Before my hands took either of the two immortal practice manuals, the weapons master explained carefully.
—First of all, I would like to explain a little about these two manuals. These two manuals will only allow you to reach the second rank as an immortal practitioner, so you will have to manage to get a better technique or achieve merits for our martial arts school. —
Taking the manual called "Formless Qi" the weapons master explained — The so-called Formless Qi is a practice method that most beginners are forced to learn if they wish to have a Qi suitable for any type of attribute or environment, unless of course, you already know what your path will be in the future, which is unlikely, although this technique does not bring much contribution to your strength, it will be a great ally in the future, call it a long-term investment if you want —
Putting aside the spiritual practice manual, he picked up the body practice manual and explained again, "The copper body manual is nothing more than a manual that will strengthen your body until it is as resilient as spiritual copper. Practicing this refining method will also favor your body with an affinity for the lightning attribute. There is no more to say, except that, although the body method is difficult to practice, it requires fewer resources than the spiritual path and the short-term benefits are greater."
Taking some time to think about it, the only option that seemed viable to me was the body method. I had no resources with me and as the weapons master mentioned, although difficult to practice, it requires almost no resources to advance in said method, other than a strong determination and willpower to endure the pain that comes with practicing the body practice methods.
Nodding at my choice, the weapons master made a comment that caught my attention. "Good choice, even if you don't manage to advance very far, as long as you can reach the first stage you will be eligible to participate in the circus if you need money."
Circus, a place where immortal practitioners fight to gain battle experience and some money.
Perhaps misinterpreting my silence, the Weapons Master tried to reassure me. "If you're worried about being killed, don't worry about it, intentional deaths are prohibited in the circus."
Once the weapons master finished explaining everything, I left his house, but not before thanking him.
And as I was halfway there, I could hear the weapons master shout, "And remember, you only have two months to become an immortal practitioner or you will be expelled from the martial arts school!"
For a man of great authority and prestige, he was actually quite a talkative and kind man. What a peculiar man, I thought.
. . . . .
The martial arts school is by no means a charitable institution. Anyone who joins must pay a fee of 10 gold coins, plus 4 gold coins per month. If you don't have the money to pay this fee, you can always sign a servitude contract.
For three years, you'd be working for the martial arts school, where they'd provide you with food and some resources to practice martial arts, or as people commonly called them, immortal arts.
If you ever wanted to break the contract, you could always pay 150 gold coins, which was an astronomical amount for any ordinary person; if you refused to pay that amount, you could even be classified as a criminal sentenced to death.
That's why the school isn't worried if someone couldn't meet the two-month limit to reach the first stage of immortal practice; either way, they would continue working for them until the end of the servitude contract.
"Partner, it's time for a change of guard," nodding at the newcomer, I left my guard post and headed toward the training grounds.
Luckily, tomorrow would be my day off, so I have two days to practice the body practice manual.
I didn't know how long it would take, but with the clear window I'm confident I'll reach the first stage of body refinement.
. . . . . .
—Listen everyone, those who have just obtained one of the two immortal practice methods, come forward to receive your resources, those who have already reached the second stage of refining, come to the alchemy hall! —
Making two lines in the training ground, one for Qi practitioners and one for body practitioners, once my turn came, I received a bag with three pills in it, asking the man in front of me, the man explained — You must take this pill before practicing the copper body, the effect of the pill is enough to last several training sessions, if you need more you will have to pay 3 gold coins in the alchemy room —
After explaining this, the man signaled me to let the next person in. Thanking him for his explanation, I quickly retreated to a space with few people and began practicing the copper body.
The method consisted of practicing 80 different exercises that the manual explained step by step; every 16 exercises mastered represented a level of mastery, from beginner to perfect.
Taking several deep breaths, I began to familiarize myself with the exercises. It wasn't until after a few hours that I was able to perform the first 16 exercises without any problems. Only then did I take one of the three pills they gave me.
The pill didn't really look very appetizing, it looked like a piece of coppery coal and the smell it gave off wasn't pleasant at all.
Even so, I had to put my disgust aside and swallow the pill. Apart from a super bitter aftertaste, a warm sensation began to run through every fiber of my body. At first, it was pleasant, but as the seconds passed, the sensation of being burned from the inside took place.
Without panicking, I began practicing the first 16 exercises of the copper body, as time passed, the burning sensation was replaced by the previous warmth and replaced by burning again, the various sensations changed again and again until they disappeared completely after two hours of continuous practice.
Taking a breath and adjusting my breathing, a transparent window appeared in front of me with new information.
Practice method:
Breathing (Beginner 11/10,000)
Copper Body/Physical (Beginner 4/50) (Mortal)
Spiritual techniques:
None
Physical techniques:
Boxing Methods (Advanced 0/20)
Skill Points: 0
Four mastery points, I was surprised to see such a large number next to the copper body, the boxing methods only required ten mastery points to advance from the beginner stage to the advanced stage and yet it took me almost two months to achieve it.
Such an achievement could be attributed to alchemy pills, if he could take another one he definitely would, but the problem was that alchemy pills are full of impurities, said impurities need at least three days to get rid of them, there are methods and alchemy pills that can skip or speed up that process, but they were too expensive.
With no other choice, I began practicing the copper body method without the effect of the pills, although after an hour, I couldn't help but frown.
Copper Body/Physical (Beginner 4/50) (Mortal)
Too slow, one hour and I had made no profit at all.
With no other option, I continued practicing the copper body method until nightfall.
Only then did I feel satisfied with the result.
Copper Body/Physical (Beginner 5/50) (Mortal)
Although it was still too slow, it was still better than nothing.
This time, my body felt too tired to even think about continuing to train, so I started my way back to the barracks where all the practitioners and non-practitioners were staying.
. . . . .
Back in my room, I lay down on the hard bed of straw and wood, I was about to fall asleep, but then I remembered something.
Unconsciously, I began to practice the breathing method from the manual, which seemed like it could be practiced without disturbing my rest.
As for its true use, I wasn't aware of it, as the manual explained many vague and complex things, but didn't mention its use, and since it had turned to ashes along with the letter, I couldn't read the manual to try to see if I was able to understand anything now.
Still, considering the absurd amount of experience required to take it to the next level of mastery, it certainly couldn't be a useless skill.
Carrying out the same steps as the previous night, the smell of grass and earth crossed my nostrils and a great calm and warmth invaded my entire body.
After an unknown amount of time, I even felt like the water was completely covering my body. Such a feeling must surely be some kind of illusion, but at the same time it felt like something real.
Time passed and the sound of bells and drums reverberated throughout the place again, disturbing my thoughts.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a kind of black slime covering some parts of my body, the smell was unpleasant, not to mention the slimy feeling of it.
Breathing (Beginner 14/10,000)
The experience gained was even more than yesterday, without knowing why, only one idea came to me when looking at the black slime that covered my body, I have heard that when impurities leave the body too quickly, they take on a form similar to slime or sweat.
Getting out of bed quickly, I cleansed my body with clean water before heading to the training grounds. There I could see if my body still contained the impurities from the alchemy pill, or if I had at least done something to lessen the impurities.