“You can’t tell anybody that I taught you.”

That’s a bit odd. “Why?”

Wind shoved his hands into his robe. He wanted to avoid his gaze but Musnuf was focused on him. “Just don’t tell anyone that you’re learning from me. It’ll be better for both of us. Most of all, be careful around the Alchemy Building.”

Musnuf wanted to prod him for more information but it was obvious from his demeanor that he wouldn’t answer. “Ok, I won’t tell anyone but I’ll be back after the test. You still have to teach me.” A separate Alchemy Department was news to him. Then why was Wind here and not there? No matter what, he had to be an asset for the sect.

He grabbed the Essence Recovery scroll. “Can I take this for self-study?” Wind waved his hands to indicate it was okay. Musnuf started thinking. Right now, he’d used almost 1 page. He could copy this formula onto the rest of that page.

What’s the harm? I’ll use removable ink. He headed straight back to his house. He flipped it open and copied over the Essence Recovery formula. His hands were trembling by the end, he wasn’t used to writing this small.

The effect was immediate. It was similar to when he copied over the art but different in that he didn’t understand everything. It was akin to looking at a map with holes in it. The thing was he could point at the exact spot on the map that he had to fill.

I need to split each ingredient and understand how they interact with each other. Following the rote steps gets me the potion but not how they interact.

He was getting excited. This could be his way to get his hands on spirit stones.

He decided to switch gears and focus on improving his control. He spent hours on the sash. By the end of it, he could control it as easily as his hands. It twirled around his hands, rose above them to form a twisting spire and then started rotating around his head.

He dropped it. It was exhausting. Over and over he’d been focused on getting it to move how he wanted.

He decided to jump straight into meditation. That weird potion was sitting in his gut. I might be able to break through.

His control was much better, smoother, there were less interruptions in his rotation. He focused on the sixth gate, his essence battering it. It was a process of attrition. He rotated, broke off chunks of essence and dumped it onto the gate.

He could feel it getting closer and then there was that familiar rush of endorphins. His essence surged up to a higher level and he breathed. He’d just opened the sixth gate. It felt amazing and exhilarating.

He could still feel a small portion sitting in his gut. He was guessing that it would push him halfway up the sixth-stage.

He got up and his stiff joints popped. The second test was going to take place tomorrow. He decided to take a nap.

He woke up and decided to take up another quest. It took him an hour or so to conduct it and he got his hands on about a hundred spirit stones.

He used it to head down to the market. He browsed through each stall, asking for their price. Most of them were out of his budget or just downright defective.

He wanted something that provided him with a better range. He had to get up close and personal to use the dagger.

He spotted another stall. “Do you have weapons?”

“What are you looking for?”

“Something with a long reach.”

“I do have something but you might not like it.”

Musnuf raised his palms up to indicate, ‘Show me.’ The disciple rooted through his items and retrieved a long staff. He grabbed it, it was made of stone but there was a problem. “Where is the spear point?” It had a rounded blunt edge, he needed it for a stabbing motion.

“What, the only thing this is useful for is pointing at things.” Musnuf was turning to leave, this provided no practical advantage.

“Wait, there’s more.”

Musnuf turned around and waited for him to continue. “There’a a Staff Art, I can throw in for you.”

He flipped through the manual and started thinking. It was a basic art with the most simplistic structure to utilize essence. Despite that, this could be advantageous. He had no idea how to use a weapon. His strategy with a dagger was due to Snow Gem’s memories but she wasn’t proficient in any other weapon.

“I’ll take it.” He haggled with the vendor and drove the price down to forty stones. They were shouting their souls out at each other. His neck bulged with veins. He hadn’t been this winded fighting for the ruby ring. On second thought, that was worse.

He got the staff and guessed that it was about five feet long, give or take. It was noon by now, so he went home to plunge himself into practice.

He copied over the Staff Art and it took up half a page. The rest of the time was spent practicing, there was a huge gap in what he wanted to do and how his body was responding. It was a very frustrating feeling. So, this is what this MC’s feel when they go on about their bodies being too slow.

Just like that, time flowed past him like a whisper and it was the day of the second test. He was excited, prepared and most of all, ready to win.