Once Arc finished cleaning up in the kitchen he found that Aurora had lost some patience as she grabbed him bringing him straight to her room locking the door behind her
Arc emerged the next day with a big smile on his face, and he headed straight to his room
He took a deep breath and began to organize his thoughts, due to him knowing the shape of his soul, and having inner sight, he is more than qualified to make a cultivation technique for himself
He just needed to find some inspiration, so he began to look at all the books and notes he has stored in the several years he has remained in the sect
No book was left untouched, no page unread, he read everything he found and then came upon a book that the libraran had once given to him the platinum tempering art
He opened it an began to read, it wasn't groundbreaking or anything, it was a stable ki tempering art,
it allowed one to form a powerful ki that blended well forming a good foundation for the earth elements,
a technique that would be suitable
for anyone with talent in the earth element
Nothing special, a very basic technique, but looking at it seemed to have given Arc an idea,
He thought of the possibility of tempering his body, like he did in the body tempering realm, not as a secondary effect like his current techniques but the main effect.
To have a body capable of astonishing force and strength, further amplified by his extraordinarily pure qi
He wished to pursue body cultivation, due to his physique and talents
He went straight to the library with that thought in mind, he briefly spoke to the libraran and then rushed straight to the ki techniques
He read every single ki manuel, and noted every movement or vibration or change in energy that resonated with his soul
He then moved to the martial arts techniques, and he did the same thing all over again
He slowly and meticulously broke down every detail of these techniques and exercises to find a form that fit his soul
The martial arts were much harder to categorize than the ki manuals, he had to break them down to physical motion, flow of energy, and meridian activations
Some martial arts that seemed completely identical were broke apart until their differences became known
While others that were know as opposite and different, under his scrutiny were found to have similar sources
Arc wrote and drew endlessly, this time more cautious of his mess, after finishing a page or book, he placed it back within his storage ring
Arc wander the library's various rooms after he finished the ki books, he headed towards the second floor and started the qi manuals
He did not limit himself to the elements of the technique this time, he was not searching for a technique,
he was searching for the knowledge to make himself a technique, while the elements of the techniques might not match,
the world is built of all these energies intercepting, they blend and collid in ways that are endless
He was also looking to convert his knowledge of ki techniques into a useable qi technique,
these are different forms of energy that represent different things
Ki is a manifestation of physical formed from the body and Qi is a manifestation of mental power from the soul,
Arc body was more unique as his body could directly convert ki into spirit energy and vise versa
Another "benefit" Arc never realized that he had was the fact that he had an endless desire to read,
he had read hundreds of books back on earth, not just fiction like cultivation and magic,
but scientific research and mechanical knowledge,not to mention the hundreds of webnovels he read
He was applying everything he has learned in his previous life, no matter how nonsensical, he grabbed ideas from different novels and tested whether they could work
Under his scrutiny he slowly began to find a rough template, nothing yet to set in stone, as this would be a fairly long process
Arc thought to himself
'I had the right approach, when it broke-through to qi condensation, i blended ki and qi within my body, tempering it"
'That is what will act as a rough draft, i need to improve it, make it less wild, more consistent and controllable,
or every time I cultivate there will be a chance for my foundation to shatter'
'I need to blend ki and qi into something more, that is the way to take advantage of my physique'
' It would be Impossible for me to create the technique in a day, I think I should start taking sect mission's, going outside and actually experiencing things may help me find inspiration'
Arc thought to himself and found the logic sound, so he headed to see Aurora to inform her of his plan
"Aurora i plan to spend some time doing sect missions, I have found that knowing the shape of my soul, the cultivation techniques within the sect no longer seem suitable to me,
So I wish to take missions to find the inspiration to creative technique suitable for my soul"
"Very well but before you go, place a drop of your blood within this lamp"
Aurora pulled out a lamp as she spoke she then explained
"Once you do this lamp will continue to burn until you die, it's one of the methods we use on core disciples, to know whether they are living or dead"
Arc nodded before cutting a small line in his finger and placing a drop of blood within
Arc looked at his hand afterwards and realized the wound had already healed,
This was a reminder showing that he is changing into completely different type of being, and how he will continue to change on the path of a cultivator
Arc headed to the 3rd peak of the mountain and found the missions board
Arc looked at the various missions, he did not care of the reward or how long they took, he was merely looking to find something that could entertain him and hopefully inspire him
