Xue and Felix decided to recruit the child named Chung as well as two children who had ‘Potential’ for both sword and earth. The rest of the time was mostly spent exchanging pleasantries. As they were about to leave, the mayor stopped them and insisted that they stay in his guest manor instead of a common inn. After a bit of persuasion Xue finally agreed.

When they got to the manor, Xue took the recruits aside to discuss their entrance into the sect. Seeing he wasn't needed, Felix decided to go to the manor's courtyard to train. As he walked, he took a glance at his status.

I can’t believe I haven’t received any KE yet.

No system messages had appeared when they picked out the three recruits. He had tried to prompt a quest completion but that hadn't done anything either.

Maybe there is another condition? Well, as long as I don’t get a negative reward.

Once he got the courtyard Felix set that issue aside. He pulled out a very basic sword he had borrowed from Xue and got into the starting stance of the Ragnarök Technique.

I need to see how the sword manifests. Even if I understand the Ragnarök technique, who knows what I am missing without trying it.

He pulled at the gaseous earth qi that roiled in his dantian, leading it into his meridians. After a bit of struggle, he sent the qi into patterns in his arms, chest, and head. His advancement of the manual had led him to make minute changes to these patterns.

Felix kept the qi going and then recalled the image he had used to refine the qi. Once that was in his mind he began to search for the impression of that image in his qi.

It took him a bit to feel the intent. The concept kept trying to squirm away from him like he was trying to hold something not completely solid.

Once he grasped the feeling, he reversed his mental image. Instead of forcing the image of the earthen sky on his qi, he tried to connect his qi to an earthen sky. Yet he felt nothing from the sky above. He strained and stretched but all he got for his effort was sweat.

This is so weird. I know what it should feel like and I am certain I am on the right path.

He tried to connect the qi to the sky numerous times. After an hour he suddenly felt as if something clicked in place. The faintest feedback came back from the sky. In his excitement, he nearly lost control. With a slow deliberate effort of will, he began to try and match the feelings between the two. After a bit more adjustment set the technique in motion.

Half of the earthen qi cycling in his meridians seemed to disappear. At the same time, he could feel that qi reappeared high in the sky. A pressure filled his mind like a bow stretched taut. In surprise at the mental strain, he looked around for a target and focused on a large tree across the courtyard.

A whistling sound split the air and then the tree exploded. Felix's jaw dropped as wooden shrapnel filled the air. A large portion of the trunk was gone and moments later the tree came crashing down. In what remained of the stump a glowing brown outline of what looked like a bastard sword was firmly wedged. As he looked, he could see that the brown almost had a golden tint to it.

Well, that was… pretty awesome. It seems like quite a powerful skill. However, it is unfortunate that it seems to need to be manifested in the sky. I might be able to manifest it elsewhere, but it feels… like it would be weaker.

“Well looks like you already got started,” Said a voice behind him. He turned to see Xue standing at the entrance of the courtyard. She strode past him to inspect the shattered trunk. “Huh, pretty powerful for an essence gathering technique.”

She reached forward and lightly grasped the hilt of the construct buried two feet into what remained of the stump. With ease, she plucked the sword out and held it aloft.

“So the construct stayed in one piece even after the initial attack. Surprisingly stable.” Said Xue.

She swung it at a smaller tree. Instead of cutting through the tree, the blade pulverized the wood on contact.

“While sharp it seems to be meant to smash more than cut. Weird.”

Xue held the sword horizontal and then grabbed the tip of the sword with her other hand. With slow deliberate motions, she started to bend the sword. Felix felt the patterns inside of him shake in response and when the sword was bent nearly 90 degrees, a jolt of pain shot through the meridians holding the patterns. Xue stopped bending the sword as Felix leaned over and spat out blood.

“Mm, I was worried that would happen. You will have to be careful of that.“ Said Xue. She let go of the tip and the sword slowly straightened itself. “Do you feel well enough to continue?”

Felix paused and slowly inspected his internals.

I can’t see any permanent damage. Then where did all the blood come from?

He slowly nodded.

“Excellent. Let’s see how powerful your control of the sword is after the initial attack.”

She tossed it into the air. As the sword spun, Felix reached out and tried to feel the resonance again. With a bit of mental struggle, the sword slowly stopped in midair and just sat there.

Xue pointed at a third tree.

“Now try to send it at that tree.”

Felix paused.

“Um, do you have something against trees?”

Xue glanced at the destroyed trees and gave Felix an innocent look.

“Nope”

“Right…”

With a shake of his head, he refocused on the sword. Once he felt the connection, he sent it flying at a tree. The point hit and sunk about five inches into the trunk.

“Well, that’s a little underwhelming.” Said Xue. “The technique seems to be most powerful in that initial attack. I wonder why? Well, we can work on that. You can dismiss it. We are going to try something else.”

