He picked the flasks and stored them in his spatial ring then went up on his stage. Min-Su had already began his usual first battle against the Grandmaster Hye-Ja. That beauty had tormented him every single morning...He pitied him. As for his own opponent, he was similar in strength. Ma Song-Min was indeed unbeatable too. However, he wasn't trying to torture Jin or have fun with him. He wasn't as sadistic or devilish as the old hag.

On the contrary, he seemed in a hurry to finish this every morning. As if it was a daily routine like brushing his teeth. He would come all the way in front of Jin and touch his shoulder with a finger, exploding it. Then, he would fling Jin out of bounds and leave while humming.

Not once had Jin managed to counter or even attack first. He couldn't even react. He had seen what the man did but couldn't repeat it himself. His footwork was too mysterious. The way the spiritual energy moved...He tried it once. It resulted in him being forced to be healed by the Ryu elders. His legs had blown up. Which made it obvious there were elements in the mix of the movement technique.

As for the finger that exploded his shoulder? It was the same. Though he could replicate it without the usage of elements without blowing his finger. He managed to grasp quite the interesting concept through it though. Spinning the spiritual energy when one used it. Through this simple motion, he could increase the power behind his every move. It meshed well with his spear techniques too.

Even if he was beaten black and blue, he still remained grateful and didn't have any grudges. He was gaining from this, one way or another.

Today was no different. He didn't even bother taking out a flask. He did try his best to comprehend the man's move and dodge but couldn't do it today either...

...

Only during the second fight did he begin to try the new technique. The opponent was a random cultivator from some random sect. As Jin tried to take out the bottle, the cultivator slashed the bottle, splashing the contents on Jin. He got half of his body frozen as the water got into contact with him, effectively making him unable to fight further.

Disappointing.

At least, he could now say that he knew what a truly cold shower felt like. Well, cultivators had no 'showers' but still.

From the second defeat of the day, he began to try different ways to use the extreme-cold water. Most of the time, he was unable to take out the flask and open it, freezing himself efficiently in the end instead of his opponent. But there were times he managed to open it. Unfortunately, it took too much of his concentration to not only take the contents out and do it correctly.

He didn't succeed once throughout the day.

Speed was very important in battles and obviously, this move took too long. Unless he was already prepared beforehand, he couldn't even begin to deploy the move.

Back in the training ground, he sat at the table with a flask in one hand. He kept thinking about it. How to best make use of this, when to take the flask out and open it... But regardless, he reached the conclusion that it was not good enough. Time was crucial and this ate too much of it. He couldn't use it in battle if it remained this way.

In the end, he decided to be ready beforehand starting from the next day.

...

Ma Song-Min was slightly surprised to see the new trick of the kid. There was some extreme-cold water floating around his spear today. It was new.

Of course, he recognized the technique and sighed inwardly. Hae-Hyuk was truly serious this time. For him to teach this to his disciples... But he had to admit that he wouldn't have a chance otherwise.

That being said, he wasn't more merciful than before and didn't change his approach. He didn't need to. The kid hadn't understood nor found a counter to his little move.

In the end, he finished the kid as usual. Expect this time, the kid had some body parts frozen as well. Not like he cared that much.

...

During the second battle, things changed slightly. Jin's opponent was more careful and he could feel that it made him more dangerous in that man's eyes. He was more cautious than any opponent before. Not because he was weaker but because he recognized a threat in this water.

Jin's technique after a year were quite refined already. Now that he could add an element to it, the gap between him and his opponents shortened. It wasn't enough obviously but he could exchange a few moves with about everyone now and his progress began to skyrocket.

That day, in the training ground, he kept on reflecting upon his new technique and how to improve it.

And two weeks went by like this before he went to find Hae-Hyuk to discuss things.

That Master of his hadn't moved from his favorite spot. Jin wondered if there was the imprint of Hae-Hyuk's ass on that particular area... He put this silly thought aside and spoke: "I have some problems with the new technique"

Hae-Hyk let him continue while smiling and Jin said: "The flask is not good enough. It can't contain enough and it takes too long to open. There were many times I couldn't even open them and even if I could, many opponents countered the water with fire or other elements. It took too long to open a new flask while they can just create their own elements...t's not viable"

Hae-Hyuk nodded and asked him: "So, what do you need?"

Jin had thought long and hard and already had the answer: "Something that can contain more and is easier to access"

Hae-Hyuk asked again: "And what could that be?"

Jin sighed as he admitted: "I don't know. That's why I am here right now"

Hae-Hyuk chuckled as he looked at Jin's hand and said: "But you are already wearing the answer, my disciple"