'Monster hunting sounds fun, I can gather material for forging while also sharping my combat skills'
Arc thought to himself and found that fighting would be the best way to determine the path in his future cultivation
Combat is the main focus of a cultivator, and so a baptism in blood is exactly what he needed
Arc first headed towards the city by the sect and began to stock up on resources such as food and water
Out of curiosity he headed to the bookstore to see if he had made more money in these past few weeks
"Hello Arc, its been quite awhile"
The manager of the book store spoke
"Indeed it has, I was coming here because i'm curious how has the book sold"
"It has sold very well across all of our locations, your cut is more than 500 million spirit stones"
Arc eyes opened wide in shock, that was an extremely high number of spirit stones, he could buy a sect with that money
"Naturally we don't have that many spirit stones on hand, so you will have to go to our main headquarters in the Jade kingdom to pick it up"
The jade kingdom, was a nation in the central continent, it's king was an Earth Immortal, a being who surpassed nascent soul cultivation
"Only nascent soul cultivator's are capable of traveling to the central continent"
Arc spoke sadly
The manager then spoke smugly
"Have you forgotten who the owner of the bookstore is?, simply input your request when you are ready, and he will take you to central continent"
"I would suggest waiting until you are a golden core cultivator if you believe yourself capable of advancing,"
" As then you would have the opportunity to apply for citizenship within the jade kingdom"
"No amount of words need to be said of how useful that would be as a cultivator"
Arc nodded his head before heading to the formation store he had once bought the ki condensation formation
He purchased a few isolation formations and trapping formations, he picked these formations because he was going to test to see whether or not they would be suitable to add to his spear as a flag
'Perfect, i think i got everything that i need, now its time to set off'
Arc turned his head, and looked at the mountain one last time
"Goodbye, hope to see you soon"
Arc muttered, as he walked away
Arc needed head to a mortal village that was being savaged by monsters they had one retired cultivator living there,
He was injured by the beast, leading them to request help from the sect. The villages and cities within the sect's territory have to pay taxes to the sect
Naturally the sect protects them due to the increase in income, so missions like this isn't uncommon to see every once and a while
As Arc walked he continued thinking about the technique he was creating,
His body was compatible with Earth and wind, his talent in wind being much lower
Yet he believed it to be higher than his earth element was before advancing to innate
During that process his affinity to the energies grew exponentially, when he was training,
This entire time he focused almost exclusively on the earth elements, from his training to his trade
He decided to practice a few wind spells to better understand the nature of the wind
Cultivation wasn't just about absorbing energy and advancing in one's realm
It was a process of understanding the energies that make up world, and use them to make yourself evolve
While Arc began this journey a bit sooner than usual as most only being to research and study the energies at foundation establishment
While at the same time Arc could be considered a half-step foundation establishment cultivator, and a genuine foundation establishment body cultivator
Ki cultivation isn't necessarily a lower realm than Qi cultivation, these were from different power systems entirely
The reason that Qi cultivator practice ki cultivation is due to the density of spirit energy
To the average person it would shred their bodies without an chance of survival
In the past only the most talented people could cultivate Qi, with an extreme affinity the energies would act less willful allowing them to absorb it without harm
This was 100,000 years ago, since then both systems have been continuously optimized,
The base standard in the modern day was to cultivate ki, to strengthened the body allowing Qi to flow freely
Cultivators were using ki merely as a method of laying foundations, what they truly sought was understanding and mastery of the elements and nature
while a ki masters were known for their close combat abilities, making them an absolute threat in same realm, though they have shorter lifespans compared to cultivators,
no cultivator would want to be within reach of a genuine body cultivator, and not a single Body cultivator would want to be out of reach of a Qi cultivator
Each had specialities and weaknesses, though both of these power systems have developed techniques to offset their weaknesses
Arc's thoughts continued to wander around, before he reached a conclusion,
"I guess i could practice cloud walk"
Arc decided on practicing cloud walk in the same manner he practiced eagle claw, by attempting to maintain the technique for long periods of time
Cloud walk was a simple wind technique, it increases the speed of the user by decreasing their weight, amd air resistance, allowing them to run as if they weren't affected by gravity
When mastered one would be able to walk on the air as freely as they walk on the ground
As Arc began practicing the technique his speed greatly increased, and from an outside perspective he appeared like a blur
He found this quite enjoyable and began increasing his energy output thereby increasing his speed
