Annoyed, flustered, panicked, calm, depressed, clueless, are just some of the many emotions that Zilan experienced during his walk back to the room he woke up in.

“Yet another mess.” chuckled Zilan, who’s mind was getting rather tired of fate dealing him unlucky situation after unlucky situation.

Once he arrived in the room, the first thing he did was slap himself twice before mumbling, “This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. You must overcome it all Zilan.”

He better than anyone knew that giving himself the ability to cultivate as well as continuing to traverse his ‘path’ was the same as directly defying fate, and all of this bad ‘luck’ was it fighting back, attempting to correct itself.

…….

“What do I make now?”

The main thing Zilan was focusing on was what he would give as compensation. He already had ideas on what he was going to give but that was before the clan leader asked for double.

Now, with so little time left, it would be impossible to make two of the weapon he had in mind. Which meant his only realistic option was to create one thing that was double the value of the weapon he was going to build.

“To act as proper compensation it’ll need to be something that will last long, is usable by many, can benefit the entire clan and is not only rare but also extremely valuable.”

Two things came to mind after thinking about the requirements. The first was a formation from the book of path which could assist a person in cultivation however, its side effects if not used perfectly could be devastating, not to mention how taxing it was on both the minds and the bodies of normal people who are unable to see their condition and constantly adjust themselves mid-procedure.

Clearly that idea was not going to work which left the second thing.

“A technique manual.”

The problem with this idea was that Zilan could not just pick one from the Book of Path and hand it over to the clan leader.

Those manuals were not only too advanced but they also could mess with the current balance of power in not only this Bronze sector but in other sectors as well if they landed in the hands of someone who had enough intellect to draw out even 10% of their power. After all, when in possession of good things news will inevitably travel and the strong will be devoured by the even stronger.

Why doesn’t Zilan use these manuals for himself then? The answer is simple and also the same as for why he chose the weak flow python’s core. If one wants to truly stand above the rest, he cannot rely on shortcuts to gain temporary strength, he must build an unbreakable foundation first and even if it is to take a lifetime it would be worth it.

Therefore, if Zilan is to give the clan leader a technique manual he’ll have to create one from his own insights and of course with some guidance from the Book of Path.

The process of creating the manual will definitely not be an easy one however, at least he had a starting point already in mind.

“Consciousness!” smiled Zilan.

He had just had an outer body experience and with that feeling and image fresh in his mind, the theory of consciousness was one he was dying to explore more of.

Luckily he had the Book of Path to help fill in some of the blanks.

Two stars suddenly appeared in his eyes and Zilan went to work on studying consciousness.

………………..

Six hours later.

The more Zilan read and familiarized himself with how consciousness actually worked, the more he understood, on how he could harness it.

One of the things he had noticed for example was how primitive, less intelligent animals behaved. More specifically when it came to dangerous situations, they were much fiercer and could endure much more compared to humans.

Zilan believed that this was because in those situations they were not burdened with something all highly intelligent life forms possessed, ‘consciousness’.

Which basically meant that in animals nothing intervened between stimulus and response, idea and action, and mind and body.

A practical example of this is the breathing patterns of primitive animals. When faced with danger, they composed themselves with a deep breath, then lashed out as they exhaled sharply.

These realisations led Zilan to conclude that a force existed which could be used to manipulate consciousness in man.

Picking up on this, a prompt from the Book of Path appeared highlighting one word, ‘Qi’.

Zilan immediately began reading on it and what he found upon finishing could be said to be neither good nor bad.

It turned out Qi was indeed a force that could be cultivated and one of its uses did include the manipulation of consciousness. However, it had one huge flaw and that was its link to spiritual power, an energy that Zilan will forever be unable to associate with.

There wasn’t all bad news though, in fact the very fact that Qi existed meant Zilan could once again produce the impossible and create a force like Qi but instead of being connected to the Heavens it will directly connect to the Universe.

“I’ll call it Prana.” Laughed Zilan.

In truth creating the new force would not be difficult. In fact, it was rather simple, at least for Zilan it was.

All that needed to be done was adjust the breathing techniques to beat to the tune of the Universe instead of Heaven and for a man of the scorched like Zilan, it was easier done than said.

……….

With all the information in his mind and a plan for the experiment already mapped out, it was time for Zilan to begin work on the technique manual.

Naturally, he was not going to give away the key to ‘Prana’ or even hint of its existence to the clan leader. What he plans to create is not something that will enlighten them in the ways of manipulating consciousness.

It will be something far cruder, which lasts for a significantly shorter period of time.

“A striking technique that increases the fists power ten times over, for fifteen minutes.”

Zilan meanwhile will remain with the secret of Prana, allowing him to enter a state where his entire body’s functions will simultaneously increase tenfold for as long as he can handle it.

The principle behind it was the same as that of a panicked mother who just witnessed a small tree fall on her child’s legs. In normal circumstances it would be impossible to move the tree because of the conscious thought to do it however, because it is her child in danger, she will be able to move the tree thus bypassing the conscious effort to do so.

That is to say her consciousness will no longer limit her because she is acting eighty five percent subconsciously and only fifteen percent consciously. Which just happens to be the perfect equilibrium to cultivate and manipulate, Prana.

Zilan took a minute to calm himself before picking up his quill and beginning to jot down the breathing techniques necessary to use the technique “Conscious fist!”