Felix felt for the sword and slowly let the patterns inside of him break down and unwind. He felt a small portion of the spiritual energy come back to his dantian. He was unhappy to find that most of the energy was gone. He refocused on Xue.

“So, what next?”

Xue spread her arms wide and smiled.

“Strike me.”

“Wait, what? I am not going to attack you.”

Xue rolled her eyes.

“Look, essence gather. I saw the stump shatter as well. With that level of strength, you would have a hard time killing me even if I did nothing.”

Felix still hesitated but eventually nodded. He repeated the process but couldn’t help himself from using less spiritual energy.

A sword appeared in the sky and shot down in a blur. Xue casually reached out and caught it between two fingers. She looked at the sword then glanced at Felix with a smirk.

“Did you really just hold back?”

Felix suddenly felt really angry.

He dismissed the sword and sent a new one screaming down at Xue. She caught it again. He dismissed that as quickly as possible and sent another. And another. And another.

After six more times using the technique, Felix came to himself and found he was drenched in sweat. His qi was also nearly completely exhausted

Lost some control there.

“Mmmm, not bad at all for a technique at your level.” Said Xue. “You will have to practice the speed of activation though. You probably should stick with just trying to take advantage of the first strike until we figure out how to make the following strikes more powerful.”

“Is it perhaps just that I am not familiar with it?” Said Felix, “Maybe if I practice more than the following strikes would be more powerful?”

“No, that wouldn’t fix the problem. We can just make this an ongoing project.”

Felix nodded then decided to revisit the topic from the recruitment.

“So um, can we talk about my gif-

Xue held up a hand.

“We should wait until we can fully focus on that in the safety of the sect.” She said, giving him a meaningful look. “I already told you that earlier today”.

“Well, can I at least look at your manual.”

“Mmm,” Said Xue, lightly tapping her lips with her finger. “Let me see how well you wield a sword first.”

Twenty minutes later, Xue sat with a bruised Felix in his room. As he rubbed a nasty bruise on his arm he glared at her.

“So I would like some help with my manual now.”

Instead of responding Xue pulled out a talisman and tossed it at the door. It stuck to the wood and lit up a moment later.

“It may be unnecessary, but you should always be careful what you say about yourself outside of the Sect. This is another lesson you would learn in your classes. Now show me your manual.”

“You show me yours and I will show you mine,” said Felix with a grin.

Xue peered at Felix.

“I feel like there is a joke I am missing and that you should be grateful for it”

Xue took out her manual and swapped it for Felix's. He looked at the cover to see the title the Diamond of the Blizzard.

With mounting excitement, he started leafing through the pages. It was pretty obvious that it was a work in progress as each page was full of notes in the margins or words crossed out. In some ways, Felix thought it was even better than reading a normal manual since he could see the thought process behind the manual. As he continued to read, he was dismayed to find that the manual was far above his head. However, the little he could understand blew him away.

She was not kidding when she said the requirements were high. Not only does a person need three specific spiritual roots but they also need a specific physique.

“How common is it for people to meet these requirements.” Said Felix

“Not common? I am not really sure exactly how often it appears. The elders have said they have never met someone with my combination traits before.”

“Okay. So, what is this portion about strengthening the body? Is this actually a body cultivation manual?”

Xue smiled in pride. “Yes and no. The technique is actually a combination of the two. Though it could be argued that it's just a strange body cultivation manual. My physique makes me unsuited for external techniques, so I wanted to create a cultivation method that doubled down on my natural talent for body cultivation. The dantian portion of the technique is all about supporting body cultivation. Though it means the spiritual energy requirement for each level of cultivation is extra high as a consequence.”

“So, you can’t do any external techniques?” Said Felix in wonder. He thought back to how Xue had used talismans so often even for mundane tasks.

“Not exactly. Though you will have to figure out that for yourself. You do have my manual right in front of you. Now let's focus on your technique. It is a weird one and you have made some decent headway on improving it. But I can already see some glaring issues.”

Felix perked up at this and Xue waved him down.

“I am not going to be able to make the changes so quickly. It took me two years to create my personal manual to where it is today. These things take time and you will want to attend the sect classes. Either way, you can cultivate the manual as it is. Try to find anything that seems wrong when you do, and we can discuss it. You should get in the habit of noting anything you think you need to change or work on. Oh, and don’t let anyone you don’t truly trust look at those notes. Otherwise, it is basically advertising your weaknesses” She reached out and tapped her manual. “This is one of the reasons that cultivation techniques are hoarded. Even the best techniques can be beaten if you can exploit their weaknesses.”

They discussed a few more specifics of the technique. After a while, Xue took back her manual and left Felix to ponder on what he learned.