it into a single point and project it from my finger, the outcome is entirely transformed.”

“You… that is nothing but a deviant path!”

Ji Xue retorted, though the former sharpness had vanished from her voice, replaced by what sounded more like a blustering defense.

“Forcing such condensation will easily injure the meridians! Such an extreme approach will inevitably render one’s foundation unstable!”

“Your Highness speaks with absolute truth,” he conceded.

“To forcibly condense spiritual energy, disregarding the extreme limits of one’s meridians, would indeed be detrimental to the body! That would cease to be a technique and become an act of self-mutilation.”

He continued, building upon her statement, a subtle tactic of acknowledgment.

“Therefore—”

Lin Mo’s tone shifted, becoming earnest, imbued with the solemnity of one imparting profound knowledge.

“Have you ever considered,” he posed, “that spiritual energy can do more than merely shield the physical body? It can also protect the very meridians through which you channel it.”

“What…”

Lin Mo’s words struck Ji Xue with immediate astonishment.

“If you no longer need to blanket your entire body with spiritual energy, what then can the surplus achieve? It means you will have far more at your command. So, would it not be better to simply use spiritual energy to safeguard your meridians from harm?”

Ji Xue had never once conceived of such a possibility.

Not only had she never considered it, but it was likely even her esteemed teachers had never entertained such a notion.

Yet… one crucial question remained.

“If that is the case… how does one control it? Spiritual energy flows like water, elusive and difficult to grasp.”

He returned to the bedside, this time settling into a half-crouch, drawing closer to the mound of bedding.

“Therefore, the first skill you must master is not how to unleash force, but rather how to cultivate inner vision and conscious guidance. Your Highness, when your spiritual energy envelops your entire being, have you ever distinctly perceived the precise path each strand of spiritual energy traces through your meridians? Have you ever contemplated which vital acupoints and meridian junctions demand protection at the precise moment of an assault? And when on the defensive, have you ever accurately predicted where an opponent’s strike would land?”

Ji Xue, still concealed within the bedding, offered no reply, yet it was not out of petulance.

Rather, she was engrossed in profound contemplation.

To simply blanket one’s entire body with spiritual energy was undoubtedly convenient, requiring merely a fleeting thought to roughly envelop oneself.

One did not need to concern oneself with the intricate details of its flow.

As if Lin Mo had divined Ji Xue’s unspoken thoughts, he did not wait for her to speak.

“Our spiritual energy,” Lin Mo stated directly, “is akin to scattered soldiers, requiring the precise command of a general. That general, Your Highness, is yourself. In the Qi Condensation stage, spiritual energy is a finite resource, demanding meticulous calculation. One must concentrate these limited forces and deploy them strategically to the crucial battlegrounds where victory or defeat is decided. The initial step, therefore, is to cultivate your ability to focus, to consciously train yourself to precisely control even the most minute wisp of spiritual energy, guiding it to its intended destination, rather than permitting it to wander aimlessly and unfocused.”

During the torments inflicted by Mu Qingli, Lin Mo, relying purely on his own will, found himself unable to simply endure.

To redirect his focus and alleviate the agony, he would, during his cultivation, intentionally exert control over the spiritual energy coursing through his body.

He practiced controlling it, guiding the spiritual energy to shift swiftly.

Starting with a single wisp, he progressed to commanding the entirety of his spiritual energy, and now he could wield it with effortless precision.

Had he not achieved this mastery, he might not have been able to complete the arduous ascent on that pivotal day.

As Lin Mo spoke, the concentrated, faint glow once again ignited at his fingertip, yet this time it was dimmer than before, as if merely illustrating a path.

“You must, within the incredibly brief instant of an attack, use your conscious will to guide the spiritual energy from your Sea of Qi, prioritizing and concentrating its surge towards these crucial nodes! The meridians along this specific pathway are those you must temporarily reinforce to channel the output. This particular meridian. This will prevent it from sustaining damage. In doing so, you will no longer be as easily overwhelmed as you once were.”

Ji Xue’s heart was utterly overwhelmed with shock.

If she were truly to master these techniques… then the Hall of Clarity… and she herself… would she not be able to traverse it as easily as flat ground?

Not only did her renowned teachers remain ignorant of this… but what of their disciples?

Ji Xue’s breathing quickened, yet she was not swayed by blind enthusiasm; instead, she posed a new query.

“While achieving these techniques might indeed lead to the improvements you describe, would one possess such an abundance of mental energy to control them during actual combat? If it demands constant mental exertion for control, then would it not be—”

“Therefore, Your Highness, you must achieve one crucial state. That is, to circulate your cultivation technique unceasingly, transforming the manipulation of spiritual energy into an involuntary action, as natural as breathing.”

“What…?” Ji Xue exclaimed, utterly stunned.

“Is this not sheer torture?! Are you unaware of the immense mental exertion required to circulate a cultivation technique? To maintain its flow without rest, day and night—how excruciating would that be? It would be akin to sprinting at full capacity all day, without a single moment’s reprieve! Such a terrifying method of cultivation… from which twisted mind did this idea possibly spring?”

“Your Highness,” Lin Mo countered, “do you prefer a period of temporary pain, or a lifetime of regret? The opportunity lies before you, right now. Do you wish to remain a princess forever, or ascend to the throne as empress?”

“Hmph!” Ji Xue’s voice, muffled from within the bedding, carried a distinct note of resignation.

“This princess shall, for now, trust you and attempt this unorthodox method of yours! After all,” she added, a hint of desperation in her tone, “there are no superior alternatives available to me at this moment!”

A faint, triumphant smile played upon Lin Mo’s lips.

“Excellent,” he murmured.

“Your Highness need only immerse yourself in the profound understanding of it.”

With a stretch, he deftly turned back towards his own bed, preparing to lie down and rest.

Yet, before he could fully settle—

“Whoosh!”

The tightly swaddled brocade ‘little mound’ suddenly sprang upwards, imbued with a decisive momentum, and rolled with startling accuracy, crashing into Lin Mo’s bed!

“Thump! Thump!” The heavy impact shook the bed.

Lin Mo’s bewildered composure was instantly shattered by this abrupt assault.

His body, firmly pinned beneath the thickly bundled Ji Xue, was nearly deprived of breath.

“Hiss—!” he gasped, “You… what are you doing?!”

Ji Xue’s voice, laced with undeniable imperiousness, squeezed out from the chaotic folds of the bedding.

“Silence!” she commanded.

“This princess must first ascertain if you, this commoner, can even accomplish what you preach!”

“How will you check?”

“None of your concern!” A slender hand, possessing an undeniable strength, emerged from the bedding’s opening, groping until it precisely seized Lin Mo’s wrist, clamping down tightly.

“I shall check like this!”

‘Though I lack divine sense to perceive the minutiae, whether your spiritual energy circulates, whether its flow is condensed, with such close proximity… Hmph! You dare not deceive this princess!’

She then closed her eyes.

“Sleep! This princess must verify if your cultivation technique is functioning correctly!”