He ran without care and for the first time since reincarnating he wasn't overthinking or planning anything special
After awhile Arc had to stop to catch his breath and found that it had already become night, he had unwittingly ran for hours
"Ha, only with a body like this can someone run for hours without even realizing it"
Arc muttered to himself, seemingly pleased
While running was never something he enjoyed on earth,
Arc did has the distinct memory of how physically demanding it was as he has attempted to run for an hour straight before
Yet here he was other than being slightly out of breath he was in perfect shape and could run again
Arc brought out a map and began trying to determine his current location,
He ran without much care so he wasn't sure if he was still on the right path
"I was supposed to turn 10 miles ago and meet the commissioner at the white ear deer inn,"
Arc said as he thought to himself
'Running without the map in hand definitely wasn't the best decision'
"Still it's not too bad my speed is incomparable to other qi cultivators, so even after this delay i would arrive before the expected time"
With his destination in mind Arc began heading towards the inn, this time he wasn't attempting to run his fastest
He was merely attempting to gain better control over the technique, and thus he walked casually
Well from his perspective it was a casually speed but it was comparable to the speed of a car
He arrived quickly at the inn, he decided to secure a room before heading to a nearby restaurant to get something to eat
One thing he forgot to keep in mind was the fact that he was a core disciple of the black mountain sect, one of the largest sects on the continent
He had forgotten how rare this was and did not make any effort to disguise himself
So many people had been paying close attention to him from the moment he entered the city
"Hey boss, you saw the core disciple right?"
"Do you think they are onto us?"
Muttered a man with scars covering his face
The person he spoke to had a sullen face, and his hands were clenched
He took deep breaths before speaking
"They should have no way of knowing, we took all the precautions….
it's better to be safe than sorry we will halt all activities until he leaves"
"We can't take any chances during this time."
Arc remained oblivious to this exchange and at the moment was enjoying a nice dinner
Suddenly the door to the restroom swug open, and a group walked in they were all armed with swords and armor
'They seemed to be mercenaries' Arc thought to himself as they scanned the room
One of them gaze stopped at Arc momentarily before turning away,
"Who the heck is that"
One of the mercenaries asked their back covered in sweat, as they sat down
"Why are you freaking out so much it's just a core sect's disciple it's not like he'll attack us law abiding citizens"
Responded another mercenary as she brushes her hair
The lead mercenary turned to Arc laughed lightly before he spoke
"Listen less, look less, keep in mind the more questions you ask the shorter you'll live in our industry"
it would be a shame if Arc couldn't recognize such a technique being used on him
The man seemed to have instinctively casted a technique to see everyone's "power" when he walked into the restaurant
It wasn't aimed directly at Arc, but the technique showed the extremely gap of power between them, leaving the mercenary fearful
This was also why the boss warned him, because he was able to put the pieces together seeing his subordinate's fear and the slight smile Arc had
Seeing that Arc didn't take offense the lead mercenary was happy and hoped his team would get the hint and start minding their own business
After that "episode" things in the restaurant calmed down and Arc continued to enjoy the food much to the surprise of those around him
As an innate martial artist the amount of food Arc can eat in one sitting is extremely high, though he usually doesn't indulge himself to much
When he was finished there was close to 50 empty place beside him, he grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth
"That was delicious"
Arc said as he thought to himself, 'i've spurred a bit on the meal but since i plan on fighting so it's good to get some calories in'
After leaving those who were still present in the restaurant began speaking
"Holy crap, how did he just eat so much food"
"Why is a core disciple here!?"
"…. Could he be here to solve the demon beast problem?"
One of the patrons muttered out loud in slight disbelief
Missions like this were typically accepted outer disciples, and maybe on occasion a inner disciple
To see a core disciple of the black mountain sect in a small town like this is extremely rare
"That could be it"
"I don't know, i think he is just passing by to get some rest on his trip"
They continued their conversations for awhile
While at the same time Arc was getting situations in his room preparing his weapons and tools for the upcoming battle
He still had 2 days before the scheduled meeting where he will be given all the information surrounding the demon beast and begin the job
He just now needed to find something to entertain him until the job officially began
Arc wandered a bit before finding what seemed to be a air conditioned supermarket, as he walked in he couldn't help but think to himself
'Some things in this world seem the same as earth while others are completely different'
' it's not the technology is at a low level in this world, but the core of the technology is based on spirit energy'
' leading to difference in set up but the same purpose in many things'
Arc thought continued to wonder as he looked around